Category: book review

Review: Steppin’ Out: Poems and Thoughts From Yaad

Steppin’ Out: Poems and Thoughts From Yaad is a short collection of poems and reflection from Jamacian poet Patricia J. Cameron. Told in both Standard English and Pidgin English, the poems run the gamut from love, religion, family, and island life.

At first the pidgin English was hard to understand, but I quickly figured it out and grew to love the musicality of it. I also loved learning about the Black experience through the lens of a native Jamaican.

However, my biggest complaint is the formatting issues that made it at times hard to read. I also thought the collection was a little short at barely 60 pages. That said, I’m looking forward to reading more of Mx. Cameron’s work in the future.

I give Steppin’ Out: Poems and Thoughts From Yaad 3.0 out of 5.0 stars. Definitely check this out.

Review: Project Himbo

Project Himbo by S.J. Whitby

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a weird, wonderful, wild ride through time and space.

Set after Mutantsitters Club, Project Himbo by SJ Whitby plays with time and narrative structure to show the events of the Dark Year and the backstory of several new characters.

Joining the cast are Goat Bee, a transwoman with goat hooves and horns; Eva, a sentient algae colony suspended in water contained in an AI-controlled suit who became a mutant to exterminate mutants; Ian, Ion Storm, Eva’s partner and lover who can manipulated electricity; Nails, who shoots nails from machinery in their mouth; Twinkle Lights, who has Jubilee-esque light powers; Hench, a windup biomechanical mutant who has worked for various villains to pay of her medical debt; and Tentacle Princess, a hyperdimensional alien creature whose race were worshiped like gods and fed on humans and Cybele.

Fan favorites Feral, Penance, and Onimaru also make appearances, but my favorite of the new mutants is Eva. Her backstory and raison d’etre drew me in, and I would read a whole book from her point of view. And it’s her quest to save Ian that propels the story forward as she seeks to reverse time, creating pocket dimensions and nearly destroying the space-time continuum in the process.

Which leads me to my next point.

Unlike previous entries in the series, Project Himbo uses multiple first-person POVs and switches between past and present, which was confusing at first trying to keep the timelines and characters straight. It also veers into metafiction at time with the characters talking about things like narrative arcs, plot structure, and character development.

Ultimately, I got what Mx. Whitby was trying to accomplish, but I can see how this book could throw readers off, especially in Penance’s chapters where it delves into religion, philosophy, and the metaphysics behind her powers.

At times, the book all but broke the fourth wall, and while I predicted the twist, it was still a head trip getting there.

Overall, I loved this book much more than The Mutantsitters Club and can’t wait to see where the series goes next. I give Project Himbo 5.0 out of 5.0 stars.

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Review: Epic Farm Boy

Epic Farm Boy by Sam Ferguson

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Epic Farm Boy by Sam Ferguson is a metafiction fantasy novel about struggling writer Jack and Simplin the Wise, his disgruntled stock character who wants an adventure of his own and forces Jack to write it.

This is the gist of the story and honestly it falls flat.

Simplin , Lucas, Luriel, and the other characters were the definition of boring. I would have preferred reading more of Bevin’s story as that was at least interesting. But the story I got was just bad all around. The copious pop culture references to better fantasy series only served to drive home how much this book lacked.

And if that weren’t bad enough, the attempts at humor had me cringing they were so bad.
I was sorely tempted to DNF as the plot meandered and stalled, such as when Luriel’s sister recounted how she rescued Lucas and droned on for several paragraphs what could have relayed in a few sentences.

But worst of all was the ending. All the buildup to the confrontation with Skid Mark the Brown (yes, that’s the big bad’s name), only for it to mean nothing. After reading the last page I felt cheated and that my time was wasted.

Epic Farm Boy was an epic failure, and I give it 2.0 out of 5.0 stars and don’t recommend reading it.

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Review: Tristan Strong Keeps Punching

Tristan Strong Keeps Punching by Kwame Mbalia

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Tristan Strong Keeps Punching is the third entry in Kwame Mbalia’s middle grade fantasy series inspired by African American and West African folklore. Picking up a few weeks after book two, Tristan must track down the missing Alkean inhabitants and children with fragments of Alke’s story woven within them, while trying to defeat the haint King Cotton and his Redliners, who want to take over the world and make it a safe space for them and their racist hateful views.

This time around, Tristan must deal with anger issues and questioning whether he’s worthy of still being an Anasesem and the Alkean Gods’ champion.

