Book Review: Poor Unfortunate Soul: A Tale of the Sea Witch (Villains #3)

Release Date: July 26, 2016
Author: Serena Valentino
Publisher: Disney Press
Length: 196 pages
Source: Library Audio Book

The tale of the sea king's daughter Ariel is a beloved one of losing-and then finding-one's own voice. The story has been told many times and in many ways. But always the mergirl wants more than her world can offer, and her father demands that she live within the confines of his domain. Her rebelliousness costs the little mermaid her voice and nearly her soul. But the power of good prevails, and Ariel emerges proud and unchanged.

And yet this is only half the story. So what of Ariel's nemesis, Ursula, the sea witch? What led to her becoming so twisted, scorned, and filled with hatred? Many tales have tried to explain her motives. Here is one account of what might have shaped the sea witch into a detestable and poor unfortunate soul.

    

Review:

Characters: So, obviously this section was supposed to be labeled, "Protagonist" and focus on Ursula and her story arc and character development over the course of the book, however, Ursula isn't really the sole focus of this story, in fact, there are quite a few different perspectives to this story. First of course is Ursula, the Sea Witch sister of King Triton who holds dominion over the Unclaimed Waters. As with other installments in this series, there is an effort made to make Ursula more sympathetic and it did work on me a bit, but that sympathy mostly comes from how harshly she was treated in the past and because this author made a seemingly noble character from the movie into a pretty hands down evil character. We also spend some time with the Odd Sisters, three sister witches who are searching for their missing little sister and come to Ursula for help. Their search for Circe and their love for her do affect them, and while I already find them interesting and mysterious characters, I did find myself enjoying them even more in this installment. Finally, we see from a couple characters I never expected to see again, Princess Tulip and her Nanny from The Beast Within, I mean, I knew Tulip had a small history with Ursula, but I wasn't expecting that she and Nanny would have much, if any role in this story, and yet, here we are. I was surprised by how much I really enjoyed their aspects of the story, particularly Nanny's.

World Building: This has been the hardest section to write because well, there isn't a whole lot of world building that relates directly to Ursula's story. There's so little of this story that's told from Ursula's POV, I mean even the flashbacks we get don't feel as detailed as the ones we see in Fairest of All and The Beast Within, or at least they don't feel as detailed, it's been a while since I read them. There isn't all that much built off of the Little Mermaid movie, other than some adjustments to certain characters and some pretty drive-by exposition relating to Ursula's time in Atlantica and the horrors and prejudices she experienced both on land and in Atlantica. The majority of the world building is spent on the original characters of this series and sort of building out this vast Disney inspired landscapes of kingdoms, which I have to admit it's pretty cool to see Disney's Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and Sleeping Beauty all referenced in the same story and really only connected through the Odd Sisters.

Predictability: Because this story didn't quite go the way I expected, I can't quite say that it's unpredictable. I mean, sure the Disney story being retold, that's more or less predictable, but nearly everything else in this story was practically impossible for me to predict. There are some really good twists in this story and there are a couple that I can't believe I didn't see coming, but I didn't and of course, there were some that completely blew me away.

Ending: I wasn't really sure what to expect when I got to the ending of this book, besides some reflection of the end of the Disney movie, I figured the final climax of the story would be nearly the same, if not completely the same as the Disney movie, which it is, but with some fun little twists. The ending though, I wasn't expecting it to feel less like a standalone and more like a traditional series. Even though the story of The Tale of the Sea Witch is done, the ending of this story makes it very clear that more is coming and while the ending doesn't quite feel like a cliffhanger, I'm still eager to read the next installment!

Rating:

This book was so very hard to review, not only because it's so short, but because there are a few different perspectives that divide up this already short book. Still the story itself is fantastic, but the elements that I came to this book for, such as Ursula's past and her side of the whole Little Mermaid debacle, well that's where, ironically, the story felt weakest, I wish we would have seen her past in more detail, and I wish we would have seen her opposition's not take such a severe 180°. Still, I really enjoyed the rest and cannot wait to read Mistress of All Evil.

Blog Tour Audio Book Review: Power of Five (Power of Five #1)

Release Date: May 29, 2018
Author: Alex Lidell
Narrator: Victoria Mei
Publisher: Alex Lidell
Length: 226 pages/ 5 hrs. & 27 mins.
Source: Audible Audio Book Provided for Review

Four elite fae warriors. One mortal female. A magical bond they can’t allow—or resist.

Orphaned and sold to a harsh master, Lera’s life is about mucking stalls, avoiding her master’s advances, and steering clear of the mystical forest separating the mortal and fae worlds. Only fools venture into the immortal realms, and only dark rumors come out... Until four powerful fae warriors appear at Lera’s barn.

