Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Summer of Haint Blue by Jimmie Martinez

Author Jimmie Martinez captures the raw, beautiful, and painful truths of both the rural and urban South during the 1960s in his YA novel, Summer of Haint Blue. A long-form narrative study on race relations and a deep dive into that tumultuous decade, this novel is draped with Spanish moss and bayou personality, which help to top-dress the strong and compelling plot.

Told through the eyes of Justin Couvillion, a teenage boy coming to terms with his own family history and their Cajun roots, while also trying to understand the racism so embedded in Louisiana, even in his own […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2021-06-14T07:58:33+02:00June 13th, 2021|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Coming Of Age, Jimmie Martinez, Young Adult|

Review: Apotheosis Now by Yanhao Huang

For any embattled spirits looking for an honest path to self-understanding and happiness, Apotheosis Now: Rabbit Hole to the Beyond by Yanhao Huang is an excellent starting point.

As the title suggests, this book attempts to fast-track readers, or at least redirect them, to their highest form of self – their personal apotheosis – by explaining many of the obstacles, societal constructs, and mental blocks that prevent such a cognitive elevation. On this journey towards self-knowledge and self-examination, in which the ego is both ally and enemy, Huang asks many questions of the reader, which is potentially condescending in a […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2021-07-15T02:03:08+02:00June 8th, 2021|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Self-Help, Spirituality|

Review: The View from Breast Pocket Mountain by Karen Hill Anton

Spanning decades and more than half the world, The View from Breast Pocket Mountain by Karen Hill Anton is a revelatory memoir like few others – a vibrant and unpredictable journey of perseverance, parenthood, and personal growth.

Navigating an unfair world as a young Black girl, the author was introduced early to the limitations of America, which set her gaze on the horizon from an early age. With her mother bouncing between mental institutions and nursing homes during her formative years, Anton became fiercely independent and ambitious, soon moving out and living in New York City to pursue her many […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2021-06-08T07:08:40+02:00June 8th, 2021|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Karen Hill Anton, Memoir|

Review: Song of All Songs by Donna Dechen Birdwell

Donna Dechen Birdwell has crafted an immersive and visceral vision of the future with Song of All Songs, a novel that begs to be savored like few others in recent memory. In an unspecified future Earth, after humanity has once again been decimated and reborn, this first installment of the EarthCycles series plays out as both a wonderful adventure and a well-crafted prophecy.

A rare treasure and a hidden gift leads Meridia on a journey that will uncover the truth of her past, her family, and the fate of the world as she knows it. After being separated from […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2021-06-08T07:07:13+02:00June 7th, 2021|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Donna Dechen Birdwell, Fantasy, Post-Apocalyptic, Speculative Fiction|

Review: Pride of Ashna (Foundra Book 2) by Emmanuel Arriaga

The fate of the Huzien Empire is once again threatened by unknown cosmic forces in Pride of Ashna by Emmanuel Arriaga, a jaw-dropping and imaginative sci-fi adventure that expands and improves on the first installment of the Foundra series.

Neven Kenk’s humble heroics continue in this fast-paced sequel, particularly once he discovers that the woman he loves is onboard a pleasure cruise that has been taken over by merciless space pirates in the Outer Rim. A dauntless warrior scarred by the trauma of intense loss as a child, Serah’Elax is a new and incredible protagonist in this female-fronted second installment, […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-04-08T06:02:36+02:00June 6th, 2021|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Emmanuel Arriaga, Science Fiction|

Review: The Quantum Code by Mark Langlois

A slow-burning thriller that mixes modern science with ancient prophecy and philosophy, The Quantum Code by Mark Langlois is an ambitious novel that will leave readers with as many questions as answers.

Two physicians from Christ Hospital, Jason Dolan and Sabrina Hawthorne, become inexplicably tangled up in a sprawling plot after Dolan is falsely accused of stealing narcotics and selling them on the street. When the FBI arrives at the hospital after a terrorist attack, Dolan’s arrest seems imminent, pushing him into the desperate decision to clear his own name as a vigilante investigator. Following a rapidly expanding ring of […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2021-06-07T07:30:32+02:00June 5th, 2021|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Mark Langlois, Thriller|

Review: Infiltrate by K.C. Ale

Infiltrate is a surprisingly complex novel for its size, with robust character development and a storyline peppered with deceit and mystery. Contrary to what the front cover shows, together with the suggestive title and a synopsis that may seem a shade too reminiscent of Fifty Shades, this isn’t a steamy, sex-filled romp of no consequence, but a multilayered character-driven romance.

Ashley, a young girl-next-door, is tasked with infiltrating the office of Caden Martini, COO and heir to the legacy of Martini Oates, Inc. She is intelligent yet feisty and takes the role of Caden’s temporary Executive Assistant in an […]

Josh Machado Halcro2021-07-13T06:35:42+02:00June 5th, 2021|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Romance|

Review: Dark and Light Verse by Allen Lee Ireland

Allen Lee Ireland offers a panorama of human experience with sage observation enmeshed in rhyme and an enjoyably unpredictable viewpoint in Dark and Light Verse.

At times infused with irony, at times with surprising tenderness, this most recent assemblage of Ireland’s poems is divided into seven equally evocative segments. “Children of Light” includes the thorny perspective of “Two Men in Love” who decide to jump off a cliff while at the apex of their relationship, and the “Hate Crime” of someone knocked down on an icy pavement who freezes to death alone: