Category Archives: Book Review

Book Review: Airs & Graces (Angel’s Grace) (Volume 1) by Jeffrey Cook and AJ Downey

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Airs & Graces (Angel’s Grace) (Volume 1) by Jeffrey Cook and AJ Downey

An Urban Fantasy Novel published through CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (07/19/15)

Summary:

“You cannot choose a destiny if you’re dead,”(Kindle Location 250).

She’s a down to earth, call me Addy not Adalaide, potty-mouth who works in an antiques shop in Seattle instead of going to law school like her mother wants. What is she doing in life before getting stuck in the middle of a battle between Angels and Demons and all that lies in between? Not much. Not as much as she will be doing when Tabbris, the Archangel protects her as she tries to unlock the Grace that the antiques shop owner Piorre stuck inside of her.

 

Keywords:

Fighting, Angels, Demons, Lucifer, Violence, Killing, Fleeing, Meditation, Visions, Traitor, Taking Sides, Training, Swords, Knives, Defense, Wings, Seattle, Smart Mouth, Politics

 

My Review:

Addy, at least at first, has a boring and very average personality. We don’t even know who she is before she’s whisked into this otherworld battle. How can we sympathize with her and her plight when we don’t even know who she is? Her background is only revealed in the latter half of the book.

Tabbris also seems quite average and not very extraordinary, aside from being an Archangel and having wings and such.

These two main characters seem secondary to the political-action plotline war and I feel like not much was gained with the POV changes from Tabbris to Addy.

This book contains large chunks of exposition and dialogue explaining what is going on and defining the world and the political background of the war. Most of the tension and buildup is the world-building and background information on the war going on with Earth and Addy in the middle.

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

TL;DR Star Rating: 3.25

Links for more information:

A.J. Downey’s Blog

Jeffrey Cook on FreeValley Publishing

Goodreads

AJ Downey’s Facebook

Jeffrey Cook’s Facebook

Book Review: Master of Myth (The Antigone’s Wrath Series Book 1) by Starla Huchton

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Master of Myth (The Antigone’s Wrath Series Book 1) by Starla Huchton

A Steampunk-Adventure Novel published by Amazon Digital Services, Inc. (09/19/14)

Summary:

“Sometimes fate cannot be avoided.” (Kindle Location 2823).

Captain Sterling tries to get rid of a ring that possess a strong magic, but the person who gave it to her is beaten to death in front of her. A society known as the Brotherhood is after Rachel Sterling and the ring and Rachel needs answers. Her specialized ship takes Rachel and her loyal crew travel to the far reaches beyond Singapore tailed by men of the Brotherhood. Rachel will get caught up in the passions of a gearhead commissioned by the Brotherhood, a young girl and daughter of a powerful man who wants to study abroad, the lovely and loyal first mate Iris with a love of magic, and the Master at Arms Danton who swears to kill any member of the Brotherhood they come across.

Keywords:

Ship, Magic, Ship, Female Captain, Strength, Fighting, Ring, Death Machine, Gear Head, Apprentice, Lover, Danger, Killing, Technology, Secret Sect, Steampunk

 

My Review:

I loved every female. They all had their strengths and great personalities. And there weren’t just females in this story. Though Mr. Mustache was a bit over the top in his prejudices, and made to be quite unlikeable, there was Danton the Master at Arms and Silas and the apprentice boy. Huchton really knows how to pack a book with great characters without being overwhelming.

As I happen to share the Captain’s first name, I felt an extra pull and connection to Rachel Sterling. Everyone has their idealized self and role model in books and movies and Rachel Sterling is a great one to choose. She isn’t just strong or just feminine or just smart or just perfect. She has her flaws. She makes choices that lead to things happening that could have gone better had they been avoided. She can fight but doesn’t always win. She is like the female Han Solo, a bit stupid when it comes to love but everyone’s favorite character.

The tech wasn’t too scientific/techie. The steampunk elements weren’t overpowering. Huchton does a wonderful job at balancing many elements in this story.
My only real critique is that the cover was not as engaging as Starla Huchton’s covers usually are. It took me a while to pick this one up because I was under the incorrect assumption that it was a dull mystery novel.

