Reviews

Old Enough to Save the Planet: Review

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Old Enough to Save the Planet by Loll Kirby (author) & Adelina Lirius (illustrator)
Genre: Children’s Picture Book, Climate Change
Publication: April 1, 2020
Publisher: Imprint – Magic Cat Publishing, Distributor – Walker Australia
Source: Review copy from the publisher – Thank You
View @ Walker Books & Goodreads
Rating: ✵✵✵✵✵

An inspiring look at young climate change activists who are changing the world.

The world is facing a climate crisis like we’ve never seen before. And kids around the world are stepping up to raise awareness and try to save the planet. As people saw in the youth climate strike in September 2019, kids will not stay silent about this subject—they’re going to make a change. Meet 12 young activists from around the world who are speaking out and taking action against climate change. Learn about the work they do and the challenges they face, and discover how the future of our planet starts with each and every one of us.

A conversation with my 6-year-old son, upon finishing reading Old Enough to Save the Planet:

Riley: Is this real
Me: Yes buddy, these are all real stories, the kids really did these things. Did you enjoy the stories?
Riley: Yes.
Me: Did you learn anything?
Riley: Yes.
Me: What did you learn?
Riley: That we need bees.
Me: Okay. Did this book make you want to do anything differently?
Riley: Yes.
Me: What do you want to do?
Riley: Save the planet, just like the people in the book.
Me: What do you want to do first to save the world.
Riley: *staring at me as he realised I was typing what he was saying* Why are you typing it down.
Me: Don’t worry about that. Is there anything in the book you want to try to do?
Riley: Save the bees, save the plants.
Me: Yeah buddy, but is there anything specific they did in the book that you want to do?
Riley: Save the bees.
Me: Yeah buddy, but how.
Riley: Flowers.
Me: You want to plant a bunch of flowers for the bees.
Riley: Yeah.
Me: Well that’s a start.

Both my 6-yr-old Riley and 3-yr-old Ethan sat through the entire book. Yes, my 3yr-old was mainly interested in the beautiful pictures, but my 6-yr-old appeared to be paying attention to the words. As we read each child’s story I tried to expand on the topics e.g. discussing with Riley why bees were so important, why plastic in the ocean was so bad and how his school also has a compost plan in place just like the school in the book.

Old Enough to Save the Planet is physically beautiful, a real feast for the eyes. Each child’s story takes up a full colour extremely detailed double page spread. After we read the story and discussed it for a bit, to keep younger Ethan entrained we counted how many rhinos, or bees, or butterflies, or watering cans etc. were on the page and just admired the artwork a little longer before turning to the next story.

I think this book is a fantastic way to open up important discussions with children about simple things we can all do to look after our planet. At the end of the book are suggestions for things we can all do at home and a list of websites with resources for doing so and continuing on the discussion of ideas covered in this book. I’ll definitely be reading it with My boys again.

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The Secrets of Hawthorne House: Review

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The Secrets of Hawthorne House
by Donald Firesmith
Genre: YA/MG Urban Fantasy
Matt’s life changes forever when a family of druids moves into the dilapidated Victorian mansion next door. The story of an unlikely friendship, the clash of two completely different cultures, secret magic, and a search for the lost Hawthorne treasure.
Fifteen-year-old Matt Mitchell was having the worst summer imaginable. Matt’s misery started when a drunk driver killed his mother. Then his father moved him and his twin sister to the small town of Hawthorne in rural Indiana, as far as his grieving father could take from the ocean that Matt’s mother had loved. At the new high school, three bullies are determined to make Matt miserable. And to top it off, Matt learns that the recluse who lives in the ‘haunted house” next door is none other than Old Lady Hawthorne, the town’s infamous witch and murderer. Matt’s terrible summer is turning into an awful autumn when something quite unexpected happens. Old Lady Hawthorne’s niece and her three children arrive, and Matt meets Gerallt.
My Thoughts:
The story opens with POV Matt Mitchell having a recurring nightmare. 15-yr-old Matt and his twin sister Tina are still reeling from their Dad moving them from the seaside town of Port Orford Oregon to Hawthorne Indiana where he grew up. With both kids still very much mourning the loss of their mother the story moves onto their first day at a new school. Matt and his sister wait out the front of their new house for the school bus, this is when we first get a glimpse of Hawthorn House through Matt’s perspective. The Bus arrives and Matt steps up onto the school bus after his sister and takes the only available seat next to a girl who promptly starts telling him ghost/wicked witch stories about the house next door to his. And so, the mystery of Hawthorn House begins.

