Book Review: Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson

Title: Ultraviolet
Author: R.J. Anderson
Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab
Release Date: 09/01/2011
ISBN: 0761374086







Before I go on with this review, I just want people to understand that this book was published in the UK & is set in Canada. My reasons for mentioning this are semi-spoilerish, so if you want to read a spoiler-free review then you might want to stop at this paragraph. I'll summarize my review here: I enjoyed this book & would recommend it, but I really felt like the last 1/4th of the book deserved to be stretched out more- it was too good to be as short as it was. Otherwise this was a very good sci-fi/fantasy read.

"Once upon a time there was a girl who was special. This is not her story. Unless you count the part where I killed her."

Sixteen-year-old Alison wakes up in a mental institution. As she pieces her memory back together, she realizes she’s confessed to murdering Tori Beaugrand, the most perfect girl at school. But the case is a mystery. Tori's body has not been found, and Alison can't explain what happened. One minute she was fighting with Tori. The next moment Tori disintegrated—into nothing.

But that's impossible. No one is capable of making someone vanish. Right? Alison must be losing her mind—like her mother always feared she would.

For years Alison has tried to keep her weird sensory abilities a secret. No one ever understood—until a mysterious visiting scientist takes an interest in Alison's case. Suddenly, Alison discovers that the world is wrong about her—and that she’s capable of far more than anyone else would believe.

I'll talk about the good before I start going into the other aspects of the book. First off, I loved that this wasn't your typical YA read. There are a few basic tropes in this book but when you write a story of any sort (YA or otherwise), you're going to have to utilize some of them. Anderson does an excellent job of giving us something new as far as the "teen girl with (maybe) superpowers" genre goes. It was wonderful to see something new in this genre. Maybe it was this uniqueness that made me get so attached to Alison, as I found myself eagerly following along with everything that happened to her. I will admit though, that I found the character of Tori (Alison's rival) far more interesting for what little screen time & mentions she received.

The book does have its imperfections though. I found that even though I liked the slow buildup, there's a lot of time spent on Alison's time in the group home & very little time spent on the actual reveal in the last part of the book. I can't go into this without spoiling it, but I felt that it was incredibly underserved. It's developed enough to where you can read it without being horribly disappointed, but the reveal was so interesting that I really wish that the author had spent a little less time with Alison's time at the asylum & interactions with Faraday (a & more time on this aspect of the book. It was just too cool for how little "screen time" it gets.

This also brings me to the reason why I mentioned that this whole thing takes place in Canada & was published in the UK. This is somewhat spoilerish so if you don't want to read this then just skip over this paragraph. The reason I mention this is because there's a little bit of romance between a 16 year old & a 24 year old, which really sort of bothered me. I know that the age of consent in Canada & the UK is lower than here in the US (although some states do have AOC at 16), but this just sort of creeped me out a little & I know it'll do the same for other readers. My reason for mentioning this isn't to keep people from reading the book but to mention that this age gap is brought up by the older of the two characters & there's no sex. I debated about whether or not to include this in my review at all, but I know that others have mentioned it so I felt like it was worth mentioning.

Overall this really was a good read & if the author puts out another book in this series (preferably surrounding the character of Tori) I'll definitely read it. This author has a great style that I would really love to see more of. Once again Carolrhoda Labs has put out a YA title that refuses to play by the same rules as the other publishers in the field & I love them for it.

4/5 stars

(ARC provided by Netgalley)

Check it Out: Leonard Hilley

Hi everyone! It's time again for another series of blogs where I'll mention several different authors that you should definitely check out!

Today's author to check out is Leonard Hilley (seen here with an awesome car), author of Predators of Darkness, Beyond the Darkness, & The Game of Pawns! His stories mix science with horror, giving us monsters that'll be far more frightening than Dracula or Frankenstein. What's more horrifying than than things that might be of our own design?

Leonard was nice enough to answer some questions I set out for him so you the reader can know a little bit more about the author behind the book!




