Tag Archives: 2010s

September 7, 2023 · 1:00 am

The Past Remembers: A Review of A Ghostly Assignment

Title: A Ghostly Assignment

Author: Rosalind Minett

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: December 31, 2014

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Paranormal, Contemporary, Historical

Length: 35 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 4 Stars

Blurb:

When journalism students, Jake and Sara, investigate reports of a ghost, they’re cynical. They assume a village myth and fanciful gossip. In the dark of night near the local lake they begin their watch. They are standing together yet their weird experiences are separate, even in time. Shocked to the core, they return to normal life only to discover the lasting effect of their first assignment, one no-one could have predicted.

Review:

Content Warning: A witch trial, murder, and children being orphaned.

Future generations may mostly forget an atrocity, but the land remembers every detail.

Don’t worry if horror isn’t a genre you generally like. This was quite scary, but it wasn’t gory or gross in any way. It’s one of those transcendent horror stories that I’d recommend to anyone who loves history, mysteries, folklore, ghosts, or justice. I smiled and nodded along as I took note of the ways the current residents of this rural area dealt with a shameful and terrible chapter of their history. That’s a problem that many communities have, after all, and it can be great fodder for fiction. I enjoyed the way the author revealed what happened while still grounding the first section in scenes that felt true to life. It was important to establish that realism before jumping into the frightening paranormal events that were soon to follow.

This tale either involved some possible time travel or the main character’s mind being so overwhelmed with someone else’s memories that she thought she was the person performing those actions. I loved both of these possibilities, but I wished the author had been more clear about which interpretation we were supposed to think was probably the right one. While I generally don’t mind ambiguity in what I read, this was one of those cases when the audience really needs to know how trustworthy a character’s memory is of a specific incident because of how important it is to everything that comes before and after it. If this had been made more clear, I would have happily gone with a full five-star rating.

It was interesting to see how Ms. Minett connected the actions of superstitious villagers from a few hundred years ago to the lives of people living in this universe today. I can’t go into much detail about that without giving away spoilers, but I appreciated what she was doing there and thought there was something to be said for showing how much someone can be affected by the past even if they don’t know anything about it.

A Ghostly Assignment made me shudder.

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Tagged as 2010s, Book Reviews, Contemporary, Fantasy, Historical, Horror, Mystery, Paranormal, Psychological Horror, Rosalind Minett, Self-Published, Short Story

August 31, 2023 · 1:00 am

A Review of The Red Pencil

Title: The Red Pencil

Author: Shawna Reppert

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: September 26, 2015

Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary

Length: About 19 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author

Rating: 4 Stars

Blurb:

A young girl learns to be careful what she wishes for. . .and as an adult decides that some things are worth the cost. Contemporary fantasy by an award-winning author.

Although this story is inspired in part by the author’s childhood in Pennsylvania and her Pennsylvania Dutch heritage, it is contemporary fantasy/magical realism, not memoir. The magic in the book is entirely the author’s invention, although inspired by archetypes from several cultures. It is in no way meant to represent the Pennsylvania Dutch hex tradition.

Review:

Content Warning: Two brief descriptions of animal abuse and one brief description of a dead pet cat.

Everyone needs the right tools for their education.

Childhood isn’t always a fun experience. It was interesting to see how Mari coped with her jealousy over a classmate who seemed to live a charmed life. Those sorts of emotions can be intense, especially when the ordinary scuffles of recess spill over into other parts of life. Getting to know the main character was even more rewarding than it had already been once she shared how she handled her feelings and how the red pencil helped her learn an important life lesson at such a tender age.

I would have loved to see more world building in this short story, especially when it came to Mari’s relationship with the Huckster. He was such a mysterious figure that I would have loved to know how they first met and how he knew she was the right person to give the red pencil to. There was space to expand this world here, and I would have gone with a full five-star rating if the author had done that.

