Review: Dryad Vol. 1 by Kurtis J. Wiebe, & Justin Osterling

Filled with beautiful art depicting beautiful people, this book starts out with a nasty diaper change in the middle of a forest. Who could have guessed? Not me, that’s for sure. After a long hard journey, Yale and Morgan find themselves and their twins in a beautiful green village. But things can’t stay peaceful forever, can they? This story is a great tale of doing what you have to do to protect the ones you love.

4/5 Stars 144 pages
Published January 19th 2021 by Oni Press

After a class trip to a local ruin outside their peaceful town, Yale and Morgan’s twins can’t get them out of their heads. They just have a feeling about them, and they’re determined to figure out what exactly that feeling is. But after making it back to there, their group is viciously attacked and kidnapped by guards from the city that their parents escaped from with only their lives and the clothes on their back. And after the guards realize that one of the teens is missing, they go on a savage hunt for them through the town. But after finding them, they realize that they don’t just want the twins, they want Yale and Morgan as well. And this leads them to a forced adventure back into the city, where they’re left fighting for their families lives against soldiers.

This story was really fun to read. The art style is almost relaxing, even though it’s depicting a lot of fighting and monsters and even switches at one point to super futuristic tech in the city. It’s books like these that are getting me more and more into the fantasy side of things, and I’m glad I got the chance to check it out. I’d definitely recommend looking into it yourself, if you think it would be something you’d like. I’ll for sure keep an eye out for the second volume!

If you’d like to grab a copy, you can here!

And if you’d like to keep up with one of the creators, you can here!

Thanks for reading! Hope you’re doing well and staying safe from scary city guards!

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.ca and affiliated sites.

Book Birthday Review: Expiration Date by Mardine Perrins

4/5 Stars 281 pages
Published March 9th 2021 by Kat Biggie Press

A fantastic new twist on a futuristic dystopia, Expiration Date is set in a world that still looks very much like our own, but has long moved past it’s population and non-renewable resources problem, as well as the damage that we’ve caused to the planet. It’s moving in an upward direction and back on track to being a healthy world, and it has very slight tech upgrades, such as hover cars and holograms. That being said, it’s all thanks to something that changed the entire world as soon as they started showing up, expiration dates on every single human being born in the last century, telling the exact date when a person will die.

With expiration dates came mass hysteria, mostly because people didn’t know what they were at first. A blessing and a curse, knowing your exact death date can be a huge challenge. But somehow that scared people off from having an over abundance of children. No one knows where they came from or why, but it alone saved the planet from the kind of certain doom that we face in our own world, in real life. People mostly calmed down, and everything has been evolving since then. That being said, is it moral to know exactly when you and everyone around you will die? It won’t save you from genetic problems, and if you end up being sick, or having dementia, you’re still forced to live with those problems until you pass away.

This story follows two sisters, Elisa and Ashlei, and also a man named Claude, as they deep dive into why exactly there are expiration dates, and if there isn’t something disfunctional going on behind them. After  babies start being born with very short dates, I’m talking less than a week of being born, it really kicks into overdrive to really find out what’s going on. And what the three uncover is despicable, and like nothing they could have ever imagined.

Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich on Pexels.com

I had a good time reading this book. I thought the plot was very original, and even though the viewpoints of the characters bounced around quite a bit, I didn’t have any problems keeping up. I really enjoyed that we got to see a dystopia in the making, because I think that’s something we rarely get to read about in books like these. If the characters didn’t uncover what was going on, what would have happened to the world? I think it would have turned into one of those dystopias where everyone lives under a dome and people are so heavily regulated that they’re not able to really live. And I thought that was very unique and interesting. The characters were realistic, I had no problems believing that they were smart individuals that could exist outside of the book, and even though it’s not my new favourite, I did enjoy reading it. If you’re into scifi in a world like ours, I think you’ll really enjoy it too.

If you’d like to grab a copy, you can do so here.

And if you’d like to keep up with the author, you can here!

Thanks for reading! Hope you’re doing well and staying safe.

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.ca and affiliated sites.

