Ingrid Hall's Blog, page 17

Review of Reboot by Amy Tintera

Okay, so I know that I said yesterday that I wasn’t actively seeking books for review. Well, I hadn’t counted on the fact that the lovely Joanne Armstrong has been on a reading frenzy over Christmas. So, you can expect some reviews over the next couple of weeks. I will also be reading and yes, reviewing��but it will be��at my leisure.��While I won’t turn away books if they land in my inbox, I am not going to actively request them.�� In other words, if you make it easy and just send it, then I will let it sit on the list. If you send queries, they will be ignored!

REVIEW BY JOANNE ARMSTRONG

It���s difficult to exactly pinpoint why I liked this book so much. I think it was partly because it took me by surprise – I don���t often read the blurb for a book before I start it; I like to have little other than the cover art and title to go on. (Sometimes I haven���t even got that). I think also it���s partly because I���ve read too many teen novels in a row, mainly science fiction, and I may have been ready to throw the next at the wall. Right now they all seem to be lessons in what not to do.

But this one took me entirely by surprise. The kickass beginning, for example. It���s brilliant. The author plonked her reader right in the middle of Wren 178���s daily grind, which is hunting humans. Immediately the questions begin. If she���s not human, what is she? If she���s so powerful, why does she submit so quietly to the guards? Is she a prisoner? If she���s a prisoner, why does she willingly hunt other prisoners? The questions were relentless for the first couple of chapters, and Tintera���s pacing of the answers was excellent. Never too much at once, and never forced. I heard an author once say that if you had to give too much back story, you���re starting in the wrong place. The author started in just the right place.

I was drawn to the whole idea of Wren���s world. It was simple but at the same time had depth. It was interesting. But most of all, it was different. The usual teen storyline is here – girl meets boy, they overcome their differences and develop feelings for each other, there is a risk of separation, there is a conclusion. The usual dystopian storyline is here – groups with control, groups without control, brain washing and propaganda, and something to scare the living heck out of us because it���s frighteningly possible (in this case it was disease and containment). But I really felt that all these issues were hung on brand new shoulders, and I loved the freshness. The world which Tintera has given us is one I���ve never encountered before, giving her the chance to really mix things up a bit. However, at the same time she provides all the elements which teenagers have come to know, love and expect. I didn���t like the romance, but I appreciate its role in the story and I appreciate the reason why it���s there. I understand that it���s for a particular audience.

I loved the gender switching which Tintera played with. The girl is small, slight, and a cold blooded killer. She���s the trainer. The boy is big, friendly and a vegetarian pacifist. I love how they come together and how it actually ���works���. Not always believable and sometimes a little cring-y, but definitely entertaining. He basically has to teach her how to care. I wondered at one stage how far the author would go in their journey towards each other – she definitely had to become more like him, more human, but how far would Tintera go in making him more like her – the cold blooded killer? In the end I think she erred on the side of caution. I wonder if she will play with this further in the second book.

The romance elements, although clich��d, had an importance within this story which was refreshing. Usually I get the feeling that an author has added a romantic component simply because they feel they need to keep their readers happy. In Reboot, the romance is absolutely fundamental. Wren ruminates over whether she can love at all; whether through her conditioning or the amount of time she spent dead (178 minutes) she is incapable of feeling at all. So the journey to her openness is fascinating.

Towards the last third of the book I began to flag, mainly because the rest of the book I felt was not written for me. I didn���t need (or want) the physical closeness which Wren and Callum begin to explore, but as I mentioned before, I understand its place within the story.

When you use an emotionless killer as one of your main characters and work out a way to make your readers sympathize with her, it���s interesting. When you explore a way for her to fall in love it becomes fascinating. And what about making her the narrator, whose point of view your readers come to trust? Tintera does all of this is a way that seems effortless. Her readers will not be able to stop themselves connecting with Wren 178, because essentially she is still just a normal teenager coming to terms with a whole load of emotions she has not experienced before. Team that with her enjoyment of killing and the fascinating dystopia which Tintera has created, and you get a rollicking good read which has something new to say in a very popular genre.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys science fiction with a little romance, ultimate kickass female heroines, and anyone who glazes over at the thought of yet another dystopia. It���s a bit different.

Oh any anyone who likes zombies. The z-word is never mentioned in this book��� Ms Tintera you are very very clever.

Joanne Armstrong can be found here.

Book Reviews – An Important Update

As of 3p.m (GMT) today, Saturday 03rd January 2015, I am no longer actively seeking books to review.

The reasons for this are many, but the primary two are:

Lack of time and the need to focus the majority of my efforts on paid work. (Whether that be my writing or other freelance commitments.)

