Book Review: The Day After Oblivion by Tim Washburn

4/5 Stars 560 pages
Published January 30th 2018 by Pinnacle Books

What’s it like going through a nuclear apocalypse? What do you do while you try to survive the radiation period? Where do you go after? If you’ve ever wondered about any of those situations and many more, this book might be your perfect match for your next read.

Following a multitude of different people and situations, this book explores almost anything you can think of, and that’s exactly what I loved about i. Very exciting from the start, even showing the president of the united states for a bit. The world is futuristic, but not too far in the future from us now, and very well could be here and now. The end of the world comes quickly with nukes, by hackers, and it’s exactly as frightening as it sounds.

Almost to a fault, this book shows many, many different points of view. But there are a few static storylines, two teachers protecting their students, two co-workers, and a man and his pregnant wife. Though very different in theory, they work so well together.

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If i had to think of the most realistic apocalypse books, this would be one of the top cones. I never thought about how hard it would be for some of the different kinds of situations of people surviving the wasteland, but now that I know about them, I can’t stop thinking about them. The characters just seem so lifelike, and the world is so much like ours that it’s very intriguing and immersive and horrifying.

Overall, this book is one of surviving, and perfect for any fans of the genre. It’s great, and one of those that will make you want to start prepping for the end of the world. Great for readers sixteen and up.

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

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

Thanks for reading! Hope you have a great day, and maybe buy an extra can of soup or something when you get groceries.

Book Review: Eden’s Serum (Eden Lost #1) by Angelique S. Anderson

4/5 Stars 310 pages
Published April 6th 2017 by Creative Angel Design and Publication

Encapsulated in a beautiful cover, ,this horrific story tells about a world where tech has advanced far beyond the need for identification and money, and even illness. Eden’s Serum is one that only the richest of the rich can afford, offering youth, health and above all, immortality. But as Adam is about to find out, not everything is as it seems, and his ultra rich bachelor life may not b as satisfying as it once was.

After developing a kind of super card that took the world by storm, dubbed simply the Identicoin, the book begins with an emergency. And Adam is headed head first into the bomb threat at his workplace to do whatever he can to save his life’s work. Interesting enough, this opening scene really sets the pace for the rest of the book, if you can believe it. Because two years later, the Indenticoin has completely taken over the world. And Adam has more money than he knows what to do with babies are now assigned an Identicoin at birth, holding all the important paperwork they could ever need for their upcoming lives, and are required to wear it at all times in public by law.

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The next technological leap that Adam wants to take with his life is making himself immortal. Through injection and claimed to be made from plants, it seems safe enough, after all, Adam’s genius must stick around as long as possible so that he can continue to change the world with his inventions. But is it truly safe? Has it even been fully tested? And why do the doctors preparing him for this next part of his life seem so sketchy? What are they hiding?

Aside from these everyday problems; Adam’s work turns out to be spying deep into his personal life, which he’s obviously not happy about, but is willing to put up with it for a cushy promotion, new house, and a workplace he’s allowed to run, by himself. But not long after his injection, he goes to work hiring people for his new office, and begins experiencing horrible blackouts, accompanied by blinding pain.

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Honestly, I really enjoyed this book. I love things about tech and the future and everything like that, and this book fits that perfectly. It was mysterious and exciting, and all the characters were very realistic with their good and bad traits showing for everyone to be hyperaware of. I was very interested in uncovering everything that was hidden by the higher-ups in this story, and the big adventure that Adam and Evelyn have to o through to really get to know what’s really going on was extremely gripping and easy to get into. I think this was a really great take on the classic Adam ad Eve and the Garden of Eden story. I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen next in the series, and I think to put it simply, this is a great story about trusting y our gut and your own intuition. If you like science fiction and are sixteen plus years old, and also not squeamish about violence, I would say definitely give this book a shot!

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

Thanks for reading! Hope you’re doing well, and maybe don’t trust an injection that claims to make you immortal.

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: The Devil Whispered by Shawn Starkweather

3/5 Stars 413 Pages (in paper) Published February 1st 2021 by Shawn Starkweather Publishing Company

Honestly as great as the plot and the characters were in this book, I had the hardest time getting immersed into it. For whatever reason, I still haven’t figured it out over five hundred pages later, I Just couldn’t keep my attention on this book. Whether that’s a me problem or a book problem I’m not sure, but I do have these good things to say about it. If you’re looking for an action packed cyberpunk mystery novel mixed with military personnel, robotic limbs and internal computers, and crazy body mods and just crazy tech in general, than this is definitely something you should look into checking out next.

At the beginning of this book we find out main character, Jacobi, hunting down a man for some kind of mob boss. He finds him surrounded by drugs and girls and easily apprehends him, and brings him back to his father. This is just the beginning though, because the favour he gets in return will really help him out later in the book. What’s really going on here, Jacobi learns after visiting his friend in jail after he has brutally murdered his wife, is that someone seems to be hunting down the members of his old army team. But why would someone do that? Their names and team were all under lock and key, not just anyone would be able to have that information. But his friend says it wasn’t his fault and that someone made him do it. How could someone just control another person like that? All these questions and more are all wrapped up by the end of the book.

Out of all the characters I think I like Risa and his other friend with the robotic limbs the most. I read another review that says this book seemed sexist, and while that opinion is valid, I really didn’t get that vibe from it. I would say the vibes I got from this book were more military James Bond with all the cyberpunk goodness and crazy tech we love that comes along with that genre. The world around the characters wasn’t explained in depth, and honestly neither were the characters themselves, and maybe that might be why I had trouble really getting into it. That being said, though, I did enjoy it, and I don’t think I lost any time while I was reading it. It just took me longer than usual to get through it because of those things.

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Overall, If you’re looking for something exciting and action packed, with lots of tech and storylines within the bigger storyline, than this might be something you want to check out next. I would say that anyone aged sixteen and up would be able to read this, there’s not really any explicit scenes, and what very little sexual scenes there actually are in this book, I counted two, they’re glossed over very quickly and don’t get too in depth with them other than saying yeah, they did this. Which I appreciated. I don’t think that this is one of those kinds of books. The plot twists were exciting and everything weaved together really nicely in the end. And I’m left wishing I had an internal computer or robotic limbs, or those cool night vision mods that turn your eyes all black.

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

And if you’d like to follow the author on Twitter, 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: Inhuman by Denis Bajram, Valerie Mangin, & Rochebrune

What a way to begin a book. A space ship full of people crashes into an eerie red ocean on an alien planet, and though the wildlife doesn’t look too friendly from appearance alone, they actually come up to help them to the surface so that they don’t drown. Lost without their ship and equipment, they are very surprised to learn that the aliens on the surface are actually human. How could that be? I couldn’t wait to find out.

5/5 Stars 94 pages
Published January 20th 2021 by Europe Comics

The deeper I got into this book, the more intrigued and confused I was, but in a good way. I think that’s just how the characters felt. After discovering that the people living on the island are human, they’re desperate to get information from them, but they almost seem to be in a trance. They eat, sleep, procreate, and work, and those are the only things that they care about, and care to think about. But it goes deeper than that. They talk about The Great One, that they’re doing their living and work for. And when the group of astronauts find a way into a underground green paradise, the society of people living down there are doing the exact same thing. What is going on here?

I found this book really fun to read, and I couldn’t wait to see what the mystery actually was. I did find the writing a little hard to read, but I think that’s just because I’m not great at reading handwriting style text. I did think the art fit the story perfectly though, and was very beautiful. I definitely recommend checking this book out if you’re into scifi graphic novels! I would love to have a copy for my bookshelf.

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

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

Denis Bajram & Valerie Mangin

Thanks for reading! Hope you’re doing well and not crashing into any strange planets out there!

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.

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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.

Cool Sex: An Essential Young Adult Guide to Loving, Mindful Sex by Diana Richardson & Wendy Doeleman Review

A very informative book, Cool Sex brings a new kind of intimacy to your relationship, full of spirituality and emotions and most importantly relaxation. Whether you’re addicted to sex or sometimes it turns painful, or even just looking for new things to experiment with, this book is full of ideas to not only get yourself to relax, but also your partner to relax, whoever they might be, without actually getting down to it.

3/5 Stars 128 pages
Published December 1st 2020 by O-Books

Not a book I would usually read, I picked this up next because it was sent to me, and I thought, why not? Might be interesting. And it was interesting. Though I don’t think I would personally be interested in some of the things talked about in this book, I think the main point of it was to relax, whether it be in your daily life, or when you’re getting intimate with yourself or your partner. It offers many different relaxation techniques from breathing exercises, to just relaxing in bed with your partner. And that was unexpected for me, coming from a book with a title like this one.

Not only did it talk about relaxation tips, but it taught you everything you need to know about your and your partner’s bodies, from intimate areas to just regular parts of your body. Consider this a spiritual sex ed class that your school never really taught you about. A very interesting read. If you’re looking for something a little out of your normal reading boundaries to read and have an interest in non-fiction and how to better your life, I think maybe you’d enjoy reading this.

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

Thanks for reading! Hope you’re having a great day.

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.

Insight (Web of Hearts and Souls #1) by Jamie Magee Review

Sometimes you just need a break from all the rush of the world and all the new books coming out. Sometimes you just want to sink into the kinds of books  you read as a teenager. And sometimes, you just want to relax while you’re reading, and I think this was that book for me. I think the idea of weaving multiple series together is a really interesting and unique idea, and I can’t wait to check more of these books out. Overall, I really enjoyed it.

4/5 Stars 314 pages
Published July 20th 2010

Insight is the story of a teenage girl who’s life is suddenly uprooted when she not only receives a mysterious tattoo after waking from a horrible nightmare, but also when she finds out that her dreams, the boy she’s been meeting in them for as long as she can remember, and that alternate dimensions are all very real things. Not completely ready for the big change, she’s forced to go on the run after the intimidating boy, not her boy but the one from her nightmares, begins hunting her down.

I really enjoyed the powers that the people in the book have, specifically Willow’s, because I think it would be really interesting to be able to know the exact emotions of the people around you. I thought that the characters were pretty realistic from their reactions to the paranormal things going on around them, like going into different dimensions like it’s not an insanely huge deal, going from living in the world that we know in real life to one where there’s complete peace, and even going into a dimension where their world is completely devoid of colour. I think all of those things were really unique and I can’t wait to see how they develop even more throughout this whole series.

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My problems with this book aren’t really big problems. I just expected more action and exciting things to happen, but this is more of a foundation book for the rest of the series. Though exciting things did happen in this book, I think that even bigger events and things will happen throughout the rest of the books. Honestly I can’t wait to see what happens, because there are quite a few. It seems to be a long running series, and that’s really what I could use right now. Just beware, this story is more an explanation for things to come and I think really sets everything up, rather than having all the action here and now like a lot of the other books I read.

Like I said up there, I really enjoyed reading this book, and I think if you’re into young adult paranormal fiction books, you’re going to enjoy this one too. Maybe think about picking it up if you get the chance!

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

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

Thanks for reading! Do you love teen fiction as much as I do? Hope you’re having a great day!

Blind the Eyes (Threads of Dreams #1) by K.A. Wiggins Review

3/5 Stars 287 pages
Published June 1st 2018 by Snowmelt & Stumps

Okay, anyone I know read this book? Because it gave me serious Annihilation vibes for most of it. Not only the stairway parts, but I feel like something about the writing just reminded me so much of that. The whole thing just really felt like a dream, and so did Annihilation. It might just be me alone thinking that though. Either way, I’m caught between rating this three or four stars, because although it was really interesting and unique, it just wasn’t my new favourite book. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t good, though.

Following a girl named Cole, at the beginning of the story we find her working surveillance. That means, in her world of the Refuge, all grey everything, everyone looking and acting the same, and never wanting or wishing or dreaming of anything, for fear the Mara will come and kill them. Very interesting and horrifying, this gory book had me constantly on my toes waiting for the next strike from the monsters, but I couldn’t really picture them. She works very hard to stay neutral in all aspects of her life after losing her memories and gaining a ghost named Cadence to the monsters not long ago, but it’s not enough. It seems like someone’s just out to get her.

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After being called up to investigate something on a medical floor, she’s lost. Her ghost is always pestering her and telling her what to do, but she knows she needs to stay safe and ignore her. That is, until she’s headed up to investigate, and stopped by a boy who says he can get her out of Refuge. She doesn’t trust him and so she doesn’t go with him, but what’s waiting for her on the medical floor is unlike anything she could begin to imagine. She heads into a room to find the corpse of a woman, and when she touches her body, she’s pulled into a dream like experience and forced to live inside the memory that the Mara have created for the woman to drag her to them. What she’s just beginning to learn, however, is that she’s different. She can fight back against the monsters. She just doesn’t know how to.

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Something I really liked about Cole, is even when she’s lost to herself in the book, she’s still able to remember that she just wants to help people. I felt like I was reading this in a haze, and I imagine that’s how she felt as well. I both liked and disliked that aspect of it. Will I read the next book in the trilogy? If I can get my hands on it, I most likely would. But would I seek it out? I’m not sure. That’s just my opinion on the matter though. I really did think it was super unique, and I’m interested in seeing what happens next, but I’m just not in a huge rush to run out and grab it. I think if you liked Annihilation, you might like this, too.

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

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

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

The Matriarch (Women of the Dust #1) by Annabelle McInnes Review

4/5 Stars 358 pages
Published October 12th 2020 by AKM Publishing Pty Ltd

Are you looking for a romance book that isn’t so heavy on the romance? Something about a world so far in the future that where The Matriarch and her Hoard lives, all there is, is dust? What about a book that shows no matter what happens you still have to be strong? Than this is something you might want to check out. Though I do think as an adult, I’m too immature to read real romance books, this wasn’t so hot and heavy, and more focused on the actual story, and that’s what I really enjoyed about it. Once I started it, I didn’t want to put it down.

Yolanda inherited her Matriarchy through the death of her mother, after battling disease for too long. Though her mother was a warlord, aggressive and dominant, Yolanda is very caring, and willing to sacrifice herself for the good of her people. And that’s what her people love about her. A Horde of battle women, they’re charging after their enemy with little supplies, because that’s what they need to do to end the war that has destroyed both sides for almost ten years. What she doesn’t expect, though, is an evil man leading an army of children. And his son to put an end to him before she ever has the chance to.

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If you know me, you know I love books about apocalypse, no matter what the actual topic is. And that’s why I grabbed this book as soon as I saw it. Though I’m not usually into real romance books, I was able to put that immaturity aside for a bit, but this book made it easy to, because there was only really a couple parts where it was romance driven. Inside this book is an epic adventure about a woman who learns to care about herself and someone else she never thought she would, a man who’s her enemy’s son. They join forces not only to save her people, but to try to save his as well, and they head out of the desert and deep into the mountains to the horribly sexist group that controls the land around The Matriarch’s home. The people that not only denied her because of her gender, but because she’s not willing to just lay down and let them do whatever they want to her and her own. They’ve taken her water, but she’s going to fight to get it back.

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I really enjoyed reading this book because it was really exciting, and the characters were a lot different than the others I’ve been reading about lately. War torn but still tough, they did what they have to do for their people, and even though I’m not into romance novels, I think this book made me realize it’s not what I thought it was, at least for the most part. I’d love to check out the second book, and maybe even dip my toe into more in the genre, if they’re all this interesting and action packed. I think you’d like this story if you’re looking for a strong leader who just wants to save her people, and a really interesting story about that.

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

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

Thanks for reading! Hope you’re doing great and staying safe, and I hope you have a great Canadian Thanksgiving/Indigenous Peoples day!

Failsafe (Failsafe #1) by Anela Deen Review

5/5 Stars 200 pages
Published May 20th 2018 by Fine Fables Press

This book, unlike the last book, was something that was right up my alley, and something I knew I was going to love from the moment I started it. In a time where humans haven’t lived outside a computer for many, many generations, their world is claustrophobic and dangerous. Outside of their settlements live drones that shoot to kill on site, and although they can grow their own food, they can barely grow enough for everyone, especially now when the supplies have stopped being delivered.

 

Sol is different, however. Though she has epilepsy, she doesn’t let that stop her from changing the world that they know, and trying to save everyone she know, and more. She’s not afraid of going out into the Interspace, and her unique dreaming ability lets her know where and when the drones are going to be around, and where the supplies should be. But this comes with a cost to her health, both physical and mental.

 

Though she lives in a time where people aren’t able to chose their mates due to the very little genetic differences between everyone in their settlement, everything changes when she meets Echo one day while out on a supply run. Though he’s not like anyone she’s ever met, and she’s a little scared to trust him at first, he proves himself to be an

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amazing and very strong companion. The two will do whatever they need to do to change the world as they know it.

 

This book was exciting and interesting, and it was everything I wanted it to be and more. Though I wanted there to be a sequel, I think that it ended at such a place where I’m happy if there isn’t ever one. The characters and the story were both really easy to imagine and get sucked into, and though this doesn’t happen very often, I don’t have any questions or complaints or even thoughts leftover that I’m wondering about. In my eyes, this was a perfect book to get me out of my reading slump, and I think it’s something that I’d love to read again and again, that’s just how much I loved it.

 

If you love stories about young adults who want to change the world, no matter how different it is from out own, then you’re going to love this, and I hope you love it as much as I do. Definitely check it out if you get the chance, and it’ll make a beautiful addition to your collection! I’d love to check out other books by the author because of this one.

 

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 in the comments if you have anything you’d like to talk about, this book or any other topic! Hope you have a good day, and stay safe!

 

**I’ve been informed by the author that there will in fact be a sequel!** Patiently awaiting that.