Category Archives: Book Review

Book Review: The Truth About Mud – A ‘Mangleblood Rose’ Story (A YA Fantasy Adventure Novelette) by Christina L. Rozelle

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The Truth About Mud – A ‘Mangleblood Rose’ Story (A YA Fantasy Adventure Novelette) by Christina L. Rozelle

A Fantasy Novellette published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (01/19/15)

 

Summary:

“Oh crabapples, you’re the most atrocious troll I’ve ever seen in my life.” (Page 31).

Thistle has always wanted to cross the Mangleblood River, but as a troll and Mud she has been told not to. It isn’t until a crow steals her beloved nan’s medallion that she gathers the courage to defy her king and find a way across the river. Her friend Fane finds her as she searches for the way and joins her in the quest. Together they cross the river and find something so new that Thistle will lose herself temporarily in its shininess.

 

Keywords:

 Muds, Treasures, Kings, Journey, Magic, Fantasy, Gross, Breaking Orders, Independent, Friendship, Duty, Mascue, Femme, Different World

 

My Review:

There are a few themes touched upon in The Truth About Mud that are fascinating to read about in the context of a story about Trolls and Mud and a gross-out kind of environment that as humans we are entirely not used to. The world Rozelle builds is so unfamiliar to us that it is mesmerizing in its depth of uniqueness. The characters are Trolls and live a very different life than humans and Rozelle builds up their environment expertly to show how they live the way they do and what’s important to them in their world.

I found the ‘gender’ difference and the ‘species’ differences to be fascinating, especially as presented in a seemingly harmless fantasy world.

Mascues and Femmes I assume are similar to males and females as we would kind of know them in our human world. Mascues are masculine and tough, but also very gross and very troll-like. They train and are warriors. Femmes are feminine but also very gross and they have powers of enchantment. The author sticks with typical gender roles, but extends them beyond the norm for her world infested with boogers and mud and yucky things.

Treasures and Muds are two types of trolls that are separated by the Mangleblood river. The way Rozelle plays with stereotypes and prejudices of one species of troll with another almost mimics real world stereotyping.

This novel was published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform on January 19th, 2015 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.00

 

Links for more information:

Christina L. Rozelle’s Website

Twitter

Goodreads

Book Review: The King of Average by Gary Schwartz

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The King of Average by  Gary Schwartz

A Middle Grade Adventure Novel published by Updrift  (10/07/15)

Summary:

“Here is your task: You must find our former king. Discover why he renounced the mediocracy. Return and swear you’ll never aspire to be any greater or less than expected and you shall be our new king.” (Kindle Locations 876-878).

James is average. After finding himself in another world where there are talking goats and little birds, he is invited to apply to be King of Average. James fancies himself the most average kid in the world and thinks this a mighty fine plan. To be the King, though, he must go on a quest to find out what happened to the previous King of Average (now missing and why they need a new king). Along the way James will discover that he is more than just average, that he can be loved and appreciated, and that he is capable of doing exceptional things.

Keywords:

Average, Word Puns, Sarcasm, Quest, King, Other World, Talking Goat, Spying Bird, Friends, Challenges, Believing in Yourself, Epiphany, Secrets, Doubts, Self-Worth, Life Lessons, Adventure, Hilarity

My Review:

Gary Schwartz has written a delightful middle grade novel that is funny and fun to read for all ages. I know that I would have loved this as much as a younger reader as I’m enjoying it as an adult. As an adult I’m enjoying it for the language and puns. As a young reader I would have enjoyed it for the story, fun situations, and fun characters.

I love the little images throughout the story.

After the initial premise and plot was explained, the book got a bit boring because the immediate tension let up and only James’s goal of being King of Average kept the story going as he was constantly interrupted in his mission by the whimsicality of the funky characters and the oddness of the interesting setting.

This novel was published by Updrift on October 7th, 2015 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.25

Links for more information:

Gary Schwartz’s website

Goodreads

Book Review: Average Joe and the Extraordinaires by Belart Wright

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Average Joe and the Extraordinaires by  Belart Wright

A YA Adventure published by BWright Publishing (12/18/14)

Summary:

“Confusing the enemy greatly contributes to their defeat.” (Kindle Location 1375).

