Scookie Reviews

Casting Shadows and Making Monsters Finding Inspiration in Likely Places By J.P. Jackson I can definitely say that the blank white of a page staring back at me from the computer screen is a daunting vision. What am I supposed to put there? How do I fill it with words that elegantly describe the visions in my head? And make no mistake, they are visions. Everything I write is more or less a description of the internal movie that plays over and over in my mind. But stringing together the words to describe that vision is far trickier than I had originally thought when I first put words to digital paper. Authors who have already been down that long winding road of unabashed creativity always spout the same two pieces of advice: Write. It doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad, just write. Write what you know. Okay, I can get past the first one. Sit down, turn on the computer, under no circumstances launch an internet browser, and then do nothing but type. Sometim...

Do you know when to lay and when to lie? Get this right, and you’ll impress an editor. It won’t make your book any more marketable, but you’ll know one thing that most aspiring writers don’t. And no wonder: To recline: Lie. Lay. Lain. Lying. To set down: Lay. Laid. Laid. Laying. To tell an untruth: Lie. Lied. Lied. Lying. These words are a bit stupid. They overlap so much that most writers will get this wrong. I could go on, showing how easily it is to get in a rut, but I’m not here to confuse. You can probably do that on your own. First off, learn the present tense forms. One great tip is to ask Lay what? To set something down is transitive, which means you need an object. I lay the book down just as much as I set the book down. If you want to pick her up and lay her body down, that’s also fine. But if you want to be next to her, you need to lie down. If you need a nap, then you lie down....

IMITATION by Heather Hildenbrand Verdict : There are better novels which use the same premise. Rating : 2 stars Don't judge this book by it's stunning cover. And I think the original blurb is powerful, but very misleading. I’ve tried to amend it in my own description. Ven is a clone of a wealthy daughter, Raven Rogen, and is kept in a facility far away from real life. She’s seen snippets of the girl whose body she was cloned from, enough to mimic the way she walks, but knows very little about her life. When Raven is attacked, Ven is thrust into real life to take Raven’s place and become the new target for the kidnappers. She exists for Raven, but is she prepared to sacrifice herself for someone she’s never met? The premise has been done before but, with dystopian fiction, exploring other storylines centred on the same idea can be intriguing. Unfortunately, this novel doesn’t add much to the genre. Its starts off like The Island and other clone-type dystopian sto...

PERFECT LIES (#2 Mind Games) by Kiersten White 5 Stars Verdict: Great if you’re tolerant and yearn for some fast-paced action. Annie and Fia have escaped the Keane Foundation, the ruthless institution for those with abilities, with the help of their new allies. Now that Fia pretended to kill Annie so that she could go into hiding, the girls continue their fight against Keane without each other to rely on and without knowing who to trust. It’s everything I hate, but I loved it anyway. Fia has perfect instincts and a dark attitude, and will do whatever it takes to protect her sister - including killing. Annie is blind yet sees the future, and is frustrated with needing protection. Their storylines are separate yet class together, the timeline leading up to the day where Fia is predicted to make fatal choices. At first I felt like I was being handed an anchor and told to sink or swim. If that doesn’t sound like the greatest reading experience for you, maybe try WITHER by...

So the time has come to see which two lucky readers will receive a paperback copy of this fantastic fairy tale adventure novel by N.M. Mac Arthur. The paperback book is currently priced at £11.76 and the kindle version is just £2.41 on amazon. I used a random generator to select two winners, and here they are: Laura Favroth and Irene Robinson Congratulations to both! I’ll be contacting you shortly to send those copies your way.  If you didn’t win anything this time, don’t worry. I’m in talks with several authors to make a regular thing out of this book giveaway! If you want to have your say in what giveaway comes next, take a look at the poll to the side. I can’t make any promises, but those are some of the possibilities.

Catch Me When I Fall by Vicki Leigh 4 Stars Verdict: If you want an original spin on a supernatural romance. At the heart of this novel is a simple, clean idea which is shockingly original. Dreamcatchers are like guardian angels of the night, protecting us regular living humans in our sleep from the Nightmares, which are vicious creatures that feed on fear. The story is told from first person –and a male perspective for once! Daniel is a Dreamcatcher who is burnt-out from two hundred years of successfully protecting his charges while they sleep. After successfully protecting his last charge for eighty years, he needs a break. Instead, he’s assigned a dangerous case, Kayla, who is a psychiatric patient with an unprecedented amount of nightmares attacking her. I’ll stop there. The blurb I originally read went on to reveal a few more exciting hooks, but I think it ruins the novel when the blurb mentions twists which are over 3/4 into the novel. Instead, I’ll let you know th...