Review | Passenger 19 by Ward Larsen

Title: Passenger 19
Series: Jammer Davis (Book 3)
Author: Ward Larsen
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
Publisher: Oceanview Publishing
Publishing date: 5th January, 2016
Pages: 368
My Rating: 4/5 stars

 

*e-ARC received from the author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

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Synopsis:

Jammer Davis has spent most of his life investigating aircraft accidents. When a small regional jet disappears over the jungles of Colombia, it is a tragedy like dozens of others he has seen…but for one terrible detail—his young daughter, who was enroute to a semester abroad in South America, is listed on the passenger manifest.

A distraught Davis rushes to Bogotá and bulls his way into the inquiry. When the wreckage is located, it becomes clear the crash was unsurvivable. As the investigation gains momentum, the facts go astray. Two pilots had been shot before the crash, along with one passenger. The possibility of a hijacking looms large as the search begins to focus on two passengers who boarded the plane, yet their remains cannot be found.

Davis uncovers an even more sinister plot behind the entire disaster—one that goes to the highest levels of the United States government. But how could it possibly involve his daughter?

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My Take:

This was a tension filled and full of suspense ride, I was on the edge of my seat and the near end kept me pumped up for the ending. ❤

The only problem I seem to have with this book is that I don’t think in real life, Jammer would have been sent to investigate a crash site where one of the casualties is his daughter, what about the emotional side overriding the rational side of the mind. You can make some serious mistakes when emotional. Jammer slightly curves from making said stupid mistakes.

I loved the knowledge I got from the book. I have never read anything about investigating aircraft accidents and this book was a really good introduction for me in the subject. 😀 😀

The book was fast-paced which added to the thrill of the story. In the start it was a bit slow but as the story progressed the pace picked up and it became more action packed and unputdownable.

Even after having so much going on I loved how well the characters were written. I really appreciate when the characters aren’t neglected while making the thriller more thrilling.

I wanted to read it one sitting but it was late at night and apparently I fell asleep. The first thing I did in the morning after I woke up was finish reading this book and I sure was rewarded. 🙂

In a nutshell it is a very informative, interesting, thrilling and fast paced read.

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Why would I pick it up?

For the thrilling read. 😀

Review | Split the Sun by Tessa Elwood

Title: Split the Sun
Series: Inherit the Stars (Book 2)
Author: Tessa Elwood
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Publisher: Running Press
Publishing date: 6th December, 2016
Pages: 288
My Rating: 3/5 stars

 

*e-copy received from the author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

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Synopsis:

The Ruling Lord of the House of Galton is dead, and the nation is in shock—or celebrating, depending on the district. Kit Franks would be more than happy to join him.

Kit’s mother bombed the digital core of the House, killing several and upending the nation’s information structure. No one wants the daughter of a terrorist. Kit lost her job, her aunt wants her evicted, her father is using her as a shield against a drug lord, a group of political rebels need Kit to ignite an interplanetary war, and the boy two floors down keeps jacking up her suicide attempts—as if she has a life worth saving.

When Mom-the-terrorist starts showing up on feeds and causing planet-wide blackouts, everyone looks to Kit for an answer. The rebels want Mom on their side. The government needs to stop Mom’s digital virus from spreading before there’s no record of government left. Both sides will do anything, destroy anyone, to make Kit crack. They believe she’s the key to Mom’s agenda and the House’s future. Worst of all, they may be right.

Kit’s having dreams she can’t explain, remembering conversations that no longer seem innocent, understanding too much coded subtext in Mom’s universal feed messages. Everyone, from Mom to the rebels, has a vision of Kit’s fate—locked, sealed, and ready to roll. The question is, does Kit have a vision for herself?

Tessa Elwood’s final book in the Inherit the Stars series introduces readers to a strong, unique heroine who must chart her own destiny against a minefield of family ambitions and political agendas.

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My Take:

Okay, now this is turning into a problem. When I picked this book up for review. It had nowhere written that this was a second book in the series. Neither on the cover nor in the description. It wasn’t even written in the BOOK!

