Review: Wandering Star by Teri S. Wood

Title: Wandering Star
Author: Teri S. Wood
Publisher: Dover Publications
Release Date: June 15, 2016
ISBN: 0486801624


As someone who grew up loving indie comics mainstays like ElfQuest and Sandman, I'm honestly surprised that I didn't discover Wandering Star until now, so many years later. It's entirely the type of thing that I would've been into as a teenager, with its moody but strong main character Cassandra and its plethora of other interesting characters. Odds are I would've shipped some of the characters together, regardless of their expressed interest in one another. (Shipping is odd like that.)

This much-praised space drama follows the far-flung adventures of Casandra, daughter of the President of the United Nations and the first terran accepted into the Galactic Academy. Casandra discovers to her woe that Earth isn't the most popular of planets and joins the outcasts working on the Wandering Star, the Alliance's prototypical spaceship. When the Bono Kiro, the Alliance's longtime enemy, makes a sudden reappearance, Casandra and her misfit crew just might turn out to be the galaxy's last hope. 

This is an incredibly ambitious series and I'd be lying if I said that at times it was a little frustrating, given that the overall universe and its stories are so much larger than what we're shown here. To use a modern equivalent, it'd be like if Saga had only covered Hazel's birth rather than its current sweeping goals. It could very easily be expanded upon and Wood has expressed interest in creating a webcomic, which I think would work fairly well nowadays.

The artwork here is well done and has a fresh style that helps showcase the characters' feelings and drives. Characters are equally well designed and I'd have to say that one of my favorites had to have been Mek, who first appears in the comics as a fervently anti-Earth student of the Galactic Academy. To say that he undergoes a lot of changes and problems throughout the series would be an understatement. What's most interesting about this series, however, is how much it applies to today's societies. Prejudice and war are sadly still very much a part of today's world and I think that many will be able to sympathize with Cassandra's plight.

Ultimately this is a series that has gotten far less attention than what it deserves and hopefully Dover's release will help rectify that at least in part. It's one heck of a story and one that would work well as a feature film.

5/5 stars

(ARC provided by Netgalley)

Review: Juniper's Shadow by Fiona Dodwell

Available on Amazon and Amazon UK.

If you've ever followed my reviews, you'll know that I'm a fan of Dodwell's work. I've become friends with her via my coverage of her books (full disclosure) and I have to say, she's only getting better.

Lately she's been on a short story spree, as "Juniper's Shadow" was preceded by the very excellent "The Redwood Lodge Investigation". She's been doing well with this format, as short stories lend themselves very well to horror, and I'm excited to see what she will come up with next.

When Leighton Banks finds an extremely rare record at a music fair, he is thrilled with his find. However, after hearing the legends and creepy stories associated with the music, he beings to wonder if the record is cursed. 

Thrown suddenly into a dark world where even music can put lives and souls at risk, Leighton soon learns that he must find a way to put a stop to a centuries long curse, or become victim to it himself.

Juniper's Shadow takes a little while to get started since much of its horror derives from Leighton's imperfect relationship with his pregnant wife Jessica, as the two constantly quibble about his dream to own a record store. She's supportive, but he feels like he's a failure since she's almost the main breadwinner. Leighton wants so desperately to succeed that it'd make sense that he'd jump on something that'd make a huge profit - a record by Victor Marlowe, a musician whose music has left a dark legacy. A legacy so dark that there have been efforts to eradicate all remaining recordings of his work.

This is where the horror comes in, because as the story progresses there's this increasing sense of dread. From the start Leighton is warned against purchasing the album (although the seller isn't that reluctant to let it leave his grasp), however he's lured in by its background and the idea of raising a large sum. He quickly grows obsessed with researching the record and if you're familiar with Dodwell's writing style then you know that what Leighton is going to find will be dark indeed.

Overall I was rather pleased with this story. It's not perfect, but that's mostly because this is something that I think would have worked far better as a longer piece, maybe as a novella or full novel. We're left with far too many questions at the end of this and while some don't need to be answered, I was just intensely curious as to the album's background. This next part is a mild spoiler, so I'll try to post it far enough down that those who want a spoiler free review can avoid it. It does somewhat pertain to the piece as a whole and it's not a major spoiler, if you're afraid of it giving away any large reveals.

If you're wondering if you should try this out, I say go for it. It's available for free for Kindle Unlimited readers and while $2.99 is a little pricey for a short story, I greatly enjoyed it.

4/5 stars

Reader copy provided by the author

(Thar be spoilers)

(seriously, there are spoilers)

\

This isn't going to be a major spoiler, but I couldn't help but wonder what the motivations were for the old man selling the record. He was somewhat reluctant to sell Leighton the record, but not so reluctant that he wouldn't have sold it. There's this nasty sort of cat-and-mouse interaction where you can tell that he's baiting Leighton, who likely wouldn't have otherwise shown any interest. There are more revelations at the end of the story that I won't divulge here, but this was the main reason why I felt that this would work exceedingly well as a longer piece. There's a dark, nasty and entirely human force at work here along with the supernatural ones, which is what makes Dodwell's work so horrifying, because a large portion of the misery and darkness in her work comes from how people treat one another. If you look back at her other work, you'll see that while the supernatural does come into play, it's only there because the involved humans invited it, even if inadvertently. I think that this is why I continue to really enjoy her work, since I maintain that how humans treat one another is almost always the most terrifying aspect of horror. It's why books and films like Richard Matheson's Hell House (later adapted into the wonderful The Legend of Hell House) work so well - it has supernatural horror but most of it is a direct result of human interactions. 

Book Review: Inferno by Dan Brown

Title: Inferno (Robert Langdon #4)
Author: Dan Brown
Publisher: Doubleday
ISBN: 0385537859
Release date: 05/14/2013












I'm a little torn over exactly how to review this, as some of what I might say might not sound fair to some. Essentially what my review boils down to in a nutshell is that while this book is readable, Brown's biggest failing is that he takes 10 pages to say something that could have been better imparted in about 5 or 6. It also doesn't help that the wide cast of characters distracts rather than intrigues. I really think Brown should have looked to his prior works, Angels & Demons and The DaVinci Code, because what made those two books work is that they were more to the point. That brevity and sense of pacing was more present here than in the last book, but it was still sorely missing.