This novel was published by Amazon Digital Services, Inc. on September 19th, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.50

Links for more information:

Starla Huchton’s Website

Goodreads

Book Review: Spark (The Chronicles of ISLE Book 1)

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Spark (The Chronicles of ISLE Book 1)

A Romance/Adventure Novel published by Amazon Digital Services, Inc. (09/28/15)

Summary:

“Superheroes give up most of their right to be selfish when they become what they are” (Kindle Locations 162-163).

Candace Bristol and her water power are back… Decades later and the story isn’t about her and her romance with Jackson anymore, it’s about their daughter Phoebe. A Natural superhero with both mother and father superheroes, Phoebe is destined to be a super and grew up both sheltered from the outside world and raised within the superhero community. Feebs trained before she knew what her power was, but she always knew she would be a superhero, she never had a choice in the matter. All she wants is to be in control of something in her life, but even her gifts awakening is a scary surprise for her. But it wasn’t all that bad, she did meet the intriguing Foster at the bonfire party Sammi, her best friend, convinced her to break the rules to go to. Now that Phoebe is 18 and has been presented to the world, her life will throw her into the fast lane of being a super and she can barely keep herself together and in control. Add in a mysterious illness dropping veteran supers left and right and Feebs feels like her entire life is crashing to pieces around her. Where will she turn for support now?

Keywords:

Genetic manipulation, superheroes, tough, instability, romance, love, hormones, leader, kick-butt female, sex, training, choices, control, fire power, second generation

 

My Review:

Everything Starla Huchton writes turns to gold. I’m serious. If you like romance in your young adult adventure/sci fi/fantasy novels then you will love Huchton’s novels and Spark ((The Chronicles of ISLE Book 1) is no exception. This is the type of book you don’t want to put down and you won’t because it’s just that good.

The romance is mesmerizing and only a little cheesy, but every little romantic moment will make you go ‘awww.’ Huchton not only gives her characters reasons to love each other, she gives them a reason to fall for each other in the first place. They have heightened hormones that turn them toward each other and accelerate the process of getting intimate and falling for one another. They are put into situations where they have to trust and rely on one another and build an emotional connection. They are unique and super and that’s just attractive. Phoebe had almost no contact with boys outside of the superhero extended family she grew up with and the first boy she meets is the one she falls for and not just because he likes her back. This is a relationship built upon mutual attractive qualities.

The storyline is both familiar and exciting. ISLE is the decades later continuation of ANGEL and we get to see some of the same characters from the previous trilogy as adults. This is not their story, but there are similar elements as the last story. There are still supers and a threat that must be understood and contained. It is now up to the new generation and the Independent Superhero LEague to save the day.

This novel was published by Amazon Digital Services, Inc. on September 28th, 2015 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.75

Links for more information:

Starla Huchton’s Website

Goodreads

Book Review: Likeness by Sheri J. Kennedy

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Likeness by Sheri J. Kennedy

A Fiction Novel published by FreeValley Publishing (10/05/15)

Summary:

“Funny how repetition of form brought ease and felt pleasing, but complete symmetry fell short of the mark for perfection.” (Page 12).

An all week case of the Mondays for Emmaline turns into an adventure of philosophical proportions. An assignment for an ad campaign for the newest drug, Assimilaire, has Emmaline creating a proposal where she has unwittingly made an idealized version of herself and her friend the brand-builder Charlie. The big wigs warm to her idea and send Emmaline and Charlie off to the cameras to star in the ad themselves. It’s a big hit all around and they are then sent off to the WWPA con for a live show and to receive awards for their great work. Staying at the Milieu midtown, Emmaline and Charlie learn some startling things about Assimilaire and what it really can do in a crowd.

