Book Review: A Vampire in Disguise 2: A Witchy Girl by Amelia Wilson

After posting my review on Friday of "A Vampire in Disguise 1: A Friend in Love", author Amelia Wilson sent me an ARC of part 2 in exchange for another honest review.

This second story in her series picks up where Avice and Yarra left off, Avice having made the decision to leave his family, break from his clan, and run off with Yarra to protect her and be with her forever. This second story chronicles their departure from her home and the obstacles they must face along their journey toward living together in peace. While on the run, Avice takes Yarra to Nainoru, an ancient witch who used to know and work with Avice's family, but has since gone into hiding. In their time short time with Nainoru, Yarra and Avice receive information about their families from the witch that neither knew previously. I really enjoyed and appreciated how Wilson used this new character to clarify and further develop some information from the first story.

From Nainoru, Avice learns more about his family's first battle with the opposing vampire clan and learns of how his mother rose to power within his own (former) clan - The Keeper of the Blades. He also discovers some surprising and hard-to-stomach details of his mother's past which further explains her current actions and decisions. It logically delineates how Avice came to be in the difficult moral dilemma that he currently faces between his family loyalty and his new love. He must learn to digest and reconcile this information about his mother, and transform his own ideals about her in the process. This adds complexity to both Avice and Alicia (his mother) as characters, and also begins to develop some more conflict - both internal and external - for multiple characters.

At the same time, Nainoru reveals to Yarra that her ancestors also played a large role in the first vampire clan wars - much in the same way that Yarra helped The Keeper of the Blades in the first story in this series (even though much of the detail of how she specifically helped is left out of that story - see my previous review). Yarra, having been adopted by human parents, knew nothing of her ancestry, species, or how to control her powers prior to meeting Avice and his family, so to learn more about her own family allows her to more fully embrace being an oracle in this second installment. Through this part of the story, Yarra uses this new information about her self and her family to further hone her powers as an oracle and embrace the fact that she is not alone in her paranormality. These new details in Yarra's life and ancestry also add complexity to her as a character and continue both her internal and external conflicts which add depth and interest to the plot.

One detail of Yarra's powers that I relish is the concept that her visions are not always concrete for the future. Rather, they are presented to her in the same way as a choose-your-own-adventure style story. If the characters make specific choices, and choose one, given path, then they end up at Vision A. However, if there is a change or digression from those particular choices or paths, then Vision A becomes null. It reminds me of the theory of a multiverse (as opposed to a universe - look it up if you have never heard of the theory) which completely fascinates me. While I recognize that these two ideas are not mutually inclusive, I also recognize that they are neither mutually exclusive, so I allow myself to divulge in this possibility within the story and life. /End of preferential digression...

There were, though, a few parts in the story could have been handled better.
For example, at the very beginning of chapter 1, Wilson mentions that Avice uses Yarra's precognitive abilities to maneuver around her guards (who happen to be members of Avice's family's Keeper of the Blade clan) in order to escape and run away together. However, Wilson does not detail how exactly Avice and Yarra escape. It felt almost as if the author here was unsure of how the two would ever be able to make it out of there, logically, but knew she wanted the two to escape alive and run away, and so skipped over the details of the escape. I was disappointed as it would have added much suspense and intensity in a Jason-Bourne-style, action/adventure escape scene that could have been done rather well if having taken the time to plan it and write it accurately.
Another part that I didn't find particularly believable was when Yarra has a vision of how to get Nainoru's house even though she has never been there. Yarra has a vision of the inside of the house, which makes sense as that is where she and Avice are headed, so this vision of her and Avice's near future in their visit makes sense. However, within this vision, Yarra's thoughts then pan out in an ever widening scope (much like a camera pulling away from a close up to reveal more about the scene in a larger scope) until she able to provide exact directions on how to get to Nainoru's house. While I understand and appreciate that this take on her clairvoyant abilities is a unique twist and helps to drive the plot, it once again felt like the author here needed a way to get them to Nainoru's house and added this special attribute to her precognitive abilities as a way to meet that need in the plot. While not altogether unbelievable, it seemed like a stretch on the part of the author to more easily meet the needs of the storyline.
One part that I continue to find inauthentic in the series is the small amount of dialogue between Avice and Yarra in scenes where they are alone. They consistently refer to each other as "baby" as a romantic petname for one another. While I recognize that this story is labeled as a paranormal romance, and I've mentioned before that I am a love curmudgeon, these moments of dialogue seem forced and out of place. The rest of the dialogue sounds authentic and fits well with the characters and the plot, but these random inserts of "baby" in Avice and Yarra's conversations disjoints the communicative function of the dialogue for me. I guess just personally I could do without the mushy names.
Finally, there is a small scene in this story where Wilson slightly details some sexual encounters. Again, this makes sense in a genre labeled as romance, but with the rest of the story and plot, the scenes and the words to describe them seemed disjointed with the flow of the rest of the story. These scenes almost feel like afterthoughts added in to be able to label it as a romance rather than fully fitting into the story smoothly and authentically.

As with the previous ARCs, this could also benefit from some professional and close editing as there were a few places where the grammar and spelling distracted from the story. And like the first story, I felt that this story, if given more time and detail, could be greatly extended as chapters of one longer and more developed novel that chronicles Avice and Yarra's adventures. While I find myself enjoying the story and am interested in reading about what happens next, I also feel that there is a bigger potential in the story that Wilson could truly benefit in developing.

