Tuesday 27 September 2016

"The Devil's Prayer" Book Review


My Rating: ★★★★☆ 4 stars

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I like my torture books with enough torture and gore to make me cringe. This book, to a certain extent and in certain areas throughout made me very happy; however, it is not solely torture, as you can see from the premise given. The Devil’s Prayer presented us with a rollercoaster of themes – history, romance, horror/gore, violence and abuse among others.

Following the death of her mother Denise Russo, who abandoned her two children a few years ago with no warning, Siobhan Russo travels across the world to the convent where her mother lived. In search of answers, she is given a book with her mother’s confessions. There, Siobhan learns of the horrors her mother went through and her subsequent deal with the devil in order to take revenge on those who wronged her.  

For the historical aspect, this book was very well-researched. I like when authors take the time to research before writing a book. It gives me the sense that they are truly committed to the success of their book and will work hard to produce it rather than give a lackadaisical attempt.

However, toward the end, the history became a bit overwhelming and took away from the plot. I found myself simply reading the words just so I could move forward to read the actual plot. Lots of history in there that I didn’t much care for, but I do understand why it was filled with this much information. The author wanted to present us with all this history to make the story more believable and to leave us wondering where history ends and fiction begins. The history was a fundamental part of the story, but I disliked history class, always have and always will.

The other parts were really well done and I was hooked. I won’t give details, it’s better to find out on your own. 

Monday 26 September 2016

"Tattoo Thief (Tattoo Thief Book 1)" Book Review



My Rating: ★★★★☆ 4 Stars

Let’s get one thing straight, this book has absolutely nothing to do with the stealing of tattoos, because c’mon, that would be torture to the highest degree; however, the thought of someone carving out tattoos from a person’s body does make for a compelling premise of  a future novel. Hint Hint.

So, Tattoo Thief – music, romance, second chances, real estate, drugs, insta-love/infatuation and a judgmental pseudo-psychologist is what we get.

Beryl, our protagonist, is a small town girl of Eugene, Oregon, living a small town life working at a coffee shop and three days a week at a brewpub. She gets the opportunity to become a house sitter for the ultra-rich in the big apple.

Her new-found job places her in the home of rock star Gavin Slater – lead vocalist of Tattoo Thief (yup, it’s a band). His place is trashed, his dog abandoned and Beryl makes it her duty to get to the bottom of this – why he left his place in such a mess, why he disappeared in such a hurry and what part did he play in the death of his muse?

I gave it 4 stars because it was well-written and there was an actual plot, the romance did not overpower the plot at all.

The plot started out great – a small town girl getting a job opportunity in the big city, getting to house-sit for a super-rich, hot, rock star. I loved that about the book, I even loved that she had the opportunity to fall in love with the guy. I found that to be a dream come true fantasy. Ugh, what I would give to be in her shoes.

However, the romance between Beryl and Gavin blossomed prematurely and because of that it felt like they didn’t have much in common except for their loneliness. It would have been more plausible if the author chose to keep them as friends, which is what they were more suited to be based on their conversations.

Beryl was also pretty judgemental toward Gavin. There’s a difference between telling the truth like it is and plain out being judgemental, especially when it’s someone you’ve just met. Like hold up chick, this is my life, not yours; you don’t know what went on so shush. But no, Gavin didn’t tell her that, just wishful thinking on my part.

She also did this creepy thing where she wore his ex-girlfriend’s clothes; the same clothes he told her to throw out. Believe me, I understand that the wardrobe must have been expensive, but don’t go wearing it when you’re going on a date with him. I mean c’mon! Be more considerate toward the poor guy, he’s going to be distraught in memory lane when he sees his dead girlfriend’s outfits on the new girl that he’s dating. That was just wrong and inconsiderate of her. Tsk tsk tsk, any human would know that Beryl.


So there it is – a well-written book with a plot, even though some parts were pretty ridiculous. It doesn’t fall in the erotic genre by the way. 

Sunday 18 September 2016

"Just Juliet" Book Review




My Rating ★★★☆☆ 3 stars
I was contacted by the publisher and given an e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

"Ladies and gentlemen, queers and token heterosexuals…"

Lena is a high school senior with a sweet life: she has a loving boyfriend, friends that are there for each other and grades that are enviable. She is content and has it all figured out, that is, until Juliet James comes waltzing into her school with an attitude that’s hard to ignore and a fashion sense to match. Her world is thrown upside down when she begins feelings things she’s never felt before and soon she is left trying to figure out just who she is and what category she falls into. Along the way she meets a close knit group of people who are bound by love and shared experiences rather than blood, and she begins to uncover the real Lena and where she fits in. She also discovers the friends who will stick with her through her phase of self-discovery and who are just not up to sticking around.

