Category: book review

Review of Stellar Fusion, by E.L. Strife

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The first in E.L. Strife’s Infinite Spark series, Stellar Fusion follows an elite military-like team on its mission to save Earth from the Suanoa, who have already subjugated numerous alien species. The team’s leaders, Sergeants Nakio Atana and Jameson Bennett, must overcome their differences and work together if they have any hope of keeping their team alive. The stakes are raised even higher when they discover the slaves being held on the Suanoan vessel. While among these slaves, Atana begins to piece together mysteries from her past.

Stellar Fusion is an action-packed space opera—the stakes are high, the relationships are intense, and the heroes are over-the-top. Strife creates a world that is fun to explore and inhabits it with unique species and interesting characters. The concepts explored are simultaneously familiar and unique. It’s a book that makes you want to know what’s going to happen next.

As much as I enjoyed Stellar Fusion, I do have a few issues to address. At times, the prose could get a bit confusing—unclear descriptions, curious word choices, and lots of POV hopping. While the story itself is good enough to overcome these issues, there were times it detracted from the overall readability.

All in all, Stellar Fusion is a fun, fast-paced space romp that’s definitely worth a read. I look forward to the next installment.

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Review of Return to Wonderland, by Tanya Lisle

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Tanya Lisle’s Return to Wonderland catches up to Alice years after she first fell down the rabbit hole. She has since endured a barrage of doctors and learned to put her adventures in Wonderland behind her. She’s finally free to attend the prestigious Lucena Academy to get a fresh start—and make friends her own age.

Unfortunately, a purple-haired boy appears at the school, revealing himself to be the Cheshire Cat. He speaks in riddles about how Wonderland is a much different place than when Alice last visited and tempts her with a visit back.

Lisle managed to modernize the world in and around Wonderland in a way that doesn’t detract from the story. It feels like a legitimate expansion of the original and, though a children’s book, is not boring or cumbersome for the adult side of the reader equation. It’s a very quick and easy read. The quality of prose is engaging, and the book has great pacing overall.

Alice is an easy character to cheer on. Her moments of doubt and her bout of nerves when meeting new people are easily relatable during the target age-range for this book, and her strength makes her all the more endearing. The supporting cast, Adrianna and her brothers specifically, feel like parallels of characters in Wonderland—so they are at once new and familiar. The Cheshire Cat himself seems to represent the changes in Wonderland. As the story progresses, Cat’s actions mirror in the normal world the changes occurring in Wonderland.

There are, of course, familiar faces in Wonderland, as well. As Alice goes through Wonderland she begins to see the changes of which the Cheshire Cat hinted. Although she is more prepared for Wonderland this time around, the changes present fresh new problems for Alice to navigate.

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Review of The Scavenger, by J. L. Willow

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The Scavenger is a YA coming-of-age story that revolves around four primary characters: Catherine, Samuel, Frank, and Nathan. After a series of teens OD, Nathan, an NYPD investigator, works to find the culprit dealing a new, deadly strain of marijuana. Meanwhile, Frank, a long-time drug dealer, already has his next client in his sights. He uses Samuel to peddle the drugs to high schoolers. Their next target? None other than Catherine.

I had two key issues with The Scavenger: structure and believability. The Scavenger follows four different first-person POVs and a random third-person POV of two of the characters it’s already following. The narrative never stays with any one character long enough for the reader to connect. The short chapters mean we’re switching characters too quickly. If the book had an additional 100 pages or so, this might be less of an issue for me. Each character had an intriguing history that was mostly hinted at instead of really fleshed out.

The book’s plot, the catalyst of ODs leading to the climax, is believable and a good subject to work with. However, believability stops with the drug causing the ODs: marijuana. While marijuana can cause dependency in some young individuals, it’s not widely considered addictive. Also, according to the DEA, there has never been a marijuana overdose. Technically, the marijuana in The Scavenger is a new, high-THC strain laced with cocaine. Ingesting a high content of THC does have side effects, including increased anxiety and paranoia, lethargy, hunger, cotton mouth, sleepiness—generally the effects of smoking a blunt. Of course, lacing marijuana with cocaine does make a dangerous combination because it stresses the heart, but it’s questionable as to if that would increase addiction. A healthy teen would have to smoke a lot (a lot) of cocaine-laced marijuana to OD. (Side note: Cocaine isn’t invisible, so the buyer would be able to see that the weed was laced)

Having said that, if you suspend your belief (or have never really dealt with drugs) then this won’t be a problem. It wasn’t enough of a problem for me that I had to put the book down and, as I said, it’s a good premise overall.

The Scavenger is easy to read. It’s well written and the relationship between Catherine and Samuel screams “teenage hormone-driven relationship.” There are great moments throughout the book and if this is J.L. Willow’s first novel, then I can only see her work getting better and better.

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Review of Dog Gone, by Diane Moat

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Dog Gone follows Sam Holden in her quest to bring animal abusers to justice—by any means necessary. While camping with her boyfriend, Daniel, in a remote area of Tennessee, Sam discovers the body of a dog that has been brutally tortured and killed. She resolves to learn more about saving animals in distress but is soon frustrated as her efforts are hindered by rules and red tape. In desperation, Sam turns to crime to take down those who harm and abuse animals.

