I like very much Mr. Wolfe's stories and style. This book is made of nine very interesting short stories. Four of them are my fave and I would qualifyI like very much Mr. Wolfe's stories and style. This book is made of nine very interesting short stories. Four of them are my fave and I would qualify them with one adjetive: The Piano Man - brutal. The CEO - harsh. Halloween Bully - scary! The Storyteller - lovely! ...more
This review was due for a couple of days because I had some difficulty expressing my feelings. I had the pleasure and honor to read the first draft of This review was due for a couple of days because I had some difficulty expressing my feelings. I had the pleasure and honor to read the first draft of this manuscript as a beta reader a few months ago. I re-read the final version to acquaint myself with the book again and to revisit the plot and ideas to know if they were still the same. No, they weren't. They are better if that could be possible.
"What if God had created Eve first?” Jillian Cornell, in The Genesis Reversal
The subtitle says a lot, and some could say this is a feminist book. Although the author states she is the fourth generation of feminists and writers, I could clearly see a humanist approach that spoke directly to my heart.
Tommy, a nine-year-old child, is our narrator. He is inquisitive and intelligent, a dear child every mother would love to have (view spoiler)[but his (hide spoiler)]. He needs to do a homework assignment about American presidents, but he doesn't understand why America has never had a male president.
With questions and doubts that will make Tommy rethink everything that had been drilled into him since his birth, the story begins.
While it can seem a bit humorous - and it has its laughing moments, even if ironic - the fundament of the plot is extremely serious.
With smooth writing and an easy approach using Tommy's voice, Jillian Cornell touches issues that are contemporaneous and even shocking, such as: - abusive relationships; - divorced parents x their abandoned children; - the ever fascination with wealthier partners, who think they can do whatever they want to their poorer partners just because; - flawed anti or pro isms, which corrupt the idea of equality they promote; In resume, - how evil is done by the lack of thought or questioning and by sheer and blind obedience to what is supposed to be right.
I’ll not spoil the plot but I’ll say that even having read the manuscript, I was gratefully surprised by how the book turned out to be; its resolution is exactly what I wish - and dream everyday - to a sad, very real, entirely fictional, upside-down, inside-out story.
This book should be read in schools; high schools and even colleges. It deserves not only one award but many.
It’s a great YA & NA inspirational/motivational story, and it can surely make adults think again before doing their unconscious, habitual, routine daily acts.
It's difficult to review this book without giving its plot away, but let's try: Keith is a "normal" brilliant geek, carrying on with his life ordinarilIt's difficult to review this book without giving its plot away, but let's try: Keith is a "normal" brilliant geek, carrying on with his life ordinarily even though he is rich enough to enjoy many luxuries. He keeps his distance from his overwhelming neurotic mother. Kendra is a lively girl, an international journalist, living happily and traveling around the world covering international news. Her parents are religious and... judgmental.
Kendra and Keith found their true love in themselves and they don't need approval from anyone to live it, but a tragedy will strike. It'll carry this young couple madly in love through a journey of discovery that none could have imagined.
The world will plot against them and they'll face many difficulties to stay together. Is their love strong enough to survive? Is there such a thing as a soulmate? Is it possible for love to be eternal?
Beautifully written this YA romance will enchant the readers. Kendra's and Keith's strengths are endearing as they carry on. I particularly loved the epilogue. I was not expecting it and it was a very nice, poignant touch.
I have to start this review saying I don't like horror stories, I really don't like the genre that involves death, aliens or the devil. Don't try to pI have to start this review saying I don't like horror stories, I really don't like the genre that involves death, aliens or the devil. Don't try to persuade me to see Chuck, Alien (whatever number it is) or even Gremlin. I don't like scary books or movies. I haven't even read Stephen King, because... Don't laugh at me: I'm afraid of these things... Wraiths, bad spirits and the devil. It's not that I believe in them... but because there is something, I'm sure, and I don't like to mess with it, whatever it is. Non creo en las bruxas, pero que las ai, las ai.
So, why have I read this book?
