Title: From Shadows to Strength
Author: Jamilette Cintron
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: October 20, 2024
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary
Length: 5 pages
Source: I received a free copy from the author
Rating: 3 Stars
Blurb:
After a life-changing surgery, she thought the hardest part was over. But as her body begins to heal, a new battle emerges—one that can’t be seen on the surface. Depression quietly creeps in, threatening to pull her deeper into the shadows. With every step forward, she struggles to find the strength to rise from the emotional wreckage, discovering that the journey of healing is more than physical. It’s a fight for self-love, hope, and the courage to face her darkest fears. This is her story of resilience, a testament to the power of the human spirit to overcome even the deepest scar.
Content Warning: Depression. Anxiety. References to a painful surgery.
Review:
Hope is the thing with feathers, or, in this case, bandages instead.
Recovering from surgery is a process. Even minor procedures take a toll on the body and can make recovery feel endless if someone doesn’t fully know what to expect going in or if they were quietly expecting to heal faster than the average person. Some of the most interesting passages in this piece focus on the mental health aspects of this experience for a patient who desperately wanted to be feeling better by now.
I would have loved to see the metaphor in this short story expanded upon. There were a few different ways to interpret it from what I could tell, but I was never quite sure which interpretation or interpretations the author intended her audience to gravitate towards. Yes, I know I’m being vague here, but this is one of those things that a reviewer must talk circles around in order to avoid giving away spoilers. What I can say is that there were some thought provoking ideas embedded in this piece that could have made this a five-star read with more development.
The ending made me smile. As much as I wanted more details about what was going on, I also appreciated how hopeful it was and how much optimism I had for what the main character might do next. She’d been through so much already that I wanted her to thrive from that point forward. Many of the stories I read have more ambigious endings, so it was refreshing to flip past the final page and feel so good about what I just read.
From Shadows to Strength piqued my curiosity.
Title: 
Title: Bodega Botanica Tales
Title: Pathways to Bolingbrook
Title: Tiny Forgotten Wishes
Title: 
Title: Iago Wick and the Vampire Queen (Lovelace & Wick #1.5) by Jennifer Rainey
Title: Foo Foo
Title: Strange New World
A Review of A Divine Tale
Author: Jonathan Antony Strickland
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: September 8, 2012
Genres: Fantasy, Humour
Length: 13 pages
Source: I received a free copy from the author.
Rating: 3 Stars
Blurb:
This is a story about Seglaman the Snow God, and how other God’s use his sorry tale as a reminder to younger less experienced God’s as a warning to never become too comfortable when ruling over mortals who worship them.
Review:
Kindness matters.
While religion was discussed in this tale, this was not at all what I’d consider the inspirational genre. For one thing, the protagonist was a Snow God who, to be frank, was not the nicest deity around. Mr. Strickland also wasn’t shy about pointing out some of the dangers of blindly following any sort of belief whether it’s religious, political, ideological, or otherwise. My hope is that other readers will be intrigued by this approach to what can be a sensitive topic for some and willing to listen with an open mind regardless of your personal beliefs.
This came across to me as more of the first draft of a story than the finished product. There wasn’t much time spent on character or plot development, and that made it more difficult for me to remain interested in what was happening than I hoped I would be. A lot was going on here with Seglaman’s relationship with the mortals he ruled over that I wished had been explained in greater detail. As much as I wanted to give this tale a higher rating, I had too many lingering questions to do so.
With that being said, the ending made me smile. It veered off into the direction I was hoping it would head, so I was able to see Seglaman’s reaction to something he never saw coming in advance. My apologies for keeping this vague, but other readers should be pleasantly surprised by those moments like I was. It went a long way in tying up loose ends for a Snow God and the mortals he ruled over alike.
A Divine Tale was thought provoking.
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Filed under Science Fiction and Fantasy
Tagged as 2010s, Book Reviews, Fantasy, Humour, Jonathan Antony Strickland, Self-Published, Short Story, Social Commentary