Tuesday, January 10

Mastiff: Book Review

by Tamora Pierce

The Legend of Beka Cooper gives Tamora Pierce's fans exactly what they want—a smart and savvy heroine making a name for herself on the mean streets of Tortall's Lower City—while offering plenty of appeal for new readers as well.

Beka and her friends will face their greatest and most important challenge ever when the young heir to the kingdom vanishes. They will be sent out of Corus on a trail that appears and disappears, following a twisting road throughout Tortall. It will be her greatest Hunt—if she can survive the very powerful people who do not want her to succeed in her goal.

Moments Divine:
"All this torture of a little boy for a bloody chair and the ability to tell others what to do!  Who among the sane would want such a life?  ho would want the burden of so many lives and decisions?"
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"I don't like it, either. Mama says it helps if I imagine them all in their loincloths."
The thought horrified me. Folk don't look nearly as good unclothed as they think they do.  "Does it help?" I asked him.
"No, but I tell Mama it does so she can be happy," he explained


I have waited for this one so long I had forgotten why it was I wanted to read it so much.  That and the fact that is near 600 pages really made me want to reconsider my choice of reading material.  Well, 600 pages later I am quite happy I persevered.  I absolutely love the characters, the world, the language, the action, and just about everything in this set of books.  Beka's dirty mouth cracks me up.  I even went through the effort of reading the glossary at the end.  I found myself using many of the same words when talking about something in reality.  I didn't realize it until I received a blank look from my husband.  Then he would point out that I had just used a word that either didn't exist or was totally new to him.
As far as the length of the book, I kept trying to figure out what could have been removed to trim it down.  But over and over, I just craved every piece of detail.  All of that intricate detail made it possible for the book to draw tears from me on two occasions.  The romance in this book was just sweet.  And that is on two parts.  It seems love has the power to build us up and also destroy.  A good lesson that came at a cost to some.  I most definitely recommend reading this book.  You will love meeting Beka and dogging her step by step.