Review: Revamp by Beck Sherman

Genre: Horror/Post-Apocalyptic

Pages: 439

Kindle Edition

Source: Author

Emma is on the trip from hell, or maybe it's the trip to hell. She just turned in her final paper and is heading out to the west coast to interview for grad school. People were acting a bit strange before she left, but Emma has no idea what's in store for her once her plane lands. She wakes up on an empty plane and the airport is empty, or is it? There doesn't appear to be anyone on the streets and when she finally does come across someone, there is something way off kilter about them. Thankfully she meets someone who resembles normal, but can she trust him? He seems to be making some outrageous claims. Little does Emma know, this is only the beginning. 

This was a tremendous read! The characters are extremely well written and are both believable and easy to relate to. Emma is a fantastic female lead. She can be unsure of herself at times but she transforms into a take charge, not backing down kind of girl. I completely enjoyed the fact that she wasn't a helpless, clueless twit. Character development comes in the form of descriptive back stories for most of the major players. I only wish that Charlie had gotten a back story. The relationship between Emma and Cooper is handled perfectly, had it gone any differently it would have detracted from the story. The villain is fascinating and after getting into their history, I found myself sympathizing with them. Their actions are still vile and reprehensible but understandably so, if that makes any sense!

The plot is engaging and my interest was continually peaked throughout the tale. The account is mainly from Emma's point of view but there are some POV (and time frame) switches during the character back stories, which can in themselves be confusing. Not the way Beck Sherman writes it. It is completely reader friendly and eliminates any confusion. The ending is fantastic, it's a bit vague leaving the possibility for future works, but it provides enough closure for this to be a stand alone. There is also a fun cream-filled surprise!

I had heard some good buzz about this book before reading it and I have to say it was even better than I was expecting. Beck Sherman definitely does not disappoint, I cannot wait to read more!

*I was given a free copy of this book for review purposes. The review is based solely on my opinion and was not influenced by author or publisher.

My Rating: 4.5/5 stars

New year, new look, new goals

Happy New Year everyone! Well, almost anyways.  I've decided that for 2013 I wanted the blog to have a new look and a new feel.  It's not finished, there is still some tweaking to be done to the design and layout.  What do you think so far? I'm also going to be way more organized and have a variety of different posts.  I've got some ideas that I'm pretty excited about and I can't wait to get started on them.

Besides the blog renovation, I have some personal goals (resolutions, if you must) that I have in mind for myself as well.

Find a local organization where I can volunteer
Get back home to Chicago to visit
Eat healthier (which is so hard when you are financially strapped!)
Get active again (and hopefully more fit)
Make a dent in my TBR pile!

I set a goal for myself to read 60 books in 2012 and I just surpassed it with 67.  I started off the year strong reading like 15 or 16 books in January but then my reading  tapered off a bit.  This year I'm going to try for 70 books.  I'm not lacking for reading material, that's for sure.

What about you guys, what do you have planned for the upcoming year?

Here's to a happy and healthy 2013!!

Review: Sons of Titan by Joe Russomanno

I'm cheating here and using the synopsis from Goodreads as I didn't think I could summarize accurately (due to the scope of the story) and not give anything away!

A World Besieged, Lost in Darkness, Awaits a Champion... The Bloodwraiths. They are the most terrifying weapon at the command of King Arorahn: resurrected fallen soldiers, now undead, with superhuman abilities and an appetite for flesh. There is one defense against them - the Phoenix Strike, known only to the exiled Axendrei Knights. Gideon, a blacksmith's apprentice whose dreary life is illuminated by his devotion to his beloved, Crysta, has no idea what lies in wait for him when he is conscripted into King Arorahn's army. He doesn't know that his father, Hadrigahn, a fugitive Axendrei Knight, has been training him in secret, using a suppression spell to block Gideon's knowledge. On the eve of his conscription, Gideon learns there is to be a battle that Crysta and the other villagers plan to watch. Hoping to see his beloved one last time, Gideon sneaks away to watch ... not knowing that once his innocence has been broken by witnessing acts of grotesque violence, the spell on his mind will also break. Captured by the Bloodwraiths, Gideon is thrust into a world of gladiatorial combat. He must rediscover his true self, while guarding the secret of the Phoenix Strike, which has the ability to save his world. Will Gideon remember the truth of who he is, and regain the power to combine all aspects of his essence, which will give him the superhuman strength of an Axendrei Knight? And will Hadrigahn succeed in training a group of fledgling Knights to battle the Bloodwraiths rampaging across the land? Sons of Titan: Rise of the Bloodwraiths is the stunning epic opening volume of a series that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Join Gideon on his quest, and prepare to be enthralled from the first page to the last.

