R.A. White's Blog, page 7
March 23, 2017
Eskimo Kisses
1. We sat at the dining room table, eating a bunch of fried fish, shrimp, okra, and potatoes (I ate a mound of spinach to balance it out) when Trooper dropped a shrimp on the floor.
I said, "Shrimp are expensive. Quick, get it before anything else does!"
"What, like ants?" Trooper asked as he got down off his chair.
"No, like cats and the dog."
He found the little crustacean and held it up to the light, looking for any particles that might have stuck to it. He blew on it, then he brushed at it a little with his fingertips. Then he licked it. "Yep, it's still good."
2. I was washing dishes and Trooper was finishing up his lunch when Multiplied, my favorite song, came on.
Trooper said, "Oh, can I skip it? It gets stuck in my head."
"But it's my favorite!" I said. "How about I just listen to the first part of it."
"OK, just listen to part of it," he allowed, fidgeting with his lunch as I sang along.
Five seconds later, "Well, you can listen to all of it, but I won't sing."
I smiled. "OK, thanks, that sounds fair."
Three seconds later he sang, "I have surrendered…" as he looked down at his plate.
I continued washing as I sang, laughing to myself at the progression of the conversation.
Five seconds later he said, "OK, I'll sing to part of it. But it still gets stuck in my head."
3. Jonathan and Trooper sat face to face, sharing a little cuddle time, and as he often does, Jonathan rubbed his nose against Troopers.
"Why you do that, Dad?" Trooper asked.
"It's called Eskimo kisses," Jonathan answered. "They say that's how Eskimos kiss each other."*
Trooper cocked his head, understanding flashing across his face. "Oh. So that's what your big, long, pointy nose is for?"
*Eskimos, who generally prefer to be called Inuits, don't actually kiss by rubbing noses. It's an old myth, one I've heard all my life.
Subscribe
I said, "Shrimp are expensive. Quick, get it before anything else does!"
"What, like ants?" Trooper asked as he got down off his chair.
"No, like cats and the dog."
He found the little crustacean and held it up to the light, looking for any particles that might have stuck to it. He blew on it, then he brushed at it a little with his fingertips. Then he licked it. "Yep, it's still good."
2. I was washing dishes and Trooper was finishing up his lunch when Multiplied, my favorite song, came on.
Trooper said, "Oh, can I skip it? It gets stuck in my head."
"But it's my favorite!" I said. "How about I just listen to the first part of it."
"OK, just listen to part of it," he allowed, fidgeting with his lunch as I sang along.
Five seconds later, "Well, you can listen to all of it, but I won't sing."
I smiled. "OK, thanks, that sounds fair."
Three seconds later he sang, "I have surrendered…" as he looked down at his plate.
I continued washing as I sang, laughing to myself at the progression of the conversation.
Five seconds later he said, "OK, I'll sing to part of it. But it still gets stuck in my head."
3. Jonathan and Trooper sat face to face, sharing a little cuddle time, and as he often does, Jonathan rubbed his nose against Troopers.
"Why you do that, Dad?" Trooper asked.
"It's called Eskimo kisses," Jonathan answered. "They say that's how Eskimos kiss each other."*
Trooper cocked his head, understanding flashing across his face. "Oh. So that's what your big, long, pointy nose is for?"
*Eskimos, who generally prefer to be called Inuits, don't actually kiss by rubbing noses. It's an old myth, one I've heard all my life.
Subscribe
March 18, 2017
Review of 'Black Sea Gods'
Review of Black Sea Gods: Chronicles of Fu Xi by Brian Braden
This book is a sure bet for lovers of epic fantasy with thorough world-building. It takes its time getting where it's going, but the time isn't wasted. Due to my fits and spurts reading schedule I generally prefer stories that move a little faster, but although it took me a while to get settled into this one, the writing itself was so smooth that I didn't get tired of it. There are quite a few characters and a really big world to integrate into, and if that's your thing, you should definitely pick up Black Sea Gods: Chronicles of Fu Xi. If that's not your thing, at least read the last paragraph of this really long review for some of the messages in this book. It's good stuff.
I had a hard time relating to the characters for a while because they are so foreign to me, and honestly it wasn’t until I started getting the story from Fu Xi's perspective that I became truly engrossed, but although I didn't relate to them, I did like them. That's important to me, and it turns out that it was important to the story--for the characters to be likable, I mean. I got to know and enjoy them as I journeyed with them, to the point that by the end of the book I truly felt connected, and that's all a girl can ask.
Some who read this book will soon begin to pick up on the big picture of what's going on, at least I suspected that I did, and I was right. That's not to say the story is predictable, far from it, but there is an element of it that cleverly weaves throughout and is explained at the end. I so just want to say what it is, but that would ruin everything. I'll just say it's cool. I didn't exactly like the ending, but I can't say why or it will totally spoil, and my unhappiness wasn't a fault, it was intentional.
Language: Clean so far as I remember.
Sexual Content: Nothing graphic, but a lot of it is…non-consensual. For this and other reasons, I recommend for older teens and up.
Violence: Yes, it's a violent world, but for the most part it isn't explicitly depicted. Still, not for young readers.
