Valentine's day

Valentine's day por ladybook usando post earrings

Do You Believe in Witches?

Do You Believe in Witches? por ladybook usando yves saint laurent lipstick

Sappho: the Divine Hetaira

Name of Birth:                                 Sappho, in greek Σαπφώ

Place of Birth:                                  Lesbos, Greece

Date of Birth:                                   625 BC

Place of Death:                                Unknown

Date of Death:                                 510 BC (?)

                Sappho, the greatest lyric poet of antiquity is probably also the first woman to do poetry in the history of Western culture.

                Little is known for certain about this remarkable woman. Some have imagined a beautiful woman of sculptural beauty. Others, not very pretty. But all agree that she possessed a formidable and attractive persona who, with her ​​beautiful black eyes, could even tame beasts! This is, however, the reason for her fame. Daughter of a wealthy family, she left her small hometown Eresso early, and moved to the capital of Lesbos, Mytilene, where she studied dance, rhetoric and poetry, which was then allowed only to aristocratic women. Although of noble birth, very little a woman could aspire at this time out of housework. But Sappho ... was Sappho! A woman with fire! Very young already had more notoriety due to her personal charms than her art.

At that time, Lesbos was ruled by the dictator Pitaco (the same as would be later included in the list of the Seven Sages of Greece). Sappho, accused of participating in a conspiracy against the dictator, was eventually exiled in the city of Pyrrha. The accusation was probably due more to the morality of Pitaco (very common characteristic among dictators) than politics, because, in fact, Sappho never devoted herself to politics. The dictator Pitaco, fearing her writing, sentenced her to a distant exile, off the island of Lesbos.

About this exile: Pitaco was the dictator of Mytilene, the largest of the five cities of Lesbos. Traders and less wealthy citizens overthrew the aristocracy, making Pitaco the dictator in the mold of his contemporary and friend Solon. Trying to return to power, the aristocrats conspired, and were defeated, their leaders were exiled, among them the poet Alcaeus and Sappho. Alceu would have been a poet who merges his art with politics in a style all its own that says alcaico and would clearly have been better known if it wasn’t for the greatness of Sappho ... In the first exile in Pyrrha, Alceu sent a loving invitation to Sappho: "Oh pure Sappho, crowned with violets and soft smile, I wanted to tell you something, but shame prevents me."

It is unknown if this affair had consequences, but that Sappho answered him, then: "If your intentions, Alcaeus, were pure and noble, and thy speech is able to express them, modesty would not be enough to repress them".

When she returned to Pyrrha, Sappho was soon exiled again, this time in Sicily. There she met a rich industrial and, as the current divas marry millionaires, Sappho married him. This powerful industrial doubly fulfilled his duties as a husband with Sappho, giving her a daughter, and soon after, leaving Safo as a widow and rich.

After five years in exile, she returns to Lesbos, where she soon becomes the leader of the local society, intellectually. Seductive, not gifted with the beauty in the Greek conception of the time (though Socrates had called her "Beauty"), Sappho was low and lean, black eyes and hair, and refined elegance, widowed and living in a society that had no moral rules as are conceived today.

On her return to Lesbos, Sappho would say, "I need the luxury like I need the sun." But she didn’t remain a long time in idleness and founded a school for girls of Mytilene’s high society. There, her students were instructed in music, poetry and dance, and called heteras or better hetairas, which in Greek mean friends or sisters.

Apparently, Sappho was an unparalleled and an inspired teacher. But also she loved to inspire her hetairas; Sappho was a great teacher. Then began the rumors in town about acts and practices adopted in the large school. Her favorite hetaira called Attis, was the first to be taken, angrily, by their parents. Everything fell apart quickly and the school ended. To Sappho, this was a terrible blow. Especially the loss of Attis, to whom she had an unstoppable passion. What a disgrace to Sappho was the initial spark that sublimated her poetry. She composed the "Farewell to Attis", considered today as one of the finest lyric of all time, which through the centuries has been the model of simplicity and sobriety style of writing.

