Bibliophile Support Group

Cleopatra's Moon is a YA historical fiction by Vicky Alvear Shecter. Cleopatra Selene is a princess. She is the only daughter of the revered, intelligent Cleopatra and the Roman General Marcus Antonius. Her people love her and her twin brother Alexandros, as well as their adorable little brother Ptolly. They are the picture of a happy, beautiful family for a people to look up to. And Cleopatra Selene has every intention of being just as powerful and brilliant a queen as her mother. But before that day even comes close the Roman ruler, Octavianus, sets out to destroy Cleopatra. At least that is how he is spinning it. Calling her a witch, a whore, and worse. He's determined to turn the people against her as he slowly gains approval for dismantling all that Cleopatra Selene's ever known and loved. Events turn horrifying, and after experiencing immense loss of life Cleopatra Selene and her brothers are taken to Octavianus's palace in Rome - a place of enemies. Yet as ...

Across the Great Barrier is the sequel to Patricia C. Wrede's YA prairie times fantasy Thirteenth Child . If you haven't read Thirteenth Child yet, I'd recommend heavily that you avoid this review. Why spoil yourself? Go read Thirteenth Child , and then you can come back! :) Otherwise, read on... Eff is finally getting over her fear of being a thirteenth child and therefore inherently evil. She's finally beginning to accept that all that superstition is just that - and she doesn't have to hurt anybody. But that still doesn't change the fact that she doesn't like attention. Attention used to be cruel. Even though now it is full of praise and wonder after she helped to rid the lands of the mirror bugs that were killing are the crops and making it impossible to live in the settlements, she'd still rather do without it. After all, her twin brother Lan (the seventh son of a seventh son, and therefore a powerful magician) is getting a bit jealous. But de...

Heartless is the first in the fantasy series Tales of Goldstone Wood written by Anne Elisabeth Stengl. I got the chance to read the sequel of Heartless ( Veiled Rose ) before this, which gave me an interesting perspective. I'd recommend reading it in order - but if not, it worked this way too. It has an overlapping story that influences the other in a lovely way - either way you read it. Princes Una of Parumvir is of age and is ready to begin being courted. Her father, the King, hasn't allowed any suitors before her eighteenth birthday - but now it's time to start welcoming them to the palace. The first one that arrives, however, is not the sort of prince she dreamed of. His name is Prince Aethelbald and he's sovereign over the strange and mysterious kingdom of Farthestshore - a place of magic and non-human citizens. But yet he has come to declare his love for Princess Una - before she's even tried to get over his ordinary looks and less than overtly charming pe...

With the Enemy is the third book in the middle-grade futuristic thriller series Tomorrow Girls written by Eva Gray. Since this is a serialized story, I'd recommend you not read this review unless you've already read the first and second book in the Tomorrow Girls series: Behind the Gates and Run for Cover . Otherwise, read on... Maddie has been kidnapped. Right in front of them - right at the abandoned mall they've been hiding out in. Why her? Why didn't they take all of them? Evelyn and the others are horrified, but filled with determination: they will get her back. It hasn't been that long since Evelyn, Rosie, Louisa, and Maddie escaped from CMS, the fancy school they realized was run by the enemy in the War - the Alliance. Since then they've met up with boys from a school similar to theirs, and they've just kept running. Their goal is to get home and warn their parents. But this group of thirteen-year-olds have quite a journey ahead of them. And...

A Necessary Deception is a new Regency England era historical romance by Laurie Alice Eakes. Lydia Gale feels like a failure at everything. She always disappointed her father with her "unladylike" painting. She married Charles Gale, despite being advised against it. And she failed as a wife. Now a young widow, Lydia doesn't necessarily miss her husband - their short marriage wasn't as love-filled as she had thought it'd be - but she does feel an obligation to his memory. That's why when given the opportunity to help a French prisoner that aided her husband in the war, she takes it. She helps him obtain parole. But then, shortly after, Lydia's told that the very man she assisted in leaving prison is a traitor to Britain and loyalist to Napoleon. Instead of focusing on her sister Cassandra's wedding arrangements and her youngest sister Honore's coming out to London Society, Lydia's Season is suddenly veiled in suspicions, blackmail, and espion...

Blood Magic is a YA horror/paranormal novel by debut author Tessa Gratton. High school Junior Silla is haunted by her parents' death. She was the first to find them. All that blood. Her brother Reese found her, blood soaking the tips of her hair. Hair she sheared off haphazardly afterwards, as all she could see was the blood. Everybody believes that her father shot her mother and then killed himself. But it doesn't make sense. They were in love. Her dad was well-liked and stable. It couldn't be true. Silla's past life of friends and flirting is over - now she's a ghost of her former self. But then a small, mysterious little book arrives for her. Inside are strange spells written in her father's handwriting. Every one of the spells asks for blood. Silla covets the book, reads it hungrily - desperate for answers to her parents' horrific end. She sets off to her parents' graves one night with some of the ingredients needed for one of the spells... and d...

Amen, L.A. is a YA contemporary novel by Cherie Bennett and Jeff Gottesfeld. Seventeen-year-old Natalie Shelton is used to being a minister's daughter in ordinary Minnesota, but after her Mom is offered a more lucrative position at the Church of Beverly Hills they pack up and head to California. It's a bit of a culture shock - but her sister Gemma and brother Chad are loving it. They're living in Ricardo Montalban's old mansion with a view of the ocean and finding themselves befriended by rich kids galore. Yet Natalie finds herself also making enemies, and managing to become friends with the one girl she's told not to. But she's a good girl and she has morals. Surely the glitz, glamour, and partying of Beverly Hills won't manage to suck her in. Right? I found Amen, L.A. to be a refreshing change from the usual Gossip Girl type fare. Instead, we get a girl as our main character who has real morals and is struggling with the fact that she compromised o...