This book took me over a month to get through which is unheard of for me. If I'm struggling to get through a book I will give it two or three tries at most and then I throw the towel in. That's just it, I wasn't struggling through Sons of Titan, there was just so much going on in the book that I needed to take my time. There are several characters to get familiar with. There are also a number of smaller stories that tie in to the bigger picture. I almost feel that 'Sons' could have been divided up into at least two novels. Even though there was a lot going on, I really enjoyed the story. It was very entertaining, and kept my interest throughout. I was definitely invested and genuinely cared what happened to the characters. There was an Arthurian feel to the book in the beginning and I picked up on a couple of biblical references as well. Now whether those were real or imagined....that's the question.

One element that I found confusing was the passage of time. Certain paragraph breaks and new chapters made it difficult to determine where on the time line I was. There were also some minor editing concerns (at least in my version) but nothing so drastic that it took away from the story.

I do have two suggestions that may help readers clarify certain aspects of the story:

1. a map of the areas involved in the story shown somewhere in the book

2. a complete list of characters (with descriptions) for the reader to refer to

I am excited to find out what's next for this cast of characters and look forward to seeing more from this author.

My Rating: 3/5 stars

Guest Review: This Book Does Not Exist by Mike Schneider

Once again my awesome husband, Jason, from Invasive Species Radio and Dead Man'z Kassette has stepped up to the plate and provided me with a review (because I have been seriously slacking lately!).  I'm going to start integrating more of Jason's reviews because he and I have different tastes when it comes to reading and that will provide you (my wonderful followers) with reviews for a larger variety of genres.  Jason also does music reviews on his blogs (check out the links above) if you care to take a peek.

On to the review......

Ok you know that whole “recommended for you” section on Amazon? Within this advertising assault on my wallet was a blurb for a $0.99 self-published titled This Book Does Not Exist by Mike Schneider. The title and the cover depicting a Polaroid style photo with the eyes and mouth obscured by what looked like a vandal's marker intrigued me. Plus, it was cheaper than the 44oz Diet Pepsi at the local gas station, so what the hell.

This book is your standard 20-something love story. Boy meets girl, boy starts long distance relationship with girl, boy loses girl in alternate dimension which then spills out into our reality inadvertently causing WWIII.

Ok maybe it's not that standard.

The story starts off with a first person account of how the author met a girl named Naomi (by the way, witnessing a suicidal idiot jump off a roof together is not a great omen for romantic success) and continues on for the first ten percent of the book detailing the troubles and tribulations of trying to get on the same page. When finally Naomi agrees to move into the author's apartment in L.A. (he's a struggling screenwriter), he goes to meet her at the airport and she doesn't get off the plane. Worse, she doesn't answer her phone, and anyone the author texts, Facebook messages, or tweets about it has no idea either. Then a few days later he gets a friend request from a mysterious gentleman named Geppeto W with the message: “I can help you find Naomi, but not unless you come to Ohio.” Which happens to be where the couple grew up.

Geppetto turns out to be the keeper of something called The Door, which I type in bold here because The Door for some reason is always typed in bold in the book. The Door appears for people when they “are falling in or out of various stages of love”. Seems like Naomi had some doubts and wandered through, and Geppetto found her suitor to test his resolve about the relationship. Thus begins a whole bunch of screwy scenarios involving the author trying to find Naomi, or find out if he's even really in love with her, or find out if he's just been slipped some really bad hallucinogens.