Q: What made you decide to write? Did you always know that you wanted to be an author or was there an “aha!” moment in your life where you suddenly knew that this was what you wanted to do?

A: I’ve always wanted to write novels. I wrote my first novel at age 11. I drew my own comics and wrote a lot of short stories. I was reading at age 3 and always loved reading.

Q: What inspires you? Do you have a muse that you tap into each time you write or does your imagination respond to different things?

A: My writing seems to come to me as if I’m watching a movie unfold and I’m sitting there with the characters. If I can see the action, I can write it and vice versa. However, Predators of Darkness: Aftermath came to me with the opening line: “Dropping a cat from the top of a ten story office building wasn’t the best way to remain hidden, it was necessary.” I didn’t have a plot, characters, or any idea where that would lead. I am currently working on the fourth book in the series. And the cat is a shifter and survives the fall.


Q: How do you come up with the titles for your books? These can often be amongst the hardest things for authors to settle on, so how & when in the process do you start coming up with titles?

A: Book titles aren’t usually difficult for me, but for Predators of Darkness, it did take some time to find one that fit. The next books came fairly easily.


Q: Do you have any latest news I can dish for you?

A: Ann Linden and I have almost completed the screenplay for Predators of Darkness: Aftermath and will soon be seeking a film production company to see this made into a movie. After Hollywood gets it, who knows what they will do to it, so read the book first! We all know books are generally better than the movie, right? (Interviewer shudders while recalling the movie treatment of The Relic.)

Q: Who are some of your favorite authors?

A: I’m a huge fan of Dean Koontz and Stephen King.


Q: Have they helped inspire your writing by reaffirming your decision to write or by indirectly giving you ideas for various stories?

A: My ideas generally come on their own, but I tend to like darker fiction. As a kid, I loved the scary comics—Witching Hour, The House of Secrets, etc. (I can personally thank my dad's stash of comics for getting me into HoS.)


Q: Do you have any advice for new writers?

A: Keep reading books, writing, and revising. Books do not write themselves. You have to plant yourself in your seat and hammer out the words. Write, write, write.


Q: What is the hardest thing about writing for you?

A: Everyone’s got that one part of writing that seems to stick with them. There are days when you just don’t want to write. Or there are days when you think everything you’ve written is bad. All writers experience this. I have doubted some scenes in my novels, especially in the third novel, The Game of Pawns. I didn’t know how readers would react to the characters, but so far all the readers who have contacted me loved what I almost left out of the book.

Q: In the light of recent infamous responses to negative reviews, how would you recommend responding to negative reviewers?

A: Bite your tongue, keep your dignity, and say nothing. It’s difficult, but not everyone is going to like your novel. And sadly, there are people out there who love to slam authors, regardless of how good a book is.


Q: What do you like on your pizza? (Not book related but everyone’s got a favorite topping!)

A: Mushrooms and extra cheese.


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Most of Leonard's books are available on Amazon, although the first book is currently unavailable. That's no problem though, as you can win a copy of it in the ebook giveaway that's currently running!

Book Review: True Believers by Maria Zannini

Title: True Believers
Author: Maria Zannini
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: 10/18/2010
eISBN:9781426890673







When I first read the synopsis of this book I was pretty enthused- after all, I love stories that involve the Nephilim. Then I started reading the book & got a little confused when aliens started getting brought into the mix early on in the book. Don't worry readers- it doesn't get as muddled up as you'd think & there's a method behind Zannini's writing. I'm not going to spill the details, but trust me- she puts an intriguing spin on things. Since I can't do justice to the already fantastic plot description put out by Carina Press, I'm going to list it below:

Taelen Jessit is an alien emissary on a mission sanctioned by the U.S. government to search for ancient gods. His hunt leads him to a dig headed by archaeologist Rachel Cruz. When his military entourage forces Rachel's team out of the cave they were exploring, a flash flood hits the riverbed and threatens to tear them through the ravine.

In the aftermath of the flood, Taelen witnesses the incredible healing of Rachel's broken ankle and believes his gods have blessed her. He is inexplicably drawn to her, and she to him.

