Stray Review

This time I’m reviewing Stray by: Elissa Sussman.

Aislynn lives in a world where all women have magic, but if not contained, that magic will cause them to stray from The Path they are given in life. Aislynn has always struggled to keep a lid on the powerful magic bottled up inside her. Unfortunately she has an occurrence that sets her life on a completely different Path of being a fairy godmother. Aislynn constantly struggles to be and do as she’s told, but that becomes increasingly difficult…

This book took a while to get into. I really considered putting it down and never finishing it, but I trudged along. About a fourth to a third of the way into the book, I finally started to become interested and I didn’t want to put it down.

The synopsis of this book is, honestly, terrible. I expected this book to be completely different, where Aislynn was a spoiled, selfish girl who acted out, which caused her to become a fairy godmother. Actually, though, she couldn’t control her magic, which caused her later fate. This was completely different than what I was led to believe and I felt so much more for Aislynn in the way the book actually turned out than if she really was how the synopsis had led on.

I thought the plot of this book was good, but I wished there was a bit more explained earlier on. Aislynn slowly learns more and unravels the mysteries surrounding her, but I was so often confused in this book. Many of the concepts and idea in this book were unique, but I just wished they were brought about in a clearer manner. It took me too long to figure out different terminology (that wasn’t really blatantly explained) and to understand the reasoning behind a bunch of the rules in this book.

I really did like Aislynn as a character. She struggled with questioning the system that she’d lived in her whole life and I loved the changes that I saw her go through. She bloomed in a wonderful way and really found herself. I really wish her self-harming was explored just a bit further. That’s a huge topic to tackle and I felt it was almost just mentioned and forgotten. There’s so much more that Elissa Sussman could have done with it to add even more emotional depth to Aislynn. Aislynn was still a great character as is, but Elissa Sussman could have made Aislynn even better.

As far as secondary characters go, I liked Thackery and Brigid, but I found I didn’t really care to see any of the others again. I even was getting tired of Linea (the girl Aislynn is the fairy godmother to). All the characters, other than Aislynn, felt a bit two-dimensional. They just seemed to have a short list of qualities and traits, but that was as far as they went. They were all a great supporting cast, but Aislynn feel really like the only main character (at least depth-wise).

There was one event in the book that happens out of the blue. It is never explained further. Maybe the next book will mention it, but I think it is unlikely. It bothered me that this thing that contradicted so much in the book would just suddenly happen and everything acting like it was okay. After it, I enjoyed the book enough that I chose to not dwell on it further, but it really felt like a cheap trick to force the plot to go a specific way.

Overall, I really did enjoy this book. I wish that there weren’t so many little things that got on my nerves. If you can overlook things like that, then you can really enjoy this unique story. There really is a bunch of good in this book, but I wish it could have a bit more work done on it.

Lastly, the cover is beautiful. This was part of the reason I was so interested in this book.

The Ride of Her Life Review

This time I am going to review The Ride Of Her Life by: Lorna Seilstad.

It has been three years since Lilly Hart has lost her husband. Raising a six-year-old boy is challenging enough as a single mom, but the matter is further complicated by Lilly’s former in-laws. They will stop at nothing to rip her son from her in the name of doing what’s best for the boy. All this adds up to some major trust issues that are challenged when Lilly spends more time with Nick Perrin.

I enjoyed this book, but not nearly as much as I enjoyed the first two books in this series. Maybe this could mostly just have to do with what was going on in my life, but I put this book down multiple times. It was easy to forget about.

That isn’t to say that it isn’t a great book. Lorna Seilstad’s writing wraps you up in the story when you read it. The plot progresses nicely. I was never bored with the book, I just managed to put it down too often. It’s not a book that I couldn’t wait to finish and I stayed up all night long to read.

I really liked Lilly when she was just Marguerite’s sidekick. She was a great voice of reason and an encouragement for Marguerite. I really loved her faith and relationship with God. In this book, though, I felt there was a huge disconnect from the Lilly of Making Waves and the Lilly presented here. I understand her heartache changed her, but in the first book she almost seemed so secure in her Christianity. I really loved getting to know her in this book, but she almost felt like a completely different person.

I liked Nick, but he felt a bit flat as a character. His backstory was so unique that I wished it played a bit larger role in this book. It was just barely mentioned on occasion throughout the whole course of the book that I became super curious about it. I wanted to know even more, but there never was the chance. I liked his unique job of designing roller coasters, but I didn’t know really why he liked it. I didn’t really feel his motivations for pursuing the career. This all translated to a good, but not great hero for this book.

The ending to this book is good. So much time was spent building up to the climax that the ending actually felt a bit rushed. Most of this book revolves around Mr. Hart wanting to take Levi from Lilly that I thought climax and tension would be so much more than what it turned out to be. It just fizzles out towards the end like a fuse that goes out right before igniting a firework.

I thought Lorna Seilstad did a great job dealing with Lilly’s trust issues. Nothing to do with that felt fake or forced. The message in this book was beautiful.

Even though it doesn’t quite sound like it, I really did enjoy this book. It’s a great book for someone looking for a sweet inspirational romance.

A Great Catch Review

This time I am going to review A Great Catch by: Lorna Seilstad.

Emily Graham is the president of her local suffrage movement and she pours herself into her cause. Her meddlesome aunts and grandmother think she should settle down, but Emily has other ideas. She’s determined to chase away any suitor and her constant clumsiness aids her cause. Her plans are dashed when baseball pitcher Carter Stockton enters the picture. Emily fights to keep her work for the suffrage movement at the forefront of her mind, above all else, but Carter proves to become increasingly distracting.

I’ve loved the Christian Fiction genre for awhile now. Most of the time when I read all the inspirational messages in them, I haven’t really been struck by anything I didn’t already know. Books in this genre have a whole lot of great advice, but normally it’s all stuff I already knew from being a Christian.

This book however, blew me to pieces in that department. I identified so much with Emily. All the lessons she learned really hit home. Lorna Seilstad masterfully wrote this book and Emily’s struggles. Not once did I feel like anything in this book was fake. More than any other book, the lessons in this one really made an impact.

All the characters are unique and fun to read. They all have depth and their struggles are really poignant. The secondary characters really help further the story. This book wouldn’t have been the same without them.

The plot moved along nicely and at a pleasant pace. I never got bored during this book and I loved reading the budding romance between Emily and Carter. They had many obstacles to overcome and it made the book feel more like real life.

I really loved this look into the Women’s Suffrage Movement. It makes me so proud of the many brave women in our history that worked so hard to give us the many rights we have today. Not all of them got to see the day when women could vote, but if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t know that right either.

Lorna Seilstad did an excellent job in including the movement in her book. She really represented all the attitudes raging at that time: from the hardworking and fired-up suffragettes to the bull-headed opposers. I really felt like this book gave an excellent glimpse into what it could have been like during that time.

Making Waves Review

This time I am going to review Making Waves by: Lorna Seilstad.

Marguerite Westing couldn’t be happier to escape the city to vacation at Lake Manawa and leave her boring suitor, Roger, behind. The lake is just the place for her adventurous spirit to run free. From the first moment she sees a ship gliding through the waters of the lake, she falls in love with sailing and decides she has to learn. The problem is, it’s not something a woman should be doing. Hatching a scheme, she finagles a way to learn from the hansom Trip Andrews. Something about him makes her heart race, but tragedy could very well prevent them from being together, not to mention Roger, who isn’t quite all he appears to be…

I originally read this book a couple years ago and I absolutely loved it. I couldn’t put it down and I was so amused by Marguerite’s spunk. Browsing the kindle store, I noticed it was only a buck and I decided to buy it. The next books in the series weren’t expensive either, so I decided to buy them as well. Before I went onto the second book, I decided I should probably reread this one and it was just as good as I remembered. Once again, I couldn’t put it down.

I have a lot of fun reading characters like Marguerite. I love her need for adventure and pushing boundaries, probably because I have some of those qualities. Marguerite refused to be vanilla. I loved how she set her mind to something and wouldn’t give up. She was rich, but she didn’t mind hard work.

I also love the journey this book took her on. She would sometimes lie to aid in achieving her goals. Just like so many of us, she could easily justify the lies. They were little, so who could they really hurt? The lesson of learning to be truthful is so important and Lorna Seilstad did a wonderful job in challenging Marguerite in this way.

Trip was a great character as well. He could be hot-headed at times, just like his father. I appreciated that his father was tough, but you could really sense that Trip still loved him. Trip’s growth in this book was also good. I wished I could see a bit more of his thoughts while his attitudes seemed to change, closer to the end of the book. There is a whole lot more that could be said about how people could never measure up to his standards and how he learned to let go of that.

The ending was sweet and I just wished there was more because I didn’t want this book to end. Lorna Seilstad’s writing easily wrapped me up in the story. She did a great job with all the different POV’s and they all were unique in personality to fit the character.

I loved this book and I’m looking forward to read the next one!

Mindsurge Review

This time I am going to review Mindsurge by: Heather Sunseri. (This is the third book in the series, so there are bound to be spoilers from the first two books. Read at your own risk.)

Lexi can’t get free from the evil trying to control her. Evil has a name: Sandra, Lexi’s DNA donor. On Lexi’s eighteenth birthday, Sandra starts sending ‘gifts’ that continue to escalate in severity. With all those that Lexi loves threatened, she wants to take revenge on the one who gave her life but also who is the driving force of destroying her life.

I really loved this book, but since I became a huge fan of Jonas’s, it was also a bit of torture. From the very beginning, I’ve said that there is something about Jake that just makes me not be able to absolutely love as a character. I really enjoyed Lexi and Jake’s relationship and growth in the first two books, but all throughout this book, I screamed for Lexi to want Jonas. That was never going to be a remote possibility because Lexi and Jake are so in love, but I couldn’t help but torture myself with that wish.

Getting past that, everything else about the book was amazing. The ending was very satisfying for the conclusion of the series (even though there is another book after this one). One thing in the end left me with some questions, but I’m sure (well, hoping really) that Heather Sunseri with give us an explanation for it later. I’ll be disappointed if there never is one, but it’s really not a huge thing to get caught up about.

I did actually find a typo in this book. At one point (I should have kept track), the name should have been ‘Alyson,’ but it was written ‘Sandra,’ and knowing the characters, that is a huge difference.

I really liked the introduction of new characters in this book, especially Lexi’s mom. The growth of the other relationships were wonderful as well. I liked seeing more of Coach and Seth. They were great people for Lexi to turn to.

I’m so impressed by how Heather Sunseri dealt with Lexi’s trust issues and grieving in this book. I really identified with her and her pain really came through in this book. When Lexi started pushing everyone away, Heather Sunseri made it so real. Other books so often struggle and fail at conveying these feelings, or they don’t let them last long enough to explore them fully. This book did an excellent job with them and helping Lexi move past them.

I’m so impressed with Heather Sunseri’s work and I really can’t wait to read more of it. She has an amazing imagination to have put this book together and she did a wonderful job in writing it. I’m also excited for the next book, even though it will be a bit of a change because it is focused on Kyle, but I have always wanted to get to know him more.

Mindsiege Review

Today I am going to review Mindsiege by: Heather Sunseri. (This is the second book in the series so there are bound to be spoilers. Read at your own risk.)

Lexi Matthews just discovered the person invading her mind. The most terrifying part, they can make her do whatever they want and she is powerless to stop them. Having just run from her boarding school, Wellington, she now must run from a whole different evil, but where can she hide when this voice can control her from any distance?

I loved this book so much, probably even more than the first book. I didn’t not want to put it down for a second, but sadly I had to get sleep at some point.

The flow and plot of this book were amazing. Things continued to build and progress until the very intense end. Question from the first book are answered. Lexi is starting to discover more about herself. A few twists are thrown in to keep you off-kilter.

I really like the all the minor characters. Sure, they could probably have a bit more depth, but since they are minor character it doesn’t matter. They really add something extra to the book. Out of them, I’m really excited to see more of Kyle and Addison in the coming book. Even Bree I’m looking forward to getting to know a bit more about.

Now, the character I totally loved in this book was Jonas. Wow. He’s a great bad boy and you don’t always know if he’s trustworthy, but I am so glad he got a role in this book.

Like I said with the last book, something about Jake just makes me like him but not love him as a character. I’ll admit he’s perfect for Lexi and I love their relationship, but… I don’t even know what exactly it is about him. He’s like a shirt that fits great, but just something about it looks horrible on you.

The ending does have a cliff-hanger, but the ending to this book didn’t make me want to scream like the last one did. (I didn’t want to scream because it was bad, it was just intense.) This cliff-hanger I can deal with, but I am going to pick up the next book in about two seconds, so that might be a factor…

Heather Sunseri did an excellent job writing this book. She brought just enough detail into it that all the science fiction elements felt really believable to me. I really can’t wait to read more of her work and I’m sure I’m about to devour the next book in the series, Mindsurge.

Mindspeak Review

This time I am going to review Mindspeak by: Heather Sunseri.

Lexi Matthews can make people do what she wants. With just a nudge with her mind, people obey, but it takes a toll on her in the form of a nose bleed. Lexi has kept her secret, but it isn’t as well kept as she thinks. When her father is murdered, her world turns upside down. She has no one to turn to and she doesn’t know who to trust. The intriguing Jake’s appearance into her life also complicates things…

This book was a great surprise. I bought this book when it was free at one point and it just hung out on my kindle forever. Needing not to spend too much more money on books, I decided to pick it up and I couldn’t put it down. Needless to say, I had to force myself to stop around five in the morning to go to bed. Then I finished the last little bit the next day.

Normally in books, I can grow so impatient when the main character goes back and forth on who they can trust. Lexi did this in the book, but every time she did, I felt she was justified. All the characters surrounding her are so hard to figure out, which adds a whole lot of depth to this book. Everyone is keeping things from Lexi and she is just beginning to figure things out.

I really liked Lexi’s character. Heather Sunseri did a great job in writing her. When Lexi’s father died, she grieved. So many books skip the grieving and get straight to the action or romance. I appreciate that Heather Sunseri didn’t do that.

I like Jake as a character, but so many times I thought there just had to be more to how much and how quickly he loves Lexi. He’s an amazing guy and wants what’s best for her, which is cute. I just wish he seemed a bit less clingy. Overall, I definitely liked him, but there just seemed like something was a bit off. I think it was probably me just reading him wrong and expecting different things from him that really gave me this slight feeling of not fully loving him as a character.

I thought Seth was a great character. I loved how you could never fully know if he was trustworthy or not, which actually happens with about every character. I kept forgetting that he had to be older, though (like Lexi’s dad’s age). I for some reason kept imagining him in his twenties.

All the science fiction elements in this book are great and I can’t wait to learn even more in the next books. Throughout the whole book, you get little tidbits about what is really going on, which kept me guessing till the very end.

Now about the ending. I really wanted to scream when I read the ending. This wasn’t because it wasn’t good, but some things happen that were beautifully torturesome to the reader. The ending is a slight bit of a cliff-hanger, but it isn’t as extreme as some I’ve read. All in all, the ending just made me want more and I can’t wait to dive into the next book.

I really love all the surprises and twists that are in this book. It really keeps you on your toes and entertained throughout the whole thing. This is a really wonderful start to this series and very well written.

Insanity Review

This time I’m going to review Insanity by: Cameron Jace.

Alice Pleasance Wonder only knows life in an insane asylum. Shock treatments have rid her of her past and she doesn’t know if she’s crazy or not. Her life changes when Professor Pillar gives her a huge opportunity to escape the asylum by day to catch a notorious killer. Reality and insanity mingle as Alice tries to solve the many riddles in order to save a life…

I honestly don’t even know what to think about this book. I definitely really liked it, but weirdly, I expected more and less from this book. I thought it would be more insane than it was and, by the synopsis, I thought Jack Diamonds would play a larger role.

This book is ride through Alice in Wonderland but in present day. The insanity in it is fun and actually not hard to follow. I really liked the aspects from Alice in Wonderland that popped up throughout this book.

Professor Pillar was a very interesting character. I liked that you could never tell if Alice should trust him or not. Cheshire is so evil. The White Queen is so good. The Duchess is corrupt. The best part is they all make an appearance and are people in the present day world presented in Insanity.

