A Bookworm's Book Reviews

The King’s Feather – Amy Earls

Title: The King’s Feather

Author: Amy Earls

Genre: Fantasy, Christian, Young Adult

Plot: Pero has been hiding for the past 12 years. She has a secret talent that she needs to hide from Dr. Carper, who took her mom for the same reason 12 years ago and why she’s been hiding. If Pero wears her mother’s feather necklace, he’ll find her. On her 17th birthday, she puts it on, and he magically appears, forcing her best friend Henry to turn her in. Dr. Caper takes her to Moon City where he can use her talents to stop the Lesaries from destroying the city. But the Lesaries are the good guys and follow the guidance of Elohim. Pero knows she must help the Lesaries and follow Elohim. But Elohim wants Pero to protect Dr. Carper. What will Pero do? Will she protect Dr. Carper? Or let the Lesaries destroy him?

Rating: 3.5 – a good take on the story of Jericho

Opinion: I enjoyed the overall story, and enjoyed the ideas and themes. My main concern with the book was that there wasn’t enough world building. Most of the things that I feel like are normally explained with fantasy aren’t explained well or are glossed over. There is some explanation for most things but it wasn’t explained well, to me at least. Maybe I was looking too deep into it, cause the book is too young for me. For whatever reason, I didn’t love the lack of world building. On the other hand, I really liked the characters. They were realistic and relatable. I feel like they acted reasonable for the situations they were in. Overall, this was a good book, just not the right one for me. It’d be a great book for a teenager.

Vampires of el Norte – Isabel Cañas

Title: Vampire of el Norte

Author: Isabel Cañas

Genre: Thriller, Historical Fiction

Plot: Nena and Néstor were childhood friends on a rancho in northern Mexico in the mid-1800’s. Nena’s the daughter of the rancho owner. Néstor’s one of the ranch hands. The two of them sneak away most nights to find silver so Néstor can buy his own land. One night, a strange creature attacks Nena and leaves her for dead. Néstor brings her back. Nena’s family declares her dead. Néstor fleas. Some years later, Néstor is forced to return to help Nena’s father protect his rancho. When he returns, he sees Nena alive and well. But what really happened that night? What was the creature that attacked them? When the time comes for Néstor and the other ranch hands to protect the rancho from Americans, they see the same creature again. Nena and Néstor are separated from everyone and must find their own way back. Can they make it back safely? Or will the creatures get them?

Rating: 4.3 – a different take on vampires

Opinion: This was an interesting book. I enjoyed the mix of history mixed with local legends and myths. It was interesting to learn more the similarities between different cultures. It’s easy to see the European influences in Mexico in high society. This book has some scary moments, but it’s evenly spaced out in the book so you have a little time to calm down. Just a little FYI, there was a lot of Spanish words mixed into the book. Most can be guessed based on context. The rest are explained in the book. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend this book for anyone who loves history and thrillers.

The Clockmaker’s Daughter – Kate Morton

Title: The Clockmaker’s Daughter

Author: Kate Morton

Genre: Historical Fiction

Plot: Elodie is an archivist in London. Her boss asked her to sort through some boxes. In one of the boxes is a satchel. In the satchel there a sketch book and portrait of a young woman. Elodie uses all of her resources to find the connection between the objects. The more Elodie learns about the objects, the more she learns of a connection to her past. The house where the objects came from is the house of a childhood story. Birch wood Manor has a long and sad story. Edward Radcliffe was an up and coming artist. He’s engaged when he takes a new model, Millie. Sparks fly between Edward and Millie. During the summer, the two of them go to Birchwood Manor for the summer with some of Edward’s friends. Then something happens and Edward is left alone and depressed. What really happened that summer? What’s the connection between the items in the satchel?

Rating: 3.3 – an interesting historical fiction

Opinion: This book started out well. But there were so many characters introduced and so many time jumps at the beginning that I lost interest quickly. The book also had a slow pace. I read some of the other reviews and I agree that the ending of this book was anticlimactic. I was also a little confused about what exactly happened. While I enjoyed the idea of the book and the mystery of it, the slowness of the book and the characters made it hard for me to read. This was a good book but I couldn’t get into it. I recommend this book to anyone who likes a slow and steady historical fiction and mystery.

The Wishing Game – Meg Shaffer

Title: The Wishing Game

Author: Meg Shaffer

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Plot: Lucy is a kindergarten aide with a love for reading. She’s been tutoring a kid named Christopher since she fostered him for a few weeks. She passed on her love of reading to him as it was one of the few things that could calm him down. Their favorite books are the Clock Island series by Jack Masterson. Lucy has grown fond of Christopher and wants to adopt him, but she can’t afford to and doesn’t have stable enough housing according to the fostering coordinator. Lucy and Christopher’s wish is to be able to be a family. A chance to be a family is answered in the form of a contest. The author of their favorite book series is offering the chance to win his newest book that hasn’t been published yet. All they have to do is answer the riddle to enter. Lucy’s answer is accepted and now she’s in the contest on the actual Clock Island. The author, Jack Masterson, has a series of challenges for Lucy and three other contestants. If they can win the challenges, they win the book. But the challenges bring up some painful memories for Lucy. Can she win? Or will one of other contestants win? Or will it all be too much for everyone?