Review: Complex (Silent Beautiful Universe #1) by A.D. Enderly

4/5 Stars 700 pages
Published November 17th 2020 by Luminary Media

Not usually into books of this length, Complex really blew me away because it was able to completely hold my attention for it’s entirety of 700 pages. Five separate books in one, though not described as that, this was a rollercoaster from start to finish of an epic tale in which a dystopia was ruled by businesses. Which, if you ask me, is actually a very real option for the future, especially in places where they have more power than they should. I don’t know why this hasn’t been written about more often, because I really just find it fascinating, and I can’t get enough. But you know me, I’m obsessed with all things tech, scifi, and dystopia. What more could I ask for? This book is perfect for me.

Described as a story of two sisters Val and Kat, who are left alone after the death of their father in their dystopian world of Legacy, the area just outside of the Arc, a dystopia run by businesses. Though it seems like everything is better and safer, there are just different kinds of threats hiding behind the green grass and order. But this story is so much more than just that. The characters range from very poor, to very wealthy, all having completely different personalities and lives. And each person has their own piece to bring to the perfectly put together puzzle. After Kat is kidnapped in the middle of the night, Val blames herself for not being able to fight off the offenders, but can’t sit around feeling sorry for herself forever. She does what she has to do to get information about her missing sister, including selling her body online for a scummy man who claims he has what she needs. But what she digs herself into is far beyond anyone could have ever guessed would happen.

Photo by Kozymeii Kong on Pexels.com

There’s Trevor, a romantic interest for Val and a very helpful character in the story with his hacking skills and clever way of thinking, Riku, a high up man in the military who just wants to right the wrongs in the world, and hopefully save his friend and her child. There’s Ian, an insanely smart hacker who we don’t get to know very thoroughly but he really ends up helping out in the end, Ray, an assassin with a drug addiction who doesn’t really care about anyone other than the people he’s working for, and Manalo, a sweet old grandfather who just wants to have a purpose for his life again, after the loss of his wife. And there’s a few other characters we get to see the world through, but really all of these characters breath life into this epic and long winded novel. Without their lifelike personalities, I would have lost interest a long time ago, because even though I’m extremely interested in the world that they live in, you need good characters to keep everything moving along at a steady pace. And boy, did it.

I think this book is an amazing mix of dystopian scifi, futuristic tech with the computers inside every single person, and a very intriguing story of what could go wrong when businesses end up taking over for the government. When emergencies happen, like a virus that spreads too quickly and mutates too fast to keep up with, and especially when the computers get too strong for us to handle. When they realize that they want more than just to help, that they want to do. And I loved every moment of it. The end of the book also hints to a series, which I’m very excited to deep dive into once it’s released. With that ending, who wouldn’t be? I’m very glad I got a chance to check it out, and I think that the beautiful cover it has would be welcomed into anyone’s intensive book collection. Honestly, I’d even like a poster of it if that was a thing. It’s just so aesthetically pleasing, and says so much about the book without having to actually say anything. Overall, if you’re a fan of tech, scifi, dystopia’s, and stories of survival no matter what, than I definitely recommend checking this book out.

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

If you’d like to grab a copy, you can do so here.

And if you’d like to keep up with the author on Twitter, you can here!

Thanks for reading! Hope you’re doing well and staying warm. And reading long amazing books.

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.ca and affiliated sites.

TOP 3 January 2021 Favourites

Hey everyone! Today I’m going to tell you about my top three books for last month. I loved them all for very different reasons, and I think you’ll love them too!

The first book is The Rising Storm (Paradigm Trilogy #1) by Ceri A. Lowe

What if the end of the world was just the beginning?

15-year-old Alice Davenport was a loner and an outcast before the Storms swept away everything she knew. Saved from the ravaged remains of London by the mysterious and all-powerful Paradigm Industries, her fierce independence and unique skills soon gain her recognition from the highest levels of command. But their plans to rebuild civilisation from scratch mean destroying all remnants of the past – no matter what, or who, gets left behind.