Now, as I look it up there’s this last line in the description on Netgalley that this is the final book in the series. It’s a duology. The way it was written, I didn’t pay much attention.

Tessa Elwood’s final book in the Inherit the Stars series introduces readers to a strong, unique heroine who must chart her own destiny against a minefield of family ambitions and political agendas.

FINAL BOOK?? :O

If you check the summary on Netgalley it will sound far more interesting than the Goodreads descirption. Here’s the Goodreads version:

The Ruling Lord of the House of Galton is dead and the nation is divided. Kit Franks, a nobody escalated to infamy since her mother bombed the House capitol city, wishes she were dead, too. Then Mom-the-terrorist starts showing up on feeds and causing planet-wide blackouts and Kit becomes a target.
Kit’s inundated with half-truths, betrayals, and the coded subtext in Mom’s universal feed messages meant for her alone. Everyone from family to government enforcers seems to have a vision for Kit’s future. The question is, does Kit have a vision for herself?

I usually put the synopsis from Goodreads into my review but I will make an exception for this one.

This is how the book starts. How can you not be drawn in if this is how a book starts. I was immediately captivated by the lines. ❤

 

This book had so much potential and had so many subplots to choose from but neither is fully explored, even the main plot seems to be lacking in the terms of proper layout and planning. I am not actually impressed with the world building either.

It still was a good read but I think because of this being the second book in the series or final book, I didn’t know the back story and that might have helped a little. By no means is this a bad book, it is still very enjoyable but it doesn’t reach it’s potential growth.

When Mom-the-terrorist starts showing up on feeds and causing planet-wide blackouts, everyone looks to Kit for an answer.

This was the thing I was most excited about. This line seems sassy and that’s what I expected Kit to be but she might not be that. I didn’t find Kit much relatable, I think that’s because so much was happening that I didn’t actually get a chance to connect with her.

I am not sure where I stand with this book. The ending seems a bit rough to me and I think it can be explored more. Despite all the issues I enjoyed reading it.

Again, do check if the book is the part of a series. 😛

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Why would I pick it up?

For this line- When Mom-the-terrorist starts showing up on feeds and causing planet-wide blackouts, everyone looks to Kit for an answer. ❤ 

Review | Sun Kisses, Moon Hugs by Susan Schaefer Bernardo

Title: Sun Kisses, Moon Hugs
Author: Susan Schaefer Bernardo
Illustrator: Courtenay Fletcher
Genre: Children’s Fiction
Publisher: Inner Flower Child Books
Publishing date: 1st May, 2017
Pages: 32
My Rating: 3/5 stars

 

*e-copy received from the author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

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Synopsis:

Sun Kisses, Moon Hugs is a beautiful new book with a simple but powerful message: love last forever.

Lyrical writing and delightful illustrations provide perfect bedtime reading for any child. The book is also ideal for supporting children through grief, separation anxiety, divorce, illness or other traumatic situations, by wrapping them in a warm and comforting emotional security blanket and opening a dialogue on the nature of love.

Even when loved ones cannot be with us, we can feel their presence through our deep connections to the natural world.

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My Take:

All that I want to say about the book is already said in the summary. I loved the lyrical writing in this and the illustrations were very colorful and detailed.

 

 

The only reason I gave it 3 stars is because of the ARC copy I received. I usually am very thankful for the ARCs I receive and ignore few grammatical errors because it’s an uncorrected copy but sending out a book which is difficult to read is obviously going to alter the reading experience and will affect the review.

This was the case with most of the book.

I don’t know if all the ARCs sent out were like this or it was just my copy’s problem but it was surely irritating enough for me to reduce the rating. If not for the format issue, it would have easily been a 4 or even 4.5.

I was so disappointed by my copy that I couldn’t enjoy the wonderful writing.

That being said it is a beautiful little lyrical tale about how distance doesn’t mean that you don’t love someone and there are ways to remind people of how much we love them even when they are far from us.

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Why would I pick it up?

