The Academie

The Academie by Susanne Dunlap

SOLICITED ARC REVIEW

Published- 28th February 2012
Publisher- Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Pages- 368 pages (Paperback)

The Academie is a story told from different characters (Eliza, Hortense and Madeleine). Each chapter switches from 1 character to another out of those 3 characters. This is a lot different from her previous novels I have read as this is basically more of a romance novel. Her other novels have been full of intrigue, suspense and sometimes even murder. So it was a change for me to read a romance novel by Susanne Dunlap, but I really loved this novel.

This wasn't my favourite novel by Susanne so far, but it was still really good. Eliza was my favourite female character because she was fearless, brave, up for carrying out dangerous plans and desperately searching for someone to love her. However, Hortense and Madeleine were also looking for guys to love them. The character I didn't like much was Caroline because she was bossy, sometimes rude to people and didn't really do well in group situations. Although, I was happy that her character found love.

The guys in this story were genuine and lovely guys who only wanted to protect the girls they loved. However, in some cases throughout the novel this wasn't entirely possible. I wasn't really expecting the ending that the novel actually had, so that came as a bit of a surprise. The romance throughout the novel was good, but it was sad in some parts.

Overall, I gave this novel 4/5 stars. This was a brilliant novel, but there wasn't enough intrigue, suspense and tension for me. However, I found that this was a great romance novel and I don't normally tend to read romance novels. Although, I have read romance novels by Simone Elkeles and now Susanne Dunlap. It wasn't as good as Simone Elkeles's romance novels, but it was almost as good. Definitely worth a read if you love historical romance novels.

                                 Rating 4/5
   

In The Shadow of the Lamp

In The Shadow of the Lamp by Susanne Dunlap

SOLICITED ARC REVIEW

Published- April 12th 2011
Publisher- Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
Pages- 304 pages (Hardcover)

I did notice a few inconsistencies throughout this ARC such as female's changing from Mrs to Miss and Emma's soldier's name changing from Thomas to Robert in one scene. However, all these mistakes will be corrected in the finished version of the book I'm sure.

This book was the perfect mix of war and romance. The romance throughout the story contained Molly, Emma and their gentlemen. The premise of the story is about a group of nurses being sent to Turkey to help the wounded men from the Crimea War. Molly was the main character throughout the whole story, however Miss Nightingale did play a big role throughout this novel. Will was a good male character because he cares so much about Molly, whereas Dr Maclean helps Molly become a much better nurse in the warzone.

As this story progressed I kept trying to guess what would happen to each of the characters, but with some it was really hard to guess what was going to happen. This was good because it made me want to keep reading the novel just to find out what happens next. The ending was quite sad and makes you want to cry. However, the end of the novel is also really happy, so the ending is a mix of sadness and happiness. If you want to find out what I'm talking about then you will just have to read this novel to find out.

I really enjoyed the first novel I read by Susanne Dunlap which was The Musician's Daughter. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this novel. Susanne is a brilliant author and I love the way she writes because she puts so much description into her work. The scenes in her novels are very detailed, you find out a lot about the characters and there is a mix of war/crime and romance. By rating for this book is 5/5 stars and I would recommend this book to everyone. I really enjoyed it and I think you will aswell so everyone needs to go out and buy their own copy.

                            Rating 5/5
    

The Musician's Daughter

The Musician's Daughter by Susanne Dunlap

Published- December 23rd 2008
Publisher- Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
Pages- 352 pages (Paperback)

 

This book definitely gets 5 stars from me as I was just wanted to carry on reading every time I opened the book. It was filled with intrigue, corruption, murder and danger. You were always hoping that nothing bad would happen to Rezia (the main character). The intrigue came when you just had to know what happened to Rezia's father and how high members of society were involved in this and other horrible crimes. 

The writing was constant throughout the whole novel and it flowed at a really good pace. It was quick to read as the chapters were quite short and the text is medium sized. The characters were really good and I enjoyed reading the novel to find out what happened to Rezia, Mirela, Zoltan and Alida. The ending tied the whole story together and you found out what Rezia had planned for her future and whether her mother gave birth to her baby. If this book had more chapters I could have kept reading to discover what future adventures Rezia and Mirela had together. 

I really enjoy Susanne Dunlaps writing from what I have read in this novel. So I cannot wait to read 'In The Shadow Of The Lamp' (ARC), 'Anastacia's Secret' and any other novels released by Susanne Dunlap.

                              Rating  5/5