The book has some really interesting concepts about perception and reality, and had at one point a really interesting e-book technique of breaking down the “fourth wall”, where the author/protagonist talks about posting a YouTube video, and instead of describing it, the link for the video is right there on the page, just a finger tap away on my Kindle Fire. These technical and conceptual ideas however, are sadly more thought out than any emotional storytelling or character development. The author always drops cultural references in the story. What music he's listening to, or movies he's seen, as if what a person likes is the same as what a person is like. Also I wish the nightmare scenarios of The Door were more creative and tied to the character's past, but instead the author uses some recent historical incidents as a backdrop. I can only guess this was done as a way to make us identify with the character and recognize what he's going through, but it feels to me as a lost opportunity to define the character more.

Overall it was an interesting book, but nothing to really rave about. It was a great idea, but a great idea does not make a great story. Whatever door the author decides to go through next, I can only hope he decides to take a different hallway.


Two red-white-and-blue Bic lighters out of five.

Gratitude Giveaway Hop

Hi everyone!  I am hosting a giveaway as part of the Gratitude Giveaways Hop hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer.  This is just my way of saying Thank You for checking out my blog, especially since the posts have been few and far between lately.  

There are over 200 awesome bloggers taking part in this hop.  Do yourself a favor and check them out!  You can find the list of participating blogs here.

What's up for grabs you ask?  A purchase up to $15 at The Book Depository.  Who is eligible?  Anyone living in a place that The Book Depository ships to.

Winners will have 48 hours to respond.  If I don't receive a response, a new winner will be chosen.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I've Been MIA

Hey guys. The bad news, I've totally been stuck in my everyday life and unable to get much reading and blogging done. :(  The good news, that will change shortly. I am going to have some reviews and some giveaways posted in the near future so please stay tuned!

In the meantime I pose the following question to you all:

How do you feel about series that have seemingly endless numbers of books in them?

 Feel free to get as detailed as you want!

Review: Blade Song by J.C. Daniels

* I was given a free copy of this book for review purposes. The review is based solely on my opinion and was not influenced by author or publisher.

Kit is Aneira, a dying breed of assassin. Well she is half Aneira, half human and that is something that her deceased mother's family just could not forgive. Her grandmother tried to beat the human half out of her until Kit was old enough to escape. Now Kit is on her own and working as a private investigator when in walks Damon with a job that she wants nothing to do with. Kit doesn't like working with shifters, especially the cats. Unfortunately Damon's boss knows that Kit's weak spot is kids and she plays on that to get Kit to work her case. Can Kit beat the clock, her inner demons and a sociopathic client to save a kid and her own skin?

I really enjoyed this book and in the beginning I wasn't sure that I would. At first it felt like being thrown into the middle of the story. The author alludes to earlier events but gives no details almost as if the reader should already be familiar them. The author does eventually go into more detail about the past in the form of dreams and flashbacks, but it was a little off-putting initially. (I also did find a short story prequel on the authors blog, A Stroke of Dumb Luck, which is free) There is a good cast of characters in this story with Kit and Damon as main characters. Kit and Damon seem to have a love/hate relationship which spirals from hate to love at supersonic speed. Damon comes off as your typical brooding, sexy shifter although he is a little too rough with Kit in my opinion, at least early on. Kit is tough and nails and can definitely hold her own. If I had to guess I would say that her astrological sign is a Taurus because she is super stubborn and most of the time just does not know when to give up. I thought the secondary characters were great and at times liked them more than the main duo! I'm hoping to see a lot more of them in the series. Even though I had a couple of concerns the story was well paced and I had a hard time putting it down. I definitely intend to find out what kind of trouble Kit can get herself into next.

As a side note, I'm not a fan of the cover art. This is not at all how I pictured Kit, she looks too soft and nothing at all like the tenacious assassin I imagined.

My Rating: 4/5 stars