Category Archives: Young Adult

Darkness Descends by Peter Arvo & Lauren Arvo – Review

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Title – Darkness Descends (Elemental Kingdoms #1)
Author – Peter Arvo, Lauren Arvo
Genre –  Fantasy/Young Adult
Length –    317 Pages
My Rating – 3/5 Stars

Synopsis

Once there were many kingdoms of myth and legend, but six stood apart from the rest. They may have lost their origins, but they still possessed their elemental abilities of creation as well as destruction. Their rule was about to be threatened by an unseen group, who have waited patiently to make their move.

A group of powerful royal blooded teenagers are about to experience the time of their lives, but also have their lives turned upside-down. They will have to go beyond what they thought possible, stretching their skills, friendship, courage, love, and powers to the breaking point.

Review

I’m going to level with you, I requested to review this book for a couple reason. Firstly I liked the cover and the plot behind the book, who doesn’t love a bit of fantasy where people have powers. The second reason and also the main reason behind me wanting to review the book is I loved the story behind it.. I loved the fact Lauren came up with the idea and with the help of her father Peter has helped it come to fruition. I always love to see parents support their children.

I loved the story, the idea those with royal blood have elemental powers was a nice idea. I particularly liked the idea each kingdom had their own powers and these powers can be used in different ways or even combined.

The plot itself is pretty straight forward, Hawten sets out on his mission to get help for his kingdom and in the process is meets the teenage members of other royal households who join him. It was a fun read, although something like this wouldn’t happen in real life I did think the authors managed to get the rebellious and adventurous sides of teenagers across nicely.

I have to admit my favourite character was Ahmu and I loved  he had his own section at the end of the tale where his journal entries were listed

The story is a coming of age tale based on fantasy, these young boys and girls are out to find themselves and learn about their powers as well as help Hawten.

My overall impression of the book is that it is well planned out and very interesting to read, the only two things that could be improved for me were the chapter length and the amount of detail thrown in the story.

Some of the chapters were around 50 – 60 minutes in length and I just felt this was a little too long for a YA book.

The flow of the story was good but at times you had a lot of information thrown at you to describe a place or a person. The information was great at helping you visualise but at the same time it did slow the flow of the story and I think the story would have worked just as well with a little info left out

All in all I really enjoyed the book it was fun to read with lots of potential. I’m very much interested in reading the second book to see how the story progresses

If you’re a fan of YA novels then add this  to your TBR pile, I have a good feeling this series will only improve as it goes forward

To find out more head to Goodreads, Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Crocodile Legion: A Roman Adventure by S.J.A. Turney – Review

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Title – Crocodile Legion: A Roman Adventure
Author – S.J.A. Turney (Author), Dave Slaney (Illustrator)
Genre –  Historical Fiction/Young Adult
Length –   133 Pages
Publication – March 2016
My Rating – 5/5 Stars

Synopsis 

The prefect of Egypt needs money. And the men of the 22nd Legion must brave mazes and tombs and curses and crocodile gods to get to it.

Marcus and Callie, orphaned in ancient Alexandria and taken in by their uncle, the standard bearer in the legion, are about to travel up the great river Nile with the legionaries in a tense and funny adventure to grab the gold of the Pharaoh Amenemhat.

Join the legion and discover ancient Roman Egypt.

Review

S.J.A Turney is well known to me as a historical fiction writer. After reviewing some of his previous books I couldn’t wait to see how he would write a story aimed at a younger audience.

I couldn’t help but enjoy this tale, it had the historical edge Simon is known for but with the added fun that comes from being written for a young adult.

This story was enjoyable from the start; the young kids give a fun feel to the story as we see it through their eyes rather than the adults.

The storyline itself was great, I won’t spoil it but there’s a brilliant twist that I didn’t see coming

I know myself growing up when I struggled to read, because of my eyesight and through my own laziness that I found pages full of words a bit daunting.. My only comment I would make is that maybe I would have broken down the chapters into smaller chucks within the chapter so when you flick through there are plenty of places to pause..That’s just my preference though.. I can honestly say I loved the book.

The story was well written, everything made sense and I wasn’t left with any burning questions.. Exactly what I want from a book like this.

Added to Turney’s wonderful story telling we have the added Illustrations from Dave Slaney which brought a smile to my face whenever they popped up. More of these please.. they were brilliant!

One of the best things about the book is simply Turney’s writing. He’s managed to write a brilliantly fun story without removing what I know him best for, the descriptive details, the character development.. It’s all still there.. it’s an adult story but just told in a different manner..

Add this one to your TBR piles!

To find out more head to Goodreads, Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Indomitable by J. B. Garner – Review

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Title – Indomitable (The Push Chronicles Book 1)
Author – J. B. Garner
Genre –  Fantasy/Superhero/YA
Length –  154 pages
Publication – Aug 2014
My Rating – 4/5 Stars

Synopsis

Irene Roman never wanted to be a hero. She was a scientist living an otherwise normal life and that was enough. One fateful evening, though, Irene discovers a betrayal that undermines everything. One event that, in a literal blink of an eye, changes not only her life, but the future of the entire planet.

