Book Review: Blood Born by Shelley Wilson

Title: Blood Born

Author: Shelley Wilson
Genre: YA Horror - YA Vampires - YA Fantasy
Publisher: BHC Press - Copyright 2023
Publication Date: May 23, 2023
ISBN: 9781643973401
Read: May 5-8, 2023
Disclaimer: I received a digital advance reader copy from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis from Publisher: Emma's brutal death at the hands of a vampire should have been the end, but a mysterious hooded stranger steps in, changing her life forever. 

As seventeen-year-old Emma struggles with her new vampire gifts and cravings, her grandmother isn't surprised at all. Hinting that she knew this day would always come, she leaves to get help, promising to explain everything when she gets back, but she never returns. 

Instead, the beautiful and enigmatic Cara, a fellow vampire, shows up at her door. Promising to help her locate her missing grandmother and uncover her ancestry, she brings Emma to the Haven, a sanctuary for half-blood vampires. 

Thrust into a war between the Immortal vampires and the half-blood rogues, Emma's simple life begins to unravel as blood and secrets entwine to reveal a dark history and an even darker destiny. She'll need to survive long enough to discover who she really is and which side she wants to be on.

Review: Vampires. I love them. From the folklore to their modern re-imagining at the hands of authors like Anne Rice, Jay Kristoff, Charlaine Harris, Jonathan Maberry, and so many more, I can't get enough of the Fanged Folk. (As long as they don't sparkle. Sorry, Twilight fans, but no...just no.)

Shelley Wilson has created a blend of the old and the new vampire tropes. Each vampire has their own set of abilities and powers with a few commonalities. Yes, they're stronger than humans but not supernaturally strong. Yes, they're faster than humans but not supernaturally faster. Yes, they require blood and have issues with sunlight. But the uniqueness of Wilson's vampires makes for interesting reading.

Blood Born is definitely aimed at a young adult audience, and the younger side of YA, truth be told. While it's fun to learn about the vampires and the differences between them, especially the Immortals and the Rogues, from Emma's point of view, we never really dive deeply into the relationships she's forming with the other vampires in Cara's group. I would have like to have spent a little more time exploring these budding relationships, and perhaps this will be something Wilson plans to cover in the continuation of the series. 

Overall, Blood Born is a promising start to a new series. How Emma and the others develop over time will be interesting to watch.

Book Review: What Walks These Halls by Amy Clarkin

Title: What Walks These Halls

Author: Amy Clarkin
Genre: Young Adult Horror - YA Dark Fantasy 
Publisher: The O'Brien Press - Copyright 2023
Publication Date: April 10, 2023 (Kindle edition); June 10, 2023 (Paperback edition)
ISBN: 9781788493734 (Kindle edition); 9781788493734 (Paperback edition)
Read: April 2-3, 2023
Disclaimer: I received a digital advance reader copy from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis from Publisher: A prickling sensation grew on the back of her neck, spreading up her scalp. It was the feeling of being watched. She whirled to face the doorway but it was empty. 

Raven O’Sullivan doesn’t remember what happened in Hyacinth House five years ago. When her father died during a paranormal investigation there, everyone said it was an accident, but she’s pretty certain it’s her fault. 

Her brother, Archer, wasn’t there that night. When asked to investigate the supposed ghost of Hyacinth House, he can’t resist saying yes. Even if his sister wants nothing to do with it. 

Éabha McLoughlin has grown up seeing and hearing things no one else does. Now that she’s starting college, she finally has the freedom to find out why. The daring Archer and his eclectic team seem like a good place to start. 

But everyone has their secrets, and they all lead back to Hyacinth House …

Review: I love ghost stories, haunted houses, and paranormal investigations so I was excited to come across What Walks These Halls by Amy Clarkin. With it being in the young adult genre I wasn't expecting the same level of thrills and chills as would be in an adult market novel. However, I was surprised by the level of creepiness Clarkin attains while still keeping the writing suitable for younger readers.

The cast of characters is varied, and there's a touch of romance peppered throughout the story that seems a little forced or out of place. The standard teenage/young adult angst is in full swing among the characters. I did appreciate the inclusiveness of the author by representing LGBTQIA+ people among the romance. However, that doesn't make up for the seemingly forced nature of said romances. It's as though the romance angle was an afterthought rather than an organic byproduct of the story itself.

As for the characters, I struggled with them from time to time. Sometimes they read a well-defined and other times they seemed underdeveloped. This inconsistency made it hard to fully connect with the characters, but as for the plot of the story, I was all-in. The plot was intriguing and the pacing was good because it kept my interest. I wanted to know what happened next, and that's the hallmark of a good plot.

Overall, What Walks These Halls is a good book and definitely a positive step for a debut author. I'm curious to see what comes next from Amy Clarkin.