Diversity: Well, yes and no. The main group of characters, the Lo, are all fair-skinned, but they interact and join up with others who are more tan. And I always picture Fu Xi and his people as being a non-specific ancient Asian. Many things about him and his people had a Asian vibe to me. For all I know, it was based off a specific ancient culture, but of course since this is a fantasy world it wasn't spoken of. (Unless it was and I just didn't 'get' it. I don't know much about ancient Asia, so if there were references, I would have missed them.)
Overall Message/Plot: As far as I kept track, everything fit together well. It wasn't exactly a satisfying ending, but it did wrap up and set the stage for the next book. There were definitely messages in the book, and I'll share a couple that really struck me.
First, that living with love, contentment, and courage is what counts. The Lo really aim for this, and it's their salvation.
Second, there was a profound moment when the Lo were immersed in another culture, and they saw the way the un-parented children ran around stealing and begging, and the Lo wondered what kind of people could allow their children to live like that. Not their own offspring, mind you, but their country's children. This really resonated with me because in our country I so often see an attitude in others, an attitude that says 'Other people's children aren't my problem, and I shouldn't be paying to educate them, and I shouldn't be obliged to help feed them, and they should just work harder.' They ARE our children, we're in this together and what's good for their future is good for mine, since we're going to be sharing that future. People mourn the passing of community and the traditional family, but often don't really want to be part of creating that community in our world because it involves giving up a bit of what's 'ours'. And then they go on to talk about how it's all God's anyway, and they know we can't hold on to it… OK, rant over.
Third, be careful who you put your faith in. In this case it was lower 'deity', but in our case it might be politicians, religious leaders, or our inaccurate interpretations of God. This story illustrates well how the mighty fall, and when they do, all the crap rolls down hill.
Find it here.
Subscribe.
This book is a sure bet for lovers of epic fantasy with thorough world-building. It takes its time getting where it's going, but the time isn't wasted. Due to my fits and spurts reading schedule I generally prefer stories that move a little faster, but although it took me a while to get settled into this one, the writing itself was so smooth that I didn't get tired of it. There are quite a few characters and a really big world to integrate into, and if that's your thing, you should definitely pick up Black Sea Gods: Chronicles of Fu Xi. If that's not your thing, at least read the last paragraph of this really long review for some of the messages in this book. It's good stuff.
I had a hard time relating to the characters for a while because they are so foreign to me, and honestly it wasn’t until I started getting the story from Fu Xi's perspective that I became truly engrossed, but although I didn't relate to them, I did like them. That's important to me, and it turns out that it was important to the story--for the characters to be likable, I mean. I got to know and enjoy them as I journeyed with them, to the point that by the end of the book I truly felt connected, and that's all a girl can ask.
Some who read this book will soon begin to pick up on the big picture of what's going on, at least I suspected that I did, and I was right. That's not to say the story is predictable, far from it, but there is an element of it that cleverly weaves throughout and is explained at the end. I so just want to say what it is, but that would ruin everything. I'll just say it's cool. I didn't exactly like the ending, but I can't say why or it will totally spoil, and my unhappiness wasn't a fault, it was intentional.
Language: Clean so far as I remember.
Sexual Content: Nothing graphic, but a lot of it is…non-consensual. For this and other reasons, I recommend for older teens and up.
Violence: Yes, it's a violent world, but for the most part it isn't explicitly depicted. Still, not for young readers.
Diversity: Well, yes and no. The main group of characters, the Lo, are all fair-skinned, but they interact and join up with others who are more tan. And I always picture Fu Xi and his people as being a non-specific ancient Asian. Many things about him and his people had a Asian vibe to me. For all I know, it was based off a specific ancient culture, but of course since this is a fantasy world it wasn't spoken of. (Unless it was and I just didn't 'get' it. I don't know much about ancient Asia, so if there were references, I would have missed them.)
Overall Message/Plot: As far as I kept track, everything fit together well. It wasn't exactly a satisfying ending, but it did wrap up and set the stage for the next book. There were definitely messages in the book, and I'll share a couple that really struck me.
First, that living with love, contentment, and courage is what counts. The Lo really aim for this, and it's their salvation.
Second, there was a profound moment when the Lo were immersed in another culture, and they saw the way the un-parented children ran around stealing and begging, and the Lo wondered what kind of people could allow their children to live like that. Not their own offspring, mind you, but their country's children. This really resonated with me because in our country I so often see an attitude in others, an attitude that says 'Other people's children aren't my problem, and I shouldn't be paying to educate them, and I shouldn't be obliged to help feed them, and they should just work harder.' They ARE our children, we're in this together and what's good for their future is good for mine, since we're going to be sharing that future. People mourn the passing of community and the traditional family, but often don't really want to be part of creating that community in our world because it involves giving up a bit of what's 'ours'. And then they go on to talk about how it's all God's anyway, and they know we can't hold on to it… OK, rant over.
Third, be careful who you put your faith in. In this case it was lower 'deity', but in our case it might be politicians, religious leaders, or our inaccurate interpretations of God. This story illustrates well how the mighty fall, and when they do, all the crap rolls down hill.
Find it here.
Subscribe.
March 8, 2017
Concert-Inspired Quotes
Cute Trooper Quotes from last night's NEEDTOBREATHE concert:1. "Mom, my hands are getting sore from clapping." I encouraged him to stop, but he just couldn't help himself.
