Review: Draw the Line

Draw the Line by Laurent Linn

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Draw the Line by Laurent Linn is a gay YA coming-of-age set in small -town Texas and follows closeted sixteen-year-old Adrian Piper as he learns to stand up for himself and others against the homophobic bullies and administrators at his high school.

Initially, I hated Adrian and this book and dnf’d it years ago, but lately I’ve been on a queer super hero kick and revisited it now that I’m a little older.

In hindsight, I realize my visceral hate was due to Adrian reminding me too much of myself, e.g. his internalized homophobia and femephobia and being a shy geeky kid with a superhero alter ego.

Graphite, the main character of Adrian’s comic, was interesting, and I loved how the comics broke up/introduced the chapters. The artwork was also good and reminiscent of Webtoon comics I’ve read.

Overall, I liked the plot of the story, but I had some issues.

First, Adrian’s friend Audrey, was the sole Black main character and often described as loud, bossy, and angry. She also had no role outside of helping Adrian and advancing his storyline.

Second, while I found Adrian’s relationship with Lev cute and wholesome, it came off as forced and rushed as they go from complete strangers to boyfriends in a few weeks. I also thought him kissing Adrian in the cafeteria where anyone could stumble upon them didn’t make sense as they were both closeted, and he did not know if Adrian even liked him.

Third, given the hate crime Doug committed against Kobe, which incited the story, and the abundance of videos of said hate crime, it should have been a much bigger deal. And Doug’s police-sergeant father shouldn’t have been able to make it go away as easily as he did.

I also thought Kobe was little more than a plot device and could have been used so much more to help Adrian come to terms with his sexuality and femmephobia.

I will say I’m glad Linn didn’t use the cliché of the homophobic bully who’s secretly gay. However, the reason for (spoiler) sending messages to Adrian was never explained.

Overall, I give Draw the Line 5.0 out of 5.0 stars and recommend it if you like queer geeky teens, comics, and superheroes.

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Review: Cute Mutants Vol. 3

Cute Mutants Vol 3: The Demon Queer Saga by S.J. Whitby

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The Demon Queer Saga by SJ Whitby is the third entry in the Cute Mutants series and picks up where book two left off.

Now running Jinteki Industries, Dylan and company have turned the evil corporation into a force for good, creating a haven for mutants and their families. However, they must contend with Abigail Tanner, a member of America’s Extrahuman Military Intelligence Department (EMID), that seeks to take control of the Cute Mutants and their operations.

Dylan also has to deal with the pressures of being a mutant leader and role model; and Violet, who’s obsessed with Dylan, can teleport and turn her fingers into blades, and whose stated goal is to kill Dylan.

If that weren’t enough, the Cute Mutants also must fight off Quietus, a group of religious fanatics whose goal is the extermination of all mutants.

Though this book is darker than the previous one, I loved how Whitby depicted Dylan’s reactions to the pressures of leadership and their moral struggles with how to handle the threats of Violet, EMID, and Quietus. I also loved the evolving mystery behind Emma and her powers, and those of the other Cute Mutants.

As with the previous book, Whitby introduced more mutants. However I did feel Lou was once again pushed to the sidelines in favor of showcasing the new mutants and Dylan and her friend group.

It was nice to see Dylan and the others maturing a bit, but I still thought some of their actions stretched my suspension of disbelief, given how dangerous they know the people after them were.

If I had any other criticism it’s that while several characters died in the ensuing fights with EMID and Quietus, I felt like Dylan and the other main characters were never in any danger due to plot armor.

I was also high-key angry the book ended on such a massive cliffhanger. Thankfully the next book is available, otherwise I’d be hella pissed.

I give Cute Mutants Vol. 3 5.0 out of 5.0 stars, and highly recommend it. If you liked the first book, I strongly suggest buying the rest in the series as they only get better.




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Review: Cute Mutants Vol. 2

Cute Mutants Vol. 2: Young, Gifted & Queer is the second entry in SJ Whitby’s YA fantasy series about a group of New Zealand teens who gain superpowers after kissing the same girl at a party.

It picks up several months after book one and finds Dylan and the Cute Mutants under the control of evil corporation Yaxley, who wants to use them as child soldiers for various missions, including capturing and killing other mutants.

While book one was mostly fluffy, book two took a much darker turn, including the deaths of several characters. And speaking of characters, we’re introduced to several new mutants, such as Katie, aka Dragon, who spits fire, and Alex aka Keepaway, a nonbinary teleporter.

