Spoiler-Free Review: Ruined by Paula Morris

YOU MUST STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND GET THIS BOOK NOW!!!

Ok - I went into it a little biased, I'll admit, because I absolutely love New Orleans.  However, the story here is MOST excellent:  full of family secrets and curses and all the decadent eccentricities of old money in the South.  It has a little bit of everything - akin to what Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil was to Savannah.  If you're a fan of that setting, then you'll also like this book simply for the inclusion of so many well-known streets and locations.  I mean come on!  Half the book is set in Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 in the Garden District.  UM YES, PLEASE?!!

Anyway, besides the appealing location of the story, there's also the superb story-telling abilities of Paula Morris.  From Rebecca Brown, the protagonist, all the way through the entire line-up of characters, we get a interesting characters who all have their own stories to tell.  There was never a point during this book that I "skimmed ahead" as I'm wont to do when descriptions start to go a little long.  I read every single word of this book.  I didn't want to miss a BIT of it.

This book makes me want to read more Paula Morris!  I'm planning to read the follow-up book, Unbroken, during the holiday break.  We'll see.  I'm also reading A Girl with No Name by Diney Costeloe right now and it just keeps getting better!

Now - seriously ... hit the bookstore, download, do whatever it is you do to get books and go get Ruined by Paula Morris.  You can thank me later ... but you're welcome in advance.

Spoiler-Free Review: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith

     I have to admit, I was wary of this one as I got it at the school book fair for only $1.  I was worried that I was going to get exactly what I paid for ... and was nicely surprised.  Written by Steve Hockensmith, this prequel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was pretty well-written in my opinion.  I enjoyed the way he was able to preserve the style of writing, while effectively creating a whole back story to go with the Bennett daughters so fans get a more in-depth look at how they became who they are in PPZ.

     I was amazed at how long it took me to read this one though.  It seems as though the pages have twice as many words on them as a normal book, yet it's a fairly small-sized book.  I honestly felt like I read this book slower than the three other books I read before it.  It actually took me an entire YEAR to get the whole thing read.  I have no idea why.  It wasn't boring.  It wasn't too wordy.  It just ... I don't know.  It was like that yummy bite of steak that you just can't seem to chew enough to swallow and be done with it.

     I have to say that I recommend it though.  The fighting scenes are not as graphic as some books, but there is enough female bad-assery in other ways that it all balances out.  The relationship between these girls and their father is great, and I love how even the youngest girls are held to this warrior standard.  While some of them are definitely softer than others, the expectations are the same, and they all live up to them.  I think that's what I love about the book the most.

     I haven't read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies yet, but I have it.  I think I'll put it into rotation soon once I have finished the two I'm reading, and gotten well into one I already have in the queue.  Once I read that one, I'll be able to give a better comparison for those of you that have read it and are considering Dawn of the Dreadfuls.  I see that Mr. Hockensmith has also written a sequel to PPZ called Dreadfully Ever After.  I may have to squeeze that into my 2017 reading goals list!

     Anyway, I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys classic fiction and wants to spice it up a little with some zombie goodness.  It has all the eloquent word-smithing we love about classic literature, but with the modern-day twist of heroism in the face of the zombie apocalypse - a fine combination, if you ask me!