Reviews » Ramblings of an Amateur Writer

Short Story Review: Someone Else, Somewhere Else

May 212012

I don’t do very many reviews these days, but when presented with the blurb of Someone Else, Somewhere Else by Jenelle Jack Pierre, my interest perked. I loved the cover art. It has a youthful freshness to it and makes me think of innocence in the world. Then when I found out Someone Else, Somewhere Else was a short story, I was totally in. Before the review, the blurb.

“Though we were four years younger than Ariya, we’d watched teenagers before at an older cousin’s house. They talked on the phone, they texted their boyfriends, they watched movies on DVDs. Sometimes, they tidied up the house by wiping the table with a damp sponge after feeding us, removing the crumbs and ring spots from the bottom of our glasses. But we’d never seen any of them work like Ariya did.”

Twin sisters. Stepdaughters. Neighbours. In this short fiction, the lives of the twins are forever changed when their mother remarries and they move next door to a family unlike their own. Could their lives have been different with a flip of a coin?

The first thing I noticed about this work was the narrative. I don’t recall ever reading a work in first person plural. This story was told from the perspective of both the twins, which doubly interesting because the twin girls (main characters) in the story were nameless. The narrative was presented in such a way it gave the two girls a collective thought. For me, the over all effect made Someone Else, Somewhere Else a worthy read if only for analysis.

As for the story itself, Someone Else, Somewhere Else was thought provoking. Not only was it a reminder we don’t get to pick the families we’re born into, but that children have even less say in the hand they’re dealt. They get what they get and adjust the best they can. I finished this story wondering if I protected my children effectively from the harm always around the corner, and hoping their childhood memories will be filled with enough joy to outweigh the bad.

This read left me with a bittersweet sadness, and I hoped Ariya found happiness in her choices. I say if you have 20-30 minutes of spare time, check out this read.

Last I checked, this is a free read. Don’t miss your opportunity to try it out.

Available at Barnes & Nobles || Smashwords || Amazon

Also, be sure to return on Thursday. Jenelle Jack Pierre will be here for an interview!

Novel Review: Tomorrow Is Today (Tempest 0.5) by Julie Cross

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Jan 142012

After reading Tempest by Julie Cross (see review here), I head over to Goodreads to see when I’d get my next fix. Would you believe she already had a short story prequel? Woot! I dug right in. The blurb from Goodreads:

The year is 2009. Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, throws lots of parties, is interested in a girl he can’t have, and oh yeah, he can travel back through time.But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.

This was a short read; this will be a short review.

I read this and totally wanted more. I absolutely love Julie Cross’s style of writing. The humor is fantastic. My only issue with this prequel is it left me sort of hanging. I’d hoped to find out how Jackson and Holly became an item, but it was more of a snippet of their relationship while Holly was dating David.

So basically, it was a decent read, but missed the mark in terms of filling in the “how did it happen?” elements from Tempest.

I’m really looking forward to the sequel of Tempest.

Tomorrow is Today is a free read. PICK IT UP!

Novel Review: The Zero Knot by K.Z. Snow

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Jan 142012

I’ve been really slacking on reviews. Well, today, I’m going to try and knock out some of the ones I promised but failed to deliver. First up, The Zero Knot by K.Z. Snow. I picked this book up from the NetGalley thinking it was a young adult M/M novel. Before my reception, the blurb from Ms. Snow’s website:

The Domino Club — a teenage version of a secret society, formed by four small-town friends to explore their bisexuality. Two years into his membership, Jess Bonner has had enough. He isn’t bi, he’s gay, but he’s just been afraid to admit it. He’s also an 18-year-old bound for college and bent on making a break from pretense.

When Dylan “Mig” Finch admits he’s also gay and fed up with the club, he and Jess give in to a mutual attraction that’s been building for years. Mig isn’t college-bound, but he’s one of the finest people Jess has ever known.

As the young men struggle to define their relationship and determine their priorities, forces they can’t seem to control keep tripping them up: sexual appetite, personal insecurities, fear of discovery, and more.