River, Coal, Tye, and Shade have waited a decade for their new fifth to be chosen, the wounds from their quint brother’s loss still raw. But the magic has played a cruel trick, bonding the four immortal warriors to... a female. A mortal female.

Distractingly beautiful and dangerously frail, Lera can only be one thing—a mistake. Yet as the males bring Lera back to the fae lands to sever the bond, they discover that she holds more power over their souls than is safe for anyone... especially for Lera herself.

Power of Five is a full-length reverse-harem fantasy novel.

    

Content Warning: This is a New Adult book and does contain explicit sexual scenes, read at your own discretion.

Review:

Protagonist: Lera, a mortal girl living as an indentured servant to a harsh and forward master, finds herself somehow linked in a Fae Quint, an elite team of fae warriors, and travels into the Fae lands to sever the obviously mistaken bond. On the whole, I didn't hate Lera, but there was never really anything that set her apart as a protagonist. She's stubborn, like most fantasy female protagonists, she'll do what she wants, damning the consequences, and that's all well and good, but I really wish there was something more to her. If I'm being honest there's nothing special about her, I mean, I'm sure there's something "special" about her, a reason she was bonded to this Quint, but other than the fact that she's the main character, there wasn't really anything about her that made me care for her as a character.

Romance: So, this is my first Harem story, Reverse or otherwise, and going into it I didn't quite know what to expect. Is it a love triangle, just there are more love interests? Is it going to be a polyamorous relationship? I knew if I wanted to experience a Harem story that it should come from an author who I've enjoyed in the past and who I know can write romance. Here's the thing though, I felt like there was very little actual romance in this story. Sure, there's lust, there's a hell of a lot of lust, but I never felt invested in Lera's romantic or sexual bond with any of the fae males, mainly because with either bond there's no development. From near the very start, it's clear that even if one of the guys doesn't act like they want Lera around, that isn't true, they care about her from practically the beginning of the story and of course since she's described as gorgeous they're also all horned up for her too. Any "development" on the "romance" front is more Lera getting said male to admit they want her around.

World Building: Where I felt the romance and Lera's character was lacking quite a bit, I actually really enjoyed the fantasy aspect of this Reverse-Harem Fantasy, and I probably would have enjoyed it more if there was more of it. Most of this book is dedicated to solidifying Lera's bond with certain characters, or at least I believe that was the point, in actuality all it did for me was let me get to know the males who've fallen for Lera, and while that's not a bad thing, there are four of them and this is a rather short book. So, while I was interested in learning more about the Quint bond, the Faerie Lands, and why Lera was drawn into this bond in the first place, there isn't a whole lot of development with any of that. The book is not boring, far from it, in fact, I LOVE all of the main plot progression that we got, even if I did feel there wasn't a whole lot.

Predictability: I was not prepared for the number of tropes this book had. Okay, I'm not totally serious, though there were a few times when something would be revealed and I would mumble to myself an exasperated "of course," but as I said, that only happened a few times. On the whole, there wasn't a whole lot I could predict about this book, mostly because as I acknowledged in the previous section, this is a pretty short book and a good chunk of it is devoted to fleshing out the love interests. That being said, while I wasn't surprised by some of the twists that happened, I didn't exactly call them either.

Ending: So... the ending to this book is a bit weird to talk about. First off there's the final climax... at least where the main story and action are concerned, which was fantastic and how the characters decide to handle the aftermath actually got a chuckle out of me. There was a lot of tension in the final climax and even though I never really grew to care for Lera as more than just the protagonist, I admit, I kind of got swept away with the scene and thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. Then there's everything that comes after that final climax, and after all of the main story bits are taken care of, well the story ends in a place I've never seen a story end before. It's not quite a cliffhanger, but it's not a plateaued ending either.

Audio Book Notes: Obligatory preface: As I've said in past Audio Book Reviews, I'm still getting used to reviewing audio books and I probably won't be able to fully articulate my feelings for this audio book, please bear with me. So, I really enjoyed the performance here, I mean, the narrator does distinct accents for each of the fae males, and a few other characters as well, and she really puts her all into this performance. She doesn't just read the words she'll act them out and those inflections in her voice, really add a whole new layer to this story.

Rating:

So, even though I did give this book a hard time, I did really enjoy it, while I wasn't so happy with the fact that Lera isn't very special, I did like the fae males, River, Coal, Tye, and Shade who do have a good deal of backstory and characterization, I also LOVED the main plot aspects dealing with the Quint Bond and the Fae world, and I'm excited to see what comes next, and even though I wasn't invested in the romance elements that much I am not so secretly hoping that as the series progresses it gets better, since I have read great romance from this author in the past.

