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

(This review may contain spoilers).

I don’t tend to read a lot of drabbles. It’s not because I don’t like them – I just haven’t come across too many authors who write them.

I have run into a variety of different opinions on word length. One particular person mentioned that they wouldn’t read a chapter of something shorter than 1000 words.

Personally, I do think that drabbles can be done well, but in some ways, they take more effort than longer pieces of fiction. In this case, I felt the author did a really good job of writing a collection of different drabbles that managed to be really entertaining to read.

I liked how some of the drabbles had similar themes that ran through and even how some of them were linked between settings and characters. There were some that made me smile and others that made me cringe… and a few that confused me and which I’m still not sure I really understood.

It was really good how some of the drabbles were able to surprise me, too. Not all of them were what I would have expected.

I think the drabbbles in this book were really creative and although some of them shard similar themes, there was enough variety to keep my attention throughout. I would definitely say this book is one that’s worth reading. It’s a quick, easy read and I feel it’s a good showcasing of creativity.

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100 One Hundred Word Tales

(I received a free copy of this book, through NetGalley, in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

With this being the third book in this series that I’ve now read, I’ve found myself quite drawn into this series. Although they’re more like bite-sized books, I like the fact that each one so far has focused on one individual character. Although that means that the other characters seem a bit less three-dimensional, the character that is focused on comes across as much more well-rounded.

Even so, I felt that enough detail was given with the other characters to make them come across as quite interesting. It’s quite intriguing that Ryan (and possibly Proctor) is the only one to actually retain all of his memories. From Ai’s perspective, I found it intriguing that her priorities were to keep Proctor alive – and all of the others were just extras.

So far, I’ve found Ai to be the most interesting character, even though I’m not sure I really ‘like’ her. I felt the author did a good job of showing that her lack of speech isn’t just due to her choice not to. The glimpses of her past allowed me to empathise with her quite a lot.

I also felt Ryan’s attitude towards the others, in particular Jabo, came across really well. I could see that he felt so much differently towards them than they did to him, even despite the altercation in the previous book.

This sort of style of storytelling probably isn’t for everyone, but I’m personally quite enjoying this series so far. At some point in the future, I fully intend to read the next books in this series.

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Survivor 1.02 – The Factory: SF-Thriller (Survivor 1 (English Edition))

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

I’ve read a few historical-fiction books to date and I found this one a fairly entertaining read, though I struggled a bit with the constant switching between first person and third person.

I only know bits and pieces about historical figures, but I recognised a number of those used in the book. I did feel some sympathy towards some of the characters and I felt the author did a good job of showing how different the time then was to how it is now.

One of the things that I felt was really showcased well in this book was the fact that women were really considered unequal to men. I also empathised with Alicia’s unequal marriage… but I did struggle somewhat to believe in Eble’s feelings towards her. I didn’t feel enough time was spent on their relationship forming.

I had more sympathy towards the women in this book than the men. Even John (who was interesting at first) kind of lost my sympathy as the book went on.

It was interesting to see the historical figures from the outside perspective. I was particularly intrigued by Queen Isabella. I know she’s often portrayed as quite an evil person, but I felt there was a bit less of that here.

I did think there was a bit too much skipping over time. It felt like years passed by in a matter of seconds.

This book was quick and easy to read, but I would have preferred it to stick either with first or third person. I’d probably check out other books by this author in the future and I think I’ll pass this book on to my sister to read at a later date.

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Favoured Beyond Fortune: He is rich who has that which his heart desires

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

Having read the first book in this series, I was fairly eager to read the second one; though I have so many books to read, I keep forgetting what some of my deadlines are.

It was good to see the characters from the previous book, as well as meet new ones. I felt that the author made Joshua come across as a much more well-rounded character in this book.

The switching between the two different groups worked quite well and although there were a few cliffhanger moments throughout the book, I didn’t feel like that plot device was over-used.

Once again, it was interesting to see that the ice in Joshua and the fire in Hunter were almost like living beings in the way they communicated with their ‘hosts’. It was also really interesting to see the way Hunter had to adapt to no longer being able to access her powers at will.

I would have liked to see a bit more variety in the guards in the research-prison. They all came across as pretty evil thugs and it would have been nice to see a little more humanity in them.

A few scenes did make me cringe in this book; though, interestingly, those were more the ones that left it to my imagination. One particular scene towards the end was quite horrifying.

It was really interesting to see the different powers that the other kids had, though I would have liked to know a bit more of the origin of said powers. It was also intriguing to see the differences in personality between Jet and Marcus.

I was also really glad to see that Hunter didn’t just fall in love with someone else… though the hints at the love triangle have made me a little hesitant.

The book was mostly well-written, with only a few errors that I noticed. I’d definitely be interested in reading the third book in the series at some point in the future.

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Embers & Ice (Rouge Book 2)

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

I found this book a bit more entertaining than I’d expected to. Although it wasn’t quite as much of a murder mystery, I felt that the author did a good job of portraying the characters and their relationships and how they interacted with each other.