What Taelen doesn't know is that Rachel is Nephilim—a descendant of the gods his people worship—masquerading as a human to find the god-killer and destroy it. Rachel needs help to bring down the tech that is manipulating the Earth's magnetosphere and frying her people alive. She's given Taelen her heart, but can she trust him with her secret?

I have to admit that I was a bit curious as to how such a book would work out once I realized what it was going to be about. Part of me wondered if I would like it or if this would just end up getting bogged down under its own weight & I'm glad to say that I did enjoy it a great deal. Zannini manages to take two different genres & make them work together quite well. Readers will love the interaction of the two main characters & the instant heat that rises between them is pretty believable & tangible.

The only drawback I had was with the ending- I wanted more & I really felt like this was left open for possible sequels. Not a bad thing, but towards the end I was wondering how everything was going to be wrapped up & felt a little disappointed when some things didn't happen. I'm still glad I read it & I'll be watching for more works by her, so it isn't like the ending is a deal breaker by any means.

This really is a perfect book for October since reading it reminded me of candy: incredibly fun & hard to put down. Like I said earlier- I can't wait to see if Zannini will revisit this world.

(ARC provided by NetGalley)

Book Review: To Wrestle With Darkness by A.D. Jones

Title: To Wrestle With Darkness
Author: A.D. Jones
Publisher: Rising Sun Group Publishing
ISBN:0966667913
Release Date: 07/01/2009







Before I get started, I just want to let people know what type of book this is. It’s a sci-fi fantasy, but it’s a CHRISTIAN sci-fi fantasy. That might sound sort of busy to people & it is to an extent, but before you start turning your minds off & start to look at other books, let me tell you that you really need to give this book a chance. It’s too good to ignore.

To Wrestle With Darkness follows two different people at very different times as well as the people around them. The first person is Michael, a young atheist who wants nothing more than to attend college & attract the attention of a girl he’s been crushing on for years. When he discovers that he’s one of many super powered people, Michael is at a loss of what to do or believe. The second person is Jonah, a man born in a future where being Christian is an offense punishable by death, a sentence that is enforced by the genetically engineered humans known as the Blues. Always in hiding, Jonah has to figure out how he is going to not only protect himself & his beloved wife from detection, but to also find a way to help his fellow men (Christian & non-Christian alike) escape from the persecution of the Blues. While the time periods for the two men differ, their fates are far more entwined than anyone could ever guess & it will take much faith for the groups in either time periods to survive the horrors that they will come across.

I’ll admit that while the book’s premise greatly intrigued me, I was a bit curious as to what type of book this would be. After all, there aren’t many books that fall into this genre. While this book was a little slow to get rolling & isn’t what I’d call a leisure read (a book you can read without thinking), it is very much a book that I’d recommend to fans of Christian literature & non-fans (you know you’re out there) alike.

Where do I start with this book? First off, I absolutely love that Jones managed to make a book that is religious but not preachy. There are far too many books out there where they go light on the plot in order to awkwardly interject their religious message into the book, which makes many of the books seem preachy & the religious content just seem way too out of place. That doesn’t happen with this book- religion is an important part of the book & Jones tries very hard to make it flow as naturally as possible. The pacing of the book was very good & readers will be frantically flipping through the book in order to resolve the cliffhanger of the previous chapter for those specific characters.

The only thing that sort of gave me pause was that there was so much of everything crammed into this book. The amount of content & characters in the book are so many that the story would have been better served by being formatted into at least 2-3 books. There’s just so much going on that many readers will just long for a little more detail & background to some of the characters & time periods. (Especially the past of the Aunties & Uncle Paul as well as other things I won’t mention because they’re plot spoilery.) It's just that unfortunately I felt like the fast pace & tons of story came at the cost of some background information.

While readers looking for a brainless read won’t find that in this book, this is very much a wonderful book & I recommend it to people who aren’t afraid of having to think while they read. I can only hope that the author does further stories based around some of the people & situations in this book- there’s a lot of potential storylines to explore.

(Reader copy provided by author)