Ink of Blood

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

I’ve read a lot of books by R.L. Stine, so when I had the opportunity to read one through NetGalley, I jumped at the chance.

I had a lot of sympathy for Lisa in this book. It was easy to relate to her as a character… especially after the accident. What she went through with losing her father was something I found really easy to relate to.

I did think Harry was quite a sweet boy… almost too good to be true. I had some mixed feelings about Lisa’s mother, I have to say. Even though I’m sure she was trying to do the right thing by her daughter, the fact that she refused to believe Lisa at all was really hard to read about.

There were a few moments where there was information dumped into the narration, or only just revealed before it became necessary.

I thought it was good to see Lisa having to deal with the car accident and the tragedy she was suffering. It came across as quite realistic, though I didn’t think her psychiatrist really did the right thing in keeping her off school so much.

I did find it a bit strange that Fear Street was apparently taught about in the school, which was something I would have thought Lisa would pick up on. She had been there a month, but if people thought the street was that dangerous, it would have made more sense to have it mentioned earlier on.

It was nice to see Lisa’s friendships with the other students in her school, even though Isaac was a bit confusing. The relationship between Lisa and Nat didn’t really seem to have a lot of depth to it. It would have been good to see more of Isaac and his feelings for Lisa expanded upon. I did find Saralynn to be an interesting character and one I would have liked to see a bit more of.

There was a good bit of mystery around this book, even though I did see quite a bit of the story coming. It has made me interested in reading more in this series in the future, though. It ended on a bit of a cliffhanger… but I didn’t really expect any different.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

This collection of short stories was a quick, easy read. Many of the stories were indeed twisted… but I still found them entertaining and well-written.

The first story was written almost like a prologue. It offered a glimpse into an apocalyptic world, but I was left with a lot of questions by the end of the book.

Most of the other stories had endings that made more sense and left very little to the imagination, even though not all of the endings were outright stated.

As well as the horror, there was a good mix of other genres involved, such as the sci fi one where one of the characters is frozen. That’s an especially creepy one… with a lot of sad elements to it.

The story set in the nursing home was an especially scary one. I felt able to connect emotionally with the main character in that story, although I didn’t really like her all that much by the end.

The story where there was something in the walls was also particularly scary, since it plays on the everyday sounds houses can make… that seem innocuous, but when used in horror, are good ways of playing on people’s fears.

The story with the woman on the bridge was one that was very sad and struck a chord with me. And the one set in the psychiatrist’s office had a really interesting ending.

There was a good variety of different kinds of horror in this collection and although some of them could have been expanded upon a bit further, I was drawn into each of the worlds really easily.

I found this collection of short stories to be really entertaining to read. I’d recommend giving this a try if you enjoy horror stories. There are a lot of creepy moments and a few that are really disturbing, too. There were some characters whose fates I really found myself caring about, which is always a good thing when it comes to horror stories.

In the near future, I’m sure I’d be interested in reading more books by this author.

(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 trilogy, I was glad to have the opportunity to read the other two.

It was good to be able to see both Lily and Silas’ adventures running separately. The crypt with the bodies of Lily’s ancestors was particularly creepy to read about. While the bodies there made sense by the end of this book, they were still really creepy… even though I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the women.

Although Jonquil didn’t seem very sympathetic in the first book, I thought he had a lot more depth to him in this book… even though I think his story should have been told more as a flashback than in italics as he explained things to Silas.

I would have liked to see more of Jonquil’s relationship with Thomas. I couldn’t help feeling a lot of sympathy for the family who were forced to guard the gardens. I felt that Lily’s strength of character came through especially well towards the end.

I don’t think Silas was as observant as he could have been, but it was good to see him connecting emotionally with Mirabella. I liked seeing more of Cassandra in this book, too, and having the opportunity to learn more about her history.

There’s a lot about the gardens and the house that’s downright disturbing. Being able to see more of the mythos of the garden was cool… and I liked being able to see a glimpse of the labyrinth. The smiling ladies are creepy… but I found my interest piqued by Villion. There were a lot of elements of mystery about him that made him an intriguing character.

There is an air of mystery through this second book, even though a couple of the twists are quite clear. It was good to see more of the mist people, even despite what was revealed when the Dusk Riders were there.

I would have liked to see more of the history of some of those trapped in the gardens. Some of the monsters have good parts to them… but a lot of them come across as pure evil, which means they’re not well-rounded like the more interesting villains.

I have the final book in the trilogy on my Kindle and I intend to read it in the near future.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

Having read about Division 0 (and Kirsten) already, I was really happy to have the opportunity to read the latest book in the Division 0 series.