2. After the lead singer asked, 'How's everyone feeling tonight?' Trooper said, "Oh, he's nice. He asks how we're feeling to make sure we didn't throw up or anything."
3. After the concert, "I can't believe we got to see the real NEEDTOBREATHE! He's so nice. He said he loves us!"
4. Later after the concert, "I can't believe we're lost! How are we gonna find our car? We're gonna have to walk all the way home." I should have picked a different point of reference to help us find our ride. Who knew they had two Ferris Wheels?
Subscribe.
March 1, 2017
Review of 'Emerge: The Judgment'
This second book of the Emerge series resumes a few months after the first book's story concludes, and follows up well. It answers several questions, is a full novel in itself, and still leaves us waiting for more.
I thought the writing was better in this book, with fewer issues as far as giving me context and with the secondary characters coming to life. Also, the love triangle is less of an issue in this book, although it still irritated me. Allie's relationships with boys in general irritates me. 'I don't want to commit and I want to make sure I'm my own person without being connected to a man' is wonderful, especially for a teenager for goodness' sake (I'm rolling my eyes right now about another (very famous) series that I compare this one too, where the heroine just really wanted me smack her around and put her in therapy), but I don't think it should be followed with 'but maybe we could just have sex because I think I'm ready for that'. Anyway, more on that at the bottom of the review.
Overall this story was cool, exciting, with neat characters and interesting super powers. The characters have flaws and struggle to overcome, mostly without being depressive or whiney.
Language: Very mild.
Violence: There's fighting and craziness, but I don't remember anything super explicit.
Sexual Content: Religious upbringing aside, if people want to think they're mature and ready for major decisions like sex, shouldn't they think about possible consequences? On the male character side of things in this book it's even worse. 'I'll just sleep around because the girl I really want doesn't want me right now, and I'm not going to deny my hormones just because I'm in love with someone else.' And then for the girls to be OK with that…I know I have biases on this topic, and I'm pretty comfortable with them, but it's a fact that there are a lot of emotions at play when it comes to intimacy of different degrees, and a lot of risks as well. Maybe because these characters are immortals they don’t have to be concerned about some things, but since this is a young adult story I think those things should have been addressed. Sex without intimacy or commitment is a real trend, made popular by the many who want to take what they can get and feel they owe nothing, but I JUST CAN'T STAND IT. On the bright side, this part of the story wasn't nearly as forefront as it might have been, and I was able to roll my eyes and move on to enjoy the others.
Diversity: OK, this point is weird. There is definitely a variety of characters, but often I can't remember what they look like or anything because it simply isn't mentioned very often, and there are too many characters for me to remember them all. Some of them I remember are Asian because of their names, but that's about it.
Overall Message/Plot: I like the focus on independence and how Allie wants to make sure she's not being half a person by relying on guys. I just wish she stuck with it longer because the fact is that she has a long way to go before she's really mature, but I've said enough about that. Although it does have interesting characters it's more plot driven with lots of action and a little mystery about what is going to happen, and it does that pretty well. I enjoyed it enough that I intend to get the next book when it comes out.
Find it here.
Subscribe.
February 28, 2017
"Ssshhhiii...p", A Set of Trooper Stories
1. Trooper in a completely nonchalant tone: "I'm going down to cook breakfast. Do you want to watch me?"
2. At dinner it was Trooper's turn to pray, and as often happens, he had a lot more to say than thanks for the food. It had been a day full of rough patches, and he prayed (among other things), "I'm sorry that I was mean to Mommy this morning in the car."
After his prayer, I told him that I forgave him, and that it was a sweet prayer.
He said, "Wait, I have more to say!"
We tried to tell him to eat his dinner, but he persisted, so we all paused again for prayer part two.
"Dear God, thank you that Mom forgave me and thank you that she made this dinner. Amen."
3. Later, during the meal, he said, "Mom, I think you should stop taking your pill so you can get fat. I mean, pregnant."
"No."
"But I want a baby brother!"
"No."
"But…"
"No. There are better ways to get a brother. And we're not getting a baby."
4. Since Trooper has gotten better at reading, he's been paying more attention to the sounds that make up words, and the similarities between words. This is mostly fun, but sometimes it's also big trouble. For example, he noticed that the first sounds of the word 'ship' are the same as the first sounds of another word that he isn't allowed to say and that he thinks is hilarious. So he started looking at me with that mischievous expression he gets and saying, "Sssshhhhiiii… Ssshhhiiii… (break for a maniacal chuckle) Ssshhhiiii…p." Then he laughs like crazy and starts over, only he doesn't always end it with a 'p'.
Subscribe
2. At dinner it was Trooper's turn to pray, and as often happens, he had a lot more to say than thanks for the food. It had been a day full of rough patches, and he prayed (among other things), "I'm sorry that I was mean to Mommy this morning in the car."
After his prayer, I told him that I forgave him, and that it was a sweet prayer.
He said, "Wait, I have more to say!"
We tried to tell him to eat his dinner, but he persisted, so we all paused again for prayer part two.
"Dear God, thank you that Mom forgave me and thank you that she made this dinner. Amen."
3. Later, during the meal, he said, "Mom, I think you should stop taking your pill so you can get fat. I mean, pregnant."
"No."
"But I want a baby brother!"
"No."
