Well imagined and beautifully written
342969
A great read from an exciting author.  This book takes whisks the reader off into the magical and thrilling life of Zoe and joins her on her very earthly and otherworldly adventures.  This is well imagined and beautifully written.
2667929
I read a free sample of Beyond the Tempest Gate and quickly decided to buy it. The prose is clean and masterful and the characters quickly take on a life of their own. This story achieved that magical state of making me forget I was reading as I stood in the middle of my kitchen allowing the words to flow through me and the world they conjured to open up. Beautifully written deeply themed, with a well developed world and richly portrayed characters. It is a real treat and I will probably be buying the book so I can pass it out to friends who care about well written fantasy. You may find yourself wanting to read this one over as the themes and situations presented go much deeper then your usual fantastic tale. It is a short novel, but a good omen of things to come from the author.
2067340
It's a lovely book, full of rich imagery, beautiful writing, and a story to both warm and break the heart.  Truly a wonderful read.
1484163
The imagery is so rich and vivid that it transports one into another world and forever leaves that door open for re-entry.  It is well-crafted, beautifully written, and provocative on many levels.  This is such a unique book that it penetrates deeply into the reader's psyche and remains there, enriching one's sensibilities.
4323614
Beautiful iilustrations and intriguingly written!
3097799
I found this to be rich with layers and exquisite details.  It was so moving, so thoroughly engaging that I feel as though these characters are a part of me now.  I felt haunted by the ending; the sadness and the loss, the potential never realized: these have stayed with me.

The prose is superbly crafted: fresh, charming, inspired, honest.  It was a wonderful read.
4337220
The author does a fantastic job of creating the scene.  Through his writings you are actually able to imagine yourself in that setting.
1674235
Lorenes' well crafted and imaginative writing style created vivid images in my mind. The characters were real enough to make me think she was writing about people I have known. Yet they were fanciful enough to make a lively and entertaining story.
1220678
This is the third book in the Dyscrasia series by Lindberg, following after Lord of Dyscrasia and Spawn of Dyscrasia. Here again we find the combination of beautiful language and powerful imagination that informed the first two books. The result is a unique fantasy vision that is both artistic and effective. The Dsycrasia novels are hallucinogenic, dream-like, full of wraiths and apparitions. Ideas and images pile one on top of another with an intensity that is far from common in fantasy literature. I admire the authors ability to maintain that intensity throughout his works; his world-building never stumbles.

This volume also introduces Helen, a young girl who immediately evokes both sympathy and admiration. I liked this touch because it gives readers a very human character we could strongly root for. Most of the other characters are inventive and complex but not entirely human. They are fascinating, but not as easy for the reader to inhabit. Im looking forward to more adventures with Helen, and at the end of Daimones the author hints at things to come. I know there is a fourth book in the works. Im looking forward to it.
607009
The Way of Beauty is written way beautifully.

Ive been lucky enough to read all three of Di Maios books, and I can say that theyve all been incredibly well and beautifully written.

I thought the prologue of The Way of Beauty was incredibly potent, and cast an extra emotional edge to the rest of the story, especially Veras part. I loved seeing the world through five year old Veras eyes to start out with. There was plenty in that short beginning to introduce the setting and the lives of Vera and her family. It felt like an authentic view into the lives of immigrants in New York. This line, I thought, summed it up nicely, Milk and honey were not promises. They were luxuries.

The characters were all authentic and interesting and had something to add to the story.

There are some books that really know how to pack an emotional punch to me, and this is certainly one of them. Veras part especially found me clutching a tissue more often than not. I felt like she was always so good, always trying to do the thing that was right even at the great pain it caused herself.

Alices part of the story was also very emotional. She was growing into her womanhood, and became at war with herself over who she was and who she loved. I don't want to say too much since thats the last half of the book, and very interconnected to the first half.

While fictional, I felt this novel did more to interest me and teach me about the plight of people in the (mostly) early 1900s than any textbook ever has. It was also striking to see how much progress has been made, but also the parallels of progress that has yet to come or is currently underway. There were also mentions of the future by the characterstheir thoughts, dreams, or ideas which I thought were interesting to compare to what actually happened/is possible now.

