(I received this book for free from Poisoned Pen Press, through NetGalley, in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I found this book to be a really interesting, well-written read with characters that I really liked.

I could relate really well to the main character, Faith, in this. What she went through with her mother actually mirrors a lot of my relationship with my mother – though I was older than she was at the time. I felt the author did a really good job of portraying the mixed emotions Faith had in a realistic way.

I did like the other characters in the book as well. Although Faith’s relationships with Anj and Jesse were really up-and-down, it still came across as really natural – and Jesse was particularly sweet with how hard he worked to be a supportive friend towards Faith. Anj was a really good friend, too. I felt it was really good that Faith had that kind of support from them, no matter how much she tried to keep everyone at arms length.

The science aspects were a bit confusing at times, but I think I understood most of it by the end. I thought it was all really cleverly done and I particularly liked how the whole thing ended, even if I would have liked to see a bit more, ‘I told you so’.

The writing was mostly good, though I did notice a few errors. The book was well-written enough to keep me reading on the edge of my seat, though. I would definitely be interested in reading more books in this series in the future. It would be nice to see more of the characters.

(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I have to say, this book isn’t one that I probably would have picked up to read automatically. I am glad I did read this, though. I found this to be really well-written with interesting, well-rounded characters.

Although I did like most of the characters, I did think there were a few too many different POVs in this book. It was difficult to really get used to one character before the chapter and POV changed.

I did feel that the blurb of the book gave a bit too much away. One of the things it talks about doesn’t happen until gone halfway through the book.

The book was intriguing enough to keep me reading throughout. I found the storyline to be really interesting and I felt the book really worked as a thriller. There are a couple of adult scenes that I wasn’t expecting, though. I also did think there were a lot of near-misses when it came to the characters being wounded.

I didn’t understand everything that was going on at first, but it made sense as the book went on. There was one thing in particular that I didn’t think had enough foreshadowing before it was revealed.

The book, on the whole, was well-written, though I did notice a few errors in the writing. Nothing major, but I still noticed them.

I think I would be interested in reading more books by this author in the future, depending on what the book’s about.

(I received a free copy of this book from Corinthians Publishing, through NetGalley, in return for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I didn’t realise until I started reading this book, but I had read another book by this same author. I like to think that I go into reading books (and watching movies) with a fairly open mind – and that might be evidenced in the fact that I liked this book a whole lot more.

The blurb of this story was really interesting. Infertility isn’t something that’s really uncommon in fiction, but this book might be the first one I’ve read that also included time travel as part of the infertility thing.

Rachel was a character I found easy to relate to. She was likable, despite the fact that I thought she was a little too focused on guys. Still, I really admired the fact that she kept her main focus on the goal that had been established for her. She didn’t suddenly change partway through the book and that was something I liked about her.

Time travel is probably always something that’s going to be really difficult to work with. It can either be handled really cleverly… or really poorly. This book, I felt, was somewhere between the two extremes. I’m still not sure I totally understood everything that was going on. The ending made a bit more sense, but even though I was running through every potential twist in my mind, I actually didn’t guess at how the book was going to end.

One of the things I really liked about this book was the way Rachel immediately bonded with her new child. In real life, some people unfortunately do have a negative view about adoption, but a child is a child. Rachel’s feelings were understandable and easy to see.

I think the only real problem I had with this book was that Rachel’s time was only thirty years in the future. I actually can’t picture robots frequently used and flying cars in those recent times, even with the jumps in technology we’ve made now. (And why does everything set in the future have flying cars, anyway…?)

If there’s a sequel to this book, I would definitely read it. As for other books by this author? I’d have to judge based on a book-by-book basis.

(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).

(This review may contain spoilers).

To be honest, I don’t tend to read poems very much. I sometimes find it difficult to relate to the style, even though they can sometimes be easier to read than narrative.

I’ve not actually read any of Aesop’s Fables, but I know one of the more famous ones. However, I could clearly see the inspiration that the original author of these fables took from Aesop, while still making these fables his own.

It’s interesting to see human emotions ascribed to animals in this. We do that quite a lot in speech – ‘loyal as a dog’; ‘curious (or clever) cat’; ‘crafty as a fox’.

I wonder, if animals could communicate with each other, what they would say. Would they be as they’re portrayed in these fables, or the complete opposite? I noticed that serpents seem constantly referred to as ‘evil’ here. Again, it’s interesting to see the human concept of good and evil used in animals when most people use the fact that animals can’t think or reason (supposedly) as excuses why they can be mistreated.

I think society, as a whole, can learn a lot from fables like these. The morals were good to read and some of them were a bit surprising – as were the endings to the stories. Not all of them, but some were a little unexpected.

The main focus on this collection of fables seems to be about greed. Misers, people wanting more than they’ve got and not being content with what they have… as true as that probably was in the author’s time, in a way, I’d say it’s even worse now. How different would our world be if people learned the lessons from these fables?

I’m not sure what I’ve written here has made a lot of sense. These fables were cleverly written and entertaining to read even now, years after they were written. This book has definitely piqued my interest in looking at other fables in the future.

(I received this book for free in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I did find this book a little difficult to get into. During the first scene with Jake and Ben, I actually thought they came across as much older than they were supposed to be. Their speech was a little… strange.

Saving worlds isn’t a unique storyline, but I still found this to be a really entertaining read. When Jake and Ben go into the other world, I think that – on the whole – it is dealt with quite well. However, I do have a problem with a character who suddenly gets all of this skill and knowledge, able to wield a sword and defeat people with years of experience. In my opinion, that’s kind of lazy.

The other world they enter is quite an interesting one, with a lot of unique creatures and characters. I do think, however, there was a lot of ‘listing’ going on – a paragraph explaining all of the details of these races that probably wasn’t necessary to explain.

I particularly liked Knesh as a character and the rebel King. I also really liked Ben. I felt he was more realistic than Jake and his loyalty to his friend and then to the world was really touching.

The writing seemed a bit stilted at times. There were a lot of mentions of ‘the evil king/wizard’. Apart from the fact that villains who see themselves as evil aren’t that interesting, I don’t think it’s necessary to keep saying ‘evil’.

I did also notice quite a few errors in the writing. There was lots of random punctuation, too – three or more exclamation or question marks aren’t necessary. Even two aren’t.

I think I would like to read the next two books in this trilogy. The ending was a bit more intense than the rest of the book and despite the issues I mentioned above, I was invested enough in the characters to care about what happened to them.

(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I actually liked this book a lot better than the first book. I really liked the characters in this book and it was really interesting that there were good and bad people on both sides.

I particularly liked Akiva’s relationship with his brother and sister in this book. Hazael was definitely one of my favourite characters in this – I really liked the whole birds thing. And he was just pretty amusing for most of the book.

I also really liked Ziri, though I didn’t like him very much at first. He did kind of grow on me during the book, though.

I really like the whole idea behind the resurrection thing. It’s really interesting that magic takes a realistic cost – and that the cost’s pain.

I really disliked the Wolf. (I’ve forgotten the spelling of his name). And Ten. Actually, a lot of the chimera Karou resurrected weren’t very nice. There was one in particular that I was really happy to see again, though.

I would have liked to see more with the freed slaves. The characters there were really interesting and I hope to see more of them in the third book.

Some of the ending of the book was really devastating. I nearly had tears in my eyes, it was so emotional.

I found this book to be a really up-and-down read. It was almost like an emotional roller coaster. I definitely want to read the third book in this trilogy. I cared about the characters and the situations. Even though there are angels in this book, they’re different to most of the paranormal romance angels now infecting books.

I’d love to see the world they dreamed of come to life…