Book Review: Ekleipsis by Tamel Wino

With a very interesting description, I got this book expecting something completely different. My bad! But what was inside, was a bunch of horrific stories about torture and violence, and one that goes a ton of different directions at once. Many different people, places, and things, the creepy cover is a perfect fit.

3/5 Stars 176 pages
Published December 18th 2020

Unfortunately, this review will be very short, because I’m not one for short story books. Though it was nice to break up the monotony of novels, I just have the hardest time paying attention to short story books. It really seemed like something I would like, but unfortunately it just wasn’t for me. I’m not sure how I missed it, seeing as it’s plastered all over the goodreads description, but I probably would have passed on it if I knew.

But it was still a good, fast pace book about different kinds of psychotic scenarios. I definitely recommend it to anyone looking for something creepy, with a collection of different stories in it, who’s mature enough to read them.

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

Thanks for reading! Hope you’re doing well and staying away from anyone in this book.

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.

Greyfriars Reformatory by Frazer Lee Review

4/5 Stars 240 Pages Published October 20th 2020 by Flame Tree Press

Another spooky read for the month! This one is much different than the last one, however. Instead of a voodoo laced detective novel, this one is the story of five girls living in a reformatory, a place where you go if you’ve done something horrible and need to be taught how to be different by whatever means it takes. That sounds horrible enough as it is, but there’s a twist. The Grey Girl. And of course, the horrible bullying that takes place by not only the other girls, but also the Principal. I really enjoyed reading this book, but I will admit, I had some trouble getting into it at first.

Emily is so wacked out on prescriptions that she can barely remember her own name. She arrives at the reformatory with the other four girls on a jail like bus, and the only thing surrounding the building is pure wilderness. They’re treated bad, because whatever brought them there in the first place is cause for punishment to the extreme. They’re forced into a routine that leaves them feeling hopeless, but that doesn’t stop their personalities from shining through.

Photo by OVAN on Pexels.com

The Grey Girl is something else completely. Not everyone can see her, but everyone feels the damage that she causes. Once girls start turning up dead, the rest are terrified and cling to their routine. But nothing is as it seems, and the book takes an even darker turn at the end, one that I really didn’t expect. The story kind of reminds me of that game, Call of Cthulhu, if you ever played that. Only without the cult of Cthulhu, and all the fantasy around that. I’m more referring to the part where you’re just endlessly walking through the darkened asylum, and honestly while you’re playing it, start to question whether you’re losing your mind in real life, in the process. If you’re looking for something creepy to read with a big reveal at the end, than this is something you might want to check out next.

If you’d like a copy, you can grab one here, through my amazon associates link.

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

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

Moon Lake by Various Creators (Named Below) Review

5/5 Stars 107 pages
Published September 22nd 2020 by Heavy Metal

I had no idea what I was getting myself into with this book, but that didn’t stop me.  Full of hilarious adult humour, nudity, gore, and scifi goodness, Once I picked it up I couldn’t put it down, and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. If you’re looking for any of that, then you’ll want to grab a copy for yourself.

Beginning with an eccentric intro about how Moon Lake came to being, The Earth being a lonely single mother to her bastard son, The Moon, and his undoing because of being used as a blast shield for years and years from space rocks. How he eventually took his anger out on the planet itself, casting down a chunk of himself and creating what is known today as Moon Lake, an irradiated graveyard of a lake where really weird stuff happens. And that’s just the beginning.

Photo by Christopher Farrugia on Pexels.com

From a sex camp full of people who turn into monkeys, to epic space battles on the moon against aliens, even to a cheerleader that loses her mind after the worst day possible and goes on a killing spree. This book has it all. And it does it all and still is able to stay really funny in the process. Though, it does go up and down. The stories have their own art styles that fit perfectly, and make each story beautifully horrific in their own special ways. I couldn’t ask for anything more from this book, and I’m glad that I got the chance to check it out.

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

Here are all the creators that came together to make this book happen. Sorry I couldn’t fit them all in the title, or track down all of their Twitter accounts.

Brooke Allen, Tommy Castillo, Dan Fogler, James Daly III, Josh Finney, Alex Eckman-Lawn, Brian Holguin, Stefan Hutchinson, Mark Englert, Lizzy John, Dave Lanphear, Blake Leibel, Tim Seeley, Scott Newman, R.H. Stavis, Troy Peteri, Zoey Stevens, and Nick Apalansky.

Thanks so much for reading! Would you check this book out? Lets chat about it! Hope you’re staying safe and doing well.

Dreamthief (Olive Kennedy, Fairy World M.D. #1) by Tamara Grantham is on Sale!

My house is finally getting whipped into shape after moving a couple weeks ago. I can’t wait to see it all come together.

 

Let me just say that this book has a beautiful cover. At least, the one on Amazon does. I’m not sure which one is newest, but I’m talking about the blue one. It just jumps out like, “Read me!” I would probably read it even if it didn’t have a really intriguing description.

