Category: Reviews

Room 9 and Other Stories – REVIEW

Title: Room 9 and Other Stories

Series: N/A

Author: Amy Cross

Type: Short Stories

Genre: Horror/Supernatural/Paranormal

Format: eBook

Pages: 378

Owned/Borrowed/Given Etc: Kindle Unlimited

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Blurb: A girl checks into a haunted motel room, determined to prove that ghosts exist. But what’s really waiting for her in the notorious room 9? A man meets an old friend who claims to be haunted by a figure from their past. But when that friend does, who will the ghost haunt next? A town struggles to face the horrors of its past. But no matter how hard the local people try to forget, the victim of a terrible crime is determined to avenge her own death. Room 9 and Other Stories contains the new short stories Room 9, The Ghost of Daniel Dowd and The Horror of Blackforke House, as well as revised versions of The Disappearance of Rose Hillard and The Fan.

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I choose this as part of my 3 month Kindle Unlimited subscription and also because I’m loving the format of short stories at the moment. An added bonus is that this book falls into one of my all-time favourite genres – horror, supernatural and paranormal. Although, the stories in this book lean more to the paranormal side than the horror.

I’ll split this book into individual stories as I have very different feelings about them all.

The Horror of Blackforke House (⭐⭐)- This should’ve/could’ve been a fantastic trope of a story. The standard, well-known, well-loved haunted house story. However, it left me wanting something to happen. It just ended without any satisfactory conclusion. This was definitely the worst in the bunch.

The Fan (⭐⭐⭐)- This was a middle of the road story for me in the book. It was worth a read but it felt like I’d seen/read this storyline so many times before in many different ways. The title is pretty self-explanatory, a celebrity and a fan have an encounter. Not much else happens that you wouldn’t expect in a book of this genre.

The Disappearance of Rose Hilland (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)- This story is what made the book worth reading. It made the book achieve a three-star rating. The Rose Hilland story is vile and has some disturbing moments but it builds up fantastically and brings about the thrilling conclusion in an amazing and actually quite surprising way. This is a five-star story on its own, and could easily have been published by itself if the author could make it longer.

Room 9 (⭐⭐⭐)- Hotel rooms and ghosts. Think 1408 (Stephen King) but nowhere near the same level. Still, given that it was much tamer than I expected, it was still a good story.

The Ghost of Daniel Dowd (⭐⭐)- This would be the second worst story in the book in my opinion. By the time I had finished reading the story after this one, I couldn’t even remember what had happened. Even now, I only have a brief recollection of a man and a ghost but that’s about as far as it goes.

Total Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (15 out of a possible 25)

I would recommend this particular book by Amy Cross. I have read a previous book by the same author, in the same format and it was rife with editing/typing errors. This book had a couple of really noticeable ones but nothing like I had seen prior to this book.

101 Very Short Stories by 101 Authors – STORIES ON THE GO – Review

Title: 101 Very Short Stories by 101 Authors – STORIES ON THE GO

Author: 101 Different Authors

Type: Fiction

Genre: Every genre imaginable

Format: eBook

Pages: 464 

Owned/Borrowed/Given Etc: Owned – Kindle eBook

Rating: 3/5

Blurb: This anthology aims to be a showcase of recent indie writing. 
Hugh Howey launched the idea on Kboards, a forum for Kindle readers, but also the meeting place of an active community of indie writers. 
The result is this anthology of 101 very short stories by 101 authors. 
To make it more attractive for you, the reader, we set ourselves a limit of a thousand words. You should be able to read each story in under five minutes — on your desktop computer, laptop, or tablet at home or in the office, but also on your smartphone, on the go, while you are commuting or waiting at a coffee shop for your significant other to arrive. 
We included as many genres as we could. We hope that maybe, with only five minutes of your time on the line that would otherwise be wasted anyway, you’ll be tempted to venture outside your comfort zone and try out some new genres and new authors.

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This review is going to be a little bit different due to the fact that there are 101 different stories by 101 different authors and all of the different genres. Instead of a full book review, I’m making small notes after each story and I will summarise what I thought. As the stories are limited to one thousand words or less, I will not be going into too much detail because it would be really easy to spoil the story for others.

As a whole, I’m giving the book 3/5 purely because, as with most story collections, there were some good ones and some bad ones. It did take me rather a long time to read, around 40 days, but it was manageable as the stories were five-minute reads, some of them even quicker.

There was a good chunk of the stories that I opted out of reading, this was either because of the genre (I can not read pure romance stories of any sort – they are not my thing) or because the story didn’t grab me within the first few lines.

