Kindle Customer

A struggle of trusting God and people

Revisado: 07-10-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

This is Book 2 of the Cliff Walk Courtships by Cecily Wolfe. A Historical Fiction Christian Romance set in 1893; Newport, Rhode Island.

Mild Spoilers for Book One

Book One followed Arthur and Josie as they fell in love with each other and God. Book Two follows Arthur's sister Catherine as she struggles with what it means to be such a privileged young lady and how God could allow Josie to get so sick in her pregnancy. The Davenports have arranged a marriage for Catherine but as she objects to it her father sends her to volunteer at First Steps.

Will runs away from home and winds up unconscious in a bed at First Steps where he feigns memory loss and attempts to make a new start. The Davenports try to help him back on his feet but Arthur is suspicious he is not telling the full truth and asks him to stay away from Catherine so he cannot break her heart.

This book made me cry as Catherine asked Arthur a question that so often haunts me. Why do we keep praying when Josie just keeps getting sicker. As someone of faith who has been struggling disabilities and illness for half her life and fears that any attempt at pregnancy would be a similar fight that Josie had it meant a lot that the author didn't just have her healed miraculously but allowed them to work through the pain and struggle together.

I really liked the story but I felt like Catherine and Will rushed into calling what they have "love" a little too quickly. They barely know anything about each other by the end of the book, so I'm hoping book three gives a few glimpses of them getting to know each other better rather than jumping them straight into marriage. Book three will follow the other sister Sarah. It is already out in print but not yet on audio where I have been listening to these.

I will definitely want to listen to book three. I really like how the narrator portrays each character's inflections.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

I wanted to love this book

Revisado: 06-22-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I wanted to love this book. The cover art is gorgeous. The idea of a man with no name but with a humongous destiny. An enchantress dedicating herself to creating a spell of protection over herself and her magical beasts. A great protector over a peaceful land guiding the two together into saving the world. I went into this book expecting glorious creatures and a D&D adventure feel. This is book one in a six-part series.

The creatures when described were really cool but they didn’t really come into play beyond dialogue with the Enchantress Citrine until the climax and the ending. To be fair the creatures were in hiding from the evil that The Nameless One and Citrine were trying to stop.

The writing style made me extremely uncomfortable. I’m okay with mentioning sexual things, for goodness sake I’ve read ACOTAR, but there is a line of objectification and at many points, the author crosses it. I actually stopped the audiobook to double-check that the author was a woman because if it had been a man describing a woman that way I would have DNF’d it right then and there. Since it was a woman I gave it the benefit of doubt of it just being one character's perspective but as the story went on it was obvious it was just her writing style. There were no actual sex scenes in the book but the characters regularly compare them to past “copulations” even when no sexual advances or even flirting has happened. It felt like I was listening to 13-year-old boys playing D&D before they had even seen a woman.

She is extremely descriptive of every little detail but for me, it was too many adjectives that made it feel like someone was describing a movie scene by scene rather than pulling me under into the story. I didn’t feel anything for the characters.

I stopped to read other people's Goodreads reviews to decide if I should finish the book and so many of the reviews were glowing and supportive that I pushed through it but I will not be reading the sequels.

If you are interested in giving this book a chance I do recommend reading the other GoodReads reviews to get encouragement on how this book would be a better fit for you than it was for me.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

balance deep philosophical meaning into action

Revisado: 06-22-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

Theren is the world’s first Synthetic Intelligence (SI) who during book one helped create the next SI and their partners Jill and Wobbly. From there they create thousands of SI’s who help humans on their journey through life and space.

Theren is the Director of the International Space Agency. The ISA is working towards leaving planet Earth behind and establishing colonies elsewhere. Jill’s focus is more ground level with the acceptance of SI’s as equal beings on a political and social level.

