This book consists of 33 different short stories, two graphic short stories and one Novella. To me, all of the stories seemed to have some small idea connecting them all, like love and deformity, for instance. I feel that this sort of binds the stories together and that in a way, it still is just one story you are reading instead of a lot of short stories. I think the writer coloured a very realistic picture of human behavior and personalities with his stories.
I have mixed feelings about this book, because for me, it was a really hard read. I enjoyed the stories, but most of the stories had a really sad ending that I’m not prone to read on my own. I couldn’t read the stories one after the other, because I had to take some time to process the sad endings. I’m sure this wouldn’t be a problem for everyone, but if you are a very sensitive or emotional person, I’m sure you will feel the same. Putting that aside, I do have to mention that I liked almost every story. They were deep and enjoyable. The writer’s illustrations matched his descriptions perfectly, and I wasn’t disappointed in that part at all.
What I liked most about this book would be how fast the stories pull you in and their ability to hold your attention. What I disliked most was definitely the sad endings. I am sadly one of those people who are addicted to happy endings. I recommend this book to those of you who like short stories, graphic novels and fiction. I do not recommend this book if you don’t like any of the above mentioned and also, if you don’t like sad endings like me. If you don’t like sad endings, but you do want to read this, I recommend you to read it in small portions at a time.
I found that this book was exceptionally well edited, as I didn’t find a single grammar error. I do have to warn you against the erotic content in this book though, the erotic content shows up in the short stories as well as in the illustrations. Therefore, this book is not suitable for children at all!
I rate Illustrated Short Fiction of William H. Coles 3 out of 4 stars. I would have rated it 4 out of 4 stars, but I found that I didn’t enjoy the stories as much as I would have liked to.
Two of the books on this list actually made it onto Goodread’s list of 33 most anticipated books of 2020.
Their list is calculated by the amount of times people add a book to their “want to read” shelf. Now you can imagine, of all the books out there, these two made it onto the list of 33 Highly anticipated books of 2020.
I’m so excited to read these, lets take a look at them.
American Dirt is a rare exploration into the inner hearts of people willing to sacrifice everything for a glimmer of hope.
Lydia Quixano Perez lives in the Mexican city of Acapulco. She runs a bookstore. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while there are cracks beginning to show in Acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable.
Even though she knows they’ll never sell, Lydia stocks some of her all-time favorite books in her store. And then one day a man enters the shop to browse and comes up to the register with four books he would like to buy–two of them her favorites. Javier is erudite. He is charming. And, unbeknownst to Lydia, he is the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city. When Lydia’s husband’s tell-all profile of Javier is published, none of their lives will ever be the same.
What reviewers have to say about it:
Reviewers who got arcs mention that they couldn’t put it down, that it was a real page turner and that they encourage readers to get themselves a copy when it’s released and devour every word.
Stephen King also said that it’s an extraordinary piece of work!
From the New York Times bestselling author of The House of the Spirits comes an epic novel spanning decades and crossing continents, following two young people as they flee the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War in search of a new place to call home.
In the late 1930s, civil war gripped Spain. When General Franco and his Fascists succeed in overthrowing the government, hundreds of thousands are forced to flee in a treacherous journey over the mountains to the French border. Among them is Roser, a pregnant young widow, who finds her life irreversibly intertwined with that of Victor Dalmau, an army doctor and the brother of her deceased love. In order to survive, the two must unite in a marriage neither of them wants, and together are sponsored by poet Pablo Neruda to embark on the SS Winnipeg along with 2,200 other refugees in search of a new life. As unlikely partners, they embrace exile and emigrate to Chile as the rest of Europe erupts in World War.
Starting over on a new continent, their trials are just beginning. Over the course of their lives, they will face test after test. But they will also find joy as they wait patiently for a day when they are exiles no more, and will find friends in the most unlikely of places. Through it all, it is that hope of being reunited with their home that keeps them going. And in the end, they will find that home might have been closer than they thought all along.