With that being said, I thought Ms. Reppert did a fabulous job of explaining the allure and danger of the red pencil. Some of the most memorable scenes for me were the ones that explored Mari’s relationship with what she originally thought was a perfectly ordinary gift from an acquaintance. I’ll leave it up to other readers to discover what was actually going on there, but this is the sort of magical touch to a plot that leaves me wanting more.

The Red Pencil was a thoughtful back-to-school read.

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Tagged as 2010s, Book Reviews, Contemporary, Fantasy, Hex, Magic, Magical Realism, Pennsylvania Dutch, Self-Published, Shawna Reppert, Short Story

August 17, 2023 · 1:00 am

A Review of How (Not) to Play With Magic

Title: How (Not) to Play With Magic

Author: Elizabeth A. Reeves

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: March 18, 2013

Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary

Length: 25 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

A Cindy Eller Short story.

Cindy Eller is a witch and a baker. She is making a name for herself in the world of desserts with her new and unique flavor profiles.

But juggling her weird family and trying to keep her magic a secret from her roommates is a daily challenge.

And her twin sisters, Starrie and Rainey Skye won’t hesitate to bring the trouble right to her door.

Review:

Food can do a lot of things, but it can’t reverse a spell.

This short story had a gentle, goofy sense of humour that I adored. Cindy’s sisters were very good at getting into mischief despite being old enough to know better, so I was glad to see the main character be so patient with her family even as she shook her head and tried to fix their problem. There was a slice of life aspect to their troubles that made me smile.

It would have been helpful to have more plot and character development in this piece. So much time was spent describing stuff like what the characters were eating that there wasn’t enough space left in these twenty-five pages to keep the rest of it moving at a good pace. As much as I wanted to choose a higher rating, I don’t want my readers to walk into this without a clear understanding of what they’re getting into and how it was paced. This can be a positive thing for readers who are craving something lighthearted and leisurely, but it might be less fun for those of us who prefer more action.

On a positive note, the food descriptions made me hungry. I enjoy books that talk about what the characters are eating and drinking. That makes it just a little easier to imagine what it would be like to sit down at a kitchen table with them and share a meal, and it also gave me some insight into Cindy’s personality and interests due to her love of sweets and high standards for what she wanted to eat.

How (Not) to Play With Magic is a good choice for anyone who is looking for kind fiction.

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Tagged as 2010s, Book Reviews, Contemporary, Elizabeth A. Reeves, Fantasy, Self-Published, Short Stories

August 3, 2023 · 1:00 am

A Review of South of Okeechobee

Title: South of Okeechobee

Author: Daniel Powell

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: January 6, 2014

Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary, Historical

Length: 16 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author

Rating: 5 Stars

Blurb:

Somewhere in the River of Grass lives a sad and solitary creature. Once a man, this cursed monster now haunts the margins of human imagination, forever searching for his murdered love…

A rip-roaring slice of Florida Folklore, “South of Okeechobee” is an origin story of one of the American South’s great mythological creatures: the Florida Skunk Ape. Blending prohibition, cryptozoology, southern magic, and a little bit of moonshinin’, “South of Okeechobee” is pure, high-octane Florida gothic…

This short story (4500 words) originally appeared in the collection The Silver Coast and Other Stories.

Review:

Content Warning: Prohibition, bootlegging, mild violence, and murder.

Not every feud is a harmless one.

I wasn’t aware of the legend of the Florida Skunk Ape before reading this story, but no prior knowledge is necessary in order to enjoy it. The characters share everything important early on, and the last few details can be picked up by the final scene or by looking this creature up online if you must know everything about it in advance. There’s something to be said for folklore that makes so few assumptions about the audience already knows, and I was glad I could walk into this without needing to do any homework in advance.

Sixteen pages was the perfect length for this story. There was exactly enough plot and character development to keep all of them interesting, and I was left feeling satisfied with where everything had ended up by the time I read the final scene. It can be hard to write a story that fits the parameters so perfectly, so I must tip my cap to Mr. Powell for pulling it off. There’s not a single thing I would have changed about what he wrote. He did everything perfectly here in my opinion and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for what he comes up with next.

There were a few gems here for those of us who have lived in small towns and know how important social standing can be there. When you see the same people every day, little things can snowball into big conflicts easily if anyone involved chooses to make a big deal out of someone breaking a social norm for that community in even the tiniest way. None of those moments were strictly necessary in order to understand the main storyline, but they sure added some nice depth to the plot and gave readers who understand this experience something to chuckle about.

South of Okeechobee was a wild ride.

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Tagged as 2010s, Book Reviews, Contemporary, Daniel Powell, Fantasy, Florida, Florida Skunk Ape, Folk Tales, Folklore, Historical, Monster, Self-Published, Short Stories

July 27, 2023 · 1:00 am

A Review of All the Nothing We’ve Done

Title: All the Nothing We’ve Done

Author: Christina McMullen

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: January 8, 2017

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Humour, Contemporary

Length: 24 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

Chevelle Falsetto has died, struck down by the Number 48 bus. The very bus she should have been riding to work. Now, instead of explaining to her boss why she’s late, Chevelle finds herself explaining to Saint Peter why she’s early.

Review:

Content Warning: Bus accident, alcohol use

Everyone deserves a second chance, right?

Chevelle was a witty, opinionated, and confident protagonist. I kept shaking my head as I read all of her rebuttals to what Saint Peter was saying. She certainly had thought her arguments through well, and I was curious to see if the heavenly realm would actually listen to what she had to say. There is definitely something to be said for characters who know their worth and who aren’t shy about pushing back against unfair judgements even if those judgements come from a saint himself.

I would have liked to see more time spent developing the ending. There were some important rules established in earlier scenes that were not taken into account in the final scene. As much as I enjoyed the rest of it, seeing the characters ignore the prior plot development dampened my enthusiasm for this tale. If only there had been a better explanation for why this happened!

With that being said, I enjoyed having a protagonist who worked in the service industry. This is just uncommon enough that it makes me perk up every time I find another book that talks about what it’s like to work a low-paid, stressful, and low-status job without any hope of finding a better position. The hopelessness of her work life endeared me to Chevelle even more than I already was. More than anything, I wanted her to finally get her happily ever after.

While there are references to Christian religious beliefs here, this cheeky tale isn’t something I’d slot into the inspirational genre by any means. It’s meant for readers of any (or no) belief system without advocating for any particular perspective , so don’t let the references to saints and heaven dissuade you from checking it out if you don’t generally read about such things.

All the Nothing We’ve Done made me smile.

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Tagged as 2010s, Book Reviews, Christina McMullen, Contemporary, Fantasy, Humorous Books, Paranormal, Self-Published, Short Stories

June 29, 2023 · 1:00 am

A Review of Love’s Refrain – A Victorian Ghost Story

Title: Love’s Refrain – a Victorian Ghost Story

Author: Steven Glick

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: December 18, 2018

Genres: LGBTQ, Paranormal, Historical

Length: 100 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

A ghost from the past. A chance meeting in the present. A terrifying séance. Charlotte Stanton’s perfect married life is turned upside down when a secret love she buried long ago hauntingly returns. Still the question remains: are the supernatural events intruding upon Charlotte’s life happening only in her mind? Is she heading down a path toward madness? Set in Boston’s Gilded Age and accompanied by period drawings and silhouettes, LOVE’S REFRAIN explores one woman’s search for love, and the power of the past to emancipate the present.

Review:

It’s never too late to make things right.

Charlotte stirred up so many different emotions in me. Sometimes I felt endless empathy for her, while in other scenes I shook my head in frustration at how naive and sheltered she was. Surely the average adult would have figured out some of the stuff that she found so confusing much faster than she did! With that being said, I appreciated how nuanced her personality was, and I’d much rather read about a realistically flawed character than someone who always made the right decision. The more I got to know her, the more I liked her. If the author ever writes a sequel, I’d sure like to follow along on more of her journey.