 

Keywords:

Assimilate, Extroverts, Drug, Bomb Scare, Likeness, Similarities, Convention, Philosophy, Conversations, Difference, Becoming Another, Identity, Losing Self

 

My Review:

Emmaline. What an incredibly classic yet fun name. I absolutely loved this name and loved that it was the first word of the book. Emmaline herself, however, isn’t as easy and fun as her name. Some of the things she does and thinks are easy to grasp and delightful, like the way she keeps her ‘girl shoes’ ready at work and tromps to and from work in her boots. The way her mind thinks and the words she uses is a bit hard to get into. She thinks in a slightly different dimension than I do and even though she’s in Seattle and there are references to Seattle I am not as familiar as I should be and some of the references are lost on me.

Likeness is an interesting book and a great fiction read for the more philosophical or psychological leaning reader. What does it mean to have an individual personality that is apart from the masses and what does it mean to fit in with the norm or to be like a prominent figure are two questions that are picked apart in this book.

Much of the book spent time on the question of ‘likeness’ or ‘sameness’ and the meat of the story was not divulged until halfway through the book. It is only halfway through that the true plot is revealed, the buildup to this point didn’t have as much tension as the latter half of the book. It could be argued that the plot of the story was the understanding of the concept of Likeness but for a fictional novel, the true plot didn’t pick up until after Emmaline and Charlie were at the conference. Therefore much of the beginning half of the story was spent on character building and environmental descriptions.

This novel was published by FreeValley Publishing on October 5th, 2015 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.00

Links for more information:

Sheri J. Kennedy’s Website and Blog

Goodreads

Sheri J. Kennedy on Facebook

FreeValley Publishing Featured Author

Book Review: Alpha by Taylor Hohulin

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Alpha by Taylor Hohulin

A Sci-Fi Novel published by Amazon Digital Services, Inc. (6/17/15)

Summary:

“Everything about Alpha was an inhumanly perfect imitation of humanity.” (Page 48).

In Alpha by Taylor Hohulin, four characters come together to form a hilariously written story about how hard it is to build a military-ready robot and to get everyone to accept the idea of a robot military. The Doctor who builds the robots is all consumed with creating a robot that will be loyal to its military and fierce but not too threatening. The first robot he builds, his Alpha, is consumed with his heart’s desire and wants to love the doctor’s sister over anything else. Meat is the soldier with a chip on his shoulder, just forced into retirement from a military life and nothing to do but plot to destroy the very robot that threatens the careers of all future human soldiers. And finally there is the leader and CEO of the Planet Earth Military Forces who just wants to get back into action and be done with all the paperwork.

Keywords:

Robots, Fighting, Paperwork, CEO, Leader, Soldier, Love, Goals, Robotic Soldiers, Meetings, Killing Machines, Emotions, Intelligence, Feelings

My Review:

With robots the likes of Douglas Adams’ characters in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the book is full of little laugh moments. The way the story is written and the writing style itself will blow you away with its funny little insights into humanity and how people think and look at the world. Hohulin has built a hilarious world out of a mashup of what ifs in this book. What if a robot fell in love? What if a scientist wanted to create a military robot but kept failing? What if a former soldier didn’t want to retire?

Meat is your classic all brawns and no brain character but he isn’t pathetically dimwitted. He can reason out logical conclusions and utilize resources and go about trying to attain his goal. He is not stupid, he is just single-minded. All he wants is to be a soldier and if he can’t do that for the Planet Earth Military Defense, well then he will wage war against any who opposed him rejoining the military and any who newly oppose him. Meat was a fun character to laugh at with his strictly logical thinking and surface level.

I loved how the robots thought and how they were different in their personalities depending on how they were built and I was glad Hohulin decided to make Alpha the more prominent robot instead of spreading narrative thinly over all three robots. Alpha was the most interesting robot and the one with the most story to tell.

This novel was published by Amazon Digital Services, Inc. on June 17th, 2013 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.25

Links for more information:

Taylor Hohulin’s Website

Twitter

Goodreads

Book Review: Puppet by Pauline C. Harris

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Puppet by Pauline C. Harris

A YA Fantasy/Sci-Fi Novel published by Patchwork Press (10/17/14)

 

Summary:

“What I am now was derived from things like that puppet onstage. In many ways, we’re alike; the same. Controlled by others in a world where all you want is to be free.” (Kindle Locations 1121-1122).