What reviewers have to say about it:
Reviewers who got arcs say that it’s an epic read, but others also mention that they struggled to get into the book or that they lost interest in it.
This book sounds like one of those books that are amazing, but just isn’t for everyone. It did however make it onto the list, so check it out and find out if you like it.
Release date: 21 January 2020
Now the following books didn’t make it onto that list, but they did make it onto the list of January’s most anticipated new books along with the two above.
3. Long Bright River by Liz Moore
Synopsis
In a Philadelphia neighborhood rocked by the opioid crisis, two once-inseparable sisters find themselves at odds. One, Kacey, lives on the streets in the vise of addiction. The other, Mickey, walks those same blocks on her police beat. They don’t speak anymore, but Mickey never stops worrying about her sibling.
Then Kacey disappears, suddenly, at the same time that a mysterious string of murders begins in Mickey’s district, and Mickey becomes dangerously obsessed with finding the culprit–and her sister–before it’s too late.
Alternating its present-day mystery with the story of the sisters’ childhood and adolescence, Long Bright River is at once heart-pounding and heart-wrenching: a gripping suspense novel that is also a moving story of sisters, addiction, and the formidable ties that persist between place, family, and fate.
What reviewers have to say:
Reviewers who got arcs said that the book was beautifully written, a powerful story and that it was a heavy and sad read.
Release date: January 7
4. When We Were Vikings by Andrew David MacDonald
Synopsis
Sometimes life isn’t as simple as heroes and villains.
For Zelda, a twenty-one-year-old Viking enthusiast who lives with her older brother, Gert, life is best lived with some basic rules:
1. A smile means “thank you for doing something small that I liked.” 2. Fist bumps and dabs = respect. 3. Strange people are not appreciated in her home. 4. Tomatoes must go in the middle of the sandwich and not get the bread wet. 5. Sometimes the most important things don’t fit on lists.
But when Zelda finds out that Gert has resorted to some questionable—and dangerous—methods to make enough money to keep them afloat, Zelda decides to launch her own quest. Her mission: to be legendary. It isn’t long before Zelda finds herself in a battle that tests the reach of her heroism, her love for her brother, and the depth of her Viking strength.
When We Were Vikings is an uplifting debut about an unlikely heroine whose journey will leave you wanting to embark on a quest of your own.
What reviewers have to say:
Reviewers who got arcs said that it was very engaging, real life problems were addressed and that it was tenderly told.
Release date: January 28
5. Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Synopsis
Alix Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made a living showing other women how to do the same. A mother to two small girls, she started out as a blogger and has quickly built herself into a confidence-driven brand. So she is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is confronted while watching the Chamberlains’ toddler one night. Seeing a young black woman out late with a white child, a security guard at their local high-end supermarket accuses Emira of kidnapping two-year-old Briar. A small crowd gathers, a bystander films everything, and Emira is furious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make it right.
But Emira herself is aimless, broke, and wary of Alix’s desire to help. At twenty-five, she is about to lose her health insurance and has no idea what to do with her life. When the video of Emira unearths someone from Alix’s past, both women find themselves on a crash course that will upend everything they think they know about themselves, and each other.
With empathy and piercing social commentary, Such a Fun Age explores the stickiness of transactional relationships, what it means to make someone “family,” the complicated reality of being a grown up, and the consequences of doing the right thing for the wrong reason.
What reviewers have to say:
Reviewers who got arcs said that it was thought provoking, an excellent debut and that it left them undecided.
Release date: December 31
6. Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener
Synopsis
In her mid-twenties, at the height of tech industry idealism, Anna Wiener—stuck, broke, and looking for meaning in her work, like any good millennial–left a job in book publishing for the promise of the new digital economy. She moved from New York to San Francisco, where she landed at a big-data startup in the heart of the Silicon Valley bubble: a world of surreal extravagance, dubious success, and fresh-faced entrepreneurs hell-bent on domination, glory, and, of course, progress.