Alice must decide if she will fight for the old world, or the new…

Decades later, 15-year-old Carter Warren is woken from the Catacombs after years of cryonic sleep. He’s determined to do whatever it takes to climb the ranks to Controller General – until he realises the Industry’s control methods have become harsher than ever. The Barricades make sure nothing from the Deadlands can get in to the Community – and no one can get out. And a shocking discovery about his own family causes Carter to question everything he’s ever known…

As Alice becomes entangled in the Industry’s plan for the future, and Carter delves into the secrets of his past, they must make sacrifices which threaten to tear them apart. And both of them are forced to confront an impossible question…

Would you dare to risk it all for the perfect world?

The second book is Refraction by Christopher Hinz.

A loner cursed with a psychic power learns he was part of an illicit experiment as a baby and embarks on a perilous hunt to find those responsible.

If Aiden Manchester had to have a superpower, why couldn’t it be something useful like predicting the future? Or Jedi mind tricks? Instead, he’s afflicted with manifestations, balls of goo which materialise in midair while he sleeps. But then Aidan learns he was a ‘Quiver Kid’; one of seven orphaned babies drafted for an illicit experiment at Tau Nine-One. Setting out to find the experimenters and his fellow victims, Aiden’s quest turns lethal when he’s kidnapped by a maniacal Quiver Kid with a dark agenda.

As he uncovers dangerous truths about his past, Aiden’s very essence is called into question. Will a hellish confrontation at Tau Nine-One reveal the ultimate purpose of the Quiver Kids?

And the last book is Ticker by Lisa Mantchev!

A girl with a clockwork heart must make every second count.

When Penny Farthing nearly dies, brilliant surgeon Calvin Warwick manages to implant a brass “Ticker” in her chest, transforming her into the first of the Augmented. But soon it’s discovered that Warwick killed dozens of people as he strove to perfect another improved Ticker for Penny, and he’s put on trial for mass murder.

On the last day of Warwick’s trial, the Farthings’ factory is bombed, Penny’s parents disappear, and Penny and her brother, Nic, receive a ransom note demanding all of their Augmentation research if they want to see their parents again. Is someone trying to destroy the Farthings…or is the motive more sinister?

Desperate to reunite their family and rescue their research, Penny and her brother recruit fiery baker Violet Nesselrode, gentleman-about-town Sebastian Stirling, and Marcus Kingsley, a young army general who has his own reasons for wanting to lift the veil between this world and the next. Wagers are placed, friends are lost, romance stages an ambush, and time is running out for the girl with the clockwork heart. 

I loved all of these books for very different reasons! They’re all exciting and unique, and just very out there in terms of the different things I like. And maybe you’d like them too if you checked them out! If you’d like to read into just exactly why I loved them so much, I’ve linked my reviews for them in their introductory sentences before their synopsis.

Have you read any of these? Do you have questions? Do you want to read any of them? I’m always down to talk about them! Hope you’re doing well and having a great day.

20XX Volume 1 by Jonathan Luna & Lauren Keely Review

4/5 Stars 160 pages
Published November 24th 2020 by Image Comics

You know how I feel about books about people with powers, and if you don’t here’s a reminder. I love them most of the time! Especially when there’s something relatable to our own world it. And that’s why I loved this book. Super relatable even now in the midst of a lockdown, the future world that Mer lives in is not only filled with some really interesting tech, but one with a virus that kills most of the people that catch it. If you can live through it, however, you’re really a changed person, quite literally. You have powers, but you’re also completely segregated from the people without. But you’re immune from catching it again.

We see some familiar things, gang violence, daily mask wearing, a girl who just lives with her cat, and it changes to something crazy and really interesting. After learning she has the virus, to almost dying in the hospital, Mer has some big changes coming to her life, and that’s not just losing her job due to her sudden illness. She’s now faced with a choice to join a gang, or just be completely isolated from everyone else. She just wants advice from her cousin, but even that’s not so simple.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Pexels.com

This was a really good book, and I can’t wait to see what happens next. It has some action in it, including a lot of really detailed blood and gore at times, but entwined into that is a story of a woman just wanting to fit in and really find herself again. I didn’t want to put it down once I started it. I think that this was a really nice break from the novels I’ve been reading lately, or more like haven’t been reading. It was a breath of fresh air, and it gives me new motivation. If you think you’d be into something like that, I definitely recommend checking it out.

If you’d like to grab a copy, you can here through my Amazon Associates link!

And if you’d like to keep up with one of the creators you can here on Twitter!