Matt ends up having a rather rough first day at Hawthorne High, managing to get in the school bullies’ way almost instantly. BUT It’s not long before there is a new boy in Matt’s year that’s even more of an outsider than he is, Gerallt Hawthorne. After the loss of his father Gerallt, his mother, sister and little brother move into their great aunt’s house, the creepy mansion that is Hawthorn House.

The First 50% of this book was really good; The boys meet and grow to become friends, hang out together and bond over being outsiders and the fact they have both recently lost a parent. Together the boys find the courage to stand up to and then outsmart the bullies. A fantastic tale filled with the power of friendship. Drop the boys from 15 to 12 and it would have made an adorable, heart-warming, well rounded and fun MG novel.

But there is still more story to come!

Before the end of the book we have two more story arcs. One involving Gerallt teaching Matt the Hawthorne ways and then the theft of a Hawthorne artefact. Of course, the boys must figure out who stole the artefact and then get it back. Then at 80% we get another new story arc in all the main characters searching for the Hawthorne family’s lost treasure. I think the latter two story arcs deserved to be expanded on, rather than cramped into the second half of the first book.

All and all, this was a very clean and innocent feeling, magic filled YA (hence my age dropping MG suggestion). Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable read, with my only qualm being the later story plots deserved more fleshing out – I’m asking for more, so I’d say that’s a positive thing!

Also, I loved the List of spells at the back!
Book Trailer
A geek by day, Donald Firesmith works as a system and software engineer helping the US Government acquire large, complex software-intensive systems. In this guise, he has authored seven technical books, written numerous software- and system-related articles and papers, and spoken at more conferences than he can possibly remember. He’s also proud to have been named a Distinguished Engineer by the Association of Computing Machinery, although his pride is tempered somewhat by his fear that the term “distinguished” makes him sound like a graybeard academic rather than an active engineer whose beard is still slightly more red than gray.
By night and on weekends, his alter ego writes modern paranormal fantasy, apocalyptic science fiction, action and adventure novels and relaxes by handcrafting magic wands from various magical woods and mystical gemstones. His first foray into fiction is the book Magical Wands: A Cornucopia of Wand Lore written under the pen name Wolfrick Ignatius Feuerschmied. He lives in Crafton, Pennsylvania with his wife Becky, and his son Dane, and varying numbers of dogs, cats, and birds.
Autographed Book of Hell Holes 1: What Lurks Below (US only)
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Taking Down Evelyn Tait: #LoveOzYA Review

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Taking Down Evelyn Tait by Poppy Nwosu
Genre: Contemporary #LoveOzYa
Publication: April 1st 2020
Publisher: Wakefield Press
Source: Review copy from Wakefield & the #AusYABloggers – Thank You
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Rating: ✵✵✵✵

The door creaks open and standing in the entrance is my absolute worst nightmare.
Perfect hair, perfect teeth, perfect brain.
Perfect sneer.
Evelyn Tait.

Impulsive Lottie – heavy-metal fan, expert tomato-grower and frequent visitor to the principal’s office – is in even more trouble than usual.

Her best friend Grace has dropped an unlikely bombshell: she’s dating Lottie’s mortal enemy, good-girl Evelyn Tait.

Studious Jude, the boy next door, has the perfect war plan. Lottie will beat Evelyn at her own good-girl game, unveiling Miss Perfect’s sinister side in the process.

Taking life more seriously starts as fun, but soon offers its own rewards . . . so long as Lottie can manage gorgeous Sebastian’s sudden interest, Jude acting weird, and the discovery that she might actually be good at something.

Taking Down Evelyn Tait is a story about family, friends and embracing who you are. Even if that person is kind of weird.

Today is my tour stop on the #AusYABloggers and Wakefield Press Taking Down Evelyn Tait review tour.
I absolutely adored Poppy’s first book, Making Friends with Alice Dyson, so I went into this read with extremely high hopes and while I didn’t love Lottie as much as I loved Alice, it was still a fantastic read.

Why was it a fantastic Sarah? Well, I’m glad you asked, thank you bob goblin!
What the synopsis doesn’t tell you is that Evelyn Tait is Lottie’s stepsister, and she has it in for Lottie too. There are deep forced family issues dealt with in a humours and entertaining way.