Book One was mostly philosophical and got a bit tiresome at some points but Book two really shows the author’s pacing and ability to balance deep philosophical meaning into action-packed events that change the course literally and figuratively of history.
Since Theren is a digital and mechanical creature they do not age the same way mortal humans do so this book spans hundreds of years and we watch generations of brilliant scientists come and go with age. As we watch the makings of history sprawl out around Theren some amazing and awful things happen in the world and in their life.
The ending hints at a great puzzle to be solved in book three that when you finish book two I’m sure you’ll be just as eager as me for Theren to solve.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Conspiracy Theories and Aliens UHM YAS

Revisado: 06-19-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

Parents can have high expectations for their children but Cassiopeia has to live up to a new nation's idea of her. Her parents were famous scientists helping found a colony on the planet Arcadia. Her mother passed away before reaching the planet. Terrorists attack just days before they start their new life on Arcadia and her father is murdered. Or so the government says. Cassie believes her father was kidnapped, not murdered but no one will listen to her. She takes on her father’s job to gain access to the information needed to save him. Along the way, she meets Javen and Max which tugs her deeper into conspiracies behind the new colony.

Magic but in the form of misunderstood science is one of my favorite magic types. I really appreciate the concepts Jenetta Penner puts forwards in saving the world and creating a new colony but this one just wasn’t for me.

I really appreciate the character building and the descriptions of both boys has me torn in who I support as the romantic interest. The narrator did a good job with emotions and descriptions in her voice as well. I just had a hard time getting through it and won't be reading the sequels.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Angel of Death in the making

Revisado: 06-19-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I'm a huge sucker for Academy books especially ones about Greek mythology. I had been waiting for this to come out as an audiobook since I finished book one.

Melany had just been chosen by Hades to go train in the underworld leaving her beau Lucien and all her friends at the academy. Since discovering the death of her adoptive family Melany has been aching for answers but being locked away in the underworld makes her feel trapped. She is unfamiliar with the myth of Persephone which becomes more and more clear through the book.

I was so excited to see how they portrayed Hades and Persephone as they are my favorite part of Greek mythology and I'm devastated. I love versions of Hades where he isn't as awful as everyone makes him seem (Lore Olympus anybody!?) but their version makes him a total creep. Persophone is MIA and everyone is being very secretive about what has happened to her. Did she run away? Has she been kidnapped? Did she die??? As a goddess, she can't really die, and even if she did wouldn't she just go to the underworld? Maybe she has been banished to Tartarus for a crime?

Melany trains with the Harpies and seems to lose her moral compass along the way. Whenever she joins with the academy for a few training exercises she can't seem to work as a team and regularly loses her temper in bloodlust rages. I'm 100% in favor of the protagonist slowly becoming evil over the course of the story but I'm not sure that's where they are trying to go.

Even though their Hades isn't my speed the other depictions of the gods are GREAT!!
Laid-back Demeter (who must know where her daughter is????), Ares and Aphrodite colluding together for evil schemes, ignorant but bossy Zeus, Helpful Hephaestus.

The feels of the gang growing closer together while Melany is so lonely hurts my heart. I'm really excited to know what it is that Ares and Aphrodite are planning and if they are actually working under the orders of someone else.

The ending left on a cliff hanger monster attack and I'd really like to know how they deal with the grief and devastation that comes after but I'm also really scared that Lucian and Melany won't be a thing, or that Hades will be even worse than he has been so far.

I'm so conflicted and the best solution: Onwards to Book 3!!!!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Unique and Inspiring

Revisado: 05-07-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

*I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*
So what if Aladdin was a girl and she lived in Space? Not enough uniqueness for you? What if the Genie was alien-technology and there were dragons in need of rescuing?
The Sphere of Infinity is just that! A gender-bent space novella of Aladdin.

Our girl Alana is a professional thief trying to provide for herself and her mother. She gets hired to steal a golden orb off of a mysterious broken down alien ship hovering just outside her planet's atmosphere. The princess Jasmine is Jasper the son of a major government official working a side project to find the dragons supposedly hidden just outside of town.

There was minimal backstory and world-building, but that is typical of a Novella. The ending left me wanting more of their story. Alana is hilarious and snarky which are two of my favorite qualities in a protagonist. The antagonist was quite unexpected and a lot darker than in the well-known Disney version of the story. I feel like this would've done better as a full-length novel allowing for more culture and character building.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did well to show the emotions of Alana through her voice. However, there were several mistakes that were left into the final cut which can sometimes break the flow of the story.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

What if the world stopped sleeping?

