Towers of Books Come Tumbling Down!
I love all kinds of books! For all my friends, I am known on GR as Alicja. I don't stick with a genre, that's boring. Instead you'll get reviews from the most random assortment of fiction and non-fiction works. It's probably due to my interests being as eclectic as my book tastes.
I'm a girlfriend-loving bisexual, science fiction geek, PC gamer, historical fiction devourer, hiker, atheist, history buff, opera lover, vegetarian, kayaker, metal and hard rock concert goer, science nerd, politics debater, world traveler, M/M romance fan, and I have the ability to transform from an adult-like hard-working professional into a screaming fangirl in five seconds flat.
Per Ardua by Jessie Blackwood
Rating: 2/5
Review: Obviously adapted from a Torchwood AU (yes, the real reason I bought it). And yes, I read Ifan as Ianto the whole time... As a piece of fanfiction it would have been five star fantastic. The setting in WWII (and post-WWII) and romantic. I was a little dissapointed on two accounts. One, I was hoping that there was going to be more military scenes. The book opens with a wonderful and accurate scene on board of a Lancaster aircraft. However, after that most references to the war are passing and scarce. Two, I was expecting a little more from a published book. There were some akward sentences and grammar structures and a vocabulary any 6th grader would easily understand. However, the book deserves three stars because the romance between "Jack" and Ifan is adorable and any TW Jack/Ianto fan would love it (I had the urge to white out Ifan and write in Ianto but then decided that would take longer than reading the entire book). They are very in character as far as an AU goes. All other major characters are easily recognized from Torchwood and I had extra fun guessing who was whom. However, for non-Torchwood fans this is AU enough so it can be enjoyed without ever watching an episode. Plus, it is nice to see fanfiction rise to being published work once in a while.