Elizabeth Suggs's Blog, page 6
May 11, 2021
Book Review: Atonement Camp for Unrepentant Homophobes
By Elizabeth Suggs
Atonement Camp for Unrepentant Homophobes by Evan J. Corbin is what happens when a world, including unforgiving churches, must accept all types of love and ways of life.
Corbin gives us a fast-paced, quirky story about learning to accept others. There is gay romance, homophobes learning (successfully and unsuccessfully) how to accept people and be okay with one’s self.
While I loved the thought-provoking story, some of the characters felt a little two-dimensional. I also felt like some of the plot points were a little ridiculous or fast-paced.
Fun Quote:
Don’t get ready, stay ready.
The two most dangerous people in the world were those who stood to lose everything and those who had nothing left to lose.
Not my favorite story, but I can totally see it’s charm and why someone would fall in love with it. Corbin is a good writer, and if you love whimsical stories, then you’ll enjoy this.
Elizabeth Suggs is the owner and founder of Editing Mee and co-owner of Collective Tales Publishing. When she’s not writing or editing, she loves to dive deep into books (the weirder, the better!), and she loves to take random long walks to unplanned destinations. Check out her recently released book Collective Darkness with eleven other authors. Buy your copy here: www.CollectiveDarkness.com
May 8, 2021
Book Review: Earth Angels Unleashed
By Elizabeth Suggs
Earth Angels Unleashed by Terry Ulick is book four in the erotic Demonic Investigator series, but it can easily stand on its own.
This story has a diverse group of characters, including a demon lawyer, a guardian angel, and a new warrior. This book has destiny, sex, passion, and powers—anything you could want in an erotic sex demon book. And while I really enjoy that aspect, I couldn’t get into it. I was often frustrated by the story and the characters. But if you want eroticism and demons, then you might like this.
Elizabeth Suggs is the owner and founder of Editing Mee and co-owner of Collective Tales Publishing. When she’s not writing or editing, she loves to dive deep into books (the weirder, the better!), and she loves to take random long walks to unplanned destinations. Check out her recently released book Collective Darkness with eleven other authors. Buy your copy here: www.CollectiveDarkness.com
May 4, 2021
Book Review: The Ringmaster's Interview
By Elizabeth Suggs
The Ringmaster’s Interview by Colin C. Martin is a wild ride of horrific terror.
I loved the enthusiasm Martin had for this book. He used different fonts to describe many aspects of his stories, he had new pictures for each chapter, and each character was new and unique. There never was a dull moment.
When you read Martin’s book, it feels like he’s speaking it to you. His voice is strong, and while I had a fun time reading it, especially when I read about the reptilian woman, sometimes the writing was disjointed or a little too telly, which pulled me out.
I see a lot of potential with Martin's work, but this one didn't exactly hit the mark for me.
The quote I loved:
“Stefan felt as if the words were passing through eons of time and distance to reach him; he stood transfixed.”
Elizabeth Suggs is the owner and founder of Editing Mee and co-owner of Collective Tales Publishing. When she’s not writing or editing, she loves to dive deep into books (the weirder, the better!), and she loves to take random long walks to unplanned destinations. Check out her recently released book Collective Darkness with eleven other authors. Buy your copy here: www.CollectiveDarkness.com
May 3, 2021
Book Review: The Circle
By Elizabeth Suggs
The Circle by Stephen J. Galgon is a suspenseful action-packed novel about Douglas Goodwin, a new member of The Circle.
I listened to this audiobook, and I thought the story was fun, the narrator was engaging, with a story that kept me on my toes.
Doug is a smart hunter who gives tours. He’s unhappy with his life, and he thinks he’d do anything for it to change, but when it does? He has to set his ethics aside. I like the premise even if it seems a little too crazy at times, but it’s just as crazy as any dystopian sort of world. So long as you suspend your disbelief, you’ll have a lot of fun with this story.
My only critiques? Twice in the audio recording I noticed a repeat of the same sentence, which I thought was odd. It’s possible it was on my end, but I doubt it. This didn’t really pull me out of the story too much, but it was a little confusing. There were also a few unexplained things. I won’t go into detail for fear of spoiling, but one of them had to do with a wound that I’m PRETTY SURE would have been seen while Doug was having sex, but this is never mentioned.
Favorite quote:
Terror reached into Doug’s chest and pulled out his heart.
