Soul Cutter by Lexa Cain

*Honest Review Requested by Author in Exchange for Free eBook
Published: December 6 2013
Publisher: MuseItUp Publishing
Website: Author’s Blog
*BTW, the author has a fascinating post about Christmas in Egypt that everyone should go check out!

Introduction

Élan, daughter of the psychic on the show “Psychic for the Stars”, spends her time debunking paranormal phenomena. After a traumatic experience, she became cold and cynical, especially towards her estranged mother. That is until the day her mother goes missing in Egypt without her insulin. Fearing this might be the last time to get her mother back for good, she hops aboard a plane for Egypt. Meanwhile, Ramsey is already in Egypt, working on the crew with Élan’s mother. Unbeknownst to him, the violent spirits that follow him and the legend of the murderous Soul Cutter have entangled him in a terrible game meant to hill him.

Setting

When I read that this is set in Egypt, and the author is from the very same place, I knew I was in for a more interesting read that I am used to. I can’t recall ever reading a story set in Egypt, and the author makes me believe in this Egypt because she has the authority and experience to write about it. Have you ever read a book about a foreign place that the author has never been? (The easiest example I know of is the Twilight Saga.)

It might not be obvious at all times, but an author’s imagination and research can only take the reader so far. Lexa Cain is from Egypt, so I am inclined to believe the culture and the atmosphere she describes. Egypt is vastly different from my Western perspective, and I appreciate a book that is outside of my norm without it being a complete fantasy.

POV and Characters

This book uses subjective third-person narration, and I enjoyed something different from the first-person books that are everywhere now! The focus switches between Ramsey and Élan, so we get a great sense of the two. I especially like it because Ramsey knows more about the culture, the forces behind everything, and the paranormal than Élan does. They play off one another nicely. They are both fully realized people with histories and motivations. Why can’t all main characters be this well written?

The Bad Guys

I knew who the baddies were from the start, yet I didn’t know what exactly was up until it was revealed. I think most readers will be like this too, and I felt like Sherlock Holmes or Agent York – you know who’s behind it, and the mystery is why and how exactly is it being pulled off. The legend about the Soul Cutter was compelling and, as it is the title of the book, a driving force in the novel. The Soul Cutter is a complex element in the story, and I enjoyed how it unfolded. There were times when I was so into the story, I worried about the main characters bumping into him. Every encounter with the Soul Cutter had me anxious. Every dark room and shadowy forest had me reading on edge. That, everyone, makes for a fantastic read.

Little Gripe

My only gripe about this novel is my nagging question involving Élan and the Mace she brings with her. How does one bring a canister of Mace on an airplane from the U.S. to Egypt?

Ending

I didn’t get a sense of closure with a lot of issues by the end of the book, especially with the relationships. After all that happens, it all just ends abruptly. There are lots of loose ends that could have been tied off before the final page. The book insinuated possibilities, but the bit concerning the mom is driving me batty. Perhaps the author will continue with the series, I don’t know, though that would be awesome. A world of demons and psychics in an international setting with two amazing characters at the helm? Yes, please!

Final Verdict

I highly recommend this to readers who are bored of the usual “Western” fare that they are bombarded with. Because Élan is from the U.S., readers can experience the culture shock vicariously through her. Older teens who can handle some of the more mature themes and the horror will enjoy this. Personally, I love it. We need more well-written books set outside of the West to give to our readers, and Soul Cutter by Lexa Cain delivers.

Audrey's Guide to Black Magic by Jody Gehrman

 
Website: Author's Website and Author’s blog

Publisher: Magic Genie Books

Publication Date: September 7, 2013 

Introduction 

                Audrey is back with a new section to her guide-the guide to black magic! Sadie takes Meg and Audrey back to the Land for protection and Audrey’s training. There she meets the handsome Ramone, the curt and inhospitable Kalinka, the sweet Leila, and her maternal grandmother, who happens to be the Land matriarch. Audrey’s mother is still fighting the evil Cormack, she misses her boyfriend, Julian, and one person on the Land has betrayed them and is working with Cormack. Audrey has to train, deal with boyfriend and little sister problems, and find the traitor before Cormack makes his next move.

                I was a beta reader for this book last year and I am so grateful for the experience! With a final release of the book, I happily re-read it.

Cover

                The colours are gorgeous! I can’t say I like the model used (I can’t look away from her chest and disconnected head), but the colours of the dress and background are stunning.

Story

                There is a lot more happening in this book than the previous book, Audrey’s Guide to Witchcraft. They are far removed from the contemporary life we are familiar with. The Land is amazing; it is full of magic, yet magic also absent because they do everything by hand if they can (a far cry from the Harry Potter universe). Not being at home keeps the pace moving fast.

Meg

                First and foremost, I love what Gehrman did with Meg in this book. There is a steep role reversal here. I am so glad that the author didn’t do what most uninspired authors would do: have Meg continue to be the center of attention as the social butterfly that she usually is. On the Land of Mad River, she is the outsider, the outcast. Audrey is new, but welcome. In fact, a lot ride on Audrey being there. Meg is an ignorant interloper. I can honestly say that if someone in my family had magical powers and I didn’t I’d die of jealously. Meg’s frustration at being politely shunned by the entire community for being mundane was well-done.

Sadie

                The lady of ultimate cool is back to help. This installment gives her lots of attention, delving into her personality, interests, and hopes for her future. Her interest in black magic and why she’s interested is very compelling. It would be nice to see her magic in a fight, unless her magic isn’t offensive. The first book and the second had her absent from the final fights and I hope that we get to see her in action in the future.

Audrey and Julian

                There is not much development for Audrey. We get the reveal about what Julian means to Audrey’s magic, but nothing notable changes for her. She is her usual self and she goes about her adventure. There has a little inner conflict relating to Cormack, and that’s all that stood out to me, and that’s disappointing. I’d really like to see more done with Julian. Other than being the love interest, there isn’t that much that he does in this book. Now that we know what he is, I’d like to see him more involved in the action.

Final Verdict

                I highly recommend this book. In fact, I recommend this more highly than the first book. Lots of magic, action, and conflict. It’s an enchanting read that will fascinate girls who love the story of a witch defending what matters most to her. I cannot wait for a possible third installment to develop Julian and Audrey further, and you can never go wrong with more Sadie!  

 

Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft by Jody Gehrman

Published: June 30th 2012
Publisher: Magic Genie Books 
Author’s website 
Author’s blog 

Introduction

Audrey is a normal girl until a face appears in her Crème Brulee. This is the same day that her mother goes missing and her mysterious “cousin”, Sadie, appears at her doorstep. Intuition screams that something is dangerously amiss, and strange occurrences abound, eventually leading up the revelation that she is a witch. At 17-years-old, Audrey has to hone her rare abilities, save her mother, protect herself, and fall in love, all the while keeping her normal sister, Meg, in the dark about everything to do with magic.

Story

                This is a Guidebook. The first of many (well, at least two, thus far). She lives in the human world while trying to learn about her witchy abilities in secret. It’s about magic and love-maternal and the boy-crush kind of love. This all happens while going to school and dealing with the high school mean girl, and other everyday girl problems.   

Audrey

                My favourite aspect of Audrey is that she is far from perfect. She has many positive aspects: protective, independent, thoughtful, and funny. She also makes mistakes, such as going off on handsome boys about things that have absolutely nothing to do with them. Inside my head I was freaking out, thinking, Audrey! Stop it! Stop it now! She is snarky, cynical, and at times irrational. Her imperfections make her a believable character and someone you can root for. And she is a baker-you can’t go wrong with a witch that bakes.

Sadie

                The characters are far removed from the danger most of the time, as they are not with the central hub of witches. Audrey has to learn how to use magic to defend herself against the antagonist, and Sadie steps in, even though she cannot adequately tap into Audrey’s special abilities. The moment that Sadie arrives, she is cool, confident, and beautiful. Surrounded by animals, she holds answers and more mysteries that she keeps to herself. By far my favourite character here, I adore the mystifying way she handles herself. Her presence kept me wondering throughout the book.

Meg

                Meg is the little sister who is the foil to Audrey, yet she shares some similarities with Sadie. She is confident, manipulative, ambitious, social, and beautiful. She fronts the suggestively named band Cherry. It sounds like Meg always gets what she wants. However, Meg is a human with no magical abilities. If you do some digging and analyzing, you’ll see that she is arguably the most emotionally complex character in the cast thus far. Not a throw-away character. Not a character that is the “little sister” and nothing more. The family dynamics here are phenomenal.

Believability

Personally, I’m tired of heroines being unrealistically heroic or stubbornly buried in denial. Her mother goes missing and she discovers that she is a witch. After some healthy skepticism, she picks up the mantle to go help her mother fight, or rather, fend off, the big bad, knowing that she can’t possibly offer much help. It’s different from Harry Potter-this is the beginning of her new magical life, and she isn’t going to be killing He Who Must Not Be Named because skill wise, she isn’t there yet. Yes, it’s a little depressing to put yourself in her shoes, and it’s refreshingly realistic. It’s about survival and love.

Ending/Mysteries

                If you read my other reviews, you’ll note that I don’t mind open endings, as long as they don’t end in the middle of something important like a fight or a conversation. Some mysteries left unsolved are fine. In fact, they are awesome if it means that the book will get a sequel and this book does! Even if this book didn’t have a sequel (and I didn’t know it did when I read it), I like thinking about the possibilities that remaining mysteries leave behind. You know, sometimes an author leave these mysteries unsolved intentionally. 

