forthenovellovers

Lover Unbound by J R Ward ***** – After reading the first four books in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series in February, I was excited to re-join this crew of vampires. Lover Unbound is Vishous’ story and we have already learned a fair bit about him including his unusual sexual habits, but I was excited to see his story play out. The experience I have had with this series has been a little hit or miss as some books are far better than others but we are getting into the main core of the series now as it was revealed in the previous book that the combined powers of Butch and Vishous have the power to destroy and track the Lessers. We are initially introduced to Dr. Jane Whitcomb when she is a child growing up in a rich yet lonely household with her younger sister Hannah, one night after her birthday sleepover is cancelled, Jane uses a Ouija board with Hannah and it tells her she will marry someone called Vishous and that Hannah won’t have any Christmas presents. Jane dismisses this but wakes the next morning to find her sister death due to an undiagnosed heart condition. We switch back to Vishous who is struggling with the feeling of losing Butch to Marissa because he can’t spend all of his time with Butch now and it is getting to him. In order to keep himself in check, Vishous arranges a meeting with a submissive and while we don’t see it the aftermath is messy, in a good way but Vishous fear of sleep comes back to haunt him.

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The April bingo was pretty good for me this month as I managed to get two bingos and I was very close to get several more but I wasn’t really in the mood to pick up books that fitted those prompts.

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This month I managed to complete a staggering 17 rolls, 7 over the 10 I planned this month so I think since I am in a great reading mood lately that I will bump up my starting goal from 10 to 15 for May.

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Book Review

Title: Disembodied Voices: True Accounts of Hidden Beings by Tim Marczenko

Genre: Mystery/Paranormal

Rating: 1 Stars

I requested Disembodies Voices on Edelweiss because I was intrigued by the description despite the cover but I couldn’t work out whether it was non-fiction or fiction so I had to pick it up and find out. The opening chapter to Disembodied Voices was intriguing and confusing at the same time as the author is discussing an incident from when he was a child hearing a voice calling to him from the forest and how he felt that it wasn’t a good idea to follow it despite being tempted to. Tim then spent years trying to find out what the voice was and when he moved to the city he began encountering people with similar stories to his and documenting them but there doesn’t seem to be any “proof” of supernatural activity. I am not sure at this point whether it is going to be a collection of true stories from people encountering the supernatural or Tim narrating his journey to uncover what the voice was that spoke to him when he was a child.

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Book Review

Title: The Psychology of Notorious Serial Killers: The Intersection of Personality Theory and the Darkest Minds of Our Time by Todd Grande

Genre: Non-Fiction/Crime

Rating: 5 Stars

As many of you will know I am absolutely fascinated with both fictional and non-fiction book about serial killers, Hannibal and Mindhunter are some of my favourites. So, I couldn’t wait to jump into this book as it centres on psychology which is another area I am deeply interested in. In the opening chapter Grande lays out the questions he wants to answer in relation to Personality Theory and serial killers and how he is going to go about doing this. It is also wise to keep in mind that the author states himself that he isn’t looking to diagnose the serial killers but to provide opinions only. The next chapter focuses on providing the fundamental information about the different disorders he is going to be looking into from a clinical perspective. Grande starts by going through the Five Factor Model and its many facets and what it means to score highly in certain areas and how they all correlate with each other. Grande goes on to explain how the Five Factor Model (FFM) links to two personality constructs found in serial killers; psychopathy and narcissism. Grande explains what psychopathy and narcissism are, how they are diagnosed and how these relate to serial killers with example of behaviour and known serial killers that exhibit these behaviours strongly. He also explains some common disorders that serial killers are diagnosed with and the correlation between them.

