Bryan W. Dull's Blog, page 8
January 24, 2021
The Glass Spare by Lauren DeStefano Book Review
#BookReview #TheGlassSpare #LaurenDeStefano
Buy The Glass Spare on Amazon Today!--->https://amzn.to/3a3VpH0
The Glass Spare is a fantasy world that is beautiful in its violence with kings who hide in their castles, plotting with bloody ruthful vengeance along with kingdoms that each have their own peace of paradise inside of Hell. Inside of this vast world is a girl who tries diligently to gain her father the king’s approval and acceptance of her. This poor girl is an outcast that doesn’t fit in with her family; she doesn’t look like them, and her own brother calls her a monster. Even outside of the safety of the castle walls where she should be able to just be an ordinary girl, she is still an outsider, a freak of nature, not wanted and feared. At her lowest point when she is taken by surprise and thinks things cannot get any worse, fearing her demise, she finds an unlikely ally and possible friend in the one person who should be her sworn enemy.
Lauren DeStefano has done a wonderful job of mixing both magic and mystery together to bring a powerful story of overcoming life’s hardship and family struggles to find the person is destined to be. She portrayed how greed and power can corrupt a man to the point that he sees his children as pawns instead of his most prized achievement. The heartache and pain in this story are so true that you’ll want to reach in and hug the characters because no one should be treated the way they are treated by their fathers. But somehow, even with all that pain they show, they are powerful strong individual who are capable of greatness.
This was a tale of a beautiful terror of a girl who found a broken piece of a boy and helped piece himself together while finding herself at the same time.
5/5 Stars
Review by Brandy Michelle (better_0ff-read) on Instagram #books #bookreviews
New Cover Reveal for Lineage & Zealot by C. Vonzale Lewis
DOUBLE #CoverReveal
ZEALOT is set to release on NOVEMBER 16TH, 2021! Preorder Here--->https://amzn.to/39SLJyY
Buy Lineage today! https://amzn.to/366IJ0Q
Summary: Nicole Fontane thought her demons were buried deep enough.
She was wrong.
A month ago, she and her crew barely escaped an evil cult of magick users and the blood sacrifice they orchestrated—leaving their island vulnerable to further attack.
The Better Day Church is the one place to start ridding Tulare of the evil that plagues it, but the moment Nicole sets foot inside, memories resurface of an ancient religion deeply buried in the Louisiana bayou...along with an eerily familiar altar.
Now she’s forced to relive betrayal, the fight that almost cost her life, and her demons making themselves known once more.
Her choices are limited: Either she uses her rare form of earth magick to appease the Young family and create a new god...or end up on the altar again.
If she can’t vanquish the demons from her past once and for all, her fate is not the only one on the line.
New cover for Lineage The Parliament House#CVonzaleLewis #lineage #zealot #book #preorder
Cover Reveal! The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Here is the new book cover from the author of Mexican Gothic! Pre-order The Beautiful Ones on Amazon here---> https://amzn.to/3qK0RFV
[image error]January 23, 2021
Review: Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline
**Possible Spoilers**
Review: Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline
In 2011 I was captivated by the original Ready Player One and the vision of a future using pop culture references of the past. The whimsy that Cline put onto paper brought me back to the movies of the 1980s, like Stand by Me, where a group of friends come together and grow. The simple premise of a bad guy wanting more power is not unusual, but the original book’s lightheartedness brought a type of wonder I haven’t gotten since Clive Barker’s, The Thief of Always. Unfortunately, I didn’t get that same feeling throughout reading the sequel, Ready Player Two.
Buy Ready Player Two on Amazon Today! ,https://amzn.to/3a0x0Ce Links help support page!
Beginning days after the original, the book focuses on Wade Watts adjusting to life in Halliday’s home and the wealth he had procured from winning the original’s contest. However, that is a small part of the beginning. The book then goes into what happens over several years with the four heroes via Wade’s narration. The turmoil occurs regarding discovering a new tech piece that changes how end-users experience The Oasis, which involves deeper immersion that could cause harm to the human body if used for too long in the simulation. I will not go into any more of the main plot for spoiler reasons.
