Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: The Discovery of Magic by L. J. Evias

The Discovery of Magic by L.J. Evias

An archery champion and her unlikely fellowship are transported to a mystical realm in dire need of saving in The Discovery of Magic by L. J. Evias, the creative first novel in the Intrigue of Magic series.

Facing the prospect of moving away and leaving behind all she loves, Alice Harper is determined to win an archery scholarship and find a tangible reason to stay. However, when she and her pals stumble through a mysterious cave portal to another world, the extracurricular stakes get significantly higher. Separated upon their arrival, these five young travelers must navigate a highly divided world […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2024-12-05T12:47:30+02:00December 5th, 2024|Categories: Book Reviews, Latest Book Reviews|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews|

Review: The Remembering by Charles Paul Collins

The Remembering by Charles Paul Collins

A richly imagined family legacy set against the backdrop of a perpetually changing world, The Remembering: Of Leather and Stone by Charles Paul Collins blends fact and fiction into a compelling American saga.

Remarkable in scope, emotion, and timeliness, this fact-based novel depicts the shifting tides of American society as it moved through the horrors of the Civil War, the violent battles for labor rights across the country, disruptive technological revolutions, and the growing pains of a nation still wrestling with its racial and cultural identities, all through the lens of the author’s own family. Told through fabricated journal entries […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-02-14T15:09:59+02:00December 2nd, 2024|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Historical Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: A Mage’s Path by I.L. Cruz

A Mage's Path by I.L. Cruz

The dramatic final installment of The Enchanted Isles series, A Mage’s Path by I.L. Cruz concludes this sweeping saga of magical revelation and selfless heroism.

Having left Canto behind, along with a heartbroken friend and the love of her life, Inez seeks out the mysterious Avo in the realm of Faery for guidance on remedying the many magical crises surrounding her. Inez’s mother remains trapped in a powerful cowrie shell and her increasingly accessible magic still feels too out of control to wield against the very real enemies that threaten her, let alone aid her quest to return magic to […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-02-03T19:54:51+02:00December 1st, 2024|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews|

Review: Divine in Essence by Yarrow Paisley

Divine in Essence by Yarrow Paisley

An irreverent and boundary-pushing collection of short stories, Divine in Essence by Yarrow Paisley is a burst of radical creativity with a heavy dose of darkness.

Playing artfully on the edge of perverse and profound, these tales descend into the casually macabre and disturbingly real, teetering between horror fiction and supernatural sci-fi. Each page brims with unearthly tales: a fever-afflicted daughter recounting visions from Hell to her mother, the soul of a young boy imprisoned in the dead eye of his father’s vexatious lover, the existential musings of a comedian’s corpse as it takes one more spin through the world, […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-01-31T15:21:46+02:00November 25th, 2024|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Horror Book Reviews, Short Stories Book Reviews|

Review: Delaware from Freeways to E-ways by Dave Tabler

Delaware from Freeways to E-ways by Dave Tabler

A wide-ranging and captivating review of the twentieth century in America’s first state, Delaware from Freeways to E-ways: First State, Solid-State by Dave Tabler is an accessible and entertaining piece of coffee table history, and the informative third book in the Delaware History Overview series. For a citizen of Delaware or any lover of US history, this book neatly sews Delaware’s contributions into the broader fabric of the American story.

Divided into four distinct sections – early century ambitions, the varied impacts of wartime, Delaware’s response to broader societal changes, and pioneering steps towards a digital future – this format […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2024-11-19T11:55:10+02:00November 19th, 2024|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: History Book Reviews|

Review: A Life Full of Quarks by C.W. Johnson

A Life Full of Quarks by C.W. Johnson

Demonstrating the beauty and awe of growing up within the kaleidoscope of science, A Life Full of Quarks by C.W. Johnson is a mind-expanding novel following the life and misadventures of John Chant, a perennial explorer of the unknown.

Given his parents’ legacy as scientific minds at the top of their fields, it comes as no surprise that John grows up immersed in the endless questions and head-scratching mysteries of the natural world. Like a whiteboard scribbled with the equations of his existence, this fictional memoir is densely packed with anecdotal stories and snapshots of growing up amongst mad geniuses […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2024-12-10T12:12:19+02:00November 15th, 2024|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Spirit Quest by Tim McRae

Spirit Quest by Tim McRae

The first book in the Shadow World universe, Spirit Quest by Tim McRae is a dramatic, romantic, and adventurous introduction to a gripping new fantasy series.

Suspended in a timeless and legendary past, the prodigious fighter and magician Niri must confront once again the terrible dark magic of the Witch. Niri is sworn to protect her world from evil, a promise that has sustained her through unimaginable danger and pain. Cooped up in her house in the Old Forest, and still recovering from a fight with the evil Witch that almost cost her life, she perceives a certain unrest in […]

Marina Dora Martino2024-12-09T15:15:12+02:00November 13th, 2024|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews|

Review: The Soul’s Awakening by Shireen Anne Jeejeebhoy

The Soul's Awakening by Shireen Anne Jeejeebhoy

A metaphysical afterlife adventure that will have readers questioning the meaning of life and the permanence of death, The Soul’s Awakening by Shireen Anne Jeejeebhoy is a thought-provoking musing on mortality.

Facing a future of chronic disease and pain, Charlotte Elisabeth seeks out a dignified death from Dr. Veritas, who promises a final release and endless peace. However, immediately after the euthanasia takes hold, she discovers that death isn’t the end of consciousness, nor memory, nor the uncertainty and confusion of being human.

Navigating a hallucination that never seems to end, she is exposed to the Darkness of solitude, the […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2024-11-08T15:34:08+02:00November 8th, 2024|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Visionary Fiction|