Sunday 30 November 2014

Escape from Witchwood Hollow by Jordan Elizabeth.

For the first time in a long time I am truly glad to have finished a book and never have to read it again.

Sometimes books are bad due poor character growth, slow story telling and errors which could have easily been avoided by doing something called RESEARCH.

This book and it's author clearly failed to do their fact checking.

The book began slow, and i grew annoyed with the time jumping between chapters in the beginning.

Having finished the book I understand why there was time jumping as it's relevant to the story of the 3 main characters, however it could have been done much better. Don't get me wrong, i do love a good story with time traveling but when a story goes from one character set in 2001 to another character set in the 1600s, it does get tedious.

I think the main character of the story was called Honoria, or something along those lines, her parents were killed in the terror attacks of 11/09/2001 in New York City. She and her brother move in with their aunt and uncle and move out of the city to start a place called Arnn.

Naturally this kid is depressed, her whole world has been turned upside down after losing her mum and dad in such a horrific way. Having lost my own father I get the longing to do anything to be reunited. There is potential to make her suffering and frame of mind at that time, something more. A story for young adults should try and take the opportunity to help raise awareness of things like depression and grief. Yet this just seems brushed over.

Witchwood Hollow is a forest that, according to local legend, is haunted by a witch from the 1600s. Th "witch" is a British immigrant who runs off into the forest after being hunted by her kinsmen
for a crime she didn't commit. Yes she was magical, so she put a curse on the forest. But why? Because she was a lonely misunderstand young woman, she longed for a true family, again more could be done with her story.

As the story jumped and bumped its way with progression, you learn of some of the people who became trapped in the woods. But you don't learn much.

What annoyed me most about the book was not the lackluster storyline, the predictable ending or lack of character development/story, no it was the failure to check the facts!

Here's the two that really made me angry:

1. At the start of chapter 14, it says something along the lines of Honoria was listening to Green Day singing about a boulevard of broken dreams. This chapter was set in 2001. Boulevard of Broken Dreams wasn't even released until 2004! Hell it wasn't even recorded until November 2003! Whilst I get the fact that Honaria was going through a difficult time and the American Idiot album
would have been a perfect soundtrack to her life, it still wasn't released therefore Honoria would not have been listening to it. The author could have chosen from either the Nimrod (1997) or Warning (2000) albums by Green Day.

2. Towards the very end of the book, one of the characters gets stuck in a well for a while and then has Pneumonia. Seriously that has to be the biggest old wives tale I've ever heard. Hello, Pneumonia is caused by infection. Not by being cold and wet.

You can not catch Pneumonia, the flu or a cold by just being cold and wet! And what the hell is the deal with the masks people were wearing when the kid came out of hospital? When I had Pneumonia I was held hostage in hospital for a week, on a ward with 5 old ladies, there were visitors coming in and out of our ward, not one of them or the doctors or nurses wore masks, also when I was freed and sent home no-one wore a mask. Even after being home for 4 months I was still as weak as a kitten that going out was too exhausting.


Oh now I'm all mad again. It's not difficult to check information if you add it in your story. Google is your friend. Unless you want to know if Toads sneeze, then it doesn't know the answer.

Overall I give this book 1 out of 5. Just don't bother.

So in the words of Green Day "Good Riddance."

The next book I will be reviewing is the Maze Runner series, starting with The Maze Runner by James Dashner as requested by Jessica. Remember you can email me at  truthaboutthebook@gmail.com with any requests, recommendations, etc.

Wednesday 19 November 2014

Reflections of the Legend: Passions of a New Day by E.A Schneider


I must confess that when I received my copy of this book in the post,  I squealed, a full on girly squeal of sheer joy. This was my kind of book, love, tragedy,  Arthurian legend,  all in one book. The story is actually split over four books. 

I have to give major props to the author, E.A. Schneider for not only writing this story but for not using a publishing house. Yes that's right, this book's road to publication began with a crowd funding campaign to help cover the costs of a professional edit and then on to amazon for print on demand publishing.  Relying solely on social media to get the message out there. I admire the dedication, patients and strength of the author.

Now onto the book review.

Anyone who knows anything of Arthurian legend or who has watched the BBC series Merlin, or any films on King Arthur and his band of merry men.... wait they're knights not merry men but they may as well be, will know of the love triangle between King Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot. 

Well this book certainly has that.

The book begins in 1976 with the introduction of young Genny Cameliard and her parents going to a Christmas party. Fast forward a year to a bit of tragedy and a little more explaining of the adults and their search to prove Camelot was real. 

Then its 1994 and Genny is all grown up. Genny is on a night out with her best friend Susan and some other friends where she meets Lance and his friends Art, Wayne and Perry. 

Genny is a teacher and Lance, Art, Wayne and Perry are in the Navy.
During the book, we, along with Genny and the others, learn more about their parents research and the legend of Camelot. There is some time travel but not too much to spoil the book. 

I have to admit I couldn't help but laugh at the meeting between Genny and the guys. As much as I felt sorry for her, I just couldn't help but laugh.  Love starts to blossom for Genny with Lance.  

Could Lady Guinevere finally be with Sir Lancelot? Would my hopes for this perfect matching happening? Had the stars been rewritten to bring me my biggest longing since learning of the legend? 

I was glued to my seat as i read, devouring chapter after chapter and then .... Tragedy. Fate intervened and pulled the rug out from under my feet as Genny and Lance fell apart and she fell into Art.  I may have chucked my book at the wall in protest. I certainly called the author a few names and cursed a plague of fire ants to crawl into her underwear for a week.

After my tantrum I picked up my book again and continued to read, and as I did, I soon found myself not hating the development of Genny and Art. The years passed by and soon we were transported to 2005. 

Just when you think all is going to be wonderful and happy ever after, something happens, we don't know what and the book ends with a cliff hanging knock on Genny's door. 

I turned the page expecting to read what my mind was screaming "No! Don't let it be!" only to find the page blank. I turned back to the final page, to the last line, to the knock on the door,  I turned the page again but still it was blank! I had reached the end of the bloody book and my mind screamed in frustration! 

I immedately took to facebook to demand to know who was at the door, what had happened, was Art okay? All these questions are apparently answered in book 2.  I strongly recommend this book to anyone who loved a bit of romance, tragedy, Arthurian Legend and ehm, sex. Yes that's right there is some, well written sex scenes in the book.

As i said at the beginning of this review, the author isn't being published via a Publishing House, like book one, the second book will be published with the help of crowd funding. So i suggest you not only buy this book but also check out the crowd funding page for book 2. 

This book is available on Amazon in paperback format and as Kindle, as well as itunes.


And don't forget to check out the crowd funding campaign for book 2:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/reflections-of-the-legend-embracing-destiny

Links to the book on Amazon:
UK buyers: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reflections-Legend-Passion-New-Day/dp/149044582X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416411584&sr=8-1&keywords=reflections+of+the+legend

USA buyers: http://www.amazon.com/Reflections-Of-The-Legend-Passion/dp/149044582X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1411296878&sr=8-1&keywords=reflections+of+the+legend

Link for iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/reflections-of-the-legend/id921245604?mt=11


The next book I'll be reviewing is Escape from Witchwood Hollow by