If you’re looking for something fun and fast-paced, then this is your story.
Elizabeth Suggs is the owner and founder of Editing Mee and co-owner of Collective Tales Publishing. When she’s not writing or editing, she loves to dive deep into books (the weirder, the better!), and she loves to take random long walks to unplanned destinations. Check out her recently released book Collective Darkness with eleven other authors. Buy your copy here: www.CollectiveDarkness.com
April 29, 2021
Poetry Review: Body Until Light
By Elizabeth Suggs
Body Until Light by K.M. Lighthouse is a poetry chapbook filled with raw emotion and beautiful imagery.
I can’t recommend Lighthouse’s poetry enough. Every poem had a purpose and gave me insight deeper into the author’s mind. I even found myself reading the poetry out loud, having my own slam poetry performance.
My favorite poem was “Body of Language.” It’s abstract with heightened images. I actually read it a few times because I enjoyed it so much. I also loved “What Happens When You Stop Mistaking Shared Loneliness for Love.” There’s a sense of shared depth within the poem—I couldn’t pull away.
Here are some of my favorite quotes:
And when you are a body of water attempting to explain the ineffable —how you perceive color… - “Body of Language”
You brave kissing her breasts where they peek over tank top exposed and so close. - “What Happens When You Stop Mistaking Shared Loneliness for Love”
You’ve been impersonating yourself long enough to remember. - “Time to Turn Chameleon”
And when the whole world explodes, you explode with it like the center of a supernova star. - “What appears to be Death”
If you’re going to read any poetry, then I suggest something from K.M. Lighthouse!
Elizabeth Suggs is the owner and founder of Editing Mee and co-owner of Collective Tales Publishing. When she’s not writing or editing, she loves to dive deep into books (the weirder, the better!), and she loves to take random long walks to unplanned destinations. Check out her recently released book Collective Darkness with eleven other authors. Buy your copy here: www.CollectiveDarkness.com
April 27, 2021
Book Review: Blood Voyager
By Elizabeth Suggs
Blood Voyager by Katie Collupy is a sci-fi/crime mystery set in space on the Voyager ship.
One of my favorite things about this story was the interpersonal drama. Each character had their own share of problems, their own personalities. They were three-dimensional in an intricately crafted world, where it was commonplace to be born on Mars.
The crime mystery happens because of a murder. Seasoned detective, Henry Finch, was brought on the ship to find a murderer.
There’s intrigue, questions, and plenty of clues! I had a lot of fun with this story. The only critique I had was the character shifts. While I love first-person stories, I was thrown off for a few chapters. This was mostly a fault of mine since the name of whose perspective we’re reading is the subheading of each chapter, but it still threw me off because I don’t normally read first-person-perspective-changing stories.
Here’s my favorite quote:
A man was taking over my entire family, and my mother hadn’t even bothered to mention it.
Good ending, good pacing. I can’t wait for the next book!
Elizabeth Suggs is the owner and founder of Editing Mee and co-owner of Collective Tales Publishing. When she’s not writing or editing, she loves to dive deep into books (the weirder, the better!), and she loves to take random long walks to unplanned destinations. Check out her recently released book Collective Darkness with eleven other authors. Buy your copy here: www.CollectiveDarkness.com
April 26, 2021
Book Review: Age of The Almek
Age of The Almek (The Almek Series, #1) by Tara A. Lake is a dystopian novel where citizens of the world are taught “desertion is death and loyalty is life.”
Lake has an amazing imagination and finds ways to bring readers into her world through dialogues and narration. I really enjoyed this part of the book. However, there were points the story dragged on. I really like some of the ideas in the book and I think the prologue is amazing, but it wasn’t enough for me to fully engage with the book. Combine this with the formatting (too small font and margins plus 500 page book), I struggled to get through the book. I think this problem would be solved reading it as an ebook.
This book wasn’t quite for me, but it may be for readers who enjoy slow-paced dystopias. I think Lake is a great writer and I’m excited to see what else she has up her sleeve.
Elizabeth Suggs is the owner and founder of Editing Mee and co-owner of Collective Tales Publishing. When she’s not writing or editing, she loves to dive deep into books (the weirder, the better!), and she loves to take random long walks to unplanned destinations. Check out her recently released book Collective Darkness with eleven other authors. Buy your copy here: www.CollectiveDarkness.com
April 22, 2021
Book Review: Women of the Woods
By Elizabeth Suggs
Women of the Woods by Fabled Collective is a collection of dark fantasy and folk horror short stories, reminiscent of a contemporary style of Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Washington Irving.
