Rating: 
Summary: Wow... again!
Review: When I first read this book I enjoyed it, but now I've just finished it for the second time, and I'm ashamed I only enjoyed it before. This is a magnificent story, and Phedre is simply an awesome character.
Rating:
Summary: Not for faint-of-heart readers today
Review: This is a great book. The first hundred pages or so are a little dry with the background infromation and everything and the characters but after that it picks up... and it flies. For such a long book it keeps you sucked in which is an accomplishment for having 901 pages. The plot never thins throughout it and it keeps an interesting array of characters to oppose the antagonist. The characters are almost real people. They're not flat like some novels, but they give them an insight to their thoughts and the way they think. However, younger readers nowadays faint at the thought of reading a book that big. They flipp. People complain about how much sex it has in it, which really isnt' that much compared to everyday life. Sex is a part of life and in our world it is everywhere. This book isn't immoral at all. If you don't like risky novels, too many characters, or deep writing, I wouldn't suggest this book. But i will say you don't know what you're missing. It is beautiful written with deep thoughts and an excellent vocab along with many complex characters. It is an accomplishment for Carey. If you want a good story, not a ideal-world fantasy or a "everything is nice and smells like roses", or ideal-society but one that has plots, strength, love, fueds, and a little action this is an excellent book. I eagerly look forward to Choosen and the third.
Rating:
Summary: Fantasy, Eroticism, Aventure... Blessed Elua, I'm captivated
Review: It's a truly amazing novel. An adventure unlike any other. Jacqueline Carey invites us in a wonderful world of alternative religion, based on Christianism. Elua is the son of Christ, born from his blood upon the cross and from mother Earth.
He founded a city, or is it a country? Regions depending on which of his disciples' views you follow.
Phedre no Delaunay is an amazing person, with a will of iron, great determination, and a student of the arts of Naamah.
The book is her life's adventure. How she was born and bred, where and how she was brought up, an adept of the Night Court in the city of Elua. A magical story!!
Beware : you will not sleep to live through her eyes for an hour longer. Phedre is an obsession. I am in love... :)
Rating:
Summary: kushiel's dart
Review: A racing novel by Jacqueline Carey, 'Kushiel's Dart' is the first in a thrilling trilogy. The heroin, Phe'dre no Delauny, is a sexual masochist, one struck by Kushiel's dart. In her world, politics and religion are two high ranking things.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book because of the exquisite writing; deep, intricate plot, and lovely characters.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous
Review: When first recommended this book I was a bit questionable as I normally prefer more of the Sword and Sorcery type fantasy. Through about the first fifty pages or so I was still quite questionable. As I was reading it had my interest, though I had no idea what was really going on. Though after about the first fifty pages it stopped with a lot of the background info that was needed and started the proper story. Once things started to get into the masses of court intrigue I was hooked. The story moved along at a great pace making it hard to put the book down much of the time. Carey places you into a world of fantasy that is heavily based around ancient times of Europe. While it pulls from the fantasy some with placing it in the normal world it also added a great deal of interest in the book with figuring out the places and religions that were being described. This book takes you through mounds of royal court intrigue along with a nice blend of erotic fantasy. This book had my attention from the first page and the same day I finished it I went and bought the second book Kushiel's Chosen. I have highly recomended it to my friends and family.
Rating:
Summary: Read the warning label, people!
Review: Ok, yes, I am one of those people who raves madly about this book. However, I would also like to put out a call to all of those who hated it merely for its emphasis on sexuality. The blurb on the book states that Phedre's sexuality is tightly wound up in pain, and yet many readers seem surprised when they learn this to be true! However, just because the sexuality of this world often drives the plot in directions which are "not for the faint of heart" (I quote the reviews INSIDE the book itself) does not mean that there is nothing behind the S&M scenes. In fact, Phedre is a cunningly wrought heroine who faces her world with dignity, even when she falls into the depths of utter depression at her failures. And she does fail sometimes, which is part of what makes her so endearing. And yes, this is a feminist novel. Just because many women do not feel inclined to practice BDSM does not mean that such women are not out there. The point of feminism is to teach the world that women can be whatever they feel like being. Feminism is NOT telling women how they should act in order to best represent themselves to men. In fact, that dose of individuality which Phedre enjoys could be said to be a lesson to ALL people, regardless of sex or sexuality. "Kushiel's Dart" is not for everyone. It is at times explicit in its sex scenes. However, it is just as explicit in its heart-wrenching emotions and its gut-wrenching hardships. Carey knows how to bring you into a story and make you care about characters which may be entirely alien to you. SHE never confuses an open mind with an open mouth.
Rating: 
Summary: Very good read.
Review: I bought this book when the second book in the series caught my eye. And how could it not? The artwork on the cover is fantastic. The book itself is well written, without any detectable grammar or spelling errors. The author's style is good and it was very easy to connect to the characters and fall in love with them. The book is a little fuzzy near the end about what happens to the main character and her guardian, but other than that it was wonderful. If you like cunning and book full of plots and counterplots, then you should like this.
Rating:
Summary: A Goddess of ink...
Review: Jacqueline Carey... More? How could you need more? After a read such as this a name is all that's needed to know...
Rating:
Summary: Definately worth the read
Review: This was a very good book and definately different. By the time I was done reading this one, it felt like I had read 3 book's worth of information, as this one is very involved and will take you through many different tales. The descriptions were very good, and even if you're a bit shy reading about an anguisette, the writing is fabulously done and the visions are created with great care. I am anxiously awaiting the 2nd book!!
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and enthralling
Review: This book, the story of Phedre no Delauney from childhood until her early 20's, is a story of an amazing, capable woman, stung by the Dart of a fallen angel to forever feel pain as exquisite pleasure. Carey manages to write the scenes of Phedre's sexual torture in a surprisingly ungraphic way, and the twists and turns of her amazing life made me laugh, think, and even cry. One of the best points I can make about this novel is the depth of feeling that the characters both exude and evoke. The pain of the little girl who was sold into bondage by her mother for being imperfect, and thereafter never legally having a mother again, is a poignant scene. And when Phedre is forced to leave behind her best friend Hyacinthe, one of the men in her life who truly made her feel safe and she truly loved, I admit that I cried. Carey, even for a novelist who is just starting on her writing career, is an amazingly talented lady. If I were to have to guess, I'd have thought this was her 5th or 6th book, not her first. I'm amazed at the level of talent in such a new writer! I can hardly wait to read the sequel!
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