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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
Nothing short of 5 stars for this one! The only issue that I have would be the story about the sword. I thought the whole sword thingy didn't serve any purpose.
This book gave me all the feels and the MCs were great. Just 2 lonely souls who happened to come across each other and fell in love. It was a fantastic read.
This book gave me all the feels and the MCs were great. Just 2 lonely souls who happened to come across each other and fell in love. It was a fantastic read.
This book became very close to being on my 'hero is a jerk' shelf. That, among a few other quibbles kept this from being a 5 star book. But really Laura Kinsale's writing has impressed me again, especially with how ridiculous the plot is. For starters, the hero is a blond Englishman by birth who has grown up in Hawaii and is a fricking NINJA! Laura Kinsale seems to like creating highly original romance heroes and heroines. However, I found the writing well done and worthy of at least 4 stars, regardless of it's ridiculousness.
Laura Kinsale is a goddess. Do I really need to write more of a review than that? ;) She can take the craziest sounding premise -- in this case the love story of a former child prostitute/white Hawaiian ninja and a prim and proper Victorian Englishwoman -- and spin something deep and rich and emotionally truthful out of it. Complex characters, beautiful prose, heart-wrenching emotion, exotic locations, a bit of adventure...classic Kinsale, in other words.
This novel is a follow-up to The Hidden Heart, and the hero and heroine of that story play an important part in The Shadow and the Star. The hero of this second book is Samuel Gerard, the child prostitute "Sammy" who we saw a few times in The Hidden Heart. Tess and Gryf, now Lord and Lady Ashland, find Sammy and take him into their home in Hawaii, raising him as a foster son alongside their own two children. The flashback chapters to Samuel's childhood, especially his worshipful relationship with his beloved mother-figure Tess, are beautiful and heartbreaking. Samuel is a sweet boy and becomes a good, honorable man -- one with some very special skills taught to him by the Ashlands' Japanese butler -- but he still struggles with the memories of his pre-Hawaiian childhood. He demonizes himself as he grows up and starts having sexual feelings. For him it's all tied up with the horrors he experienced as a young boy.
The heroine, Leda Etoile, is probably my favorite of the Kinsale heroines I've encountered so far, at least in terms of sheer likability. There's something sweet and dear about her, with her struggles to maintain her dignity and morals in the midst of encroaching poverty. She was an orphan raised by a genteel spinster, and while she can be a bit of a Victorian Miss Priss as a result (she can't bring herself to use the word "leg" when describing a table, for instance), it was never off-putting to me. The way she meets and gets to know Samuel is very unusual, and I love the way their friendship unfolds. (His first gift to her made me cry!)
Of course eventually friendship becomes something more complicated, when Leda falls hopelessly in love with Samuel, who is determined to marry the Ashlands' daughter Katherine (Kai), and Samuel starts feeling things for Leda that he never has for Kai. He had envisioned a chaste marriage with Kai, whom he idolizes for her purity and innocence, and when he has lustful, mixed-up feelings for Leda, he doesn't know how to handle them. The scene in which Leda and Samuel have sex for the first time is as ringing an endorsement for providing young people with sex ed as I can think of. Those two poor clueless people! Their actions lead to a forced marriage, which actually turns into something beautiful and loving, and then goes awry, and then comes back together again...
In the midst of all this, there's a plot line about a stolen Japanese sword and Samuel's involvement in that, and it's interesting, but the plot is really in service to the character development, not the other way around, and that's just the way I like it.
If I have one complaint about the book, it's that the resolution of Leda and Samuel's marital issues, and in particular of Samuel's deep-seated conflict over his sexual desires, feels a little rushed at the end. Normally I don't care for epilogues, but this is one book where I was really hoping to flip to the page after the last chapter and find one! I just needed a little bit more. Still, overall this is a gorgeous, moving book. Highly recommended.