I haven’t been so impressed by a collection of short stories in a while. If I could give this a 6/5, I would! Each story is polished and well-paced, with great character development and awesome stories.
We've got it all in this anthology—witches, shapeshifters, curses, darkness, and more. Also, birds. Lots of birds. I haven’t read many bird-centered stories, and these were interesting.
We start with “‘Neath the Old Tree” by Mary Rajotte, who sets the stage for the collection with her strong writing and heavy tone.
This story follows Elen, who is believed to be a witch in her town. Adding more stress to the situation, Elen is pregnant.
Another striking story “Gingerbread” came from the author Marshall Moore (who’s going to be in the Collective Fantasy: An Unsavory Anthology Nov. 2021!). This story is a twisted Hansel and Gretel tale. While it starts similarly to the original, this one goes into depth of Gretle’s psyche, her experience with the witch and her brother, and her journey. Very well-written. Great story. The ending is what nightmares are truly about.
We follow next with “Necromancing Over Coffee” by A. R. Cook, which is set in a world filled with new creatures and characters. Cook put a lot of time in the development of the story and the characters. I hope there’s more to this story! I want an entire book of this world. Also, I won’t spoil the last line, but it did make me laugh.
“The Rebirth of Joy” by Arwen Spicer centers around two characters: Constanza and Valeria, who everyone calls Joy. Joy, as her namesake implies, brings happiness to all those around her. She is the light of everyone’s life, and Constanza hides in the back. She’s a nobody, and for that she hates Joy. Rather than pursuing a life of happiness herself, she builds her anger up and she’s the worse for it. I especially liked that the ending was unexpected.
“Lighted Feather, Hollowed Bone” by Caitlin E. Jones is a good tale. This quote sums up the story: Sometimes we are born into this world, too fragile for the place we find. The imagery in this story is intense and particularly awesome, especially for what happens!
“Myrtha” by Victoria Audley has a hauntingly poetic way of writing. She writes somewhere between smooth and chaotic. This story focuses on one woman, but in reality, the tale is about all the women hurt and abandoned by their lovers.
“Saiya” by Katie Brittle is a cautionary tale about isolation, set during a pandemic. I’m not sure if Brittle wrote this story knowing 2020 was coming, but the tale feels very relevant. Be careful being alone!
“My Lady of War” by Whitney Zahar is set during wartime. Our main character, Jeremiah, also known as Shakespear, pines for his love, and wonders why he left her to fight in the first place. I really like the premise of this story, and the beginning started out really well, but I wasn’t a fan of the ending. It felt a little out of place for me.
M. Regan takes us into the world of death and magpies in the story “The Magpie.” One magpie infiltrates a home. Whether this bird is good or bad, it’s left for the reader to figure out. Regan has a very strong sense of language and story-building.
Constance in “The Winds of Old Hulter” by H. Parsons finds herself with a witch in the woods, under the eye of a dangerous storm. I liked Constance’s strong character. This was an enjoyable read.
“Alina’s Well” by Katie Coughran is about Alina who is trapped beside a well, with only Death to confide in. There is a chance to save her, but the price is too high.
“Roots” by Jennifer Cizl is a short, thought-provoking story. And very much a stream of consciousness. I fell into this abstract world.
“The Witch of Willow Wood” by Ashley Weave is where imitation has gone bad, or so it seems. This had a lot of twists and turns. And a witch.
I wasn’t a big fan of the final story “Of Fire and Ice” by Vanessa K. Eccles. This one was too sad for my taste. It was well-written, but I was hoping for more. We go through the character’s rage and her life, and for what? I was left unsatisfied.
As I mentioned, I really enjoyed this anthology, even my least favorite stories were enjoyable in their own way. If you’re looking for strong women, witches, and forests, then this is your book.
