Bethany M. Rosser

• Rated 4 stars

“If I had known Cassandra's history as an author before I started this book I probably wouldn't have read it. I would have been missing out on a great story so I'm glad I only learned of her former fanfic posting scandals after I'd already been reeled into the world of Jace and Clary.

This book is a must read for anyone who enjoyed Harry Potter, House of Night, Twilight, and countless others. The story is fast paced and almost impossible not to fall in love with. In the beginning I was as confused as Clary about the new world she'd found herself in. I'd found myself telling Jace to make his move.

That being said...Spoiler Alert ahead.

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2.

3.

Still with me, alright. Somehow I imagine Valentine (who reminds me a lot of Voldermort-a cookie cutter bad guy who wants to purify the race and make a super army) smirking as he tells Jace, "I am your father." Not to mention the discovery of Jace and Clary being brother and sister. I found myself extremely disappointed. I really, really wanted them together. The more I think about it, the more it reminds me of Star Wars.

Clary herself seems to be the product of Harry Potter and Bella Swan meeting and having a child. She's clumsy, smart, and alone. Not to mention she discovers herself thrown into a world of creatures she never knew about. She has within her mind locked the ability to find the mortal cup. She has these moments of greatness.

All in all it reminds me a lot of Harry Potter and yet has a risky voice all of its own. We have Jace who is handsome and stubborn, his best friend Alec who pines away for him while staying in the closet, Isabelle the young warrior goddess, Simon the human who can't stay away, and Clary who holds unknown powers. I can't wait to see where it goes from here.”

Bethany M. Rosser wrote this review Saturday, January 22, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 2 stars

“I really did not enjoy this book at all. It started off promising and then it just fell flat. One of the big things that kept annoying me while reading it is what the author did to the drow race. Maybe I read too much R. A. Salvatore but I've always heard that women were dominate in drow society and in this book it was a male dominated race. It just took away the reality for me. Also, the characters are all very simple and you don't really get to know any of them. The sex scenes were terrible! Also, it just seemed like the author couldn't decide what to do with our bad/good/bad/good...well, we never do learn whose side he is on and quite frankly by the end I could have cared less. The whole thing was very predictable.”

Bethany M. Rosser wrote this review Wednesday, January 19, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“Full Dark No Stars is a perfect title for these four stories, each more haunting than the last. King has written that the major differance between the Bachman books and his own is that in the King books the good guys ultimately win. These stories embody Bachman in the sense that they are by far some of his darkest creations.

I usually read before bed, but these stories kept me awake if I did that. If I read them during the evening hours it wasn't by the dim light of a book light but rather every light in the room on because each story is dark, each story creates its own battle, leaves its own scars-not only on the characters but on the reader too.

The jacket on the book said the third story was the most disturbing, I wasn't sure of that until I'd finished it and thought about it in retrospect.

In 1922 I was reminded of The Yellow WallPaper which is one of my favorite early American short stories. It was a tale of madness, a haunting, and maybe even truth. I felt the same way about 1922. How much do we trust our narrator? Is he crazy? Is he sane? And while I felt so sympathy for him I couldn't put the story down. Because by the end of it, wouldn't you have done the same things?

In all four stories we are forced to question ourseleves. Would we react the way the character did? Would we find ourselves alone in the dark with someone we no longer know or trust? How can you condemn any of them? How can you blame them? How can you not be disgusted? How can you not in your own way be changed?”

Bethany M. Rosser wrote this review Monday, January 17, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“Virgil clearly trys to immitate Homer and does a decent job of it to some extent except that I never really cared about very many of his characters and whenever I did they were usually on the opposition of Aeneas, whom I was never able to stand. He shows such little backbone and even in the second half of the novel, which mirrors the Iliad I never buy in to Aeneas being this amazing warrior. He just doesn't stack up to Diomedes, Odessyus, Achilles, or Hector.”

Bethany M. Rosser wrote this review Saturday, March 7, 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“I've always loved the Grimm Fairy tales and when I discovered they were in Graphic Novel form I wasted no time purchasing this book. The artwork is beautifully done and the stories are filled with dark ironic little twists!”

Bethany M. Rosser wrote this review Monday, February 23, 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“I loved ther rest of the series and enjoyed watching the author grow in her writing. During every book there were those moments where I could really see that the characters were becomeing more in depth except of course where Carrie and Cyrus are concerned. Seeing her fall to his wicked charm every time he comes back from the dead irritated me to no ends of the earth and as for the ending of this series it's a total let down in my opinion. Death has no real meaning in this series. It went beyond being some crazy one time ritual and became so unreal that the stakes are all but obliterated. ”

Bethany M. Rosser wrote this review Friday, February 6, 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“This book definately made me realize things about The Iliad that I would have never even considered otherwise. It also sheds a light on Post Tramatic Stress Disorder and made me see exactly horrible Vietnam was. I always knew it was horrible but this book makes it more somehow.”

Bethany M. Rosser wrote this review Wednesday, February 4, 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“I really enjoyed this story. It's written in journaling format and lets the reader in to the inner most thoughts of the characters but having read the Norton Critical Edition I found the footnotes to be a little distraction because they always pointed out things that were not explained or discrepinces in the dates of the journal entries. I also found the ending to be a little...anitclimatic. I would have prefered more of a fight, I suppose. Somehow it just all seemed too easy.”

Bethany M. Rosser wrote this review Wednesday, February 4, 2009. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 4 stars

“The writing was a little simplistic and the characters entirely too two dimentional but the plot and the enjoyment of the narrator's perspective kept me going. I just really loved Carrie and Nathan and of course Ziggy. I hated her sire Cyrus and will never understand her attraction to this fiend. Overall it was an extremely easy read and reverts back to some of the orginal vampire conventions. Just like in Bram Stoker's Dracula the person isn't changed until their heart stops beating and it is a prosses and there is that connection between Sire and Fledgeling. I love what she's done with this connection and making the Blood Tie and all out mergeing of the vampire and the one who made him or her. The writing improves greatly as the series progresses and so for any first time readers who feel that the story lacks in some things hang in there because it is an enjoyable little series and worth the time to read.”

Bethany M. Rosser wrote this review Wednesday, February 4, 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“I absolutely loved this collection of essays about The Iliad, which happens to be one of my favorite Greek Poems. Homer is amazing and the essays in this book definately pose some interesting ideas about the Poem itself. ”

Bethany M. Rosser wrote this review Tuesday, February 3, 2009. ( reply | permalink )