Lottie, oh sweet yet mischievous Lottie. The POV character Lottie goes through a lot of emotional developing and maturing throughout the course of the story, shown in entertaining and heartfelt ways.

At its core, this is a story about getting revenge but finding something better in the process – teaching the younger reader a valuable lesson. The story, to different degrees, deals with everything from grief, divorce, second marriages, stepparents, absentee parents, and step-siblings, to friendship, first loves, revenge, learning empathy, discovering what your good at, the reward of hard work, being your most authentic and best self. Oh, and there are queer side characters, always a plus for me. – See that sounds like a lot squished in, but Poppy has managed to keep this a light, warm and entertaining story.

I highly recommend you get your hands on both of Poppy’s #loveozya novels, you won’t be disappointed.

 

About the Author:

Poppy Nwosu is an author of YA fiction. Her debut novel, Making Friends with Alice Dyson, was shortlisted for the 2018 Adelaide Festival Unpublished Manuscript Award, and the 2019 Readings Young Adult Book Prize, and will be published by Walker Books US in America in 2020. She was also awarded the 2019 Writers SA Varuna the Writers’ House Fellowship for Young Writers.

Growing up in central North Queensland, Poppy enjoyed a thoroughly wild childhood surrounded by rainforest and cane fields. After studying music at university, she moved overseas to Ireland, where she spent two years visiting stunning Europe. These days Poppy and her husband still love to travel, but they also like to come home again to their house in Adelaide near the sea.

Author Links: Website | Twitter | Instagram

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Ten Little Figs: Mummy & Me Review

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Ten Little Figs
Written by Rhian Williams
Illustrated by Nathaniel Eckstrom
Age Range: from 3 years
Picture book from Walker Books Australia
Review copy thanks to Walker books
Release Date: April 1, 2020
Click to view at Walker Books

A child counts down the figs on the backyard fig tree, as each one is snatched away by a different Australian animal, in this ode to Australia’s natural landscape.

Ten little figs are on my tree. I love figs and they’re all for me. Ten Little Figs is a joyful rhyming picture book about a child keeping careful watch of the figs on the fig tree in his backyard. With his dog by his side, he counts down the number of figs as they are taken by various hungry Australian animals (flying fox, finches, green ants and others) until only one fig is left. Who will get that very last fig? Luckily Dad comes to the rescue and surprises his little one with the very last fig.

I sat down with my three and six-year-old to read Ten Little Figs. The story kept Mr 3 and Mr 6 in one place long enough to read the story from start to finish – Always a sign of a quality children’s book. When I asked them if they enjoyed the story, they both replied yes with smiles on their faces. Mr 3 then started bouncing up and down singing out AGAIN, AGAIN.

Ten Little Figs tells the tale of the native Australian sandpaper fig tree and its delicious bounty. It entertains by telling and showing all the native animals that feast from it.

The artwork is beautiful, the images appear bright and open, but they are also packed with detail and it was fun to watch my boys discovering all the details, pointing out what the puppy was doing and the different creatures hiding in the images.

The words have a lovely sing-song rhyme to them and flow easily off the tongue, making this book a delight to read out loud.

Things children might sneakily learn while enjoying the tale; Australian animal identification, Australian sandpaper fig tree identification, and a better understanding of some of the benefits to wildlife of green spaces.

Ten Little Figs celebrates native Australian plants and wildlife and all the things one can discover in one’s own backyard.

 

About the author
Ten Little Figs is by newcomer Rhiân Williams. She is an ardent explorer of the natural world and is passionate about stories and children’s books. She lives in country NSW.

About the illustrator
Nathaniel Eckstrom is an illustrator based in Sydney, Australia. He has worked on a number of children’s picture books including Stubborn Stanley, The Hole Idea, Roadtrip and The Dress-Box. DUCK!, written by Meg McKinlay, was his first book with Walker Books. His second is Ten Little Figs, written by Rhian Williams.

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The Golden Slate: Review

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36326764. sy475 Battledoors: The Golden Slate
by Brian Wilkinson
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Publication: April 3rd 2018
Publisher: Blue Moon Publishers
Source: Review copy from the publisher – Thank You
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Rating: ✵ ✵ ✵

Life constantly seems to be wavering between really good and really bad for Owen, a lonely sixteen-year-old still reeling from the unexpected death of his mother and a fresh move to Toronto. After ducking into an old bookstore to escape high school bullies, Owen discovers that he can travel to a parallel, twisted version of the city with a magical tablet called a Battledoor, where he encounters new allies, bizarre creatures, and the ultimate antagonist who will stop at nothing to procure the magical Golden Slate for himself.