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Book Review

Title: The Path of the Witch: Rituals Practices for Discovering Which Witch You Are by Lidia Pradas

Genre: Non-Fiction/Religion

Rating: 4 Stars

I didn’t know anything about The Path of the Witch before jumping into it, but I was inspired to read it by WitchTok as I see tons of videos about real life witchcraft but I don’t understand them and I want to. The first chapter of The Path of the Witch introduces us to some of the key terms and information that will be referenced throughout the whole book and it was really needed for someone like myself that knows nothing about witch craft in any sense. The first type of witch we are introduced to are green witches, these are like the naturalist of the witch community as they are deeply connected to the Earth and Mother Nature and that is how they centre themselves and where they draw the majority of their energy from. It goes much deeper than this however, as Pradas introduces us to the tools that a green witch might employ including but not limited to trees, herbs, stone and crystals, their properties, uses and how they can be used safely by a green witch. So far, despite being a non-fiction book, I was very intrigued to learn more about the different types of witches and the artwork scattered throughout these chapters alone is absolutely divine. Pradas also provides different meditation methods and healing recipes that might appeal to a green witch and how to know if this is the right path for you.

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Book Review

Title: Dustborn by Erin Bowman

Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopia

Rating: 3 Stars

I haven’t read much by this author before but science fiction mixed with dystopia and a touch of a western caught my attention and I managed to get an ARC for this blog tour. I have seen this particular mix of genres before and I am eager to find out whether it is something I enjoy. We are introduced to Delta of Dead River, her sister and their mother who live on the banks of the Dead River with the rest of their pack. It seems that this is a post-apocalyptic world where there seems to be a worldwide drought and the packs are the remaining pockets of humans trying to survive in this new world. Delta is under the impression that the pack should have moved in the winter but they can’t move now because of the heat and the numerous dust storms that happen in the summer months but more than this people are against moving with young children and Delta’s own sister is pregnant. We learn that these people read the stars in order to make decisions and there is something called the Verdant. The Verdant is a map that has been handed down through their pack for generations and when the physical map began to disintegrate they branded it onto a pair of children and the most recent pair were Delta and Asher. However, no one can read the map but that doesn’t mean there aren’t people looking for it as their previous home on Alkali lake was raided after the pack split in two, Asher stayed behind while Delta left and everyone on Alkali lake was killed by the raiders including Asher.

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Book Review

Title: The Only Card in a Deck of Knives by Lauren Turner

Genre: Poetry

Rating: 5 Stars

I have heard quite a lot of poetry lately and really enjoyed it. The Only Card in a Deck of Knives caught my eye with its gorgeous cover and I couldn’t wait to get into it. The Only Card in a Deck of Knives was a really interesting poetry collection to read centred around sickness, which encompasses physical, emotional and mental sickness told from the perspective of a twenty something young woman and the struggles she has faces in all three areas of sickness. Some of these poems were really dark while others were heartbreakingly sad and really made me empathize with the woman telling these stories.

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Book Review

Title: Daughters of Bone by Jessica Temple

Genre: Poetry

Rating: 5 Stars

I don’t normally read a lot of poetry and this collection is very short so my review is going to reflect that but Daughters of Bone really caught my eye although it was mainly the beautiful cover that drew me to it. From the beginning I could tell Daughters of Bone had a completely different tone and feel to Low as it focuses more on human relationships not just with other people but with locations and time itself. Some of the poems were quite light-hearted and fun which was delightful to read then some were darker in tone which was also quite delightful to read and I could not wait to continue reading.

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Book Review

Title: Last Gate of the Emperor by Kwame Mbalia & Prince Joel Makonnen

Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Science Fiction

Synopsis: Yared Heywat lives an isolated life in Addis Prime — a hardscrabble city with rundown tech, lots of rules, and not much to do. His worrywart Uncle Moti and bionic lioness Besa are his only family… and his only friends.

Often in trouble for his thrill-seeking antics and smart mouth, those same qualities make Yared a star player of the underground augmented reality game, The Hunt for Kaleb’s Obelisk. But when a change in the game rules prompts Yared to log in with his real name, it triggers an attack that rocks the city. In the chaos, Uncle Moti disappears.

Suddenly, all the stories Yared’s uncle told him as a young boy are coming to life, of kingdoms in the sky and city-razing monsters. And somehow Yared is at the center of them.

Together with Besa and the Ibis — a game rival turned reluctant ally — Yared must search for his uncle… and answers to his place in a forgotten, galaxy-spanning war.

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