Anna arrived amidst a massive cultural shift, as the tech industry rapidly transformed into a locus of wealth and power rivaling Wall Street. But amid the company ski vacations and in-office speakeasies, boyish camaraderie and ride-or-die corporate fealty, a new Silicon Valley began to emerge: one in far over its head, one that enriched itself at the expense of the idyllic future it claimed to be building.
Part coming-age-story, part portrait of an already-bygone era, Anna Wiener’s memoir is a rare first-person glimpse into high-flying, reckless startup culture at a time of unchecked ambition, unregulated surveillance, wild fortune, and accelerating political power. With wit, candor, and heart, Anna deftly charts the tech industry’s shift from self-appointed world savior to democracy-endangering liability, alongside a personal narrative of aspiration, ambivalence, and disillusionment.
Unsparing and incisive, Uncanny Valley is a cautionary tale, and a revelatory interrogation of a world reckoning with consequences its unwitting designers are only beginning to understand.
What reviewers have to say:
Reviewers who got arcs said that the story was informative and that they felt connected to the book, on the other hand reviewers also said that the writer didn’t have anything insightful to say and that it seemed like an outstretched essay.
Release date: January 14
7. Highfire by Eoin Colfer
Synopsis
From the New York Times bestselling author of the Artemis Fowl series comes a hilarious and high-octane adult novel about a vodka-drinking, Flashdance-loving dragon who lives an isolated life in the bayous of Louisiana—and the raucous adventures that ensue when he crosses paths with a fifteen-year-old troublemaker on the run from a crooked sheriff.
In the days of yore, he flew the skies and scorched angry mobs—now he hides from swamp tour boats and rises only with the greatest reluctance from his Laz-Z-Boy recliner. Laying low in the bayou, this once-magnificent fire breather has been reduced to lighting Marlboros with nose sparks, swilling Absolut in a Flashdance T-shirt, and binging Netflix in a fishing shack. For centuries, he struck fear in hearts far and wide as Wyvern, Lord Highfire of the Highfire Eyrie—now he goes by Vern. However…he has survived, unlike the rest. He is the last of his kind, the last dragon. Still, no amount of vodka can drown the loneliness in his molten core. Vern’s glory days are long gone. Or are they?
A canny Cajun swamp rat, young Everett “Squib” Moreau does what he can to survive, trying not to break the heart of his saintly single mother. He’s finally decided to work for a shady smuggler—but on his first night, he witnesses his boss murdered by a crooked constable.
Regence Hooke is not just a dirty cop, he’s a despicable human being—who happens to want Squib’s momma in the worst way. When Hooke goes after his hidden witness with a grenade launcher, Squib finds himself airlifted from certain death by…a dragon?
The swamp can make strange bedfellows, and rather than be fried alive so the dragon can keep his secret, Squib strikes a deal with the scaly apex predator. He can act as his go-between (aka familiar)—fetch his vodka, keep him company, etc.—in exchange for protection from Hooke. Soon the three of them are careening headlong toward a combustible confrontation. There’s about to be a fiery reckoning, in which either dragons finally go extinct—or Vern’s glory days are back.
A triumphant return to the genre-bending fantasy that Eoin Colfer is so well known for, Highfire is an effortlessly clever and relentlessly funny tour-de-force of comedy and action.
What reviewers have to say:
Reviewers who got arcs said that it’s funny, that they absolutely loved it and that they loved the whole concept of the book.
Release date: January 28
Hope these books turn out to live up to the hype and make it onto your shelf of favourites. Happy reading!
The story of two alternative realities is told by a mysterious being. Both stories feature the youngest daughter of the leader of an underground city. The book switches between “the better place” and the place “without” him.
In the one reality (the place without him) Herai is sent on a journey to attempt to save their people from an upcoming war against the “savages.” In the other reality (the better place) Herai is brutally attacked, and they are left to investigate and find the attackers.