Puppet is a twisted retelling of Pinocchio, where Penelope is a real girl with real problems who is recruited (somewhat forced to volunteer) to be an experiment by her new adoptee father Jed. He has created an advanced technology that allows Pen to be stronger, faster, and more like a puppet than ever…. Her abilities make her a liability and so she must be curbed, but Jed doesn’t have that technology yet and what he has to do to make it so she is free takes away all the freedoms she thought she wanted.

 

Keywords:

Orphan, Experiment, Retelling, Pinocchio, Girl with Power, Puppet, Advanced Technology, Scientists, Humanity, Vulnerability, Lies, Past Life, Normal

 

My Review:

This shorter novel contained many similarities to the Mechanical Trilogy by the same author, Pauline C. Harris, as if this shorter version is the inspiration for the trilogy. There were similar themes, events, and characters between Puppet and the Mechanical Trilogy. At one point, someone throws something fast and without warning at Pen’s head and she is able to catch it with her newfound abilities, just like in both stories.

I thought it was really clever some of the integrations of Pinocchio with this modern sci fi retelling of the tale. The smooth inclusion of taking away Pen’s ability to lie was quite interesting. I could clearly see the imagination of the author at work.

The appearance of a carnival in the middle of the woods is random and seems unrelated to the plot.

There was a lack of clarity and definition for the science or technology or the more general description of a world with this type of technology.

The version I read, downloaded for kindle from Amazon contained very little proper ebook formatting. The book was simple, though, and flowed enough where the lack of spacing and justifying didn’t actually detract from the speed and ease of reading, just detracted from the maturity and responsibility of the publisher and the author.

This novel was published by Patchwork Press October 17th, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 2.75

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Twitter

Pauline C. Harris’s Website and Blog

Book Review: The Secrets of Evelyn Taylor by Pauline C. Harris

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The Secrets of Evelyn Taylor by Pauline C. Harris

A YA Fantasy/Sci-Fi Novelette published by Amazon Digital Services (04/08/13)

Summary:

“Remember. Remember. Don’t forget. The words swirled through my mind. What did they mean? What were all these secrets? Greta, Ms. Ferguson, Sophie and Jill kept secrets from me. Even my mind kept secrets from me. Was there anyone or anything that could be honest with me?” (Kindle Locations 1081-1083).

Evelyn Taylor needs to remember. But what is she forgetting? There is a reason she is holed up in a house and kept in a perpetual eighth grade. There is a reason she is not allowed outside.

Keywords:

Speculative Fiction, Past Life, Erased Memory, Caretakers, Plants, Remembering, 14 Years Old, New Life, Curiosity, Young Writer

 

My Review:

I was greatly disappointed with this book, however, I didn’t realize it was written by a teenager. What does a thirteen year old know about writing? What does a thirteen year old know about the world? Pauline C. Harris knew enough to craft a fun, easy read, but she was missing some of the important elements to bring the book together and make it something great.

Harris keeps both the reader and the main character Evelyn in the dark about what is really going on. To begin, all the reader gets is a confused day to day randomness with hints at something bigger in the background. Harris keeps the meat of the story withheld too long and I think it would have been more interesting to have more of a clue of what was going on or to make this a short story and not try to make it a standalone novel. There is not enough of the story. There were too many characters introduced late in the story and not enough descriptions and personalities ascribed to them.

This novel was published by Amazon Digital Services April 8th, 2013 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 3.25

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Twitter

Pauline C. Harris’s Website and Blog

Book Review: Mechanical Trilogy by Pauline C. Harris

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Mechanical Trilogy by Pauline C. Harris

Mechanical – A YA Fantasy/Sci-Fi Novelette published by Fire and Ice Young Adult Books (04/28/13)

Perfect – A YA Fantasy/Sci-Fi Novelette published by Fire and Ice Young Adult Books (07/27/13)

Flawed – A YA Fantasy/Sci-Fi Novelette published by Fire and Ice Young Adult Books (11/07/13)

My Review:

 

I am going to review the entire trilogy in one post as each book was not very long and the trilogy could have been one book in the first place. Also, I will not be posting full reviews to Amazon/Goodreads as I admire what the author is doing and thought her last book published was stellar (The Hourglass) and the fact that this trilogy was so poorly done shouldn’t count against her as an author or for her future works.

