Friday, December 4, 2015

Two more books, two short comments


Comment: This book was something borrowed in Portuguese again, this is a non-fiction study on the
history of PIDE, the political and state police during the dictatorship in Portugal and how it stalked, condemned, persecuted and judged many individuals who defied the regime. The torture and psychological effects of their actions still remain in the lives of those who were released after the revolution in 1974.
I liked the book, not because the theme is anything pleasant, but because the author did an exhaustive research, she presents countless facts, numbers and maps to better show her work. The book features the story of how the police begun to act and how it evolved, the people they were interested in, their biggest enemies and how they would treat the prisoners. What remains is that after all this work, after the tales of surviving prisoners, of former PIDE agents and the reality that came to life after the dictatorship ended, who knows the exact range of this police when so many papers and course of action won't ever come to light? Still, an interesting piece of work that has the issue of not centering more on personal testimonies.
Grade: 7/10

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Kirk Anderson likes living alone in his mountain cabin, or so he tells himself. He’s a monster, after all. How would he ever find a man who can deal with his other self—the wolf?
When a reckless young hiker named Leo gets his leg caught in an old bear trap, Kirk rescues him, tracking him down by scent alone. While Kirk takes care of his injuries, Leo’s bright, sunny presence slowly wears down all Kirk’s defences. But as the full moon rises, Kirk struggles between the urge to protect Leo and the demands of the wolf, who wants only one thing: to claim his mate…


Comment: This is a short story, the first installment in a series about werewolves, apparently. This short story focuses on Kirk, a werewolf who doesn't welcome his wolf and who lives alone because of it. One day he rescues Leo and he feels he's found his mate, he tries to hide that from him, but eventually Leo finds out. The story ends in a cliffhanger (for some people, sincerely I didn't feel that) because the action abruptly ends and the reader doesn't know what will happen unless we read the next book.
I don't think I will, and it feels rather sneaky to publish a story that doesn't really have a full structure of beginning, development, conclusion, but the sad thing for me is that some aspects were quite interesting and the couple's relationship seemed well on its way to be sweet and steady.
However, I feel this will fall into some clichés and that could annoy me, so I stay here and maybe in the future other series by the author could appeal more to me.
Grade: 4/10

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