The Search for Synergy by Brett Salter

Ebook provided by the author for review. Thank you.

Rome thinks he's a normal 14 year old boy but out of nowhere he starts to feel odd and his eyes keep tingling and then they produce fire?! Rome wants to ignore this weirdness but apparently someone has seen him. His classmate Julian.

Julian drags Rome to see Mr Jones, a modern day Merlin who reveals that Dragons used to exist and they could heart bond with knights but there was a fallout and there's also something called the Void which holds really bad creatures. Julian is from a long line of knights and Rome... Well he's a dragon. It appears that after this fallout they took on human forms and went into hiding.

I loved the ideas behind this novel but the execution was a little lacking in my opinion. The speech was very odd, quite formal and a little stilted, I never hear teenagers using "I am" instead of "I'm". Also there was no explanation as to why Julian and his father spoke in Olde English. The pacing was a little off as well, there were several large infodumps but no proper worldbuilding, we also don't really know a lot about the main characters themselves, likes, dislikes, family etc. This was a nice quick, easy read though and will appeal to a lot of people.

Stef Out x

Golem by P.D. Alleva

 

Ebook provided by author for review. Thank you.

3/5 stars

I really enjoyed the concept for this novel, a demon or the devil (wasn't totally clear which) coming to life through a statue who likes to possess children. Also the way the story initially came together with a detective being given a case about a missing child and then being told the story by Alena, the key figure and initial suspect in the original case, his initial disbelief and gradual realisation that it is all true were all great.

The writing itself however could use a bit of tightening up I feel. We got told Alena's backstory twice with very little difference between the versions, just a touch more detail when she was telling the story herself but it's not details that particularly mattered to the story as a whole. There were some instances that felt unnecessarily descriptive, a paragraph about a storm for example. There were also some odd wording choices, a section where Alena, a cisgender woman, was basically described as having an erection. Also this same scene which generally reads quite sexually seems to involve, or at least have present, children which I find concerning, devil possession or not.

The pacing was also a little off for me as well. Some sections felt very slow whilst others felt rushed. The ending felt very abrupt as well. Also I didn't really understand Annette's chapters and how she connected to the larger story.

On the whole a great concept but the execution was slightly lacking for me personally.

Stef Out x

Kermes Vermilio by Brendon Luke

 

Ebook provided by the author for review. Thank you.

1/5 stars

DNF at 31%

A very disjointed book. Here's a character, they're dead. Here's another, oh they're dead as well. Now this character is alive again. I don't care about anyone because there's no reason to.

We keep jumping through time and to different people and nothing seems to connect.

I couldn't work out if it was actually earth or some kind of alternate universe, there was some kind of talk about different opposing tribes which I expected to be more relevant than has been.

The writing style itself didn't flow for me, I found it tiring to try and read. The final straw for me was a guy who is empowered by the raping of his sister. No thank you.

Stef Out x 

The Anti-Consumerist Druid by Katrina Townsend

 

Ebook provided by the author for review. Thank you!

5/5 stars

An engaging and beautifully written book. A little bit memoir, a little bit self-help, and a sprinkling of spiritual guidance in the vein of follow your instincts and emphasis on everyone's journey is different.

Katrina writes with unflinching honesty, she openly admits when she makes mistakes but dispenses with a woe is me attitude, she just gets on with it. Her advice is real and solid and you can apply the principles of shopping consciously and appreciating the small things in life even without having issues with a shopping addiction.

There are also some great points about the climate and social media. It's too easy to feel powerless and overwhelmed about climate change but even small changes can make a difference. Katrina doesn't say it specifically but a lot of the book in general makes me think of the old make do and mend philosophy. As for social media, moderation is key and kill the comparison. It always feels like everyone is in a better place than you but so much is behind the scenes and not all of it is necessarily good.

As for Druidry... It's not something I knew a lot about beforehand although I have had fleeting interests in Wicca and Paganism over the years (and a lot of witchy themed books on my shelves to show it). However, reading Katrina's story of discovery and her spiritual experiences and finding that Earthly connection was truly inspiring.

On the whole I loved and appreciated this book and I look forward to reading future works by Katrina.

Stef Out x 

Madness by Paityn Parque

Ebook provided by the author for review. Thank you.

Read November 2021

3/5 stars

Firstly, apologies it has taken me so long to type this up. I finished the book, hand-wrote the review in a notebook and then life got in the way a little bit.

Ezra is a normal student until the night that she's murdered. Anyone would think that this is it but then Ezra wakes up. She's in a strange game called the Battles. It's kill or be killed, and if you are killed you just come back.

I was reading this in chunks spaced quite far apart so that may have affected my opinion but to begin with I wasn't sure what to rate this. There was a lot of action but that action could be repetitive: scout, kill, sleep, occasionally shower or train, though rarely eat.

I understand that while in the game past lives and interests are pretty irrelevant but it still would have been nice to have learned more about the characters as we went along. They generally lacked distinction for me and kind of blurred together. Also time, was time still passing outside? Have the kids disappeared completely or were they found comatose in their own beds? I wanted more detail.

The feats overall were a nice addition although I'd like to know more about them and how they're allocaed, but maybe that's covered in the sequel. I did think the reveal around Jack's feat was a bit abrupt, and a bit rushed. I still don't really understand it.

The ending however was very gripping and sets up perfectly for a sequel. Hopefully we find out more about the origins and the mechanics of the game itself.

Also overall the writing was very good, no obviously clunky phrasing, smooth to read, though a lot of sneering going on in the last quarter or so.

Stef Out x