Big News: Blog Move!

Hello there!

I know, it's been a while... but there's a reason behind it!

I've been wanting to open up a 'general' blog for a while now, feeling that my book blog felt too close to work for me. I mean, I read and write reviews for work, so doing the same thing on a blog was feeling more and more like double work. And, if it's not fun anymore, blogging has no sense, right?

So Midnight Caramel was born!










I will still post reviews over there, but only of the books that I LOVED. Which will be more positive. :)
And there will be recipes, I will share some lovely finds from the web, and also write a bit more about life in general.

You are welcome to come and check it out!

I want to thank all of you guys who have been following The Book on the Hill and commenting and being really really nice. Thank you so much.

Blogging here has been fun, I've met many amazing people through this blog and I will always be in love with the book blogging community! You are all amazing!

So, I bid farewell to the hill but I will leave the blog online so that all the reviews will still be available to everyone.

I wish you all a very merry Christmas!
And happy reading and blogging to all bookworms out there.

Love,
Charlotte.

PS : I've got some exciting news... *drumroll* I am now a TRANSLATOR! A real one! I'm currently working on the RAZORLAND trilogy by Ann Aguirre (from English to French). I translated ENCLAVE during the summer, and right now I'm working on OUTPOST. I am SO happy! And I'm still a reader, of course (wouldn't give this up for the world, at least not yet). Yay!

Monstrous Beauty (by Elizabeth Fama)

Monstrous Beauty
by Elizabeth Fama
Release date : September 4th, 2012 

Fierce, seductive mermaid Syrenka falls in love with Ezra, a young naturalist. When she abandons her life underwater for a chance at happiness on land, she is unaware that this decision comes with horrific and deadly consequences.

Almost one hundred forty years later, seventeen-year-old Hester meets a mysterious stranger named Ezra and feels overwhelmingly, inexplicably drawn to him. For generations, love has resulted in death for the women in her family. Is it an undiagnosed genetic defect . . . or a curse? With Ezra’s help, Hester investigates her family’s strange, sad history. The answers she seeks are waiting in the graveyard, the crypt, and at the bottom of the ocean—but powerful forces will do anything to keep her from uncovering her connection to Syrenka and to the tragedy of so long ago. (from Goodreads)

MY THOUGHTS : Oh my... Where do I start? The first thing that bothered me annoyed me made me sick was the grim and violent atmosphere. This book cover is gorgeous but, seriously, it doesn't look all pretty blue and green in the book! From the unbearable rape scene between man and mermaid to the lung-heart-eating, the crushed Adam's apples and the knife blows, honestly, I often gagged.

I agree that all tastes are in nature. I have absolutely no problem whatsoever with horror books (except that I don't read them, obviously, since it's not my cup of lungs tea). But the trouble is that MONSTROUS BEAUTY is NOT a horror book! It's supposed to be your usual paranormal-mermaid-YA book. And yet I thought everything was written and described in an unhealthy way.

Apart from this, I also thought there were many incoherences. I found the plot structure weak, the story often incomprehensible, the descriptions passable and the message negative and depressing. It was absolutely impossible for me to warm to the characters. The dialogues wore me out (especially the priest's, with his weirdly transcripted accent).

The worse thing about it all is that the story really had potential! The mermaid legend, the parallel between two periods, the malediction, the romance, the ending that could've been really surprising... Everything was there but, in my opinion, the way the plot was treated and executed didn't allow it to work.

MONSTROUS BEAUTY is one of those books that got on my nerves and made me feel angry... So, what can I say? You have to try it to decide for yourselves! If you've read it, I would love to hear what you thought!

French Friday (64)

Bonjour everyone,
Welcome to another round of French cover compare!
What do we have this week?

TOMORROW, WHEN THE WAR BEGAN by John Marsden
Translated as TOMORROW, QUAND LA GUERRE A COMMENCE

My thoughts: I've read this book and LOVED IT but, unfortunately, I think none of these covers does it justice. The original one looks too boyish and agressive to me, and the French one is simply... weird! I don't like the design of the characters either, it looks more like a video game than a book cover. Oh well.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?