Book Review: "The Missing Kitten"

I actually read this book (by the talented Jesse Rice) a while back; I was one of the people Jesse had help out with the editing. I’ve been meaning to write this review for quite a while, but I procrastinate terribly. *sheepish half-smile* 

However, I am writing it now. So, without further ado – the book review of The Missing Kitten.

The first thing I’m going to mention is that, though I believe the book was aimed towards a younger audience, it will be enjoyable to people of any age – I’m sixteen, and I enjoyed every single page of the book. So don’t let the age range you perceive the book to be aimed at deter you from checking it out, I beseech thee!

Here is the description of the book, as seen on Amazon:

Missing In Action!
When imaginative Rambo discovers his kitten friend Seabert has vanished, he isn’t immediately worried. However, once he starts looking, he finds himself drawn into a plot involving a catnapping and a scheme to destroy the farm. Can Rambo rescue his friend from the forest, or will Seabert be lost forever?

I don’t know about the rest of you, but that description alone would be enough to convince me to buy the book.

The Missing Kitten is a story of excitement, adventure, loyalty, and courage. You find yourself emotionally invested in the characters quite soon off; all of them are very third-dimensional and fun to read about. They all have quirks and flaws, just like real-life humans (and animals!) do.

Okay, all of my excited rambling aside, I’ll get on to the pros and cons. And don’t expect many cons, just as a heads-up.
~~
Pros:
- The characters were well-developed and extremely likeable. You find yourself mentally cheering them on and hoping the protagonists succeed in their mission. I believe that Jesse Rice did a very good job, however, of not making all of the antagonists completely unlikeable either; some of the antagonists have a side to them that make the reader sympathize somewhat—but not enough to stop rooting for the good guys. That is a hard balance to meet, but Jesse meets it perfectly.


- There is a well-kept balance between the excitement; there is plenty to keep a person turning the pages, but it’s not all action, all the time, which is always a good balance to have in a book.

- The writing style and choice of words are easy enough for younger readers to understand, but not so much so as to bore older readers. Somehow, Jesse managed to write it so that both older and younger readers could enjoy it.
~~
Cons:
- Uhhh… the only cons I could find were fixed in the last edit of the book, to be honest. *grins* I’m telling the truth, I really don’t have any cons for this book. It’s a wonderful story!
~~
So yes, I think that’s all there really is to say! If you get the chance, definitely check out this book; it’s well worth it. And, there will be more. A sequel is already in the works. If you like this first book, then you’ll get to read more!

If you have any questions about the book, let me know, and I’ll answer them!

God bless.

~ Theodora Ashcraft

Book Review: Never

　
Last night, I finished reading a book called Never, by J. Grace Pennington.

The writing style of the book just blew me away. I mean, I had high expectations for Never to begin with, and I was still pleasantly surprised by what I read. The characters were vivid and three-dimensional, the storyline was exciting, and there were plenty of plot twists along the way to keep you guessing.

I'm not going to give anything away, but the basic plot goes like this—Travis and Ross Hamilton are brothers who work on a ranch that their father left them when he passed away. Travis is bookish, and wants to become a teacher, and Ross supports him in that endeavour.
Everything goes wrong when a murder is committed in town... and all evidence points to Travis as the killer.
He is sentenced to a certain amount of years of labor in the Dead Mines, which is basically a prison, only much worse.

But all is not what it seems in the Mines, or in the small town of Spencervale, for that matter.

I'm not going to tell you anymore, because let's face it—if you haven't read this book yet, you really should. But enough of my excited ranting; I'll give a more organized and neutral review now for those of you who prefer that to my rambling.

The book has pros and cons as well; every book does. I'll give the pros first, because there are more of them.
~~
Pros:
- The characters are vibrant and believable; much more so than most characters in other books that are being published these days. They have strengths and they have weaknesses. They have fears and they have doubts. Just like everybody does.

- The writing style is excellent. There aren't many people who can switch from two different points of view (Ross to Travis, in this particular book) without making a mistake or two. But Miss Pennington did it perfectly. She also did a very good job of switching POVs at cliffhangars, which made me read faster to get to the other character's POV to see what happened to them.

- The ending is unexpected. Now, there is information building up to the climax that should tell you how it's going to end, but it still surprised me all the same.
~~
Okay, now for cons. I only found one or two cons for the book, if I'm going to be completely honest.

Cons:
- There were a few spelling and punctuation mistakes in the book. Not many, but there were some there. Nothing too bad; and probably nothing that normal people would have noticed. I, however, am not normal and nitpick about every little bit of punctuation I come across.
~~
Now, see, what did I tell you? I've been sitting here nigh on ten minutes, and that's the only con I could come up with. I'm not exaggerating either—I'm making the effort to be completely honest in this review, so what I say is what I think.