Part of the biggest issue about the overly verbose prose here is that while this works very, very well whenever Brown is trying to inform us about some interesting factoid about human nature or history. When it comes to the action scenes? That's when the pages and pages of prose fail. Scenes that were supposed to be pulse pounding come across as less than urgent, at least to me. In many cases I was more frustrated that it took Brown so long to get to whatever point he was trying to make in any given scene than mesmerized.

There are, of course, characters that aren't what they seem. Many readers will be able to sniff out who they are a mile away, which lends even more to the sense of frustration over the book's pacing. I just wanted to scream at Brown "Come on, I know who FS-2080 is! Just get on with it!" This wouldn't have been so bad and could have brought about a nice sense of anticipation, except that again- this just took too long to get where it was going. In trying to be awfully clever, Brown just makes things far more complicated than they really needed to be. By the time he finally decides to reveal something, you'd already pretty much predicted this about 20-30 pages back, if not even sooner than that.

That isn't to say that this is awful, though. This is yards better than The Lost Symbol, although that might not be saying much to some readers. There are some interesting plot ideas submerged under pages and pages of Langdon musing over himself, his wardrobe, and running from one enemy or another. The idea of human population growth and the threat it brings on a global scale is a very, very intriguing and very current issue that I wish could've been explored more in this book.

Oh, and that's the other thing I should mention. This isn't really a "history's mysteries" type of book like the other Langdon books were. Langdon does spend quite a bit of time mucking about in dusty rooms, but the main threat here is something far more modern. I like the historical aspects and mysteries here, but occasionally I wished that there was less of that and more of the more modern elements, because that's where the real meat of this story was. While Brown does do a decent job of informing us about the various historical mysteries that serve as stepping stones to the eventual conclusion, these detract more than add to the overall pacing of the book. It just seemed a little too drawn out and I wish that some of these had been saved for perhaps a small novella or a future work. (I'd heard rumor that this was supposed to be the last Langdon book, but I'll believe that when I fail to see any further books.)

In the end, you're wondering: should I read it? Sure, why not? This is a decent enough library read, although I would like to stress that you'll probably want to get this from the library. It's interesting enough, but I think that for many this will be something they'll only read once or twice. Better to give your local library some much needed love on this one and then purchase it from Amazon or your local bookstore if you find that you really want to own Inferno. I just hope that many won't immediately discard this because of the more modern dangers, as I think that this element was one of the strongest pieces of the book. But yeah, this really could have been about 100 pages shorter and been all the more enticing for it.


3 out of 5 stars

Review: How To Get Good Reviews on Amazon by Theo Rogers

Title: How To Get Good Reviews on Amazon
Author: Theo Rogers


I was approached recently to review a book, a booklet really, about the practice of getting good reviews on Amazon. I'm disclosing this up front, as one of the practices mentioned in the book is that reviewers on Amazon are obligated to disclose if they'd been given the book for reviewing purposes.  (And even off Amazon, any good reviewer worth their salt should be mentioning this!)

The book is only about 40 pages long, but then I've always felt that when you're discussing a specific topic such as this you really don't need 200+ pages when a smaller amount will suffice. The chapters in the book are as follows:

1. Inside the Head of the Amazon Reviewer (This chapter talks about what the reviewer wants, what they're looking for, and things to avoid when interacting with them. It's fairly general in tone.)
2. Selecting Reviewers (This chapter talks about what authors/publicists should do when deciding which reviewer to select for your work.)
3. Contacting Reviewers (As it suggests, this chapter gives recommendations on how to approach reviewers and how to phrase your query letters.)
4. After the Review (This chapter talks about what you should- and shouldn't- do after receiving a review and how to talk to people if/when you get a negative review.)

My big take on the piece? Much of this is material that seasoned and experienced authors should already know about seeking reviews on Amazon and approaching reviewers. I say should, because I've seen several authors make some serious mistakes, such as leaving snide comments on a negative review or canvassing people off Amazon to leave reviews to make up for a negative one. (The implication here is that the author says something and people leave reviews for a product they haven't read, which only lowers people's estimation of both the product and the author.)

That's probably why booklets like these are fairly necessary, especially if you're a fledgling author that just uploaded your brand spanking new book into the CreateSpace system. If you're someone that has been around the block a few times, there are some interesting things in the book that you might not otherwise be aware of. The uber veterans? These are usually the ones who already know the lessons in this booklet and will already be (or should be) following these practices.

In short, this is a decent booklet and something I'd recommend for newbies or those who aren't fully familiar with how to approach reviewers. I especially recommend the "Contacting Reviewers" chapter because as someone who reviews and has several friends who review, many of them are easily turned off by poorly phrased query letters.

I'd give this a star rating on my blog, but this will be something that will be pretty subjective for the reader. For newbies it'll probably be a 5 since the basics are fairly clearly phrased and to the point. For those who are more experienced, that rating might go down depending on what expectations they had going into this.

(Copy provided by author)

Manga Review: Demon Love Spell Vol 2 by Mayu Shinjo

Title: Demon Love Spell Volume 2
Author: Mayu Shinjo
Publisher: VIZ Media
ISBN: 1421550776
Release Date: 03/05/2013





I have to say that this series is starting to bring me closer to the type of fan I was when I began reading Shinjo's work with Sensual Phrase. You could argue, and be correct, that her work suffered due to various companies forcing her to churn out SP clones, but it's taken her a while to really get her creative juices flowing again. This has to be one of her strongest works lately, in my opinion.