Joe is your average guy in everything but putting himself in harm’s way to save someone in need. When it comes to helping or saving others, Joe does not hesitate. When he sees ‘Beauty’ in trouble at the local Orangetown Pickers game, he jumps in to help. But Beauty is not your average damsel and she isn’t really in distress, but Joe came at the right time and she uses him to help her save a different damsel. In the days and weeks that follow Joe’s life will be anything but average because that one decision to jump in and be a hero puts him at the top of some not so nice lists, least of all with the local bullies at his school.

 

Keywords:

 Fairy Tale Adaptation, Contemporary Fairy Tale, Magic, Survival, Family, Love, Romance, True Love, Souls

 

My Review:

I loved Joe. He was weak. He was ignorant. He was clueless and hopeless and decidedly average but even average people can be heroes. Even average people can rise to a challenge and be extraordinary. Joe shows us that with determination and strong-mindedness, even in the face of cluelessness, one can do amazing things. And get caught. And get shot at. And stay calm. And be saved. Joe isn’t just one thing in this story but overall he doesn’t stop to think about helping another when the consequences for his own self could be severe.

The “Damsels” as they might be called were not your typical damsels in distress. Though Joe calls the first damsel Beauty and the name sticks, she is more than this nickname would lead you to believe. It is not her beauty that sticks out, it is her extraordinary abilities, her fighting spirit, and the way she is tough and kicks butt through it all. Dahlila was just as tough as Beauty though she did get herself more stuck in bad situations than Beauty.

The tech element in this book was fun and didn’t detract from the believability of the story. Why not have the good guy be extraordinary?

The humor in the writing style and dialogue and personalities of the characters made this book super fun to read. The scenes with the Bad Azz boys and Mod were particularly well done and funny as all get out. They were a cool spin to the typical high school bully in the cafeteria scene.

It’s fun to get the kick butt female’s story from the clueless male’s perspective.

This novel was published by BWright Publishing December 18th, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating:4.75

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Belart Wright’s Website

Twitter

Book Review: Ride the Wind: A Flipped Fairy Tale (Flipped Fairy Tales Book 3) by Starla Huchton

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Ride the Wind: A Flipped Fairy Tale (Flipped Fairy Tales Book 3) by Starla Huchton

A Fantasy/Fairy Tale Adaptation published through CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (11/02/15)

Summary:

“It’s not about pursuing adventure, so much as seeing the adventure life already is.” (Kindle Locations 892-893).

Lukas is raised to be compassionate and when his mother tells him he needs to care for a magical injured Elk, he only pauses briefly. He promises his future to saving the creature and his word is a bond. Given a second chance to love blindly, will Lukas be able to wait in the dark or will his curiosity and worry get the best of him?

 

Keywords:

Wind, Power, Fairy Tale, Princess, Evil, Confinement, Complicated, Trust, Dark, Care, Promises, Strangers, Romance, Love, Loyalty, Family, Second Chances

 

My Review:

This flipped fairy tale features the prince and his story as he meets the ‘princess.’ I always want the princess story, but I was pleasantly surprised by the boy’s perspective. This is probably because he isn’t the stereotypical loud mouthed, boisterous, save everything in sight overbearing prince. He is a real person who was raised to be compassionate and motivated. He is sheltered, which adds to his odd behavior at times or how willing he is to jump into a ‘forever’ scenario, but he is also grasping at his second chance.

Both the prince and princess have believable and full back stories that contribute heavily to their current situations. The princess Erata and the Elk come from somewhere, they aren’t simply a Rapunzel from the tower. They came from a life before the magical house. They made mistakes to get to where they are now. Even the Prince has made his own mistakes in the past.

I only thought it was mildly odd that the creature in the story was an elk. There are dragons and such and one of the main characters is an elk? It fits when you think about the setting, but is still odd to visualize.