Forced to work together with friends and enemies in order to return home, Owen is faced with a series of choices that will prompt him to find courage he never knew he had, explore the possibility of romance, and try to find a way to let go of his painful past and move on. But is Owen ready to finally take control, and become the protagonist of his own story?

Find Brian on his Website | Twitter | Instagram 

I first started reading this book in January 2018 when I received an eARC to read and review. I gave up reading it the first time around because I couldn’t stand the character of James. I really liked the sound of the book and the main character Owen was a sweetheart, so rather than just DNF the book, I put it back on my TBR to try again at a later time – In my head, I was thinking later in the year (2018). Oops, here we are over two years later. BUT It was worth the wait as I ended up enjoying the book enough to be tempted to purchase the second book to see how things turn out for Owen and his friends.

When we first meet 16-year-old Owen he is emotionally exhausted and lonely, fed up with the hustle and bustle of his new city and the bullying at his new school. Owen spends most of his days trying to blend in and be invisible, while morning the loss of his mother. More characters join the story quite early on, with love interest Emily and her friend Bea, and bullies James and Lucas. After only a few chapters the teens are all thrown into the chaos of another world together. Que giants wanting to boil them in brews, evil fairies wanting to eat their skins and helpful strangers who appear to straight out of the eighteen-hundreds.

This book gives off major Never-Ending Story and Jumanji vibes and that part I loved. For the most part, it read as an MG adventure book, but then there were moments (mainly surrounding James) that were darker and sat more in YA territory.
I will say that the character of James is a psychopath that needs medical intervention and I found that the moments focusing on him detracted from my enjoyment. I think the author was trying for a Draco Malfoy moment, but the thing with Malfoy is that he’s not truly evil. James just came off as a serial killer in the making.

Battledoors #1, The Golden Slate, for the most part is world-building and getting to know the characters, which I did find enjoyable to read. We don’t meet the antagonist, the big bad guy, until later in the story – Then the story ends on a cliffhanger. And you need to go out and grab Battledoors #2, The Black Spyre, just to see what the outcome is. Argh, Cliffhangers!!
I think this book is best suited to younger YA readers who are into adventure stories but be prepared that they might be requesting the second book immediately after finishing the first.

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Esme’s Gift: #LoveOzYA Review

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51631189. sx318 sy475 Esme’s Gift (Esme Series #2) by Elizabeth Foster
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publication: November 30th 2019
Publisher: Odyssey Books
Source: Review copy from Author – Thank you Elizabeth
Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

In the enchanted world of Aeolia, fifteen-year-old Esme Silver is faced with her hardest task yet. She must master her unruly Gift – the power to observe the past – and uncover the secrets she needs to save her mother, Ariane.

In between attending school in the beguiling canal city of Esperance, Esme and her friends – old and new – travel far and wide across Aeolia, gathering the ingredients for a potent magical elixir.

Their journey takes them to volcanic isles, sunken ruins and snowy eyries, spectacular places fraught with danger, where they must confront their deepest fears and find hope in the darkest of places. Esme’s Gift, the second instalment in the Esme trilogy, is an enthralling fantasy adventure for readers 12 years and over.

Elizabeth’s Links: Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads 

Esme’s Gift follows 16-year-old Esme as she and her friends travel around Aeolia tracking down ingredients for a magical elixir to try and save her mother. We see Esme’s gift (magical ability) develop further and she her learn to control it just in time. Esme and her friends all must use their varied gifts to figure out the correct ingredients for the elixir, collect them and outsmart the bad guy.
There was even more dragon riding in this the second book and who doesn’t love a story that involves dragons and the characters getting to ride them!!

The founders of Aeolia were refugees from Ancient Greece and the stories architectural backdrop reflects this bit of Foster’s world-building. The world of Aeolia is familiar enough for the reader to feel at home, yet unique enough to keep you entertained. As with the first book, the writing followed well, was well-paced and easy to read.

I thoroughly enjoyed journeying with Esme and her friends again. I found this book to be like a good long hug from an old friend. It lifted my spirits immensely.

Esme’s Gift is a well-rounded fantasy tale with a satisfying ending, and yet enough is left untold to keep you looking forward to the next installment. – We still need to catch Mare and find out what happened to Seth!

