Review- The Spear of Seth

First, let me apologize to everyone for taking so long to read and review this book. I started reading SPEAR OF SETH at the end of February and it has taken me this long to finish it for two reasons. One life stepped in and mangled my reading schedule, two this book was very difficult to get into. I accepted this assignment with high expectation. I adore books that weave history, mythology, and folk lore with a modern age adventure. Unfortunately I was disappointed. The premise of the story was very good. The writing however didn't flow well and was very distracting. It felt as if English were a second language to the writer or as if the book had been translated into English badly.

The Spear of Seth mixes fantasy, legend, and adventure in what the author calls Fanlenture. This story does have all of those ingredients but it just didn't live up to this readers expectations. The story flips flops back and forth between the two main characters announcing who is speaking at the start of every chapter which I found distracting.

Our main characters are Alex Khyan a college student at Van Senmut College and Heather Van Senmut privileged daughter of the head of the college. When Heather's father is poisoned, she and Alex take off for Egypt in search of a cure in the Egyptian underworld. When the two characters are separated due to the machinations of Jonathan Stern, another student and archaeologist from the college, it seems as if you are reading two different stories, two different adventures. Each of the main characters stories are interesting separately but would have been better had they been more interweaving of the story lines as both characters were working towards a common goal. I found myself more interested in some of the secondary characters such as Miriam and Dr. Lermontoff who seemed more three dimensional that the main characters.

This book and writer do have great potential as he did pay great attention to detailing the various setting through which his character traveled. I would be interested in reading the next book in the series. I get the feeling that the world has some serious trouble coming its way from Apep, the evil snake god of the underworld inadvertently released from his prison during Alex and Heather's quest which could make for a very interesting story.

I did notice the author's writing improved greatly as the story progressed.

I give this story a 2.5/5 on the Book Babe rating scale.



Book Blurb: "What will Alex Khyan do when he faces a world he thought existed only in dreams of an ancient civilization? Alex needs a summer job, and gets one. It is not what he is used to, since he will work as a translator at an archaeological dig at the island of Elephantine in the Upper Egypt. Little does he know what he is getting himself into. Enter Heather and her father, John Van Senmut, the archaeologist in charge of the excavations. The dig is not just some dig; it is the ruins of the Temple of Osiris, which stands at the mythical place where Nile emerges from the Egyptian Underworld. When John Van Senmut, falls ill and physicians give up on him, his daughter decides to search the Temple for the cause of the disease and possibly a cure. Her quest leads her, and her unwilling helper Alex, into the Netherworld, which survived the Egyptian civilization by two thousand years. They negotiate its dangers, as well as dangers which come from their contemporaries. They have only one guide – the Book of Gates"

"Author René Daniel was born in the Czechoslovakia. He is 44 years old and he and his family currently live in Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. He enjoys history, ancient civilizations and mysteries and can be contacted at www.thothfantasyquests.com.";

Review- Divergent

Veronica Roth has done an amazing job creating a world that is both beautiful and terrible, characters we are invested in from page one, and a thrilling tale with just enough romance to keep even the pickiest of the BABES happy. At it's core, it's very much a coming of age tale. It's about making decisions for yourself and not letting others dictate your happiness, and about finding courage in sometimes unlikely places. It's not as heavy and sad as The Hunger Games, but it's also not as over dramatic and broody as Twilight. We actually tough it was a perfect blend of both adventure and romance. There isn't one of us who doesn't look forward to the next in this series, so you will probably see that one here soon.  For some of us here was  something over all lacking that prevented it from having that sort of EPIC Harry Potter vibe, maybe by the end of the book we were expecting more, especially from the parents, that we didn't get. But it was a very split vote. In the end, we compromised on the rating Over half of us said five stars, but a few hold outs only gave it four. Either way, you should really read this book.

4 3/4 STARS!

Review- I'd Tell You I love You But Then I'd Have To Kill You

This novel by Ally Carter was light hearted and fun. And though some of are feeling burnt out on the whole "prep school for ___ (fill in the blank)" trend, it was impossible not to laugh your butt off reading it. However it's a little immature for YA, it feels more middle grade to me. But the author's writing is impeccable and it was a nice way to kill two hours. The plot wasn't super complicated and there was none of the heavy drama so many YA novels have. Basically, it's a great read for a thirteen year old girl, which is just what it's supposed to be. But for us old gals, it didn't quite hit the spot for some of us.

3 STARS 

The Hunger Games: Book to Screen

Today the YA Book Babes and special guest author Danette Westerfield discussed the Hunger Games and how the book made the transition from the page to the big screen. You can here the show here. Be aware there are a LOT of spoilers.