A supernatural romance by the creator of Ai Ore! and Sensual Phrase 

Miko is a shrine maiden who has never had much success at seeing or banishing spirits. Then she meets Kagura, a sexy demon who feeds off women’s feelings of passion and love. Kagura’s insatiable appetite has left many girls at school brokenhearted, so Miko casts a spell to seal his powers. Surprisingly the spell works—sort of—but now Kagura is after her! 

Shrine maiden Miko has sealed the powers of the sexy incubus Kagura, who has vowed to protect her. But now a fox spirit has transformed himself into a human to proclaim his love to Miko, making Kagura jealous. Miko relents and allows Kagura to enter her dreams again, but now he can no longer regain his incubus powers?!

I think part of what makes this volume work is that the romance between Kagura and Miko is being built relatively slowly while still having plenty of nice steamy situations for them to tumble into. Miko does want Kagura, more so than she's really ready to admit, so most of the romance development in this stems from that aspect. Kagura's rather patient for a demon so much older than Miko is, but at the same time it kind of hammers in that Miko's still an inexperienced teenage girl. I kind of like that because this type of series is better when you have to make the two main characters work through their own personal issues before getting together. There are other plot points that come in and try to separate them, but the biggest issues are the ones that come directly from themselves and their own hangups or problems. This is part of what made Sensual Phrase so good, that even though the plot d'jour might have been sparked by some guy/girl/potted plant out to take one of the two people in the couple for themselves, the main problem was really some pre-existing insecurities or issues that the rival brought to the surface. I'm starting to see where this will be the case with this series and I'm pretty excited about that.

The artwork is, of course, top notch. Fans of Shinjo's steamier works will be a little sad to see that there isn't anything graphic in here, meaning no sex, but there are still a lot of pulse pounding scenes to be had. The artwork does a great job of bringing across the emotions. I'll admit that some of it is typical Shinjo and it'll be the same type of character designs that you've seen before, but the nice story lines help keep it from being too familiar.

I really loved this volume and when it ended, I was sad that I didn't have at least another chapter to flip through. This is turning out to be a series that I'd recommend to fans of steamier stuff and to older fans. Since Kagura is an incubus I wouldn't recommend it to younger readers for obvious reasons, as much of his actions are sexually driven. Incubi gotta eat, after all. There are no sex scenes, but there are sexual-ish situations and it's referred to frequently. Older teens would be fine with this, although parents will probably want to exercise some caution. You know what you want your kids reading, after all.

4 out of 5 stars

(ARC provided by VIZ Media)

Authors and Amazon Reviews: a nasty turn of events

I was just reading some of the posts in the Amazon Vine forum when I came across a thread that focused on a newer aspect of Amazon's review rules that I wasn't aware of:

Authors are allowed to review books on Amazon.com as long as they are not in the same genre as the reviewer's own book. Also, the reviews must be positive and within guidelines. Please see our posted guidelines on what is acceptable content:

http://www.amazon.com/review-guidelines/

The poster in question asked for a little more information and she was told this:

As stated in our previous correspondence Authors are allowed to review books on Amazon.com as long as they are not overly negative reviews in the same genre as the Author's own book. This is in place to prevent competing Authors from attempting to drive sales away from others and attempting to increase the

m on their own books.

What this ultimately means is that a lot of people are seeing their reviews removed because they're an author in the same genre and because their review tripped some sort of arbitrary trigger to where it was "too negative". This would be grand if it meant that only the reviews along the lines of "LOLOLOL, this author sucks donkey balls, I would't read this out loud to a dying gerbil, every time you buy this book an orphan gets cancer, etc etc". No, I've been hearing that a lot of the reviews aren't the type of reviews that are soul crushing or anything to that extent.

I'm worried about what this could mean for a lot of reviewers. Does this mean that all it takes is for one person to say that their feelings were hurt that Rosie Romance's review of the new Nora Roberts book was too harsh and that since she's a romance author, that review should be removed? What constitutes the difference between an attack review and a review that states a person's honest feelings? If Rosie really didn't like the new NR and wants to leave a one star review comparing the book to morning dog breath and the stench of a hockey team's locker room after playoffs, then she should be able to.

I am aware that there are people out there who purposely set out to create a smear campaign for their fellow authors. They do exist, but they're in the minority. I'd say that they make up less than .01% of the authors out there. But this new rule lumps all authors in with that small minority and encourages people to leave ratings and reviews that they really don't believe in. A reviewer shouldn't set out to write a hateful review because in the end those reviews really only help that reviewer and a handful of other people, although it is their prerogative to write it if they so choose. But neither should they feel like they have to raise the star rating to a higher grade or sugarcoat their words because they're afraid of setting off some sort of censor bar.

I just feel like this is an attack on honest reviewing in general. There are serious problems out there in the review world. This much is obviously true but punishing everyone will only breed resentment and maybe even decrease interest in a lot of authors in general. Not to mention that it's more than a little insulting to us consumers. Like we can't tell the difference between a helpful negative review and an unhelpful one? Sure, we'll laugh at the ones comparing the author to an asteroid intent on negating all life on earth, but we then roll our eyes and move on to the next review. Most of us can tell the difference between a valid negative review and one where the person just wants to hand out a quart of haterade. Besides, even the overly negative reviews have their merit: how many of us picked up one of the infamously bad books this year because the negative reviews made it seem like it'd be a lark? I can name at least three that I picked up, so the idea of a negative review decreasing readership is somewhat a myth.

Further reading:

*The Value of Cover Quotes
*Why is Amazon deleting reviews written by authors of other authors' books?

Comic Review: Wild Children by Alex Kot and Riley Rossmo

Title: Wild Children (one-shot)
Author: Alex Kot
Artist: Riley Rossmo
Publisher: Image Comics
Release Date: 07/24/2012
ISBN: 1607065819




I'm honestly not sure what I thought about this after I finished it, but I'll warn potential readers that this isn't exactly light reading. I have to say that while this wasn't what I was expecting exactly, I was just left a little underwhelmed at the end of it all.

