Book Reviews

The State of the Reader: 5/23/18

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<–The State of the Reader: 5/9/18          The State of the Reader: 6/6/18–>

A weekly post updated every other Wednesday detailing my current reading projects and what new titles I’ve added to my to-read list.  Title links go to Goodreads, and if you have an account there feel free to friend me!  I’d love to see what you’re reading and/or planning to read.

Books Purchased: 1

Books DNF: 1

Title: The Shadow Soul
Series Title: A Dance of Dragons
Author: Kaitlyn Davis
Date Added: June 15, 2016
Date Started: May 14, 2018
Date DNF: May 15, 2018

The Shadow Soul coverMedia: eBook/Kindle

The opening of this book was pretty meh.  It’s your typical Destroyed Hometown (haha, the picture they use XD) followed by vengeance seeking fare, and no I’m not a hypocrite for not falling in love with every story that has that paradigm (see the picture they used), because this novel didn’t do anything remotely new with it.  Even having the female protagonist disguise herself as a boy is pretty cliched.  I didn’t feel any deep emotion towards the destruction of Jinji’s village, which is disappointing as it’s clear the author attempted to make it that way with her best friend braiding her hair in the style it be would for the rest of her life.  I think it’s because there wasn’t much to really distinguish these characters from ones I’ve read a thousand times before.

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The State of the Writer: 5/20/18

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<–The State of the Writer: 4/22/18          The State of the Writer: 5/20/18–>

A biweekly post updated every Sunday discussing my current writing projects and any completed the prior two weeks.

Finished Projects: 6

Book Reviews: Master of Crows by Grace Draven – 5/7/18
Tags: The WIP Tag – 5/8/18
Game Reviews: Paper Mario Color Splash – 5/10/18
Awards: Mystery Blogger Award #4 – 5/10/18
Book Reviews: Moon Called by Patricia Briggs (Mercy Thompson #1) – 5/16/18
Book Reviews: The Diamond Tree by Michael Matson – 5/19/18

It was a productive two weeks 🙂

Project: Story
Title: The Broken Rose
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Fanfiction (FFVII) Novel
Current Word Count: 261,336
Prior Word Count: 261,419
Word Difference: -83
Status: Revising
Progress: First edit of Chapter 5

Quill pen with shadowI made some good progress in these last two weeks and am currently halfway through the first edit of the 5th chapter (that is a lot of numbers).  I think once I finish this I’ll be able to continue with my regular editing and posting schedule…after I consult my checklist of course 😉

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The Diamond Tree by Michael Matson

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Title: The Diamond Tree
Author: Michael Matson
Date Added: January 26, 2016
Date Started: September 28, 2017
Date Finished: October 1, 2017
Reading Duration: 3 days
Genre: Fantasy, Fairy Tale, Short Story, YA/Mid-Grade

The Diamond Tree coverPages: 70
Publication Date: July 12, 2010
Publisher: Untreed Reads
Media: eBooks/Kindle

Dall is eager to prove himself a worthy prince, but what do you do when your older brothers have already slain every dragon and rescued all the princesses? You heed the advice of an old woman and set off on a quest! When Dall starts finding diamonds along the way, he discovers his quest may have a more unique ending than he had planned. Ages 6-12 and great for parents to read with their children.

This is a cute, little fairy tale with all the proper elements.  I could’ve done with a bit of something different from the typical Rescue Romance, but there might have been some Tarot references within concerning main character Prince Dall (The Fool), a literal Hanged Man, and a wise old woman who could play the part of The Hermit.  Regardless of its foibles and cliches, it was a fun, quick read.

3 stars.

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs (Mercy Thompson #1)

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Title: Moon Called
Series Title: Mercy Thompson
Author: Patricia Briggs
Date Added: August 23, 2016
Date Started: September 6, 2017
Date Finished: September 27, 2017
Reading Duration: 21 days
Genre: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Supernatural, Paranormal Romance

Moon Called coverPages: 298
Publication Date: January 31, 2006
Publisher: Ace
Media: eBook/Kindle

Mercedes Thompson, aka Mercy, is a talented Volkswagen mechanic living in the Tri-Cities area of Washington. She also happens to be a walker, a magical being with the power to shift into a coyote at will. Mercy’s next-door neighbor is a werewolf. Her former boss is a gremlin. And she’s fixing a bus for a vampire. This is the world of Mercy Thompson, one that looks a lot like ours but is populated by those things that go bump in the night. And Mercy’s connection to those things is about to get her into some serious hot water..

Mercedes Thompson walks two worlds: one as a first class mechanic (yes…she’s a mechanic named “Mercedes”) while the other is a bit more supernatural.  With her fingers (or paws) in so many ponds, Mercy acts like a liaison between werewolves, vampires, fey, and humans, since she can’t be counted among any of them and can therefore serve as a sort of neutral party.  Unfortunately, aspects of her nature haven’t always had positive results, since she was forced to flee her foster home (and hometown) because of it.