The romance, like any fairy tale, was glossed over. The prince was immediately enamored by Erata, even without seeing her though her main personality trait was timidity (although she saves him from poison). He falls in love hard for her and she timidly for him. I didn’t get as much of an ‘aw’ from their romance but as it has its roots in a fairy tale, having a typical head over heels love at first -sight- romance didn’t seem that far from the norm.

This novel was published through CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform November 2nd, 2015 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating:4.00

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Starla Huchton’s Website

Book Review: Siren by Jennifer Melzer

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Siren by Jennifer Melzer

A Romance/Fantasy/Paranormal Novel published by Dragon’s Gold (01/05/2015)

 

Summary:

Siren Talbot is in love with Carver and thinks he’s about to propose after more than two years of being in a relationship. When the night is over, she is left with a haphazard memory and a box that she thinks contains the ring, but no Carver. He disappeared. Siren falls apart at his abrupt absence and is only able to get through it when she meets Patrick. This new man charms his way into her life and lends her support when she needs it and they grow quite fond of each other. When he proposes, she accepts and they are married, but she can never quite let go of Carver… For three years she hasn’t opened the ring box, but when she’s finally ready to let the past go, the box has mysteriously vanished. There is only one culprit this time: Patrick.

 

Keywords:

 Relationships, bad boyfriends, secrets, magic, depression, moving on, romance, love, future, locked away, disappear, second chances, bad magic, evil

My Review:

I didn’t realize this was a romance story. Most of the story was taken up by the romance and Siren pining for Carver and loving Patrick etc. etc. This book was mostly romance with a bit of fantasy thrown in, so if that’s your thing, then go for it. I wasn’t as pleased with the mix. I thought there could have been a lot edited out as the story dragged in many places and the emotions Siren was feeling were repeated over and over again.

The story begins with a high tension scene that makes the slow pace afterward seem even slower. It takes about half the book for the second (and real) inciting action to take place. The opening scene was like a faux inciting incident and seemed unbalanced in the context of the story’s pacing and plot. Quite a bit of editing could have taken place after this first scene, as we are shown Siren pining and grieving and then recovering painfully slow. The author takes too much time with the aftermath of Carver’s disappearance. We get the point already, move on to the real meat of the story please.

I thought the story focused on Siren, but it seemed that she was just a vehicle through which Carver’s and Patrick’s stories could take place. I didn’t like Siren. She was whiny and easily manipulated. She was constantly doubting her own emotions and just going along with whatever was presented to her. She didn’t have much of her own personality until the middle of the book, where the real story begins. The fact that Siren wouldn’t open the ring box for so very, very long makes me dislike her even more. Siren and the other characters would have been more relatable had there been no magic involved, but because there is a paranormal side to the novel, nothing seemed remotely likely and you will have to suspend your belief if you want to really get into this story.

This novel was published by Dragon’s Gold 01/05/2015 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 3.25

 

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Jennifer Melzer’s Website

Twitter

Book Review: INERTIA (The Threestone Trilogy Book 1) by A.R. Rivera

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INERTIA (The Threestone Trilogy Book 1) by A.R. Rivera

A Fiction/Science Fiction Novel published by Amazon Digital Services (06/17/2015)

Summary:

“…some of life’s most painful events are the ones that shape us— make us who we are destined to become— and that shaping makes those moments unavoidable. If we are ever to meet our destiny, they have to happen.” (Kindle Locations 265-266).

Gerry Springer is in his 30’s, about to get kicked out of his apartment, rides the bus every day because he can’t afford to fix his BMW, and works at a convenience store. His dreams of making music have been gathering dust for years and all he wants to do is get by, make sure his dad can comfortably live out his days at the retirement home, keep his girlfriend Abi happy and with him, pay his rent on time, work down his bills and debt, and fix his car that has been sitting in the garage for months.

Everything goes wrong for G, but then everything seems to be on an upswing, and then the bus he’s riding gets hit and there is no way he would have survived. Waking up in the hospital, G goes through a lengthy period of disorientation where everything from the date to the lack of GPS has him reeling. Is this a dream in a coma induced by the accident or has he been transported to 1996, the year his baby sister was killed in a car accident?