First, I usually read everything my daughter does. (Just to check, you know?!) And, yes, I like nice teenage witches and their harmless wicca stories. I thought Dark Winter was one of those. Well, you can say it is. A nice, teenage girl in possession of a special object, and her friends, trying to save the world from a brutal end in the devil's hands, an evil never seen before; all of them with their doubts and misfortunes; with their strangeness and bullied, orphaned (view spoiler)[or about to be (hide spoiler)], alone and afraid. It kept me reading, even though at only 7% I was already scared; the suspense kept me turning the pages, at the same time that I was dreading to turn them.
The author, John Hennessy, is English and he dominates the language and the words with an easiness that astonishes, making the book very easy to read; the plot is extremely well-crafted and it builds up very nicely and with a pace that sometimes it lets you breathe and at others it robs you of all air - expect twist and turns galore; the characters are three-dimensional and real, their feelings are all over the place and you feel them - their anguish, pain, hurt, aches, doubts, friendship, loyalty... - It is there in the pages, but it was inside me. - The descriptions are very well done and they transport the reader to the place without being OTT; The author shows us how a characteristic, or a setting, can be ever so different if seen from another's (or another) perspective. All together, it contributed to make me felt sucked into the story.
I loved Romilly and Nan; Bethany, Toril and Jacinta, Troy; I hated Curie, I pitied (and hated, too) Dana - and I was petrified by the man, Diabhal. Ah... Who is he? You'll have to read the book to know.
I was afraid, scared; It was draining, yes, but in a good way. This rough diamond is a gem that can't be missed. I recommend for those who like this kind of story. You'll regale yourself!!...more
This is not my genre, specially zombies. I dislike horror stories so much I have always been tempted to read Stephen King but never picked one of his This is not my genre, specially zombies. I dislike horror stories so much I have always been tempted to read Stephen King but never picked one of his books. I hate horror and gory, they give me nightmares. And life has enough of it, thanks.
So, what the hell am I doing reading a Zombie book? Well, first of all my daughter said it looked nice, so I jumped in. What really interested me in this book was: 1- Jordan is insane and voluntary lives in an asylum. 2- It was said it was not gory and it was very funny.
Jordan's Brains: A Zombie Evolution is an easy reading. I went through it today, in a few hours. I did laugh out loud a few times and I cried in the end (what can I do? I cry easily.) But more than this, it has some very interesting passages, which got highlighted in my kindle.
It is quite difficult to do this review without spoilers, but I'll try: Jordan is quite the compassionate, loving lunatic. Not exactly what people think a insane person is. In fact, apart from the character's obsession that the zombies are bringing the apocalypse, Jordan is completely inoffensive.
Told in the first person POV, this book never, ever let you know what genre is Jordan. A Male or a Female? Sometimes, I was pretty sure Jordan was a female, in others that he was a male. It is pretty interesting to accompany the narrator as it never leaves a hint about his/her genre. I was obsessed in the end to discover that... you have to read the book. Just because of this, I would give a 5 star rating to the author's talent. It must be pretty difficult not to let it slips away.
Then the first part of the book absolutely blew me off. I was speechless and that was not an easy thing to do. In hindsight, I am laughing more, because it should have been so obvious, but, damn! J. Cornell Michel did it. The author left my mouth hanging open as I was not waiting for the turn of events. And again another 5 star rating for that first part. Quick and fast paced, it was incredible.
On the second part, I was in doubt. But I let the narrator guide me through the story. And although a few... hmm... not quite gory, but weird scenes popped here and there, well, it was not like Dark Places, from Gillian Flinn (Gory, horrible, not funny, depressive, sucked out my energy and I got nightmares for more than week). No. This was a nice gory (?)... More a mix between a comedy and a horror movie.
What I loved more was the part of the interaction between Jordan and his family. It has some really intelligent and profound notes on how Jordan, the supposed lunatic, can see so clearly through people and diagnose them so easily.
And, in the end, I am pretty sure this book has more to do with Jordan's relationships than with zombies....more
Poet Gentleness
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