Here are my favorite quotes:
The season of plenty approaches, but outside Elen’s window, the fields lay barren. - “‘Neath the Old Tree”
She was older than anyone I had ever seen. Eyes milky-white with cataracts glared out from a mass of wrinkles and ugly brown warts. - “Gingerbread”
Throughout time, men have played with and discarded women with no more thought than a child has for a toy. Unlike a toy, however, a woman has a soul, and a soul does not die. - “Myrtha”
Men are taught to be brave but not to be wise enough to fear. The wilis’ numbers only grew, and Myrtha’s rage with them. - “Myrtha”
You are what you are. I am what I am. And together, we’ll be what we’ll be. - “The Magpie”
She had never expected to live this long. But then, neither had she expected to die so soon. - “The Magpie”
Forgetting that she’d promised herself she’d never fall for a man again, placing her arms around his neck, Alina pressed her lips and body to Roberts, giving herself to another type of prison. - “Alina’s Well”
The water promised adventure in its rapids and weightlessness in its calm. - “Roots”
Only when she was tethered tightly to the tree did they loosen their grips. - “The Witch of Willow Wood”
Elizabeth Suggs is the owner and founder of Editing Mee and co-owner of Collective Tales Publishing. When she’s not writing or editing, she loves to dive deep into books (the weirder, the better!), and she loves to take random long walks to unplanned destinations. Check out her recently released book Collective Darkness with eleven other authors. Buy your copy here: www.CollectiveDarkness.com
April 21, 2021
Book Review: The Eyes Of The Dragon
By Alex Child
The Eyes Of The Dragon by Stephen King follows the royal family of Delain as they confront the insidious threat of Flagg, the court magician and advisor of the king. Rife with intrigue and teeming with subterfuge, The Eyes Of The Dragon whisks readers to a believable, yet delightfully treacherous world.
While most people won’t think of fantasy when they hear the name of Stephen King, I found his tone carried well into the genre. Even though the main characters wielded considerable power, they still felt working-class and relatable (as is typical of characters in King’s stories). The magical and otherworldly events did nothing to diminish the relatability of the characters or the validity of their emotions. The conflict flowed well, building up steadily but in unpredictable ways; it felt like a subplot ripped straight from Game Of Thrones. Danger managed to feel omnipresent without becoming overbearing, with the King’s dry wit routinely granting a respite from the chaotic world of Delain.
He bent over the goblet and inhaled deeply. There was no danger now; when the sand was mixed with a liquid, its fumes became harmless and undetectable. Dragon Sand made deadly vapors only when it touched a solid, such as stone.
Such as flesh.
While the story itself was well crafted, it’s apparent that King’s writing abilities have grown since this book. It may have been my inner editor popping up, I nitpicked at some pieces of word choice or sentence flow throughout the story. It did little to detract from the book’s overall enjoyability, but it was distracting in some cases.
Despite some minor flaws in writing structure, The Eyes Of The Dragon weaves together a compelling narrative that uniquely combines Stephen King’s realism with court intrigue and dark fantasy. By no means the benchmark for either genre; this story is still worth reading.
Writing has a unique power, and Alex Child is just smart enough to know that he's nowhere near smart enough to accurately describe it. Between working half as hard as he should and twice as hard as required at his day job, he continues pursuing that indescribable emotional swell from relating to a literary character and sharing their experiences. He hopes his story brings you even just a portion of that rush.
April 19, 2021
Book Review: Seven Broken Souls
By Elizabeth Suggs
Seven Broken Souls by Bull Durham is a memoir of Durham’s broken childhood.
This is heavy and sometimes hard to read. Durham’s parents were abusive to the children and to each other. There are certain details and experiences that made me want to pull away and stop reading, but I couldn’t stop.
The story starts slow, and I really loved the easy way the author wrote. It was like he was speaking to you specifically, but I did notice some grammatical errors that were strange and a little distracting. I also think certain segments could have been cut down to highlight the most important points and to speed up the pacing of the overall story.
I think there’s a lot of potential with Durham’s writing, and I feel like Seven Broken Souls would have been an easier read with more editing.
Here is a quote that stuck out to me:
You’re not as important as my boyfriend.
If you’re in the right headspace to read something heavy, then this is worth checking out.
Elizabeth Suggs is the owner and founder of Editing Mee and co-owner of Collective Tales Publishing. When she’s not writing or editing, she loves to dive deep into books (the weirder, the better!), and she loves to take random long walks to unplanned destinations. Check out her recently released book Collective Darkness with eleven other authors. Buy your copy here: www.CollectiveDarkness.com
