REVIEW: The Edge of Empire, Stephanie Amey - 3/5

 Historical fiction seems to be a niche genre these days, but after picking up Stephanie Amey's newest read I'm inclined to believe it still has a place in the bookish world.

The Edge of Empire is, admittedly, a book I wouldn't usually pick for myself to read; however, when the title was sent to me by the wonderful people at Northodox Press, I knew it was going to be worth the read.

Stephanie Amey's newest book takes place in 170 AD and sees Aurelius Petrus, Optio (second in command) of Fort Bana, take on the investigation of two murdered soldiers. However, once he begins looking into the deaths of two of the Fort's own, Petrus realises something strange...

The men were seemingly killed by Druids, a cult that was wiped out by Romans 100 years ago; but Petrus refuses to let sleeping dogs lie as the Optio is convinced Druids are not the cause of his men's deaths.

When beginning The Edge of Empire, I wasn't completely sure what to expect as historical fiction isn't a genre I dabble in often. However, the plot sounded amazing, almost like a historical Sherlock Holmes, so I was eager to begin.

The first thing I noticed while reading this book, was the simplicity of the writing. That is not to say this is a bad thing, but the way in which it was written set the tone for the rest of the book.

I immediately liked our main character, Petrus. As a Roman soldier he of course has a harsh side to him, hissing and shouting orders at his men. He also has a softer, more lenient side; I really enjoyed how Amey portrayed his character as he made for a brilliantly inquisitive and interesting man to lead the story.

As I read more and more, my opinion of this book being written simply was set in stone; while I somewhat liked that about this title as it allowed the main character and his comrades to shine a little brighter, it felt almost a shame as the plot and environment suffered ever so slightly.

When the environment was described, it was done well and there was no doubt about that, but I did notice the repeat of certain phrases (such as smells 'filling the air') which felt a little repetitive.

Having said this, the book progressed at a very decent pace. I enjoyed Petrus' travels from the Fort to the Vicus (the settlement around the Fort) as he interviewed men whom he suspected were involved with the murders of the two soldiers.

Petrus was indeed a brilliant main character, as the way he was written definitely made him human as he grew tired often, worked hard and showed love for his wife and son.

About halfway into The Edge of Empire, it seems as though Petrus' superior, Julius Maximus, as found those responsible for the killings of his men... but Petrus isn't so sure. Just as one problem seems to be solved, two more bodies are found, which sets off a series of events that I'm sure no reader could predict.

Despite the somewhat simple writing, lack of environmental description and even the seemingly skipped-over scenes within the book, Amey has written a brilliant ending to this title that I genuinely really loved.

Petrus' suspicions are conformed, a battle breaks out, and true motives are revealed in a matter of moments; the ending of this book is most definitely the best part and I was sat with my jaw agape; even if this scene felt a little rushed, I was intreagued to find out what really happened to the two dead soldiers, and who else was involved...

The Edge of Empire is a slow-burning yet highly-interesting read. It takes the reader back to 170 AD and highlights Petrus, the main character, in brilliant ways and makes him a man worth rooting for. A good, simple read with a somewhat complex twist and a satisfying ending - worth the read for sure.

REVIEW: Disaster Dates and Lucky Escapes, Tess Smith-Roberts - 5/5

 Ever been on a less-than-exceptional date? Well, Olive has been on one too many and has a myriad of dating disasters to share!

When I received this book to review, I was pleasantly surprised to find a comic book-style story with a hilarious main character and stunning images to go alongside.

Disaster Dates and Lucky Escapes follows the unlucky Olive, a woman who hopes for a normal, fun date, but ends up with the weirdest of both men and women. The book follows her blunders as she almost loses her mind in the world of online dating.

I absolutely loved this book. It was a short, sweet look into the world of online dating and how difficult and, even how uncomfortable it can be.

The comic book style of the book went so well with the story; the brilliant illustrations matched perfectly with the conversations Olive had with her friends.

Not only were the images so well-done and pretty, the way the characters spoke to one another was fantastic. It felt so real and grounded, which was brilliant to see given the somewhat humorous nature and appearance of the book.

The situations Olive gets herself into are downright hilarious, and some are even very questionable. At one point, she finds herself at a speed-dating even, to where one man states that he doesn't think 'incest is that bad'... Poor Olive.

Despite the book being rather short, it is a genuinely beautiful and hilarious read and I thoroughly enjoyed it! It was fun, different, and a clever way to lay out that, while online dating can be a little odd sometimes, there is someone out there for us all, even if that someone is ourselves!

Disaster Dates and Lucky Escapes is a great mini-read, definitely worth the time for a quick laugh!

REVIEW: The Final Party, A.A Chaudhuri - 5/5

Mystery books can sometimes be hit-and-miss, with the final twist not quite hitting home. However, A.A Chaudhuri's newest thriller, The Final Party, ticks all the right boxes - and then some.

The Final Party is a title I've been excited to read for quite some time, mainly due to Chaudhuri's two previous books, She's Mine and The Loyal Friend, being absolutely fantastic.

