Scookie Reviews

GRAVE MISTAKE by Izzy Shows 4 Stars Verdict: A generic supernatural world discovered by a not-so-generic lady. Blair is skint, which is why she sometimes pretends to be a PI. This time her client is nuts, thinking her husband is having an affair with a ghost. Blair investigates his disappearance as a non-believer, but stumbles across a whole world of urban supernatural magic that quickly changes her mind. Blair has a strong voice filled with attitude, and it brings the whole story to life. She's not laugh out loud funny, but I smirked from time to time reading her references and slick word choices. She's damaged and insure, but strong too. Every so often, a line would really hit the nail on the head too, but overall, the writing style is quite relaxed and voice driven, rather than beautiful or vivid. The world building isn't exactly innovative. You've got your Wizard/mage/witch cult, a vampire society, mention of werewolves and demons, and other general super

SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT by Derek Landy 5 Stars Verdict : Fun, weird, and magical - what's not to like? In short, it’s a fun MG book. It has humour and a jovial spirit running through its pages, getting serious at times when it needs to, but never feeling like a heavy weight of despair and angst that comes with YA. A welcome change from my normal genre! I love how there's a quirky spin on the story. A thirteen year old girl inherits her strange uncle's house, bumps into a walking talking skeleton with magical powers, and the two team up to beat the bad guys from acquiring ultimate power. They both have a good sense of humour, which made it a fantastic read. Fun, weird, and magical sums it up the best. At times I felt the high amounts of action would be better placed in a film than a book, and the description tended to be at a minimal, but I liked this book a lot. I like how it’s different, standing out from the large heap of books I’ve swept my eyes through lately.

AMERICAN MONSTERS (Demon Road #3) by Derek Landy 5 Stars Verdict : A brilliant end to the trilogy. #1 - Demon Road #2 - Desolation Amber struggles between her confident but demonic skin, and her average-but-caring human side in her newly acquired position as the ‘Devils Lapdog’. Between her morally questionable tasks, she’s on the hunt for her parents who once tried to eat her, but learns that embracing her demonic instincts doesn’t always leave her feeling satisfied. It’s an easy read, entertaining from start to finish, and always speeding forwards. A creepy house, then an old friend, and all of a sudden Amber finally gets to face her parent’s head on, and that’s only the first few chapters. What I love about the series is not having to trudge through a momentous build up for something exciting to happen – not to have to wait for the finale to feel a sense of danger or solving a mystery. It starts off in a very strange place that I’m going to swiftly pretend never happened

DESOLATION by Derek Landy (Demon Road #2) 4 Stars Verdict: Would work better as a film. #1 - Demon Road #3 - American Monsters DESOLATION was mostly an enjoyable read, and overall I’ve give it 3.5 stars. I enjoy Landy’s quirky style and attention to pace. It wasn’t as good as DEMON ROAD, but I found myself drawn in by the mystery and promise of demon deals and life-or-hell situations. Where book one was a series of episodes leading up to a finale, book two is more like a movie. Actually, most of it would work better as a movie, but I’ll get to that later. I don’t think Amber grew as a character – in fact, most of the book wasn’t about her. Lots of other characters were introduced, and we followed them for sections instead. I didn’t mind the two old TV actors, but the Scooby gang parody felt like too much, too fast, too thin. Sadly, Milo and Glen were my favourite characters of book one. With one down to start with, the story felt like it was missing most of book one’s a

DEMON ROAD by Derek Landy 5 Stars Verdict: Easily the best book I have read this year. #2 - Desolation #3 - American Monsters Amber’s parents want to eat her. Amber doesn’t want to be eaten. This calls for a deal with a demon, a hunt for a murderer, and an action packed road trip! Fantastic premise. Loved the characters too. Amber is relatable - the right amount of awkward, self-conscious, and generally a good sport. Milo is her hired protector, although something felt very off about him... He’s serious, strict, and secretive. Blunt too. Gotta love a blunt character. Then there’s the loveable idiot, Glen, who they accidentally acquire on their way. He grinds Milo’s nerves, which makes a great banter. I’m so glad this book isn’t about romance. It wouldn’t have worked. Instead it’s witty and entertaining, and an adventure that will make an amazing film, or even a series... Ever watched Supernatural? It’s hard not to see the similarities: old car, deals with demons, tu

FROSTBITTEN by Heather Beck 4 stars Verdict : If you can get into it, you won’t want to put it down. Great beauty hides dark secrets...  Seventeen-year-old Anastasia Lockhart has never led an easy life, but when she starts getting into serious trouble, she’s sent to live with her grandparents in Cedar Falls. The small, picturesque town hasn’t changed since she visited four years ago, with one exception – the presence of a handsome, mysterious boy named Frost. Despite warnings from her grandparents and friends to stay away from Frost, Anastasia can’t deny their attraction, and the more time they spend together, the deeper in love they fall. Unfortunately, Frost has a secret that is beyond Anastasia’s wildest imagination, and she soon finds herself in the midst of a supernatural legend that has haunted Cedar Falls for years. Can Anastasia and Frost’s love really overcome anything, or are their fates much darker? ~*~ The Rating Breakdown Enjoyment: 3  Lots of brilliant