Book Review: Big Bad Me by Aislinn O'Loughlin

Title: Big Bad Me

Author: Aislinn O'Loughlin
Genre: Young Adult - YA Urban Fantasy - YA Fantasy
Publisher: Little Island Books - Copyright 2023
Publication Date: April 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781915071040
Read: April 2-4, 2023
Disclaimer: I received a digital advance reader copy from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Trigger Warnings: Animal harm (brief), blood drinking, self-harm, drugs/being drugged without knowledge, and mild gore.

Synopsis from Publisher: Canadian teenager Evie Wilder just found out she’s a werewolf. Now her mom’s gone missing, she and her sister Kate have to go into hiding, and there’s not a single helpful vampire slayer to be found. 

With the help of Kevin, the dorky-hot manager of the guesthouse where she and Kate lie low, Evie starts to harness her wolfish side. But Kevin seems to know a suspicious amount about vampires… 

Meanwhile, animal attacks are increasing, local teens are going missing, and Evie is about to find herself at the centre of a supernatural showdown.

Review: I loved this book! As a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, I was often reminded of the beloved series, and yet Aislinn O'Loughlin's writing comes across as fresh and immediate.

Told from the dual perspective of sisters Evie and Kate, Big Bad Me is a fun romp filled with werewolves, vampires, slayers, snark, and humor. Evie is just learning that the slightly odd life she thought she had is actually much, much weirder because she's a werewolf and her mom and sister have been trying to keep that fact from her. Now their mom is missing and it's up to Kate--who's a Buffy-esque hunter--and Evie to find her. Throw in a hot guy who knows far more than he should, Kate's crush on the girl next door, general teenaged mayhem, and it's a party!

O'Loughlin's world definitely pays homage to Buffy, Scooby-Doo, Stranger Things, and others in the young adult urban fantasy genre, but also stands on its own as a new voice within that genre. The characters are multi-dimensional and the world is familiar and yet new in its approach. Some of the pop culture references may not hold up over time, but that shouldn't detract from the overall enjoyment of the book. Overall, Big Bad Me is worth the read simply for the pleasure of having read a great book.

Book Review: Long Live the Pumpkin Queen by Shea Ernshaw

Title: Long Live the Pumpkin Queen

Author: Shea Ernshaw
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Disney Press - Copyright 2022
Publication Date: August 2, 2022
Read: October 23 - November 4, 2022
Disclaimer: I purchased a copy of this book from Amazon. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis from Publisher: Jack and Sally are "truly meant to be" ... or are they? 

Sally Skellington is the official, newly-minted Pumpkin Queen after a whirlwind courtship with her true love, Jack, who Sally adores with every inch of her fabric seams-- if only she could say the same for her new role as Queen of Halloween Town. Cast into the spotlight and tasked with all sorts of queenly duties, Sally can't help but wonder if all she's done is trade her captivity under Dr. Finkelstein for a different cage. But when Sally and Zero accidentally uncover a long-hidden doorway to an ancient realm called Dream Town, she'll unknowingly set into motion a chain of sinister events that put her future as Pumpkin Queen, and the future of Halloween Town itself, into jeopardy. Can Sally discover what it means to be true to herself and save the town she's learned to call home, or will her future turn into her worst... well, nightmare?

Review: I'm a huge fan of Tim Burton's classic The Nightmare Before Christmas and have always loved the relationship between Sally, the rag doll, and Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King. So I was incredibly excited when I learned there was to a book exploring their relationship and the events after that fateful year when Jack tried to take over Christmas with disastrous results.

Long Live the Pumpkin Queen is a slow building story. It begins with Jack and Sally's wedding and then follows the efforts of the denizens of Halloween Town to make their new queen into...well, their idea of a queen. Naturally, Sally isn't sure about her new role since she's only ever been an unwilling "daughter" to Dr. Finkelstein before she and Jack found one another. Sally looks for a way to escape the demands of being the newly-crowned Pumpkin Queen, but inadvertently sets off a chain of events that threatens Halloween Town, the other holiday realms, and even the Human World when she finds a passage into the mysterious and unknown realm of Dream Town.

I love the expansion of the holiday worlds and the new characters introduced in this book. However, I had some issues with Sally. At the end of The Nightmare Before Christmas, it seemed as though she had grown as a character and found an inner strength she didn't know she had when she tried to stop Jack from entering the Human World to take over Christmas and then attempting a solo rescue of Sandy Claws from Oogie Boogie. After these heroic actions, she seemed a great fit for Jack and as the future Pumpkin Queen. However, that isn't the Sally presented at the beginning of Long Live the Pumpkin Queen. 