"But…"
"No. There are better ways to get a brother. And we're not getting a baby."
4. Since Trooper has gotten better at reading, he's been paying more attention to the sounds that make up words, and the similarities between words. This is mostly fun, but sometimes it's also big trouble. For example, he noticed that the first sounds of the word 'ship' are the same as the first sounds of another word that he isn't allowed to say and that he thinks is hilarious. So he started looking at me with that mischievous expression he gets and saying, "Sssshhhhiiii… Ssshhhiiii… (break for a maniacal chuckle) Ssshhhiiii…p." Then he laughs like crazy and starts over, only he doesn't always end it with a 'p'.
Subscribe
February 21, 2017
Review of 'Emerge: The Awakening'
Review of Emerge: The Awakening by Melissa A. Craven NP
I wrote this review right after finishing the book, and I'm kind of embarrassed to say I liked it. It reminded me a lot of the Twilight books in some ways, with a girl who feels isolated moving to a new place and finding out that she's far more than she could have imagined, and with a similar mood and similar obsessions with boy relationships. That said, I actually liked this book much better because it did a decent job of following its own rules, and because the main character isn't nearly as whiney and self-absorbed as Bella in the Twilight books. I get SO tired of people being told they're strong and remarkable and loving when they really aren't. But in this case, it was true, the lead character Allie actually is all those things, even if she's sort of an unfunny idiot when it comes to boy relationships.
But there are also downsides. For one, the aforementioned boy obsessions. Why, oh why do we need love triangles to keep things interesting? By the end of the book I wasn't as annoyed about the 'third wheel', since it sort of made sense, but for most of the book it felt forced. Then again, the 'second wheel' also felt forced in many ways. There were several times when I thought, Seriously, can you come up with any more reasons why these two would be forced closer together? And then sure enough, there would be another reason. But while this is definitely a downside, and I truly am embarrassed to admit it, I found a sick pleasure in seeing this happen. It was funny. I don't know if I'm somehow losing my maturity and turning into a hormone-driven fifteen-year-old, or if my life has just been chaotic enough that utter nonsense boy-girl tension was appealing, but I found myself laughing several times as the vice was tightened.
The beginning is definitely more forced than the middle and end, as if Miss Craven knew where she wanted to go, but wasn't sure how to get there. I think there could have been more time spent on all the friends getting to know each other, something more to bridge that gap between introductions and best friends, but I'm glad they DID become friends. Once I accepted it, they really did all feel like great friends, family even, but I missed the journey.
The actual point of the story, other than boy tensions, is cool. You have all these amazing characters with amazing gifts and challenges, and I could have spent a lot more time with them. As it was, I had a hard time keeping them straight even though I liked them, and clearly Miss Craven knew them well. I may read the book over again at some point to get a better grip on everything.
The writing itself was engaging, easy to enjoy, and with few typos. Sometimes I got a little confused about who was talking, sometimes I had to wait a couple pages into a conversation to get any context for it, and sometimes there were minor inconsistencies like when her back is to his chest but somehow they're looking into each other's eyes, but overall it was very well done. It met my biggest need in a story, and that is characters that I love to love or love to hate.
Language: Only a few foul words.
Sexual Content: While Miss Craven avoided naming private body parts and detailed encounters, and was very kind not to go on and on about how hot anyone was (have I mentioned before how much I hate that?), there is sexual content. It's skirted around so as not to be graphic (and usually the people are not fully intimate), but it does come up often in the book. It's also kind of convoluted with strangely blended and re-blended families. I don't recommend for young teens.
Violence: There is violence, but none of it seemed serious to me. I mean, if your character's jaw is broken but she can have verbal conversations, how bad can it be? It's one downside to superhuman characters, I suppose, that what happens to them physically doesn't make me feel bad for them.
Diversity: The first and second characters are white, but the friends and family are a happy jumble of colors and ethnicities. One in particular is a central character, and I never got the feeling that the diversity was 'token' in any way. It all made sense, and was important to the story.
3.5 Stars
Find it here.
I wrote this review right after finishing the book, and I'm kind of embarrassed to say I liked it. It reminded me a lot of the Twilight books in some ways, with a girl who feels isolated moving to a new place and finding out that she's far more than she could have imagined, and with a similar mood and similar obsessions with boy relationships. That said, I actually liked this book much better because it did a decent job of following its own rules, and because the main character isn't nearly as whiney and self-absorbed as Bella in the Twilight books. I get SO tired of people being told they're strong and remarkable and loving when they really aren't. But in this case, it was true, the lead character Allie actually is all those things, even if she's sort of an unfunny idiot when it comes to boy relationships.
But there are also downsides. For one, the aforementioned boy obsessions. Why, oh why do we need love triangles to keep things interesting? By the end of the book I wasn't as annoyed about the 'third wheel', since it sort of made sense, but for most of the book it felt forced. Then again, the 'second wheel' also felt forced in many ways. There were several times when I thought, Seriously, can you come up with any more reasons why these two would be forced closer together? And then sure enough, there would be another reason. But while this is definitely a downside, and I truly am embarrassed to admit it, I found a sick pleasure in seeing this happen. It was funny. I don't know if I'm somehow losing my maturity and turning into a hormone-driven fifteen-year-old, or if my life has just been chaotic enough that utter nonsense boy-girl tension was appealing, but I found myself laughing several times as the vice was tightened.
