Review: Slippery Souls - Sunray Bay Series - Rachael Dixon

Libby is an ordinary girl, with a decently ordinary life, with a crappy boyfriend and a dog.

This one sunny day, she goes out to buy some milk with her dog Rufus, since her crappy boyfriend left her without any milk, she was just deciding that she would leave said crappy boyfriend when she dies. She's hit by a car, rather suspiciously, I might add.

Suddenly, she wakes up in the afterlife and her dog can talk.

She's in Sunray Bay, a little city by the sea, full of dead people.

But the afterlife isn't quite loving and peaceful, something is odd about it. She's left with no clue, no food and no extra clothing other than the one she died in.

Suddenly some creepy guy yells at her for being with a dog, another VERY creepy guy, high on something, keeps staring at her and suddenly, he steals her purse. Great, dead AND without money for icecream!

By then she's irritated and hot, it's very hot at Sunray Bay, and, most of all, confused. She meets Grim, a hot hot HOT Peace & Order Maintenance officer.

Grim is tall, dark and mean. And a jerk. Libby stays away from him but, it seems, they keep bumping into each other and they sort of save each other a few times before deciding that, well, they are both being hunted by people, they might as well try to be alive together-ish. Well, Libby decides, not Grim. He refuses. She's pushy - I love that.

I also love that she admits, clearly, she's in for lust. She's not hopelessly in love with him, he's not her soul mate or the love of her... well, death. He's just too damn hot and she wants a piece of that. Got to love an honest lady.

Sunray Bay isn't a place for your normal dead. Some just slip away, to wherever the other side is. Sunray Bay is sort of like the Purgatory, with monsters and criminals, some being able to redeem themselves and some not.

The real issue on the book is how did Libby ended up there? She's neither a monster nor a criminal. But I won't spoil it for you - it is revealed, of course, eventually.

But why are these people after her? Why are they after Grim? And why do these people do what they do?

As much as this phrase is a cliche, this book is a page turner, quick paced and full of emotion. I like Libby as a strong heroin and, gosh, I love my strong heroins! 

A soulless heroin, since her soul ended up in her dog and that's why he can talk, a fun and loving dog - I'm such a dog person - and a hot hot bad boy, along with some both good and bad monsters (mostly vampires and werewolves, but also ghouls, zombies and those other supernaturals) is a perfect recipe for a succesful book.

Slippery Souls has left a good bunch of questions unanswered, so I'm looking forward to Sunray Bay Series' second book, called The Forgotten Ones.

I recommend to all Urban Fantasy lovers, specially those who like kick ass heroins.

Available to download from Amazon, Smashwords - and from most other e-book distributors.
Also available in paperback from FeedARead and from most online book distributors.

Review: Fall of Giants - Ken Follett

Hello friends! It's with really heavy heart that I come today to write this review. Not because the book is bad, don't fool yourselves, but because it is just too good. I feel, sadly, I'll never be able to write a review that reflects how much it impressed me.

Kenneth Martin Follett is a Welsh writer, graduated in Philosophy by the University College, in London, started his carreer as a journalist, first on the South Wales Echo and then on the Evening Standard. His greatest success was "Pillars of the Eart" and Fall of Giants is his latest book, first one on the "The Century"  trilogy.

Fall of Giants talks about World War I, but without pointing fingers and trying to find guilt or innocence and that’s where it’s different from other books and movies about that theme. Americans are still considered a bit more “good guys” than the others, but all people involved have the right to show their side of the story and how, despite trying, there was no way of avoiding the war, because of the governments and their self defense, ego and greed.

The trilogy The Century talks about the 20th century, branded by its three grand happenings: World War I, World War II and the Cold War, happenings that branded and altered the course of mankind.

The story covers 9 years, from 1911 to 1920, showing the time before the war, the situation in Europe, until the after war and shows some of the reasons for World War II. Not only Europe's situation is covered, but also the Russian Revolution of 1917, the USA and their struggle with Mexico, who believes they were stolen on some territories (California, New Mexico, Arizona, if I'm not mistaken, correct me if I'm wrong because I couldn't find the quote), the situation of the colonies on European countries in Africa, Asia and Oceania, among others.

And how does the author do it? How can he put together so many themes, places and point of view? Well, it's simple and complex at the same time! The book is 900 pages long, maybe that would explain it, but many books are 900 pages long and don't tell such complex stories (like A Game of Thrones or even Lord of the Rings that, despite being wonderful books, they never tell the point of view, for example, of the said villains)... So, what's the trick? The trick, dear readers, are the characters: the main characters are 5 different families, from different social status and nationalities.

- The Williams, welsh, with the "Union Dai" and Cara, Billy and Ethel and Gramper, but, actually, Dai and Cara are called Da and Ma, because who tells the story are Billy and Ethel. Billy is, actually, William Williams and is also called of Billy with Jesus, Double Billy, among others, because everyone has a nickname, since names and last names are all very common and there are many people with the same names.