One of the stories, I had already pre-judged before reading. This was called “The Witching Well” by Sarra Cannon. I did this because I am an avid fan of Cannon’s work so I figured I was going to love it. I was correct. 

Stories I Liked (in no particular order)

Purple Passion by Lanette Curington
Buck Hunt by Livia Harper
Wild by Selina French
Choose Peas by Ellisa Barr
Thursday at the Ritz-Carlton
The Oak Tree – EelKat’s Twisted Tales by Wendy C. Allen a.k.a. EelKat
The Little Chill – A Three-Minute Mystery by Lindy Moone
Last Words by David J. Normoyle
Masked Attraction by Jamie Campbell
The Birds of Winter by Amelia Smith
Buttrock by Nicolas Wilson
Beyond by Keith Rowland
Embracing Sorrow by Ruth Nestvold
Mechanical Advantage by Quinn Richardson
Indy-San by Misti Wolanski
The Witch in the Woods by Nadia Nader
Death’s Door by R.M. Prioleau
Living Bride by Joel Ansel

 

 

OtherEarth (Last Reality #2) – Review

Title: OtherEarth

Series: Last Reality (#2)

Author: Jason Segel, Kirsten Miller

Type: Fiction

Genre: Science Fiction

Format: Paperback

Pages: 320

Owned/Borrowed/Given Etc: Borrowed from the library

Rating: 3/5

Blurb: Simon saved his best friend, Kat, from the clutches of the Company and their high-tech VR gaming experience, Otherworld. But it was at a steep price. Now he, Kat, and their friend Busara are on the run. They know too much. About the Company’s dark secrets. About the real-life consequences of playing Otherworld. And about Kat’s stepfather’s involvement in everything. The group is headed to New Mexico to find Simon’s old roommate, who is a tech genius and possibly the only person who can help them reveal the truth about the Company before it’s too late and the line between what’s real and what’s fantasy is erased… forever.

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I borrowed this book from the library following my read of OtherWorld (Last Reality #1) by the same authors. I had to reserve it AND wait for it to be transferred from a different library to my local one. I paid a grand total of 75p for this pleasure. The cost didn’t really bother me, it was definitely cheaper than buying a copy of the book – especially since I wasn’t really sure whether I would like it or not.

Set in the same video-game/virtual reality world(s) as the first book in the series, we meet Simon and Kat again, along with some other key characters from the first story. This book picked up EXACTLY where the first book left off. This is not something that always happens in sequels, often you find that there has been a certain length of time passed between books but this did not. It was super easy to dive back into the story, continuing along the journey with Simon. Following him from the real world to the VR world and wondering what they were going to do in order to overcome the predicaments facing them. After reading some of the reviews on Goodreads, it seems I was not the only one able to easily continue with reading the story at the beginning.

Pulling up into the home run, where all the major action normally takes place, this book did not disappoint. We had plenty of action and lots of major plot points seem to be coming together. I got very excited thinking of everything that would be happening and then BOOM!!! It threw me off a bridge. So dang confused. I’m hoping 100% that the third book due out later on this year will bring everything round to a close. Make sense of the bits that have left me thinking WTF.

**If you have NOT read this book, please DO NOT read any further**

 

CLICK HERE TO READ SPOILER

Simon has been in and out of OtherWorld so many times, he has no idea what is real and what isn’t. There are plenty of hints given to this effect throughout the story, particularly by his Grandfather. Busara confuses me more and more as the story goes on, her main reasoning behind this is kind of explained as we draw to a close BUT that final chapter is the one that completely left me dumbfounded. It’s rare I feel this way about a book but man I was left feeling completely betrayed. Was the whole book a simulation, or just part of it? At what part in the story did it become a simulation? Why was it not obvious to readers such as myself (and I’m normally quite good at guessing twists)? I don’t even know where that leaves us now?
I’m feeling quite nonchalant about the whole series right now, especially as it’s fresh in my mind (I finished it about an hour ago). Is this what we want from a cliff hanger? I like a book that leaves me wanting more, a need to read the next book to see what happens next but I’m just not feeling that at the moment. I am waaaayyyy too confused right now.