Guns. Acid. Cameras. School. The themes behind the controversial Hellblazer: Shoot by Warren Ellis and Phil Jimenez merge with the attitude of the Grant Morrison and Philip Bond masterpiece of teenage revolt, Kill Your Boyfriend, deliver a story of magic, passion, and disinformation. Wild Children: A different type of education.

I started out really digging the feel of this comic. The artwork is pretty good. It suited the initial feel of the characters while not being overly polished. When the artists start bringing in the more flashy stuff later on, it's actually to a rather nice effect. I believe that this is because initially we're to believe that this is a simple little world where everything is exactly as it seems to be, with the stranger artwork coming in only after revelations about said world begin to start sinking in to the various unnamed characters in the story. Art-wise, this was great. Story-wise, this was just "OK". I'm going to try to keep from being too spoilerific, but I'll warn you that I might accidentally let some story line spill in my attempts to explain why I felt disappointed by this.

We're thrown rather abruptly into the story line, with little to no information about our youthful characters other than they're teenagers that are pretty disillusioned with the educational system. A few of them are dating, but that's pretty much all we're ever really given about them. We don't even get their names. This actually works in the comic's favor for the most part since the point of this comic is that it's not supposed to be a big epic where just as much time is spent on fleshing out back stories as it is telling the bigger story. I wouldn't be lying if I said that it also kept me from fully sinking into the characters as much as I wanted to.

I think what the ultimate problem with this is that it just feels like it's trying too hard to tell its message. We have themes of anarchy, reality, and disillusionment, but I felt like I was being clubbed over the head with the message. The revelations here are interesting, which is why I was so disappointed in how heavy handed and preachy everything felt. The "ah ha!" moment just didn't have the momentum to go through the entire issue. In the end I couldn't help but feel that the characters were essentially being just as obtuse as the people they were trying to uprise against. The book relies too heavily on the idea that the message here is so novel and interesting that we'll just keep going.

Ultimately this wasn't bad and I appreciate that the comic team was taking a risk in trying to make something of this nature. It's just that this sort of thing has been done before and done better.   People who are entirely new to these types of comics will likely embrace this comic, and I encourage them to do so. There's a good idea here. For the ones who are familiar with surreal comics that deal with reality like this, you'll just get a feeling of "been there, done that, already replaced the t-shirt a few times". It's worth reading for the nice artwork and for introducing someone to surreal "challenge what you know" comics, but you'll want to have backup stuff to show them that there are better things out there.


3 out of 5 stars

(ARC provided by Netgalley)

Stop the Goodreads Bullies: The drama continues

If you're reading this, I'm going to guess that you're familiar with the whole STGRB situation. Not familiar? Here's a brief recap:

Basically put, there's a group of authors on Goodreads that took exception to the way some of the users were reviewing and responding to comments. They said that some of the reviews were overly abusive and inappropriate and that when authors tried to respond to the reviews, they were harassed by users. (Most of the reviews highlighted were rather tame, all things considered, and/or were written by people who weren't interested in reviewing for blogs or even for anyone other than themselves.) In an attempt to showcase this behavior, they started a site where they posted the screen names, real names, locations, and whatever information they could find about the reviewers. Needless to say, the blogging and professional writing world did not take kindly to this, with many authors and blogs writing articles that condemned the site. 


Now that brings us to current events. I found a blog by AnimeJune on Gossamer Expressions (click here to see it) that has screen caps of the various things that STGRB had been posting about the various reviewers that they considered bullies. I'm stealing one of the pictures to post here because quite frankly, it's one of the most damning. 

STGRB is currently trying to pretend like they'd never posted any personal information about the people on their site, but as you can see in the above image, that's not true. They not only give her real name and location, but they also mention where she likes to go to eat or just to walk. I'd heard that they'd had this posted, but this is the first confirmation I've seen of this.

If that sounds freaky, then you should know that they actually posted more information about another reviewer named Lucy, who recently reported that she'd received a harassing phone call from a random person. There's also pictures to where the STGRB site was hunting down information about "bullies" that they lacked names and locations for. (If you want to see the pictures for this, go check out AnimeJune's blog!)

Put bluntly, the STGRB people are nothing more than a pack of bullies themselves. They've claimed that they've never harassed anyone and that they never intended for anyone else to harass the reviewers, but given that they've already lied about posting personal information, I'm not so sure that I believe that. Heck, even if they're telling the truth, you can't post so much personal information about someone and not expect someone to try to do something. The one thing I've learned about the internet is that if you post someone's personal information, someone is going to use it. I've read enough ED articles to know that much.

Shoot, even if all of the information posted on the site was public knowledge, there's no reason to post that much info. What point does it serve? What really do you hope to accomplish by letting everyone know that Reviewer Rhonda is actually Sam Spade, who lives in NYC and works in a Denny's? It accomplishes nothing because there's no reason for anyone to really know any of that. Lucy could've been Donald Trump for all I care. If the only thing about her that bothers you is the way she reviews and how she comments, then that's all you need to report on. If it is necessary for them to post this information, then why aren't they posting their own information? Why is it that so many of the people on the site feel the need to hide the same information they're trying to reveal?

My point is, even if the reviewers are every bit as bad as you claim they are, you're going about it the wrong way. If the point of STGRB was to highlight specific authors as victims and to point out bad behavior, they've failed miserably. All they've done is to make the very people they claim are "bullies" into victims and making the authors they're trying to defend look like crackpots by association.

Further reading:
*AWWC thread on STGRB

Nook Color Review!

Before I get started, I'll just say that my review comes from the unit we got at the bookstore to display. The overall product will still be the same, but some things (like the instruction manual) might be different.
---------

Reading: It's a nice clean picture & the backlit screen isn't too annoying, but I have a feeling that people will be feeling the eyestrain later. If you're looking to buy this for reading at length, you'll need to be aware of this.

Downloading: Pretty fast download times, although I only downloaded the free samples from the storefront. (Hilarious since I work at a Books-A-Million & the storefront's B&N. We're so going to lose money on ebook sales.)

