No Quiet Water by Shirley Miller

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My Ratings: 4/5 stars

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About this book:

After the U.S. declares war on Japan in 1941, all persons of Japanese descent in the Western U.S. come under suspicion. Curfews are imposed, bank accounts frozen, and FBI agents search homes randomly.

Despite the fact that two generations of the Miyota family are American citizens, Fumio and his parents and sister Kimiko must pack meager belongings and are transported under military escort to the California desert to be held at Camp Manzanar, leaving their good friends and neighbors the Whitlocks to care for their farm and their dog, Flyer.

The family suffer unimaginable insults, witness prejudice and violent protests, are forced to live in squalor, and are provided only poor-quality, unfamiliar food which makes them ill. Later, they are transferred to Idaho’s Camp Minidoka, where Fumio learns what it means to endure and where he discovers a strange new world of possibility and belonging.

Lyrical, visual, and rendered with strict attention to historical accuracy, No Quiet Water, shines a poignant light on current issues of racism and radical perspectives.

Vorodin’s Lair (The Warminster Series #2) by J.V. Hilliard

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My Rating: 5/5 stars

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About this Book:

Daemus, a low Keeper of the Cathedral of the Watchful Eye, isn’t the only one having visions. His nightmares speak of the ageless sorcerer, Vorodin, who may be able to help. But the answers he seeks may bring him—and the realm—to the brink of war. Elven princess, Addilyn Elspeth, must discover why she’s receiving visitations from a mysterious creature that shouldn’t exist. She combines forces with Daemus on their harrowing journey to the scholar city of Abacus, where Vorodin’s Lair awaits.

A Plot of Revenge

Their powerful adversary and fallen Keeper, Graytorris the Mad, continues to chase the young Keeper throughout the realm, seeking vengeance against his order while trying to find a cure for his own affliction.Explore the realm of Warminster, as fantasy and magic mixes with epic adventure and romance. Omens, battles and plot twists await you in the pages of Vorodin’s Lair.

Beguiled Persuasion (Book#1) By K. Reagan Zell

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My Review: 3/5 stars

About this book:

The life of an empath is not an easy one, especially for Cait. All of her life, she could sense people’s emotions, never really knowing why. She felt alone in her abilities, but never so alone once her father had died, opening up her empathic abilities further into the unknown. Follow Cait’s journeys through parallel timelines as she finds love…and discovers that her life may not be her own. 

My Review:

Firstly, the author really needs to consider changing the book cover because as good as the book actually is, the cover doesn’t reflect even half of it. Secondly, my oh my what an interesting book. The life of an empath is not easy. And shouldn’t I know it? Since I feel I am one as well. You can’t even be around hyperemotional people without feeling exhausted and if you’re going through something traumatic while being around people who are having strong feelings, it is like all hell broke loose. So Cait who is an empath as well feels lost once her father died. The initial few chapters of the book are steamy and not in the way that you would expect but totally add to the excitement of reading this book.

The supernatural premise and the world-building by the author is fantastic! It did feel a little bit like the Outlander series except that her journey is more back and forth. No such fantasy novel is complete without competing love interests and that is an angle that was also explored well. I would suggest one thing though. Sometimes I felt that a few chapters could have been more descriptive. In a book like this, when the dialogues overpower the prose, it becomes hard for the reader to imagine the scenes as if they were happening in front of their eyes. Like the interactions between Cait and Marco, in some chapters I felt like a more descriptive approach would improve my understanding of their attraction more.

All in all, it was a great start to the series!

Daughter Darkness (The Myrk Maiden) by Alyssa Charpentier

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My rating: 4/5 stars

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About this book:

What if you were born to destroy the world…not save it?

15-year-old Twilight dreams of a better life away from her uncaring family, longing for purpose and adventure. When her humdrum existence is soon shattered forever, she is thrust into the wickedly enticing realm of the Shadows, a society of sorcerers who look to her as their living salvation from the light. As darkness seeps into Twilight’s soul, she comes to live by three words – “maim and kill.” In this brutal coming-of-age tale, young Twilight finds herself tangled in a twist of existential crises, divine dangers, and monstrous mishaps as she navigates the various bends and turns of her new life, always wondering whether she should obey her “true nature” and remain in the dark – or fight for a glimpse of light beyond the Shadows’ compound walls.