Esme’s Gift is a story of friendship, a story of love, a story of never giving up and never losing hope.

I would recommend the Esme series to any #LoveOzYA aficionados and lovers of YA fantasy like Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and The Medoran Chronicles.

Click HERE for my review of the first book in the Esme’s Series, Esme’s Wish.

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The Heart of Space: REVIEW

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The Heart of Space by Cendrine Marrouat
Genre: Poetry
Publication: January 14th 2020
Publisher: Self-Published
Source: Tour copy from Sliver Dagger Book Tours – Thank You
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Rating: ✵ ✵ ✵

“The Heart of Space” is a collection of 38 pieces that delve into several major topics, including solitude, the importance of embracing pain, and the lessons one can learn from self-discovery.

“Every single poem is utterly endearing, imbued with a careful sense of introspection, philosophical musings and above all a genuine feeling of hope that, no matter what happens to us in our lives, in the end things will turn out all right.” – David Ellis, Author of “See A Dream Within: Found “Poe”try Based On The Collected Poetry Works Of Edgar Allan Poe”

In this collection The Heart of Space the poems all revolve around embracing pain and death, as well as finding solitude and one’s self. It is a collection of healing. Through Cendrine’s words you sense that she was healing as she penned these poems. Reflecting on this collection I am thinking that maybe we are all constantly healing in some form or another.

I do not know of what faith Cendrine is, but “God” features heavily in her poems. I think If you are a believer in God then this collection would hold a lot more power for you than it did for me. Nevertheless, I found The Heart of Space to be a lovely collection of 38 poems. The poems that touched me the most were; True Art, What is love and Death Unleashed.

I sat and read over True Art multiple times and reflected. Swapping out the word “God” with “The Universe” in my mind, I found this poem touched me greatly. True Art tackles how loss can make us stronger, the way we deal with loss, how it makes us feel and to not be afraid. I actually sat and penned a poem in response to /inspired by True Art and the whole collection as a whole?

In the introduction to The Heart of Space Cendrine states that she wrote this book of poems “during my early days as a poet” and that her style has changed now, and she now prefers writing Haikus. I’ve never gotten the hang of Haikus and but am now keen to read a collection of Cendrine’s. I also intend to check out the Auroras & Blossoms Poetry Journal that she co-founded, stated as featuring uplifting poetry, no matter the topic.

About the Author
Thank you for your interest in my work!
My name is Cendrine Marrouat. (It is pronounced as “san-drEEn mar-wah”. The “t” at the end is optional.) Originally from Toulouse, France, I moved to Winnipeg, Canada, in 2003. I am a dual citizen.
I am a photographer, specializing in nature, black-and-white and closeup images. My photography seeks the mundane to capture the fleeting, but true beauty of life in its many forms.
I approach photography in the same way as I write poetry. It’s not about the tools. It’s about the moment when my eyes catch a story that needs to be told. What happens next, is a spiritual yearning to describe the scene with my camera. However, it is during the editing process that my poetic background comes into play. Every photo must achieve two goals: simplicity and serenity. I use the pure black and white format to convey timelessness. Occasional tinges of sepia are for added depth. Finally, colors stand for romanticism.

For more about the author, click here: Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * YouTube * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads

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Candy Hearts: Review

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Candy Hearts by Erin McLellan
Series: So Over the Holidays #2
Publisher: Erin McLellan
Release Date (ebook): Feb. 3, 2020
Length: 50k word
Subgenre: contemporary romance, holiday romance, erotic romance
Warnings: explicit sex and language
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Mechanic Benji Holiday is so over Valentine’s Day and men who don’t get him. A weekend getaway with friends to escape the holiday hubbub is exactly what he needs. But William O’Dare—a stern and silent nightclub owner with “Be My Valentine” practically stamped on his forehead—throws a wrench into Benji’s plans.

William has spent years focused on his career, and it has cost him friendships and love. Inexperienced in the business of romance, he’s on the hunt for the perfect partner, and he’s armed with specific criteria to guide him. But William didn’t expect a hunky mechanic wrapped in satin and lace to show up on his doorstep.

Unable to resist their attraction, Benji and William agree to be secret fake valentines for the weekend, but secrets have a way of getting out. William gets struck by Cupid’s arrow, and as the weekend winds down, he doesn’t want fake or secret. He wants Benji to be his valentine for real and for keeps.

