Showing posts with label paranormal activity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label paranormal activity. Show all posts

Friday, March 30, 2012

Book Review: Anasazi by Emma Michaels


by Emma Michaels 

Genre: Mystery/Paranormal
Reading Grade: New Adult
Publication Date: August 3, 2011
Source: publisher review copy
Age Rating: 14+

One year ago, something happened to David. Following the only clue he had he headed out into the desert. Now he has asked me to come see him. But when I arrived, he was gone. The people in town claim they have never heard of him and everyone wants me to leave. 
 
But I know he was here and he is in trouble. He can't survive out there for long.

Can he?

David. I will find you. 

 
My Review

  • Plot: Anasazi is the second book in the Sense of Truth series, and it picks up about a year after the first one left off. The main character is a young woman named Megan who never appears in the first book, but she is already a friend of David's. David is the first book's protagonist's ex-boyfriend. He texted Megan to come meet up with him in the Arizona desert, and already being keen on him, she didn't hesitate to hop on her motorcycle and head out there. But, David is nowhere to be found in the small desert town mostly inhabited by Hopi Native Americans. He had something to do with the town's big archeological dig, but she spends the novel trying to find him because someone has decided to eliminate him for his research on the dig.
  • Characters: Megan is an interesting girl with a troubled past who can kick-butt when needed. She's sassy and sarcastic and very stubborn about finding the missing David, even in an area she doesn't feel completely welcome in. David is a character I already like from the first book, but he's missing for most of Book 2. Still, he's the same old charming character I liked from The Thirteenth Chime. Lucas is a teenage Hopi character who ends up being the only character Megan can really trust to help her out, and I thought he was cute.
  • Technical Writing: I really didn't like how the first book was written, but this one shows good improvement on the technical side.
  • Storytelling: I think the storytelling shows continuous improvement in this installment, which I liked in the first one. I know nothing about the Hopi Nation, but this author clearly did her research. How she weaved this mystery together is a mystery to me, me being someone who just doesn't get how mystery authors do it. I'm very impressed. How she tied everything together from what was discovered at the dig site, the Rock City (which may or may not be fictional), and how the ancient Hopi could use a calendar to figure out when to plant crops so they'd grow perfectly... It was all so very expertly done.
  • Overall Quality: The quality of Anasazi is overall higher than The Thirteenth Chime, although I feel I might prefer the first book because I like David, and he appears in the first book a lot more. I think the mystery plot of the first book appealed to me more, as well.
  • Favorite Moment/Scene: When Megan finally finds David after searching for him for so long. He's in terrible shape, but he manages to help her help him because he's an EMT. Also, I was impressed with how Megan found him. She used a hawk, something straight out of Native American folklore/mythology, to locate him and I thought it was really cool, for lack of a better word.
  • My Score: 3 out of 5 stars.

*I received an e-copy of this title from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Buy this title from | Amazon | for $2.99.

Read my review of the first book in this series, The Thirteenth Chime.


Thursday, September 1, 2011

Review: "My Soul to Lose" by Rachel Vincent

"My Soul to Lose" (Soul Screamers, #0.5)
by Rachel Vincent 

Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal
Reading Grade: Young Adult (short story)
Publishing Type: traditional
Publication Date: July 28, 2009
Source: PDF from Goodreads.com (free)
Age Rating: 15+

It was supposed to be a fun day, shopping at the mall with her best friend. Then the panic attack started and Kaylee Cavanaugh finds herself screaming, unable to stop. Her secret fears are exposed and it's the worst day of her life... Until she wakes up in the psychiatric unit. 

She tries to convince everyone she's fine—despite the shadows she sees forming around another patient and the urge to scream which comes burbling up again and again. Everyone thinks she's crazy. Everyone except Lydia, that is. Another patient with some special abilities....

My Review

This is kind of an interesting short story. It introduces the reader to the Soul Screamers series of novels by showing the main character, Kaylee Cavanaugh, dealing with her first public screaming panic attack. She gets admitted to a mental hospital after trying to claw out her own throat because she can't stop herself from screaming.

There, she meets a patient at the hospital who knows why she had the panic attack, but that information never comes to light in this story. The new friend helps her to deal with the onslaught of another attack while there, but it only raises more questions about what's going on with Kaylee than it answers.

I will admit, it's decently written and I am curious about what's going on with Kaylee. It's plenty freaky with her supernatural ability, and a little violent (just a “little”). The characters really did not sell this story for me. I couldn't connect with them as deeply as I would have liked to. I'm sure the questions I have about them are answered in the novels that follow this short story, but I'm not sure I liked it enough to continue reading the series. 

EDIT: But, I have continued to read this series, anyway! 

My score: 3.5 out of 5 stars.

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