Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Déjà Vu by Niki

A genre-defying exploration of art, death, identity, and redemption, Déjà Vu by Niki is an afterlife drama like no other, and a modern-day sojourn into the realms of mythology.

When the emotionally tortured Zenia makes the fateful choice to cut her life short, she is forced into a soul-baring trial by the Queen of the Underworld. As punishment for her fatal sin, Zenia must traverse the damned worlds of her own making and memory, where “her body carries proof of a crime,” each arm stained with blood she cannot wipe clean.

From revealing interrogations with the ancient Chorus and delirious […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-11-13T09:59:24+02:00November 12th, 2025|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Visionary Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: The Half-Full-Glass User’s Manual by Richard A. Meyers

A unique and effective blueprint for self-improvement that aims to simultaneously educate, amuse, and inspire, The Half-Full-Glass User’s Manual: Mindfulness Meets Playfulness: A Guide to Joy, Gratitude, and Guffaws by Richard A. Meyers is a breezy and thought-provoking guide to maintaining a healthy mental space.

Cleverly designed as a rediscovered philosophy (The Manual) linked to a long-lost tool (The Glass) that can grant access to a higher level of awareness (The Consciousness), the book insistently nudges the reader into a journey of self-discovery. With the central conceit that using The Half-Full Glass, which we all possess in some form, and […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-11-11T15:08:13+02:00November 11th, 2025|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Self-Help Book Reviews|

Review: It’s Time to Grow by Freddie Floyd Jr.

A provocative collection of sacred riffs and existential essays, It’s Time to Grow: How Focusing on Spiritual Growth Can Transform Your Life and Relationships by Freddie Floyd Jr. is a fount of healing wisdom that doesn’t hold back. Combining a healthy dose of tough love with impassioned reasoning and sound interpretations of Scripture, this is an unfiltered guidebook for spiritual and personal growth.

Building on humanity’s established need for more maturity, kindness, and self-awareness, both as believers and citizens of the world, the author presents a wide-ranging collection of essays about areas of life where improvements can be made. He […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-10-27T17:51:07+02:00October 27th, 2025|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Religion Book Reviews, Self-Help Book Reviews|

Review: Entropy Loop & Other Poems by Jeffrey Heath

An ambitious but unassuming collection of quietly brilliant verse, Entropy Loop & Other Poems by Jeffrey Heath runs the gamut of raw human experience, transcending the tropes and familiar emotions of contemporary poetry.

Cascading through visceral recollections of heartbreak tangled in abstract metaphor, these pieces explore the mercurial landscapes of memory. At first glance, it feels as though the author is processing grief and uncertainty right along with each reader, while hesitantly striving toward a more hopeful future. Using simple, accessible language to express profound and existential feeling is the telltale sign of a masterful poet, and Heath demonstrates that […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-10-24T11:52:01+02:00October 24th, 2025|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Poetry Book Reviews|

Review: Marianne by Alice McVeigh

Expertly adding to her expansion of Jane Austen’s ouevre, Marianne by Alice McVeigh is the fifth thrilling piece of an impressive historical fiction series.

Marianne, recently widowed but prone to unreasonable love, is offered condolences as often as invitations from the endless supply of eager new suitors in London, but her heart is distracted by the presence of her first true love. Navigating this new and overwhelming world of social climbing only becomes more complicated when her firecracker of a younger sister, Margaret, arrives on the scene to stir up trouble and swoon at the resultant drama.

Bouncing between the […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-10-23T14:56:00+02:00October 22nd, 2025|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Historical Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Canalis by John J. Holshoe

Sprawling, immersive, and riveting from start to finish, Canalis by John J. Holshoe is a top-tier sci-fi debut that shines with inspired visions of the world to come.

A century in the future, Mars has been colonized, while a fleet of mining transport ships skates through an interplanetary network of ice canals beneath the surface of the Red Planet. Sandin, an orphan crewman of the Westward Star, accidentally falls overboard during a foolish stunt and is left behind in the freezing tunnel, only to be rescued by a mysterious group of aliens from a secondary dimension.

Their assistance comes […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-10-20T14:46:07+02:00October 17th, 2025|Categories: Book Reviews, Latest Book Reviews|Tags: Science Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: A Line in the Sand by A Mohit

An involving story of discovery and the transformative power of ancestry, A Line in the Sand by A. Mohit unravels the complexity of the Bangladeshi diaspora through the lens of one curious seeker.

When Irene Sebastian returns to her home country of Bangladesh, she does so as a “bigtime officer” for Starlink as they seek a new partnership to provide telecommunications for the beleaguered country. Being treated like royalty is a pleasant perk, but she doesn’t expect to begin a profound and identity-shaking journey into the past. With the assistance of her honorary brother Ishan, she probes into the mysterious […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-10-20T14:46:37+02:00October 15th, 2025|Categories: Book Reviews, Latest Book Reviews|Tags: International Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: The Turkey Is Not The Only Thing Getting Roasted by Robert Okine

A hilarious and unflinching takedown of America’s hungriest holiday, The Turkey Is Not The Only Thing Getting Roasted by Robert Okine serves up social commentary alongside state-specific laughs.

Laced with side-eye witticisms and punny wordplay, Okine presents a tongue-in-cheek celebration of the United States’ most “deliciously dysfunctional” tradition. Proceeding through 51 Thanksgiving anecdotes from every state of the union, along with the nation’s capital, this distinctly American review leaves no regional delicacy unturned.

From sage-burning gurus in Arizona and awkward icebreakers in Delaware to grudge-filled Tupperware trading in Illinois and ghostly visitations in Louisiana, these brief tales run the gamut […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-10-15T15:13:13+02:00October 15th, 2025|Categories: Book Reviews, Latest Book Reviews|Tags: Humor Book Reviews|