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<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\nFirst a quick explanation!<\/strong><\/p>\n Due to some severe health issues over the last few years, and a lingering chronic condition, my planned review schedule went right out of the window and I have been scrabbling ever since to get it back on track.<\/strong><\/p>\n In an attempt to try to regain some lost ground, I have been scrunching some of my (overdue) reviews together into one or two posts each week: shorter reviews, but still covering all of the points I intended to.<\/strong><\/p>\n That\u2019s the plan anyway, so let\u2019s keep the 2025 momentum up with some more indie book love!<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Title:\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Whiplash, Book 1<\/em><\/strong> Blurb: \u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Are you ready to fight?<\/strong><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n Abducted in the dead of night by a mountainous thug and a ginger-haired dwarf, eighteen-year-old Jack Flint is taken to an underground bunker where he and a group of other teens are forced to fight an implacable enemy in a dream world rife with danger.<\/em><\/p>\n Whiplash<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0is a fast-paced story set with a rich and intricately detailed fantasy world where nightmarish creatures from the world of dreams threaten the waking world and teens with the ability to lucid dream must fight in a war for humanity\u2019s survival. Above the throng, powerful demigods vie for control while Jack and his companions struggle to find a path out of the madness.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n Perfect for fans of The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, Divergent and Ender\u2019s Game.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n Review:<\/strong>\u00a0This definitely has more of a YA feel to it than other fantasy\/horror books I have read by the same author.<\/p>\n Main character Jack Flint\/Aster finds out he is the \u2018Chosen One\u2019 who can influence a war between our reality and the dream world (Capital: Rust City; Ruler: the Red Queen), and jumping straight into his training montage to prepare him for moving between the two realms at will, plus all of the fighting and espionage stuff he needs to know.<\/p>\n I found Jack a bit of a passive main character to follow, as he is frequently dragged around by more competent characters, mostly believes what he is told and seems to join the cause of whoever has his attention most in the moment! He also seems to develop romantic feelings for every female character he comes into contact with \u2013 Saffron, Juniper, Shadow \u2013 and the most direct action he takes for or against the rebellion is falling into or being knocked into unconsciousness at every opportunity.<\/p>\n In contrast, the worldbuilding behind Rust City and the dream world is absolutely fascinating: mysterious plagues of the mind; shadow beasts; dream soldiers, and of course, the City itself. I\u2019ve read other books by this author set in the same world and am always keen to know more and see more of this terrifying yet compelling parallel world.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, on this occasion I found the plot a little hard to get into due to my disconnect from Jack and his first-person narrative, but I could see slightly younger (and less romantically cynical!) readers being drawn into this fast-paced tale of dream-spying and dream-soldiering, with tyrannical rulers and competing rebellions.<\/p>\n Title:\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0From Now Until Forever<\/strong><\/em> Blurb: \u00a0<\/em><\/strong>He\u2019s running out of time.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Ben Church has never done anything extraordinary in his life \u2013 until now. Time is all she has.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Vita Ambrose\u2019s life of parties and fabulous clothes looks wildly glamorous but in reality it has no meaning. Together, can they make time stand still?<\/strong><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Ben and Vita\u2019s connection is immediate, spontaneous and passionate. But the clock is ticking. Review:<\/strong>\u00a0This is a tragic star-crossed romance between dual main characters, terminally ill Ben and mysteriously long-lived Vita, which encompasses lots of drama and true-love joyfulness, and lots of art\/da Vinci appreciation, on the way to the obvious impending heartbreak.<\/p>\n I really enjoyed the art and historical references and the characters do have very sweet chemistry together, but I am not terribly sentimental so am afraid that the heart of this book left me cold \u2013 it is very<\/em> sappy and heart-string-tugging!<\/p>\n Those who love books like John Green\u2019s The Fault in Our Stars<\/em>, Audrey Niffenegger\u2019s The Time Traveller\u2019s Wife<\/em> or Jojo Moyes\u2019 Me Before You<\/em> are likely to also love this tale of love found, lost and everlasting.<\/p>\n You will need lots of tissues and possibly a swooning coach nearby. Unless, like me, you are more cold-blooded, in which case you will find this an interesting historical fiction read with a cool sci-fi\/fantasy twist and some mildly annoying romance stuff throughout!<\/p>\n Title: Oaken Tongue<\/em><\/strong> Blurb: \u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u201cTell me reader, do you still knock of the doors of great oak trees? Have you listened for the secrets in the lull of the ocean and visited the worlds hidden between blades of grass? I know you have.\u201d<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n Venture to ancient lands where dragons slumber in secret, promises are exchanged between princesses and troll kings, and there are folk more wolf than woman who dwell there.<\/em><\/p>\n This short story collection is imbued with the magic of traditional folktales, exploring the joy of returning to nature, and just what can happen if we stray too far from it\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n Review:<\/strong>\u00a0I bought this folklore-rooted horror-fantasy story collection because I loved the author\u2019s literary teas and wanted to support her in this new endeavour. And I\u2019m glad that I did.<\/p>\n The writing style is very poetic, rich in detailed descriptions and rooted in nature in all its dirt-and-bone grittiness. There is a mixture of short stories and poems, based around traditional folk and fairytale scenarios, with many of the pieces written in the first-person perspective.<\/p>\n Each story within is evocative of the woodlands and meadows, streams and shore, soil and bark and salt, sunlight and moonlight, rot and wolves and worms, and blood and bones \u2013 every word and idea firmly grounded in nature and in natural mythology.<\/p>\n While slightly overwritten in places, this is a really lovely collection of dark, traditional-style tales that goes well with an earthy mushroom or herbal tea, beside a crackling wood fire, under a hand-knitted blanket, where you can really feel the pull of our history with nature in your bones.<\/p>\n Title: Unhackable Soul<\/em><\/strong> Blurb: \u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Fed up with pain and illness dictating your life? Living with chronic pain is far from easy. Left unchecked, it erodes your spirit and keeps you living in the dark. It can influence what you believe about yourself and even hack your soul\u2013if you let it.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n Author Maureen Sharphouse knows the challenges of living with pain first-hand. She has endured more than three decades of debilitating physical health challenges, including the incurable neurological illness known as \u201cthe suicide disease.\u201d Yet, in the midst of her daily pain, she lives with passion, joy, and enthusiasm for life.<\/em><\/p>\n In thirty daily missions.\u00a0Unhackable Soul\u00a0reveals how you can feel vibrantly alive despite chronic pain. Discover how to<\/em><\/p>\n Live well. Reignite your light. It\u2019s time to become Unhackable.<\/em><\/p>\n Review:<\/strong>\u00a0It has taken me a while to read and review this non-fiction book, as I took it slowly to really absorb and integrate the messages and actions into my daily life.<\/p>\n In this volume, Maureen Sharphouse explores how she, and we, can live well with chronic illness and chronic pain instead of merely surviving living with it. The author\u2019s condition is different from my own, but produces very similar restrictions to a previously \u2018normal\u2019 life and similar levels of pain and fatigue, leading to almost identical levels of frustration and helpless hopelessness. The difference is that Maureen Sharphouse had a moment of epiphany and realised that her life could continue to stretch out in front of her as a path of suffering, or she could choose to live in each moment instead, as best and full a life as possible.<\/p>\n The tone throughout is kind and empathetic, sympathetic to the suffering of her readers, but also firmly joyful and positive. Each chapter is bracketed with quotes and ends with both a useful summary of what was said and a \u2018Rise\u2019 exercise \u2013 one for each of the 30 days the book spans.<\/p>\n Having dutifully followed nearly all of the Rise activities (I don\u2019t share the author\u2019s Christian religious\/spiritual beliefs and so read those chapters with interest but bypassed those activities or adapted them to my own belief system) and I noticed immediate improvements \u2013 not in my health, or my pain levels, or my energy levels, but in my mood, attitude, positivity and hope levels.<\/p>\n This book reminded me that pain and fatigue doesn\u2019t have to rule my life. It can change my body but it cannot \u2018hack\u2019 my soul, my mind, my sense of self. This is such a valuable resource for those struggling with despair at their chronic condition\/s and looking for some light in that darkness, and I will be recommending Unhackable Soul<\/em> to all of my spoonie friends in the hope of spreading that light to as many as possible who need it.<\/p>\n Title: A Missing Signature<\/em><\/strong> Blurb: A friend with secrets.<\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n A dangerous painting.<\/strong><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n A tangle of clues that don\u2019t add up.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n When mystery author Tiggy Jones leaves a London auction house, she glimpses a woman who looks a lot like her missing friend, Nessa.<\/em><\/p>\n The chance encounter spirals into a complex and deadly mystery that won\u2019t let Tiggy go: coded messages, strange disguises and an old French portrait that she fears is a fake.<\/em><\/p>\n Will the unscrupulous art dealer really stop at nothing to get his hands on it?<\/em><\/p>\n And why won\u2019t Nessa tell Tiggy the truth about what\u2019s going on?<\/p>\n As the mystery deepens, and a second person is found dead, Tiggy realises that her amateur sleuthing is not safe.<\/p>\n For others.<\/p>\n And for herself.<\/p>\n
Author: \u00a0Morgan Quaid<\/strong>
Publisher:<\/strong>\u00a0Markosia Enterprises Ltd<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nPurchase Link:\u00a0<\/strong>Whiplash\u00a0on Amazon<\/a><\/h3>\n
Author: \u00a0Rowan Coleman<\/strong>
Publisher:<\/strong>\u00a0Hodder & Stoughton<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Now, he needs to fulfil as many of his dreams as possible while he still can.<\/em><\/p>\n
She\u2019s seen too much, lived too much and lost too much.<\/em><\/p>\n
Can they find a way to make their love live forever? Because every moment matters when it might be your last . . .<\/em><\/p>\nPurchase Link:\u00a0<\/strong>From Now Until Forever\u00a0on Amazon<\/a><\/h3>\n
Author: \u00a0L. Morton<\/strong>
Publisher:<\/strong>\u00a0Independently published<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nPurchase Link:\u00a0Oaken Tongue<\/em>\u00a0 on Amazon<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n
Author: \u00a0Maureen Sharphouse<\/strong>
Publisher:<\/strong>\u00a0Unhackable Press<\/strong><\/p>\n
Choose to rise up.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
Purchase Link:\u00a0Unhackable Soul<\/em>\u00a0on Amazon<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n
Author: \u00a0Virginia King<\/strong>
Publisher:<\/strong>\u00a0Celestial Hedgehog<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n