Angel Evolution- Review

There are very few books that I don’t finish. A lot of things go into factoring why I can’t finish them. I am sad to say that Angel Evolution is one of those books that I was really excited to read but had a hard time getting into the story.

From what I read though, here is a brief synopsis and review of this book.

Taylor is a freshman at college and considers herself more of a free spirit. Dresses the way she wants, and doesn’t really care what others think about her. Four-leaf clovers are her one thing that usually brings solace to her days until she meets Gabriel Knight. She immediately knows he isn’t what he seems and realizes that her dreams she has had throughout her life have him in them.

Granted, I didn’t read a lot of this book. I get pretty picky with a book if it can’t keep my attention span and this was one of them. I really enjoyed the mystery of the first chapter and was excited to read the rest but quickly found myself nodding off while reading.

I really liked the character of Taylor. She knew what she wanted and didn’t mind what others thought of her. She holds her mother deep in her heart and continues to keep her in her life even though she had passed on before the story began. And she is a determined girl, to figure out how to conquer her fears and face them.

One thing I didn’t like at all was all the dreams and memory recalls that seemed like the author was dumping too much on the reader all at once. The dream was the same dream, over and over with a little added detail here and a little added there, but all the same. I didn’t feel like it was adding anything to the story, so I started to skip over it a couple times while reading. The memory recalls seemed too much like I was watching a television show and the character looks off in the distance with a slight head tilt and glaze over in their eyes then a shimmer and you’re now in a memory. Too cliché feeling for me and yet, another reason I got bored quickly.

This story needs some really good editing through it in order to engage the reader more fully. I believe that I would try reading it again if it is edited and fixed up a bit more.

I give it a 2/5 on the rating. Story has potential, but just couldn’t get into it.

Casey Barnes Eponymous - REVIEW

Knowing very little about music trivia, I was somewhat worried when Casey Barnes Eponymous began quickly talking about the subject. I am one of those people Casey would be slipping a playlist to in order to enrich my life and change it for the better. She probably would have rolled her eyes to find how little I know about the subject. However, my minimal knowledge of music didn't keep me from thoroughly enjoying this book.  

If you saw the movie Juno and love it, I am guessing you will also love this book. Casey and her friends have witty conversations that are both natural and very entertaining. I also enjoyed seeing Casey's thought processes and what went through her mind at any given time. I found myself laughing and smiling quite a bit. Navigating the teenage years can be upsetting but also comical and I loved how this time in her life was depicted. I also loved seeing Casey survive the less-comical times through her love of music.

The only real problem I had with the book was the appearance of a certain word and how often it was used. Not on every page, but probably 10 times in the book. I might have been able to forgive one usage since it seems to be okay in PG-13 movies, but I felt there were about 10 too many. I would have a hard time whole-heartedly recommending a book to a YA reader with so many usages of a word that I wish would vanish from the face of the earth. I gave the book 3 stars with that in mind. If it hadn't included the un-needed words, it would have been a 4-star book for sure.

3 STARS!

The Apocalypse Gene - REVIEW

Today I am reviewing The Apocalypse Gene by Suki Michelle and Carlyle Clark for The Book Babes blog. I found this book to be a highly entertaining. It is an action packed, fast paced YA novel. The story centers around a girl who reads auras, Olivya, and an empath Mikah in the post apocalyptic Chicago.

The once vibrant city of Chicago has become a deserted waste land as almost everyone has been stricken with a malignant cancer. Olivya lives with her mother on Hospice row taking care of the Gad's, (Good As Dead )patients that her mother has opened their home to. The only normal interaction she has is through V-school and Cy-Chi the virtual world where she meads Mikah's handsome halo-sim.

As an orphan Mikah lives a lonely life in an apartment complex with the telepathic and powerful kindred who seem to feed off of the negative emotions in the world such as hatred, pain and war. Mikah is dreading the day when he will be initiated into the world of the kindred fold fearing that he will turns into a monster like the ever metamorphosing Prime whose dark soul lurks around the complex and fills Mikah's heart with fear.

When Olivya and Mikah dare to meet their lives are forever changed as they embark on a journey to save the people they love from the cancerous pandemic and an unknown enemy. These two young people don't know if they have what it takes to win this battle but they possess the most powerful weapon of all. LOVE!

Clark and Michelle weaves science fiction and fantasy with historical and mythological characters creating a non-stop action packed novel. I give this book a 4/5 on the Book Babes rating scale.