Candy Hearts is a male/male Valentine’s Day novella featuring a house party power outage, meddling friends and siblings, naughty lingerie and naughtier toys, homemade Valentine’s Day cards, and a happily ever after.

The story opens with Benji heading off for a party weekend that his sister roped him into out of town.  Benji gets all the way out to the lake house his sister told him it was being held at, only to find out no one else is there other then the attractive but standoffish home owner. We quickly find out the William (the home owner) had told the quests that the power was out and the party had to be pushed back a day – Benji never got this message. Awkward introductions out of the way, boisterous Benji is a crack up as he maneuvers around sour socks William. Soon Benji starts to wear off on William and sexy high jinks proceed. I mean what else are two queer men who are physically attracted to each other supported to do in a house without any electricity, hmmm.

Benji’s been hurt many a time and now tries to remain closed off from romantic connections. William has been out of the dating seen for quite awhile, focusing on building his carrier. All the sexy high jinks give Benji and William a feeling of instant connection and they open up to each other through a series of deep and meaningful conversations. By the end of the party weekend they both realise that there may be more that’s worth exploring other than erroneous zones and how to make each other moan. 

All in all Candy Hearts is a super cute, cheeky and fun happily-ever-after queer read, that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I recommend this book to anyone who’s after a super cute romantic pick-me up type read – as long as you man handle of whole bunch of man on man action.

 

 

About the author: Erin McLellan is the author of several contemporary romances, all of which have characters who are complex, goodhearted, and a little quirky. She likes her stories to have a sexy spark and a happily ever after. Originally from Oklahoma, she currently lives in Alaska and spends her time dreaming up love stories set in the Great Plains. She is a lover of chocolate, college sports, antiquing, Dr Pepper, and binge-worthy TV shows.

 Connect with Erin: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Website | Newsletter

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Enshrine: YA Review

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35378501. sx318 Enshrine by Kay Bennson
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Romance
Publication: June 4th, 2017
Publisher: Solstice Publishing
Source: Review copy from YA Bound Book Tours – Thank You
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Rating: ✵✵✵✵

When Sage Wolfe is accidentally mistaken for a peace offering, her world turns upside down. Dayton, the young, handsome, and insane King of Rosementh whisks her away to his castle to be his bride with the promise that he can give her the world and anything she desires. These offers becoming tainted as Dayton’s true colors show themselves; he is cruel and violent and Sage vows to run away or die trying.

Just when Sage thinks she is hitting rock bottom, a hooded stranger named Jonathan Kreider comes to the castle. He doesn’t say much but his actions speak for themselves. Not only can he wield a sword or shoot an arrow better than most of Dayton’s men, but he always seems to be a step behind Sage, and though it should terrify her, for the first time Sage finds herself filling with hope.

Sage is faced with a choice. Should she run away from the wicked king who took her away from her family? Or should she stay to learn more about the man who lurks in the shadows, the man that makes her heart race and almost makes suffering Dayton’s wrath worthwhile? Sage is about to discover that nothing is as it seems and everyone has secrets; Dayton, the man that calls himself Jonathan Kreider, and even herself.

Kay Bennson Links: Twitter | Website | Goodreads | Instagram 

I love it when a book pleasantly surprises me. I signed up to read Enshrine when I saw it in YA Bound’s review call out email late last year. At the time I was in a bit of a mood and thought, I could go for a good old basic love triangle fantasy. That’s not what this ended up being, but back to that a little later. I received the ecopy and then realised it was a 2017 release. It didn’t fill me with hope that the author was still trying to build up reviews a few years down the track. In the end I went into reading this one a little apprehensive, but ended up really enjoying it!! Love it when a book not only beats my expectations, but blows them out of the water.

Firstly, there is no love triangle. Secondly, this book got me hooked and so much more invested in Sage’s life then I expected AND that epilogue! If Kay ever writes a sequel, i’ll be reading it. Thirdly, Sage’s true love interest. Not the piece of crap boy king, but the sexy man muffin warrior that was Jonty (Jonathan). Jonty was a good dude. Okay a little messed up thanks to his daddy and mummy, but a good dude, and fortunately an excellent fighter. He always treated Sage like she was his equal and taught her how to fight and survive on the run. In the end they both ended up saving each other a few times over and fell in love and lived happily ever after.