I thought each of these new mutants had distinct powers and personalities, though I do think Katie got more than her fair share of page time at the expense of other characters, such as Lou who was barely in the book despite being an OG Cute Mutant.

I also thought the ending was insane, especially the revelation that other countries have mutants and will be after Dylan and her group since they’re now rogue.

However, Bancroft, Valen and Aurora; the Cute Mutants’ handlers at Yaxley; appeared one-note, and the way the kids’ parents reacted to Yaxley effectively kidnapping them to do shady stuff felt unrealistic.

The evolution of the OG mutants’ powers was interesting to read, and I loved the relationship Dylan formed with Onimaru, a samurai sword said to have slain demons. And I found their reaction to being made slaves of the government rang true.

Though, I thought Dylan acted immature, like when she got jealous of the bond Katie and Pear formed, or when Bancroft removed her as team leader for disobeying orders and replaced her with Dani. But she’s only eighteen, so she still has a lot of growing up to do.

I liked the sex scenes between Dani and Dylan as they were the perfect amount of use your imagination and fade to black without being too salacious.

The ending to the book was the definition of crazy; characters dropped left and right and by the last pages I did not know how the series would progress from there, but I’m hooked and bought the rest of the series.

I give Cute Mutants Vol. 2: Young, Gifted & Queer 5.0 out of 5 stars. 

Review: Cute Mutants Vol. 1

Cute Mutants Vol 1: Mutant Pride by S.J. Whitby

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Cute Mutants Vol. 1: Mutant Pride by SJ Whitby is the first entry in the Cute Mutants series of YA fantasy novels about a group of teens who gain superpowers after kissing the same girl at a party.

Initially, I found Dylan’s personality off-putting, but slowly I came to love her geeky adorable ass and the rest of the Cute Mutants.

I did think the pop culture references were a bit much and sometimes came off as a crutch for lack of worldbuilding/characterization. And because it’s told in first person with Dylan as the POV character, a lot of the other characters come off a little flat, especially Dani who’s barely in this first book.

However, I did like all the characters, and they acted like how teens are supposed to act: reckless, arrogant, and messy.

This is especially true when it came to the relationships. Lou and Dylan are best friends turned lovers who are the other’s only friend. And when the cute mutants get their powers and Dylan befriends them, Lou’s jealousy was understandable, if a bit over the top.

Likewise, the love polygon between Dylan, Lou, Alyse, and Dani felt authentic without veering into soap opera territory.

I loved that Dylan and many of the other Cute Mutants were LGBTQ+ and how organically Whitby incorporated that into the mutant plot.

Another thing I loved was how the characters had to face the consequences of their actions and deal with real world moral and ethical decisions. So often in stories like this, issues like mortality, collateral damage, and interference from police/government agencies are either ignored outright or severely downplayed.

My biggest complaint is that the book’s antagonist, Tremor, was very two-dimensional and at times was outright cartoonishly villainous in his motives and actions.

That said, I liked this book a lot and already bought the next in the series. I highly recommend this book if you like YA books with sarcastic geeky humor and diverse queer characters.

I give Cute Mutants Vol. 1: Mutant Pride 5.0 out of 5.0 stars.




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Review: The Adventures of Trash Rat

The Adventures of Trash Rat by Daniel Aegan is a coming of age story about Almond, the eponymous trash rat, and his raccoon best friend, Oumar. They must go on a quest to destroy a magic ring Almond’s sister found.

I was skeptical about this story at first, because it’s not the type of book I usually read. But I’m glad I took a chance on it. I loved how Aegan blended philosophy and character development with his world building, so as Almond grows, so too does his and the reader’s understanding of Raminath.

I also loved the relationship between Almond and Oumar. Almond’s optimism acted as a foil against Oumar’s cynicism, and vice versa. And though you can read their friendship as platonic, there was a ton of a queer subtext between them.

If I had any criticism, it’s that the ended fell a little flat and appeared anticlimactic to me. Also, there was a lot of head hopping.

However, I would love to read more about Almond, Oumar, and Raminath.

I give The Adventures of Trash Rat 4.5 out of 5.0 stars.

Review Chess Not Checkers by Tony Lindsay

Chess Not Checkers by Tony Lindsay

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Chess Not Checkers by Tony Lindsay is a young adult novel that follows Thaddeus Adams, a 15-year-old mixed-race boy who fears for his life after he and his friends James and Jesus jump Earl Jacobson, their bully and a member of a local gang.