They need clarity. They need courage. Just as they’re on the verge of finding both, an act of vindictive jealousy sends one of them to jail. All their hard-won victories are in danger of falling to dust.

The only way to save what they have is to recognize and declare it for what it is . . . and fight for its integrity.

I’ve been dying to try a young adult M/M romance. I’ve read a few m/m adult romances and have had a hard time getting into them. I’d hope adding the young adult element would pull me in where other novels had not. What I found was although this is a coming-of-age novel, it is NOT a young adult novel. Yes, the protagonists are young (18), but the sexual scenes are very adult. While the level of sex in the novel surprised me, it didn’t detract from the work at all. In fact, I loved the realism, which really helped make it into a discovery, coming-of-age novel. Well done, Ms. Snow!

When I first read the prologue, I was apprehensive about this piece. The prologue didn’t grab me at all, and after reading the entire book, I wish it’d been omitted. If nothing else, it would have been nice for me to the type of person to skip prologues. After the first chapter though, the book had me hooked.

One of the passages I loved from the Zero Knot was:

“You weren’t a Freebird who’d soon be earthbound. You were an alien, and you’d never be anything else.”

It’s such a beautiful truth. A big part of adolescence and even life in general is about finding yourself, trying to fit in. But what happens when you figure out you’ll never fit in the way society expects you to? No matter the outside image you portray, you’ll always be you inside… and that you is different from the established norm.

That sums up The Zero Knot in the nutshell — young men, despite living outside the social norm, coming to terms with who they are. Throughout it all, Ms. Snow splashed enough humor to keep me laughing when I wanted to cry about the injustice of an unfair world.

Who I’d recommend The Zero Knot to? That’s a tough one. I want to say everyone because the story line was so touching and provided such understanding. However, the graphic nature of some sex scenes makes this work suitable for adults. Parents should definitely read this one through before they consider passing it along to their teen.

Bottom line: I loved it. I’ll definitely be looking for more works by K.Z. Snow.

The Zero Knot is Available at: Barnes & Nobles, The Book Depository

Non-Fiction Review: Revelation for Everyone by N.T. Wright

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Jan 142012

I’d been searching the local used bookstore for months, looking for a work on Revelation. When NetGalley offered it, I jumped all over it. So I read it, then got busy. I’ve been juggling the review for Revelation for Everyone by N.T. Wright to make way for other books I’ve read. I just need to get this one done. As I mentioned earlier, tonight’s the night of reviews. The blurb from Goodreads:

N. T. Wright has undertaken a tremendous task: to provide guides to all the books of the New Testament, and to include in them his own translation of the entire text. Each short passage is followed by a highly readable discussion, with background information, useful explanations and suggestions, and thoughts as to how the text can be relevant to our lives today. A glossary is included at the back of the book. The series is suitable for group study, personal study, or daily devotions.

I loved the beginning of this book where it talked about the letters. While in high school, I’d never been much interested in history. In fact, it was a chore. These days, history has piqued my interest, and N.T. Wright really covered the historical relevance of Revelation.

Mr. Wright managed to turn the letters from a “Yah, yah… so what?” to “Really? That’s that’s why each letter had a particular focus?” I came away from the first few chapters of Revelation with new understandings I could apply to my life.

The rest of the book relied on a lot of speculation which may or may not be true in the end, yet was presented as fact. Basically, Mr. Wright took areas of the Revelation (the dragon, the beast, etc) and assigned symbolic meanings to them. Is the symbolism he used accurate? Who can say until all is revealed?

As for me, I’m more of an individual who prefers the bible presented with factual and historical evidence, as Mr. Wright did for the seven letters. However, his interpretation for the latter parts of Revelation were still interesting, and I believe most venturing into the final book of the bible would come out with more knowledge overall.

I recommend Revelation for Everyone to anyone who has general or little knowledge of Revelation and wants to dig deeper.

Available at: Barnes & Nobles and The Book Depository