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Brief synopsis (no spoilers) : This one isn't about Ceony, although she does have a cameo. Alvie is an American magician, visiting England for something like an internship. Her skill as an inventor is strong, so her Polymaking boss puts her to work right away. As she explores the craft, she becomes involved in a dispute between her mentor and another magician Category : YA fiction Historical fantasy Why I chose this book :  I have purchased, read, and enjoyed all of the books in the series My personal opinion : Fun read! I like the continuation of the magical world, but with new characters and challenges Warnings Language: none Violence: some, but not graphic "Adult" situations: romantic interest only Death: some Movie rating equivalent :  PG-13 Protagonist description :    Alvie is smart, funny, and insecure Point of view of story :   Third person Book length :  Medium-long Story flow :  Excellent Grammar and spelling issues :  None Characte...

Brief synopsis (no spoilers) : Everley has a clockwork heart. One would think that such a medical condition would lead to a careful life, or staying away from trouble, but that's not the case with Everley. She wants revenge, and she'll stress that ingenious piece of machinery to its limits if needed, to get it. Category : YA fiction Kinda steampunk Why I chose this book :  I bought it on sale My personal opinion : It was excellent. Moved fast enough to be engaging and hold my interest. Not too cheesy or angsty, like many YA stories. And Everley is a strong character, which I appreciated. Warnings Language: none that I recall Violence: frequent fighting with swords "Adult" situations: mentions prostitution Death: yes, including major characters Movie rating equivalent :  PG-13 Protagonist description :    Everley is strong of body and will. She's going to accomplish her goals, for certain! Point of view of story :   Third person Book length :  Medium St...

Brief synopsis (no spoilers) Now that Sacred Valley is mostly safe, the Twin Stars Sect heads back to Blackflame city. Lindon's parents and sister are beginning to understand just how powerful Lindon is, and how unusual his advancement has been in its pace. The team is definitely coming together well (Lindon, Yerin, Eithan, Mercy, and Ziel). Category Fantasy, maybe Sci-Fi Why I chose this book Next in series My personal opinion (the review) This is a great continuation of the series. I love how none of the books in this series ends in a cliffhanger. There's definitely more action to come, but nothing is left unresolved. Thank you, Will, for putting yet another high-quality, clean action book into the world! I recommend this book (and series) to anyone. Huge kudos to Will for the advanced planning! The twist was fantastic. Warnings Language: None Violence: Frequent fighting "Adult" situations: Romantic love, but no detail Death: Yes, including major character(s) Movie ...

Brief synopsis (no spoilers): (I'm taking this from Amazon, because I didn't get far before I quit reading.) "Prodigy son of a famed mathematician, Nick Hayes is not your average fifteen-year-old. Especially when you consider that he has just discovered he is dying of leukemia. But when an alluring new girl, Mia, joins his group of Dungeons & Dragons–playing friends, he realizes that life might be giving him one last throw of the dice. Just then, however, his world is turned upside down when he meets a strangely familiar man whose claims about Nick’s future are too harrowing—and unbelievable—to ignore. Soon everything he thought was true, from the laws of physics to the trajectory of his own life, is proved otherwise." Category: Science Fiction Why I chose this book: Amazon First Reads My personal opinion: I stopped on page 45. There were four or five f-words in that amount of text. I don't recommend this book to anyone. Warnings Language: bad Violence: unknow...

Brief synopsis (no spoilers): (I'm taking this from Amazon, because I didn't get far before I quit reading.) "In the former United States, sixteen-year-old Noam Álvaro wakes up in a hospital bed, the sole survivor of the viral magic that killed his family and made him a technopath. His ability to control technology attracts the attention of the minister of defense and thrusts him into the magical elite of the nation of Carolinia." Category : Science Fiction Why I chose this book : Amazon First Reads My personal opinion : I stopped on page 33. There were three f-words in that amount of text. I don't recommend this book to anyone. Warnings Language: bad Violence: unknown "Adult" situations: unknown Death: yes, including major character(s) Movie rating equivalent : R, for language Protagonist description : Noam has magic and survived the process Point of view of story : Third person, focused on Noam Book length : Medium-long Story flow : Decent, a little ch...