Thaddeus was likeable, but at times infuriatingly dumb, and I had to keep reminding myself he was only 15. I also liked James and Jesus; they rang authentic and reminded me of people I knew growing up in Northwest Detroit. However, most of the other characters weren’t that fleshed out, such as Thaddeus’s father and his brother Daniel. And I found his self-hating mother to be completely unlikeable and her 180 at the end of the book unbelievable and hollow.

And speaking of endings, toward the end of the book, it devolved into melodrama worthy of a soap opera and the ending was anticlimactic as hell. As for the writing itself, this book could have used tons more editing as it was full of typos and clunky, redundant sentences.

I wanted to give this book a higher score as I liked Thaddeus’s journey, but the faults I mentioned above dragged it down. I give Chess Not Checkers 3 out of 5 stars and suggest you request it from your library.





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Review: Kindred

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Introduction

Kindred by Octavia Butler follows Dana, a black woman from 1976 who is repeatedly thrust back into the Antebellum South where she must save Rufus Weylin, the son of a plantation owner and Dana’s ancestor.

Each time Dana goes back to the past, her stays become progressively longer and more dangerous, requiring her to use all her cunning and wits to stay alive.

Plot

Overall, I thought the plot was interesting, if a bit melodramatic at times. Yeah, slavery was awful, but the scenes of Dana and others being whipped and severing other punishments felt like overkill.

I also didn’t get Rufus’s obsession with Dana. Sure, he may have been starved for attention and Dana saved his life multiple times, but I still don’t get why he wanted her around him all the time.

Maybe if Dana had stayed around and helped him following the first time she was pulled to the past, I could buy some bond forming between them.

The other issue I had with the plot is why Dana or Kevin didn’t buy a gun to go in her bag. While it was illegal for blacks, freeman or slave, to own guns in Rufus’s time, a modern gun would have been more effective than the knives Dana brought with her.

Characters

Aside from Dana, I didn’t get a real sense of the other characters beyond Dana’s impressions of them.

Rufus’s motives didn’t make sense to me at all, especially since he claimed to love Dana and Alice, yet treated them horribly.

Aside from Sarah and Carrie, most of the slaves on the Weylin Plantation weren’t developed at all, which doesn’t make sense because Dana’s stays lasted months at a time so she should have interacted with the others more.

As for her husband Kevin, I don’t see why Butler chose to make him white other than for the increased drama of them being a covert interracial couple in the antebellum south, and his whiteness saving Dana from being sold into slavery farther south because he passed as her master.  

Writing

I found Butler’s writing to be a bit amateurish, relying heavily on telling via adverbs. And when she did show us things this would be crippled by telling. Such as on one of Dana’s later trips to the plantation where she notes Sarah is old and then describes her hair streaked with gray and face weathered with age line.

I also didn’t like Butler’s tendency to spell everything out to readers when it came to how bad things where on the plantation.

Conclusion

Given all its fault I still enjoyed Kindred and would recommend it to anyone looking to broaden their sci-fi reading. I give Kindred three out of five stars.      

Review: Necromancer Awakening

Introduction Necromancer Awakening is book one of the Mukhtaar Chronicles by Nat Russo and follows Nicolas Murray your av

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image by Stancu Alexandru via sxc.hu

erage Joe who was just about to graduate from college and was engaged to Kaitlin, the girl of his dreams, when he begins having strange dreams about a floating skull chasing him. The dreams get worse until on the day of his father’s funeral he is whisked away to another world where he must learn to become a necromancer if he hopes to survive and find his way back to his world.

Along the way Nicolas meets Mujahid Mukhtaar who takes him under his wing and teaches him about being a necromancer and the going ons of Erindor, the world he finds himself in.

The Good Overall I really liked this book. The world building was phenomenal and was done in such a way that it made you want to know more as the story progressed. I loved how Nat Russo laid out the rules of necromancy and showed us how it worked via Nicolas and his thoughts and actions.

I also liked how Russo didn’t pull any punches and kept upping the ante so you never knew if Nicolas or the other characters would get out of the tough spots they found themselves in.

The bad Overall besides a few mistakes with character names there isn’t much bad I have to say. Sure it was a bit cliched how it was revealed that Nicolas was really the son of Archmage Kagan and heir to the Obsidian Throne and was also the subject of a prophecy, but Russo handled these topics in such a way that it didn’t matter these tropes had been done before.