So many millennia have passed after the life of this exceptional female figure, that mankind lived moments of glory and contempt about her art and personality. In 1073 her works, along with those of Alcaeus, were burned in Constantinople and Rome. But her poems were rediscovered in 1897.

Sappho was called a "courtesan" (prostitute), by Suidas. Some tell that she had committed suicide by jumping off a cliff on the island of Leucas, because of her unrequited love for the sailor Faonte - a fact that is also described in Menander, Strabo and Ovid. But there is consensus that this is truly mythic. Surviving manuscripts say that Sappho reached old age, and the fact is that no one knows how or when she died, being considered by some the greatest of all poets.

Among the Greeks which were her contemporaries and posterity, Sappho was considered a so-called "Nine Lyric Poets" (the others were: Álcman, Alcaeus, Estesícoro, Ibico, Anacreon, Simonides, Pindar and Baquílides). Strabo wrote that "Sappho was wonderful because of all the times we have knowledge about, I do not know of another woman that could be compared to her, albeit slightly, in terms of poetic talent."

As Homer was known as "the Poet," Sappho was known as "the Poetess."

In an immortal line that survived the fire of the Church and to undermine everything centuries, Safo said: "Hopelessly, like the starry night follows the rosy dawn, death follows every living being until finally catches up ..." And then came the silence, but neither fire, nor the centuries managed to erase her voice, nor forget her name: Sappho, the divine hetaira!

 

Some say they are nine muses. What a mistake!
Because they do not see that Sappho of Lesbos is the tenth?
- Plato

 

What creature is it that is
female in nature and hides
in its womb unborn children
who, although they are voiceless,
speak to people far away?

The female creature is a letter.
The unborn children are the letters
(of the alphabet) it carries. And the
letters, although they have no voices,
speak to people far away.”
― Sappho

The Fetch by Laura Whitcomb

Synopsis: Calder is a Fetch, a death escort, the first of his kind to step from Heaven back to Earth.The first to fall in love with a mortal girl. But when he climbs backwards out of that Death Scene, into the chaos of the Russian Revolution, he tears a wound in the ghost realm, where the spirits begin a revolution of their own.

My Thoughts: this is my first book that talks about the afterlife. When a person dies, a death escort appears and he or she has the duty to accompany the dead through the Aisle of the Unearthing, divided in five parts: the Theatre, the Feast, the Gallery, the Garden and the Cell. After all this, you’ll reach the Great River, where a boat and its Captain will be waiting to take you to Heaven. Calder is a death escort, someone responsible for the dead, but he never felt like he belonged there. He thought he was extremely lonely and craved for a friend, but he knew that he couldn’t break his Vows as a Fetch nor disappoint his Captain. But when one of his duties gives him the chance to go back to Earth, in the middle of the Russian Revolution, to the woman that he thinks is the one supposed to be his Star Fetch – his apprentice, a living person able to see and hear him – will he still be faithful to his Vows?

                As I said, this is my first afterlife novel and I must say I really liked it! And for the first time in my shelf, the protagonist is a male. Usually I get books that woman are the leading figures, so it was different to see. What I liked about it is the detailed description of the surroundings: the Selo Palace of the tsar’s family, the late 10’s California, Russia and England, everything is so detailed that it seems that the author actually lived there (though it’s impossible)! Another thing that I really enjoyed is the way that death is shown: not as a morbid thing – even though it’s sad – but as a passage to something much better. Each death sees its Aisle and Fetch differently: it can be a blond angel with silver wings in a corridor made of pure diamonds and rubies, or a warrior in a corridor full of Japanese paintings. Time is different too: It can be 1024 for years or 1570 in an hour.

