Ally Aldridge Books, Dystopia, Fantasy, Review, Romance, Super Powers, Young Adult

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.

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Ally Aldridge Books, Fantasy, High, Review, Uncategorized

Reading Challenge: Crown of Conspiracy by Kara S. Weaver

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 Crown of Conspiracy by Kara S. Weaver. I shortened it for social media.

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Behind the Book: Crown of Conspiracy by Kara S. Weaver

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Ally Aldridge Age, Review, Suspense, Young Adult

Reading Challenge: Brave New Girl by Grace Herbst

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 Brave New Girl by Grace Herbst. I shortened it for social media.

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Full original review of Brave New Girl by Grace Herbst

Summer Reading Challenge

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Ally Aldridge Book Genre, Books, Review, Romance, Suspense

Reading Challenge: Agent Undone by Cassidy Reyne

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 Agent Undone by Cassidy Reyne. I shortened it for social media.

If you enjoyed this you will like:

Full original review of Agent Undone by Cassidy Reyne

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Ally Aldridge Book Genre, Books, Dystopia, Future, Review

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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Ally Aldridge Book Genre, Books, Fantasy, High, Mermaid or Siren, Review, Romance, Young Adult

Book Review: Meraki by Naomi Kelly

Naomi Kelly is an author that agreed to a Behind the Book interview. During this interview she got me so intrigued about her syren, I had to read it.

Setting

The book is set in a fantasy world. Their are gods, magical beings, and humans. Those with magic have ichor in their veins, turning their blood purple.

Main Character

The main character, Wren, is a syren princess that has escaped The Seven Spikes, home to the tyrant queen (her mother). She doesn’t want to sing her lullaby to kill a man. She wants to be left alone.

Along comes Kellan, a warlord and descendant of god Ares. He has dreamt a syren will save his family & decides to kidnap the MC from the ocean. Kellan has inherited his lands from his recently deceased father.

Review

Sexy Siren? Hot Warlord? An epic battle at the end? Yes! Yes! Yes!

This is the first book in Naomi’s Syren series & can be read as a standalone. Meraki has great Worldbuilding introducing you to the isles, syrens, gods, magic, and a whole cast of fantastical creatures.

Wren is a runaway syren princess. Kellan is the warlord that needs a syren’s song to save his family. He kidnaps Wren, but with her comes her tyrant mother’s wrath!

This story was so good and like no other. The world building is brilliant.

I gave it 4.5 stars, and highly recommend you go read it!

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Behind the Book: Meraki by Naomi Kelly

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Ally Aldridge Book Genre, Books, Fiction, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: Brave New Girl by Grace Herbst

Setting

The MC, Ashley, has moved to a new town, Emerald, for a fresh start, with her dad and his new girlfriend. Can she out run her past?

The girl friend works at Ashley’s new school and introduced her to Lucas, a boy in her year group. Ashley settles into her new school quickly as she already has made friends.

Ashley’s auntie has been counseling her to help with behaviour issues that got so out of hand that Ashley was lucky to only have community service.

Characters

Ashley is the main character. She went off the rails and is now trying to get her life back on track. She’s very self-involved.

Roxanne is the villain. She is the bad girl from Ashley’s past. Together they had wild parties and commit crimes.

Lucas is the lad that Ashley was introduced to before moving to Emerald. He makes sure she settles into school and has a good new group of friends like Chloe.

Her dad and his girlfriend are really nice. Ashley is struggling with her dad’s new relationship and how she fits in. This was the catalyst for her bad behavior and although she working on changing, she’s still not okay.

Review

This book felt like a book 2. I really wanted to see Ashley go wild and hit rock bottom but the story starts after that, once the dust has settled. Except, Ashley hasn’t really processed what happened.

Ashley integrates into her new school with ease. Her new house is in a nice neighbourhood and next door to one of her new friends. Everything is going good until the burglaries start.

Someone is breaking into homes and stealing peoples jewellery. Ashley can’t help but think her past is catching up with her. When someone she loves gets hurt she decides its time to take responsibility for her mistakes. She runs away from home, back to her old town.

There were a few occasions I felt the story was too safe, and the author could have dug deeper into Ashley’s emotions and upped the stakes. It is a quick easy read.

The story has a satisfying ending with no loose ends. Although it is part of a series you can read it as a standalone. Overall it is a good story about taking responsibility for you actions and forgiveness.

The book deals with or touches on the following topics; moving house & starting a new school, death of a parent, parent remarrying, a new baby to the family, going wild (stealing, drinking, drugs, sleeping around), miscarriage, gun crime, running away/homelessness, and needing therapy.

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Ally Aldridge Behind The Book, Book Genre, Books, Contemporary, Fantasy, Mermaid or Siren, Review, Super Powers, Young Adult

Book Review: Tenebrasco by Hannah Reed

I read this book as part of the #MerMayReadalong on Instagram where author Hannah Reed did weekly interviews with readers to see what they thought about her book.