First off, this book has received many amazing reviews. I like skimming through the good reviews on any book before I read it, and when a book usually gets only 5 star reviews I tend to become skeptical. Sometimes I do believe the hype and other times I simply don’t – it’s 50/50 usually. This time I decided to go in with low expectations and I’m glad I did.
Although this wasn’t an awful book, it also wasn’t as great as the other reviews made it out to be. I like the fact that this was about a teen that had a boyfriend at the beginning of the book. It showed us how we can be blindsided by life, things out of our control. I also liked that through her self-discovery she decided that she shouldn’t fall into anyone’s ideal of categories. The ending was also pretty satisfying and kudos to a place where everyone can be with whom they choose to be.

What I didn’t like was:

      1. Lena, compared to others, had it so easy after she decided to come out to friends and family. Now, don’t get me wrong, I applaud the author for giving us a story that wasn’t too graphic and violent toward homosexuality. In this day and age homosexuality shouldn’t be seen as a crime and people should not be discriminated based on their sexual orientation. That’s actually a plus what the author did, showing us the bright side/best case scenario of coming out and being your true self, but, if this book is going to be one of the books that YA/teens look to while deciding if and how they want to come out, then they’ve got another thing coming, it isn’t that easy. They’ll be sorely disappointed in how others around treat them.
Best case scenario for anyone out there in the real world: when you come out, one of your friends storm off, doesn’t talk to you or even cross paths with you for weeks, doesn’t defame you but then realizes they made a mistake and that they should always stick by your side no matter what. Also, your ex-boyfriend is the only one who gave you a hard time once by throwing your books and bag off your desk.
This was actually what happened to Lena in the book, her worst troubles after coming out. She had it pretty easy, a bit too easy for me. This would have been great if I had gotten to hear of Lakyn’s story, it sounded horrible what he went through and it would have felt more real to dig into his story. To me, Scott’s story made the book feel more grounded, like it had some depth to it – one of the real sides of coming out to your parents. Not everyone is accepting as the book portrayed, and that was a major letdown.

     2.Maybe its difference in culture, being that I’m from the Caribbean and this book is set in the US, because sexually active teenagers getting to spend a whole week at a resort with their partners is pretty irresponsible of parents/guardians. Also, the relationship between Scott and Lakyn, even though they went through hell and back and are proud partners, they are still teenagers, not adults.


      3. Lena’s friends were very one-dimensional, not even two. Each girl basically represented a minority group, which was a good attempt at pulling diversity into the story. But there was no depth to them. The book told me about them but I didn’t get to see those qualities that they were known for. It’s like saying the main character of Step Up has really great dance moves. Everyone agrees she has really great dance moves, but we never get to see her amazing dance moves. Lena’s friends were supposed to be witty, sarcastic, fun to be around etc. but I never actually read a witty or sarcastic line; however, I did read many rude comebacks including the word “bitch” much more than I’d like to count. It reminded me of Jessie in Breaking Bad – his go-to word was Bitch.



   4.  I didn’t get to know the real Juliet James. 

Saturday 10 September 2016

"A Week of Mondays" Book Review




My Rating ★★★★☆ 4.5 Stars


For anyone who has ever had a horrible week and wishes that they could have a do-over.

This was such a cute, laugh-out-loud, and hilarious, YA book.
Ellison Sparks is having a horrible Monday and it doesn’t get much better as the day progresses. At the end of this awful day she makes a wish she never thought would come true. So, when she wakes up the next morning to find that it’s still Monday, and no, there are no cameras following her so it couldn’t possibly be a prank, she sets out to change the course of that dreadful Monday and to make things right.

What I loved about this book was Ellison’s character development. She matured in such a short period of time. Well yes, she had an entire week of going through the same day over and over and over again so she was bound to get it right; but she matured in such a realistic way. From trying her best to please others, to almost giving up, then finally just being herself and making decisions in her best interest.


I might be a bit biased with my review; I just might be, seeing as how I was going through a rough week and wishing I could just start all over. So when I chose this book I felt connected to the main character instantly. The writing style also helped of course! It was clear, concise and no unnecessary similes about a person’s eyes.