Revisado: 04-21-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

*I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

What if the world stopped sleeping? What if those who did dream could travel through time and space to learn from the past?

After sleepless nights the world starts to hallucinate and it's up to one Lucidite to stop their dreams from being stolen.

Lucidites are people who can lucid dream to the point they can go back in time and learn from the great masters of the world, or have secret meetings where no one can overhear.

Roya Stark has never heard of these things but she does know her family has been acting very weird and the people in her dreams are offering her answers. Just how far is she willing to go to get these answers?

To be honest, while the writing was decent in structure I wasn't really a fan of the book. It was way too stereotypical in the sense of "I'm the chosen one and everything is about me." At a certain point, I'm just over it with the teenage self-centeredness.

However, the idea of being able to go anywhere in time or space just by dreaming it is amazing. If Roya wasn't so annoying the premise of the book would've kept my attention longer.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

the dirty truth behind knightly "chivalry"

Revisado: 04-13-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

Legend is the story of Arthur pulling the sword from the stone and becoming King....wait no.

Legend is the story of a young maid, Alena, who knows nothing but servitude and abuse accidentally becoming Queen. No one accepts a girl, let alone a maid as ruler of all of Camelot but the witch who put the sword in the stone insists Alena is the rightful Queen.

Alena doesn't understand why she can't accept her role in life as a thing not a person with free will and it gets her in trouble. The other maids don't like her and her superiors go out of their way to make her life miserable. She sees becoming Queen as a huge mistake at first but eventually vows to treat everyone equally and takes on the role.

Alena gets really angsty and more and more distressed as the book continues. However, this is forgivable because she is only a 16-year-old girl. Angst is to be expected. She isn't that strong of a lady beyond the innate magic in her but hopefully, in the sequels, she will grow in both her physical and mental strength.

I recommend this to anyone looking for a book fighting classism from a female perspective. This tells the dirty truth of what happened in the courts behind the veils of knightly "chivalry".

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

change, acceptance, scientific discovery

Revisado: 03-31-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

*I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

If technology grows to the point of sentience does it have a soul? Does it have "human" rights?
When Dr. Wallace Theren and his team of scientists welcome the first fully sentient SI (Synthetic Intelligence) these are the questions the world starts to ask.
Dr. Wallace has been working for years in a lab in the Swiss Alps when finally Test-43 answers back. Just like a small child Test-32 learns about the world around him and sees Wallace as a father figure. Unlike a small child within weeks Test-43 is playing chess and asking for a real name. When Wallace introduces Test-43 to the world the unbelievable happens and the team must work together to define what place SI has in the world before it's too late.
This book by C.D. Tavenor puts forward questions of change, acceptance, and scientific discovery that looks into the future as a place of progress and scientific development.
The narration is from the point of view of Test-43 who takes on the name Theren after Dr. Wallace and the singular non-gendered pronoun "They". The narrator of the audiobook Benjamin Fife was very impressive in his story telling.
The book is very introspective, dealing with questions of identity and coping with grief and trauma.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

A mix between a Percy Jackson and Narnia feel

Revisado: 03-19-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

Milo is a shy gamer and artist who has a crush on the super athletic and popular girl Eliza. When they both find a book that turns into a portal to Involutia they have to put aside their differences and find a way home.
In the world of Involutia books are not only tools to learn from but literal portals to other realms. Milo and Eliza fall into a book that transports them to a world they have never seen before. Their quest to go home turns from just saving themselves to saving all of Involutia.
This middle grade novel has adorable character building with enough preteen awkwardness to make even fighting dragons feel realistic. Milo and Eliza must discover what it means to be strong in their own ways and just how far they are willing to go to get home.
A mix between a Percy Jackson and Narnia feel, this split POV will have your heart cringing and cheering at the same time. Starting off in the "real world" Milo and Eliza are practically strangers but they have to set that aside and work together to escape dark forests, wars, dragons, elven adventures and a magic library all in search of the Red Ribbon Tree.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña