by Jasmyn | Feb 9, 2019 | Book Reviews, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Readers, Young Adult
Triplicity is an odd mix of an almost slice-of-life story and a suspense novel. As I followed the three teenagers on the cruise I continually wondered where the story was trying to go. We get a dash of a romantic triangle, misplaced blame for a thief on board, and lots of family drama. With so many different trains of stories running through, I felt like the there wasn’t really an end goal.
I didn’t always find the three main characters very engaging, and there were many times I flat out didn’t like them. Navy especially had moments that I found to be very disingenuous. The standards that she held Isaiah and Jesse to were inconsistent, and while both of the boys also had their issues, I found them to feel more real and genuine.
The impact of the mystery the teens are trying to solve really doesn’t impact the story until very close to the end, and I wish it had been integrated throughout so that it had more of a hovering presence instead of just the occasional mention to cause drama.
Isaiah was the character that saved it for me. I loved his history with the ranch, and while in the end, he did a few questionable things, it was more because he didn’t see another way out. Jesse was a close second. But I found it odd how Navy looked past his lies while holding Isaiah to a different standard.
**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**
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Title: Triplicity
Author: J. Mercer
Genre: Young Adult, Mystery
Content Rating: PG-13
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One week on an Alaskan cruise, three teens, and an endless trail of lies…
Enter a series of thefts on board and they all fall under scrutiny. Though Navy acts a proper preacher’s daughter, she did end up with someone else’s purse in her hands, and Jesse knows way more than he should about what’s gone missing. Isaiah, however, is the one with motive–enough money and he could get back to his ranch.
Each holds a piece of the truth, but exposing the thief could damn them all. They must navigate through the lies they’ve told, choose between standing together or saving themselves, and decide if innocence is worth facing their ugliest secrets.
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About J. Mercer:
J. Mercer grew up in Wisconsin where she walked home from school with her head in a book, filled notebooks with stories in junior high, then went to college for accounting and psychology only to open a dog daycare. She wishes she were an expert linguist, is pretty much a professional with regards to competitive dance hair (bunhawk, anyone?), and enjoys exploring with her husband–though as much as she loves to travel, she’s also an accomplished hermit. Perfect days include cancelled plans, rain, and endless hours to do with what she pleases. Find her on Facebook @jmercerbooks or online at
www.jmercerbooks.com.
$25 Amazon GC Giveaway!
by Jasmyn | Feb 7, 2019 | Book Reviews, Readers, Science Fiction, Fantasy
I’m a bit behind the times on getting started with this series, but I’m so glad that I finally did. Charley Davidson is a complete riot. Her “squirrel” moments of easily distraction and rapid through-train changes made both her internal and external dialogue amusing and somehow perfectly timed for every moment.
As the grim reaper, souls that haven’t crossed yet can find her to help them cross over or take care of unfinished business. Although not all of them want to, like the intriguing Mr. Wong that hangs out in a corner of her apartment. I keep waiting for him to do something – and maybe he will eventually.
With the ability to see the departed, Charley is an invaluable asset to Uncle, a detective on the police force. As she navigates her place in the investigation, often providing information that no one else can, she seems to stroll through life in her own cloud of uniqueness. The departed each have their own unique personalities as well. From Angel, the teenage gang banger, to the ones involved in her uncle’s most recent case.
Throw in the “Big Bad” aka Reyes – who is smoking hot and more than what he seems at first, and you have a hint of romance along the way – maybe. It’s not entirely clear where this arc will go, but I really can’t wait to find out.
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Title: First Grave on the Right (Charley Davidson #1)
Author: Darynda Jones
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Format: AudioBook
Content Rating: R
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This whole grim reaper thing should have come with a manual.
Or a diagram of some kind.
A flow chart would have been nice.Charley Davidson is a part-time private investigator and full-time grim reaper. Meaning, she sees dead people. Really. And it’s her job to convince them to “go into the light.” But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (like murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she’s been having about an entity who has been following her all her life…and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely. But what does he want with Charley? And why can’t she seem to resist him? And what does she have to lose by giving in?
With scorching-hot tension and high-octane humor, First Grave on the Right is your signpost to paranormal suspense of the highest order.
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by Jasmyn | Feb 5, 2019 | Book Reviews, Readers, Science Fiction, Fantasy
The Gypsy Morph wraps up the Genesis of Shannara trilogy quite nicely. As Hawk realizes his powers and accepts what he is and what he need to do, all the moving pieces of the book seem to be drawing together. When the various groups merge there are some missing, some unexpected additions, and a long road ahead of them.
This book was all about journies – physical and emotional. So many strings come together in one giant knot and Terry Brooks manages to unravel and lay them out before you in nice even rows. Logan Tom gets to face off with “his” demon, and I see the bloodlines that appear in so many of books finding their beginnings.
I once again loved seeing how the land of Shannara was created, and while I hated losing some characters, their loss made the saving of so many others mean that much more. As the last pages unfolded, I found myself excited to see the end/beginning and sad to watch it all go and leave it behind. And the end was quite spectacular.
On the downside, there were quite a few little errors in punctuation and a lot in capitalization.
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Title: The Gypsy Morph (The Genesis of Shannara #3)
Author: Terry Brooks
Genre: High Fantasy
Content Rating: PG-13
Favorite Quotes:
“There is more to family than shared blood. There is trust and friendship and commitment.”
“When a massive failure to preserve the integrity of an ecosystem occurred, no one escaped the consequences.”
“But fear was something to be overcome, an enemy of a different sort, not something from which to run away but something to confront.”
“Humans are not perfect; I wouldn’t argue otherwise. But their faith is what sets them apart from creatures like you.”
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Eighty years into the future, the United States is a no-man’s-land: its landscape blighted by chemical warfare, pollution, and plague; its government collapsed; its citizens adrift, desperate, fighting to stay alive. In fortified compounds, survivors hold the line against wandering predators, rogue militias, and hideous mutations spawned from the toxic environment, while against them all stands an enemy neither mortal nor merciful: demons and their minions bent on slaughtering and subjugating the last of humankind.
But from around the country, allies of good unite to challenge the rampaging evil. Logan Tom, wielding the magic staff of a Knight of the Word, has a promise to keep–protecting the world’ s only hope of salvation–and a score to settle with the demon that massacred his family. Angel Perez, Logan’s fellow Knight, has risked her life to aid the elvish race, whose peaceful, hidden realm is marked for extermination by the forces of the Void. Kirisin Belloruus, a young elf entrusted with an ancient magic, must deliver his entire civilization from a monstrous army. And Hawk, the rootless boy who is nothing less than destiny’s instrument, must lead the last of humanity to a latter-day promised land before the final darkness falls.
The Gypsy Morph is an epic saga of a world in flux as the mortal realm yields to a magical one; as the champions of the Word and the Void clash for the last time to decide what will be and what must cease; and as, from the remnants of a doomed age, something altogether extraordinary rises.
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