Keywords:

Car Accident, Relationships, Forward Motion, Father-Son, Time Travel, Can’t Get Ahead, Debt, Dead End Job, Money Troubles, Determination, Music

 

My Review:

A.R. Rivera has a knack for writing characters and stories about tragic and luckless individuals just struggling to get by day by day when something out of this world or unusual happens to them (makes for a good story). The level of detail of their day to day lives is amazing and really sets the reader into the story with the characters.

At first you think Gerry’s a jerk who can only make bad decisions, but when push comes to shove he thinks of -almost- nothing else than others and of saving his baby sister. Day to day he may be without motivation, but really that’s only because of his lack of opportunity and having to be responsible, or at least to try to be. Gerry shines when he has purpose in his life, but when he lacks direction his personality in the being a good person department is also lacking. He is a fascinating character to watch bomb personal relationships and to watch making hard decisions, like keep the car or the apartment and keep his girlfriend happy or follow his aging father’s final wishes?

Why does Abi, his girlfriend, love Gerry? What is her part in this relationship? It somewhat bothered me how G treats his girlfriend and how he’s always putting her last even in his thoughts unless she’s being abnormally loving and doing something huge for him. She gives and gives and he takes and takes and their relationship is grating, even bordering on abusive?

This novel was published by Amazon Digital Services 06/17/2015 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.25

Links for more information:

Goodreads

A.R. River’s Website

Book Review: Sound & Fury: Shakespeare Goes Punk by by Jeffrey Cook, H. James Lopez, Warren C. Bennett, Katherine Perkins, Carol Gyzander, S.A. Cosby

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Sound & Fury: Shakespeare Goes Punk by by Jeffrey Cook, H. James Lopez, Warren C. Bennett, Katherine Perkins, Carol Gyzander, S.A. Cosby

An Anthology of Shakespeare Inspired Punk Stories published by  Writerpunk Press (03/09/15)

Though there is quite a bit of front matter, it is short and concise and good to read to gear up for the rest of the stories. At times the language gets oddly Shakespearian and at times the action takes turns that may be confusing. Some of the characters are somewhat stilted and lacking in description but overall this is an enjoyable and worthy read!

 

Mac by Carol Gyzander

“Different was dangerous.” (Page. 44).
“We’ve gained nothing, to still not have happiness. It would be safer to be that which we destroy, than to have destroyed it and still live in doubtful joy.” (p. 82).

In the strict society governed by ‘moddy’ chips that regulate emotions, hormones and even obedience, Mac is not happy with his lot in life, but he should be. Moddy dictates he should be content at his factory job doing the same as everyone else. Then his friend Banks opens his eyes to a whole new world, an underworld of the Moddy’s rejects… Written as somewhat dystopian, Mac tells the story of a man who learns the truth about how his world really operates and chooses to reject the moddy’s chips control over his life.

 

The Green Eyed Monster by S.A. Cosby

“Everyone lies, young buck.” (Page 172).
“Love was just a synonym for fool. Love made you blind to treachery, deaf to the truth and dumb in the face of facts.” (Page 178).

This is a story of manipulation for revenge. Iggy is a crazed man who can only see the end goal of revenge and doesn’t care how he gets there. He wants to ruin everyone he can along the way. There is lots of action and revenge. Iggy plays the manipulative and vindictive typically female-stereotyped role. Will Iggy go all the way or will he be found out by one of his mates before he can stick them with their own ruination?

 

Prospero’s Island by H. James Lopez

This is a story full of half nymph-half enhanced machined parts characters and the few humans who rule these creatures. Prospero and Caliban butt heads, but Prospero is too kind to end the creature. They are all stuck on this island and trying to get off and when Prospero is given the chance to run two ships afoul near the island, he jumps to do it. Later, he decides to help the shipwrecked humans, but the Sycori, the feral nymph originators, run chaos of these plans and Prospero must make difficult choices and decide whom to save and whom to let fend for themselves.

 

A Town Called Hero by Warren C. Bennett

Hero is a small town and air base that was seemingly unaffected by the war with the Fatherland, but when twenty some odd pilots land rag-tag on the island amidst the defeat and end of the war, the island will offer up one of its most deep mysteries. Where does the advanced technology come from and will all the pilots be able to settle into this peaceful community?

