Published on YouTube on 23rd December 2023
Book Review: The Toll by Neal Shusterman
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About the book
My thoughts
This was an incredible read. I’d no idea what to expect but it was better than anything I could imagine. It is violent and bloody, but the story explores our morals.
Set in the future, death is no longer a problem. If you were to become deadish, you can be revived. To restore the balance a group called Scythes take on the sacred duty of gleaming (killing) life. They have quotas and rules to follow.
Teenagers Roman and Citra both (on seperate occasions) meet Scythe Faraday on a gleaming job. Their interactions with him stand out and he makes them his apprentice. Never before has a Scythe taken on two apprentices and there’s no rule against it. Still, it causes uproar and an edict is agreed that when one of them passes their apprenticeship, their first task will be to kill the other.
Scythe Faraday blames himself for putting Citra & Rowan in this position. He gleams himself to free them from the apprenticeship, but instead two other Scythes step forward to train them.
Rowan is taken on by Scythe Goddard who has a reputation for his blood lust, enjoying massacres to hit his quotas.
Citra is taken on by the famous Grande Madam of Death, Scythe Curie. She shows compassion to the family members of those gleamed.
Now the pair have very different apprenticeship experiences. Citra doesn’t believe Scythe Faraday’s death was an accident, and her inquisitive mind gets her in trouble.
Meanwhile, Rowan’s training involves parties and mass killings as Scythe Goddard tries to encourage him to find joy in kill craft. Goddard’s cruel methods push Rowan too far and he is no longer the boy he started out as.
The story continues to move toward the final conclave where they’ll both have to pass their last test. Passing the test will means one of them gets ordained and must kill the other. Despite all that has happened since Faraday, they still care deeply about each other. Both are plotting for a loop hole in the edict.
This was a brilliant story. There is a lot of death as they are Scythes, but the twists and surprises in the story is what makes you gasp and need to read another chapter!
Read it for a story full of twists and surprises, and to explore ideas of mortality and morals. Don’t read it if you don’t like blood, gore, or sensitive about death.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
You can buy this book from:
Amazon: The Toll (Arc of a Scythe) https://amzn.eu/d/eMwAIU2
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If you enjoyed this, check out this:
[Kofi]
Book Review: Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman
This post contains affiliate links. Please check out my affiliate disclosure page for more information.
About the book
My thoughts
This is book two in the series and follows on from book one. The book is named after the global AI operating system that runs the world. This isn’t any ordinary computer, and is a character within the series as much as any human
Book one ended with Citra’s and Rowan’s apprenticeship coming to an end and following their new lives. Citra is now the Scythe Anastasia, and Rowan is in hiding.
Anastasia has chosen to stay with Curie and is making her own mark as a Scythe. When an attack is made on their lives they realise they are not safe. The obvious attacked would be Scythe Lucifer who has been murdering Scythes. Anastasia knows this is not so, because Lucifer is Rowan and she trusts he’d never target her.
We are also introduced to Grayson who had a special relationship with The Thunderhead. He becomes Slayd, an unsavoury, in a secret undercover mission that goes wrong.
Meanwhile Scythe Rand has an evil plan to bring back Scythe Goddard, and in a way that will punish Rowan for his betrayal.
All their stories come together for a truly epic ending that I didn’t see coming. This brilliant crafted world is destroyed by the end. Once again Citra & Rowan out smart their enemies plan but it was still a dire conclusion- for them not the reader.
The only unresolved story line was a side plot involving Scythe Faraday, searching for The Land of Nod – a fictional place sung about in a nursery rhymes. I wonder if there will be more to this in the next book. I expect book three will see Citra & Rowan free of their predicament and once again facing Goddard.
Read it for twists and turns, and out smarting the bad guys. Don’t read it if you don’t like blood, gore, or sensitive about death.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
You can buy this book from:
Amazon: Thunderhead (Arc of a Scythe) https://amzn.eu/d/hDbE0P1
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If you enjoyed this, check out this:
[Kofi]
BookTube Review of The Guidal: Discovering Puracordis by Roxy Eloise
My Author Life – Jan 2023
Published on YouTube on 25 Feb 2023.
Here is the affiliate bookshop link for the book, Teen Killers in Love by Lily Sparks, mentioned in the above video:
Book Review: The Seawomen by Chloe Timms
This post contains affiliate links. Please check out my affiliate disclosure page for more information.
I was lucky enough to get an ARC copy of this book via Net Galley. It’s release date is 14 June 2022.
About the book
My thoughts
I read an ARC from Net Galley and this is my honest review.
Wow! This book is dark and twisty. I’ve always wondered how people fall prey to a cult leader. How fears can control.
Esta lives on a patriarchal island where they fear the seawomen, and every challenge the islanders face is blamed on the sins of their women. Punished by god, they must repent to be saved. Esta sees through the lies and dangerously seeks answers to questions that if she was a good holy girl she’d ignore.
This book reminded me of the darkness of The Handmaids Tale. The way the book made me turn the page out of morbid curious that people could live this way. The history and characters are written so well, it was difficult to put down.
What an amazing debut!
