Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Bebette by Joseph Barone

★★★★

Joseph Barone’s existential novel, Bebette, tells the story of Lily, a 12-year-old girl with a rare form of blood cancer, as she grapples with her own mortality. After her family’s move from the allegorically named town of Reverie to the equally metaphorical town of Salvation, Lily develops a relationship with an imaginary friend named Bebette.

Bebette is a 5-year old child who looks like Alice in Wonderland but who speaks with the knowledge, insight, and wisdom of a much older person. The conversations held between Bebette and Lily are not those you would expect to encounter between two […]

Felicity Box2017-09-15T12:45:16+02:00August 3rd, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Literary Fiction|

Review: The Moreva of Astoreth by Roxanne Bland

★★★★

Being the granddaughter of a goddess has certain advantages. Those privileges inflate the priestess Tehi’s ego beyond the bounds of propriety. When she fails in her duties thanks to her open disdain for the hakoi, the common laborers, her grandmother sentences her to serve a year in a far northern outpost. She will be the only moreva, and all of her daily interactions will be with hakoi. But that’s hardly the most challenging aspect of her assignment. The town is a border between the land of Tehi’s gods and untamed hakoi who refuse to be governed.

In her new […]

Mindy Hood2017-08-09T01:54:11+02:00August 2nd, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Fantasy|

Review: The Underground by Roxanne Bland

★★★★

The Underground by Roxanne Bland is an original urban fantasy that pits supernatural creatures – or zots – against the larger, more paranoid, human population. In the uneasy peace that blankets Seattle, a werewolf alpha, a mage, and a master vampire fight each other and the outside world as they try to balance responsibilities and power structures. Add an alien assassin in hiding, a fifth dimensional demon, and a rebellion to the mix, and the city’s about to blow. The novel is a fast-paced adventure from beginning to end with engaging characters and a strong dose of drama.

The […]

Mindy Hood2017-08-09T01:52:57+02:00August 1st, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Urban Fantasy, Vampires|

Review: Brightley & Glow by Sophie Carmen, Illustrated by Christina Sanchez

Brightley & Glow is a delightful “sibling” picture book written by Sophie Carmen, with illustrations provided by Christina Sanchez. Appropriate for children aged two to six, it’s an ideal bedtime story.

Brightley and his younger brother, Glow, are two stars living in the night sky. They’re as close as two siblings can be, often playing hide and seek together and listening to their Grandfather Moon tell his stories. One day, Grandfather Moon announces that Brightley, who is a shooting star, will soon be leaving them to travel the universe, granting wishes to young children everywhere. Glow immediately wants to go […]

Marta Cheng2019-02-11T08:37:15+02:00July 31st, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Children's Books|

Review: Seeds of Hatred (Scions Awakened Book 1) by Christian Nadeau

★★★★½

In Seeds of Hatred, Christian Nadeau proves that he is more than up to the task of creating an ambitious and creative fantasy universe. The opening chapter sets the mood for the entire book – danger around every corner, assassins and informants in a deadly dance, and cryptic warnings about mysterious threats from distant lands.

Marac is one of the main characters of the book, a man who knows how to kill, but also when to lay low, yet his need for employment leads him into cult-infested waters. The Brotherhood of Khan is only one of the many […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2017-09-14T10:42:41+02:00July 26th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Fantasy|

Review: Taldra: #SciFi Adventures by Duane Simolke

★★★★

Taldra: #SciFi Adventures by Duane Simolke is a highly-imaginative sci-fi adventure set in an alternate universe.

Geln, working in Hidden Services on Degranon, is being sent to the planet of Valchondria, which his people had infiltrated 50 years ago. On Valchondria, their people have found a doorway through time that leads back to when the prophet, Zaysha, first gave them The Book of Degranon. Valchrondria’s Leader has arranged for Geln to work with Dr. Taldra Lorfeltez, a young scientist who has developed a life support building that relies on new ways to gather core energies. It will be Geln’s […]

Marta Cheng2017-09-13T15:16:29+02:00July 20th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Science Fiction|

Review: Freeing Linhurst by Al Cassidy

★★★★½

Targeted at younger readers, Freeing Linhurst is a thrilling mystery that follows the adventures of Jack Alexander, an intrepid young investigator who is following in his mother’s footsteps – determined to uncover the truth about Linhurst State School and Hospital – an abandoned mental asylum in town.

Jack doesn’t know exactly what happened at Linhurst, but after choosing to write a school paper on the subject, his curiosity leads him down the proverbial rabbit hole. The scars of the asylum can still be seen all around, particularly in the ex-residents who still populate the town of Spring Dale. There […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2018-09-11T10:55:18+02:00July 16th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Middle Grade Fiction|

Review: It Is Myself That I Remake by Jaclyn Maria Fowler

From great heartache comes even greater happiness and fulfillment…such is the message beautifully conveyed in It is Myself That I Remake, a hauntingly evocative love story by Jaclyn Maria Fowler.

Sophie O’Connor is the only child of Kerry O’Connor, an Irish-American high school English teacher, and Maggie O’Connor, an American professor of literature. With both parents being literary academics who revere the classics, especially Yeats, it’s no surprise that Sophie is able to finish lines from her father’s favorite Yeatsian verses by age six. From a very young age, Sophie has an imaginary friend who she speaks to all […]

Marta Cheng2019-02-11T08:52:24+02:00July 13th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction, International Fiction, Literary Fiction|