Internet: Pretty decent. I pulled up facebook (didn't log in though- not on the store unit) & the page is crisp, clear & loads quickly. It'll probably get bogged down if you go to a site with tons & tons of things on the page, but that'll happen with any unit like this for the most part.

Battery: Not bad, but obviously won't last as long as the Nook or some of the e-ink units out there. You'll get about 3-4 hours if you leave the wifi on. Not sure about the non-wifi battery life right now, but since the company says it's 8 hours I'd say it's probably about 6-7 hours.

Extras: You can change the font, screen background color, & a few other things. While that's nice, I couldn't help but feel a little underwhelmed by it. There's also the option to be able to toggle back & forth between the publisher default & your aesthetics of choice. You can also change the background on the main page of the NookColor, which is a nice touch. Since we're not supposed to change that with our store unit, I wasn't able to play with that any.

Touch Screen: It's OK. Pretty easy to use, but a few times I found myself really having to wrestle with it to turn pages. Sometimes it would be too sensitive & I'd end up a few pages ahead of where I wanted to be. Not a deal breaker, though. It didn't happen enough to where I'd get overly irritated, but people who are all thumbs with touch screens will be irritated.

User Friendly: It's not very intuitive to use. People savvy with e-readers & gadgets will be able to figure it out pretty quickly but people who are new to the scene will be pretty confused with everything. The unit for my store didn't come with any written directions- it was all on the unit. That means that if it's like this on the sale unit then that won't be all that helpful for the people who aren't able to navigate well on the unit.

Overall: My opinion is that it's OK, but not exceptionally so. Go for the iPad if you really want something like this. It's basically a Nook/iPad hybrid, but without the option for all of the extras & apps. Overall it isn't a bad unit but it just doesn't have anything to really make it stand out. If you're a big fan of the Nook then go for this unit, but I'd play with it in the store first.

If you're curious, the EBook Reader has also reviewed the NookColor & did a pretty awesome writeup on it.

Book Review: Manifest by Artist Arthur

Title: Manifest (Mystyx #1)
Author: Artist Arthur
Publisher: Kimani
Release Date: 09/01/2010
ISBN: 037383196X

When fifteen-year-old Krystal Bentley moves to Lincoln, Connecticut, her mom's hometown, she assumes her biggest drama will be adjusting to the burbs after living in New York City.

But Lincoln is nothing like Krystal imagined. The weirdness begins when Ricky Watson starts confiding in her. He's cute, funny, a good listener—and everything she'd ever want—except that he was killed nearly a year ago. Krystal's ghost-whispering talents soon lead other "freaks" to her door—Sasha, a rich girl who can literally disappear, and Jake, who moves objects with his mind. All three share a distinctive birthmark in the shape of an M and, fittingly, call themselves the Mystyx. They set out to learn what really happened to Ricky, only to realize that they aren't the only ones with mysterious powers. But if Krystal succeeds in finding out the truth about Ricky's death, will she lose him for good?

If you're one of the people who are wondering where all of the black heroines are in the YA supernatural genre, then you'll be glad to know that Arthur gives you just that. You'll be even more glad to know that she has managed to write an interesting tale full of strange powers as well as ominous threats as well. Arthur has a very real talent for not only penning a good phrase, but also making us care about her characters' feelings. Krystal's anguish over her parents' divorce as well as being uprooted to a new area is one of the strongest themes of the book.

However where the story falls short is in character definition. While readers are sure to identify with her characters in at least some regard, many will long for a little more information & background on not only her main characters, but to her secondary characters as well. Since this is an ongoing series, hopefully this will change over time but some readers will still wish for a little more to start off with.

Overall this is a decent tale that is sure to entertain & while it doesn't stand out as much as series such as "SoulScreamers", it is one that I would recommend for any fan of YA UF.

(ARC provided by NetGalley)

Book Review: To Wish or Not to Wish by Mindy Klasky

Title: To Wish or Not to Wish (Book 3 in the 'As You Wish' trilogy)
Author: Mindy Klasky
Publisher: Mira
Release Date: 10/01/2010
ISBN: 0778328309
Buy it from Amazon.com!






Love Sophie Kinsella? Like Meg Cabot? Longing for your next Kyra Davis fix? Then you'll love Mindy Klasky. Mixing everything that is so much fun from each author (minus Davis' mystery themes) & adding a sizable dollop of magic, Klasky manages to create a book that 'chick-lit' readers are sure to love!

Aspiring actress Erin Hollister believes that bad things come in threes. First she goes to an audition where she's sent packing before she's even able to complete the first sentence. Then she loses the catering job that was supposed to support her until she made her big break. Her third is that after a pregnancy scare her boyfriend unceremoniously dumps her. It isn't until a co-worker (at her second job) gives her an unexpected gift of the use of a beautiful loft & a tarnished lamp. Little does Erin know that this lamp has a gender bending genie with the potential to grant her four wishes. While her first two wishes were easy, Erin soon discovers that some of the best things in life don't come from wishing & that her wishing is on a deadline!

While this is the third & last book in the 'As You Wish' trilogy, readers will like that they'll be able to pick this last book up without worry of missing out on anything major. (Although like me, they'll probably end it wanting to find the other books in the series.) They'll also love watching Erin stumble through her wishes & indecision over what to wish for & whom she should be with. Although it'll be quite clear to readers what Erin should be wishing for & who she should end up with, half the fun is getting to that point. Readers wanting more serious fare should look elsewhere- this book is almost entirely a lighthearted read.

Readers will love this frothy & light read. It's perfect for that carry along book that you sneak-read inbetween work & other obligations. The only thing it isn't perfect for is reading before bedtime because you'll end up wanting to continue reading.

