Book Reviews by Ehlen Administration

Afterlife by Aaron Burdett My rating: 4 of 5 stars Amber Blackwood has tried to put her past behind her, but the anniversary of her brother’s death always puts her in a foul mood. Especially this year, when all of her family members have left her alone with her grief. She thinks she might be crazy when she hears Toby calling her, but when she finds the present he left her - 10 years after he died - and she is chased into Afterlife by a horrifying masked man, she knows she must find him to save herself. Afterlife starts with a somewhat typical high school girl sucked into a dark, paranormal world that resembles purgatory, but ends up spanning more dimensions than the murky space between heaven and hell. I found this to be a fascinating and fast paced read, with a not totally shocking twist at the end but a good one nonetheless. I really enjoyed the interplay between the realms of the living and the dead, and found myself following the spiritual politics easier than I thought it w...

Grump & Rose by Aaron Burdett My rating: 4 of 5 stars Grump is a secondborn troll. He’s large, ugly and violent. But he’s not nearly violent enough for his clan, and when he starts keeping a pet, he stepped over the troll line. Rather than let them know he’s still alive after their latest attempt to beat the troll into him, he stays where he lands and learns how to garden from a strange old lady. That strange old lady tells him where his life is going, but he still didn’t expect to meet Rose. Can he care for her while still protecting her from that prophecy? Or is he doomed to always screw things up as a troll? Grump and Rose is a fantasy tale that strangely mixes Tolkein with Shrek as the determined antihero reluctantly faces off against powers beyond his reach. I really enjoyed the obvious stereotype busting and bromance between Grump and Boil, and am interested to see how the two wizard camps decide to duel. I was a little put off by the inconsistent language, as it begin...