Yolanda Sfetsos's Blog, page 43

A PUPPET SCORNED by Jamie Kort

Camille and Brad are sock-puppets that live in a dusty old attic. They fill their days by exploring the storage boxes in their small world. One day they find yarn and needles and they create something that causes a nightmarish series of events to unfold... and Brad has been hiding something from Camille... a terrible secret that might destroy them!  

Okay, I have to admit that when I saw the review request email this morning, I thought this was a joke. I mean, the words sock puppets and erotic ...

A FAR WILDER MAGIC by Allison Saft

In the dark, gothic town of Wickdon, Maggie Welty lives in an old creaking manor. Maggie's mother is an alchemist who has recently left town, leaving Maggie with just her bloodhound for company. But when Maggie spots a legendary ancient fox-creature on her porch, her fate is changed forever. Whoever tracks down and kills the hala in the Halfmoon Hunt will earn fame and riches - and if Maggie wins the hunt, she knows her mother will want to celebrate her. This is her chance to bring her home.
But ...

THE UNSUITABLE by Molly Pohlig

 

The Unsuitable by Molly Pohlig
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've had my eye on this lovely book for a while, and I decided it was time to check it out.

Iseult Wince is a woman like no other. She loves to go for long walks, is used to being ignored by her father, and talks to her dead mother all the time. Her father told her that she's responsible for her mother's death because she died during childbirth, so she lives with this guilt every day and her mother's whispering voice doesn't help. Then she mee...

February's Revision Update!

 

Hey! How are you today?
Well, it's Thursday and today it was time to take care of a few last-minute revision tweaks. Yeah, I always end up with a list of rep words and details to double check before calling the project done.
Anyway, here are the stats: Monday: 38/79 pgs (28,956w)Tuesday: 79/79pgs  (28,746w)Wednesday: break day!Thursday: 80pgs / 28,420w
So, Cosmic is now DONE! Yay. 😃🎉
I'm really excited about finishing this story because I wrote the first draft during NaNoWriMo 2017. 😳 And after get...

THE MAKER'S BOX by David Barclay

 

Emily has been obsessed with the occult since her mother died, collecting every pagan curio and oddity she can find. Then on the night of her sixteenth birthday, her father gives her a piece of real magic: a beating human heart inside a wooden box. If the gift weren't strange enough, his instructions are even stranger: “You'll need to feed it to keep it alive.”
The box needs her blood, and in exchange, shows her rousing and wondrous things. Desires she never knew existed. But as Emily’s father l...

THE TRIVIA NIGHT by Ali Lowe

 

The Trivia Night by Ali Lowe
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was interested in this book because I'm a sucker for domestic thrillers. Plus it's been compared to Big Little Lies, which I really enjoyed. I also like reading books written by Aussies, of course.

Unfortunately, the only comparison I agree with as far as BLL goes is that it's set in a rich coastal suburb, the kids are in primary, and there's a trivia night. The characters here are quite bland, sometimes even interchangeable. Their problems di...

The Revision Continues...

 

Hey! How are you today? I hope you're all having a great day! 
Well, this week I got stuck into the third draft of my tentatively titled, Cosmic, novel. Except, during the third draft I started cutting words and more words, until this became a YA thriller novella. 😬
Here's why:Monday: 41/118pgs (44,675w)Tuesday: 60/89pgs (33,177w)Wednesday: 82pgs / 29,364w
As you can see, the word count kept going down because I ended up cutting three chapters that I felt were more filler than anything else. I'm n...

AND HER SMILE WILL UNTETHER THE UNIVERSE by Gwendolyn Kiste

 

And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe by Gwendolyn Kiste
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've got several Gwendolyn Kiste books waiting in my TBR pile, so I decided to start with this lovely collection.

Here's what I thought of each story...

SOMETHING BORROWED, SOMETHING BLUE: Wow. This certainly took me to places I never imagined. Combine the whimsical nature of what keeps happening to this poor woman, the horrid sense of desperation and sadness she feels, with my personal love for birds... Of course I...

My First Revision Project of the Year...

Hey! How are you? Long time no blog. Well, it hasn't been that long since I keep posting book reviews, but you know what I mean. 
So, now that January is over and my brain finally feels like it's ready to concentrate again, it's time to get stuck into a new Revision Project. Last year I posted about the Revision Plans I had to finalise a bunch of novel first drafts that have been sitting (forgotten) on my hard drive far too long.
I had big plans to get six out of the nine drafts revised. That was ...

CABIN TERROR by Sarah Jane Huntington

 

Cabin Terror by Sarah Jane Huntington
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've had my eye on this book for a while and was really looking forward to checking it out. So, here I am, checking it out. 😁

It all starts in 1984, with Allister and his cult of followers messing with doorways to other dimensions. His obsession lets in a monster who continues to stalk the woods decades later. Kathleen has lived in these woods all of her life and remembers the violent havoc this creature has caused. Now, three girls ent...