Frostbite: The Graphic Novel (Vampire Academy: The Graphic Novel #2) – Review

Title: Frostbite: The Graphic Novel (Vampire Academy: The Graphic Novel #2)

Author: Richelle Mead (Adapter), Emma Vieceli (Illustrator), Leigh Dragoon (Adapter)

Type: Fiction

Genre: Fantasy

Format: Paperback

Pages: 156

Owned/Borrowed/Given Etc: Borrowed from the Library

Rating: 3/5

Blurb: WHEN LOVE AND JEALOUSY COLLIDE ON THE SLOPES. WINTER BREAK TURNS DEADLY.
A Strigoi attack puts St. Vladimir’s on high alert, and the Academy whisks its students away on a mandatory Holiday ski trip. But the glittering winter landscape and posh Idaho resort only provide the illusion of safety. When three students run away to strike back at the Strigoi, Rose must join forces with Christian to rescue them. Only this time, Rose – and her heart – are in more danger than she could have imagined.

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Before I start my review, I’d like to point out that I HAVE NOT YET read the Vampire Academy novels. I figured I’d try these before starting on the full-on books.

Knowing nothing of the story previously, I felt like I managed to get a pretty good idea as to what happens. It’s like a teenage saga. A group of teenagers (regardless of their species) hang around and get into all sorts of teenage trouble. The Dhampirs (half-human, half-vampire) are trained to protect the royalty of Vampire families. That’s pretty much all of it summed up in a nutshell.

I have issues with the illustrations in this (and its prior volume). Not that I don’t think Dragoon is an amazing artist, but they just don’t sit right with me in this instance. I couldn’t even really begin to tell you what it is, the characters don’t look like I imagine them to be when reading the words. That is with the exception of Rose. She is the only one in this story that seems to “fit” in with how the story works. 

That being said, I do like the story. I am definitely interested in reading more of the volumes (unfortunately, none of the libraries within my area have a copy of Shadow Kiss in Graphic Novel format and I am not all that keen to want to buy it). I think I may move onto the novels and take it from there, but I will have to start again from the beginning to make sure I get the full extent of the story and the detail that goes into a novel compared to the Graphic versions.

Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1 – Review

Title: Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1

Author: Young Kim, Stephenie Meyer

Type: Fiction

Genre: Fantasy

Format: Paperback

Pages: 224

Owned/Borrowed/Given Etc: Borrowed from the library

Rating: 4/5

Blurb: When Isabella Swan moves to the gloomy town of Forks and meets the mysterious, alluring Edward Cullen, her life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. With his porcelain skin, golden eyes, mesmerizing voice, and supernatural gifts, Edward is both irresistible and impenetrable. Up until now, he has managed to keep his true identity hidden, but Bella is determined to uncover his dark secret…

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I’m a Twilight fan through and through. I always have been and probably always will be (I can’t confirm whether my 80-year-old self will still be interested in these type of stories but I’m hoping I will be).

There’s not really much for me to say about the story as its exactly the same as the books but the illustrations are absolutely fantastic! Young Kim has done a perfect job of bringing the characters to life. Whilst they resemble the characters seen on the big screen, they 100% match up with how I envisioned them when reading the books.

If you are a Twilight fan, then I would highly recommend reading this.

Otherworld (Last Reality #1) – Review

Ready Player One meets Game of Thrones meets The Lord of the Rings

Title: Otherworld (Last Reality #1)

Author: Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller

Type: Fiction

Theme: Virtual Reality/Game Based

Genre: Science Fiction

Format: Hardback

Pages: 355

Owned/Borrowed/Given Etc: Borrowed from the library

Rating: 4/5

Blurb: The company says Otherworld is amazing — like nothing you’ve ever seen before. They say it’s addictive — that you’ll want to stay forever. They promise Otherworld will make all your dreams come true.
Simon thought Otherworld was a game. Turns out he knew nothing. Otherworld is the next phase of reality. It’s everything you’ve ever wanted.
And it’s about to change humanity forever.
Welcome to the Otherworld. No one could have seen it coming.

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I loved this book. The story was just what I was looking for and it fit really well with my new found taste in genres. Otherworld is a tussle of a story between virtual and physical worlds, seeing the potential end of the world as we know it. This is definitely a science fiction book, but it centres around the video game side of science fiction and that’s why I liked it so much.

I was the first person to borrow this copy from my library so I got to read it, as new, in its hardback format. I’ve also reserved a copy of the second book in the last reality series and am hoping to collect it soon.