So, let me see... I don't think there's much more I have to say. This is a book that would have normally taken me only one night to read, except I've been insanely busy lately, so it took me a few weeks.

If you have any questions about the book, let me know and I'll answer them!

God bless, love and peace,

Theodora

Book Review: The Door Within, By Wayne Thomas Batson

"What lies beyond the door within?"
An intriguing statement, don't you think so? It's the statement on the back cover of the first book in Wayne Thomas Batson's Door Within trilogy.

Swordfighting, knights, strange creatures, warriors, kings...all exciting stuff in any book, but Wayne Thomas Batson puts new twists on it all. Here's the blurb from the back cover:

Three ancient scrolls beckon Aidan Thomas to enter another world: a realm of knights, warriors, kings, unusual creatures, and mysterious Glimpses who can travel between worlds.
Soon Aidan is training to become the Twelfth Knight of an elite unit who will join Alleble in its long fight against the evil Paragory. With the fate of two worlds hanging in the balance, will Aidan be willing to risk everything and trust the one true king?Brilliantly written blurb, if you ask me. Which I note you didn't, but I don't care. XD
Here are some random facts about the book:

311 pages
Third-person POV
Published by Thomas Nelson
Has a character list in the beginning
Link To The Door Within On Amazon
I will repeat that this is, in fact, a book from a trilogy, which means it might leave a little to be desired at the ending. Luckily, the other two books are out, so you don't have to wait for your questions to be answered! : )

I actually don't have any favorite characters, because they're all so interesting and well-created! Mallik, Nock, and Bolt are extremely amusing, though. ;)

If you haven't read this book, I definitely suggest you do. Immediately. Because I know where you live, yeah? ^.^

Book Review: Sword in the Stars (Book One in the Dark Sea Annals), by Wayne Thomas Batson

I first heard about this book from Varon (check out his blog HERE). I decided to check it out at the library and see what it was about.
I was into the book about...five pages, and was instantly hooked. I spent all that day and the next reading it. I spent so long reading it, I finished it in about three days; and that's saying a lot, considering how long it is!
Here's the blurb from the back cover:

Haunted by memories of a violent past, Alastair Coldhollow wagers his life on the hope that a sword will appear in the stars and the foretold Halfainin, the Pathwalker, would come. Meanwhile, tensions simmer between Anglinore and the murderous Gorrack Nation, threatening war on a cataclysmic scale. The fate of all could rest on an abandoned child and the decisions of those who desperately seek to identify him.That blurb mentions the phrases 'violent past', 'war on a cataclysmic scale', and 'the fate of all could rest on an abandoned child'. That was enough to make me think, Right, I better go check this book out.
Here are some facts about the book in general.
426 pages
Third-person POV (though it switches from person to person every so often)
Published by Living Ink Books
Has a list of the principal races featured, and the characters of those races
Link To The Sword In The Stars On Amazon
I'm not going to list pros and cons because the whole book was good (what can I say? I'm very un-picky about what I read), save for a few minor grammatical errors and plot holes.

As for my favorite character, it's Alastair Coldhollow, hands-down. Which is odd, because I'm not usually a big fan of the main characters. I normally like the supporting characters.
Oh, and Captain Dagspaddle. He amuses me to no end, for some reason. ^.^

Right, so. If you didn't read through this whole post, always remember: I know where you live.

...this review wasn't even that long, so I'm not putting a brief statement about what it said. Read it!

Book Review: Runemarks, by Joanne Harris

"This is a WOW-this-book-is-so-amazing-that-if-they-made-it-into-a-movie-it-would-win-an-Oscar-for-sure book. Runemarks has so many twists and turns it will keep you on the edge of your seat."---Chicago Tribune

I couldn't agree more with this statement. Runemarks is, without a doubt, the most enjoyable book I've read in a while. Jam-packed with exicitement, life lessons, inner battles, and more than enough surprises, Runemarks has a subtle theme of what true family really is, and where one's loyalties ought to lie in the mortal world.
Despite the fact that this novel focuses more on Norse mythology than any religions followed nowadays, I still think that there are lessons worth learning hidden within the words.
Here's the statement on the back cover.

In Maddy Smith's world, Order rules. Chaos, old gods, Faeries, goblins, magic, glamours--all of these were supposedly vanquished centuries ago. But Maddy knows that a small bit of magic has survived. The "ruinmark" she was born with on her palm proves it--and makes the other villagers fearful that she is a witch.
But the mysterious traveler One-Eye sees Maddy's mark not as a defect but as a destiny. And Maddy will need every scrap that One-Eye can teach her about runes, cantrips, and glamours--every ounce of magic she can command--if she is to survive that destiny.That statement does an amazing job of keeping the reader guessing. It doesn't give any of the main plot away, yet it is still relevant to the storyline.

Here are some facts about the book in general.
527 pages
Third-person POV (though it switches from person to person in every chapter)
Published by Alfred A. Knopf
The author is from England (seriously, almost every book I read by a British author is amazing. The Stoneheart Trilogy by Charlie Fletcher, anyone?)
Has a list of characters and a guide to the 'Runes of the Elder Script'
Link to Runemark's Amazon Page

Right, so. Pros and cons. There were some of both, though I must admit more pros--like, nearly the whole book was a pro. There were a few minor cons.

~ ~ ~

Pros:
- None of the characters are who they seem; throughout the novel, I was constantly being surprised by all of the characters, even the minor ones.
- The POV (point of view) switches from character to character, which I enjoy in any book.
- There's something for everyone in the book. For action-adventure readers, there's plenty of excitement and battles. For fantasy readers, the book contains goblins, gods, and magic. For science-fiction readers, there are a few rifts between different worlds.
- Almost everything else is a pro. Great vocabulary, vivid images painted with words, and no inconsistencies or mistakes that I could see.

Cons:
- The ending left a lot to be desired. It was kind of...mixed emotions for me. A few characters (they may have been good, they may have been bad, but I didn't see any reason for one or two of the deaths) died, for what seemed to be no reason. It was also slightly confusing, and left me wondering what would happen to the main character afterwards. All in all, I didn't really like the ending.
- There was some mild swearing throughout the book. Nothing too strong, but it was an issue for me at times. Eventually I just skipped over them; believe me, it was well worth it.
- There was some violence. Nothing too graphic, although one or two things made me squirm a little. Seriously though, nothing too bad.
- Throughout the book, I had to double-check a few things due to my confusion. This might or might not be an issue for the rest of you.

~ ~ ~

Despite that, I greatly enjoyed the novel. Want proof?

Well, let's see. The last book I stayed up late reading at night was...either the Codebearers series by the Miller Brothers, the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini, or The Unicorn Chronicles by Bruce Coville. ((See? It's been so long since I stayed up late reading anything, I can't even remember which book it was.))

And I stayed up late last night reading Runemarks. I would have stayed up until midnight if I could, but my mom made me go to bed. Curses. Oh, well, that meant I got to finish it this morning. And I had dreams about the book last night, so that's a plus.

All of the characters were written well, with third-demensional personalities and backgrounds. It's almost too hard to choose my top three favorites, but if I had to, it would probably be these three.

One-Eye - A Wanderer, Outlander, and Journeyman (as he is called by people who do not know him) who takes Maddy Smith under his wing for very important reasons (nope, not telling; read the book). ~
Lucky - One who is not what he seems. Throughout the book, Maddy struggles to figure out whether Lucky is trustworthy--or untrustworthy. She has good reason to wonder.
~
Sugar-And-Sack - Sugar, as he is commonly known, is a goblin. He appears throughout the book, and is probably one of the funniest characters. Maddy catches him in the cellar, about to escape through his burrow. After that, they keep running into each other.
If you're someone who knows me well--extremely well (bookwise, anyway)--you probably predicted that those characters would be my favorites. Even if you haven't read the book, those sorts of characters are the kinds I like. Ones who are rugged and bold, ones who are often untrustworthy and fight with inner demons, and the 'class clowns' of the novels.

Hmm...if it is made into a movie, I'm definitely going to try out for...well, the only character I'd fit the description of is Maddy, so probably her. Or I could be the
screenwriter and I'd get to be on set with the actors and other people anyway! And it would be epic if Viggo Mortensen played One-Eye, and Sean Bean played Lucky. And then after that, maybe I could find some way to get my fantasy trilogy made into a movie, and Viggo Mortensen could play Keallan, and Sean Bean would play Ingvar...! Major awesomeness overload. *dies*

...yeah, yeah, I know, my daydreams get away with me sometimes. Your point being?

Anyway. If you're someone who didn't bother reading through this whole post (I know who you are, and I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE! *evil laugh*), I'll sum it all up.

Runemarks is an intriguing, rollicking tale with believable characters and an engaging plot. The ending leaves something to be desired, but do not let that deter you.
If you haven't read it yet, go to your nearest bookstore/library/online store and get a copy. I'm serious.

Overall, I give Runemarks 4.5 stars. If I had been more satisfied with the ending, it would definitely have been 5 stars.

Here's the trailer.