I have a full schedule for 2015. I will be publishing Compromised – Book 2 in The Sensual Liaisons Series under my pen-name Luna Ballantyne. I am also putting together an Anthology. (Click here for details) In addition to this, I am actively seeking to build my editing and freelance writing portfolio AND marketing my own books.

There are other several other projects bubbling away beneath the surface, and the constant influx of review requests is a distraction that I simply don’t need right now. I really enjoyed reading and reviewing in 2014, and I will, when time allows continue to post the occasional review. Books that are already on the list pending review will stay on my list, and I will get to them if and when I can.

At some stage in the near future I will also be overhauling this blog as I want to focus more on providing the type of content that readers want to read rather than just churning out book reviews to help other indie authors. This will include a range of features and a better mix of indie and traditionally published articles.

So, watch this space…

 

Review of Alone – The Serenity Series Book One by Marissa Farrar

Author Ingrid Hall:

Don’t forget that romance titles are now reviewed over here!

Originally posted on Confessions of Luna Ballantyne:

Marissa Farrar is a multi-published fantasy and horror author. She was born in Devon, England, has travelled all over the world, and has lived in both Australia and Spain. She now resides in the countryside with her husband, two children, a crazy Spanish dog, two rescue cats and six hens and ten goldfishes. Despite returning to England, she daydreams of one day being able to split her time between her home country and the balmy, white sandy beaches of Spain. You can find more about Marissa, at www.marissa-farrar.blogspot.com

Thumbs up from Luna:

The opening chapter is thought-provoking if somewhat unsettling.

The book is a quick, easy read that you can pick up just about anywhere.

Serenity is likeable in spite of the fact that I wanted to reach into the pages and give her a damned good shake.

The whole vampire thing is strangely entertaining even though the plot is…

View original 195 more words

Review of Revelations – Thera’s Eyes Book One by Leia Kiuski

Revelations Thera’s eyes Book One by Léia Kiuski – Review by Demetra S. Gerontakis

The novel is about: a teenage girl who had everything until one day her world was seriously shaken by tragedy. Family casualties are only the beginning of her problems as she is given leadership to fight against evil.

The synopsis of this book got my attention but after reading the first chapter I put the book down for a later time. I am glad to say that when I picked it back up I found myself drawn with each page.

A fantasy story with a little romance Thera’s eye is the first novel of the series.

To begin with, the main character, Beth, a teenage girl who has been given a sour lemon so early in her life copes with the death of both her parents and a brother who is in a coma as a result of a plane crash. All her misfortune makes the reader sympathize with her.

Beth’s strength is challenged when she is chosen to protect and save her town from what is coming. A dynamic action story, adventurous and surprising at times.

Furthermore, Léia Kiuski expresses her imagination vividly as she describes the gory demons and the town in her story with great detail.

On the other hand, although the story keeps the reader interested there were some grammatical and spelling mistakes in the version that I read that were a little distracting. The author has put a note on Goodreads to say that the book  has since been edited.

In a nutshell, provided the errors have been corrected, for those who enjoy horror romance fantasy novels then Revelations Thera’s eyes will keep them entertained.

Check out Lenora’s review of Reality of the Supernatural by Demetra S. Gerontakis here.

 

Affordable Editing Services Plans

Hey,

I am introducing a new budget plan for my editing services, meaning that you can now set up either a weekly or monthly plan.  I am not going to bang on too much about it in this post, but if you are interested click here.  If you sign up now, then your first payment won’t be due until January.

Review of I Have Cancer – 48 Things To Do When You Hear Those Words

 

Stan Goldberg is a cancer survivor,  husband, father, Professor Emeritus at San Francisco State University, and devotee of the shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) and Native American Flute. For eight years he was a bedside hospice volunteer at Pathways, Hospice By The Bay, George Mark Children’s Hospice, and Zen Hospice Project.   In 2009 he was named by the Hospice Volunteer Association “Volunteer of the Year.”

For more than 25 years he taught, provided therapy, researched, and published in the areas of learning, change, loss, and end of life issues.

He has published seven books, written numerous articles and delivered more than 100 lectures and workshops throughout the United States, Latin America, Canada, and Asia on topics including stuttering, change, learning differences, flyfishing, and end of life issues.

Ever since my mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer around 18 months ago, I have actively devoured any books that I have been able to get my hands on about the subject.  There are many books out there that have been written by cancer survivors, most of them contain a fair amount of content relating to the author’s own struggle. I have cancer is different in that respect, because while Goldberg makes no secret about the fact that he is writing from first hand experience he doesn’t dwell on his personal experiences in the book. I honestly can’t decide whether that approach worked for me.