This novel is a follow-up to The Hidden Heart, and the hero and heroine of that story play an important part in The Shadow and the Star. The hero of this second book is Samuel Gerard, the child prostitute "Sammy" who we saw a few times in The Hidden Heart. Tess and Gryf, now Lord and Lady Ashland, find Sammy and take him into their home in Hawaii, raising him as a foster son alongside their own two children. The flashback chapters to Samuel's childhood, especially his worshipful relationship with his beloved mother-figure Tess, are beautiful and heartbreaking. Samuel is a sweet boy and becomes a good, honorable man -- one with some very special skills taught to him by the Ashlands' Japanese butler -- but he still struggles with the memories of his pre-Hawaiian childhood. He demonizes himself as he grows up and starts having sexual feelings. For him it's all tied up with the horrors he experienced as a young boy.
The heroine, Leda Etoile, is probably my favorite of the Kinsale heroines I've encountered so far, at least in terms of sheer likability. There's something sweet and dear about her, with her struggles to maintain her dignity and morals in the midst of encroaching poverty. She was an orphan raised by a genteel spinster, and while she can be a bit of a Victorian Miss Priss as a result (she can't bring herself to use the word "leg" when describing a table, for instance), it was never off-putting to me. The way she meets and gets to know Samuel is very unusual, and I love the way their friendship unfolds. (His first gift to her made me cry!)
Of course eventually friendship becomes something more complicated, when Leda falls hopelessly in love with Samuel, who is determined to marry the Ashlands' daughter Katherine (Kai), and Samuel starts feeling things for Leda that he never has for Kai. He had envisioned a chaste marriage with Kai, whom he idolizes for her purity and innocence, and when he has lustful, mixed-up feelings for Leda, he doesn't know how to handle them. The scene in which Leda and Samuel have sex for the first time is as ringing an endorsement for providing young people with sex ed as I can think of. Those two poor clueless people! Their actions lead to a forced marriage, which actually turns into something beautiful and loving, and then goes awry, and then comes back together again...
In the midst of all this, there's a plot line about a stolen Japanese sword and Samuel's involvement in that, and it's interesting, but the plot is really in service to the character development, not the other way around, and that's just the way I like it.
If I have one complaint about the book, it's that the resolution of Leda and Samuel's marital issues, and in particular of Samuel's deep-seated conflict over his sexual desires, feels a little rushed at the end. Normally I don't care for epilogues, but this is one book where I was really hoping to flip to the page after the last chapter and find one! I just needed a little bit more. Still, overall this is a gorgeous, moving book. Highly recommended.
That was one weird ass book. I don't even know what to rate it. I almost DNFd around 30% in. But then it sucked me in and I couldn't stop turning pages. 3.5 stars?
That was one weird ass book. I don't even know what to rate it. I almost DNFd around 30% in. But then it sucked me in and I couldn't stop turning pages. 3.5 stars?
This is one of the more darker, sadder romances that I've read in awhile. In a lot of romances it's easy to make a tortured hero melodramatic, but this isn't the case here. (That's saying A LOT, because he becomes a ninja of all things.) Your heart just breaks for the hero and you just want him to live happily ever after.
OH MY GOSH, this book was amazing. It would have been fantastic to read in print or ebook version to be sure--but in audio? Un-freaking-believable. Seriously, I think I would listen to Nicholas Boulton read the backs of cereal boxes and be perfectly content--he's that good. His British accent is killer, but when he seamlessly switches to American? I have no words.
But enough swooning--for now. Back to the book :)
Laura Kinsale has a way of writing flawed, troubled characters that is both heartbreaking and amazing at the same time. These two are no exception. Both Samuel and Leda practically reduced me to tears more than once during the course of the novel.
Samuel had a devastating past, which is revealed in part as the novel progresses. He has moved beyond it in many ways, growing up to be a successful--if relentlessly focused--man, accepted by the society in which he lives. He is deeply ashamed of his background, however, and it colors his perception of himself in everything he does. He does not believe that anyone who truly knows who he is can love him.
Leda had a similar backstory in that she too was an orphan and grew up believing that her origins--her mother was French and never married her father--would forever taint how others would see her. She felt that being half French meant that she was a flawed individual, and that others would see her as a person with loose morals. As a result, she strives to be perfectly correct in all that she does. When the book begins, her situation is the reverse of Samuel's--she went from having a somewhat comfortable upbringing (not with her mother, who passed away when she was young, but with a gently impoverished society lady who had taken her in afterwards but unfortunately died before the story began) to being unemployed and nearly destitute.