This time around, Tristan must deal with anger issues and questioning whether he’s worthy of still being an Anasesem and the Alkean Gods’ champion.

I don’t know what happened between the last book and this one, but I found Tristan to be so annoying. He constantly ran off halfcocked, ignoring everyone’s advice not to go off alone, and put himself and others in danger. And he suffers no consequences for his actions.

I get the adults are useless trope exists in middle grade and young adult novel for a reason, but just once I wished Tristan would have listened, instead of thinking he knew better. I could have excused this as his being only twelve-years-old, had he learned form his actions, but he doesn’t at all. And the only reason he survives is because of plot armor.

I also felt the romance Mbalia is setting up for Tristan and Ayanna wasn’t needed at all and it came off as an afterthought.

I will say Tristan’s sense of humor, which hooked me, was on showcase here, but those moments were rare as he spends mostly of the story complaining about things as though that alone will change things.

Overall while I did enjoy this book, I liked it much less than the other entries in the series. But I’m hopeful to see where the series goes next now that there is an army of kids with Alkean magic other there to be found and trained.

I give Tristan Strong Keeps Punching 3.0 out of 5.0 stars. If you liked the previous entries in the series, then check this one out. But know that it’s nowhere as light or funny, and Tristan can work your last nerve with his complaining.

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Review: Dark Star by Arch Hunter

Dark Star by Arch Hunter

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Short and sweet but lacking depth.

Dark Star by Arch hunter is a short young adult LGBTQ+ romance novel that follows sixteen-year-old Tyler, the son of a conservative politician, who develops a sudden crush on his classmate Rufus and then must choose between being with his homophobic popular friends or being true to himself and pursuing his feeling for Rufus.

Overall, I like the story and thought Tyler and Rufus were well-rounded characters; however, I thought the other characters weren’t as developed and came off as one-dimensional.

I also thought the ending was abrupt and left a lot of questions unanswered. With a bit more editing this could have been a 5-star book. But as it stands, I give Dark Star three out of five stars.

Definitely check this out if you’re looking for a short, fun read.

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Review: The Coven of Zora #1

Rising by L.D. Valentine

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rough around the edges but a delightful story with likeable characters and an engaging plot

Rising (The Coven of Zora #1) by L D Valentine is a queer fantasy novel about a multiracial group of gay young adults who each control a different element and use spells.

The book centers on Xavier, an 18-year-old gay Navajo guy whose introduction into the world of magic involves watching a demon kill his uncle, and it almost killing him. Xavier controls fire and becomes the leader of his coven of 6 males witches, all of whom are gay. He struggles with magic and feelings of self-worth, inadequacy, and trust issues.

After Zora recruits him and the others, they train a bit then begin going on demon-killing missions, and it’s on one such mission that Xavier meets Alexander Kiras, Scion of House Asmodai, one of the four major demonic houses.

Alexander reveals he’s been killing off witches before a full coven could form and is intrigued how he missed Xavier’s coven; he also expresses his carnal interest in Xavier. Alexander then begins a cat and mouse game with Xavier and his coven, leading to a final confrontation between him and Xavier.

I liked Xavier a lot and thought he was Black until he mentioned being Navajo. I also thought Nate, Danny, Max, and the other characters were interesting but not as fleshed out as they could be. Also, the relationship between Xavier and Adam, who controls water, was okay but came off as a bit tacked on.

But it was nice to see a group of queer superheroes on the page.

My biggest complaints and what I feel keep this from being a 5-star book are the clunky dialogue and sentences and the ending which was very anticlimactic and abrupt. However, these issues were only minor, and I can’t wait for the next in the series to be released.

I give Rising (The Coven of Zora #1) 4.0 (rounded up from 3.8) stars. Definitely check this out if you enjoy action-packed fantasy with diverse queer leads.

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lgbtq+ SFF

Review: Heal Queen Heal by TaSh Shabazz

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Needs tons of editing but has a lot of potential.

Heal Queen Heal by TaSh Shabazz is a short collection of poems interspersed with Shabazz’s observation about life and her self-healing journey. While I got what she was going for I had several issues with this book.

First, the eBook wasn’t formatted right. I tried reading it on my Kindle Paper White but kept getting an error message saying the file wasn’t compatible with my device. Ultimately, I had to read it on my iPad. Thankfully, the book was only 82 pages, or this would have been an automatic DNF for me.

