Happy Monday to You!

Hope your Monday wasn't too bad,
and you were able to steer clear of delinquent pandas. 

What an ass!

Anyway, in an effort to have more of an online presence, I decided to start posting book reviews on my blog. I mean, why not, if I'm already doing a review.

I've got two reviews for you today. First up...

Song Magick by Elisabeth Hamill.

I gave it 5 stars ~ An enchanting YA fantasy.

I haven’t read anything like Song Magick before, it was a nice change.

The thing that stood out most for me was the beautiful writing. Hamill has a unique way with words that capture the beauty of fantasy and bring it to life; this was especially vital to her wonderful world building. I truly enjoyed the medieval-style realm where the story takes place. 

The characters were well developed, Telyn is strong-willed and Mithrais is swoon worthy. I loved the chemistry between them. Even the secondary characters seemed fully realized and gave reason to either love or hate them.

This story has plenty of action, drama, and romance. I’d love to see more of these characters and more from this author.


Next up...

Cloak of Shadows by CK Dawn

I gave it 4 stars ~ I'd recommend.

Cloak of Shadows is a hard one for me to rate and review. It was a little more fantasy than I’m used to, so sometimes I had a hard time with the supernatural terms. But I can say this, the Netherwalkers are creepy and the thought of them being real and only seen as strange shadow lurking in a dark corner. EEEK!

The blurb seems like the story is supposed to be about fourteen-year-old Abby and her mentor Lourdie, and I think that’s how younger readers will feel. But for me, it felt more like the story was about Lourdie and her side-kick Abby. Not that it was a problem. I just thought I’d mention it, because I think the story will appeal to wide variety of readers.

I really liked Lourdie. She’s totally cool and kick-ass. Abby was a little more on the annoying side, like a little sister. I enjoyed the love interests with both of the girls. While Abby’s was a little more on the sweet side, the banter between Lourdie and Temple was fun. (I’d like to order my own Temple, please.)

The book started a little slow for me, but in the end there was a lot of action.

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So that's it for me today.

Enjoy your week!

  

{Review} Crestfall by Ashelia Raven

I gave it 4 stars ~ Fun read!

Crestfall is a new adult paranormal fantasy with a wonderful blend of the college life, secrets and supernatural beings. It was a fun read with loads of physical attraction, witty banter, and action.

Ashelia Raven seems to have a knack for writing fight scenes, which had me flipping the pages well into the night. I thought the characters were likable and well-developed. However, I found the POV changes slightly jarring at times. (I think this can easily be fixed just by adding ***) While I thought the writing was good, I did find quite a few punctuation errors. Again, an easy fix. So I still gave Crestfall four stars because I enjoyed the story.

I received a free copy of Crestfall from Ashelia Raven in exchange for an honest review.

{Review} Whispers in Autumn by Trisha Leigh

I gave it 4 stars ~ Great read!

Whispers in Autumn is a young adult sci-fi dystopian that had me hooked from the beginning. I’ll admit I haven’t read much in the way of sci-fi before, but I probably will now. I liked the creepiness of the mind control, and the fences and cameras. It made me worry for Althea, being different. I was so afraid she’d make a mistake and get caught.

I wanted Althea to be more accepting of Lucas in the beginning, because I really liked him. But then again, I think the tension was appropriate and not too “love at first sight.” I love them together!

I thought the characters were well developed and I had no problem picturing their world. I will admit that I was confused at times and found myself questioning some things, that’s why I gave it four stars. However, I feel like over the course of the series some of those things may get fleshed out more along the way. I look forward to the next book, Winter Omens.

#TalkFear #MentalHealthAwareness

Today's post comes from Louise Gornall's Blog, bookishblurb. She started a movement called #TalkFear on Twitter and has been running the #TalkFear series on her blog. The idea is for people to share their deepest fears, in hopes that 1) with awareness brings understanding, and 2) maybe others won't feel so alone about their own fears.

Here is my story. My fear. 

Besides the somewhat normal – and widely felt – fear of spiders, which results in a flailing dance of the heebie jeebies, I suffer from a fear that is much more debilitating: Religiophobia. (An irrational or obsessive fear or anxiety of religion, religious faith, religious people or religious organizations.)

What may seem like a simple thing can send me into a panic: church music, accidentally turning on a religious TV show, Jehovah’s Witnesses at my door. I see people on social media respond to an illness or death and say something about Jesus (or God) taking him/her in his arms, and I know that others find comfort in these words. Not me.

Anxiety and panic.

The funny this is I think churches are beautiful. On the outside. Just don’t make me step inside.

This fear stems from an event that happened when I was eleven-years-old, separated from my family, and subjected to hours of religious scare tactics, all in an effort to “save me.”

I was truly terrified I’d never see my family again.

You can read the whole story here.

I find my fear difficult to talk about. Not many people know. For one thing, religion can be quite controversial, even taboo.

I’m afraid you’ll judge me or think it’s an invitation to tell me about your church, because your church is good and friendly and I’d love the people. Please don’t. (Yes. This has happened.)

I’m also afraid you’ll think I’m judging you. But that REALLY isn’t the case. (If I’m going to judge you, it’ll be on how you treat other people, and animals.)

My mother understood my fear, but didn’t truly see how it affected me until around ten years ago. We’d decided to treat ourselves to a day at a spa, an hour from home. It was a colorful autumn drive to a beautiful converted hundred-year-old house. We’d had a wonderful, relaxing day.

At the end of the day, we were checking out the gift shop and chatting with the owner. She mentioned we were the day’s last clients, but told us to take our time. I’d noticed a few people come in, but I never really got a look at them. The owner would say hello and direct them to the larger, main room of the house. Then, as I went to leave, I walked past the main room. There had to be almost a dozen people gathered … every one of them held a Bible in their hands.

Sheer panic.

I turned toward the exit.

Heart racing.

Two more people were walking through the door, each with a Bible tucked in the crook of their arm. They were meeting for Bible study.

CAN’T BREATHE.

In those few seconds, all the good from a day of relaxation and massage escaped my body. I was sick, shaky, and tense.

The worst part of what happened when I was little was that these were people I trusted, a family in the neighborhood who had a daughter around my age.  At first I blamed them; that family, and their interpretation of the Bible and misguided ways of spreading its word. But then I saw that it wasn’t just their interpretation, but a whole religion. And that’s how religion works. It endorses herd mentality. Then the herds clash, causing countless wars and killings.

Did you know there are roughly 4200 different religions around the world? This terrifies me.