Rating: 4.2 – a sweet story about family

Opinion: This was a sweet book. I liked how it talked so much about non-traditional families and foster care. I understand why there are so many restrictions in place, but at the same time I wish it wasn’t so hard for other families to foster and adopt. The characters in the book are well written and different in their own ways. I liked how they all connected to Jack Masterson’s books in different ways through their own pasts. The contest is different, too. There are different sort of challenges that force the characters to think in different ways and do things in ways that make them overcome things in a respectful and positive way. The way the competition was different than how I expected, too. It was nice to see something end in a way that was fair for everyone, in a sense. It was also nice for some of the characters to find a sense of peace through everything that happened to them. This book was a nice change of pace for me. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves books about the love of reading, overcoming obstacles, and good old fashioned competition.

Flesh and False Gods #1 – Chloe Gong

The second book, Vilest Things, is now available.

Title: Immortal Longings

Author: Chloe Gong

Genre: Fantasy

Plot: Calla is a disgraced princess who everyone in San-Er is dead. She killed her parents, the king and queen, of Er in cold blood. Calla fled and was presumed dead. She knows that the crown is corrupt. Crown Prince August knows better. He’s required her help with the city’s underground in exchange for help in the ‘games.’ The anual games are a contest for 84 individuals to kill each other for a chance for fame and riches. When most of the city is poor and desperate, lots of people enter for a chance to win. The trick is that people in San-Er can ‘jump.’ Their souls can jump from body to another. Some can do it better than others. Jumping is not without its risks, too. Calla enters for the chance to win and kill the king. She needs to rid the city of the other corrupt royalty. While competing, she meets Anton, another ex-royal. He’s been disillusioned and knows of the corruption. They join together so they have a better chance of winning. August disapproves. He insists that the only way to get rid of the corruption is to win alone. But who will win? Will Calla get her chance to finish her job? Can Anton and Calla work together long enough? Or will everyone’s secrets get the better of them?

Rating: 4.0 – a different kind of dystopian fantasy

Opinion: This book was better than I was expecting. It looked interesting and I was curious. I’ve read another book by this author and liked that one, but didn’t love it. This one was much better. There was a part of the book that gave me Hunger Games vibes, but it was different enough that I could really enjoy the book. I liked that the book kept more of its focus on the competition and the different goals of the characters. The world was well built and the jumping abilities had plenty of realistic rules and restrictions. It almost seemed plausible. There’s definitely going to be another book. Near the ending of the book, you realize there’s too much stuff to wrap up before the book ends. I hope the second one comes out soon. This book was too good to not know what happens in the next book. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy and dystopian future.

The Lost Sisterhood – Anne Fortier

Title: The Lost Sisterhood

Author: Anne Fortier

Genre: Historical Fiction

Plot: Diana Morgan is a philologist at Oxford when she gets a message from a friend about an ancient language discovered in Algeria. The thing about this ancient language is that she’s seen it before in her Granny’s journal. The problem is that this ancient language hasn’t been seen before. When Diana gets to the dig site in Algeria, she finds a well funded site. The leader of the site is Nick and is unsure of her help at first. Then he has no choice when he sees the jackal bracelet on Diana as in the tomb on a high priestess. Together, they start looking into this ‘new’ ancient language and how it’s connected to Diana’s area of expertise, the Amazon women. But there are those who don’t want them to know about the Amazons and others who do anything to control the Amazons.

Rating: 4.0 – an interesting take on the Amazons

Opinion: This was an interesting book. I liked how the author turned the idea of the Amazons and worked the women into actual historical fiction. There’s lots of details and good historical world building and things that could’ve happened and been included in history. The books makes a good point about our dependence on technology. It makes sense and helps with some plot points of the books. I enjoyed the dual story line and both plots were well written. This is a great book so long as you don’t mind a longer book. I recommend this book for any who enjoy historical fiction.

