Nome legale: Lee, Andrea Nancy
Data di nascita: 1953-04-27
Sesso: female
Nazionalità: USA
Luogo di nascita: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Istruzione: Radcliffe College (BA|1974; MA|1978)
Attività lavorative: fiction writer
travel writer
Breve biografia: "Andrea Lee was born in an educated, upper-middle-class family in Philadelphia. She grew up during the turbulent years of the Civil Rights movement. Educated in the best schools, Lee finished her master’s degree in English from Harvard. At Harvard, she met and married Tom, who was specializing in Russian history. Subsequently, she accompanied Tom, who was awarded a fellowship to study in Russia, where she lived for ten months. Her experiences in Russia were recorded in a journal. After a year’s stay, both Andrea and Tom returned to the United States, where Andrea took up a job and worked for several years as a staff reporter with the New Yorker. Now she lives with her husband in Paris."

Utenti

Recensioni

Red Island House: A Novel di Andrea Lee

Set against the idyllic tropical island of Madagascar, we follow Shay, an African-American professor, and her Italian husband Senna as they build their massive dream home. At the heart of the novel is Shay's relationship with Senna and her growing realization of the sacrifices she's made for their marriage. This book also talks about the natural beauty of the island, its rich culture, the stark class divisions, and the settler exploitation.

"You can't come into the country, build a big house, and take what you want. The country comes into you as well, into your blood. And so the land you set out to plunder ends by plundering you."

Remarkably slow-paced, this novel is structured into 10 chapters that can be read as their own distinct stories. My favorite is the first chapter, titled "The Packet War". It is mysterious with gothic vibes!

What I loved:

Andrea Lee's writing style! The prose is lyrical with rich descriptions and keen attention to detail. The settings were so vivid I was transported to the island, basking in the sun, and enjoying the gorgeous beach and beautiful, lush surroundings! She also did an excellent job of crafting interesting characters.

The novel explores important themes, such as questions of identity, privilege and power dynamics, and cultural exchange and the clash between Western influences and local traditions.

Lee also expertly captures the complexities of human relationships. The interactions between the characters felt authentic and layered.

What didn't work for me:

The pacing is quite slow, and while the first chapter immediately captivated me, the rest of the book seemed to drag on a bit and the drastic jump between years may confuse some readers. French and Malagasy languages are peppered throughout the book especially in dialogue or cultural references to add authenticity and linguistic diversity, but at some point, I stopped checking what they meant.

Overall, I did enjoy this novel. This is the type of literary fiction that I love reading now and then - immersive, thought-provoking, complex, and layered.… (altro)

Segnalato

nadia.masood | 7 altre recensioni | Feb 8, 2024 |

Pulse: City of Angels (Pulse: A Dark Paranormal… di Andrea Lee

Eve is your average 25 year old living in LA. If average means being an angel-demon hybrid who is wanted by her father, Lucifer. As it turns out, her dormant powers can do some serious damage to humanity. Lucifer wants nothing more than to force her to do just that. To make matters worse, he has stuck his own private and utterly annoying babysitter on her. All she wanted was to kick ass at her new job, party with her friends, and bang her hot vampire boyfriend. But her blood is the key to a nasty apocalypse which is putting a giant wrench in all her plans. So what do you do when your father, who happens to be the devil, wants to use you to unleash chaos on earth? You run. Right?
So I really enjoyed the first book in this series and thought it had an awesome reveal at the end that made me want to keep reading the series. I have to admit I was a little disappointed in this one. It picked up exactly where the last book ended which was nice, but I don't know this one was a huge disconnect for me. All of the characters seemed like the worst most needy and childish versions of themselves. We are given more factions of supernatural beings, without much explaining of them or their purpose. I have never disliked a character as much as I did Will in this book; he was overly possessive and it wasn't an attractive look on him.
Eve was very needy and ignoring all the red flags in her relationship in this book, which I have to admit made me lose some respect for her as a character. Also this is labeled as a reverse harem, but it is in fact most assuredly not that. All this aside, I think that Eve's story is interesting and I am curious to see where exactly the author takes this. I will be reading the next book in the series because I think the series has some serious potential.… (altro)

Segnalato

BookReviewsbyTaylor | Feb 14, 2023 |

Red Island House: A Novel di Andrea Lee

Started very personal and nystic and then went on to be a very colonial story. Wish it would not have changed intobthat direction but still a good read.

Segnalato

kakadoo202 | 7 altre recensioni | Jan 4, 2023 |

Pulse: A Dark Paranormal Romance (Pulse: A Dark… di Andrea Lee

"Jesus, you are annoying. Yes. You smell like lavender and sunlight. It's fucking intoxicating and, quite frankly, difficult to resist."
"I also feel like the minute I see any man look at you the way I am now, it will make me want to rip out their jugular."

Eve is twenty-five years old and living in Los Angeles. Her life is okay: she has a great job, more or less. Eve even has three amazing friends. She spends her free time reading and keeping to herself. Until one night when her life spirals out of control... Eve is attacked by a creature with two inch long incisors. She is saved by a handsome, ocean blue eyed man; who also has fangs. Her rescuer is named Will, a vampire and one who seems eager to help her. Eve quickly learns the underworld is very real and she is being hunted by one of the most ruthless vampire covens.
This book was great. I mean it had vampires, werewolves, demons and angels. The "good" vampires working for Lux who were responsible for keeping those who had pledged allegiance to Lucifer, the Fallen, in line. Vampires use werewolves to maintain security during the daylight hours. It was all great and elaborate and the author did an amazing job of building the world by integrating it into the development of the story. It wasn't a huge chunk of world building and then story, which I was incredibly thankful for. Oh and of course you can't forget the romance, with a slight love triangle vibe.
Eve it turns out may be more than she appears given the Fallen are stalking her, which is not normal behavior for them. Will offers her his support and moves her into the Lux compound in an attempt to keep her safe. I loved the dynamic between Will and Eve, it was the perfect amount of hate turned love haha. The book had a slight amount of steam, I would have liked more from a vampire romance, but honestly I didn't mind because the story was so great and involved. The story was different and had a few twists that I suspected but didn't really know were coming for sure.
I will say for Eve's friends to have been so important to her, they played a minimal role in the story and she was quick to forget about them. I realize that it was necessary but I would have liked more since they were her family. I also would have liked a bit more spice in the romance, but again this is easily forgiven because the story was really good. It does end on a semi cliffhanger which drives me crazy!! Overall, it was a quick and engaging read and I look forward to the next book.… (altro)

Segnalato

BookReviewsbyTaylor | Nov 28, 2022 |

Vedi altre recensioni