Sally seems to have reverted to her more withdrawn self in the beginning of the book. While it's easy to understand she'd have some trepidation regarding her new role as co-ruler of Halloween Town, she comes across as...for lack of a better word, whiny. Yes, she does grow throughout the story and once again comes out as a strong character at the end, but I wanted to see that strong Sally from the end of The Nightmare Before Christmas at the beginning and then see her become even stronger. Sadly, that's now how the author chose to write her character.

Overall, Long Live the Pumpkin Queen is an enjoyable read and is a welcomed addition to Tim Burton's world of The Nightmare Before Christmas. I hope more books will come that continues to expand the holiday worlds and the legend of the Pumpkin King and Queen.

Book Review: A Grave of Flowers by Priscylla Attler

 

Title: A Grave of Flowers

Author: Priscylla Attler
Genre: YA Fantasy with LGBTQIA+ elements
Publisher: Self-published - Copyright 2022
Publication Date: May 3, 2022
Read: July 6-September 11, 2022 -- Did Not Finish
Disclaimer: Author requested a review and sent a free paperback copy via Amazon. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis from Publisher: 16-year old Nulla has been discriminated against her entire life for her colorism - a genetic illness that gave her bright, colorful features. While her family once sheltered and isolated her for her own protection, this seclusion was not enough to protect her from her own unusual power, a power that is both dangerous and life-saving. 

Nulla’s friend, Ani, is slated to become the next Child of Dead, a role that is feared by many. Terrified of his fate, Ani decides to escape his home country, bringing Nulla, her twin brother,
and his best friend Zephr in tow. However, their escape plans are quickly turned upside down when Nulla is kidnapped and sold to a mad scientist performing human experiments on Colors and Ani is hunted down by Dianne - a previous Child of Death wanting to punish Ani for escaping his fate. As Nulla suffers at the hands of her cruel captor, can she learn to control her power in time to save herself?

Review: When I was initially contacted by a publicist asking if I'd be interested in reviewing debut author Priscylla Attler's A Grave of Flowers, the synopsis intrigued me. I love finding new writers, especially when the story sound compelling and offers a element that is often underrepresented in fantasy and science fiction such as BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ characters. (Full disclosure: I am neither of these, however, I am a very strong believer in equality for all regardless of skin color, sexual orientation, economic status, country of origin, religion, or any of the other myriad reasons humans find to generally be assholes to one another. My personal philosophy is "Be excellent to one another and party on, dudes." If only I could apply it to this book...) Naturally, I agreed and was sent a review copy by the author through Amazon in exchange for a honest review. 

I began reading with high hopes. The prologue definitely caught my attention. Yeah, there were a few small typos and punctuation matters, but I can easily overlook such things when the characters are engaging and the story is promising. Alas, what started with such promise quickly gave way to an overly idealistic view of what was billed as an "oppressive government," zero-zip-zilch-nada tension between supposedly contrary characters, no evidence of an actual plot anywhere on the page, and a painfully obvious lack of skilled writing and editing.

Any yet, despite all these negatives, I could--and still do--see a glimmer of potential in the overall story. The biggest problem I see with A Grave of Flowers is the dreaded "Friends and Family Review Syndrome." I fully understand wanting to share your writing with those closest to you. However, unless you have brutally honest friends and family--and I mean honest almost to the point of being labeled sociopathic--those friends and family should never be trusted to give proper, authentic feedback because once they are faced with the choice of either giving impartial and possibly negative evaluations of the writer's work and potentially crushing the writer's soul they will 99.999999% of the time opt for the non-soul-eviscerating "Yeah, it's great! I love it!" If a writer hears this and nothing else, assume your friends and family are all wearing flame retardant pants.

Writing is hard, and it doesn't happen in a vacuum. As I said, I really do see potential in the premise of A Grave of Flowers. Unfortunately, the writing doesn't live up to that potential. My suggestion to the author is to look into a basic fiction workshop. Most colleges and universities offer workshop classes either as part of a creative writing program, an English department elective, or as part of a community-enrichment program. These workshops offer exposure to a variety of genres and writing styles while also providing encouragement and honest feedback. If none of these options are available, find an online critique group. NaNoWriMo, for example, offers plenty of contacts both during November and year-round. The other option is to find a freelance/independent editor. Yes, an editor, or "book doctor," will expect payment anywhere from a few hundred to several thousands of dollars depending on how they charge (per hour, by word count, or by page count). Editors can cover everything from character development, plotting, and world-building to line edits with attention paid to spelling, punctuation, and grammar. It all depends on how much the author is willing to pay and how much work the story needs.

While A Grave of Flowers joins the handful of books I sadly must file in the "did not finish" category and therefore cannot be recommended for purchase at this time, I sincerely hope the author will look into resources to develop the story and polish their writing because I believe there's potential here.