If you like this, you will like:
Book Review: The Guidal – Discovering Puracordis by Roxy Eloise
This post contains affiliate links. Please check out my affiliate disclosure page for more information.
About the Author
I met Roxy Eloise on Instagram. She reads and reviews books on her Instagram channel. She has done a live reading of Ocean Heart.
She has an upcoming author event, where she will be giving a talk at Herts Book Festival on 7 May at Hertford Castle.
My thoughts
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book is set in a futuristic boarding school where the students train to become enforcers. Aurora was taken there at a young age and told she was an orphan. She has questions about that night but is not allowed to ask.
She gets coupled with Pax, giving them certain privileges like going out on patrol and competing in the tournament. Things get heated until they discover something that drives Pax to attempt getting uncoupled. Meanwhile, the cocky juvie Aurora has been allocated seems to know her better than herself.
As Aurora uncovers secrets about herself, she will discover there’s more to her than just being an enforcer.
This futuristic sci-fi had great world-building, and characters. This book left me wanting more. Bring on book two.
Reading Challenge: The Mirror Souls by Julia Scott
About the challenge
The challenge was set by World Indie Warriors on Instagram. They created three #WIWBingo boards; YA, Romance, and Fantasy.
The aim is to read and review the books on Instagram and tag @worldindiewarriors
The goal is to get three in a line, and help indie books get seen.
I’m doing the challenge. I’ve already read some of the books on the board so I’ll be reposting them this month, and I’m hoping to read some new one too.
The Book Review
Here is my post of my old review for The Mirror Souls by Julia Scott. I shortened it for social media.
[kofi]
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What to Watch if you love Super Powers
Are you starving your creativity?
Below are some affiliate links. Please visit my Affiliate Disclosure page to learn more.
Book Review: Mirror Souls by Julia Scott
I downloaded this book onto my Kindle app ages ago, and forgot about it. But, the World Indie Warriors Summer Reading Challenge reminded me to read it.
I follow Julia on social media and she is my formatter. She’s also the newest member of the Unstoppable Authors Podcast Team.
Setting
The books is set in the future with three different alien races. Well, one race is Gaians which is basically human, from Gaia aka Earth.
Avalons look human but are superior and rule the Gaians. They have access to tech that enable them to teleport and monitor everything the Gaians do.
The Midorians are another alien race at war with the Avalons. They live out in space on massive ships.
Main Character
The main character is Alana. She’s Giana and best friends with an Avalon, Gen. Alana is a rebel and breaks rules like curfew and crosses boundaries to be with her BFF.
Alana is dreading shift day when her & her family could be moved as she likes where they are. She’s also almost eighteen, an age where she’ll be give her profession. As she gets older, there’s more talk of her being coupled.
Review
I liked Alana. She’s a daring character and a rebel. The story is about her finding her Mirror Soul. It’s like a soul mate that awakens powers.
The Avalons don’t allow Mirror Souls and Alana is breaking rules to discover and be with hers, putting everyone she loves in danger.
It’s a fast paced adventure as they travel all over the world looking for somewhere safe to be together. Instead, they unravel a load of secrets, as embark on a mission to rescue Alana’s family.
I’m not a fan of aliens. space or travelling, and this book was up against that. But, the fast pace and action kept me turning the page as I unravelled secrets with Alana.
[kofi]
If you enjoyed this you will like:
Book Review: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
Book Review: Red Blood Card Holders by Kaitlyn Legaspi
The Benefits of Having a Formatter
My “To Be Read” Pile (March 2020)
Below are some affiliate links. You can discover more about these on my Affiliate Disclosure page.
Book Review: Spine of Winter by Angeline Trevena
I’ve followed Angeline for a while on social media. She is one of the authors behind the Unstoppable Authors podcast & organises the Indie Fire Festival. Recently she was part of my live stream chat for Indie Author Week UK.
For the release of her new book Angeline did a giveaway. I entered and won.
Setting
The book is set in a post apocalyptic world, where it’s an eternal winter. I’d not long finished watching Snow Piercer on Netflix & it made me think about those people that didn’t make the Snow piercer train.
…It made me think about those people that didn’t make the Snow piercer…
Ally Aldridge’s Review of The Spine of Winter by Angeline Trevena
Main Character
The main character is a woman, that has found somewhere safe to survive with her brother. She is very reliant on her brother to take care of her. She rarely goes out in the snow. She mourns for the life that she has lost, holding onto little treasures from the time before.
Review
This isn’t your typical summer read but I highly recommend reading about an eternal winter on a barmy hot day.
This novella was a quick easy read with lots of character growth. The main character starts off quite meek and reliant on her brother. This is good as it eases the reader into the dark world that now exists. It felt a built like a thriller the way the tension built. The setting is a character in itself and you can see why Angeline is a World building expert.
Obviously something terrible happens – it is a dystopia. This is the kick the main character needs to take action. It had a good satisfying ending that I’m not going to spoil for you. Give it a go – 5 stars.
[kofi]
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Felixstowe Book Festival – Who Runs the World?
Below are some affiliate links. You can discover more about these on my Affiliate Disclosure page.