I would have loved to see more details included in this story. For example, we never learned how Charlotte met her husband or what killed the ghost who was haunting Charlotte. That cause of death could have been a good way to get to know the deceased and explain why she was so attached to the protagonist. I also had some questions about the ending as far as the practicalities of life Charlotte would need to face after the final scene was wrapped up. While I can’t go into detail about that without giving away spoilers, it was yet another moment in this tale when having more details would have made the storyline richer in my opinion.

Spiritualism is one of those topics that I don’t think is discussed enough in fiction, especially in paranormal stories set in the late 1800s. I was pleased to see how much attention it received here. Whether you already know a lot about this movement or nothing at all, don’t worry. The most important details will be spelled out clearly, and everything else will be a happy bonus for those of us who do have preexisting knowledge of it. Some of the most interesting scenes were the ones that explored the various responses to the spiritualist movement from different portions of society. Many different points of view were represented, and I thought the author did a good job of showing why so many people were drawn to it and what they hoped to get out of speaking to their dead loved ones.

Love’s Refrain – a Victorian Ghost Story made me smile.

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Tagged as 2010s, Book Reviews, Gothic, Historical, LGBT, Paranormal, Self-Published, Steven Glick

June 8, 2023 · 1:00 am

No Ordinary River: A Review of Badwater

Title: Badwater

Author: Travis Liebert

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: November 8, 2019

Genres: Horror, Paranormal, Contemporary

Length: 27 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

Review

“I’ve been a search and rescue diver for twelve years. We see a lot of strange and disgusting things. But what I saw last week has me questioning both my job and reality.”

There’s a place in the river where not even search and rescue divers are supposed to go. It’s called Badwater.

But when Joseph Albright dives into this forbidden region, he discovers something beyond comprehension.

Intent on solving a mystery as old as the earth itself, he comes into contact with forces beyond fathom.

Get this riveting new horror story and learn of the terrors that pervade our world.

Content Warning: Drowning and body horror.

A strong current might drown you in this river, but even if that happens it will be the least of your worries.

Joseph was a sympathetic and memorable protagonist. I appreciated how cautious he was around water and how seriously he took his work as a search and rescue diver. These were important things to establish early on in order to explain his later behaviour. They also endeared me to him as a character because I knew how knowledgable he was about safely enjoying the water and how drowning can happen to even the strongest swimmer. If the author ever writes a sequel, I’d sure like to learn more about this world and the other people in it.

My only reason for choosing a three star rating had to do with a plot hole that the narrator never closed. It involved what the powers of the character who controlled Badwater actually were and how far they could be stretched or pushed back against. In some scenes, this character seemed nearly all-powerful, while in others there appeared to be loopholes to the rules. I would have loved to see this clarified as it was the only thing that prevented me from choosing a much higher rating. Everything else about this tale was deliciously scary.

The folklore elements of the storyline were top-notch. They shared enough information for this reader to know what was happening but also left plenty of little details up to my imagination. I also enjoyed taking note of the slight differences in how various characters reacted to the legends about Badwater and why no one was ever supposed to go there. Not only did this make everything feel realistic, it encouraged me to keep reading so I could come up with my own theories about which versions made the most sense to me.

Badwater was a spooky summer read.

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Tagged as 2010s, Book Reviews, Contemporary, Horror, Paranormal, Self-Published, Short Story, Travis Liebert

June 1, 2023 · 1:00 am

A Review of Employment Interview With a Vampire

Title: Employment Interview With a Vampire

Author: J Bennett

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: January 8, 2014

Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary

Length: 65 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 4 Stars

Blurb:

Deidre finds herself out of a job, out of luck, and out of time. The rent is past due, and the list of her employable skills is smaller than the balance of her checking account. Deidre has one shot at staying out of a fast food restaurant uniform.

A mysterious gentleman with certain “peculiarities” is seeking a housekeeper.

Deidre squeezes into her only nice pair of slacks, tames her wild orange hair, and starts off for the job interview that will either change her life… or end it!