I found the supernatural elements to be quite intriguing and it would have been interesting to see that a bit more explored. It was only a minor thing, but I didn’t quite see how it all fit together. In some ways, the book made me think of a film called The Secret Craft, or so I recall.

The writing style was not really one that I like. I tend to prefer that an author choose a tense and person to write in and stick to it. Even changing from chapter to chapter makes a book quite hard for me to read. Stephen was a character who was easy to relate to, but I think the book would have worked just as well to have his parts in third person and the flashbacks to be in past tense.

I liked the friendship between Holly, Rebecca, Selena and Julia more than I thought I would. It was interesting to see Stephen change his approach depending on who he was talking to. The characters all obviously had something to hide, but I felt there were enough red herrings and loose ends that kept me reading throughout. And I did like how Stephen’s relationship with Conway developed. There was one scene in particular that really drew a sense of relief from me.

The culprit… I don’t think that was really handled that well. I didn’t have a, ‘Oh, that makes sense!’ moment when it was revealed. Actually, I felt it made very little sense, even with the flashbacks.

The relationships between the characters were probably the strongest point in this book. There were some really sweet moments and other scenes that drew a laugh from me. It was a bit difficult in that, out of the students, I felt that only eight characters had truly been fleshed out. Not enough of the others were shown to make me think there were a lot of students.

One thing I noticed that kept throwing me out of the story was the constant use of the word ‘but’ to end a sentence. Having it a couple of times would have worked quite well as sentence fragments… but not repeatedly. It was used in place of ‘however’ or ‘though’ and… doesn’t work in that way.

I felt the book was worth reading, but I don’t think it’s one I’d pick up and read again, though it’s possible I would pass it on to someone else to read. I’d probably look at other books by this author, but again, if I was going to pick up another one, I’d have to judge it on a book-by-book basis.

It’s worth noting that this book does have some more positive reviews, so if you’re interested in seeing what you think of the book – or just to read other reviews – you can check that here:

The Secret Place

The Secret Place Kindle Edition

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

This made a bit more sense now that I read the first ‘episode’ in the series. Again, I thought it was really interesting how this book was done. It really did feel like I was experiencing an episode of a television series or similar.

Having the pictures of the characters at the beginning worked really well to give me an idea of what they looked like. I felt that the first scene of the book worked really well to draw me into the storyline.

I did feel better able to relate to Ryan here. I didn’t really know enough about the other characters to be able to relate to them. Telling the story through flashbacks works in television, but I don’t think it works such as well in a book.

It was interesting to learn about Ryan’s history with the other characters and after seeing his dream, I felt he had more depth to him than I’d seen at first. I knew a bit more about him from reading episode eleven, but even so, I found him easy to understand.

It would have been nice to have this book a bit longer, but it was still a really entertaining read and a good introduction to the series. I do have book two ready to read on my Kindle and I’d be interested in reading the other episodes at some point in the future, too.

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Survivor 1.01 – Blackout: SF-Thriller (Survivor 1 (English Edition))

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

Ideally, I’d give this book 3.5 stars. It was fairly easy to follow, despite being episode eleven in the series.

The characters were really intriguing and I would have liked to see a bit more of their interactions with each other. I liked the use of the episode-style way of telling the story, but because it was so short, I felt like I’d only been given a glimpse into the world.

The glimpses into Ryan’s past were interesting and I liked seeing more details about it. I was also intrigued by Ai’s character and whatever her relationship with the little girl was.

The zombies aspect was quite an interesting one, too, and it was nice to see Ryan and Marie’s relationship, though I missed the development of it and couldn’t help feeling sorry for Kate.

Despite not knowing how everyone came together, I still found this book to be quite an entertaining read. I’d be interested in reading the other episodes in this series at some point.

Get (pre-order) a copy:

Survivor 1.11 – The Tunnel: SF-Thriller (Survivor 1 (English Edition))

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

Although I did feel it took a little while for this book to fully get into the story, I did think it was quite an entertaining read.

I’ve seen books about the people of Tuatha de Danaan. I often find them to be quite intriguing and this book was no exception. I found the main character to be fairly likable, though I did have a few eye-rolling moments at the way she treated her friends. And Rachel didn’t really seem to have a purpose (or life) outside of man-stealing and being a jerk to Allison.

It was interesting to see Allison’s mother and how she was affected. The pining for the Fair Folk isn’t something I see very often, so when it is mentioned, it’s always good to see it handled well – and I felt it was in this case.

I liked Ethan as a character, but his romantic interest in Allison kind of came across as forced. I did like Nicole, too, but couldn’t figure out why she kept hanging around with Rachel.

I liked the characters from Tuatha de Danaan, too, and I would have liked to see more of them. I felt the author did a good job of showing the differences between them and humans.

It was nice to see that Allison didn’t follow the stereotypical over-powered heroine from young adult books. Although I felt there were a few moments she didn’t act as well as she could have, I could still believe in her as a character.

The book was really well-written, with very few errors – if any – that I noticed. I would definitely be interested in reading the next book/s at some point in the future.

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The Forgotten Ones: Book 1 (The Danaan Trilogy)