The beginning is definitely more forced than the middle and end, as if Miss Craven knew where she wanted to go, but wasn't sure how to get there. I think there could have been more time spent on all the friends getting to know each other, something more to bridge that gap between introductions and best friends, but I'm glad they DID become friends. Once I accepted it, they really did all feel like great friends, family even, but I missed the journey.
The actual point of the story, other than boy tensions, is cool. You have all these amazing characters with amazing gifts and challenges, and I could have spent a lot more time with them. As it was, I had a hard time keeping them straight even though I liked them, and clearly Miss Craven knew them well. I may read the book over again at some point to get a better grip on everything.
The writing itself was engaging, easy to enjoy, and with few typos. Sometimes I got a little confused about who was talking, sometimes I had to wait a couple pages into a conversation to get any context for it, and sometimes there were minor inconsistencies like when her back is to his chest but somehow they're looking into each other's eyes, but overall it was very well done. It met my biggest need in a story, and that is characters that I love to love or love to hate.
Language: Only a few foul words.
Sexual Content: While Miss Craven avoided naming private body parts and detailed encounters, and was very kind not to go on and on about how hot anyone was (have I mentioned before how much I hate that?), there is sexual content. It's skirted around so as not to be graphic (and usually the people are not fully intimate), but it does come up often in the book. It's also kind of convoluted with strangely blended and re-blended families. I don't recommend for young teens.
Violence: There is violence, but none of it seemed serious to me. I mean, if your character's jaw is broken but she can have verbal conversations, how bad can it be? It's one downside to superhuman characters, I suppose, that what happens to them physically doesn't make me feel bad for them.
Diversity: The first and second characters are white, but the friends and family are a happy jumble of colors and ethnicities. One in particular is a central character, and I never got the feeling that the diversity was 'token' in any way. It all made sense, and was important to the story.
3.5 Stars
Find it here.
February 9, 2017
JUST LIKE THAT
Have you ever had one of those days when your kid is just sick enough to become an obnoxious brat--not sick enough to be cuddly and sweet--and you feel guilty for thinking if you can't have him better, you'd settle for worse? But to balance out the guilt, you feel proud of yourself for not locking him outside and playing NEEDTOBREATHE loud enough cover the sound of pounding on the door
And then, sweet man that he is, your husband volunteers to watch the little monster while you go to the grocery for a few things, and you're so happy to get away from the afore mentioned obnoxious brat that you hightail it out of there like a jackrabbit on crack.
And then you get to your grocery of choice, only to find that jackrabbits on crack aren't the best at making wardrobe choices, and you're still wearing your gianormous black house shoes with your cute striped sundress.
I'm having a day JUST LIKE THAT.
For reviews, Trooper Stories, and the occasional rant, subscribe.
And then, sweet man that he is, your husband volunteers to watch the little monster while you go to the grocery for a few things, and you're so happy to get away from the afore mentioned obnoxious brat that you hightail it out of there like a jackrabbit on crack.
And then you get to your grocery of choice, only to find that jackrabbits on crack aren't the best at making wardrobe choices, and you're still wearing your gianormous black house shoes with your cute striped sundress.
I'm having a day JUST LIKE THAT.
For reviews, Trooper Stories, and the occasional rant, subscribe.
February 5, 2017
Dying for a Living
Review of Dying For a Living by Kory M. Shrum
The premise of this book is cool, a group of people who for genetic reasons tend to regenerate after death. The writing was quirky and modern, fitting a girl of the main character's age. For the most part it was really engaging. The main character's sarcasm and depressive wit made me laugh, and her perspective on some of the things she goes through is priceless. I think for many people, this would be a five star story.
On the downside, a couple times I was confused because I thought it was day and then it was dark, and that sort of thing, but I don't think that was too big a deal. Worse than a little confusion is the full-blown love triangle. This time the girl is torn between a guy and another girl, but really it's the same deal as usual. Why is everyone always after the main character, especially when she's not really that likable? Happens all the time. I want the story where the main character is the third wheel instead of the one everyone wants. I'll have to write it. But back to this book, sorry. I've enjoyed books in spite of love triangles, so what is it that bothered me to the point where I just couldn't enjoy it like I wanted to?
I believe it was the main character's personal issues, mainly the way she views sex and relationships in general. I'm really turned off by sex as nothing more than a pass-time, and also by people who want sex 'without the complications of relationship' for whatever reason. Sex IS bonding for women, regardless of what they want to think. It's been scientifically proven that something or another is produced in the brain that creates an emotional bond…anyway, it irked me, and soured my whole experience with the book. It made the main character out to be so weak, you know? She was so messed up she couldn't even allow herself to be committed to monogamy in the short term. I wonder why the other characters were so set on getting her to commit to them. Were they equally unbalanced and wanted her to fill a codependent role for them? Was it just a competition between them? It was pretty clear that it wasn't all about lust for them, so it had to be something else. I also didn't like the end, but I won't say why for fear of spoiling.
If my complaints seem stupid to you, you'll probably enjoy this book. If you and I are on the same page, then steer clear.
Language: Definitely R.
Sexual Content: The secondary plotline (which sometimes feels like the primary) more or less revolves around it, so yeah.