This title sees six friends take a trip to a stunning villa in Sorrento, Italy, to celebrate one of the group's 40th birthday. However, by the end of it all one of them will be dead, and the secrets they all hold may not be as secure as they thought...

What happened that fateful night in 2001? Did anyone ever find out? Will the truth come out?

Chaudhuri is by far one of my favourite authors, with She's Mine being one of my favourite crime/thriller books of all time. However, The Final Party may have just edged itself into the top spot.

The book begins at the end, with a body in the water and only five out of the six friends who arrived in Italy remaining. While some books do begin like this, no one does intrigue on this scale like Chaudhuri does.

I was immediately invested in the story and raced on through the pages to learn about the group and what their hidden truths may be.

The group consisted of three couples: Padma and Nick, Vanessa and Marcus, and Johnny and Lana. One of the best things about this title is the genius way Chaudhuri introduces each character, and with each introduction, comes a whole new wave of suspicion, lies, and mystery.

I was delighted that, after reading the first chapter that was dictated by Padma, Vanessa would then take over in the next. Having the book narrated by the entire group was absolutely brilliant, and worked miraculously well in creating a shroud of intrigue around the characters and their sordid pasts.

Chaudhuri is a genius to say the least, with each and every chapter having a distinct point to make, a significant bit of information to tell me, no matter how subtle. For the most part, the facts were told in such an elusive way, that it allowed for the story to flow so beautifully; even with the chapters that took place in the past.

I always feel it is a difficult thing for an author to get right, swapping from past to present. However, Chaudhuri's masterful way of slightly changing the language of whoever is narrating the chapter, to the way the environment changes with her skilful descriptions, makes it easy to follow and as intriguing as ever.

With each page came the addition of tension, and each character having their own version of events made for genuinely thrilling reading, as while Padma may believe one circumstance to be true, Johnny, or even Marcus may know the answers to her questions...

The plot is one of absolute brilliance, as Chaudhuri creates a web of lies, hatred and perhaps in a way, evil. The reunion of friends hides beneath the illusion of a celebration of Vanessa's 40th birthday, but the genuine joy of reading this book is knowing that every member knows something different, and as a reader, you know everything they know (for the most part).

I adored the story within The Final Party, as I read through six different people's lives, I was told shocking truths and horrible secrets, I found out who committed atrocious acts that were covered up, and I was privy to secrets unlike no others...

The Final Party is clever, intriguing, well-written, and has a plot like nothing else I've read. The twists and turns within these pages are a triumph, and I loved every single minute of it.

Each character had their own unique personality and looks (wonderfully described of course), as well as the surroundings for the group being in stunning Italy, a place Chaudhuri herself has visited.

Once again, Chaudhuri has delivered a phenomenal story for us all. I am honoured to not only get an ARC of this title, but to also be in the acknowledgements of one of Chaudhuri's novels for a second time.

This book made me sit up in my seat, verbally wonder what in the hell is going on, and read way into the night; it is definitely a must-read.

Well done Chaudhuri on creating another genuinely fantastic book; I cannot wait to see what else you come up with.

The Final Party is available now!

Question!

Hello everyone!

I have a question for you...

If your favourite book had a soundtrack, what would it be? 🕮

I think mine would have to be The Witch's Heart, with the soundtrack being Soldier, Poet, King (by The Oh Hellos). While the book had quite a dark vibe, and the song is rather upbeat, it just feels right to put the two together 🎔

Second Chances

Hello everyone!

I realise that I haven't been as attentive to my book blog as I'd like to be, so hopefully, that ends today!

To get back into the flow, I decided to list five books I wish I could read again for the first time, simply because of how stunningly beautiful they were.

1. The Witch's Heart re-tells the story of Angerboda in a dark and captivating way as she falls for the Trickster Loki, and details her life as her children come into the world, and her life changes in a way she never knew.

2. She's Mine sees a mother at a loss after her child has gone missing; but who is really to blame? Is it the fault of a seemingly inattentive mother, or has something much, much more sinister been surrounding a mother and her lost child?

3. The Last Thing to Burn gives an insight into the horrible life of a woman who, in search of a better life, has found herself trapped in the hands of a man who wants a mother within a wife. She is miles from home and family, but can she save herself from getting burnt?

4. The Puppet Show begins the series of Detective Poe and Tilly Bradshaw, perhaps the greatest crime-fighting duo in literature. Poe is faced with men on fire, but can he figure out who's behind the crimes before his world is engulfed in flames?

5. The Thusrday Murder Club is another beginning to a series that centres around the charming foursome of Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron; four senior citizens who gather each week to solve old cases. However, when a real murder happens near them, can they crack the case?

Interview with Chandler Morrison, Author of Dead Inside

When reading an impactful title, such as Chandler Morrison's Dead Inside, one may have many questions for the author who crafted such a tale.
I find myself lucky to be able to share an interview with Mr Morrison about one of the most interesting and awe-inspiring books I've ever read.

First, a bit about Dead Inside...

