Growing Pains: Kendra’s Diaries (#1) by K.P. Smith

18 Aug 2015 Leave a comment

by Amy in 2 Stars, Young Adult Tags: , , ,

Published: 26th March 2015Goodreads badge
Publisher: Doin It Publishing
Pages: 207
Format: ebook
Genre: Young Adult
★   ★  – 2 Stars

Growing Pains; Kendra’s Dairies is the first book in the series chronicling the journey of Kendra Foster from adolescence to adulthood. I aspire to encourage, entertain, and inspire young adults. Life has its ups and downs, its bumps and its bruises. But with perseverance, determination, and faith you can be all you were born to be. Never Give Up!

Note: I was provided with a copy of this book from the author for review.

This was an interesting story to read, the idea was sound but fell flat slightly in its execution. While dubbed a YA novel (and may well become one in future books), at the moment it is more suited into that ambiguous tween age group type of story.

One of the first things that I noticed is that I couldn’t settle into Kendra’s voice that well. I know she is only thirteen but the narration doesn’t read naturally and there were inconsistencies in Kendra’s behaviour that didn’t help either. At times Kendra sounded like she was older and other times she was quite immature, whether this was representative of the balance between being a child and almost an adult I don’t know, but it didn’t quite work though I could see Smith’s intentions. Kendra looks after her sister a lot because of her parents arguments so she has a mature and responsible side, but she is also selfish and childish which reflects her age and desire to want everything her own way.

With Kendra narrating we are at the mercy of her voice, experience, and thoughts and as a result there are a lot of opinions about things around her. There are a lot of descriptions, some that don’t blend too well within the story, and Kendra has a tendency to over describe as well. When she discusses friends they are over described and almost critical at times, which again I think is a reflection of her age but it stood out and felt clunky and unnatural. Having Kendra as a selfish thirteen year old was not the issue, but how this was expressed wasn’t quite right, Smith needs to blend description and expression more seamlessly to make this work.

By the end of the story I expected a change to happen to Kendra, be influenced and affected by the events around her but there wasn’t as much as I had hoped. She remains selfish and while there are times when you think she is about to have an enlightened moment she fails just before reaching that point. She does grow up in a way, she accepts her friends a bit more and learns to forgive her parents and see they are trying, but there needed to be a bit more, especially given what happens in the story.

The main things I wanted coming to the end was having Kendra realise what she has, understand what people around her are doing, and be ok with her situation, more so than what she actually is. After the fuss she makes about going to her desired school I was after an acknowledgement of sorts about the entire thing and while Smith touches on Kendra accepting her situation, there wasn’t that reflection or admission about any of it, or even regret.

This is the first book in a series so hopefully as Kendra grows up more the writing and her story will evolve with her. With a bit more editing this book could be a great introduction into Kendra’s life and her journey into growing up and discovering who she is.

You can purchase Growing Pains: Kendra’s Diaries via the following

Amazon

Pilgrim by Terrence Atwood

24 Jun 2015 Leave a comment

by Amy in 2 Stars, Science Fiction Tags: , , ,

Published: 5th March 2015Goodreads badge
Publisher: Self Published
Pages: 146
Format: ebook
Genre: Science Fiction
★   ★  – 2 Stars

An exploratory probe is launched into space on a mission to investigate the possibility of extraterrestrial life. However, a cabal of military forces have covertly converted the probe into a weapon of mass destruction – arming it with a nuclear payload. 

When the launch of the craft goes awry, the probe crashes back on Earth and begins carrying out its mission – eradicating all life. It’s up to Catherine Tennison, an intrepid NASA scientist, and Army Colonel Walt Macken to capture and disarm the probe before it brings about Armageddon. 

Note: I was provided with a copy of this book from the author for review.

This is quite a short novel, and one that captures a single event and moment in time, focusing on the action and outcome rather than offer too much background detail and depth of characters and environment. It is also written in present tense which took a while to adjust to. Whether the approach was to make it feel more in the moment I’m not sure, but while I got used to it, it never felt right.

The narrative is told and presented in snippets and in paragraphs rather than a flowing narration. It jumps from scene to scene quickly, a bit like a movie cutting from one place to another, without connection sentence or any clear indication where it will go. This wasn’t a real problem overall but it did feel a bit like we were jumping all over the place with random moments put together rather than a steady story.

From a promising beginning that seemed as if it would develop and grow, it falters soon after. It remains flat even when there is danger and peril to characters, never quite creating the excitement of tension needed. The story itself is a bit hard to believe as well, even for science fiction, but if you suspend your belief and take the story as is the events aren’t the main concern.

The main issues I found were the lack of depth in the characters and surprisingly the lack of concern I had for them when this probe was hunting them all down. I couldn’t connect with them, and honestly did not care what happened to them. This was my feeling for most of the novel. I was not interested in the outcome and I found myself picking apart things than getting into the story.

Even aside from these character issues, the story needs further editing. There are jarring dialogue and bad grammar throughout, and punctuation needs improving. The sentences don’t quite flow and the language and description is a bit lacking.

But there were some good bits. I did like how Atwood has worked in the probe movements and actions, fitting them pertinently in between other scenes. Stepping back you can see what Atwood has tried to achieve, a quick action/Armageddon story of a wayward machine wiping out humanity, but it just hasn’t worked. The words are there, and scenes in the right places, but the feeling or the anticipation isn’t, and when you don’t care about the characters you can’t worry for them when they’re killed.

Overall the concept was ok but the execution was not that great or enjoyable to read. With some editing it may improve but as it is now, I’m glad it was as short as it was because it couldn’t have kept me interested for much longer.

You can purchase Pilgrim via the following

Amazon

Everflame by Dylan Lee Peters

15 Jun 2015 Leave a comment

by Amy in 2 Stars, Fantasy Tags: , , ,

Published: 29th July 2012Goodreads badge
Publisher: Self-published
Pages: 260
Format: Ebook
Genre: Fantasy
★   ★  – 2.5 Stars

Long ago, when the earth was young. . . Four ancient beings created man to be the bastion of the earth and its creatures. But when The Great Tyrant came and chased The Ancients away, the world was transformed into a place of fear and isolation. Over time humans lost the connection they had with a world they had been created to protect. Now, deep in the forests that surround Gray Mountain, two bears find a small child that is abandoned and left for dead. They name him Evercloud, and raise him as a member of their kingdom. Teaching him the secrets of the elders, they tell him of the ancient beings that created man and the rumors of their return. Evercloud must now go on a quest to return The Ancients to power. However, in another corner of the land, a man known only as The Messenger travels the land under a white hood, on a mission to prevent the return of The Ancients. We follow the paths each of these men take until their stories collide in an epic battle of good versus evil.

Note: I was provided with a copy of this book from the author for review.

The story begins with an opening paragraph that grabs your attention about a bear who is a king, raising a human child as his son. From there it becomes a story about ancient legends, fantasy, mysticism and faith, and trying to bring peace between the bears and the human world.

The plot is not confusing so much as complicated, with many different elements quite substantially introduced early on. Back stories and pieces of information are given with long and detailed side stories before the main narrative kicks off, and throughout there are clear and obvious moments of exposition that are more tell than show.

These are not boring exactly, but they are long and excessive, and often added questions than answered them, especially concerning the bear society and the bear themselves. A lot of information is given about the Kingdom but key elements like how bears can both act like bears but also have a human-like society with commerce, construction, writing etc is left unexplained.

Characters are slightly flat, but they have enough history and depth as the story needs them to have, and some have much more than others. And even though you can grasp a bit of their personality based on interaction and dialogue, I never really connected with them, or cared much about them.

The bears have raised Evercloud well; he is smart, determined, doesn’t seem to have any Tarzan-like issues about fitting in with a society of bears. There isn’t even much of a “discovering my own species” part of the story. Evercloud manages quite fine when he meets humans for the first time which seemed strange, and while astonished at first, he adjusts quickly, not even perplexed by the women, just the usual cliché infatuation with a pretty girl. Understandably, men look like variations of himself, but having been raised by bears who have no real differences, he has no apparent issue or confusion with the other sex.

There is a bit of violence, human and animal alike, which when it first appears comes as a blunt shock having read through so many chapters of pleasantries and life with the bears. To be thrust into another side story with sudden and brutal violence is a shock, and in a way it does move the story on, but the sudden switch was a surprise, and one that immediately changes the age range possibilities. The violence continues sporadically through the remainder of the novel, not as detailed or brutal as before, but there all the same.

There are also a lot of coincidences that help move the story along, whether cliché or deus ex machina, which help out Evercloud and the others. But by the time they come along you just expect it, that’s the kind of story it is, everything goes along well with one a few bumps and troubles on the way that instantly have a solution.

It wasn’t all mediocre, the information was interesting, Peters has good timing in revealing new snippets and twists, even small ones, and the structure was good, just a bit heavy with the exposition. A good idea poorly executed. There is a cliff hanger of sorts, Peters finishes the novel nicely in that it adds a new element of surprise and revelations, and also concludes the current story before tempting your interest to get into the second.

Overall the story is likeable and the idea is sound, but there are a fair few things that stand out as you read that make it hard to immerse yourself fully. The problems lay in the construction and execution with grammatical issues, characters you can’t really connect with or care much about, and a story that is curious at best, but not really pulling you through the pages with interest. If you ignore the holes, the few implausible and far-fetched aspects, and the writing doesn’t bother you, it is a nice little fantasy.

You can purchase Everflame via the following

Kindle
Nook
iBooks
Paperback
Hardcover

Legacy Lost (#0.5)

10 May 2013 Leave a comment

by Amy in 2 Stars, Of Poseidon, Young Adult Tags: , , , ,

Published: 22nd May 2012
Goodreads badgePublisher: Tom Doherty Associates
Pages: 32
Format: Ebook
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy
★   ★  – 2 Stars

Legacy Lost is a prequel story to Anna Banks’ debut novel, Of Poseidon.
He is a mer-prince, she is the mermaid princess that his family orders him to marry so that their kingdoms unite. Grom dreads this arrangement, until he meets Nalia — both beautiful and smart, she’s everything he ever wanted. But just when their connection grows deeper, tragedy strikes.

