Posted in Books, Horror, Reviews, Thriller

Inhuman Acts- Book Review

So when you spend most of your time reading and reviewing books you find that there are very few truly original feeling stories these days. Most authors take an idea that’s been done and put their spin on it. This is simply how it goes these days. As they say, its all been done before. Except perhaps it hasn’t. With Inhuman Acts by Brooke L. French you will not experience this issue. Was all that set up necessary for me to tell you that Inhuman Acts is an original story worth picking up? Damn right it was, allow me to explain.

So when you read the back cover of this delightful book the first thing you may think is, with zoonotic diseases creeping in to humans are we dealing with some kind of zombie novel? Or perhaps, is this concept hitting a bit too close to home with the virus scares of the last few years? Well to answer the first question, no we’re not dealing with zombies here, we’re dealing with living people affected by rabies! Which is highly unlikely to happen in real life. And if you are worried about this book bringing up reminders of COVID, I wouldn’t worry much, the infected animals and people in this book are not experiencing any similar. You can still get that delightful reading escapism from this fantastic novel.

Now that I have covered that lets cover a couple other things. So characters, how do they feel? They feel real. Their personalities, jobs, internal conflicts, its all real. While we may not all be cops or ecological scientists, but the characters are written in a way that we can certainly understand the issues they are going through in this story. The story itself? Fantastic, and a must read. A curious thriller with just enough description to make you cringe and shiver but not be able to put the book down!

Pick up Inhuman Acts by Brooke L. French, and tell your friends to do the same!

Posted in Books, Fantasy, Review

Miles and the Soldier – Book Review

Miles and the Soldier second full length novel in The Acre Seires. It picks up directly on the end of Juno and the Lady and follows Miles, a character introduced in the first book as he tries to achieve his life’s dreams while also learning to deal with the disabilities that have resulted from the injuries he sustained in the first book.

By the time Miles and the Soldier even starts, the young man has gone through some serious emotional chances since his introduction in the first book. His near death experiences and his interactions with the very capable women of Faireacre have made him a much more understanding fellow. Sadly he is still young and selfish in certain ways, putting his wishes before those of the people around him.

Beyond Miles himself we are introduced to new characters as well as seeing the return of the previous books characters. The Soldier mentioned in the title is a particularly interesting one, leading Miles through a new adventure as well as helping him cope with his disability.

While I could go on about this book for hours, it so far being my favorite in The Acre Series, I feel as though my opinion could barely hold a candle to G.J. Kemp’s work. This second full length novel is and exciting read that displays more of the author’s amazingly created world. I hope we get more to Acre world, as there seems to be so many locations within it that have only been briefly touched.

This is a much read for all fantasy fans. This whole series is!

Posted in Books, Novella, Review, Reviews

Petra and the Sewer Rates – Novella Review

Once again we drop in toe Juno and the Lady series with Petra and the Sewer Rats. This Novella takes place a few years before Juno and the Lady, well quite a few years, following the mother of the titular character of the first book Juno’s mother Petra as she discovers that her isolated life in a safe home within Fairacre has been kept safe from the dark and violent goings on of the homeless girls of the city. When Petra sees how dreadfully these children are being treated, she tries and find a home for these disowned girls.

Naturally, this does not go as planned, or else it would not make for a good story now would it? Following Petra, we see where Juno gets a determination and grit. Petra’s story is sad, and I will not go in to particular detail as this is a novella so it is a fairly short read. That in mind, I would suggest you pick up Petra and the Sewer Rats if you had an interest in learning more about the town’s background after reading the last two books in the series!

Posted in Books, Fantasy, Review, Reviews

Juno and the Lady – Book Review

Juno and the Lady by G.J Kemp is the first novel in The Acre Series by G.J. Kemp. This first book follows young Juno as she goes from a young orphan living in a finishing school where they teach girls to be good little wives, to a fire elemental power wielding warrior. Along the way she befriends a fiery (literally) feline, various sewer dwellers, and men who would have once been her enemies.

