Sometimes in life, without looking, we find all you weren’t searching for. With a unique cadence and story-telling rhythm Shaye Baker’s Cerebral Fossil will have you engrossed from page one.
The collection was inspired by the tragic event, the author’s unfortunate loss of his younger brother. The poems discuss these emotions and all those associated with life, death, grief, and the in-between.
Can, Can, Can, Tethered, Breathe, Garden District, A Fire Pit Story, and God Hates were my favorites yet the poem I personally resonated with was Seeds to Grow.
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I was given an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.
Opening with the phrase:
the reader is instantly taken on a journey with the perfect mix of romance, science fiction, adventure, and a philosophical curiosity of free will and the existence of God.
Bengier’s writing is futuristic yet relatable with it’s discussions of protests and social equality, and very captivating.
For more on the book and the author who created this metaphysical world, check out https://garyfbengier.com/
I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
To be honest, I was very excited to read this book because of the romantic mystery aspect. As a sixteen year fan of street skateboarding, I very much support books that accurately represent the sport they are based on.
Luciano’s book is well-written, figure skating is accurately represented, and full of overtly detailed writing from start to finish.
My favorite line in the book:
My favorite scene in the book was relatable and I finally found myself within the novel.
It’s a scene where a dedicated fan finally gets to meet her favorite professional figure skater after months of writing him letters. I never felt more represented and into the book than I did reading that scene.
Now, the book wasn’t for me, per say but anyone who is a true fan of figure skating would most likely find this book that reads like a fictional creative nonfiction novel to be full of great imagery, believable characters, and true to form plot driven by real-like truths based on the author’s work as a New York Times reporter covering figure skating.
Because I believe this book deserves to be read and relished by a fan of figure skating, I’m holding a giveaway.
In order to ENTER THE GIVEAWAY, you MUST enter through the Rafflecopter link HERE.
Magic meets romantic suspense in this first installment of the Sleeping Lotus series. Raena Barren has magic power, and she’s the only person in the kingdom who can hide it.
She survives on the streets of Soma using the magic until she comes face to face with Jorr Potent, and she must save his life.
After he gives her a job in the castle, Raena spends ten years falling in love with him.
Overall, I found McKaye’s writing to be poignant and page turning but at the same time I felt the story lacked something.
Chelsea Sedoti is a new favorite author of mine and I was entirely stoked to see she was coming out with a book that contained an actual cave that grants wishes. Magical realism is a genre that I started getting all the feels for in eleventh grade English. We were assigned to read the book One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The book is a relic itself being that it was translated from its original Spanish to a five hundred page novel in English. Once I started reading it, I fell in love with Marquez’s eloquence and the concept of magical realism.
Magical Realism is a literary genre or style associated especially with Latin America that incorporates fantastic or mythical elements into otherwise realistic fiction.
And so Sedoti returns with a YA novel centered around a small desert town of Madison which appears ordinary to the tourists and visitors but actually has an extraordinary magical element: Every citizen of Madison gets one wish on their 18th birthday within a cave.
It makes the reader wonder what they might wish for if in Eldon’s shoes.
Overall, I wish anyone who reads this book gets swept away by it’s magical charm amidst a regular ordinary main character, a teen that wonders if wishes do more harm than good and someone who isn’t afraid to walk a path uncharted.
And that is a concept I can get behind, wishfully or otherwise.
I’m not sure I’ve ever sat down and read urban fiction but I’m glad I never let labels stop me as a reader, a writer, or a human being. I am very open-minded and was approached by the publisher to read this book for a review about a year ago, and I never thought anything of it. I just said yes but wasn’t prepared for the intensity that this book contained.
To hear my review, please check out this video review but I cannot recommend this book enough and I’m definitely going to buy a copy and you should too!
As I started to read this book, I was five pages in when I found it on Goodreads and read the reviews there. Many people did not sit well with this book. I was gearing up to toss it in the trash on my tablet when I really started to identify with the ideas Guyton was discussing.
It was a gripping read that opened my eyes to some truths while still allowed for objective perspective in regards of what Guyton believes versus what I believe.
Overall, I believe anyone looking to keep your focus on Jesus and emulate him in life should read it because it will give poetic thought to some of the beliefs that are part of the Christian faith.
The Smart Cookie Philes 