                When Calder realizes that maybe the woman that he thought was meant to him actually wasn’t, how is he going to return to his Aisle? He has to take care of Anastasia and Alexis, remaining children of the tsar, and escort them to Heaven. Also, he has to stop the owner of Calder’s current body – which is Rasputin – before he starts a revolution inside the Land of Lost Soul – a place where all the souls that ran away from their escorts are – and before all those souls attack the Land of the Living. The scale is unbalanced and Calder has to put it back to its place.

                The only thing that lacked for me was the romance. It’s very subtle and you can almost miss it if you don’t read it carefully. Ana and Calder have two year difference, but that doesn’t really interfere in the scenes, but there is no kiss through the WHOLE book, except in the last chapter. I kept hoping for a kiss scene, but none came, and the only one was so quick that I couldn’t really see it!! It kind of reminds me of a 1910’s novel that I read when I was a teenager: its romance is very delicate and gentle, something that nowadays it’s hard to find, especially after the release of Fifty Shades of Grey – not saying that I don’t like the reading, I’m actually planning to read it, eventually.

                Last is the cover, which I don’t have a lot to talk about: the couple in the front is Calder and Ana, and the key represents the Fetch Key, that is able to open the door to the Aisle of the Unearthing. The Key is the thing that connects the whole book: when Calder gives the Key to Alexis and he passes it to Ana, she gives it to a soldier that was taking care of them in their prison, and to whom she had a crush. Now he is in CA, and without the Key, no one can go back to the Aisle. So Calder and the teens go on a journey around the globe in order to get it, but what if it wasn’t with the soldier? What if he sold it or lost it?

                That, my readers (if I have any), are for you to figure it out.

Rate:

What Price Love? by Stephanie Laurens

Synopsis: There is nothing more fascinating than a darkly handsome rake, especially one as controlled and elusive as Dillon Caxton, protege of Demon Cynster. Despite his dangerous air, Dillon is a man of sterling reputation, but it wasn't always so. Years ago, an illicit scheme turned into a nefarious swindle, and only the help of his cousin, Felicity, and her husband, Demon, saved Dillon from ruin. Now impeccably honest, he guards his hard-won reputation and is the Keeper of the Register of all racing horses in England. His standing and aloofness make Dillon undeniably desirable to young ladies, but despite all the lures thrown his way, he remains uninterested -- his attention unfixed.

                 Until "Miss Priscilla Dalling" erupts into his life. A stunning beauty, she affects Dillon as no other ever has, but what fascinates him even more is that this tempting young lady is clearly desperate, and equally clearly lying about wanting to see the Register to fulfill the whim of an eccentric aunt.

                 Lady Priscilla Dalloway will do anything to see what's in the Register -- even lie! Her twin brother, Russell, who had fought with their father and left the family home to work with the finest racehorses, has disappeared. Pris knows that clues to his whereabouts can be found in the tome Dillon Caxton refuses to let her see.

                 She unleashes her feminine wiles on Dillon -- to no avail. But Dillon is now determined to learn the truth behind her quest. Exploiting the powerful attraction that flares between them, he succeeds in convincing Pris to tell him all, to trust him with her twin's life. Together, Dillon and Pris locate Rus, only to discover that his life is being threatened by the perpetrators of a massive betting swindle.

                 The time is ripe for Dillon to repay old debts by helping another as he himself was helped. Assisted by Demon, Felicity, and Barnaby Adair, Dillon and Pris embark on a journey riddled with danger -- and undeniable passion -- as they seek to overturn the swindle and expose Rus's deadly enemies. And along the way they discover the answer to that age-old question: What price love?

My thoughts: this is a romance that I usually call “pastime book”. When you don’t have anything better to do and want to enjoy an adorable evening reading a romance, that’s the kind of book that I usually pick to read. However, I’m starting to see an established pattern: a beautiful couple that hates each other in the beginning, but falls in love at first sight and just realizes that by the end of the reading. The only thing that really impressed me was that this time, the man realizes first. Usually is the girl the first to discover that is in love.