(ARC provided by Netgalley)

Book Review: Past Midnight by Mara Purnhagen

Title: Past Midnight
Author: Mara Purnhagen
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: 09/01/2010
ISBN: 0373210205







Unless you've been studiously avoiding noticing such titles, there's no mistaking that paranormal teen fiction has enjoyed an enormous raise in popularity in the past few years. As such, more & more authors are putting out their own stories to thrill & entertain readers both young & old. (Let's be honest- teen fiction rocks regardless of how old you are.) With large amounts of similarly themed books entering the market it's difficult to find something that puts a different spin on things. Purnhagen seems to have found a good way to put a spin on the typical "girl & ghosts" story.

Since the moment she was born, Charlotte has grown up in a family of ghost chasers. Not just any ghost chasers but famous ghost chasers with their own television show & bestselling books. While Charlotte will admit that some of the perks are awesome such as traveling all over the world, the rest of it isn't so glamorous. She'd give anything to be able to stay in one spot for a while so she can finally have a normal life with friends she didn't have to say goodbye to a few months after meeting them. When her older sister strongarms her parents into settling into one area for Charlotte using a recent ghost scare as incentive, Charlotte's sure that she'll finally be able to achieve normality. Unfortunately whatever seemed to have freaked her sister out has followed Charlotte. And it isn't leaving until it gets what it wants...

While there's been a lot- and I mean A LOT- of "girl & ghost" stories out there, there hasn't been too many that have a reality ghost hunt show theme or plot element to them. Readers will enjoy this unique idea because it not only helps to set the book apart from a lot of similarly themed books, but it also helps to explain how Charlotte is exposed to ghosts & will continue to be exposed to ghosts. (This is the first book in a series.) Many will be able to commiserate with Charlotte's non-ghostly woes, especially the frustration about having to move & leave friends behind. Others will enjoy that Purnhagen didn't go for the "cheerleader mean girl" stereotype that many other teen books often employ. Charlotte does have the beginnings of a nemesis, but it's not a cheerleader & this girl actually seems to have somewhat of a reason to dislike her.

However where the tale seems to lack is in speed. Things take a very long time to get started & for such a short book, that seemed to detract from the overall enjoyment. This wasn't a huge detractor, but enough of one that many readers will wish for things to happen a little more quickly.

Overall though, the characters are great, the plot is interesting, & Purnhagen really does seem to be on the right track here with this series. This book deserves at least one good read (or three) & I can really see this becoming a favorite with many readers.

(ARC provided by Netgalley)

Book Review: Mr. Build by Steven Kreg

Title: Mr. Build
Author: Steven Kreg
Publisher: CreateSpace (Kindle)
ISBN:1440467749








If you go to a certain town you’ll inevitably see the Blue Institute for the Criminally Insane, a building with a horrific past. Inside those doors lurks only the most demented and troubled of minds, not all of which belong to the patients committed there. It is into the Blue Institute that Dr. Jack Torshe has returned after a long hiatus. He is there to treat David Delaney, a silent statue of a man who shows no outward emotions and is completely mute. David is there for the gruesome murder of Kelly McKinley, a woman taking solace in Rome, Indiana- and David- after having escaped from her abusive husband. As the story slowly turns back to show the how and why of Kelly’s murder, Jack finds himself growing increasingly more unnerved by the mute David and the specters of his own tormented past.

It is into the small town of Rome, Indiana that Steven Kreg places the reader as he unfolds his first satisfying, yet awkwardly written first novel. We are introduced the enigmatic and intriguing character of David first as a child tinkering while his mother screams for help, then later as a silent and emotionless adult. Although he was only a child, the entire town treats him with open suspicion and ridicule. Readers will be drawn into David’s silent demeanor, wishing to unravel his mystery just as much as the starcrossed Kelly does.

Kreg has some real skill with words, but where the novel stumbles is from several ideas put into one book. There’s so much going on that it detracts from the main story (David and Kelly’s) as a whole. There’s several great ideas in here and I really wish that we’d had one specific story to focus on. Readers should also take caution to note the changing of tenses that is used to distinguish between modern day and the past. It’s a bit jarring to read at first, but once you realize the intention, it is a rather clever idea.

Overall this is a decent story and a good first novel, but some readers might find themselves wishing that the plot had been stretched over several books rather than just one. Kreg is definitely an author to watch, though.

(ARC provided by author)

Book Review: Alison's Wonderland by Alison Tyler & others

Title: Alison's Wonderland
Author/Editor: Alison Tyler
Publisher: Spice
Release Date: 07/01/2010
ISBN: 0373605455





Have I ever told you how much I love you, Harlequin? Because I do. Completely & totally. I want to thank you for not only putting out a collection of well written erotic stories, but putting out erotic stories based on & inspired by some of the best loved fairy tales out there. The only problem? Well, several readers are going to find it hard to put this away & others might not realize how incredibly difficult it is to write erotica. (Hey, you try writing a sex scene & find ways to describe the same body parts & actions without repeating yourself!)

Alison's Wonderland is a compilation of erotic stories written by several different authors, each of which lend their own personal style & tastes to this exotic blend. There's stories here based on Cinderella, Beauty & the Beast, Red Riding Hood- even the Billy Goats Gruff! (Don't worry, there's no goats in that story, although there is a woman with the last name of Troll!)

I'll warn people that if they don't like a good heaping of BDSM, they might want to skip a few of the stories in the book. (Hey, some people like it, some don't.) No worries though- Tyler made sure to include just about everyone's tastes in this book. It also doesn't hurt that she also made the book cover into something that you can openly display on your shelf without worrying about anyone looking at it & immediately thinking "oh, porn on display". What will really intrigue readers is that Tyler tries to make sure that she collected stories that have deeper meanings to them. Whether it's Belle finding the will to assert herself or two women finding love with each other, it is nice to see that these stories have more to them than just sex.

While I'll admit that I didn't fall in love with every story in this book, I will say that I did love the book as a whole. Readers will find this book a scintillating read that they'll be returning to time & time again! You'll read through it once for the hot sex, but you'll come back for the wonderful tales of people claiming their own personal freedoms (sexual and otherwise) and/or finding that one person that's just for them!