For the beautiful writing and the illustrations. ❤

Review | Gift of Darkness:Growing Up in Occupied Amsterdam by Craig K. Comstock

 

Title: Gift of Darkness:Growing Up in Occupied Amsterdam
Author: Craig K. Comstock
Genre: Non Fiction, Biography
Publisher: Willow Press
Publishing date: 25th November, 2015
Pages: 206
My Rating: 2.5/5 stars

 

*e-ARC received from the author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

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Synopsis:

Gift of Darkness” tells the story of a boy who, like Anne Frank, lived in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. Unlike Anne, he was not taken into early hiding, but was able to move around the city, even to help serve its Jewish community, and observe first-hand the ominous things that were happening. Robbert Van Santen lived each day not knowing how or when the war would end, not being sure that he would survive, not imagining that as an elder he would articulate his experiences to an American author. To put one of Mary Oliver’s poetic phrases in a new context, his story is “a box full of darkness,” but in the telling he offers the author and the reader the gift of stepping into his shoes and thus the satisfaction of coming to understand a teenager’s challenging life. What did Robbert do afterward? He sought “to find joy in life despite what happened. Not instead of the memories, but as a response to them.

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My Take:

If you only look at Robbert’s  experiences and focus on the events of the time then this is a good book but overall this is not that of an interesting read.

When you think of someone going through all this, it obviously tears your heart apart. Using present tense can make a person experience the ordeal while they read it but it gets exhausting at times. I don’t actually like present tense narration in fiction either, it takes out the story telling element which is what makes a book more enjoyable, atleast to me.

While the approach might be different and the reason logical to an extent it takes out the pleasure of reading. This approach might better suit a documentary because reading the past in past tense actually makes the story seem real. I don’t know if it’s just me but the tenses make or break the book. The message, the story might be good but the writing style is not well suited.

 

I kind of feel that narrating his life story in present tense might have been more painful for Robert.

I think it would’ve worked better as “as told to.”

 

 

I really liked the foreword of the book, it is written by Francis Weller, he explains the decision of writing the book in the particular way better than the author himself.

Now, if Robbert could talk about the facts detaching the feelings then he was already dealing with his grief. If you can separate the facts from the feelings it means you have come to terms with that experience to a certain extent. I get the, “to enter the grief and allow the full weight of sorrow to be felt and expressed,” this makes sense for using the present tense but then again if it was in first person it would’ve made more sense. When the story is being told in third person it automatically becomes  “as told to” and the present tense seems irrelevant.

“The whole story must be told, reuniting the facts with the feelings.” Robbert wanted to delve out only facts so to get the feelings out this method might have been helpful in the interview but in the book, not so much.

This is the actual story I wanted the most focus on. This was the part I wanted to read when I started reading this book. The story of Robbert. The author’s thoughts, psychoanalysis, historic facts, information are all necessary but should’ve been secondary to the actual story but all of these stuff seem to push towards being the primary aspect of the book. I think in making this book worthy the author lost focus from the main element of the book. Yes, they decided to skip some parts, in a joking manner, but some of the things required more attention and details that was not provided to the parts. Some places it felt rushed when it came to Robbert’s story and some places it felt dragged when it was the author recounting the experiences he had with Robbert.

Yes, Anne’s story is heartbreaking but you don’t actually get to know about the state of the Jews, in this book you are amidst all the disaster. To get a glimpse of how life was for the people who couldn’t go into hiding, this book is a good start. 🙂 🙂

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Why would I pick it up?