Second, the lack of proper editing and formatting. There are several punctuation and grammatical errors throughout the book, to the point I almost gave up as those combined with the author’s inconsistent formatting, random capitalization, and all-caps-ing of words made reading a chore.
While I empathized with Ms. Shabazz and her journey to self-acceptance and healing, I thought most of the poem lacked refinement, vivid or unique imagery, metaphors, or similes. They also didn’t have a consistent meter, and she often shoved words together with little to no meaning just because they rhymed.

However, the writing improved as the collection neared the end and I am open to reading future works by Ms. Shabazz as there is a glimmer of good writing to be found in this collection, but its cons outweigh its pros. Perhaps with more editing, this collection could have shined, but as it is, it doesn’t warrant the $9.99 price tag given the faults I listed and its shortness.

I give Heal Queen Heal 2.0 out of 5.0 stars.

Either rent this from your library or snag it when it’s on sale.

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Review: Eternally Yours

Eternally Yours by Patrice Caldwell

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Eternally Yours is an anthology of fifteen paranormal romance short stories by and featuring people of color. The stories run the gamut from tales about vampires and other monsters to mermaids, sea witches, and angels.

As with other anthologies I’ve read, I thought the stories stopped without telling a satisfying story. Also, I found most of them predictable to the point I guessed all the twists and the endings. I will say it was nice seeing Black and brown folks centered in paranormal romance stories.

However, of the bunch I only loved three of them, and thought the rest were just meh. My favorite of the three was Who Will Save Me by Julian Winters. It’s the story of a guardian angel pinning for his male charge, and I’d so read a complete novel with this premise.

My next favorite was Kiss The Boy by Adib Khorram. It’s a queer twist on The Little Mermaid featuring a nonbinary merperson and the boy they are soul bonded with.

My third favorite was another story featuring merfolk, La Bruja y la Sirena by Anna-Marie McLemore. It follows a sea witch and a mermaid who fall in love with each other. I loved the lyrical prose.

Overall, I thought this anthology was just okay and could have been better if there were fewer stories, so the ones included would have been longer to tell a more satisfactory story.
I give Eternally Yours 3.0 out of 5.0 stars. Rent this or pick it up on sale.

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Review: Worth Searching (Heart of The South #2) For by Wendy Qualls

Just not good.

Generally, I don’t read straight up romances as I find them boring, but I gave this one a shot as it featured dogs and a gay romance.

First, this book couldn’t have been more clichéd. City guy moves to the boondocks and falls for a country guy? Check.

A small, effeminate guy (Lito) is the bottom and the alpha male (Dave), muscle bound ex-army guy is the top? Check.

Fish out of water? Check?

A misunderstanding that the characters could have resolved if they just talked? Check.

If this weren’t bad enough, Lito, Dave, and the rest of the characters have zero personality.

And as for Lito and Dave, they have no chemistry together and I can’t see why they’d be together, as Dave seems like the type of guy who’d put “masc4masc, no fats, fems, Blacks or Asians” or “Latinos only” on his Grindr profile.

As for Lito, he’s the stereotypical gay guy into fashion/interior design/art and pop devas. And while we’re told he’s Peruvian, aside from a few lines about him being brown and speaking Spanish, he’s whitewashed like crazy.

The story takes forever to get going and there is no conflict until the last 3 or 4 chapters.

Only for the story to wrap up too neatly by the end.

Even the sex scenes, of which there are multiple, drag on, lacking any emotion or sensuality. They’re just a series of insert tab a into slot b.

The story finally picked up at the 80% mark only to abruptly end with a saccharin ending the characters didn’t earn.

Overall, I didn’t like this book and doubt I’ll read any of the others in the series.

I give Worth Searching For (Heart of the South #2) 2 stars.

Review: Newsletter Ninja by Tammi Labrecque

Newsletter Ninja: How to Become an Author Mailing List Expert by Tammi Labrecque

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Newsletter Ninja: How to Be an Author Mailing List Expert is a nonfiction book about building and maintaining a mailing list to build your readership. At just under 200 pages, it was a quick, yet informative read.

I’ve read several books and articles and taken several courses on building your author platform/mailing list, but none of them explained the process in as much detail as Labrecque did in this book.

She gives you a tested process for growing your mailing list and nurturing relationships with your subscribers with several understandable examples that I found an immense help. I also found her voice friendly, funny, and always engaging. Also, her chapters were well organized with subheadings and bullet points that made note-taking a joy. They also didn’t drag on like in other books.