I thought the whole backstory with Alice was really interesting and I can’t wait to, hopefully, figure it all out in the next book. This brings up a whole lot of questions that I desperately want answered.

I was pretty disappointed that Jack Diamonds didn’t have a huge role in this book. (Mostly this is because from the synopsis, I thought he would have a very major role in the book. If it weren’t for those expectations, I wouldn’t have been bother by this.) He seemed like a really interesting character and I just wanted to find out more about him. I’m very curious to see his role in the next book, but I do love the later revelations that arise towards the end.

Speaking of the ending, it really made me crazy (in a good way). That’s really where all the insanity happens. I got through just about the whole book thinking, Yeah, this is crazy and weird, but not insane or confusing. That’s totally good because it makes the book easier to handle, but I expected a bit more doubt as to what was actually reality to be thrown in more throughout the book.

Overall, this book was very good. The plot was great and things progressed at a natural pace. This book is definitely a fun and twisted ride.

Lastly, the writing in this book was excellent. I found just a few tiny typos, but that’s the extent of the feeling like this is an Indie book. I really can’t wait to read more of Cameron Jace’s work.

Oh, I also have to mention how amazing the cover is! I was initially drawn to this book because of the beautiful cover.

With Every Letter Review

Today I’m going to review With Every Letter by: Sarah Sundin.

In the height of WWII, two people find refuge and friendship in anonymous letter writing. Lt. Mellie Blake doesn’t fit in because of her heritage. Being half Filipino and half American, she grew up with the cruelty of children making fun of her odd looks. She hasn’t ever had a friend. Lt. Tom MacGilliver can’t escape the legacy of his murderous father. His whole life goal is to show people he isn’t his father. These two lonely souls will find comfort in each other’s letters and also be forced to grow due to the circumstances around them.

This book was so sweet. I really got completely absorbed in it. I love the backdrop of WWII and the flight nursing program that Millie was involved in. Sarah Sundin really knows how to transport you back in time. I found myself so wrapped up in the war effort through the characters eyes and I couldn’t put this book down.

I am so impressed by how much the characters grow in this book. They naturally come out of their shells and learn how to live without the oppressive weights that had been hanging over them. Mellie and Tom are a great pairing. I loved their love for the Lord and how they had so much in common even though they were so different.

I really loved the various themes in this book. They really made you think. One was about gossip, which a few characters struggled with. Originally, I was kind of bothered by how gossiping was represented because it made me realize how easy it is to gossip. I fall into more than I would like to admit.

The other big theme was presented through Mellie and had to do with mercy. I never thought of mercy quite like Mellie did. She wanted to be merciful in all that she did and sometimes she confused mercy for something else. I just think this is a really interesting thing that Sarah Sundin chose to explore in this book. It definitely made me stop to think.

This book was an amazing read and I couldn’t help but escape into if for a while. I thought it was a wise choice that Mellie and Tom did all their growing without the other’s presence. They definitely helped one another through their letters, but they didn’t change because of the other. This isn’t normally the typical thing in a romance novel and I found it really refreshing.

My only slight complaint is that I wished we could have seen a bit more of the letters between Mellie and Tom because I felt like they feel in love a bit too quickly. Then I realized there were a whole lot of letters we didn’t see that it made more sense for them to be in love. I totally understand that Sarah Sundin avoided this to stop some repetition that would probably occur and it helped keep the story moving, but I almost missed it.

Overall, this book was excellent. It’s a very sweet read.

Ella, The Slayer Review

Next up for a review is Ella, The Slayer by: A.W. Exley.

The Great War has left many scarred and boys are just starting to find their way home in the year 1919. Ella’s father is among one of those that the war ravished. He mostly sits and drools, but Ella still hopes for his return to his faculties. In his incapacitated state, Ella’s step-mother rules the house and exiled Ella to being a common servant. The war isn’t the only thing that has left the world broken. A mysterious disease killed many, but they didn’t stay dead and they hunger for the living…

I totally just stumbled upon this book while I was trying to figure out what I wanted to read next. The premise sounded interesting. I really love retellings of fairy tales, so that is initially what drew me to this book. I don’t really know how I feel about zombies in books, but I thought it was a really interesting twist to this retelling and it was handled really well.

I really liked Ella. I loved how she cared for her dad and friend that both came back from the war scared (emotionally and physically). I thought it was interesting how she couldn’t stand up to her step-mother (which could have been explored just a tad bit more) and she would be fearless when slaying the vermin (zombies). It shows that she did what she had to do in a world that didn’t make sense and this made her character feel more real.

The slayer aspect was really interesting as well. I really liked how A.W. Exley really added depth to Ella through this occupation of hers. The people didn’t want to damn their souls with killing the vermin, just in case there would be consequences in the hereafter, so they let Ella do it because she was the first one to kill the undead. Since she was already damned, what would it hurt for her to keep dispatching the vermin? I really felt for her throughout all of this.

I really liked the one chapter that was in Seth’s perspective and I would have loved to read more from him. It’s kind of odd that he only got one chapter in the whole book. I really liked his distinct voice that came through in this section.

At the end of the book, A.W. Exley asks the reader if she should write a sequel. I think this book does a good job standing alone, but a sequel could expand more on the war with the zombies. She definitely left it open for a sequel, but I don’t think it is hugely necessary. My other worry about having a sequel is that Ella & Seth’s relationship will be stepped up to the next level and I personally just don’t enjoy reading explicit stuff in relationships. There definitely is the potential for that if there is a sequel, but I honestly don’t know if A.W. Exley would write it like that. I haven’t read anything else from her to give me a better idea if she would do that or not. (I definitely want to try out some of her other books, though.)