The book is informative, easily accessible and full of pertinent information, but I did at times find it a little clinical – in the sense that all of the emotion has been stripped from it.  Cancer is an emotive issue, and I am guessing that the author decided that by removing the emotions and just laying out the facts then the reader would be better informed. Yes…but…

I particularly found some of his advice on how to talk about someone’s cancer with them helpful.  I have taken this on board and woven it into some of my recent conversations with my mother, and I think it has helped.

In short, I would recommend this book to anyone dealing with cancer themselves or supporting a loved one through it.

You can find out more at: http://stangoldbergwriter.com/

Book of the Day – True Confessions of an Army Wife: Charley

As promised here is the first in my new series of features. Book of the Day is a great way of connecting readers with indie authors. I will post these as often as I can – when time allows.  I do have to hold my hands up and confess that I was involved in the editing process of this book.  That said, it did totally keep me gripped from start to finish.

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION/BLURB

Tarnishing the reputation of a respected and recently deceased soldier would be difficult for anyone, but for Charley Harris it’s something she refuses to do. Her strange behavior immediately following the death of her husband in war-torn Fallujah attracts unwanted attention from her friends and fellow Army wives. Revealing her secret could save their friendship and put her on the road to healing. Instead she stubbornly digs her heals in and chooses instead to weather the storm in front of her.

                From death generally comes a better understanding of life, for Charley, it hasn’t brought anything but more confusion. But, when she meets Captain Chad Harris, the fog seems to lift from her life. That is, until the nightmares return and the realization that she’s keeping a secret from everyone that she cares about. Will Charley decide to grab life by the tail and take advantage of the second chance she’s been given or will she choose to be a victim for the rest of her life?

MY IMPRESSION OF THE BOOK

This is a love story like no other. Not only does it reveal the abuse that some army wives suffer at the hands of their returning husbands, but it also highlights the reluctance of society in general to believe that their “heroes” would behave in such a despicable way. It is a triumph over adversity story, and I was moved to tears at Charley’s plight. The love that she eventually finds with Chad is not without hurdles but is heartfelt and I was genuinely rooting for them.

You can download True Confessions of an Army Wife:  Charley by Ali Aimes here.

Coming soon…Book of the day…

Hey,

As part of my ongoing commitment to bringing authors and readers together, I  am going to run a series of promos.  I will do this whenever time allows, and the promos will run across the following platforms:

www.ingridhall.com https://lunaballantyne.wordpress.com http://www.facebook.com/Authoringridhall https://www.facebook.com/pages/Luna-Ballantyne/825674664152197?fref=ts https://www.facebook.com/indieandproud?fref=ts  I will also Tweet from @authoringrid and @LunaBallantyne using the hashtags #RT #IARTG and where applicable #EARTG

Please make sure you are following all of the above as you never know when your book will be featured.  I am going to start  over the next couple of days with a FAB book that I have edited but will be moving onto titles that are presently pending review…

Wherever possible please share and comment on my Facebook posts and Retweet my tweets, I will do the same for people who are supporting me.   By standing together, we are united.

To mix things up I will do different things with the posts whenever I can, so this might include competitions and giveaways, etc.  This is a GREAT opportunity for readers as well as indie authors to get on board.

Indie and Proud – Fraud At Snowfields by Daniel Klock

When I started Indie and Proud 12 months ago, I had no idea how many curveballs life was going to throw in my direction, or how many twists and turns my life would take. While the campaign hasn’t panned out exactly as I would have liked it to, I hope we have still managed to showcase some fab Indie authors.

Throughout 2015, I will still be supporting Indie authors in a variety of different ways including book reviews, and the publication of our death and afterlife themed anthology. We are still open for submissions. Click here to find out more.  I will also be revamping the Indie and Proud Facebook page. (Please feel free to post promos for your books to the page for now)

I would like to thank everyone that participated in Indie and Proud, particularly J.D. Miller, Dennis Higgins and Virginia Wright, who went over and above the call of duty to help me when I needed it.

For our final post for this year, I am republishing Lenora’s review of Fraud at Snowfields by Daniel Klock.

REVIEW OF FRAUD AT SNOWFIELDS

Will Burns (was there ever a name more likely to cause a titter amongst the Tween Audience?) has a terrifying nightmare: being hunted down by homicidal Bluerorcs, only thing is, he is not quite sure what Bluerorcs are.  Twelve year old Will’s ordinary life at an ordinary school is suddenly turned upside down when the mysterious Mr Chevalier arrives and offers him a place at the prestigious and highly select (and secret) Snowfields.  Will, a big time Christmas fan, at that age when children are beginning to question the magic of Christmas, finds himself transported to a hidden world and a magical school where the pupils are trained up to work for the White Christmas Organisation:  sole aim to ensure Christmas goes off every year with out a hitch.  Whilst making new friends and learning everything from double entry book-keeping to magic spells Will soon finds out that there is something untoward going on at Snowfields and it is up to him to uncover it.