I also wasn’t a fan of how fast Nicolas mastered necromancy but Russo handled this well by having other characters like Lamil and Mujahid be better versed in the art than him.

The Verdict Overall if you’re looking for a good fantasy read checkout this book. You won’t be disappointed.

Review: Chausiku : Nightmare of The Clans

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image by Stancu Alexandru via sxc.hu

Introduction

Chausiku: Nightmare of the Clans is Book one of the Chausiku series by Pamela E. Cash and centers around teenager Chausiku “Chassie” Moreau who develops supernatural abilities on her sixteenth birthday.

It is revealed that Chassie’s mother Adamma was a member of the sakombi clan who are one of six clans throughout the world that have supernatural abilities.
In her case Chassie has inherited telepathy telekinesis and the ability to disintegrate and reconstitute any object.

Chassie’s abilities make her the target of Rasul who is responsible for the death of her mother and has designs of controlling her due to a prophecy detailing her birth.

The Good
It was nice to see a protagonist who was a person of color for a change who wasn’t either a walking stereotype or being white washed. I liked that Chassie had flaws and I could relate her struggle to keep grounded given everything she had to go through.

The premise was interesting all be it done before in series like Avatar: The Last Air Bender and Naruto, but still enjoyable.

The Bad
Overall while I enjoyed the premise of this book it was executed poorly and the writing was sub par. This book could have used another round of editing before being published. Often times I found myself picking out typos and generally editing the book as I read, which broke immersion for me.

I also wasn’t a fan of how easily Chassie mastered her powers. Except for a scene at the beginning of the book she doesn’t struggle at all controlling her abilities.

In my opinion it should have taken her awhile to master her abilities instead in a matter of weeks she’s so powerful she can block Rasul’s ability to locate her, robbing the story of any tension.

I also wasn’t a fan of how Cash built up Rasul only to have the final confrontation between him and Chassie to be so onesided it was laughable and anticlimactic.

I also disliked how Chassie and John got together in the end of the story. Their romance added nothing to the story and could have been cut without losing a thing. Not only was it the cliched best friends who are secretly in love with each other trope there was no real chemistry between them and we’re just told they love each other.

The Verdict
Overall I’d say pass on this book.

 

Review: Dead Town

image by Gordan Jovic via sxc.hu
image by Gordan Jovic via sxc.hu

Introduction
Dead Town is the last book in Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein Series and picks up right where Lost Souls left off. All throughout Rainbow Falls bands of resistance to Victor’s Communitarians have begun fighting back thanks to KBOW radio getting the word out about Victor’s plan to wipe out the town. In this book several of the story lines converge as the end comes in sight.

Victor Leben alias Victor Immaculate is so self absorbed that his hubris leads to his ultimate end. Honestly his arrogance was even more than the original Victor’s and it was fun seeing his comeuppance at the end.

The Good
Overall I liked this book. It was trilling and held my interest throughout the story and there were several oh shit moments when characters were put in danger by the nearly unstoppable Builders.

At first I wasn’t a fan of the subplots but Koontz tied them together in such a way that it ad you on the edge of your seat waiting to see what would happen next. I was especially surprised with the resolution of Nummy O’Bannon and Mr. Lyss’s story line. Also I liked how you didn’t know until the end who would win.

The Bad
While I liked this book I did have my issues with it. Overall there were too many happy coincidences that led to characters getting out of tough spots with the Builders, by them malfunctioning for unspecified reasons or just plain dumb luck.

I also wasn’t a fan of Victor in this book. He was an almost nonentity and posed zero threat to anyone unlike the original Victor who didn’t mind getting his hands dirty when the situation called for it.

Instead of keeping abreast of the goings on of his war Victor was content with walking the corridors of the Hive and this ultimately led to his downfall.

I also wasn’t a fan of the final confrontation between him and Deucalion. It was down right hokey and made zero sense and was rather anticlimactic. Without spoiling the ending lets just say it was too happily ever after for my taste and leave it at that.

The Verdict
Overall this was an enjoyable read though for the reasons stated above it could have been better and I can’t help feeling the series should have ended with book three as every book after that, while enjoyable just didn’t live up to the previous books in terms of plot.

Overall I’d give the series a 3.5/5 and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys sci-fi thrillers full of action.