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Master of Crows by Grace Draven (Master of Crows #1)

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Title: Master of Crows
Series Title: Master of Crows
Author: Grace Draven
Date Added: May 25, 2017
Date Started: August 31, 2017
Date Finished: September 27, 2017
Reading Duration: 27 days
Genre: Dark Fantasy, Romance/Paranormal Romance

Master of Crows coverPages: 276
Publication Date: July 13, 2009
Publisher: Amber Quill Press
Media: eBook/Kindle

What would you do to win your freedom? This is the question that sets bondwoman, Martise of Asher, on a dangerous path. In exchange for her freedom, she bargains with her masters, the mage-priests of Conclave, to spy on the renegade sorcerer, Silhara of Neith. The priests want Martise to expose the sorcerer’s treachery and turn him over to Conclave justice. A risky endeavor, but one she accepts without hesitation–until she falls in love with her intended target.

Silhara of Neith, Master of Crows, is a desperate man. The god called Corruption invades his mind, seducing him with promises of limitless power if he will help it gain dominion over the world. Silhara struggles against Corruption’s influence and searches for ways to destroy the god. When Conclave sends Martise as an apprentice to help him, he knows she’s a spy. Now he fights a war on two fronts–against the god who would possess him and the apprentice who would betray him.

Mage and spy search together for a ritual that will annihilate Corruption, but in doing so, they discover secrets about each other that may damn them both. Silhara must decide if his fate, and the fate of nations, is worth the soul of the woman he has come to love, and Martise must choose continued enslavement or freedom at the cost of a man’s life. And love.

“What nobility is there in being a false god’s puppet?”

Grace Draven has a habit of writing stories with the same paradigms as FFVII and ASOIAF.  The titular character is being seduced by an evil god with dark promises?  Sounds fantastically familiar.  He’s also a powerful dark wizard?  Sounds a great deal like Song’s Three Eyed Crow.

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The State of the Writer: 5/6/18

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<–The State of the Writer: 4/22/18          The State of the Writer: 5/20/18–>

A biweekly post updated every Sunday discussing my current writing projects and any completed the prior two weeks.

Finished Projects: 4

Tags: 10 Things That Make Life Worth Living – 4/24/18
Awards: Liebster Award #4 – 5/3/18
Tags: The Writer’s Tag – 5/3/18
Book Reviews: The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau – 5/5/18

Two tags and one award out of the way means I can check three things off of that combined list.  The book review took so much longer than I anticipated, and I now want to do a book to movie comparison.

Project: Story
Title: The Broken Rose
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Fanfiction (FFVII) Novel
Current Word Count: 261,419
Prior Word Count: 261,491
Word Difference: -72
Status: Revising
Progress: Third edit of Chapter 3

Black and white drawing of Aeris/Aerith

No source available

I might be done this revision sooner than anticipated.  I was trying to remember why the hell I’d decided to do it anyway, and thankfully I was smart enough to leave myself a checklist of what I wanted to update.  It seems as though there were portions of the beginning I wanted to change for better accuracy.  This leads me to believe the chapters after 4 may not really need an update, though I am finding I’m doing more refined editing as I go through.  which is never a bad thing.  I’m hoping I can convince the perfectionist side of myself that I don’t need to go over the first 10 chapters (again) with a fine-toothed comb, but she’s a stubborn bitch, so I hope she can be persuaded.

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The State of the Writer: 4/22/18

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 1 Comment

<–The State of the Writer: 4/8/18          The State of the Writer: 5/6/18–>

A biweekly post updated every Sunday discussing my current writing projects and any completed the prior two weeks.

Finished Projects: 2

Book Review: The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare – 4/21/18
List: Games Alive – 4/22/18

Ugh…the Games Alive list posted in February because I accidentally published it back then before it was completed.  I forgot WordPress keeps the original publication date unless you schedule it.  I was wondering why the hell I wasn’t seeing it recently.

Project: Story
Title: The Broken Rose
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Fanfiction (FFVII) Novel
Current Word Count: 261,491
Prior Word Count: 261,548
Word Difference: -57
Status: Revising
Progress: Second edit of Chapter 3

My hunt for this picture’s source revealed that this is not technically one of Sephiroth, but rather of someone else who shares similar features.  I think it looks a great deal like him with blue lilies in his hair, so I’m going to allow it.

Something very interesting happened to me recently.  I received a contact from someone who thought I was the author of The Broken Orrery, the best written fanfiction I’ve ever read, written CymbelinesHalo.  It’s been over a year since she updated, and the message I received asked if I was the author as they implored me to please remedy this.  I was quite flattered that someone had mistaken me for this writing genius, but I had to set the record straight and inform them that I was the author of Northern Lights (TBR isnt on Fanfiction.net; it’s way outside of their draconian censorship stipulations), and I, too, was waiting with bated breath for TBO to be updated.  They haven’t gotten back to me, so I hope their disappointment wasn’t too heartfelt.

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