About the Author:

Alex Lidell is the author of Amazon bestsellers AIR AND ASH and WAR AND WIND (Danger Bearing Press, 2017) and an Amazon Breakout Novel Awards finalist author of THE CADET OF TILDOR (Penguin, 2013). She is an avid horseback rider, a (bad) hockey player, and an ice-cream addict. Born in Russia, Alex learned English in elementary school, where a thoughtful librarian placed a copy of Tamora Pierce’s ALANNA in Alex’s hands. In addition to becoming the first English book Alex read for fun, ALANNA started Alex’s lifelong love for YA fantasy books.

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Blog Tour Audio Book Review: Air and Ash (TIDES #1)

Release Date: September 8, 2017
Author: Alex Lidell
Narrator: Kaitlin Bellamy
Publisher: Danger Bearing Press
Length: 6 hours & 57 minutes
Source: Review Copy for Tour

Master and Commander meets Tamora Pierce in a seafaring adventure of duty, love, magic, and a princess’s quest to protect her kingdom on her own terms.

After a lifetime of training, seventeen-year-old Princess Nile Greysik, a lieutenant on the prestigious Ashing navy flagship, sails into battle with one vital mission—and fails.

Barred from the sea and facing a political marriage, Nile masquerades as a common sailor on the first ship she can find. With a cowardly captain, incompetent crew, and a cruel, too-handsome first officer intent on making her life a living hell, Nile must hide her identity while trying to turn the sorry frigate battleworthy. Worse, a terrifying and forbidden magic now tingles in Nile’s blood. If anyone catches wind of who Nile is or what she can do, her life is over.

But when disaster threatens the ship, Nile may have no choice but to unleash the truth that will curse her future.

AIR AND ASH is the thrilling first installment of the TIDES series. Recommended for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Tamora Pierce, and Naomi Novik.

    

Review:

Protagonist: Nile has spent most of her life on the water and loves nearly every minute of it, but after an important mission goes awry she's barred from the ocean and pushed toward a political marriage. Stealing away she enlists as a member of the first crew that will take her on. However, this crew is far different than her previous one and since (nearly) no one is aware who she is she cannot lean on her years of experience to outrank anyone. Honestly, I wasn't a huge fan of Nile. I sort of felt as though she is a bit too paragon for really any story. It almost always felt that she was right while everyone else was wrong and the only real adversity she faces is either because of the newly discovered magic she holds or proud or bigoted people not taking her seriously. I wish Nile was more flawed, that it would feel she has a lesson to learn here. I did feel as though sometimes the author would have Nile begin to learn something new or feel she was wrong, but I never felt that followed through.

Romance: There honestly isn't all that much romance in this story, which is just fine, though there is a bit of a forbidden romance element here as there isn't supposed to be romantic fraternization among crew members, but again since there isn't much that romance that isn't much of a problem for me, at least not yet. I did really enjoy the romance between Nile and her suitor, it's slow burning and there were quite a few times I really found myself rooting for them and wondering how the whole romance thing would play out, I'm interested in continuing the journey.

World Building: So, this part of the story is probably my biggest disappointment. I mean, sure there are a lot of great section to the book that flesh out the world and really give you a sense of understanding as to what goes on in the world and who thinks and believes what based on where they're from and that's all great, but the story itself just feels adrift. I wish I had a better handle on the heading for this story, by the end of this book there are so many different ways this story could go and I just wish I had some understanding of the true end goal of this series and Nile's journey, but as of now things just seem a little chaotic and lost.

Predictability: Since I never had a full understanding of where the story would go, other than Nile's immediate need to be free and discover more about the forbidden magic of this world, I never had a great idea for where things were heading other than the vaguest of notions. That being said it did help have some fantastic twists and turns in this story. There were some fantastic moments that really took me by surprise and captivated me.

Ending: So the final climax of this book is really well thought out and honestly quite intense. I instantly felt the weight of what was going on and the severity of the situation while I greatly admired. As the final climax came to a head I felt extremely invested in the outcome and the consequences. The cooldown period was nice though I do wish there was more attention paid to the world building and less on the romance, and the cliffhanger of this book, which isn't a huge one by any means, felt underwhelming.

Audio Book Notes: The audio book for this story is fantastic. Like I've said in previous audio book reviews I'm not great at articulating how enjoyable an audio book is unless there's something really special about it, such as an outstanding narrator, ambient sound that mixes with the story, etc. Here, the narrator was the standout. She delivers a captivating performance and her distinct voices and range of accents were a joy to behold. Bellamy brings this world to life and it was near impossible to stop listening to her masterful performance.

Rating:

If I was rating the story alone, I would give it 3 stars or maybe less, but Bellamy's performance was superb and I had to hike it up to 3.5. Don't get me wrong this story has a lot of promise and I hope to eventually continue with the story and I am interested to see where this story goes.