Now the world is inhabited by people with powers and abilities far above those of mortal men and women. The repercussions of superhuman battles on the Earth are great and terrible as lives are shattered, communities destroyed, and mankind’s destiny is plucked from its grasp. At the center of it all is Irene, who not only is one of two people on the planet who knows the cause of this unbelievable change, but is one of the few people who may be able to stop it. The only problem is the only other person who does know will do anything in his vast power to keep the world in its terrible altered state.

Who dares to claim the right to choose humanity’s fate? What price will Irene pay to be the hero she never wanted to be? In the end, will Earth return to the safety of the mundane or will it remain in the chaos of the superhuman and supernatural?

Indomitable is the first book in The Push Chronicles and the debut novel of J.B. Garner. The tale of this altered Earth will continue late in 2014 with Indefatigable.

Review

So this is a little out of my normal reading genre but I do like anything involving superheroes. I’m that guy who has liked every superhero movie made.. even the bad ones..i just love the genre in general.

Was I disappointed in the book? Not in the least.

This is a fast paced ride of good vs evil with a healthy dose of reality in the form of Irene.

I would say the writing style is well suited for YA or any adults like myself who enjoy the superhero genre. The style leaves it very easy to read and you don’t have to concentrate too much.. you can just enjoy the tale

The main character develops well, she turned from what came across to me as a little stuck up to showing her caring side fighting to change the world back to the way it was.

My 4* rating is because of two reasons. Mainly the FBI..they believed Irene’s story and agreed to help too quickly in my eyes. I would have like to see the struggle with not only the bad guys in the story but also the non-pushed..see Irene truly alone.

The other reason was her powers..although a good idea (I won’t spoil that for you) I felt the sequence that played out with her power draining became a little repetitive as they seemed to drain very quickly… but then again that’s due to the pace of the story. None of this took any enjoyment away from the tale

If you are looking for a nice easy and enjoyable read this is perfect. For me being a reviewer sometimes I need to change the style of book I read, refresh my eyes with a book that’s not too heavy going. This book was spot on for me in that respect and was more enjoyable then I first imagined

I’ve high hopes for the next book, I hope to see more detailed battles with the superheroes so you can really get to grips with the world J. B. Garner has created

I’ve got another book from the author on my TBR list so I’m looking forward to that and will most certainly read the others in this series further down the line

I thank the author for the chance to read his work.

To find out more head to Goodreads, Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Rise of the River-Man: Mutter’s Story by L.S. O’Dea – Review

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Title – Rise of the River-Man: Mutter’s Story (Conguise Chronicles #1)
Author – L.S. O’Dea
Genre – Young Adult/Fantasy/Science Fiction
Length –  126 Pages
Publication – Oct 2015
My Rating – 4/5 Stars

Synopsis

In a world where the Almightys rule with absolute power over the other classes, being an unwanted Guard is a death sentence.

A Guard’s life is never easy, but Mutter’s has been particularly hard. An orphan at five, he had to fight for his survival on the streets and then he fought in a ring for an Almighty. Until, he lost. His master didn’t give second chances, so Mutter sits in the Guards’ shelter awaiting execution. His only chance is to be adopted but no one wants a Guard like him: big, strong and ugly.

Then his luck changes when an Almighty arrives at the shelter and gives him a choice: kill or be killed. Mutter chooses to live.

Things are looking up until he’s taken to a laboratory and stuck in a cage but that’s not the worst part. He’s not alone in the lab. There are…things in the other cages. Things that don’t move or smell like anything he’s ever known.

Now, the Almightys are giving him some kind of serum and he feels good, but does he feel too good? Is he changing into something else? Something like the creatures in the other cages? Can he escape before it’s too late?

Review

I was kindly gifted a copy of this book for review and I was presently surprised at the story considering the book is only 100+ pages.

The story was written well with a clear plot which developed at a fast pace. The characters were interesting; I particularly liked Mutter and Ableson. The interaction between these two was fascinating to read.

So the story is based in a time after a great death has hit the planet, lots of people died and those who survived now live under a new social structure.

The language used is perfect for young and old alike with enough detail to develop the characters nicely enough, especially Mutter.

I enjoyed the book, read it one day. It’s a perfect quick read but I have to admit I would have liked to have had more information on this “great death” and why only humans and large humans were affected and how these new social classes were then formed.

I’m not one for spoilers but the main reason for the 4* rating is because of the character Sweet… I’ll try not to give too much away but feel free to skip the next paragraph to avoid any spoilers.

Sweet for me was a great love interest for Mutter but I would have liked to see more development with her. When Mutter starts to change it would have made more sense to me that Sweet would struggle at first with this change.. then love would win out and she would love him no matter what he looked like.

Overall this was a nice book to read, perfect quick read. The book contains a scene which I would class as mild gruesomeness; this gave it some shock factor. The storyline developed quickly and since this appears to be a prequel to the authors Lake of Sins series I’m interested enough to add them to my TBR pile.

I’d definitely say this book is more suited to the younger reader but I’m 30 and I still enjoyed reading it.

To find out more head to Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com or Goodreads.