Introducing the winner of Scookie Review's Hidden Gem Awards, Jason P Crawford, and his supernatural novel, Chain of Prophecy! How does it feel to win the Hidden Gem Awards? Fantastic! I really didn’t think I had a chance at it when I got a good look at the competition. I watched the final countdown with my heart in my throat…for five days! What inspired you to write Chains of Prophecy? Like a lot of my books, I wrote Chains of Prophecy after being inspired by a role-playing game. Ars Magica is a magical-European-medieval period game, and in it God is an objective reality. My book doesn’t use the mechanics presented in Ars Magica, but several of the concepts are borrowed from the same origin. What was the best part of writing it? Chains of Prophecy was my first published novel but my second written. The best part of writing it was that I had the same fire of creativity, but more confidence in myself as a writer because I knew I could finish a book. The harde

#1 The Chains of Prophecy Jason P. Crawford When Samuel Buckland discovers he's descended of a powerful bloodline, he must first battle with his lack of faith before he faces evil in the form of a vicious yet smooth-talking politician.  This book takes no time in getting started, which is probably because Samuel is a character who likes to take action. Some of the side characters also act strangely at first, but it soon starts to fall into place as Samuel discovers that he must save a powerful yet helpless being. I'm going to keep my wording vague to avoid spoiling the plot, but if you're a fan of contemporary fiction involving angels, powers, and villains, then you'll love Chains of Prophecy . I’m a huge fan of angels and legacies, especially when the author adds in a few new spins like Crawford has. After learning that God and beliefs would play a part in the story, I was also thankful that this book handled beliefs in a way that isn't designed to

#2 Bloodline Tara Ellis A meteor shower is followed by an infectious disease, one that seems to changing everyone around Alex into emotionless aliens. Alex always knew her father’s death was suspicious, but now solving the clues he left behind for her seems to be the key to reversing the disease.  The mystery behind the disease is well thought out. I loved the hieroglyphics sketched into the book – a nice touch, very unusual. The sketches pulled me into the puzzle left for Alex to solve, and it’s quite a clever quirk. I also commend the author for the diversity of her characters. I'm a fan of anything Egyptian and was glad to see Alex's heritage being part of the story. Alex is a sweetheart and her brother is intelligent and loving too. They make a good pair. On the other hand, I didn’t care much for ‘nice guy’ Chris because I just didn’t feel like I knew him very well. Maybe I’ll have to read book 2 to find out more about him. This was a quick read with a g

#3 The Scary Girls J.D. Kaplan Trick needs a new band, preferably one where the lead singer doesn't make out with his girlfriend. That's when he meets the Scary Girls: three beautiful, mysterious, and talented musicians whom Trick instantly clicks with. He soon finds himself playing extraordinary music as well as bumping into otherworldly beings that have him questioning who, or what exactly, is he? Mixing music with the supernatural, The Scary Girls was the most original book of all the entries. I could tell the writer must be an awesome musician as well as a talented writer. I liked Trick a lot. There was something very relatable about all the characters - something real and raw, especially with Trick. He's a little uncomfortable in his skin, but rises to the moment, and comes across as very likeable, easy going, and very easy to follow as a main character. If you're tired of strong female leads, then this might be the book for you.  I became real

#4 Broken Dolls B.R. Kingsolver Private Investigator R.B. Kendrick usually uses her telepathy to help nail cheating spouses. But when she's asked to investigate the disappearance of a missing girl, Kendrick uses her abilities to unravel a much more dangerous plot in the dark underbelly of the telepathic society. I loved the creativity in this one. The feisty character’s main gift was telepathy, which allowed a brilliant spin on a private investigator story. My favourite part was how Kendrick can tell what nasty things a person has done by the stains on their soul. There were also lots of juicy plot twists and action scenes too – a lot to keep me reading onwards. As much as I loved the concepts, explanations were often wordy and complicated, even when rereading. It all seemed to sound overly complicated for what it was, and new powers would pop up whenever needed rather than recycling old ideas to really knit the concepts together. I thought it would be better if the ch

Ladies and gentlemen, readers and writers, it's about time I announced the results of the  Hidden Gem Awards . Eleven supernatural themed books entered, all self-published. Five were selected from reading the opening alone, and now they are all read and reviewed. I'll be posting one a day until we reach the winner to give each fantastic entry it's own time in the light. Here's the first runner up: #5 A Time Apart Rebecca Norrinne Caudill Olivia moves to Ireland, feeling a down on her luck and looking to kick start her life back up, starting with a tour of William Macauley's castle. When William rejects her offer, he wasn't expecting such a feisty reply, but Olivia was even more surprised when she remembers just exactly who William is. I knew a little of what was to come when I checked it was supernatural, but the twist was still a good one. The writing was quite clever, weaving in a few ideas that only really came together at that click mo

EVERLONG by Nikki Morgan 3 Stars Verdict:  Beautiful descriptions, raw portrayal of depression, but copious mistakes. When love is a matter of life and death, it's not about losing your heart, but saving it. On a bitterly cold New Year's Eve, seventeen-year-old Evie Anderson jumps from the Old Bridge to her death. Seeing her fall, Josh Winters plunges into the river to save her. But Josh is the Angel of Death sent to collect her soul, and saving Evie is against the rules. As their worlds collide, they must conquer their demons, in the battle to survive. With Death standing between them, can love triumph as they fight for their lives? The Rating Breakdown Enjoyment:  4   I loved reading it and connected with the characters. Writing Style:  3   Beautiful but error prone.  Plot:  3  Interesting. Ends before divulging much. World & Concepts:  3   Concepts from Josh’s storyline need work.  Characters:  4  Great characterisation, but Evie a