About the Author:

Alex Lidell is the author of Amazon bestsellers AIR AND ASH and WAR AND WIND (Danger Bearing Press, 2017) and an Amazon Breakout Novel Awards finalist author of THE CADET OF TILDOR (Penguin, 2013). She is an avid horseback rider, a (bad) hockey player, and an ice-cream addict. Born in Russia, Alex learned English in elementary school, where a thoughtful librarian placed a copy of Tamora Pierce’s ALANNA in Alex’s hands. In addition to becoming the first English book Alex read for fun, ALANNA started Alex’s lifelong love for YA fantasy books.

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About the Narrator:

​Kaitlin Bellamy is a freelance performer and acting coach residing in Central Florida, with a theatrical history spanning more than twenty-five years.

Since relocating to Orlando in 2012, she has worked at multiple theme parks and various theatrical venues, in a career style she calls “Buffet Performing:” or, the idea of keeping several jobs active at any given time, so she may pick and choose where to work, and life never gets boring. Her specialties include Shakespeare, Voice Acting, and Puppetry. But above all, she is passionate about the performing arts, and all they stand for.

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Book Review: Xander and the Lost Island of Monsters (Momotaro #1)

Release Date: April 5, 2016
Author: Margaret Dilloway
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Length: 320 pages
Source: Library Audiobook

Xander Miyamoto would rather do almost anything than listen to his sixth grade teacher, Mr. Stedman, drone on about weather disasters happening around the globe. If Xander could do stuff he's good at instead, like draw comics and create computer programs, and if Lovey would stop harassing him for being half Asian, he might not be counting the minutes until the dismissal bell.

When spring break begins, at last, Xander plans to spend it playing computer games with his best friend, Peyton. Xander's father briefly distracts him with a comic book about some samurai warrior that pops out of a peach pit. Xander tosses it aside, but Peyton finds it more interesting.

Little does either boy know that the comic is a warning. They are about to be thrust into the biggest adventure of their lives-a journey wilder than any Xander has ever imagined, full of weird monsters even worse than Lovey. To win at this deadly serious game they will have to rely on their wits, courage, faith, and especially, each other. Maybe Xander should have listened to Mr. Stedman about the weather after all....

    

Review:

Protagonist: Xander Miyamoto would rather play video games with his best friend Peyton than pay attention when his teacher is droning on and on about global warming and the natural disasters happening around the world. However, after his father is taken away by a giant tidal wave, he discovers a startling family secret and goes on a journey to save his father, and possibly the world. Xander is a pretty standard MG protagonist. He's not too into school, he has a wild and vivid imagination, and what sets him apart makes him special. I honestly wish I could have connected better with Xander, I think MG aged readers would connect better with him, but as an adult I honestly found him to be a bit too whiny and self-deprecating.

World Building: So, while this is an MG book that deals with foreign folklore, I wasn't expecting it to be like a Rick Riordan book, though with it being from the same publisher maybe I had a bit of hope. It's definitely not as gripping as a Riordan novel, though maybe I wasn't in the right headspace when I read it or maybe I didn't have enough knowledge of Japanese folklore for it to really pop out and grip me. The Japanese folklore elements, especially the story of Momotaro, were interesting to encounter in the story. Whenever I did know what something was or recognize a Japanese word I did perk up a bit, but honestly, the pacing and storytelling was a bit more juvenile than I would have liked. Again, I think it'd be great for someone who is MG aged but wasn't as gripping for me as an adult.

Predictability: Something I noticed pretty early in this story is that the author is pretty heavy-handed with the foreshadowing. I understand that covers are chosen after a book is, at the very least, mostly completed, but after acknowledging something on the cover, I almost felt constantly beaten over the head with foreshadowing that hints at that reveal, and honestly I think it would have felt that way even if I had never seen the cover. There are a few other twists where the foreshadowing was heavy-handed, I think there was only one large twist that wasn't completely obvious way before its reveal and I was still able to figure it out long before the secret came out.

Ending: The ending of this story really isn't that bad. In fact, I can appreciate how everything came together in the end and I really did enjoy the final climax of the story. It had a great bit of action and tension, and even after what happens with the main threat there's still a great bit of gripping tension before the final cooldown period begins. I think if the book had gripped me more during the bulk of the story I would have been more invested in the ending, but objectively it is quite an exciting ending. The story does end with a rather predictable twist at the end, but it's a twist that I'll admit I'm a bit curious to discover more about.

Rating:

Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy this book quite a bit, but it just wasn't as gripping as I would have liked and the protagonist did rub me the wrong way from time to time. That being said the second book does sound pretty compelling and while I don't think I'll get to it right away as I had planned, I will try to get to it sometime next month.