Book Reviews

The latest indie book reviews from Self-Publishing Review

Review: Brothers in Arms by Jack O’Riley ★★★

brothers in armsBrothers in Arms by Jack O’Riley follows a group of friends who spend a lot of time drinking (and drinking and drinking) who takes their antics too far and end up violently beating up a husband and wife with a pious vanity plate. The victims of the crime are then pegged as snobs as the small band of misfits then become a major phenomenon in the Twin Cities, and the city is plunged into a debate about the nature of crime and punishment.

There’s a distinct Raymond Carver feeling to O’Riley’s narrative, especially in the lack of quotes for dialog […]

2019-01-22T15:50:55+02:00January 15th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |

Review: The Immigrant by Alfred Woollacott ★★★★

The ImmigrantAlfred Woollacott didn’t have to look too far from home for an idea about a novel. He turned to his own family tree to find inspiration. While The Immigrant: One from My Four Legged Stool is historical fiction, it’s about his ancestors during the 1600s. His imagined account not only seems plausible, but is a wonderful and enthralling read.

John Law, a Scotsman, is captured by Lord Cromwell’s forces in the seventeenth century during the Battle of Dunbar. Law survives the march to Durham, England. During his imprisonment in England, he is sold as an indentured servant and Law will […]

2015-02-02T10:02:35+02:00January 13th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: |

Review: Everything I Know About Zombies, I Learned in Kindergarten by Kevin Wayne Williams ★★★★★

Everything I Know About Zombies, I Learned in Kindergarten by Kevin Wayne WilliamsEverything I Know About Zombies, I Learned in Kindergarten by Kevin Wayne Williams follows 9-year-old Leticia leading a terrified band of elementary school students through the perils of a zombie apocalypse. As the promo materials make clear: this is emphatically not a book for 9-year-olds. However, for adults, and perhaps young adult readers, it is a stellar addition to the zombie genre, at once page-turning and lyrical.

Without scaring off genre readers, Everything I Know could be classified as a literary novel. Williams is an expert with dialect and the inner city setting. Leticia is a fully-realized protagonist, both mature […]

2019-01-21T09:38:24+02:00January 13th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |

Review: A Better World by Belangela G. Tarazona

A Better WorldA Better World, by Belangela G. Tarazona, is a difficult, but uplifting, read about three women who have to endure harsh realities.

This is a collection of three novellas. In the first, Saja, flees from Sri Lanka, which is in the midst of a civil war. Most of her family and her husband are lost, leaving her alone when she seeks asylum in Denmark.

The second story focuses on Yonna, a Venezuelan. Her entire family has been murdered by a rival clan and she is captured and raped repeatedly, until the rapists grow tired of her and toss her […]

2015-01-13T04:59:27+02:00January 12th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: |

Review: Masque: Choices by Caridad Martin

Masque:ChoicesBilled as a “fresh retelling” of the classic book The Phanton of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, Caridad Martin has tapped into the public domain treasure trove and settled on adding to the overflowing list of Phantom “adaptations” available online.

It’s a given that any  book that retells a classic story must be incredibly different from the original in order to be acceptable as a work of the author. With Masque:Choices, it’s hard to really say that this has been achieved with the overall plot as such, but certainly the style and writing itself is lively and entertaining, adding […]

2015-01-09T02:34:02+02:00January 9th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |

Review: Venus Lionheart: The Witch and The God by Dino Costi

dino costiVenus Lionheart: The Witch and The God by Dino Costi is an action-packed Young Adult fantasy novel.

Venus Lionheart isn’t like the other kids in her small sleepy town. At the age of twelve she’s experiencing visions and out-of-body experiences. This troubles her. But when a mysterious man shows up at her house on the last day of school Venus’s life is about to get much more complicated. Galahad tells Venus that she is indeed different. In fact, she’s a witch and there are people who want to harm her.

The hunters are the Grey Men, who are merciless in […]

2015-01-08T07:01:41+02:00January 8th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |

Review: It’s Like Here Only Better by Robin Landry

It's Like Here Only Better by Robin LandryIt’s Like Here Only Better by Robin Landry is a telling of real events of a lost son whose inspiring messages from the afterlife continue to give his family and friends hope and comfort about his unexpected and devastating fate.

Landry describes how after her son Tim’s premature passing in a tragic traffic accident, he returned to his loved ones in their dreams in time to deliver news of his time on ‘the other side’, and how he continues to watch over those left behind, speaking of other loved ones, and passing advice down to his living associates.

Otherwise unexplainable […]

2015-01-06T08:59:46+02:00January 6th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |

Review: Want by Magus Tor

wantWant, by Magus Tor, is a Young Adult dystopian pageturner.

Aurelia Cole is only seventeen when the story starts. She’s just finished school and has been hired by Lunar City Hospital as a med worker. She’s bright, kind, scared, and ambitious. When the shuttle she’s on is attacked, her entire life changes. Nicholas, a Clone she met hours before the attack, rescues Jonathon Hansen, who many think will be the next Earth Empire President. Aurelia is torn between Nicholas and Jonathon. Who can she trust and who should she believe. When the Resistance movement approaches Aurelia she has to […]

2019-01-21T09:39:48+02:00January 6th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |
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