The Mechanical Trilogy was a disappointment to me as a reader but much more impressive when I took into consideration that the author (at the time) was only a teenager. This fact, however, doesn’t make the book better it just makes me consider the book differently. Perhaps knowing how young the author was would have been helpful to know before I read the books rather than after as I would have let a lot more things that weren’t so great slide.

The message Harris was conveying with her trilogy was a good one: nobody is perfect and it’s ok to be flawed. Her dystopian theme was neat, with robots vs. people as the main component. Where things fell apart was the lack of cohesion overall, the plot randomness without many plot points being supported, the obvious lack of an outline, the unreality of the technology and the decisions the characters made, the immaturity of the characters that were supposed to be “perfect” but had obvious lacks of intelligence and ability to think through situations clearly. The author never went very deep into any action. For instance, multiple times the rebel characters wanted to break into the institution and every time they were able to with the first idea they came up with. It wasn’t suspending disbelief but rather there was no reality to the actions and sequences.

I really wish the mechanized humans acted like the ‘perfect’ machines they were supposed to be, except in reality they were rather pathetic in their reasoning abilities and intelligence and understanding. Even normal humans are many times more clever than the ‘perfect’ mechanical characters Harris created. If the androids are so perfect, why do they keep making the most ridiculously stupid mistakes? Sure it moves the plot along, but it’s at odds with the concept Harris is trying to get across. Most of the time the characters just went along with everything, didn’t question things, didn’t think out the possibilities, and didn’t try to escape. Much of the second book was the group of rebels trying to escape from the institution creators and robots over and over. They were just reacting to the situation and not learning from any of their experiences.

The world they lived in never felt real. The author didn’t bring the far-fetched concept (perfecting humans by making them androids) into reality. She also never defined how her magic-like technology could even exist and there weren’t other examples of futuristic technology. Mechanical was isolated.

The writing itself displayed many amateur mistakes that popped out like using frequently the words, “just then,” “as I was,” and “suddenly.” Still, there was something that compelled me to read all three books (could be the short length of each one individually) and I wanted to stick it out for an author that truly amazed me with Hourglass. I recommend skipping this trilogy entirely and going straight to her truly finessed work.

This trilogy was published by Fire and Ice Young Adult Books and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 2.75

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Twitter

Pauline C. Harris’s Website and Blog

Book Review: I Am the Alpha by AJ Downey and Ryan Kells

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I Am the Alpha by AJ Downey and Ryan Kells

A Paranormal/Action/Romance Novel published by Second Circle Press (08/04/15)

Summary:

Chloe never knew that her father, a stern accountant who is continuously disappointed in his daughter and her life choices, is none other than the Hangman, the deadliest Wolf-Kind hunter of his generation. Chloe just wants to make her own choices in life, but all control is taken from her when William kidnaps her. She puts up a fight at every turn, but eventually finds out why she was chosen. When she learns that her father killed William’s father and Alpha of the Pack, her feelings towards William as a kidnapper soften. When he is gentle and cares for her well-being, Chloe begins to see things from his perspective and to see him for the strong protector type he really is.

Keywords:

Wolf-Kind, Kidnapped, Hunters, Alphas, Twins, Murder, Harsh Laws, Violence, Fleeing, Fighting, Change, Seattle, Healing, Pack, Bitten, Mate, Stubborn

 

My Review:

I couldn’t put this book down. AJ Downey’s books are so tense and exciting that it is hard to stop reading them. I’m eagerly awaiting the second and third books in this series.