Published in 2015, this book has a 3.9 star rating across 137 reviews on Goodreads. It’s description claims that: “Visiting Faythander is a nasty business.

“Forget the fairies and unicorns, most people come back with lost memories and mental problems. Olive Kennedy knows. She’s the therapist who treats patients suffering from Faythander’s side effects. Despite her empty bank account, she takes pride in her job as Houston’s only Fairy World medical doctor. She’s never failed to cure a client—until now.

“Traveling back to Faythander wasn’t on Olive’s to-do list. But she has no choice. The fate of both Earth and Fairy depends on her ability to stop an ancient being called the Dreamthief. To complicate matters, she may be losing her heart

321 pages
Published September 1st 2015 by Crimson Tree Publishing

to someone who can’t love her in return. Saving the world, she can handle. Falling in love—not so much.”

 

I like this one, because it’s not the normal into the land of the fairies kind of story. I also really enjoy the fact that they added some kind of mental health aspect to it, because, if it’s a land where time stops, doesn’t that mean your brain keeps aging and your body doesn’t? I can’t see how anyone would be able to keep themselves sane.

 

If you’re interested, you can grab a copy of this book here.

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

 

Thanks for reading! Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Get “The Discovery of Socket Greeny” (Socket Greeny #1) by Tony Bertauski For Free!

Today I realized I was locked out of the house while I was enjoying dinner with my friend and her boyfriend. I had to climb through one of my windows. Does that count as breaking into my own house? It felt like it.

Anyways, I found this book in my inbox, and thought I should share it with you. I’ve read one of Tony Bertauski’s books before, and I’m intrigued to see what the others he has are like. This is one of them.

 

The description says that; “work has always come first for Socket Greeny’s mother, ever since his father died. But when she shows him the inner workings of the Paladin Nation, he discovers why.

“Paladins traverse the planet through wormholes to keep the world safe, but from what, they won’t say. Although his parents were not actually one of them, Socket is different. He soon finds himself in the center of controversy and betrayal when he’s anointed the Paladin Nation’s prodigy. He didn’t ask for the “blessing” of psychic powers and the ability to timeslice and he doesn’t want to be responsible for the world. He just wants to go home and back to school and be normal again.”

 

With 85 reviews on Goodreads, this book has about a 3.6 star rating out of five. I’m excited to check it out, and if you’d like to get a copy of it, you can do so here.

 

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think below, whether you’ve read it or just grabbed a copy.

Free Zombie Apocalypse Book

Hey! I’m really interested in posting these, and will try to post them as they come up in my inbox.

Today, I found a book that’s kind of different, and it’s only available on Amazon Canada. So if you’re Canadian, like me, then you’re in luck!

The synopsis says: “Everyone knows the first rule of the zombie apocalypse: Don’t. Get. Bitten.

Too bad Violet has never been great at following the rules. Walking home after a night of partying, she manages to let one of the Dead take a chunk out of her only hours after they’ve begun walking again. Fortunately for Violet, she doesn’t die. Unfortunately for Violet—she’s not exactly alive, either.

Violet’s body is undergoing changes, and suddenly the taste of human flesh is not as revolting as it once sounded. Controlling her new urges will be hard. Living with survivors who have no idea will be even harder. And the real zombies? They still want to eat her, too…

Surviving the zompocalypse is tricky when you play for both teams.”

 

Published October 30th 2018 by Clean Teen Publishing, Alive? is a young adult horror zombie apocalypse book, as you can probably tell by now. At 325 pages, this book has an average rating of 4.5 Stars on Goodreads, with 14 reviews. If it’s interesting to you, you can grab a copy free for a limited time here!

 

Thanks for reading.

Have any of you read this book? Do you want to check it out? Let me know your thoughts!

The Magic Order, Vol. 1 (The Magic Order #1-6) by Mark Millar, & Olivier Coipel Review

4/5 Stars 176 pages
Published April 23rd 2019 by Image Comics

The Magic Order isn’t anything like I expected. A family of magic users that spans generations, The Order is a group sworn to protect the world, and maybe destroy it a little. With breathtaking art, this is a gory and exciting story of trying to keep your family together even when it seems like it’s impossible, in my opinion.

 

I’m not really sure how to describe the art in this book, but I do know that I want it all over my walls. A haunting and bloody story, my favourite part actually being in the beginning, when a young boy is possessed to stab his warlock father through the head. The world is one of logic and science, and yet full of magic.

 

I couldn’t put it down once I started it. I think that the art and the story, a man just trying to get his daughter back while his family is hunted by a chaotic group of magic users, really work well together and I’d love to read more of it. If you’re looking for something different and gritty, than this is the graphic novel for you.

 

The book is available here, and here’s a link to the creator’s Twitter accounts, if you’d like to keep up with them.

https://twitter.com/mrmarkmillar

https://twitter.com/OlivierCoipel

Thanks for reading!

Crowded, Vol. 1 by Christopher Sebela, Ro Stein, & Ted Brandt Review

Crowded, Vol. 1 by Christopher Sebela, Ro Stein, & Ted Brandt 5/5 Stars 160 pages
Publishing date: March 26th 2019 by Image Comics 

“Crowded” is another graphic novel with a girl who has hair like me, and I’ll never get tired of seeing it. Charlie is known better as “The Million Dollar Girl”, and then later as “The Two Million Dollar Girl”. One of the highest ranking paid assassinations on the app Reapr, which allows people to crowdfund enough money in the hopes that someone will kill her for that money. In the first issue, we see her meeting up with Vita, a female body guard, in a restaurant.

 

Vita’s kind of an uptight type, who goes to bed early, and only works when she feels like she’s prepared. She says that she didn’t say she could sit with her at the table, but Charlie tells her that she’s paying her, and that she should relax. If that doesn’t set the tone of their entire relationship throughout the book, I don’t know what does. Moments later, a man pulls out a gun in attempt to shoot Charlie, but Vita shoots him without even pausing. Charlie tells Vita why they’re there.

 

It started out like any other normal day, Charlie, working her many jobs through apps and just doing her thing. She likes to rent out things she owns for money, like her car and her clothes, but she also does other things for money, like walking dogs and babysitting, and even tutoring calculus. My favourite though, is when an old man books her to hang out and feed the pigeons with him. Who wouldn’t want that job? She hooks up with strangers and sneaks out before they wake up, but that day everything changed. Someone started shooting at her from across the street. And they’re only in it for the money.

 

This book is one that’s exciting from the first few pages. I really enjoyed the colourful art and the story itself, it’s not like anything I’ve read lately. My favourite character of course is Charlie, but also Vita, because they’re so different from each other that really work well together. Of course, how could I not like the girl with hair like me? The story is full of gunfights, explosions, and Vita chasing after Charlie. She often wonders if she wants to get killed, but I think that Charlie just wants to live her life while she still can, especially when there’s a hit taken out on her. I also really liked the different art styles in the variant covers, and between issues. I really liked reading this, and I’m glad I got the chance to check it out. If you think it’s something you would like, I definitely recommend you check it out too.

 

The book is available here, and here’s a link to the creator’s Twitter accounts, if you’d like to keep up with them.

https://twitter.com/xtop

https://twitter.com/RosyTintedSpecs?lang=en

https://twitter.com/ten_bandits?lang=en

Thanks for reading!

Hashtag Authentic: Be Your Best Creative Self via Your Instagram Online Presence by Sara Tasker Review

Hashtag Authentic: Be Your Best Creative Self via Your Instagram Online Presence by Sara Tasker 4/5 Stars 192 pages
Published February 19th 2019 by White Lion Publishing

Ever wonder why your Instagram fails to thrive when everyone else’s grows? Than this book could help you. “Hashtag Authentic” can teach you exactly what you’re doing wrong with your pictures, and exactly what you need to do to make them better. From photography tips, to caption and hashtag help, and even layout for your page, it really has everything you could ever need.

 

With beautiful pictures, the book shows you what to strive for, and positively reinforces not only lessons, but also your future career, or hobby, of photography. I feel like I just took a high school class about it, but I really just read a short book. I’m refreshed, and ready to start taking the pictures that I want to take.

 

If you need an easy to follow book that points you in the right direction, than this is the book for you. Its a fast read, but it’s packed full of information, and it doesn’t read like a textbook.

 

The book is available here, and here’s a link to the author’s Twitter, if you’d like to keep up with her.

Thanks for reading!

The Identity Trade: Selling Privacy and Reputation Online by Nora Draper Review

The Identity Trade: Selling Privacy and Reputation Online by Nora Draper 4/5 Stars 320 pages
Published February 19th 2019 by New York University Press

Ever wonder what happens to the information that you put online? Because I know I do. I’m almost constantly thinking about if I should be using this app, or giving another one these permissions, and this book really worked to minimize my fears. Though it does read a little like a textbook, and I couldn’t really get into it until about the half way point, I did really enjoy it when I was finished.

 

Beginning in 1997, internet safety has been a rising concern. After many, and I mean many, hacks of internet companies including apple and most recently facebook, a ton of people’s important and sensitive information have bee leaked, and it’s really changed the way that the internet works, and how we use it. Privacy policies are increasingly difficult to understand, which seems like it’s on purpose.

 

I’ve seen that this book has a low rating on review websites, and the only reason I can see that to my understanding, is because of how it reads. I wasn’t exaggerating that I couldn’t get into it until I was half way through, but from that point on it was smooth sailing, and I couldn’t put it down. If you’re interested in learning about how the internet has been growing in the last twenty years, and at the same time internet security, than you need to pick up this book. I would also love to have a copy for my bookshelf. It’s packed full of vital information, and I’m really glad I did, finally, get into it. I would also like to say that there are tips to lock down your internet personality.

 

The book is available here.

Thanks for reading!