It was cleverly interpreted, because at first the place without “the old one” seems like the better place and the place with “the old one” seems like it should be the one without “the old one.” Later on it all changes, and it becomes clear why those places are what they are said to be.
I didn’t like the book at first. It starts out really boring, but later on (around the second/third chapter) it captured my attention and it got really interesting. What I liked most about the book would be how well the writer switched between the two realities.
I was really impressed, because it’s hard to do that without confusing the reader. What I disliked most would probably be the fact that I felt the place without “the old one” lacked a proper plot. I have to add that it did, however, contain small plots which made up for it a little.
The characters were well developed, and they were easy to like and understand. The character personalities also differ in the two different places, and I think that makes it more realistic, because our situations shape the people we are.
I recommend this book to everyone who likes to read sci-fi and/or fantasy. You won’t regret it. I have to mention that there is homosexuality involved in the book, so I wouldn’t recommend it to people who don’t support the LGBT society. The book contains mild profanity as well as some very mild erotic content.
I rate Herai by Aaron D Key 3 out of 4 stars. I would have given it a full 4 stars if it weren’t that hard to get into the book and, of course, also the lack of plot in the place “without him.”
The book was properly edited as I only found a few minor grammar mistakes. Putting that aside, I feel that it’s a must read and that you won’t be disappointed by reading it.
Blossom in Winter is a erotic romance about forbidden love. The main character, Petra, a young and innocent girl falls in love with her godfather and he with her.
In so many ways the content of this book is so wrong, but at the same time just so very right. The love that she and Alex share is so sweet and real that you just can’t help, but fall in love with their relationship.
I absolutely loved Blossom in Winter. This is actually the first book the author wrote and I was shocked when I discovered this (a lot of other reviewer’s thoughts were exactly the same).
I found that the characters were developed perfectly and that they came alive by every single word I read.
The book was written perfectly and I couldn’t help but fall in love with it. It became an obsession from the very first page and I’m quite sad now that I’ve finished it and I look forward to reading the second book in the series, “Lured Into Love”.
I would recommend it to any fan of erotic romance and also to people who are in relationships with a big age gap, because Alex is 22 years older that Petra.
I do not recommend it to people who don’t like erotic romance novels and also to people who don’t like unconventional relationships as we deal with it in this book.
It took me a while to get used to the the fact that Petra was in a relationship with her godfather, but as you get used to the idea, it really isn’t that bad when you see what type of love they share. I actually found myself liking their relationship later on in the book.
What I liked most about Blossom in Winter was how well Petra and Alex’s affection towards each other were interpreted. I found that it added to their physical attraction to each other, which finally adds to the book in the end.
What I disliked most about this book would probably be the fact that some of the characters in the book objectify women, but I do think that it also adds to making the book more realistic even known I don’t I’m not particularly fond of people who are like that.
Taking all that I have said into consideration, I rate Blossom in Winter by Melanie Martins 4.5 out of 5 stars. I would highly recommend you read it as soon as possible!
Foul is Fair by Jeffrey Cook is a very interesting book about fairies. Half of the book plays off in a the fairy world named Faerie, where everything is brighter.
Megan, the main character, is called upon by Faerie to save winter because her father, the king has gone missing and needs to dance with the Queen for the change of the seasons otherwise a lot of things are going to start going wrong not just in Faerie, but also on Earth.
Megan’s task is to find her father and get him back to the castle by halloween in time for the dance.
This book started out really confusing and sometimes some sentences didn’t make sense and/or were hard to understand
As you get further into the book it becomes less confusing and it gets quite interesting. The book was written well over all and I couldn’t wait to see how it ended
I sadly found that some obstacles were overcome too easily by the characters and I felt that it took away from the book.
The thing I liked most would probably be the Faerie world. It was constructed well and also very desirable to live in. The writer explains the colors to be brighter than Earth and it gave me the idea that there was magic in the very seems of the world.
What I disliked most about the book was the fact that some things were left unexplained. Can’t say what, because I don’t want to spoil the ending…
I recommend this book to any fantasy fans, especially to fans of The Magicians by Lev Grossman.