- The Fitzherberts, noble British, with Fitz, head of the family and a Count, Bea, his wife, a russian princess and Maud, his sister, single at the old age of 23, a sufragette (feminist), with political visions completelly diferent from her brother.

- Robert, from Austria and his cousin, Walter, German, both working for the government of their countries but in England, friends of the Fitzherbert.

- Gus Dewar, American, of a certain American aristocracy, families that have money for generations, soon becomes President Wilson's advisor.

- Lev and Grigori, orfan russian brothers, poor, opressed by the system, trying to run away to the USA to live "The American Dream", in which one manages to go and the other ends up being part of the Russian Revolution.

All of these families cross eachother's path, one of the russians goes through the Williams' town before heading to the USA, ending up in Gus Dewar's city, the Fitzherbert's, friends of Robert and Walter, enemies of the war, Ethel, housekeeper at Fitz's home and, later, getting envolved in politics with Maud and, after that, alone. One of the russians meets Walter, when the german start financing the Bolchevique Revolution in Russia, with the hope that they'll leave the war, among other crossings that I don't want to tell so I don't spoil the story.

Since we get to see all of the sides to the story, the aristocracy and the people, the opressed and the opressors, we get to understand history as never before. Human history was never as clear, it was never, exactly, human. In school, they taught us that German said that and England said this and German caused the war. Basically, despite showing us a lot, what is passed until today is that it was Germany's fault and on this book we can see clearly that many people and countries could've stopped both World Wars, but they didn't want to, the preferred to squeeze and push to make sure their own ego would come out on top, to ensure their pride not to be hurt, that, maybe, they would have more land and ensure their right to boss around other people.

While the book as a whole is a story of struggle, be it in politics, economy or literally (war, violence), it is also a book of love, the two strenghts that move the world: love and hate. Couples get together, get married, have children, couples fight, but usually get together again, specially because of the period - it wasn't "right" for a couple to split up. Some families are destroyed by war, some are united.

What I understood is that the books will be following eachother, maybe with a slight separation of years among them, but connected, using the same families: the couples that started the books, but also their children and grandchildren, until the end of the century and I'm looking forward to read the rest - too bad it'll only come out late this year and who knows when it'll be out in Brazil.

Ken Follett skilfully deals with all these characters and many secondary characters, including real people, like Winston Churchill, Woodrow Wilson, Lênin, Trotsky, Stalin (who's definitely going to who up more on the next books), the King of England, the Russian Kzar, the German Kaizer, etc. And dealing with the different social levels, showing that the popular revolution made a difference, but that the nobleman didn't understand what they were dealing with - specially in Russia, they had no idea.

It shows that there were no good and bad, right and wrong, perfect. Everyone had their motives, their passions, who wanted the war and who wanted the peace, all had their reasons, more or less noble, but none incomprehensible (as much as it was greed, it's easy to underrstand, from the point of view of someone who's always had it all).

It's interesting to see how power corrupts, poverty changes a wealhty person, how some adapt well, seeking everyone's good and some whine more than do something to change: it's a mirror of our current society, after all, who studies history, understand the present.

Review: Nebador #4 - Flight Training - J. Z. Colby

Well hello there!

I'm back with the Nebador Series. I can't tell you how much I adore this series!

I'm divided, I'm glad it goes to book 8 (and who knows, maybe more), but I'm sad it'll take long for them to be out (2014 for book 8). But hey, at least it's no Song of Ice and Fire, taking 5 or more years between books :)

I finished book 4, "Flight Training" and Book 5 "Back to the Stars" but I started writing this review while I was still reading book 5, since I was starting to mix them up.

Author J. Z. Colby has been nice to send me a copy of the latest two books, after I reviewed the previous ones, so I must thank him deeply.

We find our crew right where we left them at The Selection, stopped at the desert, starting their real training. They already know well their beloved ship Manessa and their captain, Ilika, but now it's time for some real learning.

Altitute and movement training get some of the crew members spilling their guts - and not on the talking way. Also, all of our friends have their own issues to solve, including fear of heights, fear of the dark, fear of closed spaces and so on.

Kibi considers to run away. Mati thinks about going back to one of her previous choices. Rini makes a bad mistake, but makes the right decision, in the end.

With this Flight Training, we get to see our crew in action, solving puzzles and knowing more about their home world. Aside from that, we get a pretty big scare in one part, but they work it out.

As Ilika is, we are proud of our little crew members. We are happy to see how much they learnt and grew and we are sure Ilika did the right choice, they were the best he could've found.

I am considering to read Book 1 (The Test) again, as now I know what comes, I know who's who, I think I can appreciate it even more.

After going all over the world and  knowing some interesting points (the tallest mountain, the deepest ocean, some different cities), Manessa's crew flies out of the planet, into orbit. That's where we leave them and that's where we'll find them again on Book 5 - Back to the Stars.

