Book Review: Match by Emma Grace

08/02/202308/02/2023Dystopian, Emma Grace, Fantasy, High fantasyLeave a Comment

Book Details:

Author: Emma Grace
Release Date: 1st February 2023
~~Series~~:
Genre: Dystopian Fiction
Format: E-book
Pages: 210
Publisher:
Blurb:
Katie Davis has had her whole life planned out for her since birth. She, along with every other citizen of Carcera, is predestined to marry her perfect Match. She knows that she will eventually have two children, and that none of the citizens will never leave the Border, the wall of stone encircling the city. No one could have predicted, however, the harrowing night that forces Katie and her three best friends to flee for their lives only days after their Matching Ceremony. With nowhere to go, Katie and her friends must make impossible choices at every turn.
They are faced with life-altering decisions, such as whether or not to join the Underground, a resistance army dedicated to overthrowing Borders. The smaller choices seem just as unfathomable as the larger ones-what to eat for dinner, what to do in their free time, and even what to wear. When their luck begins to run out, they are left with only two options: fight, or die.
Match is the first installment of The Matchbook Trilogy.

Review

Match by Emma Grace is an action-packed dystopian novel that will take you on an adventurous and emotions rollercoaster ride. It is the first book in the Matchbook trilogy.

Author Emma Grace has done a fabulous job of creating a realistic and intricate world that pulls in the readers right from the beginning and keeps them thoroughly engaged till the very last page, ending the book on a perfect cliffhanger. This book has rich and well-developed characters and is an excellently plotted novel that is fast-paced and laced with tense and unpredictable twists and turns. Overall, the writing is good and complimented the plot very well.

I would definitely recommend this book to all dystopian fiction fans and fans of elaborate and intrinsic world-building in fantasy novels. This book is a perfect read for anyone wanting to explore a series by a talented new author.

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Book Review: A Touch Of Death (The Outlands Pentalogy #1) by Rebecca Crunden

06/03/201909/03/2019Dystopian, Rebecca Crunden, Science-Fiction FantasyLeave a Comment

Author: Rebecca Crunden
Release Date: 23rd February 2017
Genre: Dystopian, Science-Fiction-Fantasy
Series: The Outlands Pentalogy – Book #1
Edition: E-book
Pages: 306
Publisher: –
Blurb:
A thousand years in the future, the last of humanity live inside the walls of the totalitarian Kingdom of Cutta. The rich live in Anais, the capital city of Cutta, sheltered from the famine and disease which ravage the rest of the Kingdom. Yet riches and power only go so far, and even Anaitians can be executed. It is only by the will of the King that Nate Anteros, son of the King’s favourite, is spared from the gallows after openly dissenting. But when he’s released from prison, Nate disappears.
A stark contrast, Catherine Taenia has spent her entire life comfortable and content. The daughter of the King’s Hangman and in love with Thom, Nate’s younger brother, her life has always been easy, ordered and comfortable. That is, where it doesn’t concern Nate. His actions sullied not only his future, but theirs. And unlike Thom, Catherine has never forgiven him.
Two years pass without a word, and then one night Nate returns. But things with Nate are never simple, and when one wrong move turns their lives upside down, the only thing left to do is run where the King’s guards cannot find them – the Outlands. Those wild, untamed lands which stretch around the great walls of the Kingdom, filled with mutants and rabids.

Book Review

★★★★

A Touch Of Death by Rebecca Crunden marks a really promising start to The Outlands Pentalogy series. This book has everything that can be expected of a good dystopian story – detailed and extensive world-building, believable characters, intriguing plotline, engaging twists and turns, even pace and oscillating tension. I enjoyed reading this book a lot and can’t wait to read the next one in this series.

The characterization is the backbone of any dystopian novel and thankfully, this book had not only believable and relatable characters but also the ones you easily fall in love with. I liked both Catherine as well as Nate and can’t wait to read more about them in the following parts.

The writing was pretty good and complemented such a tremendous plot well. The pacing was nice and even and the tension kept on increasing and decreasing in sync with the plot structure which kept me hooked throughout the book, from start to the very end. The book ended on a great note, setting high expectations for the sequel.

As I said, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to all dystopian lovers.

You can also read this review on Goodreads and Amazon

Book Review: Beautiful Disaster by C.J.

