Samantha Cook's Blog, page 2
February 3, 2021
Indie Book Review: The Child of Chaos
THE CHILD OF CHAOS by Glen Dahlgren5 StarsVerdict: A gritty and original fantasy based around Order and Chaos. Galen has a wild imagination and doesn't want to end up a fisherman like his father. However, he doesn't seem to possess the 'longing' needed to belong to a temple and perform magic. Instead he has a different pull, one that might be responsible for his mother going missing. What's more
January 17, 2021
Book Review: The Ravens
THE RAVENS by Kass Morgan & Danielle Paige5 StarsVerdict: Is it too early to call my favourite book of the year?When Vivi joins Westerly College, she discovers the sorority known as the Ravens are actually a secret coven of witches. In her pledge to join, she quickly gets on the wrong side of Scarlett, a legacy Raven, who desperately wants to be voted president to meet her mother's unreasonable
January 15, 2021
Book Review: Wilder Girls
WILDER GIRLS by Rory Power5 StarsVerdict: Dark, gritty, beautiful. An infection has taken over the Raxter School for Girls, and the survivors are each damaged in different, gruesome ways. Quarantined on the island, all they can do is wait for the outside world to find a cure. When Hetty's friend goes missing, she breaks the rules to find her. I listened to the audiobook, and the voice actor was
January 1, 2021
Book Review: Scythe
SCYTHE by Neil Shusterman 4 starsVerdict: I had an existential crisis, but loved it in the end.Based on a world where death is cured, Scythes are ordained in order to choose which people should be gleaned in order to maintain the population levels. Citra and Rowan are chosen to be Scythes. Neither want the honour, and only one will be chosen. I went on quite the journey with this one. I started
December 16, 2020
More Video Reviews!
Here are two reviews for recently published young adult fantasy books. Both are gory, both have a lot to offer, but neither really knocked my socks off. Why? You'll have to watch and see!Click here to visit my channel, Scookie Reviews.I've got a good rhythm at the moment for creating video reviews. They're coming out on Wednesdays.THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS by Chloe GongKINGDOM OF THE WICKED by Kerri
November 20, 2020
Submission Call for Unpublished YA Books
Submissions: OPENAs a long time writer, editor, and reviewer who hasn't yet found their success, I think it would be great to create videos boosting other aspiring authors. So that's what I'm going to do!For anyone who's seen my videos, you'll know they're more of a personal experiment for confidence building, yada yada...but I thought something like this could be really fun. Let me stress: I'm a
Submission Call for Unagented YA Manuscripts
Submissions: OPENAs a long time writer, editor, and reviewer who hasn't yet found their success, I think it would be great to create videos boosting other aspiring authors. So that's what I'm going to do!For anyone who's seen my videos, you'll know they're more of a personal experiment for confidence building, yada yada...but I thought something like this could be really fun. Let me stress: I'm a
November 17, 2020
Book Review: Kingdom of the Wicked
KINGDOM OF THE WICKED by Kerri Maniscalco3 starsVerdict: Excellent start, then descends into Q&A. *Content warning for gore.* It's 19th Century Italy. Emilia and Vittoria are twins witches entrusted with powerful necklaces that should never touch. When Emilia's twin is murdered, she wants revenge and will even go as far as secretly summoning a demon in pursuit of finding her sister's killer.The
November 8, 2020
Video Review: A Pinch of Magic
This middle grade fantasy tale is just perfect for this time of year, so I decided to make a video review. I'm still getting into the swing of things but hopefully this will cover everything you might want to know before choosing this book, and of course, no spoilers!Watch on YouTube and subscribe!
October 22, 2020
Book Review: These Violent Delights
THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS by Chloe Gong3 StarsPub date: 17th November 2020Verdict: A lot to love, but perhaps too much? Warning, this book contains more gore than the usual YA read.This is the story of Romeo and Juliet, but if they were gangsters, and it's set in 1920’s Shanghai - and also there’s a monster on the loose. So many exciting things! There’s also a transgender character, LGBT slow burn