 

Winter’s Tale by Jeffrey Cook and Katherine Perkins

“Who says prophecy isn’t truth?” (Page 288).

‘“Just because there’s nothing sane he can do doesn’t mean there’s nothing he can do,” Dita responded. “Never discount the risk of nobility doing something insane. Sometimes it even works.” Treveur grinned, “In truth, I’m counting on it,” he replied.’ (Page 311).

A tale of a man in power gone mad, Winter’s Tale drops off the story of Leonard and his sudden crazy notion that his wife cheated on him with his best friend and picks up sixteen years later with the story of the mad man’s daughter. She was smuggled out of Leonard’s grasp to grow up as a commoner and falls for a man who happens to be Leonard’s ex best friend’s son. Can a union between the two young ones bring about peace between the old men as well? The fight scene in this short story was truly magnificent and the banter between dueling enemies was quite entertaining.

This anthology was published by  Writerpunk Press on March 9th, 2015 and is available on Amazon here.   TL;DR Star Rating: 4.00

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Book Review: Flower’s Fang by Madison Keller

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Flower’s Fang by Madison Keller

An Urban Fantasy Novel published by Hundeliebe Publishing (09/13/14)

Summary:

Arara of the Jegera is bullied by her own people because she’s different. She’s a runt and has longer fur and better mind talking abilities. She plans on heading North after the ceremonial hunt with her year’s kin but when the Prince of the flower kin – Se’ls – comes to watch the hunt, things start to go awry for Arara. Prince Se’ls just wants to find a Jegera to form a Sedyu-bond with but hasn’t felt any connection to any of the candidates until he sees Arara. Sel’s and Arara are tied together by more than a potential Sedyu-bond when something is threatening the Empire and they must fight together to survive and help everyone else.

 

Keywords:

Flower-like people, dog-like people, power struggle, underdog, magic, secrets, standing up, fighting back, legends, prophecy, leadership, emotional, assassins, dark magic, empire, prince, bonding, runt, misfit, skills

 

My Review:

The worldbuilding in this story was amazing and different, but not too complicated. You can easily imagine the world, although the flower-Kin and Jegera may be a bit harder to visualize than a human. I really enjoyed the different types of characters in this world and their names and details. The Kwaso and Yaka were neat and unusual. The Jegera were the furred creatures with the unqiue ability to talk in each other’s heads using a ‘gefir.’ I really liked the concept of a gefir and the fact that some Jegera were better at it than others. The Kin were flower-like people with sap for blood and petals for good looks and vines that they wrapped up much like long hair.

The main characters in this story, however, left me quite wanting. Se’ls and Arara are both emerging ‘adults’ in their cultures, but they are amazingly childish. They both easily display every emotion they are feeling and whine and cry at the drop of a hat. They act like children, think like children, and cry like children. This book’s characters were more appropriate to a middle grade novel in the way they acted.

Arara’s main reason to leave her home town was tied into her apparent musical skill, however, after the first couple of chapters she leaves this behind and apparently doesn’t care any more about music or her wish to write music. The author forgets all about Arara’s musical ability in light of her other adventures and never comes back to this trait.

Kerka’s character baffled me. He wasn’t bad enough to be a bad guy and he never quite redeemed himself either. He wasn’t enough of a character to be bad or good or to have a turnaround moment.

I loved the fantasy elements in this book and absolutely adore the cover art but felt like there was a lot lacking in the characters.

This novel was published by Hundeliebe Publishing on September 13th, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 3.25

Links for more information:

Madison Keller’s Website

Goodreads

Madison Keller on Facebook

Book Review: Providence of Souls by Tonya Fraser

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Providence of Souls by  Tonya Fraser

A Fiction Novel published by Amazon Digital Services (09/10/15)

Summary:

“…all of my lies might unravel all the way back to Italy.” (Kindle Location 3427).