However, I think it goes without saying that if you don’t like fantasy, that I don’t recommend this book to you.
I rate Foul is Fair by Jeffrey Cook 3 out of 5 stars. I would give it 4 stars if it weren’t for some of the flaws mentioned above.
Nightbooks by J.A. White is about a boy named Alex who got captured by a witch and her magical apartment. Alex’s only way of survival is to write scary stories and read them to the witch every night.
There are a few strange things going on in the book, like the fact that the apartment is alive or that the apartment creates earthquakes when it doesn’t get a story. The question is why are these things happening and may it be a way for Alex and the other captive, Yasmin to escape?
Alex is supposed to read a story every night, but soon he’ll run out of stories because of his writers block and the fact that he spends his days trying to find a way out of the apartment instead of writing.
Believe it or not, but Nightbooks was actually the very first fantasy/horror book I’ve read and I am not disappointed at all! The book held my attention from the very start, and I was enthralled throughout the book. I am most definitely hooked!
I was mesmerised by the writing style, and I wouldn’t have to think twice to read one of his books again. He had captivated me inside of his book as Alex was captivated in the apartment and he had me begging myself to read “just another page” or as other people know it, another chapter, haha.
What I liked most about the book was the main character’s back story. I felt that it was very realistic and that it might have been the same with any other kid if they were in the same situation. I actually have a friend who writes horror/fantasy essays and he’s quite unpopular for it just because he is misunderstood.
I can’t say that there was actually something I disliked about the book, and I think that says a lot about the book.
It was written perfectly, and I would definitely recommend this book to not only children, but also to grown-ups who are fans of horror or fantasy books.
I do however not recommend this to those of you who aren’t fans of horror and/or fantasy, although if you haven’t read the genre then try it out, you might just like it!
I really enjoyed reading this book and therefore I rate it 4.2 out of 5 stars. I can promise you that you won’t be disappointed in reading Nightbooks by J.A. White.
Below follows 10 books that I’m reading this October (Halloween). The list exists of classics, new books and children book. This way we can all enjoy this Lovely Halloween by reading some good books!
Dracula is an 1897 Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. It introduced Count Dracula, and established many conventions of subsequent vampire fantasy. The novel tells the story of Dracula’s attempt to move from Transylvania to England so that he may find new blood and spread the undead curse, and of the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and a woman led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing.
First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror. It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a “haunting”; Theodora, the lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers—and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.
It’s a small city, a place as hauntingly familiar as your own hometown. Only in Derry the haunting is real … They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they are grown-up men and women who have gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But none of them can withstand the force that has drawn them back to Derry to face the nightmare without an end, and the evil without a name.
I began to suspect something was wrong with the Gothic building when its family fled in the middle of the night, the children screaming, the mother crying. They never came back to pack up their furniture.No family stays long. Animals avoid the place. Once, I thought I saw a woman’s silhouette pacing through the upstairs room… but that seems impossible; no one was living there at the time.
A new occupant, Anna, has just moved in. I paid her a visit to warn her about the building. I didn’t expect us to become friends, but we did. And now that Marwick House is waking up, she’s asked me to stay with her.I never intended to become involved with the building or its vengeful, dead inhabitant. But now I have to save Anna… before it’s too late for the both of us.
A boy is imprisoned by a witch and must tell her a new scary story each night to stay alive. This thrilling contemporary fantasy from J. A. White, brings to life the magic and craft of storytelling.
Alex’s original hair-raising tales are the only thing keeping the witch Natacha happy, but soon he’ll run out of pages to read from and be trapped forever. He’s loved scary stories his whole life, and he knows most don’t have a happily ever after. Now that Alex is trapped in a true terrifying tale, he’s desperate for a different ending—and a way out of this twisted place.