Review: Lost Souls

Introduction
Lost Souls is the fourth book in

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image by Gordan Jovic via sxc.hu

Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein series and takes places two years after Dead and Alive. Unaware of the existence of Victor’s clone Carson and Michael married, moved to San Francisco and had a daughter named Scout.

They work as private investigators and had forgotten all about Victor Frankenstein until Deucalion has a hunch that Victor is still alive and seeks them out to finish what they started in New Orleans.

Now that they are parents Michael and Carson are reluctant to help him until he convinces them to join him.

In the two years since Victor’s clone was released he has taken the name Victor Leben , alias Victor Immaculate, and set up shop in the small town of Rainbow Falls, Montana where he plans to take over the town and use it as a strong hold for his larger campaign of wiping out all humans.

The Good
This time around Victor’s goal is more brutal than just enslaving all of human via his creations and really drives home how demented he is for his omnicidal mission. I also liked the introduction of the nano brain probe that rendered people completely docile and also the introduction of builders who are every bit as scary as they are beautiful.

I was surprised to see Erika Five, who has taken the last name Swedenborg, and Jocko make appearances in this book, but overall they are a welcome addition to the cast of characters.

The Bad
While I liked this book overall I did have issues with it. First after the events of Dead and Alive I couldn’t help feeling this book was a little on the anticlimactic side. Also I wasn’t a big fan of Nummy and Mr. Lyss’s story line at all. It could have been omitted entirely and you wouldn’t notice it.

I get that Nummy is supposed to extremely mentally challenged but he was just too dumb to live and I felt myself sympathizing with Mr. Lyss over his frustrations with Nummy.

Second, I didn’t particularly think the addition of Agent Frost and Dagget from the FBI added anything to the story line except for filling pages. Sure they know something isn’t right in Rainbow Falls but they have zero clue as to the true nature of the problem and are more likely to hinder Carson and Michael than to help them.

The Verdict
Overall if you’ve like the series so far then checkout this one.

Review: Dead and Alive

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image by Gordan Jovic via sxc.hu

Introduction
Dead and Alive is book three of Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein series and picks up right were City of Night left off. This time around Erika Four and several Alphas once presumed dead have come back to life thanks to the Resurrecter, a mysterious creature that has the power to erase Victor’s programming and grant the New Race a wide range of human emotions.

Together with the denizens of the Crosswoods Waste Management Carson Michael and Deucalion work to put an end to Victor once and for all.

The Good
Overall I enjoyed this book from start to finish and couldn’t put it down. I especially like how Erika Five and Jocko bonded and interacted, though Jocko did remind me a lot of Dobby from the Harry Potter series with is habit of putting himself down and inflicting punishment on himself and the strange manner in which he speaks.

I also liked how Victor’s arrogance was his ultimate downfall. Granted he was a megalomaniac you have to admire his drive and vision. Sure genocide aside he was evil for removing all but the basic emotions from his creations and enslaving them in his rational army. But the thing that made him more than just a mad scientist was that he thought he was doing incredible good for the sake of the world.

The Bad
Honestly I wasn’t a fan of the Resurrecter. It came out of nowhere without any foreshadowing and reeked of deus ex machina. Had Koontz just stuck with the idea that the New Race were dropping lines from their program and as a result they could now experience a wider range of emotions that would have been more believable.

I was also dismayed that there was no final confrontation between Victor and Deucalion. After all that build up how they disposed of Victor so easily was anticlimatic.

I also didn’t like how through another deus ex machina Erika Five and Jocko were spared even thou all other members of the New Race dropped dead when Victor died.

The Verdict
While I had my issues with this book overall it was enjoyable and you should totally read it if you’ve enjoyed the other books in the series.

Review: City of Night

Introduction
City of Night is book two of Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein series and picks up right where book one left off. After killing Randal Six with their newly fire arms Deucalion takes Arnie to the Tibetan monastery he lived after for years and then they prepare to take on Victor or die trying.

While all this is going on victor orders the termination of detective O’Connor and Maddison by Benny and Cindi Lovewell. After a game of cat and mouse Carson and Michael take on the Lovewells and just barely survive the encounter.

Meanwhile more and more of Victor’s creations begin experiencing interruptions of function as Victor’s empire rots from the inside and he’s too arrogant to see it.

The Good
Overall I liked this book especially the confrontation between Victor and Deucalion at the Hands of Mercy. it was a long time coming and I liked how it rattled Victor.