While I knew a lot of the topics she talked about, she covered them in more depth than other sources I’ve read, and I came away with a better understanding of them. She also covered several areas I wasn’t aware of, like the ask-to-give ratio and how to build genuine relationships with subscribers and keep them engaged in the long term. I especially loved the section on her newsletter philosophy, which is readers are secondary to building authentic relationships with people.

Until this point, everything I’ve consumed said it was all about gaining a lot of subscribers/clicks and converting them into buys. I’ve never been comfortable with that method, as it left me feeling sleazy. I was happy to learn there was another thanks to this book.

If had any criticism, it’s I wished Labrecque went into a little more detail on lead magnets and how to promote your list without coming off like a spammer. Also, she tries to upsell you on her newsletter course and consultation services toward the end, but it’s not overbearing.

Overall, I give Newsletter Ninja 5 out of 5 stars.

If you’re looking for a good explanation of how to build your author mailing list or if, like me, you haven’t had much success with your current methods, then I highly recommend this book.

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Review: Cute Mutants Vol. 5

Cute Mutants Vol 5: Galaxy Brain by S.J. Whitby

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Had low expectations going into this, but was pleasantly surprised.

Galaxy Brain is the fifth entry in SJ Whitby’s Cute Mutants series and things go from bad to worse when humans declare war on mutantkind. Then a Bible-obsessed artificial intelligence named Michael gains sentience, enslaves the world, and tries to wipe out mutants as it believes they are an abomination.

While this book was the darkest in the series, there was a ton of hope to be found within its pages. I loved this book focused less on relationship drama, which was my issue with Vol. 4, and dealt more with moral/ethical questions and the toll war takes on you.

I also loved how much more action-packed this was than the previous two books in the series and how deftly Whitby dealt with the issues of grief, loss, betrayal, and finding hope in the darkest of times.

I thought the plot went off the rails a bit toward the ends, but not so much that it detracted from my overall reading experience. I also thought the ending was bittersweet, as a main character dies.

Though this book could serve as the series finale, Whitby left things open enough for a sequel.

My biggest complaint is how easily everyone forgave Emma for putting them in suspended animation and using their powers for an entire year without their consent.

I also thought Dylan forgave Emma too quickly for taking away her powers, and I thought Emma was a giant jerk throughout this book and tipped toward Mary Sue territory power wise and how everyone overlooked her crappy actions.

I enjoyed the world building in this book and the back story we got on mutants and how they’ve always been around in one form or another.

If Whitby continues the series, I struggle to see how they can up the ante without going into comic book levels of conflict and the associated ridiculousness that would bring.

But even given Galaxy Brain’s faults, I loved it and bought the other spin-off books in the series and will read them in due course. I give Cute Mutants Vol. 5: Galaxy Brain 5.0 out of 5.0 stars and can’t recommend it enough.

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Cute Mutants Vol.5 SFF YA

Review: Monster Hunter International

Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Interesting premise, poor execution.

Monster Hunter International is the first book in the Larry Correia’s urban fantasy series about gun-loving monster hunters. It follows Owen “Z” Pitts, who is recruited by Monster Hunters International after killing his werewolf boss with his bare hands.

Owen then undergoes training and soon finds himself in the middle of the ancient battle between good and evil, as he and his fellow Hunters try to stop the Cursed One from using an evil relic to “destroy time”.

At nearly 500 pages, Correia could have rightly cut this book in half, and you wouldn’t miss a thing as he dedicates most of the plot to pointless descriptions of the various weapons and ammo, when he isn’t info dumping things repeatedly.

To make matters worse, the scenes drag on well beyond where they should end and become so redundant that by the end of the book, every scene feels the same. And you’re forced to slog through 20-plus-page chapters full of wall-of-text paragraphs.

And if that weren’t bad enough, all the characters have the personality and depth of cardboard. But the worst offender is Owen who, despite being “big, ugly, and ordinary” is revealed to be a master fighter, gunsmith, marksmen, and a master at any weapon he picks up, and at one point he’s asked to teach a class because he’s so good with guns. And did I mention he ends up with the hottest woman ever, who he falls in with at first sight?
Just no.

I could forgive all that had this book been interesting, but it was predictable to a fault that by the end I was skipping paragraphs to finish it.

Honestly, the only reason I didn’t give this one star is because the premise seemed interesting, but it quickly became apparent that Correia was more interested in waxing poetic about guns and pushing his political views than telling a good story.

