The Wishflower Field-Marie's Triumph by Jennifer Fallow (review)

 

The Wishflower Field-

Marie's Triumph (1)

 

By Jennifer Fallaw

 

Genre: Youth

 Published Dec 2011
Pages: 116

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Summary:  Have you or someone you know ever suffered from night terrors? Do you know a child who is letting fear get the best of them? Give them The Wishflower Field: Marie's Triumph and empower them to take control back.

The story of a girl who learns to view fearful situations as opportunities to be strong. Guidance from loved ones and a new found inner strength, help her face her monster in her re-occuring nightmare and find her way to The Wishflower Field, a place of infinite possiblities. Lessons learned and wonderous adventure await her in this heavenly dream land and leave her with a quest to find her way back.

 

 

 

Review:  A cute story about a girl named Marie who has been having nightmares about shadows and being chased by a monster. Now it is affecting her when she is awake. Afraid to open the closet, or be alone. After failing to alleviate her daughters fears, mom calls in reinforcements... Grandma! Grandma tell her of a special place called the Wishflower Field. A special place she can go, if she confronts her fear...

Sacrificed (Book 3) by Holly McDowell (review)

 

  King Solomon's Wives: Sacrificed (3)

by Holly McDowell

Genre: Short Story/Novella, General Fiction
Published Oct 2013
Pages: 86

Publisher:Coliloquy, LLC

Summary:  "In this harrowing third episode of King Solomon’s Wives, Hunters have imprisoned Sumarra. Trapped, tortured and missing her final window to become pregnant, she must find a way out or her ancestral line will perish forever. Time and hope might just be running out.

Her rival, Dilara, is the only Wife with the knowledge and resources to rescue her. But Dilara has other pressing problems: Infighting among the clans, the reappearance of a rogue Wife long thought dead, the Hunters’ continuing attacks, and her own haunting mistake. Will Dilara be able to unite the clans and be the leader the Wives so desperately need?

Dilara has always followed and enforced the rules, but in order to save Sonya, Sumarra, and the sisterhood, she must choose to go against everything she believes, even if it means sacrificing her rank, her integrity, and her own life."

 

 

 

Review:  Holly McDowell has continued to bring her story of King Solomon's Wives to life in this third installment. This one was the shortest of the books so far and while I am still not thrilled with how it is put out, bit by bit, I feel this book was more well done than the previous two.

This book goes back to Sumarra from first book, Hunted. She is being held captive along with another Wife/sister and is slowly being tortured. While we do get some insight into her, I was hoping for more. Yet I liked learning what a strong, caring line she comes from. The other character we finally get some insight on is Dilara. Sumarra's clan leader. Actually, she is basically the Leader of all the sisters. While she is a caring person in one way, she is also extremely selfish and deceitful in other ways. Quick to punish others for their 'sins' yet she has a few of her own that start to close in on her. While she is a neat character to learn about, she is far, far, from my favorite.

This story starts to pull some things together from where the previous books left off in a very clean way. The story is still far from over, but I am starting to see loose ends being tightened together. Also, the editing on this book seemed to be a vast improvement from the second two. It seems the longer gap between stories paid off in a fresher book! I look forward to continuing the series! 

 

 

*I received an eArc copy of this book for review.  All Opinion expressed are mine and mine alone. 

 

  

About the Author

 

Holly McDowell lived in Colorado, Georgia and South Carolina before discovering the magical and inspiring city of Chicago. She can be spotted drinking glögg, searching for the world's best tapas bar and writing in coffee shops all over the windy city. King Solomon's Wives is her first novel.

Magi Vol 1 by Shinobu Ohtaka (review)

 

Magi Vol 1

By Shinobu Ohtaka

Genre: Graphic Novel-Manga
Published Sept 2011
Pages: 197

Publisher: Viz Media

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Summary: A young boy, Aladdin, travels a mysterious continent that is home to a mysterious ruin known as the “Dungeon”, in which great treasure is said to lay hidden. During his travels, the young boy meets Ali Baba, and together they attempt to clear the “Dungeon” in order to claim the treasures within. As their quest brings about new encounters and farewells, Aladdin will come to learn of his true destiny.

Review:  A playful manga series based on the stories from Arabian Nights!

Demon's Veil by Brandice Snowden (review)

 

 Veil Prophecy: 

Demon's Veil (1)

By Brandice Snowden

Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal

 Pages: 264

Published: July, 15 2013

Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press

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Summary:  "Powerful veils hold Earth apart from realms mortals believe are merely tales of myth and legend. They are opening again, leaving humans vulnerable, and the monsters ready to strike.

Marie Leveau prefers to remain alone and anonymous, for she knows what goes bump in the night, and sacrificing others isn’t part of her personality. But life isn’t always about getting what you want.
Contracted by The Organization, a shadow government agency, Marie is assigned a new Special Ops team, one she must introduce via Paranormal 101 to the very monsters they didn’t believe existed. Marie and her team are sent to Asia in search of an ancient relic, leading them into the jungle and tests of a fragile new bond. Despite the initial distrust, and an unholy battle with a demon-god, the team survives, their lives forever changed and woven into an unbreakable tapestry.

Returning home, the new friends sense the very people responsible for their safety are willing to sacrifice them all in the name of power.
They learn of a prophecy, and The Paladin, the one person able to close the veils and keep the mortals safe.

With few clues, the team must unravel the prophecy and figure out how to close the veils. Or the monsters will use Earth as ground zero, innocents be damned."