The day after they moved in, Coraline went exploring… In Coraline’s family’s new flat are twenty-one windows and fourteen doors. Thirteen of the doors open and close.The fourteenth is locked, and on the other side is only a brick wall, until the day Coraline unlocks the door to find a passage to another flat in another house just like her own.
Only it’s different.At first, things seem marvelous in the other flat. The food is better. The toy box is filled with wind-up angels that flutter around the bedroom, books whose pictures writhe and crawl and shimmer, little dinosaur skulls that chatter their teeth. But there’s another mother, and another father, and they want Coraline to stay with them and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go.
Other children are trapped there as well, lost souls behind the mirrors. Coraline is their only hope of rescue. She will have to fight with all her wits and all the tools she can find if she is to save the lost children, her ordinary life, and herself.
Twenty years ago, eleven-year-old Charlie Paige and Scott Ashby were murdered in the city of Bristol, their bodies dumped near a dog racing track. A man was convicted of the brutal crime, but decades later, questions still linger.
For his whole life, filmmaker Cody Swift has been haunted by the deaths of his childhood best friends. The loose ends of the police investigation consume him so much that he decides to return to Bristol in search of answers. Hoping to uncover new evidence, and to encourage those who may be keeping long-buried secrets to speak up, Cody starts a podcast to record his findings. But there are many people who don’t want the case—along with old wounds—reopened so many years after the tragedy, especially Charlie’s mother, Jess, who decides to take matters into her own hands.
When a long-dead body is found in the same location the boys were left decades before, the disturbing discovery launches another murder investigation. Now Detective John Fletcher, the investigator on the original case, must reopen his dusty files and decide if the two murders are linked. With his career at risk, the clock is ticking and lives are in jeopardy…
The Twilight Zone comes to the carrot patch in this clever picture book parable about a rabbit who fears his favorite treats are out to get him. Jasper Rabbit loves carrots—especially Crackenhopper Field carrots.
He eats them on the way to school. He eats them going to Little League. He eats them walking home. Until the day the carrots start following him… or are they? Celebrated artist Peter Brown’s stylish illustrations pair perfectly with Aaron Reynold’s text in this hilarious eBook with audio that shows it’s all fun and games… until you get too greedy.
It’s 1895, and after the suicide of her mother, 16-year-old Gemma Doyle is shipped off from the life she knows in India to Spence, a proper boarding school in England. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma’s reception there is a chilly one. To make things worse, she’s been followed by a mysterious young Indian man, a man sent to watch her. But why? What is her destiny? And what will her entanglement with Spence’s most powerful girls—and their foray into the spiritual world—lead to?
Rating on GoodReads: 3.79
This is my TBR list for October. I’ve put together this list by using the books synopsis and their over all rating of it on GoodReads. I will be writing my own reviews of these books later on this month so you can read my opinion on them.
Thank you for reading and please let me know which books you have waiting for you this month.
This page may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something from my link, I will receive a small commission of the sale at no extra cost to you.
Redeeming Love is a book about a girl named Sarah who was sold into prostitution at the age of 5 by her uncle (unknowingly). Sarah then gets a new name, Angel and thete her journey starts as a prostitute.
After years she loses hope of ever being free, because even if she did escape, where would she go? Angel is a beautiful woman and also the most beautiful prostitute there is and therefore men pay a lot more for her, but she doesn’t get any of the money.
Angel is filled with hatred for men, because she was only ever betrayed by them. They only take what they want and leave her empty inside. That is until she met Michael Hosea, a man of God who fell in love with her the first time he saw her.
Michael tries to give her a better life and teaches her to take care of herself, but she doesn’t want anything to do with him. Would love be enough for her to stay with him?
Redeeming love was the very first Novel I read and it was also the book that turned me into such a huge book lover.
I actually got this book from my brother, because he told me every female should read it somewhere in their life and I can’t agree more. It has so much value for woman to learn from and carry with them for the rest of their life.
I loved this book and even a few years after I first read it, it still holds a big place in my heart. It was written really well, I especially liked the way she wrote the dialogue, because it was really easy to read, especially for a 12 year old me reading her first Novel.