This book reads like something a 12-year-old boy obsessed with guns, horror movies, and sex would write and is very amateurish, even by debut novel and self-published book standards.

Also, don’t read this book if you’re Black or brown, as Owen and his love interest Julie have an infuriating conversation about “how not racist” they are. This leads to Julie saying how the South isn’t racist anymore, how the Confederates weren’t really racist, and how the real racists are the Yankee Liberals and politicians in DC.

Did I mention this conversation takes place at Julie’s ancestral home, a former plantation, complete with slave quarters? Just no.

To summarize, this book started out okay, but took a nosedive fast and got worse.

I have no desire to read any other books in this series and don’t recommend you read it unless you have a strong liver and want to take a shot every time someone mentions guns/weapons/ammo.

I give Monster Hunters International 2.0 out of 5.0 stars.

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Review: Cute Mutants Vol. 4

Cute Mutants Vol 4: The Sisterhood of Evil Mutants by S.J. Whitby

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Sisterhood of Evil Mutants by SJ Whitby is the fourth entry in The Cute Mutants Series and is decidedly darker than the previous books. Volume four finds Dylan and company in West Haven, a clandestine refuge for mutants.

And while Whitby introduces several new characters, they reduce most of them to either cannon fodder or bit players, which was a shame.

I also didn’t like Whitby’s choice to split the Cute Mutants into two groups later in the book, as it robbed the story of the camaraderie and group dynamics that made the previous books so fun to read.

Dylan, Dani, Emma, Alyse, and newcomer Feral (a hybrid of Wolverine and Beast from the X-Men) form the first group and begin robbing banks connected to DainTree, the in-universe version of Google/Amazon. They then donate that money to various charitable causes to improve the PR of Mutant kind, after a group of Mutants claiming to be affiliated with Dylan and the Cute Mutants carry out a terrorist attack on Washington DC.

The second team; that stays behind in West Haven; comprises Lou, Maddison, Gladdy, and Katie.

This could have worked if there were chapters following the second group. Instead, readers only follow Dylan’s group, leaving you wondering about the safety of those back in West Haven.

I enjoyed the political intrigue within West Haven and wished we saw more of Dylan and Dani locking head with Mystic and Far Sight, members of the council that decide what issues to bring up for votes, before the group split.

Dylan’s interaction with memory-erasing therapist Ray, were also nice to read as while they talked about Dylan’s trauma and other issues, Ray also gave them cryptic clues to the dangers hiding in West Haven and the machinations of the council.

It was also nice that we finally learned the mystery behind Emma, her powers, and her parents you in this book. Though, I predicted the plot twist near the end and thought the ending edged into Deus ex machina territory with how several characters’ deaths were reversed, like it was nothing.

Overall, while I did like this book, it wasn’t as fun as the previous ones and it has become clear to me anyone who isn’t Dylan or in their immediate friend circle doesn’t matter, which is sad as it was the OG team that initially drew me into the series.

I will read the next in the series, but I’ll lower my expectations re: other characters getting their time to shine.
I give Cute Mutants Vol. 4 4.0 out of 5.0 stars.

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Review: Sanctum: A Last Vampire Huntress Novel

Sanctum: A Last Vampire Huntress Novel by Delizhia Jenkins

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Sanctum by Delizhia Jenkins Follows Kenya, the last of a line of vampire hunters, as she attempts to destroy Adam, the original vampire.

While I liked the premise of this story, it sorely needed more editing. My first issue was the copious amounts of flashbacks, so much so, Delizhia spent little time on the plot in the current storyline.

Second, was the lack of a distinctive voice, which wouldn’t have been such an issue if the story hadn’t used alternating first-person POV.

To make matters worse, Delizhia constantly switched between present tense and past tense, often in the same sentence. And her sentences were full of redundancy, and she had the crutch of over relying on adverbs to prop up her weak sentences.

I also felt Kenya, Trenton, and the other characters lacked any depth and because of this and the issues I mentioned above, I didn’t care about them.

While the second half of the book wasn’t as riddled with these issues, it still wasn’t that enjoyable. I often skimmed or skipped passages to just get to the end, which was so predictable.

Overall, I felt like I was reading a first or second draft, then a finished novel, and can only recommend this book if you rent it from your library or read on Kindle Unlimited for free.

Otherwise, skip it.

I give Sanctum: A Last Vampire Huntress Novel 2.0 out of 5.0 stars.

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Urban Fantasy