Bombora by Paul Drewitt

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My ratings: 4/5 stars

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About this Book:

There are days when I sit alone watching the Bombora break at high tide, sitting motionless on a windswept sand dune with the seagulls that flock towards me. I humour them by throwing sticks with a quick flick of the wrist, watching them reduce in number as they slowly determine my worth. But it’s the groper holes that draw me in towards the late afternoon. There’s a big one a few hundred metres south of the point, and when a monster wave hits the underbelly of the cliffs, there’s an ominous lull before it sucks and gurgles, devouring kelp, sea foam and small fish down its black guts. I lay down with my head just above the opening and stick my hand inside to feel the power of its draw, breathing the toxic vapour as if it was my salvation. I slipped a couple of times when a wave broke over the top of me and I lost my hold on the jagged rock. Once I actually fell into the water, right in the middle of an ominous lull. Timed it perfectly. I knew then that life is all planned out, scripted to a certain point by the powers that be, the ones that hide in the stars and push all the right buttons. It takes the fear out of the event, the big day when I’ll break on through to the other side, when I feel the slimy black edges of that groper hole, and push forward until the darkness becomes a permanent fixture.

Cut From Stone by Brendan O’ Meara

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My Ratings: 4/5 stars

 

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About this Book:

The world is fresh from humanity splitting in half – the BlankZone in the East and the Federation in the West. As an inevitable attack from the BlankZone looms, the Federation makes swift, mysterious, and unexpected moves to prepare. James, a 17-year-old living in the Federation, is drafted by the military. He learns he has been selected to join a group of skilled teens who will be transformed into elite human weapons. Follow James and his friends as they mature from teenagers to lethal warriors. Together, they will face life-altering events as they navigate a new existence dedicated to protecting their friends, families, and humanity at all costs.

Destiny of Determination: Faith and Family (Book #2) by Cathy Burnham Martin

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My Ratings: 4/5 stars

Review of Book 1

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About this Book:

“Destiny of Determination: Faith and Family” illuminates the stark realities of immigrants determined to settle in America, a land of opportunity and freedom. While young Hrant’s Armenian story parallels the horrors experienced by far too many cultures in both the past and present, book 2 in the Destiny trilogy also highlights the strength and hope that live within survivors of various nightmares. After witnessing and escaping genocide, Hrant may just find American prejudice and bigotry to be manageable hurdles.

WIND by Ellen Dee Davidson

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My Ratings: 5/5 stars

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About this Book:

In a unique blend of high fantasy, earth mysticism, and mythology, Katie’s adventures begin when an earthquake tumbles her onto another world. Thrust into a dangerous initiation quest, Katie’s only chance to get home is to learn to accept herself and cooperate with an arrogant alien boy. On the journey, the two of them encounter all sorts of extraordinary characters including a shape-shifting tree spirit, water god, and nature devas. But will they ever be able to find the elusive and ethereal Winged Ones-the only beings able to take them home?

The Young by Nicholas Powter

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My Ratings: 4/5 stars

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About this Book:

A father and his son home has been attacked by a mysterious man, an omen a sinister presence has come about the lands of “The Deluge”, the great sun gods know as the Phrazon mur guide and protect the inhabitants who are awake during the day while the evil creatures and man alike come to fruition during the night. For that where the great evil moon gods come up out of hiding. A Religious cult known as the “Spawn” and their most prestigious leader Roland seek to extract the power of the moon gods and destroy the sun gods and plummet the world into but darkness and sorrow. Out two unlikely protagonist must go on a journey to stop them and free their lands from both the gods and the cults grasp. As somewhat reluctant they may be, they will set out on a task of many dangers and one most foreign to them. A journey of family, love loss violence and devastation, divinity and faith.

Tumbo in the Shadows by Esther Samuels Davis

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My Ratings: 5/5 stars

About this Book:

Heartfelt and fantasyful, Tumbo in The Shadows forges a path through the uncharted territory of self-rediscovery. After his identity goes up in smoke, Tumbo must learn how to harness the spark left inside, feeling his way out of melancholy before it overcomes him. A lighthearted journey through the shadowy depths of the soul, this modern fairytale explores and questions the meaning of finding life’s purpose.