Puppet by Pauline C. Harris Review

Have you thought about Pinocchio lately? Neither have I. But this retelling of the story sheds new light on it, following an orphaned sixteen year old girl who finds herself with superhuman powers, as she’s whisked into a world she would have never been able to imagine, and she’s forced to do things she would never have been able to do in her daily life.

4/5 Stars 246 pages
Published October 2014 by Patchwork Press

Penelope prefers to be called Pen, because she thinks her full name sounds like an old lady name. She’s had a sad life in an orphanage, wishing for her own family and even pretending that the man running it is her father. She steals to feel something, and then she’s caught, and forced to stay and work there five years after turning eighteen. That is, until Jed and James come into the picture.

Jed is a mad scientist in all senses. His son James, however, is very normal, and seems to be against his fathers experiments. Pen just gets dragged into it all because she just wants a home for herself, and an out of the only world that she knows. The price is that she’ll lose her human strength in exchange for superhuman almost robotic like strength, and eventually, the ability to lie.

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I never expected this book to be what it was actually about, and when I read the description I was really intrigued. I haven’t read anything like this before, and I was pleasantly surprised. Pen is a really relatable person despite her superhuman strength and speed. And the adventure she’s forced into is really exciting, I didn’t want to stop reading it once I started, and finished it in about a day.

Though this isn’t my absolute favourite book, I didn’t have any problems with it, and all the questions I had were answered by the end of the book. Though I do think that there could have been more explanation for some things, I don’t think it was necessary, and I did really enjoy reading it. If you’re looking for something really different to bring your outside your normal reading routine, then I recommend checking out this book for sure.

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

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

Echoes of Darkness (Echoes Trilogy #2) by Cheryl Campbell Review

5/5 Stars 384 pages
Published October 5th 2020 by Smith Publicity

If you read my last review, I read the first book in the series, Echoes of War, in like less than 24 hours. This book was no exception to that as I also finished it in the same amount of time. I just can’t get enough of the trilogy, and I can’t wait for the last book, even though it comes out next year. I really haven’t stopped thinking about them since I started them, and I’m excited to see them nicely sitting together on my bookshelf with the rest of my favourites.

Following Dani, Brody, Oliver, Mary, Miles and Hattie, along with all the other characters that we’ve grown to love (and hate) throughout these two books, it shows their lives in third person, jumping to and from each of them when needed to give the story the sides you need to see to really put it all together. I gladly started this book less than half an hour after finishing the first one. I was very thankful to have the second book ready to go, as that doesn’t happen very often with me. As you might know, I’m really bad for leaving multiple books in a series to sit for months or even years after I read one, and I want to change that.

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We get to see their lives not long after the first book ended, with Dani and Mary and another character on a supply run. However, things don’t go as expected. They’re blown off the road by a group of Wardens and their insane tech, and have to be rescued by Gavin and his team, as well as Miles. Though this book isn’t as action packed as the first book in the first half, the second half is total destruction, and that’s what I love about this trilogy. The characters are everything I want from them and more, and there’s really never a dull moment, even when they’re simply training, or interacting with each other. I think my favourite might be Oliver, or maybe Hattie, aside from Dani of course.

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So in the last one, we saw the armies, one military and one scavenger, come together and take back Portland, and set their eyes on Boston next, even though it’s pretty far from them, and there’s a whole other area between them. But Dani knows what she needs, especially when things take a turn for the worse, and a kidnapping takes place that forces her hand. I loved the amount of work that was written into the story, not only from Dani, but the rest of the team as well, and the life that was woven in between the annihilation that happens. It really sucked me into the story, and I knew once I picked it up that even though I was debating reading something in between the first and second books, that I wouldn’t be able to do that.

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Overall, if you’re looking for something insanely exciting and action packed, as well as emotional and just really well put together, than you should pick up this trilogy next. Of course I love aliens and destruction, so this was easily one of my new favourites. But I think even if you don’t exactly love those things, and are just looking for an action packed book to pick up, I definitely think you should give these a chance.

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

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

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