I loved the book, as I loved most of the series (Book one had major potential but I had a hard time loving it, which is why I'm thinking of re-reading it), I thought that after they had learnt all those things and knew of the real shape, form and nature of Manessa and Ilika, there wasn't much more to learn and not much would happen - I was afraid the book could be a bit boring, since the characters were all pretty much developed.

Boy was I wrong.

The characters are nowhere near ready - as we all aren't. That was silly of me to think. They are only teenagers and young adults and they have a lot of personal and professional development to work through, Ilika included.

I was sad that we don't get to see the previous characters anymore, I thought, all the time, we'd get a glimpse of Buna, Toli, Neti and Misa, but I guess the author is leaving it for young writers and readers to write their own short stories, like the ones published along with the series books.

You can find Nebador Book Four: Flight Training on several shops in several different editions, see them here. 

Also, you can read my previous reviews of the series here: Book 1, Book 2 and Book 3.

Review: Sunrise Over Disney - by Bert

Hello readers!

I entered a giveaway for this book on Goodreads, and I ended up getting a copy for review, which I thank the author very much.

Technically, this book isn't by Bert, but by L.N. Smith (which is also a pen name, it seems). And yet, it IS Bert who writes it.

This is a complicated book. It's not properly fiction, but it is fiction. If you've read Sophie's World or anything by Jostein Gaarden you probably know what I mean - it is meant to teach people, but also fascinate and entertain.

The book tells the story of awakening, of learning and of the world today and tomorrow.

You only understand that if you went all the way through, it's impossible to understand before then. It has something to do with Disney, but not really. It is about Walt Disney, Thomas Jefferson, Abe Lincoln and so many others, but what it is most about it us. Human beings. Normal and ordinary humans.

We start by meeting Bert and Mary, their two children Michael and MJ and the rest of the family, specially "Mom" and "Dad", Bert's parents, and Uncle Albert. We also hear about Mom and Dad's proposal to take the whole family to a Disney World trip, which they reluctantly accept - by Bert's incentive.

We get to know Disney World and it's history, as well as Walt Disney's history.

We discuss, along with the author, how can someone very prejudiced also be a good person and when or how cna we judge people without forgetting that we must consider their environment and time on history.

We end up keeping company to Bert while he learns and tries to decide what to do with his life - it's a difficult thing, for some people, I understand. On one hand, you want to keep on learning and learning and on the other, you must "grow up" and get a job, take up responsabilities... But, specially on the job department, you usually end up doing several of the same things over and over again, which kills the learning for you, and for some people, learning is much more important and much more interesting...

Bert says that there is so much that people should learn and they don't know even how to start. Things that may challenge their beliefs so he proposes that it's made into a Disney ride, where people have fun while learning and  if it so happens to be way too much in the way of their beliefs, they may dismiss it, as the entertaining experience it is - and it still might make its way into their subconscious mind.

I found it to be a very entertaining book, while teaching, which is something I love. It is a "not so easy" book, while it's not hard, it's just definitely not a summer afternoon reading.

You can buy the book here.

Review: The Phantom's Legacy: Family Secrets - Ann M. Kraft

Well hello there!

I've reviewed Ann Kraft's work before, The Opera Ghost Lives and The Red Diamond of Nadirijna.

After reading The Phantom's Legacy: Family Secrets I can tell, for sure, that Ann is an amazing author, with lovable characters and deep family plots. On the other hand, I believe that her being amazing tends to let me down on sequels. I've been slightly put down by The Red Diamond of Nadirijna and now Ann shows me just how amazing she is, again, which makes me think the problem isn't me, it is that Erik on that book really just isn't quite as cool.

The Phantom's Legacy - Family Secrets is a contemporary book, where we meet Amanda Slaughter, a history teacher, who loves antiques. She ends up buying a dresser that is full with old papers and evidence on a long lost mistery.

Her "old stuff" must have a story, they can't be just old stuff, so the owner of these "old stuff" agrees to let her buy a piano, that just happens to come with the owner's great-grandchild, Ayrik.

The plot develops sort of the same way that The Opera Ghost Lives - they meet, they work together to discover some of the plot hidden by a deceased family member of one of the two and they end up finding out much more about others and themselves than they intended to.

I can't speak much more about it or I would be spoiling it, but I must say that I fell in love with the characters. Ann sure knows how to build loveable people, with flawed backgrounds and definitely confusing families.

We, who read the previous books, know in a second that Ayrik is Erik and Amalie's descendant, Louisa's family. But I'd be a bit happier if there was someone in the family with the same deformity as Erik's, maybe not on their face, I don't know, since it was supposed to be passed around by family/blood line (as stated on Book #1 - The Opera Ghost Lives), so it would make sense that on a large family, at least someone... But it's ok.

Reading this book we learn more about Louisa and how her life went after those childhood years we saw, how she grew up to build a wonderful and loving family.

Most of all, you can read the first chapter HERE, buy the book autographed HERE or on Amazon HERE.