Brief synopsis (no spoilers) A Dreadgod is heading to Sacred Valley and Lindon is determined to save everyone and everything. Even people that treat him like garbage or that don't want to be saved. Category Fantasy, maybe Sci-Fi Why I chose this book Next in series My personal opinion (the review) This is a great continuation of the series. I love how none of the books in this series ends in a cliffhanger. There's definitely more action to come, but nothing is left unresolved. Thank you, Will, for putting yet another high-quality, clean action book into the world! I recommend this book (and series) to anyone. Warnings Language: None Violence: Frequent fighting "Adult" situations: Romantic love, but no detail Death: Yes, including major character(s) Movie rating equivalent PG-13 Protagonist description Lindon is finally strong, Yerin is finally vulnerable Point of view of story Third person, mostly focused on Lindon, but occasionally on Yerin Book length Medium Story f...

Brief synopsis (no spoilers): Rose's brother disappeared in an unknown location in Spain, so she decides to travel to a gypsy festival and try to find information about him. Lola's gypsy family is from a war-ravaged area of Spain, so she moves to a nearby city and travels to the festival to showcase her dancing ability (Flamenco). Category : Historical fiction Why I chose this book : Amazon First My personal opinion : No thanks. The intimate scene killed it for me. It was a compelling story, for the first thirty percent of the book (I did not finish reading it). I was genuinely intrigued to find out what happened to Rose's brother. I do not recommend this book for anyone. Warnings Language: none that I recall Violence: war references "Adult" situations: an explicit scene Death: referenced Movie rating equivalent : R, for the love scene Protagonist description : Rose is a friend of the gypsies and is sincere Point of view of story : Third person, focused alternatel...

Brief synopsis (no spoilers): Sandis now has to face Kolosos in addition to Kazen. But she has a small army of vessels and another handler with her, so it's not hopeless. Rone comes back to help. There's much more to his story and history. His ancient artifact gives them a clue about how to beat Kolosos. Category : YA fiction Why I chose this book : I'm a big fan of the author My personal opinion : Very good final book to the trilogy, I enjoyed it and recommend it. Warnings Language: minor Violence: nothing graphic "Adult" situations: many references to physical attraction, one racy scene Death: some, including major character(s) Movie rating equivalent : PG-13 Protagonist description : Sandis Point of view of story : Third person, focused alternately on Sandis and Rone Book length : Medium Story flow : Excellent Grammar and spelling issues : None Character connection (no spoilers): I'd like more back story on Rone For series : Independent or integral : Integr...

Brief synopsis (no spoilers): Rone betrays Sandis, in order to save his mother. Sandis is back in the hands of the evil Kazen, and is naturally afraid for her life. Her connection to her Numen is broken. Category : YA fiction Why I chose this book : I'm a big fan of the author My personal opinion : The story is compelling, I like the magical aspect, and the characters are realistic. I recommend this book to anyone. Warnings Language: minor Violence: nothing graphic "Adult" situations: nothing worse than strong attraction, references to being naked (due to the use of magic) Death: referenced Movie rating equivalent : PG-13 Protagonist description : Sandis Point of view of story : Third person, focused mostly on Sandis Book length : Medium Story flow : Excellent Grammar and spelling issues : None Character connection (no spoilers): I'd like more back story on Rone For series : Independent or integral : Integral so far Series review as a whole : Pretty good. It's not...

Brief synopsis (no spoilers): Sandis is a human vessel for an ancient spirit, but the practice of being such a host is illegal, so her controller keeps her in the underworld. She escapes and is helped by a thief named Rone. He has an ancient artifact that gives him one minute of invincibility, which he uses in his "career". Sandis' handler, Kazen, will do anything to get her back under his control. Category : YA fiction Why I chose this book : I'm a big fan of the author My personal opinion : I like the use of magic/tapping into another world. I am happy about the clean language. It's a genuinely interesting story, and I do recommend it. Warnings Language: minor Violence: nothing graphic "Adult" situations: nothing worse than attraction Death: referenced Movie rating equivalent : PG-13 Protagonist description : Sandis Point of view of story : Third person, focused mostly on Sandis Book length : Medium Story flow : Excellent Grammar and spelling issues...