Lastly, I have to mention how beautiful the cover is! That and I was kind of bothered by the line spacing in the eBook. This is totally a formatting issue and nothing at all against the writing. I’m just not a fan of reading the book when it’s double-spaced, but the writing and story were so good that I tried my best to ignore it.

XGeneration: You Don't Know Me Review (I Didn't Finish The Book)

Today I’m going to review a book that I couldn’t finish. This book is XGeneration: You Don’t Know Me by Brad Magnarella.

I didn’t finish this book so I can’t really give a good synopsis of it, but it’s mostly about these two teens that are just starting high school. It’s set in the 1980s and they are discovering that they have powers, or something like that.

This book just dragged on and on and on and on… The writing was good and that’s the only thing that kept me reading for as long as I did. I only got twenty-five percent of the way through this book, but in all that time not much of anything noteworthy happened. Brad Magnarella focused way too much on their day to day life.

I thought the characters were interesting, but I definitely thought Scott was more interesting than Janis. She almost seemed ridiculous. She loved sports, which means she should be kind of tough, but she acted like such a scared little baby at times.

I really was drawn to this book because of the powers it advertised, but barely anything was mentioned or figured out about those powers by the time I stopped reading. The reviews for this book kept mentioning that if you loved X-Men you would love this book, so I was convinced I would love it. I was very disappointed.

A smaller thing that kind of grated on me is how Brad Magnarella kept mentioning girl’s chests when he described them. Okay, I can totally understand that when it’s in Scott’s POV, being a guy, he would mention this when describing the looks of a girl, but Janis wouldn’t have thought about it. Since the author is a guy, I could understand why he would mention this, but there are way more that you could describe to give readers a picture of what is going on or how people look without this. Really this didn’t happen often, but by the second time it mildly annoyed me.

I do really love the cover of this book, though.

Also Known As Review

This time I am going to review Also Known As by: Robin Benway.

Margaret didn’t have a conventional childhood. When other kids were fighting on the playground in elementary school, she was breaking into safes and cracking locks. Her parents are both spies and they raised her to be the same. Now, Maggie is going on her first solo mission, which is to befriend Jesse Oliver to get information about his dad. The mission gets complicated when her feelings get in the way…

This book was very entertaining. I totally thought Maggie’s safe-cracking ability seemed unreasonable for her age when I was going into the book, but I think Robin Benway did a great job of making it believable. She gave Maggie a good amount of technical knowledge about it that made it feel reasonable.

I really enjoyed all the characters in this book. Roux was probably my favorite character. She’s just enough spunky and vulnerable. She made things fun and she was full of surprises. The only thing I wished about her is that I could’ve gotten a better description of what she looked like. I couldn’t quite picture her. In fact, I really wish all the character descriptions were a bit more detailed.

Maggie was great. I loved how she talked to herself and needed to give herself pep talks. I totally am the same way and I really appreciated that she was like that. I really liked her voice in the book, which is good because the book is fully in her perspective.

My few complaints about the book are the beginning and the ending. The beginning felt a bit too much like she was going to tell us the whole story of her life. It was just too much of filling us in to get up to speed, but it gets into the story fairly quickly, so it wasn’t super bothersome. The ending felt a bit rushed. I really liked the pacing of the book before that point, but all of a sudden it speeds to the end after. I did enjoy the ending, it just seemed to all happen so quickly when the rest of the book didn’t seem to be passed quite as fast.

(Kind of Spoilers!) For some reason during all of this book, I was suspicious of the Collective. I totally thought there would be a twist and the Collective would actually be evil and Maggie and her parents just didn’t know. I mention this because that suspicion was totally wrong. I have no idea why I felt that way, but something in the writing or plot just gave me the impression of it. (End Spoilers.)

Overall, I really liked this book. It kept me really entertained and I definitely will read the next book in the series.

The Madmen's City Review

Today I am reviewing The Madmen’s City by: Cady Vance.

Gwen Kane’s dad is the famous vigilante Phantom and she is training with him. There’s another vigilante around town named Ethos and he isn’t afraid to kill. When Phantom is framed for a murder he didn’t commit, Gwen will do everything she can to prove his innocence, even going out on the streets at night and teaming up with Ethos.

I absolutely loved this book. I am a huge fan of superheroes/vigilantes in stories, but this is actually the first book I’ve read about them. This book reminded me a lot of the feel of the show Arrow, which I love as well.

Cady Vance did an excellent job with writing this book. It played like a movie across my eyes and I could visualize everything. Typically with reading, I visualize it to a point, but this book went way beyond that. Through the descriptions and writing, I could see everything that was going on.

I really liked the characters in this book, especially Silas Snow. His personality really showed through and I’m really glad Cady Vance decided to write the book from both Silas and Gwen’s perspective.

The pacing of this book was perfect. While reading I just kept wishing there would be a sequel. I read this book in one sitting because I couldn’t put it down. Nothing felt forced in this book and the things the characters were able to do seemed very true to who they were.

I also really liked the aspects of this book that are focusing on good and evil. Gwen and her father don’t believe in killing the bad guys, they give them to the police to be arrested and put to trial. Ethos isn’t afraid to kill criminals. One of the most interesting parts of this book the whole back and forth debate on whether killing the bad guys was okay. I definitely think this could have been expanded even further in the book, but the tastes of it presented in the book are enough to make you think.

The ending was very satisfying, but maybe a tiny bit rushed. One small thing at the end I felt confused why it happened, but the author acknowledges what she is doing it by having the characters give a reason for it.