For Robbert! 🙂

Review | Boyfriend for Hire by Gail Chianese

 

Title: Boyfriend for Hire
Series: West Side Romance (Book 2)
Author: Gail Chianese
Genre: Romance
Publisher: Lyrical Shine
Publishing date: 24th November, 2015
Pages: 278
My Rating: 3.5/5 stars

 

*e-copy received from the author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

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Synopsis:

In this sexy new series, author Gail Chianese celebrates the heart—and the heat—of modern dating. This time, a temporary boyfriend may be the right man for a permanent position…
 
The only girl in a family of five brothers, Tawny Torres has had enough of waiting on men. She has her life and her career all mapped out, and neither includes an apron, an iron, or a husband—yet. But when a new job emphasizes a healthy balance of work and play, she needs a guy to stand in as her love interest at a company picnic. Gorgeous charmer David “King of Pleasure” Farber fits the bill perfectly—so well that Tawny is shocked to realize she’s having a hard time letting him go…

David’s a confirmed bachelor, but he can’t get enough of Tawny’s firecracker combination of tough and tender. Unfortunately, he’s overloaded with work at his construction firm and now definitely isn’t the time for distraction—he struggles enough with that already. Still, he can’t ignore his feelings for Tawny. He’ll just have to convince her that he’s more than a
boyfriend-for-hire. And she’ll have to prove he can trust her with his biggest secret…

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My Take:

What an enjoyable book! ❤

I loved reading it. The writing is good and engaging. Although the concept of the book isn’t something fresh, the writing gives it its own essence. 😀 😀

The title “Boyfriend for Hire” might be a stretch because our lead pair are already friends and David already is hot for Tawny, the title gives off the strangers-falling-in-love vibe.

I am not a fan of the cover. I have already read many fake-boyfriend-for-the-sake-of-job-or-family kind of books so the plotline wasn’t that intruiguing to me but the writing, the relationship growth, the character development made up for what the plotline lacked in originality.

It sure was an entertaining read with sass and smartass… 😛 😛

The conversations between the pair are funny and highly entertaining, I liked Tawny’s no- nonsense attitude and Dave obviously is very likable. This is the second book in the series which I didn’t know at the time of reading but it can be read as a stand-alone. The main characters of this book act as supporting characters in the first book. I think that’s how the series is going to continue. This book makes me want to read the other books in the series.

A real entertaining read. 😀 😀

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Why would I pick it up?

For a fun and light read. 😀 😀

Review | The Guardian Stones by Eric Reed

 

Title: The Guardian Stones
Author: Eric Reed
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Publishing date: 5th January, 2016
Pages: 260
My Rating: 2/5 stars

 

*e-copy received from the author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

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Synopsis:

941 Britain: Children are vanishing from the village. Is it the powers of an ancient stone circle at work, or a modern predator? In mid-1941, children evacuated to the remote Shropshire village of Noddweir to escape the Blitz begin to vanish. It was not uncommon for city children faced with rural rigors to run away. But when retired American professor Edwin Carpenter, pursuing his study of standing stones, visits the village and discovers bloody clothing in the forest, it is clear there is a more sinister explanation. The village constable is away on military duty so the investigation falls to his daughter Grace. Some villagers see the hand of German infiltrators bent on terror. The superstitious, mindful of the prehistoric stone circle gazing down on Noddweir, are convinced malevolent supernatural powers are at work. And Edwin, determined to help Grace find whatever predator is in play, runs into widespread resentment over America’s refusal to enter the war. This atmospheric mystery will appeal to readers of Rennie Airth, Maureen Jennings, and both Ann Cleeves and Ann Granger.

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My Take:

The premise of this book is very interesting. I liked the historical aspect of the book and the setting was interesting. The descriptive parts were well written. 😀

The main characters are likable, the supporting characters are well thought out too. All part of the plan. 😉 What I didn’t like about the character introductions was the attention to details. I kept getting confused about how old a certain character was and that kept me from fully paying attention.

The mystery isn’t much of a mystery, it’s still there but not as much as I would have liked. It had a horror aspect and can be categorized into horror. Some scenes had this chilling air leading to the end and those were the interesting reading bits. 😉 🙂

This was an okay read for me. It wasn’t gripping enough to hold my attention, my attention kept wandering from the book. I put down the book many times and picked it back up because I still wanted to know how it ended. It was a good thing that it keeps you intrigued for the end so that you can’t put it down. 😛

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Why would I pick it up?

For an interest evoking read. 😀