Book Review: This Year At Home

 This Year At Home: A Short Story by Sarah Bridgeton

Published: January 27, 2013

Publisher: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

Source: Library Thing Giveaway

Synopsis (Goodreads):   Last year, Rebecca Levine was relentlessly bullied at school and tried to kill herself. An emotional wreck, she left for a study-abroad program in Israel. Now she has come home, ready to face the kids who tormented her—with a game plan to catch them. But things don’t go according to plan. Can Rebecca stand up for herself, and can she forgive her ex-best-friend who backstabbed her?

Personal Thoughts:  This is a short story about bullying, moving on with your past and learning to stand up for yourself. I found this story a quick read yet it was a thought-provoking read. It brings up the issues on bullying, suicide and high school issues to the fore front and makes you think about their impacts.

I loved Rebecca’s and Collins characters the most and there was good character development. The issue of second chances and forgiving was also  touched upon. One thing that I would have liked is if this was a novel instead of a short story. I think it would have a bigger impact and we would see what happened to Rebecca in the past and see how she dealt with those issues. Overall, the authors writing style was great and the story moved quickly. I will definitely be checking out the author’s other short story installments.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Book Review: Burn

Burn by Amanda Lawrence Auverigne

Published: February 21, 2012

Publisher: Amazon Digital Services, Inc

Source: Library Thing Member Giveaway

Synopsis (Smashwords) :What happens when the person you love doesn’t love you back? “Burn” is a tragic tale of unrequited love, dark passion and obsession.

Personal Thoughts: Wow! This was quite a dark story. The first half of the story made it seem like it was going to go one way but then it switched and became something dark and obsessive.

It’s a star-crossed lovers type of novella. Penny falls for a guy, Matthew, in her junior year of university and believes that it is love at first sight. Unfortunately, he doesn’t feel the same way and she ends up moping until her senior year, before moving on with her life.

Just when she is over and done with him, things start to twist in a dark way and strange things start to happen. Love and obsession go hand in hand, and sometimes it doesn’t end up as you think it will.

The author did a great job in making this a fast pace novella. Right from the start I was hooked and couldn’t wait to find out what would happen next to both Penny and Matthew. There was some character development and we were able to get to know them a bit. The ending had quite a big twist that came out of nowhere and left me thinking ‘where did that come from?’ It was quite a shocker! The plot twists were entertaining in this novella and kept me on the edge of my seat.  Overall it was a great, short, yet entertaining read.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Book Review: An Honest Mistake

An Honest Mistake by Amanda Lawrence Auverigne

Published: November 21, 2012

Publisher: Amazon Digital Services, Inc

Source: Library Thing Member Giveaway

Synopsis (Smashwords) : Two sisters Heather and Sara Donavan are happily preparing for the holidays.  With both of their parents gone for the afternoon to complete some shopping, the sisters are wrapping gifts, listening to music, eating treats and playing with their adorable new puppy named Daley.   Soon, Heather and Sara’s holiday celebration is interrupted by the arrival of their obnoxious older brother named Oliver.

Personal Thoughts: I haven’t read a short story in a long time and when I saw this on Library Thing, I thought I’d give it a try to see where it goes. It sounded entertaining as well as a fun read.

I did not enjoy this short story at all. It was listed as humour, however, there weren’t that many funny parts there. I think that this story has a lot of potential, but it needs to be revised and it would be a good story. The writing style does take away from the story and it was a struggle to continue.

One of the things that really bogged down the story was the descriptions at the beginning and throughout the story. It just came out as details, and not as details that added to the story to make it more interesting. The plot concept was interesting, however, there needs to be more action involved. It just seemed as though there were a lot of details and before you blinked the story was finished. The story left a lot of things unanswered and it made me, the reader, unsatisfied.

Rating: 1/5 Stars

Book Review: Resurrection Flowers

Resurrection Flowers by H.C. Turk

Published: January 21, 2009

Publisher: Smashwords

Source: Library Thing Members Giveaway

Summary (Amazon) :Rod Hill, a construction worker in Florida, is accidentally killed. The next day, he regains consciousness. Doctors consider his revival miraculous. An FBI agent, Vernon Nielsen, is sent to scrutinize Rod for signs of fraud. Vernon is convinced that Rod is genuine. Vernon’s wife, Ethel, establishes a web-site for the Resurrected Man. Using unauthorized FBI gear, the Nielsens plant a video camera on Rod. Millions of people view his every movement.

In the European nation of Kharnstan, members of a religious cult learn of Rod Hill. A priestess, Aeva Tbolski, is sent to America to analyze Rod’s spirit. If he is either ghost or demon, Aeva will return him to the afterlife.

Trying to account for his survival, Rod ventures to areas of living and dying across the world: A corpse-revival ritual in Africa. The birth of a child in Europe. An assisted suicide in America. He receives funding from his adherents, who study their computers for news of the returned man. Aeva becomes Rod’s companion. Though Aeva saves Rod’s life in Africa, she still must decide if he is worthy of life.

In this quirky, unique novel, which is driven by both humor and intelligence, Rod stumbles between living and dying, creating an astonishing mess in between. Though rife with events stemming from passion and personal conflict, RESURRECTION FLOWERS is not sensationalist, but substantial, and memorable in its sentiment.

Personal Thoughts: This book was really hard to get into.  I really don’t like giving negative reviews, but with this one I have no choice. It is not that the story is bad, it is the way that it was written and separated into the sections within the book.  This is the first book in a really long time that I just wanted to put down and not finish, however, I am not one to leave things unread, so I prevailed and finished it.

I think that this book could have  been a lot better if the writing style was different. Also, if there were parts that didn’t go back and forth without a clear explanation. I just felt that this was written quickly and wasn’t edited properly. I thought the concept would be interesting and that’s why I began to read it, however I was really disappointed.

Rating: 1.5/5 Stars