This book was amazing and I highly recommend it. This is a book I can totally see myself rereading.

(Spoilers!) Lastly, I am so glad that when Silas wants to kiss Gwen in the middle of the climax of the book, he doesn’t and he acknowledges that it isn’t the time. It’s really refreshing that this book wasn’t ruined by the ‘everything is falling apart around us and we are in a time crunch, but we are just going to stand here and make-out for a bit’ that so many movies have. It’s so unrealistic and stupid when they do that. (End Spoilers.)

The Children And The Blood Review

This time I’m going to review The Children and The Blood by Megan Joel Peterson.

Ashley lived her life comfortable on a farm with her sister, Lilly, and her father. She never left the farm, but she didn’t feel the need. Everything changes when bad men come and burn down the farm and kill everyone. Ashley and Lilly barely escape with the help of a random boy named Cole, who is on the run for different reasons. Those men will stop at nothing to capture Ashley or Lilly. The police won’t help. All their family is dead. They have nowhere to turn to, but they have to keep running.

It took me awhile to actually get into this book. The biggest thing that bothered me is the writer kept switching between third person limited (where the narration is closely connected to only one character’s perspective) and third person omniscient (where the narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of every character). Mostly, I think this book was supposed to be third person limited, but every so often there would be lines or paragraphs that didn’t fit. For example, with third person limited, when Ashley’s dad would be referred to, he should have always been ‘her dad,’ ‘her father,’ etc. but constantly he is referred to as ‘Patrick.’ Now if she actually called her dad ‘Patrick,’ then it would be okay for him to be referred to as that.

Getting past all that, the writing was pretty good. The descriptions were excellent and the flow was really nice. Sometimes it might have gotten a bit wordy, but it wasn’t a huge deal. Once I got into the book, the writing seemed to pick up even more.

Character-wise, I thought Ashley was a bit of a flat character. I liked her, but she didn’t really seem to have much of a personality. Sure, her situation could account for some of that because she is in ‘run for your life’ mode most of this book, so she’s mostly running on impulse.

I really liked Lilly, but at some points I thought she almost acted a bit older than she was. This partly could do with the fact that Cole thought she was six when we later find out that she is eight. She’s so adorable though.

I also thought Cole was a great character. He definitely had more personality that Ashley and I found myself enjoying the chapters about him more than the ones about Ashley. I am glad that he wasn’t smarter than he should have been. By this, I mean he didn’t all of a sudden know how to survive when thrust into this situation, while he had no prior experience with being on the run.

I really like that the author did include chapters that were in the perspective of others besides just Ashley and Cole. This helped add more depth to the book. It also gave just enough snippets of information to keep me satisfied until everything starts to become clearer.

Once this book got going, I started to enjoy it more, but I really struggled with it at first. I mostly just kept reading because I hate to not finish a book and I just need to get through it so I could start another book. I am still debating if I want to continue with the series. There were a bunch of interesting aspects to the backstory and I really think the next books could be interesting, but I don’t know if I’m willing to risk it quite yet.

At Every Turn Review

This time, I’m going to review At Every Turn by: Anne Mateer.

It’s 1916 and missionaries serving in Africa come to Ally’s church. She’s struck by the little faces presented in pictures. She wants to help and ambitiously pledges three thousand dollars. However, getting the money isn’t as easy as she expected, so she hatches a plan and secretly competes in her dad’s racecar. No one can find out she is actually a girl and keeping the secret becomes increasingly difficult. To top it off, she’s doesn’t know if she’d lost sight of God’s will in her excitement for the races.

This book was a really refreshing read for me. Originally, I picked it up in a time that I wasn’t really in the mood for Christian Fiction. (As you can see by my many other reviews prior to this one, I have been going through a bit of a YA faze.) This book was left stranded on my ‘currently reading’ list for weeks and I was stuck in the first few chapters. This is not at all a reflection on the book because once I picked it up again, I was really pleasantly surprised by it.

The characters in this book really felt like real people that were struggling through their real problems. The main character, Ally, struggled through indecision and trying to follow God’s plan. Like so many of us, she didn’t take the time to really wait on God, but forged ahead. Her journey felt so real to me.

I really enjoyed that Ally was a Christian from the beginning. Many of the Christian Fiction books I read deal with people finding God throughout the book, but it’s nice that she struggled through many of the things I struggle though. It’s really refreshing to find a book that really showed a girl with her heart in the right place still making the mistakes that we as Christians can often make.

The romance in this book was really sweet, but not overdone. It really was in the background and the book dealt more with Ally’s growth. Ally really felt like a real person through the relationships she had. She was just oblivious enough that I could identify with her innocence, but she wasn’t so ignorant that I got annoyed. Anne Mateer did an amazing job writing characters that really came off the page and felt like they could be people I would meet in life.

This book also had some moments that really resonated with me. There was a lot of good Godly wisdom in this book. Here are some of the lines I couldn’t help but read a few times over.

“Do you think the Lord takes note of us only after we turn to Him? No, He woos us through our whole lives.”

“But even when we love the Lord we won’t live a sinless life, though we try. The key is recognizing our wrong. Repenting, as you have done. Then moving forward with a lesson learned.”

“We all have a call from God. And it will always seem a strange call to some. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t our purpose and calling. And it doesn’t mean it isn’t a valid occupation.”

“But be very sure that is the Lord’s direction and not your own desire, Alyce. Sometimes our motives get so tangled up it’s hard to discern the difference.”

The Faerie War Review

Next up on the review-agenda is The Faerie War by: Rachel Morgan.

