The latest indie book reviews from Self-Publishing Review
The book is sort of like the anti-Roald Dahl. In Roald Dahl’s stories, the external world is sinister and depressing, until you start looking at the magic underneath. In Reedy’s stories, the opposite is the […]
The novel is madcap at times, hardboiled at others, and then absurdist sci-fi […]
Weeping Water by JT Ruby is an epic novel about cryonic suspension – freezing something with life-threatening injuries in order to heal them when there are significant advances in medical technology. It follows Annie, who dies in a plane crash in the eighties, and Elliot, who dies in a car accident in the nineties, as they try to piece together their lives after being unfrozen. Spanning many generations and covering cryogenics from every angle, Weeping Water is a fast-paced and thought-provoking read.
Like the best of science fiction, Weeping Water poses a number of interesting questions about advances in technology. […]
Illuminarium, by Truth Devour, is the creative and thought-provoking first installment in the planned five book Soliloquy’s Labyrinth series.
Harper, a forensic psychologist, discovers a book while hiking in a redwood forest. The book isn’t normal and Harper feels compelled to read it. York, the author of the book, describes the horrors he lived through during his stay in a sanitarium many decades ago. York is struggling between good and evil and Harper is glued to the pages. But is the book only a book or is it more? And why did it present itself to Harper?
This fantasy […]
We all have habitual behaviors we wish we could jettison: biting fingernails, interrupting spouses, eating candy bars while watching reality shows. And of course there are many behaviors we don’t have that we wish we did: regular exercise, healthy meals, daily writing, perhaps? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could make those desired behaviors as habitual—as easy to do and as hard to avoid—as the troublesome ones?
Well, it’s not exactly easy, but if you follow the program Doepker sets out in this slim but thoroughly packed volume, you’ll almost certainly see changes. Everyone has something they’d like to do […]
The story of the unhappy princess of an exotic land is nothing new to fiction, of […]
★★★½ 
In many ways, Dodger is a typical teenager. He suffers from bullying at school, struggles to fit in, and tries to act like he doesn’t care about trouble at home. But Dodger is slowly drowning under the stress. What’s worse, he knows he could make things better if he would only stand up for himself, but Dodger cannot summon the courage to face his fears…until he stumbles upon a magical portal to the alternate realm of Storyworld, that is.
Dodger is pushed into the unsettling role of hero in a world of magic and mayhem where fairy tales have […]
★★★★½ 
Masque by W.R. Gingell is a retelling of “Beauty and the Beast” yet an engaging fantasy all its own, adding an intriguing murder mystery to the mix. Lady Isabella Farrah, an ambassador’s daughter, stumbles on a murder scene at the ball – one of her best friends has been killed. The investigation is led by Lord Pecus, the “Beast,” who wants Isabella out of the investigation. When her father is implicated in the murder, she decides to be held in his place at Lord Pecus’ manor, where she’s intent on solving the murder, and freeing Lord Pecus from his […]