Storyland
by Dawn Napier
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
Memorial Day weekend that year was the same as any other year, except that come Tuesday the world would forever change. It became known simply as It, in the time Before and the time After. Storyland begins with a series of small chapters, each a brief scene into the life of a character that might show up again in the later story. Each of these scenes are labeled by time. Ten years AR, or Five years AR, or even Twenty years AR, and it gives you glimpses into how rapidly some things in the world changed and how slowly other things changed. In the remainder of the book, +Dawn Napier tells the story of Alicia and her life in the time after. Her struggle, her crusade, and what she must endure to survive in this new world order.
Storyland defies a genre label. It can easily be called a fantasy book, albeit a bit dark. It could be called a dystopian, or supernatural or even paranormal. It really doesn't matter what you want to call it, you just want to find it, take your time and read. I do mean to take your time, because as you watch the world crumble, you will be forced to think, to realize that no one is prepared for every possibility, and chaos can rule. +Dawn Napier does a wonderful job of bring classic monsters and demons from all the favorite writers of the past, and making them living, breathing characters in this world. Some just come into being, and other morph out of humans already on the planet. What is fabulous is how the author is able to give the perspective from those people as they don't understand what is happening to them, and they still try to retain some of their human qualities. As with any post-apocalyptic type world where chaos rules, there are adult themes in this book, nothing graphic, and not much, but it definitely belongs in the story when the author uses it. Therefore I recommend it for adult readers!
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Seduce Me (The Heart Series, Book 1)
by Angela Estienne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
Imagine waking up in the hospital to find that you have been asleep for five days, and the last thing you remember is driving home from dinner with your fiance'. That confusion is exactly where we begin the story with Jasmine, or Jazz to her friends. She soon finds that her fiance' Greg died in the accident and that his parents blame her for his death. Seduce Me (The Heart Series Book 1) follows Jazz as she picks up her life, moves to a completely new place to try to start all over, to move on after Greg and put her life back together. She is haunted by puzzling nightmares of the accident, and then there are mysterious flowers from H.H., who seems to know what is happening in her life even before she does. Add in a handsome, rich playboy by the name of Luke Heart who seems to have eyes for Jazz and you have a sizzling story. Angela Estienne weaves it all together, and throws in a few twists and turns and unexpected events to keep you on your toes too.
Seduce Me may be the story of Jazz rebuilding her life after Greg's death, but there is plenty of romance and sizzle in the story. There are flashbacks to times between Jazz and Greg that introduce you to their particular relationship and it hints at themes of mild BDSM and role playing in their private lives. Angela Estienne weaves these romance, sizzle, mild BDSM themes together with overcoming grief, rebuilding and mystery to create a definite womens novel that is worth the read.
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An Almost Perfect World
Legend of East Series, Book One
by Carrie-Ann Barnes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
Miranda loves acting, and has always been great at memorizing her lines, but she is taller than most of the boys in school, so life has been a little rough. Finally in this play her co-star is her same height. Miranda has always known she was adopted, but what happens in the next few days rocks her world like no other. Two strange boys appear in the neighborhood, Alex and Griffin and attempt to get to know Miranda. Although attracted to Alex she tries to avoid them to the point that they are forced to kidnap her. Turns out that Griffin is her brother and Alex his best friend, and they live on another world. They have to take her home for their mother's funeral. Once there she meets her father and twin brother Evan, she gets a job as an actress and learns more about herself. She also finds some secrets. An Almost Perfect World is the story of Miranda's life as she is reintroduced to life on Utopia. Carrie-Ann Barnes tells an inventive story of a promised child, hidden away and brought back to save the world.
An Almost Perfect World, is a cute title given that the world we are taken to is called Utopia. Everything is not perfect on Utopia, and Miranda learns from Jackson that she might be the one that is suppose to save the world. Although at the end of the book, leading into a second we get a hint that someone higher in the family thinks Jackson has it wrong. I found the novel to be interesting and truthful, I mean how would you feel if you were suddenly dropped onto another plant at age 18 and had to figure out everything all over again. It rang true, and felt like something that could really be happening. I enjoyed the characters, something in each of them spoke to me. This is set up to be part of a series, you can tell by the abrupt ending of this book, which is not one of my favorite things, and you can tell that certain characters are keeping secrets. Although billed as a young adult book, this is a great read for young adults, teens and adults as well.
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The Godarian Son
by Steve Shanley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite .
Jess and his friends, Allah and Mhose want to travel from their group of planets and find a new uninhabited planet that they can establish and create a world without wars and prejudices. They are sure they can do it if their parents will just let them. Lor, Jess's father and Asha, Allah's father give them permission and the friends set off to find a new plant, the trip is uneventful, except for a brief slip past some demon ships. They find the perfect plants and call it Eartus. They return home only to find the Demon ships in their way, They take their computers, and when they find out who Jess is, The Godarian son they run but threaten to be back. The friends return and present their findings to Lor, and they are granted to permission to inhabit the planet. They are able to report back to Lor that it is working, but every time they leave Eartus, the Demons ships return to mess with what they created, so they return to fix things. While this is going on, the original plants where the friends came from are still warring among themselves and the plant that Jess and Lor are on have signed a long-term peace agreement not to interfere. Stephen Shanley weaves the story of creation into a new light with this tale.
Read this story aloud if you can, because as you say the names of the people in the story you will stay to understand the similarities. You will see where Stephen Shanley was going with this story, each person and place relates to something in the real world, if you look close. If you look close enough you will see two parallel stories happening, in two different solar systems, anytime Jess is away from one there are problems in the other. The Godarian Son might be a fanciful play on creation, but I find some many things that could be explored and talked about, where the followers of Jess and Allah realized they wanted the same things and they shouldn't fighting each other! I would recommend this to young and old with and open mind and an open heart.
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The World of Karov (Children of Demilee, #1)
by Elyse Salpeter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
Adam and Alec are identical twins, in looks only. In their minds they are complete opposites. Alec is deeply disturbed, and takes after their father. Adam longs for a normal life, and he risks it all to runaway and try to find that life. Just as he thinks he has found the answers and is about to marry, his twin Alec kidnaps the bride and disappears. Adam searches with no luck, only to come upon someone who offers him a chance to start over in a new life on a new world. The World of Karov needs Adam, and he finds a place of respect. Adam may have left his past behind, but it will forever color his feelings and what he does? Can he make a new life or will his past continue to haunt him forever? +Elyse Salpeter weaves a wonderful tell of two worlds, two lives and two twins completely different yet always interconnected.
The World of Karov is a wonderful place for Adam to be. He is respected and not pitied because of his brother and father. He has a talent that is useful and he finally begins to feel that he has a place, even if it is on a different world than that of his birth. Somehow though, family can not be forgotten or left behind, and one day Adam will have to face his again. +Elyse Salpeter has written a tale that is so bold and different, you just have to keep reading. While the main character starts the book at age eight, this book is directed towards Young Adults and Adults alike. There is meaning in everything for both generations to glean.
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One: A New Beginning
by Lennie Stanfield
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
Zack and his dad, Jim were good friends. They had always been close, but after the passing of Zack's mom and Jim's wife Deann, they grew even closer. It was a bound that got them through the tough times. This weekend they were going caving, a new cave no one knew about. Zack and Jim were always careful when caving, and took great care with their supplies and safety precautions, but no one could have foreseen what happened. One has been dormant for so long, many, many centuries and yet something is happening around him. Something that he feels he needs to check out. One observes Zack and the aftermath of the caving accident, he is moved to help. What follows is an unbelievable blending of faith and sci-fi. One is from another planet and together he and Zack rebuild and plan out Zack's life. Lennie Stanfield uses the people around Zack to confirm his faith and at the same time, One is part of the story that confirms the faith Zack has known his whole life. One: A New Beginning is also the story of a new life for One, his old life gone and a chance and a reason to become active again.
One: A New Beginning is a superb blending of faith and another planet with life on it. I have never seen it done in a book before, especially not like this, and yet it worked. Yes, I had to go bad and reread of of the pages where One is talking because of the more complex computer like language he uses, but it was worth it. The bond between Zack and his Dad, amazing! Not only that, but every family relationship you meet in this book, Lennie Stanfield has made a strong family relationship. I would love to find a place where all the relationships are that strong, but it was just so comforting to read about them. Zack is just graduating from two-year of college, so to say this could also be a coming of age book would be true, but I also think teens and adults would enjoy the story.
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