The two officially meet on Leda's last day at her job at a London dressmaker, just before Leda refuses to become a mistress to a wealthy man so she can pay for the gown she is required to wear for work.
Books like this make me soooooo glad I work in the 21st century instead of the 19th.
The story is told from Samuel and Leda's viewpoints, and the first half or so also gives us some views of Samuel's past. We see how he came to live with the Ashtons, a British aristocratic family living in Hawaii and his training in Japanese ways by their servant Dojun (he essentially becomes a white ninja in Victorian England--seriously, how cool is that??), and his complicated relationship with the daughter of the house, who he has a serious case of worship for but who is obviously not the right girl for him.
Not that he sees this. Like, ever. Really, besides the fact that this novel ended way too abruptly (though it did end at a really adorable spot I naturally wanted more) my only other complaint is that Samuel never does have that aha! moment where he admits--whether to Leda or to himself--that what he felt for Catherine wasn't what he had deluded himself it was. It was slightly disappointing.
Really, though, the rest of the book so blew me away that I couldn't even take away a half a star for it. The writing is exquisite, and the characters were fantastic. Leda's unique blend of innocent virgin and old-lady prudishness (because, hello--she was raised by an elderly spinster in the Victorian era) was absolutely endearing. The settings--England during the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and colonial Hawaii--were amazing. The politics and history...well, to be honest, some of the Japanese and Hawaiian bits went right over my head, but Mr. Bouton's reading had me loving hearing about them anyway.
Like I said, cereal boxes. But I digress.
I suppose I can see how this book--and probably Laura Kinsale's books in general--aren't for everyone. Samuel and Leda's romance isn't quite the focus of the novel in the way that is customary in a "typical" historical romance. But in spite of this--or actually, it's probably because of this, more accurately--her characters end up feeling a lot more true to their time period. Leda definitely doesn't have any 21st century notions as so many historical heroines tend to do, and I can see how modern readers might be frustrated with her. To me, though, she came across as charmingly authentic...even as her innocent ignorance broke my heart. Samuel too is a different kind of hero from the usual, and it makes him feel more real as well.
(Though the whole ninja thing detracts a bit from the realism. Whatever. It's still totally cool.)
Samuel's relationship with his adopted mother, Lady Tess (Lady Ashton), is fantastic. I loved every single scene with the two of them in it--especially the ones where it was just the two of them. The gifts he gives her? Beautiful.
I'm still not sure how I feel about Dojun, though. Many of his teachings that become such a part of Samuel's consciousness really raised some red flags, and by the end of the novel he had definitely lost much of his shine for me. He's lucky I couldn't reach inside the novel and smack him upside his manipulative head.
Although I'm sure he would have seen me coming a mile away and easily deflected. Still, I'd have liked to have had the chance.
I was about halfway through with this book when I realized that it was actually second in a series--Lady Tess's story is told in The Hidden Heart, which I absolutely must read. I am doing things backwards, as always. The only question is--will Mr. Boulton be reading an audio version of that one as well? If so, will I be able to wait for it?
Only time will tell. In the meantime, I may have to go re-listen to a few bits. Just in the interest of--well, something. Something that makes it sound much more noble than gratuitous swooning.
I won a copy of the audiobook version from the author through Sarah at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books as part of their Thanksgivukkah celebration. All opinions expressed here are my own, however.
But enough swooning--for now. Back to the book :)
Laura Kinsale has a way of writing flawed, troubled characters that is both heartbreaking and amazing at the same time. These two are no exception. Both Samuel and Leda practically reduced me to tears more than once during the course of the novel.
Samuel had a devastating past, which is revealed in part as the novel progresses. He has moved beyond it in many ways, growing up to be a successful--if relentlessly focused--man, accepted by the society in which he lives. He is deeply ashamed of his background, however, and it colors his perception of himself in everything he does. He does not believe that anyone who truly knows who he is can love him.