Cessarina had known wealth of family and joy before her family had been cursed with the evil eye. Her mother thought that praying to the family skull, Ambrogio, could help lift the curse and she went mad with her purpose, abandoning both Cessarina and her father and retreating into her own mind. Cessarina longed for a normal mother. The only way to fix her situation was to get out of it, but does she believe Ambrogio has the power to help her in a new world with new problems?

Keywords:

Skull, prayer, superstition, curse, evil-eye, America, Italy, immigration, family, jealousy, poverty, hard work, factory, sewing, sons, seeing beyond, gambling, death

My Review:

 

The language Tonya Fraser uses at times is very beautiful, “My fate seemed to be stitched into my soul as tightly as the lacework I toiled over. I was able to feel it, heavy in the air.” (Kindle Locations 3670-3671).

Cessarina is able to think about the bad choices she made, and although she at first attributes them to bad luck and Ambriogio’s lack of help, she is finally able to realize that at times she is at fault for her fate with her actions and lies and decisions.

Fraser starts many small story lines but doesn’t follow all of them through, leaving the reader without finality with some characters. The biggest question to me was what happened to Cessarina’s parents?

The part where Cessarina steals something didn’t go anywhere like I thought it would. It provided some tension when you thought she would be caught and her world would spiral further down, but nothing came of it and I felt that this part was unresolved.

This was a very well written book with an intriguing premise. It was a fascinating story about a young girl who takes her life into her own hands, even as she makes some decisions on a whim. Her story is that of an Italian immigrant trying to make her way in America with bad luck hanging just over her shoulder. Halfway through we switch to the stories of her sons and their tragic lives.

The whole book is one long tragedy and though it is hard to sit through so much suffering, it is also something unfamiliar to most American readers and therefore quite eye-opening in the description of the environment Cessarina and her boys lived in as poverty-stricken individuals in 1930’s New Haven.

This novel was published by Amazon Digital Services on September 10th, 2015 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.25

Links for more information:

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Book Review: Hunter’s Choice by A.J. Downey

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Hunter’s Choice by A.J. Downey

A Paranormal Romance Novel published by A.J. Downey (03/14/14)

Summary:

‘“Hi! You’ve reached Moonchild’s Owl Haven. The owner, Jessamine Connors is non-verbal so if you hear a high tone it means yes, a low tone it means no.’ (Kindle Locations 414-415).

Jessamine cares for her fly babies – her rescued owls – in and around her regular job working at an animal hospital. Her true love is for the owls at Moon child’s Owl Haven and for her friends and family that made the place possible. Charlie, her best friend, is 70 and Aaron is a teenager given a second chance and volunteering at the Haven. Jessamine has all she needs, except that she doesn’t think she is enough for someone to love because of her stutter. Along comes Hunter, a Barred Owl, and Jessamine is truly happy saving him and caring for him, but Hunter is not just an Owl and not content to sit by and watch Jess get hurt.

Keywords:

Owls, Hunter, Help, Vet, Stutter, Love, Myths, Shifter, Hospital, Friends, Family, Tough Chick, Second Chances, Disrespect, Sex Scenes, Violence

 

My Review:

Hunter’s Choice is one of AJ Downey’s first books and you can see that it is less sophisticated with grammar and writing style than her later works. But from the very beginning, you can also see how great Downey is at writing a compelling story and layering the plot and giving life to her characters. Everything that makes a good book a good book is here in Hunter’s Choice. You just have to get used to the grammar errors and they won’t bother you too much, because the story has great flow and the sentence structure is not difficult to read.

I love how Jessamine is a person before she’s a romantic character aka love interest. Jessamine has her own story and her own background and interests and passions even before the main man shows up. She doesn’t assume someone will save her when she’s in dire straits, she doesn’t just give up. She is a fighter and stubborn even though she has low self-esteem. That is where she has room to grow and she does. She is a broken character that can be healed by the power of love and it’s so gratifying to watch her bloom.

I didn’t need Hunter’s background in so much detail, but it was valuable to have an explanation for the paranormal aspect of this book.

This novel was published by A.J. Downey on March 14th, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.25

Links for more information:

A.J. Downey’s Blog

Goodreads

AJ Downey’s Facebook