The Peace Treaty fails and war breaks out between the Legged and Mera. The teens of important families are about to uncover secrets hidden on both sides. Can these be the used to bring about peace?

Setting

The book is set in a world very similar to ours, however, humans are aware of the merfolk. The book starts off with a peace treaty being agreed as the two groups are historically not allies.

The underwater world is much like our own but under the sea. They have their own cities, climates, and transport system.

We are called the Legged by the Mera. The Mera use pearls of different colours to use their magic. Different colour pearls have different powers. This is probably why the series is called The Pearl Weilders.

Main Character

April is the main character. She is a mermaid princess with the ability to weild all the pearls. The peace treaty is important to her parents and something her father has worked hard to accomplish.

Alex & Connor are legged sons of President Darius. They start off relaxing out of the way on Shell Island. Connor finds an unconscious girl on their beach who he takes in. The boys and their staff care for the mysterious girl and become very fond of her.

There are also many other important characters like Ethan, King Nathaniel, Megan, Kayla, and Fredrick. The chapters are mainly told from April’s perspective but they swap to be told from different characters throughout the book.

Review

This story was brilliant. The stakes were high, the danger real, and it had me turning the page every chance I got.

April is easy to like and relate to, despite being a mer princess. All the characters are well thought out with clear motives that make sense, even the villains.

There isn’t a romance although there is the potential that one is growing. The immediate threat is resolved in the book but the overall threat is ongoing, leaving it open for the next book.

This was got 5 stars for me. I loved it, and really enjoyed being part of the Readalong. I didn’t want it to end.

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Ally Aldridge Age, Book Genre, Books, Childrens, Contemporary, Fantasy, Fiction, Mermaid or Siren, Mythology, Poetry, Review

Book Review: Seal Mother by Rose English

Setting

The story is set in our world and inspired by the well known Selike folktale. If you’ve not heard of a Selkie, they are seals that can come onto land, shed their pelt, and become human. When they reclaim their sealskin, they return to the Ocean as a seal. But, without their sealskin they are trapped on land.

Main character

The main character is a poor Selkie who finds herself trapped on land. She marries a man and has children with him, but longs to return to the ocean.

Her story is told through rhyming verse, with a short poem on each page.

Review

This is a brilliant retelling of a popular folktale. I like poetry that rhymes and this is how the story is told. Every page had a short poem that pushed the story on, and throughout the book pages are the beautiful illustrations.

I loved this quick read and would recommend it to anyone that loves children’s fiction, poetry that rhymes, and folktales. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Below are affiliate links. To learn more about these, visit my Affiliate Disclosure page.

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Ally Aldridge Book Genre, Books, Contemporary, Fantasy, Fiction, Review, Urban, Young Adult

Book Review: The Rookery by Deborah Hewitt (The Nightjar book 2)

I received an ARC copy of this book from Net Galley, in return for an honest review.

Setting

Technically the novel is set in the present day, however, The Rookery is a fantasy world which they travel to using a portal. Most of the story is set in The Rookery, which has magic, a 1920s decor, and is a lot like London but without modern devices.

People have a soul bird. It’s linked to them by a glowing cord that is severed when they die. There are magical houses that specialise in certain types of magic like earth, water, stone, etc.

Characters

Alice is the main character. She is completing a number of challenges to earn membership to House Meilaki .

It’s apparent that in book 1 she discovered her parents are not her biological parents. Alice loves them but is keen to find out who her real parents are, especially as powers are inherited. She has Meilaki earth powers, but is concerned she also has powers connected to death. In addition, Alice has the rare ability of being able to see other people’s bird as well as her own.

Alice has a range of friends. Each bring out a different side of her. She’s also dealing with the death of a friend who died in book 1. She blames herself, and can’t forgive Crowly. Crowly is a guy she has romantic feelings for but hates. He isn’t in the book much for the first half but plays an important role towards the end.

Review

The book is written in third POV which isn’t my preference. I struggled at the start to connect with Alice and to get into the story as I hadn’t read book 1. But, I’m pleased I kept reading.

Something strange is going on in The Rookery, and people are dying. It feels like Alice should be doing something about it but she’s going to work, and parties, training for the competition, and keeping quiet about the less public attacks in her room.

But as the magical attacks get bigger, Alice takes action. She realises there’s a connection with her boss and her past. As secrets unravel, Alice is spurred into action and this is where things get really good.

This book has loads of magic and I loved seeing the different powers. The soul birds were new to me and I loved them, and how Alice’s unique gift gives her insight into the motives of others.

It felt a bit like a mystery with fantasy, as the MC collects info, pieces it together, and saves The Rookery. If you enjoy mysteries and fantasy then you’d love this.

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