Scratches on the surface is an excellent book. The beginning is riveting. A group of teenage boys give Derek a severe bashing and leave him bleeding in a field, but one of the boys, overcome with guilt, returns to help him. Thus begins the story of Derek, the self-harming homosexual, and Taylor, the devout Christian. Derek is a confronting personality, a difficult and not particularly likeable character - at least on the surface - but he sees the world with a deeper perception than many and his honestly forces Taylor to confront his own homosexuality. This is a painful process for Taylor, particularly in light of the Christian outlook on homosexuality. The book documents his journey as he comes to terms with his feelings for Derek and discovers the truth about Kenny, a man who mentored him in the Scouts. Taylor is a beautiful character. He has an endearing honesty and purity about him that makes him a powerful character. His faith is strong too. Rather than reject God, as he could … [Read more...]
Eternal Destiny has its first review and it’s 5 stars!
Eternal Destiny has its first review and it's 5 stars. It's by Awesome Indies reviewer, Clive Johnson. A couple of excerpts: "Following on from the previous books in the series, all the characters continue to gain depth and colour, discovering more about themselves. This is particularly true of Ariel and Nick, and their relationship. Nick's long running fears about his ability to defeat Cogin are also resolved, but with a twist I'd best not reveal here, other than to say that it marries well with the overall thrust of the deeper narrative." "The writing is of a high standard, effortlessly bringing the tale alive and making it thoroughly engaging. A fine end to the Diamond Peak Series." You can read the whole review here. … [Read more...]
Eternal Destiny is out! Are you ready for the mind-blowing finale to the series?
Intrepid traveler Ariel Malony and demon slayer Nick Walker face their deepest fears and their greatest challenge as they search for the Master Demon who holds the key to the future of mankind. Slay him and the world goes free; fail, and it falls irrevocably into violence and chaos. Guided by a wisdom master of a mystical tradition that uses mind power as the basis of powerful magic, the assault party, including Kestril, the Magan Chiefs' son, Layla, the flying Noble One, and Twitchet, the talking cat, must travel from the ancient granite walls of the Hermitage, up the kilometer high Steps of Death, and through a labyrinth of shifting gorges to the Palace of Skulls where flesh-eating demons demand to be fed. Even if Nick wins his struggle with the scars of his past and defeats the green-eyed head of the Cogin clan, they still must cross the scree slope, where the bones of Ariel's father lie, and pass through the territory of vicious elementals to get to the ice caves beneath the … [Read more...]
‘In the Trees’ by Pauline Fisk: a charming coming of age story.
In the Trees is the story of a boy called Kid who comes from south London. His mother is dead and he never knew his father. He lives with Nadine (I'm not sure what her relationship to him is) and her boyfriend. A box from his mother arrives for him. It's full of junk and a couple of letters, one for him and one for his grandmother, and in it he discovers his father's name and that he came from Belize. Then Nadine decides that she and her boyfriend want the flat to themselves and ask Kid to find somewhere else to live. Though Kid is still at school, he has a job, so he's saved some money and Nadine gives him some to help him find somewhere to live, but Kid decides it's time to find his father. What follows is the story of Kid's search for his father. His journey takes him from the capital city of Belize to the depth of the great forest where, through a series of unplanned events, he ends up with a group of gap-year students who are working to build a perimeter fence and an outpost so … [Read more...]
Excellent YA Dystopian: Deviation by Christine Manzari
The idea of genetically modified teens being used as weapons is not a new idea. Kimberley Kinrade wrote a series on this theme some time ago, and I've read quite a few YA books recently about teens with genetic modifications. It's not surprising since genetic modification for humans is emerging as a very real possibility in our society, and I expect we will see more fiction in this vein. Although it shares many overly common elements of YA fantasy, for example a new school, a supposedly bad boy that is hard to resist, and the resident bully who seems to need little inspiration for their nastiness, Deviation is still an excellent, well-crafted story that keeps you hooked in and has a surprising twist at the end that leaves the story nicely set up for sequels. I think this book will be well enjoyed by YA speculative fiction fans. Cleo lives in a world of the future where terrorism has made huge scars on the American people and cities. She is a sophisticate, someone genetically … [Read more...]
