Review: Beautiful Horror
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 30, 2013
R Lee Smith's writing is so far above most that is out there, its very difficult to give her less than five stars. It feels like every sentence and word is carefully thought out and there are a lot of them. All of her books are long and engrossing. Even when you want to skip forward, because you want the story to move on, you can't because there is depth in every sentence. So you are held prisoner to the story even the gory parts.  I loved this book, but it didn't grip me until the 10% mark, then I couldn't put it down! Mara is a very strong character and she is very powerful with no vulnerabilities. The Scholomance is horrific, a weaker Heroine would of made this a very unappealing book. Mara needed to be strong so she is not preyed on...because what the other humans are subjected to created enough horror for the reader.... It was very refreshing sharing space in Mara's head. Loved Kazuul, but I really wanted more at the end there. However the end was bittersweet...very fitting for our "Bitter Waters".