This really has been a hard month here at casa aztec, which is why there have been so few posts, little-to-no reading (or reviewing), and why I’m still stitching the last few of the pouches for #RomancingTheVote.
I am trying to keep up with Wendy the SuperLibrarian’s TBR Challenge and struggling some to find novels that fit the themes; not because I don’t have entire cordilleras of TBR tittles, but because I have done nothing but over-commit this year. So when I realized how little time I had to get the reading done and the review written, I went off what I remembered of the “look inside” sample, wherein the male protagonist appears to be a callous and resentful ass.
Spoiler: turns out that neither of the main characters are all that grumpy by nature; rather, they’re reacting to pretty shitty circumstances. BUT I DON’T CARE, IT FITS THE THEME.
I’m trying to do SuperWendy’s TBR Challenge this year, and the theme this month is ‘fairy tales’. What could be easier, right? Genre romance is chock-full of Beauty and the Beast retellings 1 , to say nothing of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and all the rest.
Of course, as I scrolled through my digital TBR shelves and scanned the print TBR cordillera of Doom, not one title jumped out and yelled, “me, me! I’m an obvious fairy tale retelling”. 2
Which is why I have decided that wolf shifters in the woods totally works. (Because Red Riding Hood. Work with me here, people.)
Reader beware: abusive parent, graphic violence, graphic language, sex on page, maternal death, stillbirth. Narrated in first person present tense.
The theme for this month’s TBR Challenge is “Quickies”, and honestly this 23 page novella absolutely embodies the letter if not the spirit of it.1 (I’m still thinking about it.)
And, would you look at that! it’s also absolutely an Unusual Historical, both in setting (1508 Scotland) and characters (our heroine is Black, in 1508 Scotland)
"A review is at its heart the expression of the reviewer’s opinion–in this case, my opinion. Regardless of how the book in question ended up in my hands, I will not insult your intelligence by assuming that you will blindly buy any book I like, or that you’ll avoid reading any book I don’t like. Instead, I’ll give you credit for making up your own mind, and buying and/or reading whatever you think you’ll enjoy."
Please be aware that some of the books I review, talk about, or plain mention in passing, in this blog, have been given to me by the author, or someone else on behalf of the author, with the express purpose that I review them. (Those reviews are tagged ARC or review copy.)
Her Hands, My Hands 