                After Jane Austen came up with the base for historical romance in Pride and Prejudice, it seems that all the other novelists thought that they should follow the same road, and thus the romances lose its gentleness and became something not original. There isn’t a lot differences, except for the change of scenario and this was the first time that the romance spun around horses and jockeys. I really liked the commitment of the author in making the scenes related to the races as truthful as possible, even though I couldn’t understand much about the details since I never participated in a race like that, but it was very instructive.

                Caxton and Priscilla made a cute couple, but even before they REALLY became a couple, I sensed that Dillon had a very possessive felling towards Pris. It only became a sweet sensation, like one of caring and protection, after 2/3 of the reading. I consider the quantity and quality of the romance according to the quantity of words and gestures that I mark during the reading and this one didn’t have many.

                What I liked was the couple and their friends. Prue was a little joy: the oldest daughter of Demon and Flick Cynster, Prudence was quite a mind and is very straightforward. She reminded me of Georgia from Rescued, so I really had fun when she appeared (unfortunately, she didn’t have that many scenes). Dillon is H-A-N-D-S-O-M-E. Another thing that was kind of funny was the name of the male members of the Cynsters: Demon, Devil, Gabriel, Vane. Some were from hell and others from heaven! (O.K. I stopped already)

                Last, but not least, is the cover. It gives the air of mystery, and the girl of the cover, obviously represents Pris. The fan in front of her suggest that she is hiding something (that I won’t tell what) from the reader, and to find out, of course, you have to read it. And the red color symbolizing love and passion.

Rate:

 and a half

Shatter me by Tahereh Mafi

Synopsis: Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

                  The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

                 The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war– and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

                 Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

My thoughts: L-O-V-E-I-T! It’s beautiful, exciting, cute, adorable… everything! We are presented to Juliette, a girl with some sort of gift/curse where she can’t touch anyone. Because of that, she’s been imprisoned for more than 3 years, without ever seeing someone or even talking. Then, one beautiful day, she receives the news that she is going to have a new roommate, but instead of a girl, a super hot-cute-sweet guy named Adam shows up at her cell. She feels that she knows him, but doesn’t remember from where or when.

                Suddenly, her life takes a turn up and she finds herself free and dragged to the headquarters of The Reestablishment, where some guy named Warner has plans for her and her power.

                But she is not alone anymore, because Adam is with her. They have a past together – that I’m not telling, but I can tell that is beautiful and he is so reliable and trustful – and in order to be together, they have to fight Warner, his security, Adam’s colleagues from the army – for which he joined to find her – and the whole Reestablishment. He is immune to her touch, which make things very interesting, especially their scenes together.

                What I loved about this book are basically two things: the extremely detailed writing, telling about Juliette’s almost madness, her suffering, her desire for Adam. The author used many metaphors to express the girl’s desire for freedom. She kept imagining about a white bird with golden details that was flying away and she wished she could go with him. Sometimes I thought that she was the bird itself, after I thought that it represented her future, then Adam and so on.

                The second thing that I liked was the fact that the author is Islamic or Muslim, – I don’t know exactly which religion is the correct one – since these religions are very restricted when related to a woman’s will and voice. Although she is from California, I believe the religion’s beliefs don’t change that much. She is very creative and sensitive, her kissing scenes are very detailed, as well as the fighting, and Juliette’s thoughts are so deep that in the beginning I actually thought that I was her! Tahereh made a sensational romance, mixing X-men – [SPOILER] when Juliette finds the resistance and everyone has powers like her, it reminds me of the scene in the second movie of X-men, and Wolverine finds a place with all the mutants, that are “ruled” by Magneto – The Host from Stephanie Meyer, – when Melanie finds the hideout of the resistance, together with the guy that she likes (if I’m not mistaken) – and sci-fi.

                The only thing that I didn’t like was that, sometimes, she – Juliette – had very confusing thoughts, but I think that was all part of her madness, so I can’t actually blame her.