There were parts, granted, that delved into the annoying tropes of paranormal/romance books, but I almost didn’t care because I was so enthralled with what was going on and how the characters were interacting. I wanted to know what was going to happen next.

AJ Downey and Ryan Kells delve upon the surface of something fascinating: discrimination and pure hatred of wolf-kind/hybrid. This is a concept that makes the easy-read paranormal/romance into a deeper book.

“As reviled as he was, I was my father’s daughter in some of the more important ways. The ones that really counted. Having a backbone was one of those ways. I was also my mother’s daughter. Even though she’d died when I was young, she’d taught me understanding. To look beyond the surface. Past the color of people’s skin, past their clothes or where they lived or how they were raised.” (Kindle locations 3777-3781).

Downey and Kells also go just deep enough into Pack politics and the biological particulars to build a world that I’m interested in. I’m not usually interested in paranormal, though Downey has shown me the better side of romance novels, but I Am the Alpha has more going on than most novels.

Chloe has the right amount of stubbornness and she continuously, at first, fights back even against an insurmountable foe as William. She has spit and fire within her and doesn’t give up until she has completely exhausted all possibilities for escape. Toward the end of the novel, though, she gets even stronger and more stubborn in her convictions. William is a good balance between gentle, sympathetic man to jerk captor wolf-kind. He is the character I most liked.

This novel was published by Second Circle Press on August 4th, 2015 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.75

Links for more information:

A.J. Downey’s Blog

Goodreads

Facebook

Book Review: The Keepsake: An Empress Chronicles Book (The Empress Chronicles 2)

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The Keepsake: An Empress Chronicles Book (The Empress Chronicles 2)

A Fantasy Novel published by Words in a Hurry (09/21/2015)

Summary:

“The way I see it, you can choose love or you can choose control. Not both” (The Keepsake by Suzy Vitello).

The Empress Chronicles continues with the twining stories of the Empress Elisabeth of Austria from 150 years in the past and Liz from present day Oregon. They are connected through the keepsakes: a diary and three lockets. Empress Elisabeth, affectionately known as Sisi, has accepted her fate to wed the emperor and give up on her previous crushed romance. Liz knows that history is not kind to Sisi and writes in the diary, telling Sisi not to marry the emperor. Sisi, at first doesn’t understand, but gradually comes to believe both in the diary’s ability to cross time and the advice that Liz of Port Land gives her. Meanwhile, in present day, Liz has her own issues to contend with but can’t let go of the diary or in her unfailing faith in the fact that she could help Sisi and change history forever.

 

Keywords:

Teens, Drama, Finding Yourself, Disorders, OCD, Family, Fitting In, Love, Adventure, Connecting, Engaging with the World, Brave, Giving In, Trickery, Gossip

 

My Review:

It took a while to get back into the second book of the Empress Chronicles, as the story of the Keepsake continues right where the Empress Chronicles leaves off. Since I had read book one quite a while ago, I had trouble catching up with what was going on in book two, but all the characters I enjoyed were there and all their interesting personality quirks were still in full force. Liz was still very much held down by her OCD, but in a different way. Now she was aware of when it was affecting her and she was trying to overcome her own quirks so that she could ‘engage’ with the world. Sisi is still as dramatic as she was in book one.

Half the book, I felt like Sisi slowed down any action that was happening in the book. In her time, the past, not much happened to a young lady and most of the plot was brought out through gossip and intrigue. Liz, in her modern times, was much more interesting than Siis, at least for the first half and rising action of the story. When Liz decides to intervene in a big way, that’s when both Sisi’s life and Liz’s life jump into action and the story really gets cooking.

I loved all the details regarding the past and all the interesting details regarding Willow and her chosen lifestyle. Willow’s Kombucha-goat cheese farm-lifestyle was fascinating to get a good look at, especially from Liz’s point of view. Sisi’s lifestyle, that of someone in the upper class, in old Austria, was also very fascinating.

Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this story in exchange for my honest review.

This novel was published by Words in a Hurry 09/21/2015 and is available on Amazon here.

TLDR Star Rating: 4.25

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Suzy Vitello’s Blog