Book Reviews by Ehlen Administration

Taming Tigers by Daisy White My rating: 4 of 5 stars Not all fairy tales are about finding the handsome prince. Sometimes he’s the ancillary character, and the real challenge is killing the evil king. But how is a poor seamstress to take on one of the most evil warlords in the region? Once again, Daisy White offers a strong female character rising above her circumstances to save the day. This one involves an actual physical journey in addition to a metaphoric one, and it is a harrowing journey full of ghosts, tigers and discoveries. I really enjoyed the love story being simultaneously central and peripheral, and the solution complicated. I’ve only just discovered Daisy White’s fiction but am thoroughly enjoying her grasp of complex situations and characters spun into a relatively short story. If you like engaging quick reads that leave far more to ponder than your typical YA fiction, I highly recommend anything by Daisy White. View all my reviews Please note, while there m...

Child of Shadows by Kathe Todd My rating: 4 of 5 stars Leila has had a rough life, but she’s made the best of it. She has scrapped, stolen and survived, and while she is an excellent thief, her luck may be about to run out. Running from guards who discovered her theft, she is drawn to an eery temple and is conscripted into service by a disgraced god. Will she be able to complete his task and restore him to his former glory? Not even his gifts and her skills as a thief may get her through this adventure. Set in an alternate reality Age of Enlightenment Europe (1700s or so) where the gods are not just stories but actively participating in modern life, author Kathe Todd pits them against each other in much the same way the Greek and Roman pantheon are portrayed in the classical stories. They squabble, they manipulate, and for some reason they always require human muscle to carry out their divine intervention. The story progresses like an epic, with a long journey and a lot of learn...

Elements by Solomon Deep My rating: 3 of 5 stars The idea of Elements intrigued me. Although fiction revolving around a journey to find oneself is certainly nothing new, Alan’s evolving from self-absorbed juvenile to world-battered optimist combines the qualities of introspection with life experiences in a very satisfying way. From the beginning when he dumps his girlfriend and just starts driving to the end when he has to pull himself back to reality in order to clean up his mother’s mess it is abundantly clear what is going on in his head and he processes it with his writing throughout. So while Alan is not exactly your knight-in-shining-armor sort of hero, he does sum up the irritation of adolescence and the discovery that the world does not revolve around you. While the idea intrigued me and I loved the depth and diversity of the characters there were a few things that were a constant annoyance throughout. While seemingly trivial, I could not get used to the use of the metri...

An Alien To Existence by Jon D Gemma My rating: 3 of 5 stars Whoa. After reading this book I kind of feel like I’m waking up from quite a trip of the substance aided variety. Ok, honestly I have never had that type of trip, but if I had I imagine it would be a lot like An Alien to Existence. The story by Gemma follows the subject Newell, who is a gifted artist with the personality to match. He navigates childhood aided by the misguided but loving attempts of his family, but is not so good at being an adult. When his book bombs he goes into a nervous breakdown, that presumably summons the beings of the afterlife. There is a lot of fabulous imagery used, but it is difficult to follow. I know that Newell was going on a journey of finding himself, and that we are supposed to do likewise, but I feel like Newell ended up far more lost than the author intended him to be. I don’t know if this is somewhat autobiographical or not, but given the creative nature of authors and the genius th...