I was really pleased to be able to see the characters from previous books. It was particularly interesting to see Shani and her mother. I liked the fact that Shani and Evan were friends, even though Shani’s so much younger than Evan. And there were times I really felt deeply for Evan through this book. It can’t be easy having a mother working as a police officer… more so in that her hours could have proved detrimental to her trying to adopt him. The fact that he was so understanding came across really well; and it was good he didn’t consider himself ‘too old’ for displays of affection.

There were times when I thought Kirsten didn’t come across as the same strong character that she had been in the previous books. Although it did all make sense by the end, I still found myself getting frustrated with her at times… which probably goes to show just how emotionally invested I was in the book.

Being able to learn more about Kirsten’s past was good, even though it made me sad to know more about the awful things she experienced. What was also good was how she didn’t let those experiences turn her hard and cold. There was still the strong sense that she cared about people… even people who couldn’t understand/hated what she could do. (I found myself getting more angry than Kirsten did at some of the attitudes she had to deal with).

There was one scene in particular that seemed to jump ahead in time, which proved to be very confusing, since one chapter, I was in one place… the next, back at Kirsten’s apartment, with no detail of what went on in between.

I really liked seeing more of Dorian and it was good to see him so protective of Kirsten. I also really liked Skittles’ character. It would be good to see more of her in later books.

I’m hoping there’ll be more in this series in the near future. It would be good to see more of Kirsten and how she’s evolving as a character.

(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. Although it was an entertaining read, I felt it got kind of bogged down with the details about the camping… and there wasn’t a whole lot of mystery in this book.

The book did start out really well. I liked the fact that it went straight into the action and it was really easy to understand why Kit was scared and hiding, despite not having much background to her character or the situation. I found her someone who was easy to relate to… I recognise a lot of how I might respond to things in her.

It was good to see the friendships that struck up between the campers and between them and Kit. I did feel sorry for Frankie. It kind of seemed like Mrs. Stillwater and Bob didn’t really care about the campers… only about getting the money; at least in Bob’s case. I did find it a bit irritating that his personality seemed to match his apparently unattractive appearance at first… though it was good to see Kit acknowledge all of the work he did do.

Many of the adults in this book seemed incompetent at best… and outright uncaring at worst. Porter creeped me out with how he kept driving by. Not so much at first… but definitely towards the end, where I felt he came across as a prize jerk. I did feel sorry for Anna-A, though, especially with how much responsibility Kit kept putting on her. Responsible she might be… but she’s still a camper and not one of the leaders.

It was a bit disappointing not to see more paranormal aspects in this book, since I was expecting there to be more. I did like seeing the insects interacting with Kit, though it was strange no one else commented on the amount that just seemed to follow her around. It was hilarious when the insects were mimicking the campers. I don’t think a bear was Kit’s totem at all… I think it’s a dragonfly.

I’m not sure if I’d read more books by this author in the future. I’ll have to wait and read the blurb before I make that decision.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

I thought that the concept of this book was a really intriguing one. Rynah was a character who was easy to relate to and empathise with. Even when she was kind of mean to her allies, she had reasons for acting the way she did… even if those reasons weren’t necessarily good ones.

I thought it was interesting to read about the prophecy and how Solaris took the people who were in the prophecy from Earth’s history. Although there wasn’t as much of a culture shock as I was expecting (I thought Alfric and Solon would have trouble dealing with suddenly being in space), I actually found myself growing quite fond of all five of the main characters… six, if you count Solaris.

I had a lot of sympathy for Brie in this book. Although she did only want to go home, I felt that she still demonstrated good qualities. There were times when she acted and did the right thing and I felt that Rynah was completely unfair to her. She wasn’t a warrior… but she fit the time frame she was from; just like the other characters did.

One particular thing I thought worked quite well was the similarity between the myths… such as Heracles and Herclai (I think that’s the correct spelling) having a lot that’s the same.

It was good to see friendships forming between many of the characters, such as Alfric protecting and caring for Brie. I thought there was a lot that was sweet about the way he tried to encourage her to stand up for herself. And I really liked Solon and his calm nature.

I did notice quite a bit of repetition in this book. Some descriptions were repeated… and the ‘As you know’ explaining device also made an appearance. There was also a lot of summarising during the narration, rather than things being revealed through dialogue… or even flashbacks.

I would have liked to see a bit more expansion of Klanor’s motivations, since the best villains are always those who have more depth to them. I really liked Solaris’ character and the friendships that formed between the ship and the humans.

I can definitely see myself reading the next book in this series at some point in the future.