28/12/201811/01/2019C.J., Dystopian, Speculative-FictionLeave a Comment

Author: C J
Release Date: 4th September 2018
Genre: Dystopian, Speculative Fiction
~~Series:~~
Edition: e-book
Pages: 448
Publisher: –
Blurb:
When chemists Danny and Kevin accidentally create the ultimate beauty product–with a little inadvertent help from Danny’s biochemist girlfriend, Maggie–they’re convinced they’ve hit the jackpot. After all, who wouldn’t pay anything for the ability to permanently remove blemishes, burns, and even scars especially when one of its side effects prolongs the user’s life indefinitely.
But a discovery like that is one many would kill for–something the three quickly learn when they are targeted by a rival corporation and their murderous corporate spy, Suzanne. Even worse, it isn’t long before the unstable formula reveals another side effect. One decidedly nasty. If Maggie, Danny, and Kevin can’t figure out a way to fix it, the world will soon learn that there’s a heavy price to pay for beauty.
As the three scientists struggle to save humanity from potential disaster, they will have to overcome deadly mercenaries, the sociopathic Suzanne, and the man pulling everyone’s strings: the mysterious Boss. Will this Beautiful Disaster be the beginning of a brand-new world or the end of mankind?.

Review

★★+1/2

Beautiful Disaster by C.J. is a unique new dystopian book with a fresh concept and a good plot.

I finished this book pretty quickly in spite of the book being 400 plus pages long which is a good thing and was mostly possible because of the simple writing style of the author. Though, in many instances, I felt that the writing needed some polishing. I liked the storyline and the concept, which was different from what I generally always expect from a dystopian book.

The characterisation was okay, it wasn’t too bad but I wasn’t really impressed by it. I liked the characters just enough to finish the book, so the characterization could have used more work, though as I said, it wasn’t too bad either, I just wasn’t able to feel a connection to any of the leads. For me, this was more of a plot dominated book than a character driven one.

I’d recommend this book to anyone looking to explore a new title (and/or author) in dystopian or speculative genres and won’t mind a plot-driven story.

this review is also posted on Goodreads and Amazon

ARC Review: Killing Adam by Earik Beann

22/11/2018Dystopian, Earik Beann, Science-FictionLeave a Comment

Author: Earik Beann
Release Date: 1st January 2019
Genre: Science-Fiction, Dystopia
~~Series:~~
Edition: e-book
Pages: 224
Publisher: Profoundly One Publishing
Blurb:
The world runs on ARCs. Altered Reality Chips. Small implants behind the left ear that allow people to experience anything they could ever imagine. The network controls everything, from traffic, to food production, to law enforcement. Some proclaim it a Golden Age of humanity. Others have begun to see the cracks. Few realize that behind it all, living within every brain and able to control all aspects of society, there exists a being with an agenda all his own: the singularity called Adam, who believes he is God.Jimmy Mahoney’s brain can’t accept an ARC. Not since his football injury from the days when the league was still offline. “ARC-incompatible” is what the doctors told him. Worse than being blind and deaf, he is a man struggling to cling to what’s left of a society that he is no longer a part of. His wife spends twenty-three hours a day online, only coming off when her chip forcibly disconnects her so she can eat. Others are worse. Many have died, unwilling or unable to log off to take care of even their most basic needs.After being unwittingly recruited by a rogue singularity to play a role in a war that he doesn’t understand, Jimmy learns the truth about Adam and is thrown into a life-and-death struggle against the most powerful mathematical mind the world has ever known. But what can one man do against a being that exists everywhere and holds limitless power? How can one man, unable to even get online, find a way to save his wife, and the entire human race, from destruction?

Review

★★★

Killing Adam by Earik Beann is a new dystopian science-fiction novel with a refreshing new take on the alternate reality concept. I enjoyed reading this book mostly because of the author’s unique concept in which the focus was more on the people left int he real-world rather than focusing entirely on the alternate reality and the people living a virtual life.

I’ve read a decent number of books revolving around the subject of artificial intelligence and I must admit that, in most of the places, the author has done a good job in paying attention to details in creating this world. While at the same time, I felt the plot could have been a little bit more polished and just a little more pronounced. At some places the writing was good, but in some rare instances the writing felt crude and the dialogues felt redundant. The characterization wasn’t overly complex and felt a bit lacking in terms of being realistic and relatable.

Another issue I had with the plot is that it didn’t give any clear idea on how exactly the altered reality was – I did appreciate the fact that the story revolved around the world outside the altered reality, i.e., the real dystopic world, but I would have really liked it if at least some idea of the other world would have been given too, just enough to let the readers know what was going on on the “other side.”

Still, overall, it was an enjoyable book and made for a nice winter read which was clean and quick to read. I’d recommend it to readers who want to explore a light science-fiction story on altered reality. But if you like intricate plots with complex and multi-layered characters then this book might not be for you.

this review is also posted on Goodreads and Amazon (not up yet)

Book Review Altered Seasons: Monsoonrise by Paul Briggs

11/11/2018Dystopian, Paul Briggs, Science-FictionLeave a Comment

Author: Paul Briggs
Release Date: 15th June 2018
Genre: Science-Fiction, Dystopia
Series: Altered Seasons (Book #1)
Edition: e-book
Pages: 394
Publisher: Secant Publishing LLC

Blurb:

Altered Seasons: Monsoonrise is a top recommendation for cli-fi (climate change fiction) readers seeking more depth than the usual approach to life-threatening environmental changes. – D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review. A few weeks with no sea ice in the Arctic Ocean are enough to trigger a chain reaction that alters the Northern Hemisphere beyond recognition. Isabel Bradshaw, an engineer, tries to find security for her family in an increasingly chaotic world when they are driven out of their home on the Chesapeake Bay.

Review

★★★★

Altered Seasons: Moonrise by Paul Briggs is a refreshing new take on the climate-change fiction with a fresh perspective that has faith in the human race coming together instead of counting on its downfall under the pressure and stress of a global disaster.

This book is a welcome take on the very popular disaster fiction and, for a change, doesn’t repeat the same age-old theme of the world falling apart at the seams under the weight of a global threat. Instead, this book focuses on how societies can come together and try to fight and re-build the threats that we all will inevitably face. The situations in this book are very relatable and characterization pretty good.

I enjoyed reading this book through the voices of different main characters (I always enjoy reading multiple POV books,) but at times it did feel like some narratives could have been a bit more polished and better. Still, looking at the entire pictures, it didn’t affect the plot (the real hero of the book) a lot, so I’m not complaining.

Overall, it is a decently written novel with great execution and good command over the language as well as the genre of writing – science-fiction and dystopia. The author’s unique style of writing (I’d say it was very theatre-like) was a very interesting and though it took me a while, eventually, I got used to the way the notes were made and even started liking it by the end of the book. The world-building was one of the best parts of this book as the author cleverly presented the world in a way that was both easy enough to grasp and complex enough to make it highly interesting to understand. The story itself was good and the concept so close to reality that it was hard to not be able to relate to the happenings in the story.

I’d recommend it to everyone who loves reading sci-fi and dystopian fiction, especially one that revolves around climate change.

this review is also posted on Goodreads and Amazon

Book Review: Frozen (Heart Of Dread #1)

16/03/201517/03/2015Books Reviews (by Author), Melissa De La Cruz, Michael Johnston34 Comments

Author: Melissa De La Cruz and Michael Johnston
Release Date: 2nd October, 2014
Series: Heart Of Dread Series
Genre: Fantasy | Romance | Post-Apocalyptic | Supernatural | Science-Fiction | Dystopian | YA | Adventure 
Edition: Kindle
Pages: 365
Publisher: Orchard Books
Source: NetGalley

Continue reading ➞ Book Review: Frozen (Heart Of Dread #1)

Book Review: Lord Of The Flies

13/09/201423/09/2014Books Reviews (by Author), William Golding20 Comments

Author: William Golding
Release Date: 1954
Series: None
Genres: Classics|YA|Brit-Lit|Adventure|Dystoia| Sci-Fi
Pages: 230
ISBN NO.: 978-0-571-20053-5
Publisher: Penguin India

Blurb

A plane crashes n a desert island. The only survivors area a group of schoolboys. At first they revel in the freedom and celebrate the absence of grown-ups.

Soon though, as the boys’ fragile sense of order begins to collapse, their fears start to take on a sinister, primitive significance. Suddenly, the world of cricket, homework and adventure stories seems a long way away. The boys are faced with a more pressing reality – survival – and the appearance of a terrifying beast who haunts their dreams.

Continue reading ➞ Book Review: Lord Of The Flies

Book Review: Cell by Stephen King

08/07/201415/08/2014Books Reviews (by Author), Stephen King14 Comments

Author: Stephen King
Release Date: January 24, 2006
Genre: Horror-Zombies, Post Apocalyptic, Thriller, Dystopia
Pages: 499
ISBN NO.: 978-0-340-92153-1
Publisher: Hachette India