Diary of a Mummy Misfit – Review

Title: Diary of a Mummy Misfit

Author: Amanda Egan

Type: Fiction

Theme: Diary/Episodal Inserts

Genre: Essentially Women’s Fiction/Chick Lit, but branches out into the Comedy/Humour section too

Format: eBook

Pages: 355

Owned/Borrowed/Given Etc: Owned on Kindle

Rating: 4/5

Blurb: Ever felt like you don’t belong? 
When Libby Marchant and husband Ned made the monumental decision to sacrifice luxuries and holidays to see their only son Max through private education, they hadn’t expected to meet so many unsavoury and dislikeable personalities along the way.
Happily, the cruel jibes of the pompous ‘Meemies’ are made more tolerable by the lasting and loyal friendship they strike up with the affluent Fenella & Josh.
Follow Libby’s journey as she discovers the chasm between the Haves and the Have-Nots in her mad new world of school committees, designer handbags, bitching and botox.
With Fenella by her side, Libby is able to maintain her sanity. But what happens when the credit crunch bites, you’re desperate for another baby and your Asian neighbour is trying to match-make you with her infatuated son?

This book is COMPLETELY out of my comfort zone. I’ve never been one for books classed as “women’s fiction“, “chick lit” or even “comedy/humour” unless the theme/plot has been something that I really really love.

EVERY and I mean every school has “Meemies”. Granted they may not be on the same scale as the ones that poor Libby has to deal with, but they still exist.

The writing style is chatty and down to earth. It reads very similarly to a diary entry as you would expect given the title. I found myself wanting things to right for Libby, really hoping along with her. The entries in the diary were on a really personal level. I could relate to the main character, Libby, because she was a “normal” mum, just trying to do her best for her child.

I am definitely going to read the sequel as soon as I can.

“Karlology – What I’ve Learnt So Far? by Karl Pilkington” Review

Image result for Karlology - What I Have Learnt So Far

I used to really enjoy watching Karl Pilkington in his TV Show – An Idiot Abroad. In this book, Karl tells us all about the things he has learnt whilst visiting various attractions in and around London.

Each chapter is a section on a specific visit, from an Egyptian display to a museum, various different places are explored. Karl tells us about the place he visited and provides his insight into a lot of what he learnt.

I didn’t find this book as entertaining as his TV show, I felt like it was lacking in the usual flair I had come to expect from Karl but there was just enough “Karlology” to keep me going at a fairly quick speed.

Title: Karlology – What I’ve Learnt So Far

Author: Karl Pilkington

Pages: Unsure at time of writing review

Genre: True Life

Format: Paperback

Owned/Borrowed/Given Etc: Owned

Rating: 3/5

Review: OldTimers

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Title: OldTimers

Author: Matthew Cash

Pages: 22

Genre: Horror

Rating: 3/5

Blurb: Sandy thinks there’s something wrong with her resident’s new hearing aid. It’s picking up numbers that only he can detect.
Evil carer Lisa thinks he’s just an attention seeking senile old imbecile.
They’re counting down, but to what?

OldTimers is my second Cash book in two days (I enjoyed the first one that much I decided to read one of his other books as soon as I could).

First of all, I’d like to comment on something I didn’t mention in my previous Cash review – the covers. They are short stories and they are reasonably priced on Amazon UK so I don’t expect them to have overly fantastical covers but I do feel that they are on the basic side. A cover is generally the first reason I would even consider a book, so while that doesn’t reflect the story inside, I do think it is an important factor.

As with Slugs and Snails and Puppydogs Tails, this book is short. 22 pages in total, but again, Cash managed to set the scene, tell a story and come to a suitable conclusion.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this story but the ending was a surprise yet again. So on two separate occasions, Matthew Cash has managed to surprise me with the ending to a short story.

I would still recommend that you do not read this is you are squeamish.

Review: Slugs, Snails and Puppydogs Tails

slugs and snails and puppydog tails

Title: Slugs and Snails and Puppydogs Tails

Author: Matthew Cash

Pages: 13

Genre: Horror

Rating: 4/5

Blurb: Gerald loves creepy crawlies. He likes to catch and torture them. He’s caught something a lot bigger this time though.

I honestly don’t even remember downloading this book onto my kindle, it must have been one of the millions that I got as a free book. I was searching through my kindle library for all the books that I have paid for and came across this (and a few others by the same author). The first thing that stuck out was the length – thirteen pages, a whole thirteen pages of story – a small page number like this usually goes one of two ways: really good to really bad. The second thing and the reason that I decided I had to read it now, was that the cover said the story was “sick”.

I went into the story not knowing what kind of “sick” I was going to be reading. It could’ve been an ill kind of sick, a disgusting kind of sick or the kind of sick that the kids are all talking about these days. I was hoping for one particular kind of sick and it didn’t disappoint.

With it being such a short story, I daren’t say too much because I don’t want to give it away, but I will say that you really should read it. However, I will offer the following advice:
Do not read it if you are at all prudish/squeamish/easily offended etc
This book is not the faint hearted