Sam is an engaging character and the epitome of a vigilante. She’s smart, capable, and resourceful. Her life is divided into lawful Sam and criminal Sam and each side has its own cast of characters. While engaging in criminal activity, it was hard not to liken Sam to a secret agent or spy. Moat did a wonderful job of bringing believability to Sam’s “tricks of the trade,” from pulling a job to dealing with her criminal contacts.

Dog Gone reads like a detective mystery—the pace is a bit too slow for me to be able to call it a suspense/thriller. If you’re looking for a face-paced novel, this might not be for you; however, the sedate pace helps believability and increases the significance of the novel’s climax. While there were no glaring plot holes, a particular event that happened in the middle of the book and was not addressed again until the epilogue left me a bit confused. While this was possibly done to leave the option open for a sequel or spin-off, it was still quite jarring.

Overall, Dog Gone is a novel worth reading, and not just for animal enthusiasts. Moat’s prose is easy to read, her characters engaging, and the criminal aspect takes little-to-no suspension of belief. Check it out.

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4-Star Review for Rise and Run

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Reviewed by Lit Amri for Readers’ Favorite

Rise and Run (A Broken Man Novel, Book One) by RJ Plant is set in 2042, where protagonist Felix Quinn is working for illegal trades mogul Rian Connell, who’s also his adoptive father. When Connell receives a tip that his niece, Kaitlyn Henderson, could be in danger, he sends Felix to track her down. In disguise, Felix infiltrates Government Directive International (GDI). Unfortunately for him, GDI used Kaitlyn as bait. A GDI agent brings Conor Quinn, the byproduct of Felix’s chimerism, to the surface by injecting him with a virus. Now it’s up to Conor to decide his fate and Felix’s.

The story started with an intriguing chapter one, bringing the chimerism concept to light right away. Perhaps genetic chimera is not a subject well known to some readers, but it’s definitely not science fiction and not something new. RJ Plant used this concept exceptionally well to develop the story. The world-building is interesting as readers are given a glimpse into a world after the War of 2026, the outcome of the war on terror. It’s not nearly as dire as most post-war worlds that I’ve read, but it’s still undesirable and the fact that it’s a realistic outcome made it more alarming.

The characters are credible and have enough depth. In essence, Conor is not a bad man, but not perfect either. His circumstances contribute to his flaws. I don’t want to give away any critical plot developments, so suffice to say that it’s a tale of resistance, where a living product of genetic engineering strives to survive and live freely as any living being desires. The prose is an easy read and to the point. This makes the story flow well. Overall, Rise and Run is an impressive thriller. I look forward to the continuation of the story.

Review of Countryside: The Book of the Wise, by J.T. Cope IV

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Hello there, guys and dolls. I’m going to do something a little different today. I’m going to talk to you about Countryside: The Book of the Wise, by J.T. Cope IV.

Countryside is a book written for ages 9-12, according to Amazon. Personally, I’d stretch that range to about 14. Also, do not judge me, because I know all of you heifers read Harry Potter into your old age-ness.

Countryside is about an 11-year-old boy named Luke Rayburn. Strange things start happening to Luke about the time his father is requisitioned to go overseas. This is the catalyst for Luke, his mother, and his four siblings to go live with Luke’s grandparents in Countryside. Countryside (the place in the book, not the book itself) is equal parts Narnia and Hogwarts. The atmosphere and aesthetics of Countryside are reminiscent of that of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series (a little cowboy/western, a little medieval high fantasy).

Before I get any further, I want to say that if you (or an age appropriate person you know) picks this book up, skip the prologue. Not only is the prologue confusing, but the information it contains is in the body of the book and explained with much more clarity. Now, the first ¼ or so of the story is a bit slow. In my opinion, too much time is spent building up to the journey to Countryside (and even the catalyst that drives the family there). There is a good deal of unnecessary info to wade through and it could stand to be cut down so that the focus is primarily on Luke’s relationship with his father.

Now, once we get to Countryside? Whole different story. When Luke arrives in Countryside, the pacing is faster and there is this hint of mystery that’s fun to unravel as you go. It’s easy to get more invested in the characters of Countryside, as well as Luke’s relationship with them. Readers can more clearly feel the bonds he’s making and relate to his struggles (being an outsider, being bullied). The story hits all the major tropes of a fantasy for youngsters.

The description of Countryside is written in such a way that it feels like you’re there, walking down Main Street or Hanover with Luke and his friends. While the dialogue can, at times, get a bit expositional, it’s believable for the most part. The further along you get in the story, the more engaging it is overall.

I would have no problem recommending this to one of my nieces.

Let’s face it. You might not trust me, se head over to Goodreads to learn more about Luke’s adventures in Countryside.

Of course, if you do trust me (shut up, Dave, I heard that!) then check Countryside: The Book of the Wise on Amazon.