Verdict

I received this book about a year ago, and it is still one of my favourite books, largely, in part, due to the characters, and the way that it is believable. I want more Guidebooks written by Audrey Oliver-it was one of my top three favourites in 2012. I recommend this for a teen book club read as it is relatable without being crass. Yes, it has witchcraft. Good witchcraft! And recipes for chocolate cake and crème brulee! I highly recommend this for girls into the paranormal but are perhaps sick of the overblown paranormal romances that are circulating.

Silent Echo by Elisa Freilich

*ARC from NetGalley-much thanks!

Published: September 10th 2013

Publisher: Diversion Books
Website: Author’s Website

Introduction

For 16 years, Portia Griffin has been mute. Her best friend is Felix, a deaf boy, and together they overcome communication obstacles to lead normal lives. On the first day of school she meets the new boy, Max Hunter, a genius musician. Then she discovers that her voice has returned, only it comes with the terrible power to entrance and seduce. Before she is poisoned by the evil of her heritage, the Greek gods step in to help before Portia ruins her reputation and her love life.  

Mythology

I’ve read Bullfinch's Mythology by choice in high school because, obviously, I am enamoured by mythology. There are some extra bits thrown in, some new names, some new sons of Gods. To make this a work of fiction, new history will have to be written. However, the author also messes with established lore. When the author made sirens Goddesses my heart felt a little bit like it was stabbed with a butter knife. Additionally, it killed me how useless all the other gods are.

I did like how the author made sirens not like mermaids, but a classical siren with wings. This is refreshing, as popular YA fiction tends to make this formula: mermaid=siren, and some try to make them both fish tailed and winged, and it doesn’t always work.

Also, I thoroughly enjoyed how the gods are portrayed in the real world. It focused too much on technology and how old they were, but nonetheless, the reader gets to see how gods live among humans, or not.

Main Character

Portia Griffin is mute, and likes music and birds. Yet she doesn’t have much of a personality, other than “nice”. She has some rapid personality changes. Though these changes are cringe-worthy, and you’ll hate her as a character, they are integral to the story. Unfortunately, once she gets her voice, I wanted her to shut up because the dialogue was terrible. Yes, she is a teenage girl. No, not every teenager is vapid and unable to speak. Her introduction with the gods is so forced. Like, hey, I’m totally a normal girl, and it’s not like I’ve been taking an entire class on Greek mythology, so I’m totally going to mess this up all over the place. Don’t take me seriously, please, k? I’m just going to make a joke of myself because god-oh, sorry, gosh!-I totally don’t know what’s going on.  

  

Love Story

It’s another one of those stock stories where everyone is in love with the heroine. In this case, she is a siren, and it is in her nature to seduce with her voice. Alright. But before this a love triangle forms with the best friend and the new love interest. (This happens so early on that it isn’t even a spoiler.) Like with Bella Swan, everyone loves her because. They just do and the reader has to get over it. Sure she’s “nice”, but so is everyone else in her school. At one point the reader hears that another girl is “nice” but it isn’t enough. Oh, it isn’t enough in this other girl’s case? How fair.   

The love interest is an unexpected explosion of fireworks in the middle of a mall. Everyone around is thinking, Yeah, this is nice, I guess…but why is it happening? They love-love each other within days. Sure, this happens in real life, and it is dumb. Sorry, but it is. It’s difficult to expect a reader to care about their relationship.   

Lyrics, Poetry, Music

A lot of the rhyming is simplistic. I understand that the author had to write a small selection of original poetry for this book, and all poetry is subjective. I just can’t get over how terrible some of the rhymes are. This book focuses on lyrical poetry and music heavily, and I feel that more effort should have been put into it.

I detest Portia’s rapping. Max sings songs that are modern and are not raps…though that hardly makes them tolerable. Here are some versus:

“I’m Mario Andretti,

I’m stuck on the course,

And you, baby, are the Grand Prix.” (This doesn’t even rhyme…not even half rhymes)

“And what about Krispy Kreme-

Why can’t it just be

That iced, glazed, and sprinkled

Has one calorie?” (And this…isn’t grammatically correct)

Writing

Aside from the horrendous lyrics, the writing is alright. The deepest pits of my soul are glowing because this book is in the third-person, not the first-person. Why is everyone so fixated on reading first-person narratives? Is it because first-person narratives are easier to write, so authors are producing them, making readers accustomed to this type of narrative? /Rant.  

This book is too long, and yet crucial moments, like when Portia regains her voice, are skimmed over. Why, book, why?!

The book uses the word “Forasmuch” meaning: “in view of the fact that”.  This book might win the new award I just made up for weird words that are words but no one uses for a reason. 

Verdict

It is an alright book: it has some mythology and some originality. It is too long and the lyrics are painful. The premise was compelling and I find muteness interesting and a topic that I have not explored much. I recommend it to teens who are into mythology, but not fanatics about it because the changes might drive them away.