Get ready for a very different kind of vampire story… While Deidre’s potential boss possesses a wicked set of fangs and a hankering for a certain ruby refreshment (preferably served fresh and hot), he’s also got a fashion sense that hasn’t been cool since the 1800s. Nathaniel adamantly prefers the telegraph over the telephone, votes for Eisenhower in every election, and isn’t so sure these horseless carriages will catch on.

Can Deidre survive her employment interview with a vampire and somehow convince her potential boss that corsets and petticoats aren’t the fashion of the day?

Oh, and what’s she going to do about that geriatric vampire hunter sneaking around the haunted mansion?

If you’re looking for a fun and funny supernatural story with a relatable (and often exasperated) heroine, then you’ve found it! Welcome to the first funny vampire novella in The Vampire’s Housekeeper Chronicles series!

No one does funny new adult vampire fiction like J Bennett.

Review:

Content Warning: A few mildly sexist comments. A little bit of body shaming involving the style and cut of clothing Deidre was wearing.

No one has been exasperated to death by a vampire yet, but there’s still time to change that.

Deidre was one of those characters that is hard to explain in a few short sentences. Most of the vampire stories I read are fairly violent, so I spend the first few scenes worried that her naivety and stubbornness was about to lead to her untimely and terrible death. Luckily for her, those traits turned out to be assets when dealing with this particular vampire. I appreciate the way the author flirted with the various interpretations of what a vampire is like as well as the reader’s expectations of what a heroine should do in this genre. Deidre sometimes joined in with the gentle fun that was being poked at certain tropes, and that made me like her even more. She understood the absurdity of her situation, and she leaned into it so hard that I can’t imagine how campy and delightful her future adventures might be.

While I understand that this is the introduction to a series, I would have liked to see more conflict included in this tale that didn’t involve Nathaniel making inappropriate comments about Deidre’s clothing and marital prospects. As much as it made sense for someone who was a few hundred years old to say those things, I found them a little repetitive as time wore on and wished the author had included other examples of how wildly out of touch he was with modern times. There were plenty of other things he found baffling about our era, and I would have gone with a full five-star rating if his rants had included a wider range of topics or if some other sort of conflict had been brought up to reveal the many differences between him and Deidre.

With that being said, Nathaniel was a refreshing take on what a vampire might realistically be like. Of course he would struggle to adapt to changing times, especially given how socially isolated vampires must remain in order to avoid the sun and people who want to kill them. Honestly, I could see Nathaniel being much more offensive than he turned out to be, so it was interesting to think about the perspective changes he had made over the years and who might have encouraged him to rethink his expectations of what various types of people ought to do. There is so much more room here to explore, and I’ll be curious to see how his relationship with Deidre evolves over time.

Employment Interview With a Vampire was a clever twist on vampire fiction.

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Tagged as 2010s, Book Reviews, Contemporary, Fantasy, Humour, J Bennett, Novella, Self-Published, Vampire

May 4, 2023 · 1:00 am

Second Chances: A Review of Building Beauty

Title: Building Beauty

Author: Rachel Eliason

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: September 29, 2012

Genres: Science Fiction, Romance, LGBTQ, Historical

Length: 33 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

In the waning days of World War One, Alejandro Faidosky is sent to serve the Tsar in a distant corner of the Russian Empire. In the industrial center of Chelyabinsk, deep in southern Siberia Alejandro discovers a factory producing “automatons”, clockwork robots. His job is to sculpt a robotic prostitute for the common soldier. “Of all the men in Mother Russia I must be the most ill equipped for this assignment” Alejandro moans to himself, but he must not let Major Dmitri know, and he must somehow build beauty.

Review:

Content Warning: Grief and prostitution.

Assumptions make the world go around.

