Category Archives: Book Review

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

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