(ARC provided by Netgalley)

Book Review: Draw the Dark by Ilsa J. Bick

Title: Draw the Dark
Author: Ilsa J. Bick
Publisher: Carolrhoda Books
Release Date: 10/01/2010
ISBN: 076135686X







Sometimes first impressions can be misleading. When I first took a look at this book, I have to admit that I passed it over in favor of other flashier titles that were out there in the YA categories on NetGalley. I kept coming back to it though- the idea of the book just sounded interesting. I have to keep reminding myself that sometimes some of the best books can be the most unassuming.

Christian would like to tell you that he's just your average teenager, but that'd be far from the truth. From a young age he's always been thought of as different. One of his first teachers hung herself because of what she saw in one of his drawings. His aunt suffered a horrible car accident after he drew something for her in a fit of anger. His parents mysteriously disappeared, although he doesn't think he had anything to do with that. So it's no wonder that most townsfolk view him as a freak. You see, he can't help but draw & many times his drawings show people an uglier side of themselves they'd rather ignore. When Christian finds himself in trouble for graffiti drawn on a barn belonging to the richest man in town he discovers that he's uncovered something truly ugly- something that the town's been hiding for years. Nazi prison camps, murder, & a door without a doorknob, Christian is about to discover that his peculiar talent might actually help save him rather than hurt him.

Bick manages to write a solidly entertaining book that crosses over several different genres & succeeds at thrilling the audience. Many readers will be surprised to discover that the USA hosted several Nazi prisoner of war camps instead of it being something Bick cooked up for the book. (I've always been aware of other types of internment camps, but not these.) This helps bring a much needed level of realism to the book that makes the more fantastical & supernatural elements of the book that much more effective.

The characters in the book are wonderfully written & many readers will be glad that Christian doesn't spend the majority of the book angsting or being emo about his predicament in life. That frees up a lot of time for him to wonder exactly what is going on with him & give the reader a nice look into his past & current ways of thinking. The only downfall is that the book does take a while to get started & some readers will have to give the book a little for it to establish itself. Once the book gets started the pace of the book picks up very quickly & you'll find yourself frantically reading just to find out what exactly will happen next.

I'll warn the reader- Bick leaves the book open-ended enough to where she could very, VERY easily write a sequel or three if she chose to. (I hope she chooses to.) This book was far better than I could have ever hoped & when I finally reached the last page, it was with a little bit of regret- I really wanted to know what would happen with Christian, his talents, & everyone around him.

(ARC provided by Netgalley)

Book Review: My Soul to Keep by Rachel Vincent

Title: My Soul to Keep (SoulScreamers #3)
Author: Rachel Vincent
Publisher: Harlequin
Release Date: 06/01/2010
ISBN: 0373210051









If you haven't read any of Rachel Vincent's SoulScreamers series, then you are seriously missing out. Young & old alike can find a lot to enjoy in this series. For the adults, there's well written plot lines, great characters & for the younger readers there's just as much to love. They get to enjoy all of the stuff that the adults would like but they also have the joy of knowing that at no point does this book "write down" to them. As a teen I'd often get irritated at the overly perfect characters & the preachy morals that many authors tried to insert into their work. (The good girls never drank or stayed out late, always studied...) Vincent tries hard to avoid those cliches & worn out ideas in her series- and succeeds.

Kaylee's had it rough. Not only has she spent most of her life assuming that there's something wrong with her, but even after she discovered her bean sidhe heritage it hasn't been easy. She's had to fight demons, save people from death- or worse, & put up with her bratty cousin. Kaylee's just hoping that she'll finally get some time to relax with her hunky boyfriend & be as normal as she possibly can be. Unfortunately for her, someone's smuggling Demon's Breath into the mortal world- a substance so incredibly addicting that coming down from it can kill you. It's up to her to find out a way to stop the distribution of it before her entire school becomes addicted.

Once again Vincent manages to write a fantastic & fast paced read. Kaylee manages to remain an intriguing & sympathetic character that many teens will find themselves relating to. Also interesting is the character of Nash, Kaylee's boyfriend who may or may not be more in love with the fact she's a bean sidhe than with Kaylee herself. He goes through a lot of character development in this book, which is a good thing- he needs to prove himself to the audience & to Kaylee.

There's also new characters introduced in this book, one of which will hopefully turn into a new suitor for Kaylee. (Hey, Nash needs competition.) Teens will love the pacing of the book & parents will love that the book deals with sensitive subjects like drug addiction & sex (Nash wants it now, Kaylee wants to wait) in a way that won't alienate anyone or go over the top.

This is a great entry into a series that has been strong from the start & looks like it will be going strong for quite some time. If you haven't been reading the series, I highly suggest that you start from the first book in the series as well as reading the free "chapter zero" available on Vincent's site.

(ARC provided by NetGalley)

Book Review: Ghost Shadow by Heather Graham

Title: Ghost Shadow
Author: Heather Graham
Publisher: Mira
Release Date: 06/29/2010
ISBN: 0778327914







If you've taken a vacation away from Heather Graham, now is the perfect time to dive back into one of her books! I'll admit that while some of her recent books haven't been up to her usual standards, this one is firmly in the "good" category.

Key West is full of ghost & murder stories. David Beckett's ex-fiancee became one of them the moment her body was discovered in one of the exhibits at his father's wax museum. Ten years later wax museum has been closed for a while & the enticing Katie O'Hara wants to purchase it & return it to it's former glory. Her plans are stalled when David returns back home. Despite their rocky start, Katie finds herself falling for him- despite him possibly being the one behind the murder! But Katie has an edge. She can see & talk to ghosts & she's determined to use that talent to discover who the murderer is. Too bad the murderer has other plans in mind...

Intriguing characters & a twisted murder mystery spark off Graham's newest trilogy. While Katie & David might not have the flash-bang chemistry of some of Graham's other character matchups, the pair does have a sweet sense of familiarity to them. They take to each other as if they've been together all along. Also fun is the character of Bartholomew, a deceased privateer (he takes issue if you call him a pirate). The scenes with him in it are some of the best of the book.