Now to the piece of crap boy king Dayton, that tried as hard as he could, and almost succeeded in ruining that happily ever after. Dayton was a Ramsay/Joffrey type, so umm… trigger warnings for domestic violence. Thankfully you never saw the darker stuff, it was just hinted at.

All in all this was an extremely enjoyable YA fantasy romance romp. Our heroine goes from being the lowly poor eldest daughter of a war widow, who’s prospects for the future are low and sad in the little village she calls home – to a well traveled sassy ass kicking adventure seeking young woman. And she picks up some arm candy along the way. Way to go Sage!!

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Nils The Tree of Life: Review

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48933442Nils: The Tree of Life by Jérôme Hamon
Publication: February 11th, 2020
Publisher: Magnetic Press
Source: Review copy from NetGalley – Thank You
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A dystopic Nordic fantasy world, where spirits of light are the key to life, but seemingly have abandoned the world. Young Nils and his father set out to discover why the ground has grown infertile, heading north where the drought seems worse to find the cause.

Far along the way, they find signs of fresh and vibrant life, caretaken by these little light spirits. But before they know it, a large metal creature arrives and attacks the creatures, apparently hunting and gathering them.

From out of the woods, a woman attacks the creature, bringing it to its knees… apparently the plant was bait for the spirits, which in turn were bait for the metal creature, which serves the high-tech Cyan Nation.

This huntress, named Alba, takes Nils and his father into their tribe, where the battle between the shamanistic people and the Cyan Nation is paramount, a battle over the protection vs exploitation of the light spirits power…

Meanwhile, three goddesses watch these events, lamenting the fact that man had abandoned all belief in their power long ago. They watch but do not intervene, despite the fact that the spirits are being harvested en masse by the Cyan Nation, wreaking ruin on the world outside their city.

Realizing that this conflict will in one way or another change the very fabric of this world, they slowly begin to intervene…
As they continue their travels, Nils has a dream (seeded by one of the goddesses) about the World Tree, Yggdrasil, which is being consumed by a metal plague.

He knows he must now find and save the tree, and in the process, save the world. But the high council of the Cyan Nation would have otherwise…

Having been separated in their quest, Nils’s father finds himself a guest of the Cyan Prince, where he learns that they do indeed understand the power of the spirits, which they call Ethernum, serving as the power source for their technological advancement.

More sinister than that, however, is the fact that they’ve used the Ethernum as a means of near-eternal longevity, having wiped out all competitors to their power and resource long ago. And now, they believe they have unlocked the secrets for using the Ethernum to revive the dead…

And for the goddesses, that is a step too far. They intervene, but in the process find one of themselves surprisingly captured by the Cyan royalty… and then killed.

The remaining two goddesses are torn by this affront. One vows to wipe mankind off the planet for good, while the other goes to help Nils save the Life Tree.

High fantasy adventure combining science-fiction with pseudo-spiritual magic, posing dramatic examinations of man vs nature, life vs death, fact vs faith, and man’s desire to play god.

After an extremely detailed synopsis like that I’m not sure what’s left to say. The only part of the story the synopsis doesn’t delve into is the ending and the outcome of Nil’s journey – and I’m not going to spoil that, so I’ll talk about how the story made me feel.
The darker cover art with the wolves and tree in the background drew me in when I saw it in the Diamonds email catalog. It made me want to know more and head to Netgalley so I could read the graphic novel.

The dark and rather ominous art keeps up for a large part of the story. I found the art to be deeply emotive. The story, although on some other world in some other time, really captures the way the wealthy and the greedy are striping this world bare for their own gain, with no care as to the irreversible damage they are doing.

The highlight of the story for me was the forest dwelling tribe ruled by women of color, who were living in harmony with nature – I wish they could have had a larger part in saving the day. But Nil’s goes off trying to try save nature and put right what the damage the ruling old white asshats of CYAN have brought upon the world. All this hit home for me living in a country which is run by a bunch a useless greedy men, who refuse to seek guidance from the traditional owners of the land even as it all burns to the ground around them – that’s Strailya for ya mate! Maybe I’m putting too much of my own feelings into this read. But as I read this book, my state of NSW, and most of the east coast, was burning to the ground.

I wasn’t keen on the books ending. It didn’t give me the closure and hope I was needing/hoping for, but again maybe I’m putting too much of my own feelings into it.

I’m not sure what else I can say. This was a read I’ve struggled for over a week, closer to two, to write a review for. The art was beautiful though and I think would be best appreciated in printed form rather than an eComic.

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