Book Review - Timeless Love by Stella Gioacas

Timeless Love by Stella Gioacas introduces us to Emily and her best friend, Stacey. Emily has just broken up with her boyfriend of two years. Stacey and Emily had not seen each other for months because Emily had accused Stacey of wanting her man when Stacey tried to tell her that Craig had been seeing other women behind her back. In the two years Emily had been with Craig, he had alienated her from all her friends and family and made her leave her job. However, now she has found him with another woman in their bed! Stacey and Emily go for a walk to talk and get Craig out of their systems. They end up sitting in a park under a big tree. They start heading back to Stacey's house when the weather changes to rain, thunder, and lightning. Suddenly, Emily hears a loud crack, and everything goes white! Emily wakes up in a tiny bed in a room with equally small furniture. What has happened? Where is she? Moreover, who is Henry, the man with striking hazel-colored eyes? Read Timeless Love by Stella Gioacas to discover the answers to these questions.

I liked the humor Stella Gioacas included in the story. For instance, when the Dr. in eighteen hundred and seventy-four is trying to work out what all the strange things are that Emily is talking about example, on page thirty-one," 'And this Uber you mentioned earlier?' 'Oh, I believe that's some sort of luncheon meat, sir,' Henry said." I also enjoyed the fact that Emily goes back in time but is still in the exact location. I especially liked the comparisons and descriptions between the present and the past. 

I did not enjoy some of Emily's expressions which were not what people would typically say. For example, on page forty, "And thirdly, sit and join me, you silly goose." Emily and Henry are the main protagonists in this story, but as we are told very little about their backstories, they are relatively flat and bland. I found the conversational passages too long-winded, making the book boring. I would have liked there to have been more depth to what could have been a fascinating story. 

I recommend Timeless Love by Stella Gioacas to adults and older teenagers who enjoy time travel, romance, and historical fiction. There are some swearing and mild sexual scenes in the book, which make it inappropriate for a younger audience. 

I want to give Timeless Love by Stella Gioacas 3 out of 5 stars, it was an interesting read, but it needed more substance for my liking. There was a good beginning, and the ending was exciting with a lot of twists and turns which I wasn't expecting. However, the middle of the book was very slow going. The book would also benefit from further proofreading due to grammar and spelling errors. Because of these reasons, I have taken two stars off my rating!

book review - That Weekend by Kara Thomas

 

That Weekend by Kara Thomas begins with Claire waking up in the middle of a pathway with no memory of how she got there. She has no memory of the last day. An entire day wiped from her memory! When Claire breaks up with her cheating boyfriend just before the school prom, her best friends Kat and Jesse invite her with them for a camping trip. She has been friends with them for years, and she is ready for some fun after her heartbreak. However, when Claire wakes up, her friends are missing. They have vanished without a trace, and everyone looks to Claire for answers. The trip has become a nightmare Claire cannot even remember! Why is Claire on her own on a pathway in a forest? What has happened to Kat and Jesse? Why does Kat's grandma hate Jesse? Moreover, how is Kat's cousin involved in the mystery? To find answers to these questions, read That Weekend by Kara Thomas.

The story starts slowly. While we wait to find out if Claire's memory returns, it feels right that the pace is slow. The story only gains momentum halfway through when Claire starts an investigation of her own. She follows some bizarre clues, and the book becomes more interesting. While I was hoping for a little more mystery, danger, and edge, I was entirely unprepared for the twist that happened and took me utterly by surprise!

I was hoping for more danger and more chills. I wanted a page-turning mystery that gripped me. That Weekend was a good read, it just was not the chilling mystery that I was hoping for. True, I needed to find out all the who, what, where, when, why, and how of everything, and some shocking details came out throughout the book's second half. The ending was where things became exciting.

I recommend That Weekend by Kara Thomas to readers who enjoy mystery. This book still has enough mystery and shocks to make it an enjoyable read.

I rate That Weekend by Kara Thomas 3 out of 5 stars. It was readable but did not have the edge-of-the-seat shocks, twists and turns I want from a murder mystery.

Audible book review of Combatting Wastefulness & COVID-19 Etc. by Seton During

Combatting Wastefulness & COVID-19 Etc. is a self-help guide that the author Seton During says should help ethical taxpayers worldwide, and the ignored should benefit too. Seton During is an ex Chartered Engineer who has tried many things in his eighty-four years, including being a voluntary sector activist. His book gives strategies, policies, and practices that could help with health issues, energy saving, and house maintenance. Do you want to find out about pioneering research for dementia patients? Would you like advice on saving money on repairs and maintenance of your home? Would you like to save money? Are you worried about your health and safety? Listen to the audiobook Combatting Wastefulness & COVID-19 Etc. by Seton During to discover the answers to these and other questions. The narrator is Robert Sebastian Cooper, who has a voice I found very easy to listen to, and he speaks as I expect an elderly British man to sound.

I enjoyed the small amount of tongue-in-cheek humour in this book which made me laugh out loud; for example, when checking the house for repairs, "Access the spaces between higher ceilings and roof, if you can see the sky anywhere you have a leaking roof." There is some interesting information in Combatting Wastefulness & COVID-19 Etc. and I learned that if I put the palm of my hand in front of my door locks and I can feel a draft, then I should replace them with draft-proof locks; I never knew there was such a thing! I had never thought about what happens to the money of people who die without relatives or a will in place. I know now! 

I did not like a lot of Combatting Wastefulness &COVID-19 Etc. there is some complicated jargon that I had to google, making this book less user-friendly than it needs to be to make a difference. Despite the humour in this book, some passages are wordy and difficult to follow, and Seton During covers some heavy-going subjects, including Ebola, HIV, and Covid-19. Seton During has strong opinions, facts, and figures, which sometimes come across as scaremongering! His view on the Covid-19 vaccines, for example, "It continues to appear that deaths from the vaccines which primarily attack their victim's natural immune systems by triggering over defensive responses are higher than deaths from the virus itself!"

I would not recommend Combatting Wastefulness & COVID-19 Etc. by Seton During to anyone as the only parts I enjoyed was the humour which was only a few sentences. If you are interested in an elderly man bemoaning how countries deal with diseases and how they profit from vaccines to the detriment of the population, then you would enjoy this book!

Some areas feel like During is just venting against anyone who is not him and British. Some paragraphs in the book are just lists of things to try, which gets boring after a while. There was also a sentence repeated twice, which is unforgivable in an audiobook. Moreover, scaremongering is dangerous. Because of all these things and because I would not recommend this book to any of my friends and family, I want to give Combatting Wastefulness & COVID-19 Etc. 1 out of 5 stars 

Book review of Hemiphos by stefanie Jacob

Hemiphos by Stefanie Jacob begins at Edar Laxon's mansion in the Vosper Peninsular. It is a ruined castle perched on top of a hill. The elderly aristocrat who once lived there had vanished one night years before. None of the residents dare to go near it since the disappearance of John Hopper. They believe supernatural beings haunt the castle! Visitors to the town have often been curious enough to want to check out the castle themselves, but most of them never returned, and those that did had been driven insane! 

Three teenagers, Jason, Roxanne, and Pyrrhus, swim in a lake near the castle. Jason says that he has been inside the castle many times. The three have spent nearly all their time together since they were children, and Pyrrhus and Roxanne do not believe his boasts. They take up Jason's dare to enter the castle with him that evening. Do the teenagers make it out of the castle alive? What secrets do they uncover? Roxanne was told her father is dead, but she knows he is alive; what is the mystery surrounding him? Read Hemiphos by Stefanie Jacob to discover the answers to these and other questions.

There is absolutely nothing I disliked about Hemiphos by Stefanie Jacob. This book reminded me of being a child and devouring the stories written by the brothers, Grimm. It is a story that blends mystery, ghosts, and the supernatural seamlessly. There is a slow build-up, but Stefanie Jacob has written a powerful dark fairy tale that takes the reader on a magical journey introducing ghosts, spirits, and wolves with unique powers. Every chapter has some new element which kept me turning the pages to find out what happened next. 

I recommend Hemiphos by Stefanie Jacobs to older teenagers and adults who enjoy fantasy fiction involving ghosts, mystery, and a sprinkling of romance; this enchanting book has many secrets to uncover. "For Christ's sake" and "Bollocks" are used, which makes the book inappropriate for a younger audience.

I want to give Hemiphos 4 out of 5 stars. The book has been translated into English perfectly, and I found no grammar or spelling errors. The cover art is beautiful and gave me a feel for the story before I even began to read it. The last chapter is excellent and left me wanting more. I am pleased that this is the first book in a trilogy.

 

book review of The Girl Who Knew Da Vinci by Belle Ami

The Girl Who Knew Da Vinci by Belle Ami starts briefly in nineteen forty-four when the world is at war, and the Germans are bombing Florence, Italy. Sophia Caro is scared. Scared of the bombs and scared because her lover Gerhard Jaeger is a German officer!   It then moves forward to the present day and introduces us to Angela Renatus, an intern at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Angela is plagued by headaches caused by lack of sleep. She has strange, vivid, and repetitive dreams about fifteenth-century Italy, which unsettle her. Dr. Alberto Scordato is the director of the museum and Angela's boss. He has a penchant for young women, and Angela is scared of him. Scordato has noticed that Angela has been acting strangely and asks security for a copy of the video surveillance of the red gallery where a Botticelli is hanging. He cannot believe what he sees. Every day for weeks, Angela has been walking in a trance to the gallery. She sits in front of the Botticelli and has a one-sided conversation with the painting in Italian! 

Alex Cain, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, has been commissioned to find out whether a da Vinci painting of a wedding exists. He is also investigating Scordato, as there have been discrepancies in the accounts. Alex sees Angela in one of her trances and falls in love with her. He also realizes she may be a link to finding the missing painting, which, being by da Vinci, is worth a fortune. Are Angela's dreams part of the puzzle? Does Alex find the Da Vinci painting? What is Scordato hiding? Moreover, how are Sophia and Gerhard involved? Read The Girl Who Knew Da Vinci by Belle Ami to discover the answers to these and other questions.

The story moves backward and forwards in time. It covers the present day with Angela and Alex, the nineteen forties with Sophia and Gerhard, and fourteen seventy-five with Leonardo da Vinci. I liked how Belle Ami moved effortlessly between the different eras and gave a feel for the times with great descriptions of the people, places, and changes in how people spoke.

Angela Renatus and Alex Cain are the main characters, but we are told very little about their back stories, so they are relatively flat. When Alex sees Angela to her apartment after having a meal together, they find it has been broken into. Angela is obviously a competent and intelligent young woman. She is an intern at the Getty Museum and rents an expensive apartment. However, she does not quibble when Alex insists on staying the night to protect her and, the next day, proceeds to organize her day's plans. I found it unbelievable that Angela would do as Alex says despite the fact she felt comfortable with him! If you are a reader of erotica, you will enjoy the second half of the book, in which Alex and Angela's sex life dominates! I found the intimate details of their sex life unnecessary and did not enjoy this part of the book.

I recommend The Girl Who Knew Da Vinci by Belle Ami to adults who enjoy thrillers, romance, and historical fiction. Please note that there is nothing factual in this book and the reference to Da Vinci in the title only refers to a fictional painting. There are swearing and sexual scenes in the book, which make it inappropriate for a younger audience.

I want to give The Girl Who Knew Da Vinci 3 out of 5 stars. I found the conversational passages far too long-winded, which tended to make the book boring. I would have liked there to have been more depth to what could have been an exciting story. 

Review of WatchDogs Abnormal Beginnings by Michael L Junior

 

WatchDogs Abnormal Beginnings by Mike L Junior is a science fiction story. It tells us about Drake Nathan's cybernetic chip, which alters a human's DNA, healing various ailments, including cancer and blindness. Over time babies are born with the altered DNA without the need for a chip. This is the start of the demise of Earth as we know it. Technology comes to be so developed and sophisticated that ordinary people need to learn how to use it. This is the Technology Era which soon dies, and then the Apocalypse Era begins, and civilization as we know it dies. Ordinary couples start giving birth to babies with strange skills. These newborns are known as Abnormals. The Abnormals are segregated and hunted like animals. Kaarina and Monty are two orphaned Abnormals making their way to Xenora to enroll in the Berserkers Guild. Here they hope to find understanding and a feeling of family. Kaarina and Monty are being hunted. Will they ever get to Xenora? What are Kaarina's and Monty's special powers? What is the Berserkers Guild?

Mike L Junior has used great descriptions to give the reader a feel of the different scenarios. Much thought and careful planning have gone into the storyline, and Junior skillfully builds the layers of each character until we know them like a friend. The chemistry and interaction between the different characters are captivating. 

Despite the good points, there were a lot more things that I did not like about WatchDogs Abnormal Beginnings. Every chapter finishes with xyz in lowercase, but there needs to be an explanation as to why this is. For example page one hundred and fifteen, "The group happy to finally get a chance to eat decent food began to kick it into high gear, leaving the Snowy Mountains behind. xyz". The missions are named after the alphabet, for example, A-class, C-class, and S-Class. I got confused about what they all were and what their point was. I think there needs to be more information given so that readers can understand how they differ from one another. I was disappointed that despite all the thought which has gone into this book, there are areas where there has been no thought at all, which let the book down. One sentence is beautifully descriptive but is spoilt by adding the words "bag full of stuff" for example, on page seven, "The night sky filled with flakes of snow off the hills of a brown snow boot worn by a youthful Middle-Eastern scarlet-haired female running through a forest carrying a bag full of stuff." Furthermore, the lack of editing spoilt my enjoyment of the book, there are grammar and spelling errors on most pages, and this spoils the flow of the story! 

I would be delighted to recommend WatchDogs Abnormal Beginnings by Mike L Junior once it has been revised, but in its current state, I would not be happy to recommend it. However, if you enjoy post-apocalyptic, science-fiction, action, and adventure stories and you are not a person who is irritated by grammar and spelling errors, then you would enjoy this book. There are a lot of strong swear words and some sexual passages that are very descriptive and leave nothing to the imagination, so I recommend that only open-minded adults read it. Also, if you are religious, you may not appreciate parts of the book which question whether there is a God. 

WatchDogs Abnormal Beginnings by Mike L Junior could have been an outstanding read. The idea and planning that have gone into it are fantastic, but the execution and lack of editing badly let the book down. Unfortunately, as the book is at the moment, I can only give 2 out of 5 stars. This book needs editing and proofreading by a professional to deserve more stars!