The Friday Society

Rating: Swearing and kissing, I guess, but only in minor quantities.

4 Lemons- Lemon ice

Summary: In an alternate steampunk past, three girls work as assistants to powerful London society men. Mainly they're ignored, seen as ornaments rather then thinking, you know, people. But, as these things often happen, they keep running into each other, as well as the dead bodies in a string of connected murders. There's (and yes, I'm doing the listing format a lot now. It's useful when describing several characters.) :

-Cora, who works for Lord White who when he's not working in parliament is a inventor of deranged weapons, a former flower seller with a nasty temper,

-Nellie the flirty magicians assistant who can pick any lock and scale any building,

-And finally Michiko an immigrant from Japan who has no choice but to work for her horrible boss in a job because it's the only way she'll be allowed to fight.

So it's up to these intrepid three to save the day, have some fun, and kick some serious-

Review: Okay, I'll admit. I'm biased. It's a steampunk book! So if you're not in the mood for gadgets, goggles, and gizmos, though I know almost no one who isn't, you might like this book slightly less. The characters are varied and each of the girls has a distinctly different personality rather then the sadly prominent cookie-cutter generic brand to satisfy all, which ends up leaving everyone feeling 'meh'. Also, it's funny so there's that too. Once again, unfortunately, my favorite part was something that will ruin the book if I say it... so... twiddling our thumbs here. Okay, it was kind of annoying how all of them were constantly described as being pretty. Yes, that probably got you places in London society, yes, it's a fantasy, yes, I'm all for a positive body image, yes it makes sense in Nellies case, but I'd like more books where the heroine either a) just, you know, isn't described as either ugly or pretty and I bring up the ugly thing because dear Lord (Note: Doesn't happen in this book, another positive thing) if I read b) the hero tell her she's ever so pretty and it turns out she's secretly the most beautiful thing in the world ever.

Okay. Off topic. This is a good book, if with minor faults and I suggest trying it.

EL32

Rating: Swearing

3.5 – Um... Like melted lemon ice mixed with Lemonada? That doesn't really sound good, but it is in book form.

Summary: In the far off future Service Bringers live in ELs, or Endless Libraries, where they roam without purpose and read the banned books that line the shelves. The story follows four teenagers (and someone else) and their quest to escape.

Lilly, who wants to feel like a real person and not just some mindless slave.

Sam, who is probably insane (and without a doubt Lemon's favorite character) and is desperate to escape, no matter what.

Dolores, the youngest kid in the group, remembering what happened as an old woman on her deathbed.

And finally Virginia, who is the only one with memories about the world outside the library and who possibly knows more then she's writing down.

This story is interestingly told through interviews, journal entries, and letters from the future.

Review: This story is only about 10,000 words, putting it in the short story category, but it's one heck of a ride. Alright, sadly one of my biggest enjoyments out of this was something I can't talk about (“Spoilers, darling”) but the story is good without that. While I admit my favorite character, as mentioned earlier, is Sam there are some other good ones in there. And I might be biased to crazy people who scream at books... not that I'm one of those people or anything. It has some great moments of comedy and some actual drama to, sometimes within a hundred words of each other. This books small faults stem mainly from hints, namely that infuriating feeling where you're trying to figure out a puzzle and two of the corner pieces are missing. The set up is great, the middle lags a bit, and the ending requires some though and tracing back the clues. Another thing is that some things aren't explained too much, but they're a minor part of the plot so it doesn't affect the overall story. All in all, a great way to pass winter break as you try to figure out what's outside the library.

We're Not Dead!

Ta-da!

Okay, this isn't a review, it's sort of a prequel thing. Lots has happened since we last updated, not the least of which was Lemon switching schools and doing Nanowrimo (and failing at doing so). A review will be up shortly, but we want to take this chance to apologize to anyone who emailed us. We haven't checked it in forever and will soon be doing the Great Unearthing. So please don't be mad!