Violence: Well, you have a person who dies for a living, so it only follows that there would be people dying, doesn't it? Some of it is really funny, missing shoes and so on, and I suppose most of it isn't intentional violence…
Diversity: I don't remember there being characters of color, did I miss that? The main characters are all attractive white people, the other characters less attractive. But the main character is bisexual, which could put it on diverse charts.
Find it here.
Subscribe.
The premise of this book is cool, a group of people who for genetic reasons tend to regenerate after death. The writing was quirky and modern, fitting a girl of the main character's age. For the most part it was really engaging. The main character's sarcasm and depressive wit made me laugh, and her perspective on some of the things she goes through is priceless. I think for many people, this would be a five star story.
On the downside, a couple times I was confused because I thought it was day and then it was dark, and that sort of thing, but I don't think that was too big a deal. Worse than a little confusion is the full-blown love triangle. This time the girl is torn between a guy and another girl, but really it's the same deal as usual. Why is everyone always after the main character, especially when she's not really that likable? Happens all the time. I want the story where the main character is the third wheel instead of the one everyone wants. I'll have to write it. But back to this book, sorry. I've enjoyed books in spite of love triangles, so what is it that bothered me to the point where I just couldn't enjoy it like I wanted to?
I believe it was the main character's personal issues, mainly the way she views sex and relationships in general. I'm really turned off by sex as nothing more than a pass-time, and also by people who want sex 'without the complications of relationship' for whatever reason. Sex IS bonding for women, regardless of what they want to think. It's been scientifically proven that something or another is produced in the brain that creates an emotional bond…anyway, it irked me, and soured my whole experience with the book. It made the main character out to be so weak, you know? She was so messed up she couldn't even allow herself to be committed to monogamy in the short term. I wonder why the other characters were so set on getting her to commit to them. Were they equally unbalanced and wanted her to fill a codependent role for them? Was it just a competition between them? It was pretty clear that it wasn't all about lust for them, so it had to be something else. I also didn't like the end, but I won't say why for fear of spoiling.
If my complaints seem stupid to you, you'll probably enjoy this book. If you and I are on the same page, then steer clear.
Language: Definitely R.
Sexual Content: The secondary plotline (which sometimes feels like the primary) more or less revolves around it, so yeah.
Violence: Well, you have a person who dies for a living, so it only follows that there would be people dying, doesn't it? Some of it is really funny, missing shoes and so on, and I suppose most of it isn't intentional violence…
Diversity: I don't remember there being characters of color, did I miss that? The main characters are all attractive white people, the other characters less attractive. But the main character is bisexual, which could put it on diverse charts.
Find it here.
Subscribe.
January 29, 2017
Review of 'Children of a Broken Sky'
Review of Children of a Broken Sky by Adam J Nicolai
This fantasy novel is about a group of teens living in troubling times, with flashbacks to when they were children. Flashbacks can be confusing things, and these sometimes were, but as long as I read the headings I was all right. At first I had the hardest time keeping track of all the characters, who was who, who was related to whom, and so on, and the flashbacks actually made this more confusing because the family structures change between the beginning of the flashbacks and the beginning of the story when the kids are teens. So I was griping about how the author couldn't remember who was sisters with whom, but in the end it all made sense. I wish there had been more clues about the change ahead of time because I seriously almost quit reading when I got to the seeming inconsistencies. That kind of thing can drive me crazy. But I kept reading and now I know.
The book is a slow build, with lots of time devoted to almost every character's story (stories that are pertinent to the overarching story), so by about halfway through the book I felt a connection to most of them. The world has a complex religion, which is well explained and upon which the story hinges, and the issues of corruption within the religion and the treatment of people outside the religion are central.
My complaints are simple and few. The first is that the world is supposed to be all crazy and in a physical upheaval as described in the blurb and early in the book, but then there really isn't any showing of the weirdness until quite far into the book, so that at times I forgot about it. I was told that things were weird, but I didn't see it at all, not until probably three quarters of the way through (totally a guess). So I didn't feel like I was in a world where the sun might come up in a different corner of the world, or where it might snow in the middle of summer. Also, although I had a lot of time to get to know the characters, I didn't love them. I'm not sure why--most of them weren't super unpleasant people and they were distinctive--but I got a feeling like the world was a drab place full of drab people, with the exception of one man who appears near the beginning of the book. By drab I don't mean flat, I mean gloomy, depressive, self-centered, not under their own power. I'm pretty sure this is an intentional portrayal of the world.
Later in the book there is more action. We see some new places and meet some proactive characters, mostly villains, and the main characters are spurred to start doing. A lot of weird things happen to and around them, and they have a chance to act in more interesting ways.
The ending was more of a set up than it was a real ending, but not a cliff hanger, and it points to a more exciting second book.
The editing was pretty darn good for an Indie book, cheers for that!
Language: Something that annoyed me in the story was the insertion of made up words, presented in italics. Most of them were substitutes for profanity, usually taking the name of their god in vain, which made this book almost entirely 'clean' (no complaint there). But there were other words that made no sense to me, like a substitution for 'OK' that was a gibberish word. I wish there had been some explanation of why they used italicized words. Is it another language? That wasn't specified as far as I can remember, and I don't know what language it would be.
Sexual Content: None.
Violence: A little.