Don’t miss this awesome YA paranormal novel: Incubus by Jennifer Quintez
I read Thrall the first book in the Daughters of Lilith Series some time ago and I remember thinking it was pretty good, so I readily agreed to read the second in the series. I wasn't disappointed, in fact, I was delighted to find a (for me) rare 5 star read. Incubus has everything needed to make a top book - strong, well-drawn characters with real relationships and motivations that tug at our heart-stings; a unique concept; immediate and engaging writing, and a riveting plot with an unexpected twist at the end.Braedyn is a Lilitu, a succubus demon, but she's not evil. Her father is a member of the Guard that protects human kind from the Lilitu, and Braedyn is on their side. She also has a boyfriend, Lucus that she has to keep her distance from because if she lets her Lilitu side take over when they kiss, she will drain his energy, which is, of course, a complete no no. Braedyn wants to become human so she can have a physical relationship with Lucas and eventually marry and have a … [Read more...]
A book fantasy fans shouldn’t miss: Sunbolt by Intisar Khanani
Sunbolt is an exemplary fantasy story about a gutsy young woman with half-trained magical powers who gets caught while helping a family escape from an overlord. The parents are killed and she and the children end up in the cells of the perpetrator, a clearly evil man. The prognosis looks pretty dire when the evil overlord hands her over to a Fang. She ends up being dragged through a portal to a land far away where she is thrown into a tower as food for a Breather, a creature similar to a Fang, except that they feed on life force, not blood. An unusual alliance is formed and the book ends in a place that sets us up for a terrific series. I look forward to it. Khanani is a brilliant writer. Her prose is elegant and evocative, and her characters are real, complex people who leap off the page with vibrancy. The action holds you captive. The pace moves smoothly from gut wrenching action to slower character driven scenes with ease, providing a journey of varying pace. The character of Val … [Read more...]
A highly engaging YA fantasy: Grounded by G.P. Ching
I love a good book and I loved this one. It's wonderful to read something so confident, sleek and delightfully different. YA fantasy became bogged down in vampires, witches and werewolves for some time, then we had a spate of dystopian novels and a bit of steampunk. Stories of the Fae have always been a standard, but I have never read anything like quite like this. Not only is it different, it's seamless. Lydia is an Amish girl in a future where the Amish community lives in a walled off area near a defunct nuclear reactor. When the reactor blew, the land around was abandoned, but the Amish stayed and the ruling party left them to it because no one wanted the land. They're supposed to stay behind the wall, but there is a secret gate and the young Amish can choose to visit the Englisher's world for a time before, if they decide to return, they take their baptism to commit to the Amish way of life. The story begins in the Amish world with Lydia and her best friend Jeremiah. He wants … [Read more...]
A well-written book, neat, and without artifice: Perception by Lee Strauss
I picked this book up from Netgalley and was pleasantly surprised to find another original idea in a market that in some areas, at least, seems to favour the tired and true, which for some of us, translates into the old and hackneyed. Perception is the story of Zoe a GAP, or genetically altered person, and Noah, a natural, or not genetically altered. Their story takes place in a future where the GAPs, who live for a couple of hundred years, are the upper class. They live in walled towns with everything they need and entry to their towns is restricted only to naturals who have passes because they work for the GAPs. Zoe's brother dies outside the GAP town and no one seems particular interested in finding out what happened, so Zoe decides to find out for herself. She runs into her maid's son, Noah and despite their differences, they soon become fond of each other, too fond for Zoe's family. You'll need to read the book to find out just how far Zoe's family is prepared to go to keep her … [Read more...]
A tight, well-written story: Ink by Amanda Sun
Ink is a young adult urban fantasy with a difference. Set in Japan, instead of the usual vampires, werewolves and witches, we have kami, Japanese gods. The common belief among those who gave credence to their existence is that the kami were wiped out at the end of the Second World War when the allies forced the emperor to renounce his divinity, but as in all urban fantasies, the magical exists right beneath the noses of ordinary people. The mark of a kami is that their drawings move, hence the ink. The story involves Katie, an American girl living in Japan with her Aunt after the death of her mother, and Tomo a Japanese boy whose kami heritage is so strong that he can't control the ink. His drawings leap of the page and attack with very real teeth and claws. Katie knows there's something strange about him. She knows she should avoid him, but she falls in love with him anyway, and it's a shock when she realises the truth. Tomo is so powerful that others who learn about his hidden … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- …
- 8
- Next Page »