Some of the most memorable scenes were the ones that explored the difference between what certain characters thought the world should be like and how it actually was. Yes, I know I’m being vague there, but this is one of those themes that is best left for new readers to fully explore for themselves. There’s nothing like reaching the ending of a paragraph or scene and suddenly realizing what the protagonist was hinting at earlier or what the author might have been gently nudging the readers to think about with some well-placed comments about the world we live in. I enjoyed those moments and hope other readers will as well.

Alejandro was such an intelligent, cautious, and thoughtful person that I struggled to understand why he chose the unusual design he did for the robotic prostitute he was building. That decision did not fit in well with everything else I’d learned about him. It would have been understandable for him to privately dream about a robot that he found appealing, but openly revealing such information was an entirely different story for that era. I wish this had been explored in greater depth so that I could better understand why he took this risk and what he hoped to gain from it. There was so much more the author could have done with Alejandro in this regard.

This is something I’m saying as a reader who usually has a strong preference non-romantic speculative fiction, but the author blended together the fantasy and romance genres together in this tale perfectly. The storyline genuinely needed both of them, and I loved seeing how they strengthened each other and kept the characters moving along briskly to their destinies. It was my first time reading Ms. Eliason’s work, and her creative approach to how she mixed these genres together makes me want to read more from her as soon as possible.

Building Beauty was a romantic and inventive read.

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Tagged as 2010s, Book Reviews, Historical, LGBT, Rachel Eliason, Romance, Science Fiction, Self-Published, Short Story, World War I

April 13, 2023 · 1:00 am

A Review of The Sword and the Kestrel

Title: The Sword and the Kestrel Book cover for The Sword and the Kestrel by Shawna Reppert. Image on cover is a photograph of a Kestrel being held by the gloved hand of their handler out in a forest where the leaves on the trees and bushes are just beginning to grow in spring.

Author: Shawna Reppert

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: July 10, 2012

Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary

Length: 21 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 4 Stars

Blurb:

Can a Renn-Faire falconer break an ancient family curse and make peace with the Lord of Forests?

Review:

Content Warning: A life-threatening heart condition

Nothing is more powerful than love.

Guy’s character development was beautiful. I appreciated his serious personality and how much time he spent wrestling with the choices that lay before him, none of which were good ones. No matter what he decided to do with his life next, he knew that he would never live to see old age. That’s a heavy burden for anyone to carry, and his reaction to it was nuanced and realistic. Some of the most interesting scenes for me were the ones that showed him being seriously tempted to commit a crime. So much can be learned about characters by observing them in their lowest moments when they think they might be able to get away with something, and Guy provided plenty of opportunities to explore his personal code of ethics and decide how he wanted to spend his short life.

There was one dangling thread in the storyline that I wish had been tied up properly. It involved Guy’s relationship with one of his falcons, and I kept expecting the narrator to swing back to that sticky subject and tell us how it was going to be made right again. He adored his falcons so much that I found the resolution that was actually shared to be a little unrealistic for what I’d learned about his personality. If not for this issue, I would have loved to give it a full five-star rating.

I smiled when I figured out which myth inspired the creation of this story. No, I’m not going to spoil it for anyone, but I thought the author did an excellent job of translating the themes of that story into our modern age. Fashions may be different now, but there was plenty of room in that source material for contemporary storylines to flourish. I found myself smiling and nodding along as more references were added and Guy slowly began to behave exactly like someone would have in that myth, give or take a little modern technology, of course.

The Sword and the Kestrel felt like a piece of folklore come to life.

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Tagged as 2010s, Book Reviews, Contemporary, Fantasy, Mythology, Retelling, Self-Published, Shawna Reppert, Short Story

Tag Archives: 2010s

The Past Remembers: A Review of A Ghostly Assignment

A Review of The Red Pencil

A Review of How (Not) to Play With Magic

A Review of South of Okeechobee

A Review of All the Nothing We’ve Done

A Review of Love’s Refrain – A Victorian Ghost Story

No Ordinary River: A Review of Badwater

A Review of Employment Interview With a Vampire

Second Chances: A Review of Building Beauty

A Review of The Sword and the Kestrel

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