The book took a long time to get into the events that would lead to what made the original book so much fun. It wasn’t until around the 130th page before the antagonist’s plot suddenly was revealed, and the heroes from the original have to come together again. Still, this time there are direr stakes at hand that involve close to half the Earth’s population.
When the new contest/puzzle fully begins, there is a lot of fun to be had with the sequel. The contest now is less to do with The Oasis’s creator, James Halliday’s past, and more with the woman his business partner fell in love with and marries. Those who read the original, or the film, will know what I am referring. I would love to talk about the different locations visited this time around, but that would ruin the ride.
The pop culture referenced is not as apparent this time around, probably because Cline used much of them in the first book, which was fine because it allowed more to be written for Wade’s character development. However, I saw much more music references this time around than what I can remember from the original. Much of it doesn’t come in until they are in the Oasis procuring the pieces of a puzzle that they don’t have much time.
After mulling it over, three things bothered me about this novel, one of them was already discussed. The other two are the new and returning characters and the last chapter. New characters were introduced, but the ones I wanted to see more of seemed to face in the background to show another clan only for the leader to get more time-on-page. Even then, the individual appeared when it conveniences Wade’s mission and pushed the narrative forward. Another character was brought back from the original for no other reason than a significant part towards the end—they have nothing else to do with the story besides just being a familiar face and was a throwaway character.
Then there’s the last chapter.
I don’t even know how to talk about this chapter because it came out from the left field and made me more confused, wondering why it was necessary. It seemed like it was an afterthought for Cline, who had suddenly decided that he needed something to close out the story and have an excuse not to write another entry. I don’t want to say it was terrible, but I couldn’t help thinking the events Cline talks about in the last chapter could have been interesting as a story in itself. It just appeared to be an afterthought and severely rushed that could create confusion with readers.
Ready Player Two is not as extraordinary as the original, but that wasn’t the issue because it probably was never going to be. With the story being darker in tone, it was inevitable that whimsy wouldn’t compare as the stakes are higher this time around, with much of the world at risk instead of corporate head taking over the OASIS in the original. When the fun does come through, it’s great--you have to be patient until you arrive. Between the time it took to get to the point, the actual hunt for the clues, and the unnecessary last chapter, I can’t say it’s worth it. Much of Ready Player Two is a carbon copy of the original, and if that is what you are looking for, you will enjoy much of the book and don’t expect to like the end.
3.5/5-and I feel like maybe I am being too generous.
#books #bookreview #readyplayerone #readyplayertwo #readyplayertwobookreview
An Interview by Instagram's better_0ff_read
Celestial is officially finished and it's time to format and get that cover created for the paperback! To celebrate, Brandy (better_0ff_read) interviewed me about the Solstice series and the ten year since its first publication.
https://video.wixstatic.com/video/c18f02_0c940c316ea244debb6782b68d5b57c4/720p/mp4/file.mp4Check out the saga today!
Solstice: https://amzn.to/30IWaBO
Equinox: https://amzn.to/2PBRzen
Ecliptic: https://amzn.to/367tHIg
Celestial (pre-order): https://amzn.to/2NlsjLB
January 22, 2021
Empire of the Vampire Cover Reveal from Waterstones!
#EmpireOfTheVampire by Jay Kristoff
Look at this beautiful cover reveal! The Waterstones exclusive will have sprayed edges but the other editions will have this cover! Can't wait to if any other editions show up!
If you want the regular edition, just click HERE! and help support my page and writing!
January 15, 2021
Celestial Preorders are Now Live!
Pre-orders have begun for the last entry in the Solstice vampire saga, Celestial. Get in Amazon today! https://amzn.to/3iiCaNM
https://youtu.be/vzbp1TQWhUsCollect the first three entries by clicking on the links below!