Brief synopsis (no spoilers): Loch and her crew have saved the world twice, it's time to do it a third time. Category : YA fiction Why I chose this book : Next in series My personal opinion : Far less confusing than the first book in the series, so that's a step up. But the crew are basically unbeatable, so there's not much suspense. The "good guys" are going to win, no matter how powerful the "bad guy" is. Meh. I don't recommend this book for anyone. Warnings Language: not really Violence: frequent, but not graphic "Adult" situations: many mentions of intimacy; many mentions of attraction; if homosexual relations are a trigger for you, pick a different book Death: Several, including major characters Movie rating equivalent : PG-13 Protagonist description : Loch is much more flawed than in previous books, much more relatable Point of view of story : Third person, focused mostly on Loch Book length : Medium-long Story flow : The flow is fine...

Brief synopsis (no spoilers) The second half of the Uncrowned King Tournament. Lindon is out, but the rest are now eligible for not only the grand prize, but also an extra prize from the Abidan - an arrow that can kill any one being on the planet. Category Fantasy, maybe Sci-Fi Why I chose this book Next in series My personal opinion (the review) The rest of the books in the series have felt like they were rushing everyone toward advancement. This one had more advancement than any other, but its focus was much more on character development. The characters and their personalities feel more real now (they face embarrassment, defeat, ghosts from their pasts, and even the most powerful ones show weakness). It's outstanding. Will is taking a well-deserved break, and I'll wait patiently for the next book in the series. Warnings Language: None Violence: Frequent fighting "Adult" situations: None Death: Yes, including major character(s) Movie rating equivalent PG-13 Protagoni...

Brief synopsis (no spoilers): Loch and her crew are trying to hunt down an Elven book and deliver it to the Empire, to avoid an all-encompassing war. But then, just to make things fun, yet another ancient group of people tries to take over the world. Category : YA fiction Why I chose this book : Next in series My personal opinion : Far less confusing than the previous book in the series, so that's a step up. But the crew got out of trouble too easily. They're basically unbeatable, so there's not much suspense. The "good guys" are going to win, no matter how powerful the "bad guy" is. Meh. Warnings Language: not really Violence: frequent, but not graphic "Adult" situations: many mentions of intimacy; many mentions of attraction; if homosexual attraction is a trigger for you, pick a different book Death: Several, including major characters Movie rating equivalent : PG-13 Protagonist description : Loch is powerful and capable, almost flawless Poi...

Brief synopsis (no spoilers): Loch is a escaped convict who is trying desperately to finish one last job. She picks up a very capable, but very motley crew. Category : YA fiction Why I chose this book : Recommended by Amazon My personal opinion : When I first started reading, I felt like I had accidentally picked up the third book in a series. The characters meshed like they knew each other, the populations (mythical and humanoid) had names that were gibberish, with no context or relation to reach other. And there were language fragments thrown around with essentially no translation. So I checked, to make SURE this was the first novel in the series. It was, so I kept reading, and was still lost. So I checked again! It's really, truly the beginning of the series, but it feels like we're missing a whole novel of back-story. It feels like the story started mid-stream, around a campfire, but the story is a familiar one, so the teller is skipping a ton of parts so she can get to the...

Brief synopsis (no spoilers) : Arden and Dade continue their relationship, which requires them to abandon both of their families and livelihoods. They want to be together, but they aren't really "working" together, coordinating, or communicating very well. Tsk, tsk. Category : YA Fiction, Sci-Fi Why I chose this book : Next in series My personal opinion : The "pretty good" continues. There's a LOT more attention spent on the physical attraction between Arden and Dade, so that got a little too close to the line for me. But the language is clean, the action is decent, and the story line got a little less predictable, so it was pretty good. Warnings Language: Not really Violence: Frequent, but not graphic "Adult" situations: Lots of reference to attraction Death: Some, including major character(s) Movie rating equivalent : PG-13 Protagonist description : Arden is strong and independent. Dade is maturing. Point of view of story : Third person, focused ...