Believe me when I say that this book is heart breaking, but it also gives you hope that no matter what happens, it wil always get better.
I recommend this book to anyone who is Christian (or if you are considering Christianity as a religion) and who likes romance. This is probably one of the best I’ve read and I would really recommend it to anyone except maybe people who don’t like the Christian religion.
I rate Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers5 out of 5 stars, because it was an exceptionally good read and it will always stay with me (not just because I have the book and refuse to give or throw it away, haha).
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Spellbound by Julia Goldhirsh was a pleasant surprised. I got a free digital copy of it in return for a review (this does not alter my judgement, I promise) and I don’t regret it at all.
Spellbound is a book about a girl named Rose that was cursed to be trapped in a greenhouse for her whole life. Until she felt that she couldn’t stay there anymore and escaped (or should I say tried). This is when she met a young man, Gabriel, that is bound on helping her, no matter what.
There are two main themes in this book, that being good versus evil nymphs and curses. Spellbound was actually the first book I read that had nymphs in (excluding the Persy Jackson series) and I actually liked it a lot.
I really liked the main character too as she reminded me of myself. She is a bit of an introvert, she’s rude (but as a joke) and also nice and easy to get along with and that is probably why there is some romance cooking up between her and Gabriel that just thickens the plot a little.
This book was really easy to read as it takes a hold of your interest in the first few pages. In my opinion it would make a great quick read for the weekend, that’s if you don’t read it all in one day like me (haha I have an unquenchable thirst for books, does that make me a book vampire?).
What I liked most about this book was how well the writer interpreted Rose’s imprisonment by the way Rose was losing her mind and her parents only treated her worse over time.
What I disliked most about this book was how short the plot was. I felt that it all just moved a bit too fast at the end and that there could have been written a bit more and also in a little more detail. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t written badly, I personally would just have liked to have more detail.
I recommend this book to any fantasy readers. You will not be disappointed as it’s a good read. I do however not recommend this to people who don’t like fantasy (we will pray for you, I’m just kidding LOL).
Do yourself a favor and go read this book. I know a lot of you would just love it! It’s really short so it’s perfect if you have a busy life.
I hope I convinced you to read this book and if I did that you would enjoy it as much as I did. Feel free to leave a comment below and tell me what you though of the review and if you have any questions.
Oro by Suyltan Muhammad is about a beautiful country, Oro, that was destroyed by war.
The book features a ruthless ruler, The Avidon, that would do anything in his power to rise even higher. The Avidon is prepared to kill thousands and to use innocent children to get what he wants. For him to be able to go into war, he will need a secret weapon which is a little boy.
The Avidon tears a whole family apart in the beginning of the book to get what he wants. Luckily not everyone believes in the Avidon and there are a few people along the way to help the family and protect them from the Avidon’s ruthlessness.
The book starts out really great and it pulls you in right at the beginning, but as the book progresses you start to lose interest, because all the action happens right at the start and throughout the rest of the book not much happens and I also felt that the children sometimes acted unrealistic for their age.
Except for it’s flaws the book is interesting because we deal with a lot of different types of people. There are villagers, orphans, a ruthless ruler and the people who suck up to him.
What I liked most about this book was how the writer explained how Oro came into being, it was quite interesting.
What I disliked most would be how the writer didn’t consider the human emotions a lot, like the emotions of the children. I felt that they wouldn’t have reacted the way they did to the things they were told to do.
I would recommend this book to any fantasy lovers. I do not however recommend this book to people who don’t like fantasy books.
I found a lot of grammar mistakes throughout the book and I it interrupted my reading a lot and therefore I assume that it wasn’t professionally edited. I was also very disappointed in the book as I held high expectations for it after reading the first chapter, which I found very interesting.
Considering the book in a whole I rate Oro by Suyltan Muhammad3 out of 5 stars.
The Diverting Librarian 
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