Im so glad I was given a chance to read this book, and look forward to whatever the author comes out with next!

*I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
383558
Marjie is a wonderful writer with an imagination that leaps off the pages, making the world of the characters so vivid. You might look up from the book after reading, and be startled with your actual surroundings. The story is engrossing - you care for the characters, and want to know what happens in their lives as if they were close friends on a fascinating journey. That journey is multi-dimensional, we witness the outer movement of the characters as they traverse through various unknown landscapes as well as the inner, as they awaken and grow. Watching these layers unfold in the story is genuinely thought-provoking while the story itself is greatly entertaining.
4891635
It is a beautiful book - even before you get into the story itself. The author has told a rich and detailed story of magic and adventure that kept me reading to the end. I loved the detail and his wonderful imagination that has created new worlds and ideas. His is more than just a little magic and a drop or so fantasy, but the complex imaginings of how this new world view would all hang together...so adventure and a good think! Bravo!
330663
This book is rich in words and imagination. It gripped me from the first second and painted a picture so vivid it could have been a movie!
475474
This is my first sci-fi fantasy book as well as my first time reading Debra Holland; I was so pleasantly surprised! At first I was not very confortable being outside of my reading comfort zone, but Debra's writing is so beautiful that I was drawn in and thankfully came to the conclusion that this story is like a handmade quilt there are so many unique pieces when observed individually they may not seem significant or even that pretty but together they make the most alluring pattern that just makes sense. It draws you're attention to the individual elements but also to the picture as a whole. Set in a foreign fantasy land yet stitched with pieces of the familiar, I felt as if I was there. Debra has woven a beautiful story with intricate detail and Noah (the audiobook Narrator) helped bring it to life; allowing the reader to share in the joy and pain of the characters. I look forward to reading the other books in the trilogy and definitely more from this author.
251204
This is not so much a book of plot as it is a book of remembering and poking the feelings of growing up and learning about the world. I found much of the writing to be very beautiful and thought provoking.
2629413
This short novel will undoubtedly stand as one of Neil Gaiman's more beautifully written, poignant books. The protagonist is a middle-aged man leaving his father's funeral for a visit to his childhood home, where the memories of his seven year old self still linger. There, he recalls strange, dark adventures -- a friend who seemed much older than her eleven years, travels between worlds, a kindly grandmother who is more than she seems, a babysitter who turns out to be a monster in disguise, and that the kind of monsters who remove monsters can be even more dangerous.

The dark fairy tale aspects, which won't be a surprise to readers of Gaiman's other books, feel both vividly original and hauntingly familiar, the stuff of universal childhood pretend worlds and nightmares. In this novel, though, it seems, he's intentionally blurring the lines between the fantastical and the real (as opposed to unambiguously bringing fantastical elements into the real world). One could easily read this story as an allegory for childhood imagination and the way it shapes the rest of our lives, even after we outgrow it. If so, I found a lovely sadness in that interpretation. As kids, we are both tormented and protected by things in our inner worlds, which give shape to an adult world that we don't yet understand, until we ourselves are pulled into that world's trials and temptations. Will our adult lives be worthy of our original selves? Will we remember the light of our inner friends, the cruelty and deception of our inner enemies? Will we ever again meet what we left behind?

I found the gentle, bittersweet way Gaiman reflects on these questions touching. The things we remember from childhood may, in one sense, only be a small, weedy duck pond, but, in another sense, they're as big as an ocean, our foundational experience of being human.

And, of course, I can't neglect to mention how good Gaiman's reading of his own audiobook is. His throaty, enunciative voice is, well... him.
4468715
I just finished reading this book, and absolutely loved it. I won't detail the plot again, as many other reviewers have already done so. I'd just say that I got lost in this book, most enjoyably so (even though the book has many sadnesses in it).  It is beautifully written. I enjoyed the author's previous book "Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English" very much, but I enjoyed this one even more. I think the author's writing skill has grown considerably since the last book. The evocative descriptions of the English countryside are breathtaking. I also recommend reading the "Author's Note" at the end of the book first: knowing what it said made the book even more poignant.