Brief synopsis (no spoilers): MG has an unusual name (Michael-Grace), an unusual best friend (drag queen), an unusual hair color (purple), and an unusual job (only female writer at a graphic novel shop). So when there's an unusual crime in town, she's a great match! Category : Crime fiction Why I chose this book : Amazon First My personal opinion : I really enjoyed this book. It was relatively clean (no language or sex), but it was edgy (showcasing people who are "loud and proud" about their lifestyles). I liked the nerd culture references, and I enjoyed the "girl power" angle. I also appreciate that most of the action in the crime solving part did not involve murder. Nicely done! I don't recommend it to teenagers, but I would recommend it to adults that do not have homosexuality as a trigger. Warnings Language: None Violence: Some fighting, some references to drug lord violence "Adult" situations: Lots of references to sexual interest, but no ...

Brief synopsis (no spoilers) : Lizzy Moon is the youngest in a long line of women with special abilities. Quiet ones, that focus on healing and wellness. But her "kind" are not welcome in her home town, so she moved away to the big city and got a big job. And then her grandmother died, so she inherited Moon Girl Farm, so she had no choice but to return and manage the estate. Her plans for a quick drop-in and getaway are ruined by the state of the farm, an old rumor that has persisted, and some unfinished business. Throughout the story, her grandmother gently speaks to her (figuratively) through a Book of Remembrance that she made and left for Lizzy. Category : Fiction, mystery Why I chose this book : Amazon First My personal opinion : The setting was nice (I grew up in that area, so it was cool to hear location names I recognized), the story-telling was superb, the flow of the story was excellent, and the interaction of the characters was endearing. I wish there were more mys...

Brief synopsis (no spoilers) : They completed their work in Newcago and Babylar, but at what cost!? They must now travel to Ildithia (formerly Atlanta), but without help from Prof. They will never be able to defeat the reigning Epic there, without some serious help. And while all that is happening, our hero David has another goal in mind, and it's a big one, but he's keeping it all to himself! Category : Sci-Fi Why I chose this book :  Next in the series My personal opinion : Excellent execution! The third book of the series does not disappoint. It doesn't just hurriedly tie up all of the loose ends, and it isn't lame. The challenge and conflict are relatable. David is still a nerd, and all of the characters are reachable. I recommend it to anyone. Warnings Language: Very minor Violence: Fighting and guns, but no gore "Adult" situations: Kissing, physical closeness Death: Some Movie rating equivalent :  PG-13 Protagonist description :  David Charleston is regu...

Brief synopsis (no spoilers) : The Reckoners freed Newcago, but now they have another task: free Babylon Restored, or Babylar, formerly New York City. It is ruled by an epic named Regalia. They have Prof to stand toe-to-toe with Regalia, but will they get any help from Megan? And will David ever learn to create a decent metaphor? Category : Sci-Fi Why I chose this book :  Next in the series My personal opinion : Excellent story. Good, clean fun. And an excellent premise. I'm glad I bought the series! Warnings Language: Very minor Violence: Fighting and guns, but no gore "Adult" situations: Physical attraction Death: Some Movie rating equivalent :  PG, maybe PG-13 Protagonist description :  David Charleston is regular mortal, but he has a superhero-sized drive to kill an Epic Point of view of story :  First person, focused on David Book length :  Medium Story flow :  Excellent Grammar and spelling issues :  None Character connection (no spoilers) :...

Brief synopsis (no spoilers) : People gain superhuman powers, but instead of becoming superheroes, they are all corrupt. The US government is completely unable to control them, so they simply don't. Each Epic (superhuman) fights for the territory they want to own, and the regular humans do their best to stay out of the way. But there are some who believe that heroes will emerge, and save humanity from despotic Epics. Category : Sci-Fi Why I chose this book : I'm a big fan of the author My personal opinion : Great book. Fun to read, and it's a story well-told. Not too long, not too short. Clean, good humor, no language or sexuality. I highly recommend it Warnings Language: None that I recall Violence: Fighting and guns, but no gore "Adult" situations: Physical attraction Death: Some Movie rating equivalent : PG, maybe PG-13 Protagonist description : David Charleston is regular mortal, but he has a superhero-sized drive to kill an Epic Point of view of story : Fi...