Diversity: One non-white character who is from another place and treated very differently by pretty much everyone except for his friends in the group. He doesn't seem to feel wronged by this treatment, which is odd to me, but rather he simply accepts that a person from his country would be treated the way he is.
Overall Message/Plot: I see some threads of a message in this, one warning the religious not to treat others badly, one warning the religious not to be controlling, and one warning people not to put too much trust in religious people. Although my faith is central to my life and the way I live it, I can't help seeing the truth in this story. In the name of religion--my religion!--people have butchered, scandalized, imprisoned, financially ruined, manipulated, controlled, hated, enslaved…I'm sure any honest person with any knowledge of history could add to the list. I hear you, Mr. Nicolai.
Find it here.
3.5 to 4 stars
This fantasy novel is about a group of teens living in troubling times, with flashbacks to when they were children. Flashbacks can be confusing things, and these sometimes were, but as long as I read the headings I was all right. At first I had the hardest time keeping track of all the characters, who was who, who was related to whom, and so on, and the flashbacks actually made this more confusing because the family structures change between the beginning of the flashbacks and the beginning of the story when the kids are teens. So I was griping about how the author couldn't remember who was sisters with whom, but in the end it all made sense. I wish there had been more clues about the change ahead of time because I seriously almost quit reading when I got to the seeming inconsistencies. That kind of thing can drive me crazy. But I kept reading and now I know.
The book is a slow build, with lots of time devoted to almost every character's story (stories that are pertinent to the overarching story), so by about halfway through the book I felt a connection to most of them. The world has a complex religion, which is well explained and upon which the story hinges, and the issues of corruption within the religion and the treatment of people outside the religion are central.
My complaints are simple and few. The first is that the world is supposed to be all crazy and in a physical upheaval as described in the blurb and early in the book, but then there really isn't any showing of the weirdness until quite far into the book, so that at times I forgot about it. I was told that things were weird, but I didn't see it at all, not until probably three quarters of the way through (totally a guess). So I didn't feel like I was in a world where the sun might come up in a different corner of the world, or where it might snow in the middle of summer. Also, although I had a lot of time to get to know the characters, I didn't love them. I'm not sure why--most of them weren't super unpleasant people and they were distinctive--but I got a feeling like the world was a drab place full of drab people, with the exception of one man who appears near the beginning of the book. By drab I don't mean flat, I mean gloomy, depressive, self-centered, not under their own power. I'm pretty sure this is an intentional portrayal of the world.
Later in the book there is more action. We see some new places and meet some proactive characters, mostly villains, and the main characters are spurred to start doing. A lot of weird things happen to and around them, and they have a chance to act in more interesting ways.
The ending was more of a set up than it was a real ending, but not a cliff hanger, and it points to a more exciting second book.
The editing was pretty darn good for an Indie book, cheers for that!
Language: Something that annoyed me in the story was the insertion of made up words, presented in italics. Most of them were substitutes for profanity, usually taking the name of their god in vain, which made this book almost entirely 'clean' (no complaint there). But there were other words that made no sense to me, like a substitution for 'OK' that was a gibberish word. I wish there had been some explanation of why they used italicized words. Is it another language? That wasn't specified as far as I can remember, and I don't know what language it would be.
Sexual Content: None.
Violence: A little.
Diversity: One non-white character who is from another place and treated very differently by pretty much everyone except for his friends in the group. He doesn't seem to feel wronged by this treatment, which is odd to me, but rather he simply accepts that a person from his country would be treated the way he is.
Overall Message/Plot: I see some threads of a message in this, one warning the religious not to treat others badly, one warning the religious not to be controlling, and one warning people not to put too much trust in religious people. Although my faith is central to my life and the way I live it, I can't help seeing the truth in this story. In the name of religion--my religion!--people have butchered, scandalized, imprisoned, financially ruined, manipulated, controlled, hated, enslaved…I'm sure any honest person with any knowledge of history could add to the list. I hear you, Mr. Nicolai.
Find it here.
3.5 to 4 stars
Review of 'Children Under a Broken Sky'
Review of Children of a Broken Sky by Adam J Nicolai
This fantasy novel is about a group of teens living in troubling times, with flashbacks to when they were children. Flashbacks can be confusing things, and these sometimes were, but as long as I read the headings I was all right. At first I had the hardest time keeping track of all the characters, who was who, who was related to whom, and so on, and the flashbacks actually made this more confusing because the family structures change between the beginning of the flashbacks and the beginning of the story when the kids are teens. So I was griping about how the author couldn't remember who was sisters with whom, but in the end it all made sense. I wish there had been more clues about the change ahead of time because I seriously almost quit reading when I got to the seeming inconsistencies. That kind of thing can drive me crazy. But I kept reading and now I know.
The book is a slow build, with lots of time devoted to almost every character's story (stories that are pertinent to the overarching story), so by about halfway through the book I felt a connection to most of them. The world has a complex religion, which is well explained and upon which the story hinges, and the issues of corruption within the religion and the treatment of people outside the religion are central.