A security guard goes about his day-to-day life, trying his best to stay under everyone's radar; and that's not just because he has one very peculiar, and many would argue sickening interest...

See, this guard prefers the company of dead girls over living ones. However, one night he meets Helen, and realises that he's not the only one with nasty habits.

I'm so pleased to have gotten the chance to interview the author of this devastatingly well-written and incredible title - enjoy!

First of all - what inspired you to write this title? A lot of people assume I wrote it for shock value, which wasn’t the case at all. I never think about people’s potential reactions when writing a book; the reader doesn’t even cross my mind during the writing process, and even when it’s done, I’m not particularly invested in how it’s received.

The creation of each book is an intensely personal experience. I’m always working through something, and Dead Inside was no different. I had just gotten out of a very bad relationship that led to a period of extreme darkness in my life, and I was trying to write my way out of that darkness while sort of figuring out what made me get so wrapped up in such an unhealthy pairing in the first place.

All of that is obviously submerged beneath several layers of obfuscation in the form of social commentary and genre parody, but the emotional truth of what I was going through is there at its core.

Was there any significance in not giving the main character a name? I guess I wanted to give him an anonymity that suggested he could be anyone. There are so many people with whom we cross paths in the course of a day, and we never know what they’re thinking or what sorts of things they do when no one else is around. Anyone could be a monster. Everyone could be.

 

Did you write any alternate endings, or would the story always have ended the same? No, no alternate endings. It was always going to be exactly what it is. I never feel like I’m guiding the direction of the story or deciding what actions the characters take. It’s like there’s this separate universe that exists in my imagination, and I simply go there and write down what I see.

In that vein, the story itself is always the least interesting aspect to me. I don’t really care about plot, even as a reader. I’m much more interested in style, mood, atmosphere. Vibes. Plot is just a way to move the characters from one scene to the next.

 

What contributed to the somewhat gory & vivid scenes within the book? It’s endlessly baffling to me that the gore is so often what people get out of the book. I’m especially surprised by the readers who see it as shock value, because I just don’t know how you can take any of it seriously enough to be offended by it. It’s all deliberately over the top and absurd to the point that none of it is realistic.

The abortion clinic scene, for instance, about which so many people love to draw ire, isn’t even logistically or scientifically feasible. I was trying to parody the “extreme horror” genre, because so much of extreme horror is kind of silly. The excessive gore in Dead Inside is supposed to bring a comedic levity to offset the grim bleakness of the rest of the book.

It’s interesting that so many people miss that and just classify it among the same books it’s making fun of, because I never have and never will consider myself an extreme horror author, or even a horror author. I’ve always identified primarily as a satirist, but I think the internet has made it difficult for people to recognize satire in a lot of cases.

 

Were there any parts in the book that you found difficult to write? There’s a page or two near the end where the narrator can’t sleep, and he starts experiencing symptoms of sleep deprivation. I wanted that to be authentic, so before writing that sequence, I made myself stay awake for something like five straight days.

Sleep is something I quite enjoy, so I guess that was pretty tough. I’m older now and I don’t think I could do something like that again.

Dead Inside can be found on Amazon, as well as the Kindle store!

 

REVIEW: Enlightened as Hell, Dr. Tony Ortega - 5/5

 Self-help books can sometimes be hit-or-miss, giving advice that sometimes doesn't make much sense, or doesn't come from a place of experience. Well, this is one self-help book that was written with both understanding and love.

Enlightened as Hell: How to be spiritual and not be a d*ck by Dr. Tony Ortega has to be one of the most wonderful self-help books I've read.

This is a book which was come from a place of hurt, only to be crafted with love and genuine care; the result being a short yet stunning account of how to not be a better person, but how to be a better you.

Ortega has written books similar to Enlightened as Hell in the past, but within the pages, it seems as though this may be his magnum opus.

I simply adored this book. I felt as though Ortega was speaking to me and me only, giving me advice that he believed in so strongly to help me not be a d*ck.

The writing style was simply beautiful; it flowed expertly well, and made me feel as though I was listening to a friend, rather than simply reading a book.

The whole experience felt very personal, largely due to Ortega dropping in pieces of his past and bits of experience. This was in no way intended to preach, but given to the reader in order to learn from and accept that yes, bad things will happen, but tomorrow is another chance to live and love your life.

I felt as though, while I was reading, that any problems I had, big or small, were understood. I felt validated somehow reading Enlightened as Hell, which was something genuinely beautiful.

Another thing I loved about this book, was the #ElevateNOW quotes scattered throughout. These acted like little nuggets of advice that related to the chapter I was reading.

They were a summary of sorts, while providing small quotes that you could write down and keep somewhere, if you felt they related to you.

All in all, while Enlightened as Hell: How to be spiritual and not be a d*ck was a short read, it was a wonderful one.

I felt genuine joy while reading, and I know anyone else who picks up this book will too. It is a legitimately helpful and, as the title suggests, enlightening experience that is sure to not only help those who read it, but will motivate anyone to realise that bad exists, yes, but we can rise like Phoenix out of the ashes and make a better day for ourselves, one step at a time.