Kate Padilla's Blog, page 26

INDIE REVIEW: FROM WHERE I SEE

FROM WHERE I SEE, BY AJAY YADAV
Published by LiFi Publications, New Delhi
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When it comes to thrillers, I tend to prefer international authors to American authors. I don't know what it is, but the stories seem to be more full, and the characters seem to be better developed.

I enjoyed Ajay Yadav's From Where I Seefor this reason. The main character's name is also Ajay (which seems to be a trend for this week's reviews),...

BOOK ROULETTE: ME AND THE DEVIL

When I started Nick Tosches' Me and the Devilthe first time, in preparation for a Daily Reporter review, I was a little disturbed by it. I got the point where the main character, also named Nick, was biting into the thigh of one of his conquests and savoring her blood, and I had to let it go. Nope. Too much.

But it came up on the book roulette, and I thought I'd give it another shot. My aim is to read all of the books in my collection before giving any up, so I know if I look a book too much...

REVIEW: INVASION OF THE TEARLING

I reviewed this book for the Spencer Daily Reporter. Check it out here.

In most cases, the second book of a series is the weakest. The author starts with a solid punch of a first book, then tapers off for the second and finishes strong in the final book or two. You find this all over literature, in the Twilight series, in Harry Potter, Divergent, etc. Only in a few cases have I found the second book to be better than the firs.t

Invasion of the Tearlingis one of those cases. I read Queen of the...

INDIE REVIEW: INTO A MILLION PIECES

INTO A MILLION PIECES, BY ANGELA COOK
Published by Red Adept Publishing
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Someone on Goodreads mentioned that while she (reviewer) knew what succubi were, she couldn't think of an example where succubi were featured in literature, "young adult or otherwise." I have to agree with her. Aside from the Syfy series "Lost Girl," this is the first case where I've read a book t...

ALTERNATE VOICES: ANGELA COOK

I love these Alternate Voices posts, because I love reading what other authors say and I love providing different perspectives to this otherwise single-voiced blog. With that in mind, I had to laugh a little while reading what Angela Cook (author of Into a Million Pieces, review forthcoming) because she might as well have written my own experience. On the one hand, it’s a little sad, because her experience selling books is not uncommon, not by a long shot. But on the other hand, it’s comfort...

REVIEW: MORE HAPPY THAN NOT

I also reviewed this book for the Spencer Daily Reporter. Check it out here.


Nothing about me is similar to Adam Silvera or Aaron Soto, the main character in Silvera's debut novel, More Happy Than Not. I was raised in West Michigan, he was raised in the Bronx. I'm female, he's male. I'm straight, he's gay.

And yet, I was so strongly pulled into More Happy Than Not. Because while this book highlights race, sexuality and class structure, it's so much more than that.

Aaron lives in the Bronx. He's...

INDIE REVIEW: COME RUNNING WHEN I CALL

COME RUNNING WHEN I CALL, BY KIMBERLY SUE MCLAUGHLIN
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Memoirs are always a little more difficult to review because they’re true stories. You can’t say “this is terrible” because a) it’s kind of insensitive and b) it’s nonfiction.

No worries: Kimberly McLaughlin’s Come Running When I Call is not at all terrible. I enjoyed reading it, largely because it was interesting to put myself in her perspective. I’ve never owned a horse, but I could absolutely relat...

ALTERNATE VOICES: KIMBERLY SUE MCLAUGHLIN

This week's indie review isCome Running When ICall, whichmeans this week'sAlternateVoices is the author, KimberlySue McLaughlin. The book is a memoir of McLaughlin's almost 26-year bond with her horse and is available both as an ebook and in paperback.
MY JOURNEY TO BECOMING A PUBLISHED WRITER Take a little time to read this and I will try to explain how I became a published writer and share with you the lessons that I learned along the way.

First off, it always confuses me, when non-writers o...

ALTERNATE VOICES: RICHARD ALLAN

While I typicallypost Alternate Voices on Mondays, this week we're changing things up a little bit. Richard Allan is the author of Exit Eleonora, the review for which is still forthcoming. Here is an excerpt from his book MENTAL HEALTH AND MURDER. Wednesday has come. This means it's time for me to water my orchids, one of which is the most spectacular plant you have ever set eyes on. It's an extension of my soul, in a literal sense. When it blooms, I bloom. When it dies, I can't get out of be...

INDIE REVIEW: EXIT ELEONORA

EXIT ELEONORA, BY RICHARD ALLAN
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Today’s indie review is really epic, guys. Typically, when I read a book on my e-reader, I can move fairly quickly through a book. But this one took some time, mostly because I didn’t want to miss anything.

Richard Allan’s Exit Eleonora focuses on Charles Mincher, a journalist who has been tasked to look into the repercussions of an alien race’s work on the Earth. It’s 2047 and the world’s population has fallen to 450 million after both the alie...