                The last thing that remains is the cover: very simple. Maybe too simple for me. After I finished my reading, I thought that if Juliette appeared with some rags, just showing her face and made some highlights in her eyes would be pretty cool too, like she was trying to hide herself, her powers – that she tries most of the time, except with Adam – but never forgetting who she was, what she was capable of doing, that even with her dark past, she was never going to forget about herself nor her beliefs.

Rate:

 

O Inverno das Fadas por Carolina Munhóz

Sinopse: EXISTEM PESSOAS NORMAIS em nosso planeta. Homens e mulheres simples que nascem e morrem sem deixar uma marca muito grande ou mesmo significativa na humanidade. Mas existem outros que possuem talentos inexplicáveis. Um brilho próprio capaz de tocar gerações. Como eles conseguem ter esses dons? De onde vem a inspiração para criar trabalho maravilhosos? São cantores com vozes de anjos, artistas com mãos de criadores e escritores imortais.

               Existe uma explicação para isso.

               Sophia é uma Leanan Sídhe, uma fada-amante, considerada musa para humanos talentosos. Ela é capaz de seduzir e inspirar um homem a escrever um best-seller ou criar uma canção para se tornar um hit mundial. A fada dá o poder para que a pessoa se torne uma estrela, um verdadeiro ícone, ao mesmo tempo em que se aproveita da energia do escolhido para alimentar-se.

               Causando loucura.

               E MORTE.

Minha opinião: eu gostei bastante do enredo, que possui um conteúdo muito grande com relação a fadas etc. Até então, pra mim só existiam fadas e ponto e não esse monte de subcategorias que a autora nos traz.

                Nós somos apresentados a Sophia Coldheart, uma fada-musa, que seduz suas caças de modo a conseguir a energia delas através do trabalho delas na área da arte. Normalmente seus alvos são escritores, artistas e pessoas relacionadas à área. Então quando sua próxima caça aparece na forma de William Bass, um jovem escritor com futuro promissor na pequena cidade de Keswick, Sophia já sabe da rotina. Mas algo em Will lhe afeta de uma maneira que ela nunca pensou ser possível, ainda mais sendo ela uma Leanan Sídhe: ela se apaixona por ele. William é um rapaz fofo e dedicado ao seu trabalho, que é administrar um sebo que é do pai, além de extremamente carinhoso, romântico e gentil. Ele é convocado para participar de um concurso literário e resolve escrever um romance, tendo a ajuda de Sophia, em seu inconsciente. Ela o influencia a escrever para obter energia dos seus textos. Se ela quiser que fiquem juntos, ela terá de lutar para que ele sobreviva ao seu encanto e ele terá de ser forte o suficiente para aguentar.

                Como disse, eu adorei o enredo. Ele é muito bem redigido, – pelo fato da autora ser jornalista, isso não me surpreende – mas eu o achei pouco dinâmico e um pouco cansativo de início. Só a partir da metade da obra que as coisas ficaram mais intensas e menos estáticas. Há muito poucas falas e pelo fato de ser um livro em terceira pessoa, uma quantidade maior de falas leva a um maior dinamismo que leva a uma intensidade e força de atração ao leitor muito maior. Esse foi o principal defeito e que afetou minha crítica. A autora está extremamente interada dos assuntos atuais como Tolkien, Rowling etc, e isso eu achei muito interessante por trazer o leitor a se identificar com a estória.

                E finalmente, a capa. Ela foi meu principal atrativo por dois motivos: a cena ser feita no inverno, minha estação favorita, fazendo menção ao fato de que o poder das Leanan Sídhes ser mais forte e letal durante o período; e em segundo, pela aura de misticismo dela. A capa faz realmente trazer à tona a sensação de há algo místico nos rondando, mas que não é possível ver ou sentir através dos sentidos, apenas saber que está aí. A moça da capa é a representação de Sophia, numa das cenas em que ela tenta se comunicar com o reino das Fadas, além de outras cenas em que ela aparece utilizando a mesma capa.

Nota: