Author: ngana9

So I was looking for some guidance in my life due to a serious work-life imbalance and I saw this book for a cheap price. I’m guessing it’s cheap because it’s short. Regardless it packs a powerful message that most self-help books don’t – own your problems and do the work to overcome them. It’s not sugarcoated and it’s not rainbows and unicorns. It’s in your face and to the point. Life is broken into 4 key aspects (CORE 4) and Whalen gives you steps to reach your goals for each area. But above all, own your life and do your work.

I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Megge of Bury Down was one of those books that I hated to put down. I went without sleep and was late for work because I could not stop reading.

Megge has a fate, a duty, she is supposed to accept as a young woman of Bury Down but she fears what she has to do to take her vow. Because of her fears there is an overwhelming sense of isolation in her character as her mother, aunt, and cousin all grow closer with their training and healing duties and she moves toward herding and learning the loom. But throughout it all they try to encourage her with cryptic family stories to spur her memory of past lifetimes and, while their patience wears thinly times, their love and support remains.

The book is wrought with sacrifice of the highest level. So many people made vows for the same cause and sacrificed for that cause to see it through to the end.

The author did a great job of tying together so many elements. The sacrifice, the never-ending pursuit by an evil-minded force, and in the end love of the family all flowed together throughout the entire book.

The writing style kept the story moving at a fast pace. The story was always interesting with no slow parts. The only problem is that this is book one and now readers will be forced to wait for the author to finish and release the next installment.

I’ll be waiting to see where Megge goes on her journey.

5 stars.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

To be honest I’m pretty amazed at the daring of the author to write a book like this. Fiction or not it directly takes on Christianity head on. For being bold enough to make a statement like that, I greatly respect the author.

What if everything that you were taught to believe was, in fact, a fiction created by power hungry people and the doctrine you follow was nothing more than one more piece of that fiction? What if your beloved Savior was nothing more than a poor man forced to pretend to be something he’s not so that someone else could make monetary gains?

Rhys Hagan has re-imagined a whole new beginning to the Christian religion. The only thing that stayed the same was Jesus being a down to earth, humble teacher. All of the major players we know from the old Bible stories were present, but their stories were modified. Jesus, for instance, was married to Mary and their son was David. Regardless, the point of the story was the same. Amphion wanted to take on a contract and he needed money to do it so he used Jesus to spearhead a new religion.

“‘Hundreds, thousands of years ago, it was someone like me who started it all. A lie that was told to facilitate the agenda of the times. And, if I have my way, hundreds, thousands of years from now, the story of Christ will still be told. Only it will be adapted to suit the agenda of those times – a lie transposed for a modern purpose.’” (Page 307)

“‘Luke if there’s one thing to take away from Christianity, it’s that faith is profitable.’” (Page 307)

The author kept true to the brutality of the times with the torture chambers of the Romans and the violence that was favored. For me it was a little too gruesome but it was historically accurate.

I really think this was a remarkable and powerful piece of fiction. The author took a huge chance to write something that is this openly challenging to the Christian faith (fiction or not) and I have a lot of respect for that. I’m giving the book 5 stars because it was well thought out, researched and creative.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance reader copy.

I really enjoyed the storyline from beginning to end. I laughed. I cried. I felt pretty much the whole gamut of emotions. Rose really grew on me from kind of irritating me at the start to being a formidable heroine at the end.

I didn’t really get to know Stan too much throughout the book so I’m not sure how I felt about him as a love interest even given his big revelation. However I’m kind of glad we are left we the opportunity to see how things progress between Rose and Tor.

This was one of those books I couldn’t read fast enough to find out what would happen next. My only complaint was with the author’s writing style. It seemed a bit juvenile in places but I imagine it will progressively improve with each book in the series.

After I post my review, I’m going to purchase the rest of the series to satisfy my need to know what happens with Rose and Tor. Great start to a series!

5 stars.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance reader copy.

Chicago Blue was fast paced fun from start to finish. Riley reminded me a lot of Stephanie Plum with the antics she got up to while going after the bad guys.

The dialogue and narration were very humorous and kept the story from going to a darker level that exploding CEOs could take it to. What I really liked was the ending. It was a good ending to allow for the continuation of the series but it was not a sugarcoated happy ending with everything ending perfectly.

Kay Riley and her hodgepodge group of friends make for a great group of entertaining characters. I look forward to reading their next adventure.

5 stars

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC.

This novel was a lot like Spider-Man, you know, minus the spider and all. Teenage boy living with older relatives because his parents have passed and he gains super powers. Of course there’s a girl and a rival for said girl. But that’s where the story lines diverge.

I like that the author covers topics appropriate for the target age group – overcoming bullying, acceptance of gay relationships, etc. The main character is also given a choice to choose right from wrong. He’s had a hard life and out of nowhere he gets these powers that could allow him to get whatever he wants but he chooses to be the good guy instead.

I really enjoyed this book and I’m looking forward to reading the next one.

5 stars.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance reader copy.

“It’s only this that can untangle the dark snarl of emotions inside me. Only this pain can sharpen my focus, drown out the roar inside my own head.” (7%)

This book is a powerful journey through the pain of a abused teenager’s story – her only coping mechanisms, cutting herself and lashing out at those around her. When I got to the end and read the author’s note, it all became clear. I couldn’t see how someone could write a story with such raw emotion and truth in the pain without having known it herself. While the story itself is fiction, it’s based on real events from Stone’s and her mother’s lives.

Sidney starts out on her own but through her senior year becomes friends with Lucas and Arianna. The three of them struggle through personal struggles, hazing and bullying in school, and having their families fall apart.

Unfortunately it is fiction and all the good things that happened don’t always happen in the real world. Girls don’t always survive their eating disorders. Cutters don’t always feel the need to stop for themselves and can unfortunately escalate into a full suicide attempt. While Sidney got her freedom from her father many don’t.

The worst character I’ve ever encountered in a book may just be Sidney’s mother Susan. I can’t say I didn’t see it coming when she turned on her daughter when she asked for help. What actually surprised is the reason she confessed to Frank’s murder. I had actually hoped she had a change of heart and wanted to be the mother she failed to be four years earlier. Boy was I disappointed.

This book really got to me. I cried several times because the author did a great job of sharing the characters pain. It’s probably the most real fiction I’ve read in a long time.

5 stars.

Hurst by Robin Crumby

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

I initially expected this book to be a lot like Stephen King’s The Stand due to the apocalypse being brought on by a virus. Instead what I found was a fictional book about the truths of human nature under absolute stress.

Situations, like global annihilation of mankind, cause the survivors to do what they need to do in order to survive. Sometimes that causes them to turn into something they never were or just become the epitome of evil. Sometimes they can still hold true to themselves and maintain who they were.

Regardless this book turned out to really just not move for me. It was a great idea. It had a great setup. I couldn’t care less about the characters. If I don’t care about a single character, why bother with a book at all? I also felt like there weren’t enough descriptions. I couldn’t really fall into the scenes like I do with most books.

It was, like I said, a great idea for a plot line. Some of the characters would have also been great for me had they been fleshed out some more. If I could use half stars I would rate 3.5. In fairness I will round up.

4 stars.

I received a free copy from First to Read in exchange for an honest review.

The information from the book description sums it up perfectly: “Michael Poore’s Reincarnation Blues is the story of everything that makes life profound, beautiful, absurd, and heartbreaking.”

We follow Milo through his thousands of lives, deaths, and afterlives. True to life, he’s not always an adult when he dies. Sometimes it’s painful. Sometimes it’s heartbreaking. Sometimes it’s stupid. Sometimes it’s just comical.

What’s different, though, is his relationship with Suzie, who is actually Death. After every death she meets him on the side of the river between the worlds. Around page 100 I actually began to care about what happened to these two and hoped their story would ultimately end well.

What I really enjoyed was that the story was not told in sequential order. We jump forward and backward through Milo’s lives to relive his experiences. I also looked that some of Suzie’s history was given to us as well.

The book ultimately hopped to a satisfying ending.

5 stars.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book.

This book started out like “Soylent Green” for me. It moved on to possessing serious elements of the “Hunger Games” in that the characters are in a lifelong struggle with the upper classes and feud amongst themselves for what they need to survive.

Araina is a truly likable character and I wanted her to succeed from the start.

The book was fast paced from start to finish and I can’t wait to finish the series.

5 stars