Sunday 22 January 2017

"The Impossible Fortress" Book Review



My Rating: ★★★★★ 5 Stars      


Let me just start by saying I LOVED THIS BOOK FROM THE VERY FIRST PAGE.

This was such a cute, coming-of-age, refreshing and stunningly written love story that I had the pleasure and honor of reading. 

Billy Marvin loves computers more than anything in the world, that is until he meets Mary Zelinsky who equally (if not more) shares a love of computers in this 1987 coming-of-age beauty. 

Billy and his friends are shocked and intrigued when Playboy releases their latest issue featuring the beautiful Vanna White from Wheel of Fortune. The boys are eager to feast their eyes upon her pictures but to do so they conjure up a risky plan to secretly get their hands on a copy for each. Everyone gets to play a part in the heist (which isn't stealing) - Billy's task is to seduce Mary Zelinsky, the daughter of the store's owner and to get access to the security code. 
What starts off as the Vanna White mission turns into so much more for young Billy Marvin. 

I loved how well written the book was. Yes, there were a few errors here and there but overall the writing style was so clear with strong, vivid descriptions. The main characters felt well-rounded even though we didn't have a whopping history on them. 

This was an adventure-filled, fun read that I absolutely adore.

A digital copy was received via NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review.                                        

Monday 2 January 2017

"Mostly Human" Book Review



My Rating: ★★★☆☆ 3 Stars

Mostly Human follows the lives of Alex Harris and family while they navigate through their new reality of having a family member who is a werewolf. 
While on a family vacation in Canada, Alex, in his attempts to help an injured wolf, gets bitten. His life, as well as his family’s is forever changed in that moment. 
The characters experience heartbreak, grief, secrets, love and so much more on their journey to normalcy.

I liked the way the book began – the interview. The dialogue seemed so natural, the writing style kept me hooked and I had a feeling that I would love this book; however, the feeling did not last. Once the timeline switched and went back in time to 10 year old Alex, my connection to the story was broken. I think this happened because I got into the story with certain expectations. I was expecting to read about a rock star and his life as a werewolf with only glimpses into his past. I didn’t expect to follow an in depth story of his younger years, and that was solely my fault. I should have read the summary and not concentrate only on the “rock star” bit.
Nevertheless, it was a good story. 

The Good: 

• His family was very supportive and caring, patient and willing to alter their lives to accommodate his new situation. He had a family who loved him beyond words. 
• Usually siblings don’t get along so well but in this book they were so protective of each other. I thought it to be a great relationship and a big step away from the cliché sibling relationship of always wanting to bite each other’s head off. 
• It was a full length book which had the opportunity to really explore his life, from a young age to adult. With that being said, his character development was not rushed, it was slowly yet strategically progressed. 
• My favorite parts were his teenage years and adult life which I found to be most interesting since Alex’s was the main POV at time. 

The Not-So-Good:

• There were a lot of POV's to keep up with which made it a tad bit difficult to truly connect with a character and to really feel the gut-wrenching emotions they were experiencing. I read about loss and anger but I didn’t quite feel the pain nor did the anger resonate in me. I wanted to experience their emotions because I could see that it was a roller-coaster being that there were a lot of themes present. 
• At times I thought the characters were overly emotional/melodramatic – mostly Debra and sometimes Alex’s sister. It could be because I did not connect with the characters and thus could not feel their emotions.
• Organized crime was mentioned in the summary; however it was not fully embedded into the story nor did it feel necessary. It was quite rushed in the last few pages and simply did not help in any way to push the story forward (in my humble opinion, but I may be wrong and failed to see the value of this bit in relation to the progression of the story).
Overall, it was a good story, I like werewolves. More time could have been spent on certain parts while others could have been briefly mentioned; however, I see the necessity of the in-depth look into his life growing up especially if there is a book 2. To truly understand a character and their motivations you would need to know their history.

Digital Copy provided by the author