Star Wars-Dawn of the Jedi: Prisoner of Bogan by John Ostrander (review)

 

 Star Wars-

Dawn of the Jedi:

Prisoner of Bogan (2)

by John Ostrander

Genre(s):  Sci-Fi, Graphic Novels
Published July 2013
  Pages: 130

                 Publisher:  Dark Horse
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Summary: "Xesh, a mysterious alien warrior, is enthralled with the madman Daegen Lok and his obsession with conquering known space. Hunter teams are dispatched by the Je’daii to stop Lok and save the misguided Xesh, but they’re not alone. Xesh’s former masters have sent their own hunter—with orders to kill!"

Ink: Fine Lines by Bella Roccaforte (review) Release Day

 

INK-Fine Lines (1)

By Bella Roccaforte

Genre(s): Paranormal, Mystery
Published Aug 2013
Pages: 295

Publisher:  Independent

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 JUST RELEASED TODAY!  AUGUST 8, 2013!!!

Summary:  "Shay Baynes is a wanted woman: by the police for a double murder, by two rival suitors, and by the evil specter that haunts her dreams.

It’s her twenty-first birthday and she finally feels like she’s in charge, out on her own and about to hit it big with a new comic series. The ink's not even dry on her breakout first issue but even Shay's twisted imagination can't predict what will happen when the fine line between reality and nightmare is crossed...

The Acadian Secret by Tammy Lowe (review)

 

The Acadian Secret

By Tammy Lowe

Genre(s): Young Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Youth
Published April 2013
Pages: 183

Publisher:  MusilItUp Publishing

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Summary:  "Elisabeth London is keeping her new friends a secret from her parents. Not only do they live on the other side of the world in the Scottish Highlands, they lived more than three hundred and fifty years ago. Her mom and dad would never allow her to go gallivanting about seventeenth century Scotland. They won’t even let her go to the mall by herself yet.

Twelve-year-old Elisabeth is old enough to know there is no such thing as magic, but when her quartz crystal necklace has the power to transport her back and forth in time, she no longer knows what to think. The only thing she is certain of is that she loves spending carefree days with Quinton, the mischievous nephew of a highland warrior, and sassy little Fiona, a farmer’s daughter.

However, Elisabeth’s adventures take a deadly turn when she is charged with witchcraft. At a time and place in history when witch-hunts were common, those found guilty were executed, children included. Elisabeth must race to find her way back home, while trying to stay one step ahead of the witch-hunter determined to see her burned at the stake."

Review:   Overall, I liked this book. It was a good mix of adventure, magic, fun, friendship and traces of potential romance. A time-travelling adventure layered with plots and sub-plots.

The main character is a girl named Elisabeth who is of current time and soon finds herself in Scotland, back in the 1600's! Yikes! What a change that must be. She soon learns it is connected to a necklace she bought. She meets makes some new friends and she teaches them about the future a bit by introducing them to 'modern' music, video games, chocolate, etc. Her problem is not everyone likes what she seems capable of doing ans think she is a witch. 

Amongst this theme was another story, taking place in the late 1700's with young John who is determined to find and prove there is treasure on Oak island. This story-line kept alternating with Elisebeth's story. While I liked the history lesson here about the early excavations, we do not see how this ties in until the end. Where a certain man crosses both stories. Frankly, I do not think this line was needed. Just seemed like an odd filler. The only way I could fuller appreciate this is if the author does a sequel bringing this man to light more. We see him periodically but never seem to really learn much about him. 

Some odd things I also noticed in the story is when Elisebeth beings a game from Quinton to play at first is sounds like a handheld game (DS, PSP, etc) but then it is referred to as a computer game a couple times. So I want to know what she brought. A laptop? Also, at one point she helps Fiona dye her hair using her mother's home dye kit. Now, Fiona's hair is black. But after just one dye and a quick jump in the local Lock, and she comes up from the water with golden blonde hair. Now, I have dyed my hair blonde from both auburn and brown. Never once did it go blond after just 1 home kit use. I want to know what brand that was. I want it!

The Scotland setting was well done, the voices, the clothing, the food, etc. Also the witch hunts and how those suspected of witchcraft were tested, Nicely done. The author did her homework. From the setting, to Oak Island. I was very impressed with that.. If I see a second book come of this explaining Elisebeth and the 'mystery man' I will likely bump this up in rating a bit.

Special thanks to the author for giving me the opportunity to read this book. The book was given in return for a fair and honest review.

 

Vampire Knight Vol 12 (review) by Matsuri Hino

 

Vampire Knight Volume 12

By Matsuri Hino

Genre: Graphic Novel (manga)

Pages: 184

Published: July 2010

Publisher: Viz Media

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Summary:  "It's been one year since Yuki left Cross Academy with Kaname, and tonight is her first vampire soirée as a pureblood. Her best friend Sayori has snuck into the party to see her, but will Yuki and Zero be able to protect a human girl amid a bevy of vampires?"

Review:  So, this story has some redeeming qualities to it. After the last few books left me oh-so disappointed, it took some time to bother grabbing this one.

*Warning* Spoilers ahead if you have not read previous volumes!

12.21.12 (review) by Killian McRae

 

 12.21.12

by Killian McRae

Genre: Mystery
Published Nov 2011
Pages: 266

Publisher: Tulipe Noire Press

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Summary: "The only way to save the future is to decode the past. The only way to decode the past is to save the future.