This book is aimed at tweenagers and early teens and I think it would appeal very much to the Harry Potter audience as well.  However much Hogwarts may have inspired Snowfields,  the allure of the boarding school as a place of adventure and mystery has been around longer than Harry Potter, the world of Snowfields is very different Hogwarts.  Klock has Snowfields and the White Christmas Organisation using a cunning blend of Christmas Magic alongside modern techno wizardry.  As Arthur C Clarke said “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” and Klock incorporates this modern techno magic alongside the traditional wand and spell variety: Christmas day is orchestrated using not only magic sleighs, and covering spells but hand-held tablet devices and other techno gadgetry.  I particularly liked the idea of the design pyramids and the slightly big brother-esque holographic Father Christmas booming out his message to Santa’s little helpers.  There are elements here to appeal to boys, girls and geeky grown-ups too!

Klock’s writing style is clear and entertaining, on the one hand easy enough for a younger reader, whilst also providing a few challenges as well to develop their reading skills.  The first part of the book is mainly concerned with Will settling in to the school, and making new friends and settling into school life.

The whole world of the school and the WCO is highly detailed and imaginative.  Cloudys Transportation Service, run by goblins, Bluerin: the mysterious substance that can be transmuted into any present imaginable….but can also be used to commit fraud….

The relationships between the children were lively and fun:  the chatterbox Freddy and the know it all Sabrina, the aloof Richard; and Will and Annabel’s relationship which explored that in-between stage where girls and boys begin to become interested in each other (and are a bit embarrassed by it).

As much as I enjoyed the first part of the book – it captures the excitement of a new school and the wonder and imagination of Christmas ( and provides a full explanation of all of those things you always wanted to ask about Christmas,  but never dared ask!) – it is in the second part, when the mystery kicks in, that the pace really quickens.  As the mystery unfolds the action increases and there is plenty of excitement and drama: flashing wands, scary monsters and daring escapes.  And of course, if you were thinking that being trained up in Snowfields School for a life long job where it’s Christmas every day might just send you a bit bonkers……….well read the book!

My only caveat with this book, is that for a book aimed at the young adult market it could do with a picture on the cover.  I loved the font of the title, I just think that to appeal to the younger audience a picture on the cover, and maybe even a few illustrations in the book would really add to the appeal.  Other than that, this was a really enjoyable read with some memorable characters and I think it would appeal to both boys and girls in the tweenager/young teen bracket, or just anyone who loves Christmas!

Review of Star Crossed by Jolene Poole

Given the backlog of pending reviews, I am incredibly grateful to be able to welcome Demetra Gerontakis to our reviewing team.  I should also say that Star Crossed has been pending review for around 12 months. I would therefore ask those of you who have submitted review requests to be patient with us!

REVIEW OF STAR CROSSED

Jolene Poole who was born in Michigan has had a life long dream of becoming a published author. Her goal: to entertain readers. Poole has accomplished her goal with the publication of Star Crossed – Worlds Apart.

The novel is about:

Alien abductions, a friendly alien, the loss of her siblings, the torment of being torn between saving her planet and the man she loves. Jolene brings a new meaning to alien – human relations.

The synopsis of this book lured me instantly.  The first chapter was so spellbinding it made me not want to put it down.  As I continued reading, I found myself captivated by the romantic relationship that developed between Gwyn and Kael, who are so different. In her own unique way, the author motivates the relationship between two strangers not from other states or countries but from far off distant worlds.

 To begin with, Kael and Gwyn are diverse but at the same time alike. Diverse in the sense of where each of them came from and alike because both of their families want to dominate them.  So because of this they have much in common.

 Furthermore, Jolene builds up the story keeping the reader interested in finding out what will happen next. Even though, this wasn’t my favorite of genres, it was as a result of the author’s artistry that I read the book in a single evening.

 The story is full of adventure, romance, mystery, and suspense. There wasn’t a moment of boredom.

 I do however think that, perhaps the author could have developed the story in more detail. Everyone seems to simply accept the fact that aliens are on earth and what’s more that they come for war.  Perhaps the disbelief and doubts that were expressed at the beginning of the book could have been prolonged throughout a few more pages.

 To conclude, ‘Star Crossed – Worlds Apart’ is a romance suspense novel with a nice refreshing twist of humor and mystery which keeps the reader interested until the very end. I would definitely suggest this book to both those who prefer romance as well as those who like mystery adventures.

You can find out more about Jolene Poole here:

http://www.amazon.com/Star-Crossed-Worlds-Jolene-Poole/dp/0992386101/ref

https://www.facebook.com/jolene.poole.3

Demetra Gerontakis is an author with a strong interest in the paranormal. You can check out Lenora’s review of The Reality of the Supernatural by clicking this link.