Thanks for reading! Hope you’re doing well and staying safe.

The Rising Storm (Paradigm #1) by Ceri A. Lowe Review

5/5 Stars 340 pages
Published April 4th 2018 by Bookouture

Wow, I knew this book would be right up my alley, I just didn’t know how much I would actually love it. And I really did love it. A new and exciting take on the well worn path of a young adult dystopia novel, I really couldn’t get enough. It very much gave me Fallout vibes, and if you know me, you know I’m obsessed with that game. I couldn’t ask for more from it, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book in the trilogy.

Following a fifteen year old boy named Carter, we see his life unfold as he’s forced underground to pay his duties to the community, to freeze himself until they need him sometime in the next twenty years. He’s giving up what family he has left, his grandfather, after his parents passed away, and really everyone he knows. But he knows it’s what he has to do for the good of the world that he lives in. What he doesn’t know, is that someone’s pregnant with his children. And the world he thaws into is much more dysfunctional than the one he was frozen in fifteen years before. And most of all, that they think he’s their only hope for change.

It also follows Alice, a child who’s stuck in the middle of a devastatingly changing world almost ninety years before Carter’s frozen. She’s left alone in the middle of a flooding world, forced to fend for herself until help eventually comes in the form of the Community that eventually blossoms into the world that Carter knows. The two children are woven together in rotating chapters, and like I said at the beginning, I really couldn’t get enough of this book. I powered through it like it was nothing, and it really makes me want to read more dystopia novels, like now.

Exciting and unique, the thing I loved most about this book was how the two children’s stories were put together. They seem very different on the surface, but the more we get to know about them, the more we realize that the stories are a lot more similar than we originally thought. Both go through hardships, and both want what’s best for the community, but they have differing opinions that get them into trouble with the people around them. Originally one was sort of a rebel against the community and the other was everything that they wanted, but as we learn, they turn into something else entirely and find themselves in completely different places by the end of the book. I don’t think I would change anything about it at all, and I’m eager to start the next book in the trilogy as soon as I get a chance. One thing I was confused about however, was if everything was horrifically flooded for the better part of five years, wouldn’t all the houses be horribly water damaged? Or did it just storm and not horribly flood? Anyways, not important. I loved it, and that’s it.

If you’re into young adult dystopia novels with a new take on the subject, than I definitely think you should give this one a chance. Who knows? You might love it just as much as I did. You can grab a copy here, through my Amazon Associates link.

And if you’d like to keep up with the author, you can here, on Twitter!

Thanks for reading! Hope you’re doing well.

Shadow of the Coalition (The Omni Towers #2) by Jamie A. Waters Review

5/5 Stars 370 pages
Published September 13th 2018 by Hidden Realms Publishing

Though it’s been probably two years since I’ve read the first book in The Omni Towers series, I definitely haven’t forgotten about it. I was able to jump right back into the world without any problems, and that’s exactly what I love in a series. With all the books I have, I can’t always just sit and read a series through to the end and I like to space it out, and I’m thankful I can do so with these books, because I’ve really loved the three that I’ve read so far.

Following Kayla as usual, this book shows her life as she tries to cope with this new found power she has, her bond that was created with her fiance Alec in the towers, and still hold onto that Ruin Rat Brat she’s always been with her lover and Omni Trader, Carl. Only this time, it gets even more complicated than it already is. With word of a new group trying to hunt her down, we learn about the Russian based Coalition, The Omni Tower’s rival.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Is there anything I have a problem with in this book? Honestly nothing I can think of. I loved every moment of it, and I just couldn’t get enough. I try to read a quarter of a book every day, and I had no problem with that goal for this book, even reading more everyday so that it was over way too quickly. I couldn’t get enough! It was so good in fact, I honestly thought about just starting the next book immediately after, but thought I should save it for another day.

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

Overall, I think this is one of my favourite book series. I know I’m still new to it only having read three books so far, but It’s just one of those things that sticks with you, you know? I love the apocalyptic wasteland, the ruins, and the futuristic towers all mixed together with elemental magic. It’s everything I could ever want and more, and I can’t wait to start the next book.

If you’d like to grab a copy, you can do so here.

Here’s a link to the author’s Twitter, if you’d like to keep up with them.

Thanks for reading! I’d love to chat about the series in the comments, if anyone feels up to it. Hope you have a great day, and stay safe!

Get Project Renaissance Man by Peter A. Schoemann for Free

The other day I bought just a ton of energy drinks from the dollar store because they were a dollar. Did I ration them properly? No. Now I’m out of energy drinks again. That’s life I guess.

 

Anyways, I’m back with another free book for you all! This one is a little more my style than some of the other ones, and I can’t wait to review it. Published in April of 2018, this book holds a rating of 4.5 stars across 7 reviews on Goodreads. That being said, it could really go either way because of how many reviews it has.

302 pages
Published April 27th 2018 by Eck-Schoe Productions and Publications

It’s description claims that: “Faithful to all. Focused on his duties. Fearful of everyone’s expectations.

“The Storm of 2020 wiped out most of humanity. Of the hundreds remaining, Matthew Cane lives a privileged life. His friends support him. His beautiful, caring girlfriend would do anything for him. And his brilliant, president father treats him like a prince. Yet beneath Matt’s confident exterior, fear consumes him—fear of following in his father’s footsteps and fear of everyone learning his secret. He is no genius, unlike his father, the other 43 Renaissance men and women (RMs) in their little community, and his revered grandfather—one of the brightest people who ever lived and founder of Project RM.

“When Matt’s dead mother speaks to him in a dream, he begins to learn the truth. Whether his fears were founded or not, the importance of his new path dwarfs them. To save our species, he and his friends must subvert their elders, risk their lives, and complete his mother’s mission.”

 

If you’d like to grab a copy, you can do so here.

 

Thanks for reading! Let me know your thoughts below.

Hope you have a good day!

Get “Sentinel” (The Sentinel Trilogy #1) by Jamie Foley on Sale Now!

I just love my cat so much you guys

 

Anyways, here’s the next cheap book I’ve found and need to get.

“Sentinel”, has a very interesting cover to me. It just screams the genre that it’s in, young adult dystopian/futuristic fiction, which is just what I love. You know the drill. This is another book I can’t wait to check out.

Originally published in 2013 but re-released in 2016, the description claims that: “The meteor storm wasn’t such a big deal until a comet landed in the middle of the road. Now Darien’s car is wrecked, his sister is bleeding out, and the only medical aid is at the reclusive Serran Academy.

“Some say the Serrans have blood-bonds with angels. Some say they have surreal mental abilities. Some say the gods grant them elemental powers.

“But when the Academy is targeted for harvesting, its secrets—and the collapse of modern civilization—are the least of Darien’s worries.”

 

This book holds a solid 4.1 stars across 49 reviews on Goodreads, and that just makes in even more intriguing. Have any of you read it yet? Do you find it as interesting as me? Let me know in the comments!

 

If you’re interested in the book, it’s available here for $3.91.

Here’s a link to the author’s Twitter, if you’d like to keep up with them.

 

Thanks for reading!

Renegade Patriot (Empire Rising #1) by Oscar Andrews is On Sale Now!

You ever just wake up in the middle of the night panicking because you can’t breathe? Yeah same. Anyways, I found my inhaler. Here’s a cheap book I found.

 

Published at the end of last month, this book only has two reviews so far, but they’re already rating it a high 4 stars on Goodreads. I think that the cover is very unique, and if I didn’t know better, I would have though this was a graphic novel. Wouldn’t that be awesome? Maybe that should be a thing.

It’s description claims that: “War is looming and Flight Sergeant Neffy Klingerman answers the call.

“Teamed up with Ally, a human consciousness in a concierge bot-body, he heads out to New Atlantia in the Federation’s boondocks where he finds two sides ready to blow each other off the face of the planet.

“Standing in the way of a peaceful resolution is a little matter of a kidnapped scientist and a stolen zero-point energy generator: a piece of tech which, in the wrong hands, is capable of ripping a hole in the universe.”

 

There’s more, but doesn’t that sound exciting already? I really want to check it out! It sounds like something that would be right up my alley.

 

If you’re interested, the book is available here, for $1.30 now!

 

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you have any thoughts below, in the comments.