Time and Again – Jack Finney

Title: Time and Again

Author: Jack Finney

Genre: Historical Fiction, Sci-Fi

Plot: Simon Morley is an artist with a local magazine when an old friend, Rube, offers him a different sort of job. It’s a secret government job that involves time travel. The lead scientist, Dr. Danziger, explains how to time travel. Simon seems to understand and agrees to take the job. His assignment is to observe and not interfere with someone delivering a letter in 1882. It takes Simon to find the right mindset to time travel, but he manages to do so with help from Kate. Together they watch the man deliver the letter. When Simon reports to his superiors, he learns that nothing has changed. Then he’s given a new assignment. This time, Simon must learn more about the person delivering the letter. He must go alone this time. The second time Simon goes, he meets Julia at the boarding house he’s staying at. She’s Jake Pickering’s girlfriend. Jake is the man who delivered the letter. The more Simon learns about Jake, the more he falls for Julia. But can they be together with all that Jake is up to?

Rating: 3.5 – an interesting take on time travel

Opinion: It’s easy to tell that this book was written in a different time. The original publication was in 1970. There’s a lot of unnecessary description. Everything that Simon saw was described in detail, the time travel was described in detail, and events were described in detail. It was annoying to me because it took away from the plot. There wasn’t a ton of plot anyway. The character development was slow, if at all. It felt like the standard ‘no one listens to the smart scientist’ plot we see a lot of nowadays. Overall, this wasn’t my favorite book. I recommend it if you like descriptive books.

Original Nancy Drew Series – Carolyn Keene

Title: Nancy Drew Series

Author: Carolyn Keene

Genre: Children’s Books, Mystery

Plot: Join Nancy Drew as she solves mysteries around River Heights and around the world. She always gets help from her dad Carson, boyfriend Ned Nickerson, and cousins Bess and George. Sometimes Officer McGuiness asks for her help solving a case. She’s always willing to go the extra mile to help solve a case but always willing to ask for help. There are new adventures and mysteries with every book.

Rating: 4.0 – a good mystery series for girls

Opinion: I grew up reading these books. I loved the mysteries and adventures. There’s always something to learn about solving crimes, other cultures, and how to help others. I always enjoyed how Nancy Drew always did things correctly and was always willing to help others. Yet she was always stuck up for herself and others. I highly recommend these books for any young girl who loves to read. With 64 in the original series, she’ll have plenty to read. Now there are computer games to play to teach her how to put those crime solving, puzzle working, learning to good use.

London Seance Society – Sarah Penner

Title: London Seance Society

Author: Sarah Penner

Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery

Plot: Lenna Wickes has come to Paris to ask famed spiritualist and medium Vaudeline D’allaire about her recently murdered sister, Evie. Vaudeline’s specialty as a medium is speaking with the recently murdered. But Lenna and Evie are from London and Vaudeline can’t return to London for her own safety. So Vaudeline tutors Lenna so she can do the seance in London correctly. While doing a different seance, Vaudeline receives a letter that a close friend has past. That friend is the leader of the London Seance Society. Together the two women go to London to figure out how he died. But they go in secret for the women’s protection and at the insistence of Mr. Morris, who’s taken over the London Seance Society. When the evidence starts to point to someone within the society, who can Lenna and Vaudeline trust? Can they find the murderer in time? Or will there be two more victims?

Rating: 3.5 – an interesting murder mystery

Opinion: This was an interesting book. I enjoyed learning about how seances work and the history around them. It was interesting to learn about how easily they can be faked. I’m sure this lead to all of the skepticism with seances. You could kind of figure out who did it earlier on in the book if you pay enough attention. The way everything ended up happening was really well written. I enjoyed how the big reveal went down. There were a few over the top dramatic scenes for me, but worked themselves out. Overall this was a good book. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys murder mysteries and historical fiction.

Ink Blood Sister Scribe – Emma Törz

Title: Ink Blood Sister Scribe

Author: Emma Törz

Genre: Fantasy

Plot: Ester and Joanna are half sisters who grew up in an isolated part of Vermont. Ester’s been moving every year to protect her family, no one remembers why, except Ester. Joanna’s stayed home protecting the books that contain magic. Ester can use the books and she’s not affected by the magic. Everything’s been going smoothly for both girls until Ester stays past her move date. Then she gets a mysterious envelope through a mirror telling her to run. She hesitates. Then Ester’s attacked. While on her travels she meets Nicholas and his bodyguard Collins. Nicholas is like her. Together they travel back to Vermont and to Joanna. Together they must find a way to stop whoever’s after them and the dirty plans they’re up to.

Rating: 4.0 – a different take on magic and family

Opinion: This was an interesting book. I enjoyed the different take on magic. That there were few people who were immune to magic and couldn’t use magic. There were strict rules on how magic spells could be made. The author did a great job with world and magic building. But anyone but the few immune could use magic. The author did a good job explaining how this kind of magic could be used for monetary gain how someone did just that. There were many gray characters in this book. They did things for good or bad regardless of consequence. It made the book more interesting. Overall I enjoyed this book. I recommend this book for anyone who loves magical fantasy.