My complaints are simple and few. The first is that the world is supposed to be all crazy and in a physical upheaval as described in the blurb and early in the book, but then there really isn't any showing of the weirdness until quite far into the book, so that at times I forgot about it. I was told that things were weird, but I didn't see it at all, not until probably three quarters of the way through (totally a guess). So I didn't feel like I was in a world where the sun might come up in a different corner of the world, or where it might snow in the middle of summer. Also, although I had a lot of time to get to know the characters, I didn't love them. I'm not sure why--most of them weren't super unpleasant people and they were distinctive--but I got a feeling like the world was a drab place full of drab people, with the exception of one man who appears near the beginning of the book. By drab I don't mean flat, I mean gloomy, depressive, self-centered, not under their own power. I'm pretty sure this is an intentional portrayal of the world.
Later in the book there is more action. We see some new places and meet some proactive characters, mostly villains, and the main characters are spurred to start doing. A lot of weird things happen to and around them, and they have a chance to act in more interesting ways.
The ending was more of a set up than it was a real ending, but not a cliff hanger, and it points to a more exciting second book.
The editing was pretty darn good for an Indie book, cheers for that!
Language: Something that annoyed me in the story was the insertion of made up words, presented in italics. Most of them were substitutes for profanity, usually taking the name of their god in vain, which made this book almost entirely 'clean' (no complaint there). But there were other words that made no sense to me, like a substitution for 'OK' that was a gibberish word. I wish there had been some explanation of why they used italicized words. Is it another language? That wasn't specified as far as I can remember, and I don't know what language it would be.
Sexual Content: None.
Violence: A little.
Diversity: One non-white character who is from another place and treated very differently by pretty much everyone except for his friends in the group. He doesn't seem to feel wronged by this treatment, which is odd to me, but rather he simply accepts that a person from his country would be treated the way he is.
Overall Message/Plot: I see some threads of a message in this, one warning the religious not to treat others badly, one warning the religious not to be controlling, and one warning people not to put too much trust in religious people. Although my faith is central to my life and the way I live it, I can't help seeing the truth in this story. In the name of religion--my religion!--people have butchered, scandalized, imprisoned, financially ruined, manipulated, controlled, hated, enslaved…I'm sure any honest person with any knowledge of history could add to the list. I hear you, Mr. Nicolai.
3.5 to 4 stars
This fantasy novel is about a group of teens living in troubling times, with flashbacks to when they were children. Flashbacks can be confusing things, and these sometimes were, but as long as I read the headings I was all right. At first I had the hardest time keeping track of all the characters, who was who, who was related to whom, and so on, and the flashbacks actually made this more confusing because the family structures change between the beginning of the flashbacks and the beginning of the story when the kids are teens. So I was griping about how the author couldn't remember who was sisters with whom, but in the end it all made sense. I wish there had been more clues about the change ahead of time because I seriously almost quit reading when I got to the seeming inconsistencies. That kind of thing can drive me crazy. But I kept reading and now I know.
The book is a slow build, with lots of time devoted to almost every character's story (stories that are pertinent to the overarching story), so by about halfway through the book I felt a connection to most of them. The world has a complex religion, which is well explained and upon which the story hinges, and the issues of corruption within the religion and the treatment of people outside the religion are central.
My complaints are simple and few. The first is that the world is supposed to be all crazy and in a physical upheaval as described in the blurb and early in the book, but then there really isn't any showing of the weirdness until quite far into the book, so that at times I forgot about it. I was told that things were weird, but I didn't see it at all, not until probably three quarters of the way through (totally a guess). So I didn't feel like I was in a world where the sun might come up in a different corner of the world, or where it might snow in the middle of summer. Also, although I had a lot of time to get to know the characters, I didn't love them. I'm not sure why--most of them weren't super unpleasant people and they were distinctive--but I got a feeling like the world was a drab place full of drab people, with the exception of one man who appears near the beginning of the book. By drab I don't mean flat, I mean gloomy, depressive, self-centered, not under their own power. I'm pretty sure this is an intentional portrayal of the world.
Later in the book there is more action. We see some new places and meet some proactive characters, mostly villains, and the main characters are spurred to start doing. A lot of weird things happen to and around them, and they have a chance to act in more interesting ways.
The ending was more of a set up than it was a real ending, but not a cliff hanger, and it points to a more exciting second book.
The editing was pretty darn good for an Indie book, cheers for that!
Language: Something that annoyed me in the story was the insertion of made up words, presented in italics. Most of them were substitutes for profanity, usually taking the name of their god in vain, which made this book almost entirely 'clean' (no complaint there). But there were other words that made no sense to me, like a substitution for 'OK' that was a gibberish word. I wish there had been some explanation of why they used italicized words. Is it another language? That wasn't specified as far as I can remember, and I don't know what language it would be.
Sexual Content: None.
Violence: A little.
Diversity: One non-white character who is from another place and treated very differently by pretty much everyone except for his friends in the group. He doesn't seem to feel wronged by this treatment, which is odd to me, but rather he simply accepts that a person from his country would be treated the way he is.
Overall Message/Plot: I see some threads of a message in this, one warning the religious not to treat others badly, one warning the religious not to be controlling, and one warning people not to put too much trust in religious people. Although my faith is central to my life and the way I live it, I can't help seeing the truth in this story. In the name of religion--my religion!--people have butchered, scandalized, imprisoned, financially ruined, manipulated, controlled, hated, enslaved…I'm sure any honest person with any knowledge of history could add to the list. I hear you, Mr. Nicolai.
3.5 to 4 stars