The world has fallen apart and destruction is all that remains. Everyone is in hiding, but Violet can’t remember anything about what happened to cripple the world. Actually, she can’t remember much of anything. She finds herself at the mercy of the reptiscillas, who all seem to hate her for being a guardian – whatever that means. Through it all, she has to find a way to figure out her role in the fight to save the world.

To be completely honest, my feelings on this book are mixed. I’m just getting off the high of the amazing last two thirds of the book, but I really struggled with the start of this book. It’s really frustrating to go into the book with the main character knowing nothing. I think stories with the amnesia aspect can be really great, but when I have read through two whole books and know a whole lot about the character and her experiences, it gets kind of frustrating to have her be so ignorant. So many times I wanted to scream at her to fill in the blanks to her memory, but of course that wouldn’t work.

Once you get past Part 1, it gets a lot better. I’m so glad Rachel Morgan decided to give Ryn his own time to shine (Part 2 was in his point of view). Things really started picking up later into the book and I couldn’t put it down, but I really had to force myself to get through the first of it. I even had to put it down and pick up another book before I felt I could continue with this one.

Getting past that first part, the book is definitely worth it. There was a really satisfying conclusion to the book and it didn’t seem cheesy, or like it was too easy for what happened to actually have happened. Sorry if this is a bit confusing, I’m trying to be vague.

I still really love Violet as a character, even though she can’t remember anything. She is still true to herself and she may not remember why she is the way she is, but she doesn’t drastically change, which I really like. I’m really glad Rachel Morgan decided to handle Violet’s case of amnesia this way. She really did an excellent job writing Violet without her memory. I think it was just my personal preference that made it more painful to read Violet without her memory.

Ryn is such an amazing character and I love him so much! Going into this book series, I really hated him at first, which is what you are supposed to do, but I really enjoyed seeing him grow and change throughout this series. He is just so good for Violet as well. I am so glad that Rachel Morgan didn’t make him push Violet too hard when she didn’t remember him. It’s a terrible position that he was in, but Rachel Morgan did an excellent job with writing the new dynamic to Ryn and Violet’s relationship.

This book series is really worth the read. I really loved it. Sadly, each book had a piece that bothered me, so they couldn’t rank as high as my absolute favorites, but it came pretty close. I’m excited that this world will be continued on in the next book series arch about Calla. I just might have to finish decompressing from this one before I start the next.

The Reckoning Review

Today I am going to review The Reckoning by: MaryLu Tyndall (my favorite author, by the way).

Morgan Shaw just learned she has liver cancer and to make matters worse her boyfriend broke up with her because he couldn’t deal with it. Stuck at a tall-ship festival and trying to avoid her ex, she scurries down to the bowels of the ship, only to reemerge 300 years in the past. Can she come to terms with time travel? Will the hansom rouge Rowin steal her heart? Will she let him? As everything spins out of Morgan’s control, she has to find the strength to let go and allow God to lead her.

MaryLu Tyndall doesn’t disappoint. I really loved this book. I love how MaryLu can add so much depth to the story by her detailed descriptions. Everything flows amazingly well and I can always get so wrapped up in the story.

I loved how MaryLu really worked hard to mesh the two times together. So many times, no one could understand what Morgan was saying because she would talk about something from the 21^st century or use our language. To me, what she said seemed so natural, but it definitely wouldn’t have to someone from 1694.

I really found myself identifying with Morgan. The message in this book about trusting God really resonated with me. More than any of MaryLu’s other books, this one really stuck me and made me take a closer look at how little I am willing to relinquish control to God. Morgan and her control issues were beautifully written.

Rowin was a great bad-boy. I really enjoyed seeing him change throughout this book, but I almost wish I could see more of his transformation later on in the book. I could see him growing all along, but then he seems to go the last mile in his character growth so suddenly. Regardless of this, I still loved him as a character and his role in the book.

I totally understand why it took so long for Moran to come to grips with being transported in time, but I almost wish she got over it a bit more quickly. I liked her as a character from the beginning, but I felt my patience for her whining wearing a bit thin. However, if she came to realize she was actually in 1694 earlier, she wouldn’t be able to brave nearly as much and I absolutely loved seeing this side of her from the beginning. It showed the potential of what she could become if not for her OCD and anxiety.

Lastly, my only real problem with the book is the time travel aspects. This isn’t really a complaint of how MaryLu tackled it because she did an excellent job combining the two worlds, but it has more to do with the theories of time travel. I was going to try and write out some of my thoughts on how the timeline would be affected with Morgan’s traveling back, but that would take way too much time and it would probably be more confusing than helpful. Let’s just say, I feel like some things couldn’t have happened as they did based on some of the theories of time travel, but that could just be because of how I think time travel should work and what theory I get behind.

Oh! Also, I was so ecstatic when Charlisse and Merrick made an appearance in this book! Having loved them ever since I read The Redemption years ago, I couldn’t be any happier to see that they are still doing well. It really was like getting to catch up with old friends.

Here are some of my tweets from right after I finished the book, just to show a bit of my initial thoughts shortly after I read the last page.

I just finished The Reckoning by @MaryLuTyndall and it was amazing! I cannot put to words how this book has already impacted me.

— Savannah Rohleder (@smrsis248) June 22, 2015

I totally burst with excitement when Charlisse and Merrick made an appearance in The Reckoning! It was like old friends came to visit.

— Savannah Rohleder (@smrsis248) June 22, 2015

The Faerie Prince Review

This time I’m going to review The Faerie Prince by: Rachel Morgan. Be warned, it is the second book in the series, so there are bound to be spoilers from the first book.