I also liked the interaction between Benny and Cindi Lovewell, especially the scene when she brings up the voodoo god Ibo. This came out of nowhere as the New Race were supposed to devoid of superstitions. I guess it’s all due to her program dropping out.

I also found the interaction between Erika Five and the creature that came out of Jonathan Harker interesting to say the least.

The Bad
Overall I don’t have much bad to say about this book. Sure I found the main plot line about taking out Victor to be the most enjoyable, though some of the other plot lines like Erika’s and Chameleon’s to be enjoyable, some parts of the book just dragged in places and could have been cut to ratchet up the tension.

I also wasn’t a fan of the will they or won’t they get together between Carson and Michael. Luckily this is only a small part and is handled masterfully by Koontz so it doesn’t dominate the narrative like in some stories.

The Verdict

If you liked Prodigal Son be sure to check out City of Night.

Review: The Prodigal Son

Introduction
Prodigal Son is the first book in Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein series. The basic premise is that Victor Frankenstein, now going by the alias Victor Helios, has set up shop in New Orleans, and has begun replacing prominent figures with those his own creations, called The New Race.

image by Gordan Jovic via sxc.hu
image by Gordan Jovic via sxc.hu

Victor loathes the human race and fancies himself as a god and seeks to overthrown the old race with his machines of bone and blood. Forget the Victor of old who was forced to scavenge body parts from graveyards, over the two centuries he’s been alive Victor has moved on from such crude methods.

His creations are grown in tanks and educated with direct to brain downloads so they have an encyclopedic knowledge of the world even though they are only weeks old. They are also programmed to be more durable than the old race, as they have Two hearts and other redundant systems, including a skull that is so thick one the highest caliber ammunition will penetrate it.

Moreover every member of the New Race is programmed so they can’t murder anyone unless they are instructed by Victor, and they can’t kill themselves or Victor for that matter.

Things are going smoothly for Victor until one of his creations begins killing people, drawing the attention of the media and police. Enter detective Carson O’Connor and her partner Michael Madison who in the course of investigating the killings stumble upon Deucalion, Victor’s first creation, who has vowed to destroy him and agrees to help Carson and Michael take on Victor.

The Good
Overall I found the book to be an engrossing good read. I especially liked the characters of Randal Six And Deucalion and also the thought that went into the technology Victor used to create those of the New Race. Loved how Koontz drew you in from the first page and didn’t let up the action a bit.

The Bad
My only complaint would ave to be the short chapters and the head hoping. Often times just a one story line was heating the chapter would switch another plot line. This left my head spinning and pulled me out of the story when it would happen. A lot of times after a decent sized chapter there would be ones of only a few pages that didn’t advance the plot all that much and could have been omitted.

The Verdict

If you like sci-fi and horror then do yourself a favor and pick up this book.

 

Review: The Last Refuge

Introduction

The Last Refuge, the penultimate installment in The Last Survivors series, picks right up where The Last Command ended and is a roller coaster ride from start to finish. I couldn’t put this book down it was so good, and can’t wait for the next book in the series to be released. Warning: spoilers ahead turn back now

This time around Ivory helps Melora navigate back to Bray and company and he stays with them a few days and agrees to introduce them to Jingo, which doesn’t turn out as planned and results in the death of Ella by Bray as he tries to attack Jingo and she gets in the way. Ella’s death causes William to snap and he runs away to live with the demons.

To make matters worse Father Winthrop and his followers make it to the Ancient City and stir up all the demons with their racket, forcing Jingo and company to flee on Jingo’s boat during a storm.

Meanwhile Oliver and Minister Beck continue their trek back to Brighton while avoiding the demons and blue shirts.

The Good

Overall this book was a good read. It held my attention from start to finish and left me chomping at the bit for the last book in the series, due out this summer. Honestly I was shocked when Bray accidentally killed Ella and by how William up and decided to leave them. It should be interesting to see what happens to him in the finale.

I was also pleasantly surprised with how Fitzgerald and the other women were able to take out Tenbrook and his men. I won’t give away how they manage this but it was a good comeuppance for Tenbrook and all the hard hearted men who treated the barren women like dirt.

The Bad

Overall I didn’t find many areas to critique. There were a few typos but none that really detracted from the story. Overall I was a bit taken back by the viciousness Tenbrook displayed when he killed Franklin and had his men take out the clergymen.

The Verdict

If you’ve enjoyed the first four books so far then by all means go out and get this book today.