Leda had a similar backstory in that she too was an orphan and grew up believing that her origins--her mother was French and never married her father--would forever taint how others would see her. She felt that being half French meant that she was a flawed individual, and that others would see her as a person with loose morals. As a result, she strives to be perfectly correct in all that she does. When the book begins, her situation is the reverse of Samuel's--she went from having a somewhat comfortable upbringing (not with her mother, who passed away when she was young, but with a gently impoverished society lady who had taken her in afterwards but unfortunately died before the story began) to being unemployed and nearly destitute.
The two officially meet on Leda's last day at her job at a London dressmaker, just before Leda refuses to become a mistress to a wealthy man so she can pay for the gown she is required to wear for work.
Books like this make me soooooo glad I work in the 21st century instead of the 19th.
The story is told from Samuel and Leda's viewpoints, and the first half or so also gives us some views of Samuel's past. We see how he came to live with the Ashtons, a British aristocratic family living in Hawaii and his training in Japanese ways by their servant Dojun (he essentially becomes a white ninja in Victorian England--seriously, how cool is that??), and his complicated relationship with the daughter of the house, who he has a serious case of worship for but who is obviously not the right girl for him.
Not that he sees this. Like, ever. Really, besides the fact that this novel ended way too abruptly (though it did end at a really adorable spot I naturally wanted more) my only other complaint is that Samuel never does have that aha! moment where he admits--whether to Leda or to himself--that what he felt for Catherine wasn't what he had deluded himself it was. It was slightly disappointing.
Really, though, the rest of the book so blew me away that I couldn't even take away a half a star for it. The writing is exquisite, and the characters were fantastic. Leda's unique blend of innocent virgin and old-lady prudishness (because, hello--she was raised by an elderly spinster in the Victorian era) was absolutely endearing. The settings--England during the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and colonial Hawaii--were amazing. The politics and history...well, to be honest, some of the Japanese and Hawaiian bits went right over my head, but Mr. Bouton's reading had me loving hearing about them anyway.
Like I said, cereal boxes. But I digress.
I suppose I can see how this book--and probably Laura Kinsale's books in general--aren't for everyone. Samuel and Leda's romance isn't quite the focus of the novel in the way that is customary in a "typical" historical romance. But in spite of this--or actually, it's probably because of this, more accurately--her characters end up feeling a lot more true to their time period. Leda definitely doesn't have any 21st century notions as so many historical heroines tend to do, and I can see how modern readers might be frustrated with her. To me, though, she came across as charmingly authentic...even as her innocent ignorance broke my heart. Samuel too is a different kind of hero from the usual, and it makes him feel more real as well.
(Though the whole ninja thing detracts a bit from the realism. Whatever. It's still totally cool.)
Samuel's relationship with his adopted mother, Lady Tess (Lady Ashton), is fantastic. I loved every single scene with the two of them in it--especially the ones where it was just the two of them. The gifts he gives her? Beautiful.
I'm still not sure how I feel about Dojun, though. Many of his teachings that become such a part of Samuel's consciousness really raised some red flags, and by the end of the novel he had definitely lost much of his shine for me. He's lucky I couldn't reach inside the novel and smack him upside his manipulative head.
Although I'm sure he would have seen me coming a mile away and easily deflected. Still, I'd have liked to have had the chance.
I was about halfway through with this book when I realized that it was actually second in a series--Lady Tess's story is told in The Hidden Heart, which I absolutely must read. I am doing things backwards, as always. The only question is--will Mr. Boulton be reading an audio version of that one as well? If so, will I be able to wait for it?
Only time will tell. In the meantime, I may have to go re-listen to a few bits. Just in the interest of--well, something. Something that makes it sound much more noble than gratuitous swooning.
I won a copy of the audiobook version from the author through Sarah at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books as part of their Thanksgivukkah celebration. All opinions expressed here are my own, however.
I enjoyed this. I did. But it dragged so much. Having read Kinsale's Flowers from the Storm, which I adored, I had high expectations for this and it just didn't live up. I'm 100% behind tortured male protagnoists. I'm 100% behind psychologically tormented characters. For some reason this book just never really hit home for me. It had huge bursts of plot and then dragged. I found myself skimming sections. By no means is this a bad a book but unlike my previous Kinsale read this just did not work for me.