I thought since I mentioned it we need to add in the review. It is short, mainly because the prequel was short, but there isn’t much I want to say about it, partly for spoilers, and partly because it was annoying. Oh my was it annoying. I don’t think my eyes have rolled that much in a story until I read this story. Like most prequels, this is one that really should be read before the main first book because it makes you read it very differently when you know the future, even if you miss out on a lot of information given in the book. It is supposed to be an extension on the backstory of events mentioned in Of Poseidon.

The main players are Grom, who we see in Of Poseidon, and his intended mate Nalia. This is a story of the past so Grom is younger than in the book, and the story revolves around the events leading to the union of the pair. By the end of this story it does become something pretty reasonable, but for the most part it was very weak. Grom is a complainer for the first part of the story and after awhile it gets a bit annoying, but then he changes it to being this forward, clichéd and failing to be romantic guy and it makes you wish he was complaining again. There is a scene between Nalia and Grom reuniting after a period of time and it is eye rolling at best. It is stilted and corny and there is a line in there that reminded me of Princess Bride – you know the one, that one, but I think that was my mind trying to think of anything except the story.

Grom’s intentions for his actions are clumsily revealed as the story progresses and they are quite petty with rather childish reasoning behind them, all as consequence for a prophecy and agreement, something that was always known so it was no surprise to anyone. As a character Grom is quite unappealing, in Of Poseidon he seems stronger and tolerable. I know that is set in the future where he would be grown but it is hard coming from the book to this short story prequel and accepting he is the same person. My mind also wandered and certain bits reminded me a lot of Disney’s Little Mermaid which was interesting. As its own story it was poor, and even as a prequel I think it was just ok, but something I think, since this was done so badly, the storyline could have been introduced into the second book in a better way. Perhaps if it was a bit longer Banks could have made it flow a bit better and make the interactions more convincing.

You can purchase Legacy Lost via the following

Amazon

Amazon Aust

Or you can read it here.

Hating Alison Ashley by Robin Klein

20 Mar 2013 Leave a comment

by Amy in 2 Stars, General, Junior Fiction Tags: , , ,

Published: October 1st 1985
Goodreads badgePublisher: Puffin Books
Pages: 192
Format: Book
Genre: Junior Fiction
★   ★  – 2 Stars

‘Utter loathing and hatred ‘ I said. ‘I wouldn’t even be on the same bus as you… If I could have caught a virus in time.’ Erica Yurken knew she was destined for great things. Never in any doubt about her own genius she felt superior to everyone at notorious Barringa East… that is until Alison Ashley turned up.

Hating Alison Ashley is about a new girl arriving at school and Erica Yurkan instantly hating her because she looks out of place and a better class of person. That’s it. So we sit through Erica assuming the worst, convinced Alison is out to get her and finding more things to hate no matter how small and shallow.

The first thought when I started reading this was that we finally got a story from someone other than the middle class. Granted it was less eloquent in my mind but that isn’t important. This book was so surprising and a very odd read. It was interesting to see Erica’s family and social point of view but by golly she was an annoying child. You forget she’s only supposed to be 12 years old or something if she’s only in year six. And the stories she comes up with were so unrealistic they just became annoying as every time she opened her mouth it was a lie. And not even a decent one.

There is a great line in this book that was put in there at just the right moment when my patience of putting up with Erica was getting thin. It is a great observation – “Erica Yurkan you have an exaggerated sense of your own importance”. This is so true and for someone coming from her family she is the most judgmental and snobbish person.

Even if you try and justify it, because of her family life etc etc she acts out etc etc. But she doesn’t even act out properly. What she does is she thinks she is superior to everyone when she isn’t, she hates those different than her and looks down on those she thinks are stupid and less deserving, she isn’t shy about openly criticising everyone and she can’t accept any one else might be having their own issues. She really is a horrible person, but again, we can justify it and say well look at what she comes from and how she is hiding up her shame, but that is no excuse.

By the end there is hope for Erica as she starts to realise that she isn’t fooling anyone, and that perhaps her life isn’t so bad after all. But you do have to put up with a lot to get her to that point. Again she is only supposed to be 12 years old so it is just weird most of the time. I guess it is supposed to shows you can’t judge anyone cause you don’t know their life but I think this took it too far. Erica’s family wasn’t what shocked me the most, that I could easily picture, it was this 12 year old hating someone so much and letting it consume her life just because she was ashamed or jealous or some stupid reason like that. Luckily she attempted some form of redemption in the end because Erica is a lot of personality to deal with in one book.

This was turned into a movie starring singer Delta Goodrem, they had changed the story a bit as per usual, but some of the plot was close to the book. I wasn’t a fan of the movie myself but that may just be me, so if you liked this book you may enjoy watching the movie.

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