Graham does a good job of utilizing the mysteries of Florida- having Robert the Doll & the ultra-morbid story of Carl Tanzler really does help to enhance the creepiness of her book. (And if you haven't heard of either of them before- no worries. Graham gives a bit of back story to each of them.)

The only things some readers might take issue with is the lack of said flash-bang chemistry between the two leads as well as how underused Katie's talent is in this book. Hopefully we'll get to see more of both things in the next two books in the series.

In the end, this is classic Graham. It might not be my absolute favorite book she's written, but it is still very much worth reading. With the final book in the series coming out in just a few weeks, this is the perfect time to start reading so you can be ready when the last book releases!

(ARC provided by Netgalley)

Book Review: Why Jesus? by William H. Willimon

Title: Why Jesus
Author: William H. Willimon
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Release Date: 10/01/2010
ISBN: 9781426700286





"Be warned: In reading this book you are taking a risk of getting discombobulated, commandeered, and befriended by the most interesting person in the world."

Often highly informative & occasionally humorous, Willimon's Why Jesus? manages to not only hook in the readers but to also entertain as well. In this book Willimon dares to ask why exactly so many people have been entranced & lead by the Bible's most well known character (well, aside from God, but that's a given).

Willimon focuses on several key aspects of Jesus's character, such as Jesus as vagabond, savior, & ultimate party dude. (I kid you not- there's a section entitled "Party Person".) Through focusing on these certain aspects Willimon manages to create an entirely readable book about someone that many will admit that they probably don't know as much about as they'd like to think they do.

It isn't all fun & games though- through this book the reader is also challenged with the notion that we should constantly be on the move to do good by ourselves & by others. Willimon also manages to challenge himself, often humbling himself & his writing during the course of the book.

Just as the warning above states, many readers will find themselves challenged by Willimon's viewpoints. I myself wasn't expecting to see "Jesus as a party guy" in this book & I wasn't expecting to be as entertained as I was. People will read this once to absorb all of the information about Jesus, but they'll return because the book manages to be one of those that keeps them thinking & entertained long after they've turned the final page.

(ARC provided by Netgalley)

Book Review: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour by Brian Lee O'Malley

Title: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour
Author: Brian Lee O'Malley
Publisher: Oni Press
Release Date: 07/20/2010
ISBN: 1934964387








While I greatly enjoyed the final volume of SP, I'll admit that I was slightly disappointed by it. I was rooting for a specific pairing to occur by the end of the book & it didn't happen. I do like how the book resolved, though.

Without Ramona in his life, Scott Pilgrim has spent most of his time on his sofa playing video games. His friends attempt to get him to take action but to no avail- he is completely unwilling to move. When he finally does decide to take action, it is so he can spend his time chasing after other girls in an attempt to forget Ramona. Inevitably Scott is drawn to Ramona's final & worst ex, despite Scott no longer dating Ramona. In the end, only one person will be standing at the end of this fight.

This volume contains lots of reminders as to why the series has been so popular. With tons of references to old video games & lots of closure to previous plot elements, many readers will find tons of joy in this volume. Of course the artwork is O'Malley at his best & you'll find yourself flipping through the volume to take another look at your favorite panels or scenes. (I love any & all of the artwork concerning Envy Adams. She's gone from being one of my least favorite characters to one of my favs.)

The one thing readers will be torn on is the resolution of the book. I'll warn you- it's a little open ended & many are left to decide for themselves what will ultimately happen afterwards. Some readers will like how it ends, some (like me) will be disappointed, & others just won't like it.

One thing is for certain- this is quite possibly O'Malley's best work so far. I can't help but hope that he follows up on this series in the future & follows along with some of the secondary characters. I'd love to see a series based around Knives, the wonderfully psycho teen.

Book Review: Koko Be Good by Jen Wang

Title: Koko Be Good
Author: Jen Wang
Publisher: First Second
Release Date: 09/14/2010
ISBN: 1596435550






Graphic novels have always had a good fanbase, but now that they’re gaining more publicity there’s been an influx of books (both series & standalones) flooding the market. While that’s great in so many different ways, it also means that it is that much easier to get lost in the crowd. Unfortunately Koko might be one of those books that some might overlook, which would be a shame.

The book follows three characters- the titular Koko (an energetic girl who seems to want more), Jon (a 20 something who just wants to move to Peru to be with his girl), & Faron (Koko’s sidekick). When Jon meets Koko & Faron at a party, he can’t help but become captivated by her, only to then see her vanish into the night after an ugly scene. Jon later discovers Faron at work in a local diner & convinces him to introduce the two of them. What follows is a voyage of self discovery as Jon tries to figure out what he really wants, Koko tries to gain more meaning into her life, & Faron just tries to get by.

The artwork really is the best part of this book. Wang’s artwork manages to capture both the various emotions of the cast as well as Koko’s almost inexhaustible energy. She doesn’t skimp on the backgrounds either with just about every scene getting lovingly captured in water colors. Wang seems to play around with color, using it in various formats to enhance the scene. One scene that sticks out in my head is one later in the book of Koko’s room where it lacks a great deal of color- enhancing the empty feeling of the scene & the characters’ emotions.

Unfortunately where the book lacks is in the storytelling department. The artwork manages to smooth over the rough spots, but not to the point where you don’t notice that it needed more finesse. It takes a while to get into the story & to figure out what is going on. Wang might have intended for the reader to fill in the blanks with their own interpretations, but it would have been nice for a little more story & character definition. Not a whole lot more, but just a little more backstory on some of the characters would be nice. (I’d like to see more of Koko’s history as a Candy Girl.) It just lacks a little coherence at times.

This is a good story with awesome artwork, but it’s just not quite a 5 star type read for me. I can’t help but think it just needed to simmer for a little while longer. This is definitely a great graphic novel & Wang’s going on my list of “to watch” indie artists, but it just needed a little more work on the storyline.


(ARC provided by Amazon Vine Voice)