Solstice (Part 1) https://amzn.to/3nS9ITT
Equinox (Part 2) https://amzn.to/2LtFLNb
Ecliptic (Part 3) https://amzn.to/3ii1q6D
Book Review-The City on the Sea by Heather Carson
Check Out The City on the Sea by clicking HERE. -Affiliate Links Help Support Site-
I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The City on the Sea was a wonderful start to this young adult Dystopian series. The world is basically under water and the resources are scarce, so the inhabitants on the island have to get creative to survive. They are primitive in a lot of ways but not as primitive as the watchers believe them to be. They are a thriving growing community who live each day to the fullest and are grateful for what they have. However they are dark and dangerous elements they live with each and every day. They are constantly watched and everything they do is carefully studied like fish in an aquarium to make sure they don't get out of line. They live in constant fear of doing something to anger the watchers because they might disappear.
Heather Carson did a great job building this world and letting us get to know the main character Brooke. We come to love her and her family. We feel for her and understand the pain she deals with on a daily basis from the struggles she has had to grow up with that are more than any child should have to face. My only complaint about this book was that it left me with a ton of questions and not a single answer. The entire story leads up like we are going to get a big pay off in the end and we will finally get answers to everything happening around us, however nothing is answered and we are left waiting for the next book. I am all for cliffhanger endings but I was left with irritation when I finished because it felt like nothing was answered. It made it hard for me to write this review ,but I decided to just be completely honest and try to explain why my score is not higher. If this story would have just wrapped up some of the loose ends and gave some closure, I would have felt better with the cliffhanger ending. I am sorry .. I hope the second book clears things up and I feel more at peace with the story.
FINAL VERDICT:
3/ 5 stars
Review by better_0ff_read on Instagram. Follow her by clicking HERE
January 12, 2021
The Glass Arrow by Kristen Simmons Book Review
Purchase The Glass Arrow HERE! ***Amazon Links Support My Site***
The Glass Arrow is a unique take on an unsettling dystopian future that no woman ever wants to live through. It has been compared to The Handmaid's Tale but I don't know if I would really compare the two stories because the only similarity the two share is the imprisonment of women for procreation. The Glass Arrow goes a completely different direction and shows that not only the women are imprisoned and made to be less than second class citizens. So many people have their rights and civil liberties stripped from them, making them no more than slaves and servants to higher power men and even some women.
Kristen Simmons has created a terrifyingly realistic world that could become the future for any society if it fell apart and stopped treating people with their equal rights. It's scary to think this is a possibility and may seem like it's far fetched fiction that may never happen, but if there is one thing we have seen over the years throughout history, it is that when basic human rights are removed horror and far fetched fiction becomes reality. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and found myself unable to put it down at times.
Overall, The Glass Arrow is a wonderful adventure of self discovery while overcoming major obstacles and prejudices, in order to get to some kind of peace in a world of chaos and hate.
FINAL VERDICT:
4 OUT OF 5 STARS
Review by better_0ff-read
December 19, 2020
New Review for Ecliptic!
It's off to a slow start, but that's what I get when I wait too long to write another entry to a series lol.
New review for Ecliptic!
Amazon: ,https://amzn.to/37yWxlU
"The terrors of the night grow, threatening to overtake the world in Bryan Dull’s third installment in his exciting and gritty series Ecliptic! The vampire plague has become a pandemic, converting most humans. As if this isn’t a problem enough, there are reports of the undead walking the Earth. Now Solstice and her crew must battle multiple enemies as they struggle to save humanity. I love Solstice as a character, so it’s really fun to see her take center stage in this one. Dull always makes great characters and builds realistic connections, but I also love how he takes classic tropes like vampires and the undead, and makes them feel fresh. Not everything is what it seems in this one, and there is danger lurking for Solstice around every corner. If the post apocalypse is your favorite haunt, definitely crawl your way over to Dull’s dark, imaginative, and gritty series!" -Diabolic Shrimp Reviews #vampires #vampire #apocalyptic #books #indiebooks #solsticesaga #vampirebookseries