The Story of Juno and the Lady is a colorful one. We are not only given the main story of the evil Lady’s attempt to control the town of Fairacre, but we are also allowed to see the complications surrounding this town and apparently every city in the known world. Woman are secondhand at best, trained in schools for men to pick their perfect wives. I always find that any book touching subjects of gender inequality are either great at it, or lacking. In the case of Juno and the Lady, the issue is addressed well.

The characters of the book are well written which is often hard to manage when you have a cast of so many, despite the handful of characters who make their appearances throughout this novel, they each remain their own person, with their own personality and moods. They changes they go through feel real, and there is plenty of character progression, even beyond the main character Juno’s self-discovery.

I suggest Juno and the Lady to any fan of fantasy. I am looking forward to the rest of this series. I want to read more about the characters and the world of The Acre Series.

Posted in Audiobooks, Books, Review, Reviews, romance, Science fiction

Cinder – Book Review

I have stumbled on to another surprising library find. Cinder by Marissa Meyer is a dark retelling of the classic story. Following Cinder, and abused young woman in a future where World War IV has ravaged the world that has become a single Empire whose greatest enemy is i their not so distant Lunar cousins. Cinder it turns out, is not just an abused young woman in this telling of the classic fairytale, but in fact a Cyborg, made so because of a childhood accident. This is not as cool as it sounds, as Cyborgs in New Beijing are considered less than human.

This young adult novel is a exciting tale. While I have read many a fairytale rewrite, this one kept my attention with its gritty under belly and politics of a seemingly at peace futuristic Earth. The characters and their thoughts, and paranoias plus the explanations of the various ‘magics’ that take up this world all fit nicely in to a fun science fiction novel that any fan of the genre would enjoy. Like most young adult novels, there is an aspect of romance, however while it has a center point in the story, it is far from the main characters only concern making the story feel a whole lot more related than just another fawning teenager story.

In short, if you are looking for an exciting fairy tale retelling, I strongly suggest you pick up Cinder.

Posted in Books, romance, Science fiction

Kingdom of Acatalec – Book Review

After reading S.M. McCoy’s Divine series, I was thrilled when I got an email a few months ago from her informing me of the first book in her new series. Kingdom of Acatalec. Equally thrilled was I to read it was a science fiction romance, a change from the fantasy aspects of her previous series. As a fan of the author’s writing, I could not help but dive head first into Kingdom of Acatalec and I was certainly not disappointed.

The story of Kingdom of Acatalec follows Tyler Beryl as her best friend pulls her into a complicated drone race, hoping to make some easy money and get out of dodge. She soon finds out that the group running this race are aliens. But have no fear, dear review reader, these are not some strange little green men, oh no, these are hunky gorgeous drop dead beautiful tall men that reading about certainly makes one’s day.

S.M. McCoy takes this concept and runs with it. The characters are delightful; the story is thrilling, and the ending is just enough of a cliffhanger that I regularly check her Amazon pages to see when the next book of the Acatalec series is on the way. Pick up this book, particularly if you are a fan of exciting original romance stories.

Pick up Kingdom of Acatalec here!

Posted in Audiobooks, Books, Fantasy, Review, Reviews

Beauty and the Beast: Lost in a Book – Book Review

Have you ever wandered through your local library, or scrolled through its websites pages aimlessly hoping to find a book that catches your eye? Maybe some random treasure you never would have picked up if you were in a bookstore and certainly nothing you would have ordered online? Well, I did just that and it surprised me to find Disney’s Beauty and the Beast Lost in a Book. 

Now I know what you are thinking. Is this some kind of sequel attempt in literary form? We all know about the many dreadful direct to home video sequels Disney has provided us. However, no, this is not a sequel, it is an additional story happening in the middle of the original tale.

After being introduced to the Beast’s extensive library, Bell stumbles in to an enchanted book. This book soon has the young woman tied up in an endless battle between Love and Death, finding her trapped. An exciting tale that we certainly know has a happy ending, as we know how Disney’s original story ends. However, despite this absolute fact, that does not keep this novel from being an interesting read.

I picked up the audiobook version from the local library’s website and it was spectacular. I really suggest you give it a listen.

I would suggest this novel to Disney fans, as well as fans of YA novels. This read is a bit advanced for younger children and some of the concepts are a bit dark, but it is certainly an enjoyable tale.