Violet has just one more hurtle before her graduation to become a guardian: her final assignment. Nothing goes according to plan and she has to deal with being partnered with her enemy/tormenter/kind of friend, Ryn. With the final assignment being more than she bargained for and the strange new emotions that are plaguing her when she’s around Ryn, she has to find a way to survive.

Honestly, I really don’t even want to be writing this review right now. Instead I just want to consume the next book. I’m forcing myself to review the books I’m reading before I start the next (especially ones in series) so everything’s fresh in my mind.

I really just can even deal with the ending. It’s a huge whapping cliff-hanger where so much is up in the air. For cliff-hanger endings, it’s excellent, but for those of you who want to hurl the book across the room after one, be warned.

I really loved Violet and Ryn. Their banter and friendship is just so much fun and I tried so many times not to smile too widely when reading those parts (mostly because I was in public and didn’t want to look like a weirdo). I think the tidbits we find out about Ryn are amazing too… My only complaint is that I feel like these might not have been totally thought out when writing the bonus material for the first book, but whatever.

There was so much going on that Violet didn’t know about and tiny pieces would break though to be mentioned to the reader, but I almost wish there was a bit more build-up of them. I totally loved how the book was, as is, but there just seems to almost be gaps with the stuff going on behind the scenes.

I really love this series and I can’t wait to dive into the next book.

The Faerie Guardian Review

Now it’s time for the review of The Faerie Guardian by: Rachel Morgan.

Violet is a faerie in training to be a Guardian, which means she constantly travels into the human world to protect the unsuspecting people from random attacks by the fae. One mission goes badly when Vi accidentally takes a human back to her world, Creepy Hollow, which is breaking the number one rule. However, things aren’t quite as they appear for this boy, or with her for that matter…

I really have some mixed feelings about this book. I totally loved it, especially the second half, but I just can’t get over how fast she seems to fall for Nate. She barely just met the guy and she is breaking all the rules for him. I totally get the rush for this (in the scope of the whole book), but it was kind of frustrating when I wasn’t far enough to understand why Rachel Morgan would write it this way.

Now, with that out of the way, I loved just about everything else about this book. After the big game-changer near the middle of the book, I couldn’t put it down. The plot from that point on really picked up and it was amazing.

I really loved Vi and Ryn as characters. I wish I could have gotten a better sense of who Nate was, but he was such a flat character and maybe that’s why his and Vi’s attraction seemed so sudden and strange. I sure did love, though, the part where Vi actually voiced the doubts rolling through my head and admitted to knowing Nate for only a short period of time, so she didn’t understand her emotional response to him. I also just loved how she could stand her own in a fight and really embodied the tough chick. So many times books can have a main character like her and then completely ruin it with their whinny thoughts. I think Rachel Morgan did an excellent job with Vi’s responses to everything that happened.

Now about Ryn, I totally didn’t like him at first, which is kind of the point, but I really, really like him by the end. Talking about the end, I really wish there was more to it. The bonus material after the book finishes helps me have a slight bit of closer, but it really wasn’t enough. I know this is part of a series, so I knew to expect a bit of a cliff-hanger, but I really wish series (in general) were more episodic verse how they tend to be just one giant book chopped into smaller pieces. I’m totally going to read the rest of the series, but I wish there was a more satisfying ending.

Overall, this was a well written and really gripping book. I can’t wait to pick up the next one (which I’m probably going to do in the next few minutes).

Oh, and by the way, I totally love the cover.

Taking Our Own Advice

On the radio this morning, the host talked about his struggle with not feeling good enough. This actually was something he mentioned in a discussion about kids winning participation awards for sports. Most people seem to be on the side that think those awards will make people feel entitled to always win something.

However, the host launched into a personal musing to give a boost to the argument in favor of those awards. He mentioned that he used to play football, which there is only a winner and a loser. No one got awards for just being there. It’s just not part of the game.

When he got more into the arts, he realized that there will always be someone that is better than him, so maybe a recognition of effort wouldn’t be so bad when he couldn’t be the best. Someone out there would always be better than him. That thought could bring feelings of worthlessness and apathy. Why bother trying when you can’t be the best?

The host said he’d been struggling with this and, honestly, I have too, but right away when the host started saying it, my mind launched into a rebuttal...

Each one of us has something unique to bring. Sure, you may not be the best, but no one thinks exactly like another and you would bring something special just because you are you.

This reminds me of the show Hit Record. There is a site where people create and post the things they’ve done. Then others can take it and make something new with it. For example, many short films have been made with illustrations someone drew as the backdrop. The music is sung by one person who might have gotten the lyrics from someone else. It is animated by yet another person. The final product can be amazing, but it wouldn’t have been the same if only one person had worked on it.

We each bring our unique gifts.

After a few moments where I gave lengthy advice in my mind, something struck me. I’m quick to give advice to help someone else, but I rarely listen to my own advice. I want to help others, but I don’t try to fix my own problems.

All the stuff I mentioned above is a great example of how I wasn’t taking my own advice. So many times I’ve just given up because I wasn’t the best. I didn’t try so that I couldn’t fail. Then, I would turn around and encourage people not to do the very thing I didn’t realize I did.

Often I know the answers and how to help others with their problems, but I don’t try to fix myself. Maybe it’s ignorance and I just don’t recognize my own issues. Maybe it’s laziness and I don’t want to put the effort to improve. Maybe none of the above.

It’s so easy to deal out words meant to help others, but it’s much harder to actually take our own advice.