Overall, I am extremely grateful for the continued opportunity to read these stories and look forward to the next installment.

Book Review: A Vampire in Disguise 1: A Friend in Love

I guess I should start this by saying that I was 14 years old when the first book in the Twilight Saga was released. That being said, I'm sure you can imagine how in love I was with Edward Cullen - every teenage girl's dream dangerous, mysterious, handsome boy who also happens to be a sweet romantic that chooses the one girl that no one else would. As such, I hold a special place in my heart for vampire romance. The genre just brings out so much nostalgia for my teen years and the bookish talks with my friends about the series that I can't help but enjoy them - despite my aversion to cheesy romance as a whole. Therefore, if vampire/supernatural romance are not your thing, there is really no need to continue here (but thanks if you do!).

I received an Advanced Release Copy of the story "A Vampire in Disguise 1: A Friend in Love" by Amelia Wilson in exchange for an honest review. In this story, Yarra is the clairvoyant main character who is college-aged. Though Yarra knows about her powers, she does not know how to channel or control them. As such, she typically has multiple sporadic and unprovoked visions of the future, each involving people she knows as well as people she has just met. The story is a first person narration of the one year of her life where she meets and falls for Avice.  One of the things she finds so fascinating about Avice is that she only has one recurring vision of their future together - one that does not seem to end well. While this would typically bode that the two would not become involved, Yarra fixates on this one vision to the point that she must see it through to figure out the path that leads to that one outcome. Despite the grim details of this one vision, Yarra decides to pursue her relationship with him to discover her true feelings for him, as well as explore the mystery surrounding this seeming barrier she has in seeing their future together.

I greatly enjoyed the narrative structure. The story claims to start in the present, though it really reveals much more about the day of Yarra's and Avice's first date. The very next chapter skips back to one year before the present, and each subsequent chapter jumps forward 2 months at a time until the final chapter which is back into the present. In this structure, Yarra is able to reveal the details of her horrific vision (the one of her and Avice) right from the start. This draws the reader in by knowing where the story leads and becoming attached to the story prior to even having all of the details. It definitely grabbed my attention from the get-go and kept me wanting to know how their lives ended up at that one, fateful moment in Yarra's vision.

I was intrigued about the character names and was curious as to whether they were so unique out of sheer imagination on the part of Wilson or if they were reflective of the setting of the novel in some way. It was unclear (due to a lack of development and explanation of the setting) as to where or when the story takes place. The few details that are provided about the setting sound contemporary, but there is no concrete evidence to determine the actual setting. 

In terms of the characters' supernatural abilities - Yarra being clairvoyant and Avice being a vampire - Wilson pulled on previous knowledge of these species tropes, yet did so in a way that still felt authentic to her own style and voice. Specifically in the development of the vampire race, Wilson provides background into the races evolution, history, conflicts, purpose, social divides in feeding etiquette, behavioral survival patterns, and mystique in keeping their people secret. While many of these aspects match common myths and takes on the vampire species, Wilson also uses Avice to debunk some other "misconceptions" that Yarra seems to believe about his kind. The traits, interactions, and information had me alluding to my own memories of the Twilight Saga and the HBO adaptation of The Southern Vampire Mysteries in the original series True Blood, The intermingling of differing supernatural species and their interrelated historical backgrounds seemed reminiscent of these other renditions of these mythical beings.

There were a few aspects of the text that could have been more clearly defined: 

First, Avice has a tattoo that neither he nor Yarra are capable of discussing until he accidentally reveals himself as a vampire. It is unclear as to what this barrier in their discussion of his body art actually is. I assume that the barrier is broken once Yarra discovers his true being, but it still left me with some questions on the topic. 

As well, Yarra's vision of Avice is one that is highly dangerous and ultimately deadly, though she continues even after her first date with him. While I am able to hold my suspension of disbelief for the paranormal creatures, I wasn't able to continue that suspension into believing that a young woman would pursue the beginning of a relationship with a man that she knows is going to harm her. Then again, I guess that is the draw of the bad-boy persona, and it isn't too far-fetched from reality to hear stories of girls who fall for boys that are evidently bad for them. Wilson even makes note of this seeming irony - Yarra mentions that even she doesn't understand how she can fall for someone when she knows of the danger it will bring her later - but it just seemed somewhat unrealistic in parts. 

Also, at one point, Avice references a phrase - "Difsa Er Zaksijo" - and while he translates this phrase for the reader, it is never explained what language the original is (either real or made up) or any more information regarding that language or its origins. I would have appreciated more development in that background to make it more understandable and believable as a whole, coherent history.

Finally, one of the biggest moments in the climax of the story is left out entirely. Yarra, after meeting Avice's family, attempts to help them settle a long-standing battle with another group (which reminded me of Breaking Dawn). However, none of the battle or its details are discussed in the story at all. Wilson skips over all of this information, even though it seems to be one of the biggest points and driving factors in the entire plot. I was highly disheartened at the missing detail and development in this part of the story. It definitely left me wishing that Wilson would take this story further and turn it into a longer version (novella or even novel) in order to provide those details and make the plotline more fully conceived. 

Overall, the premise of the story was one that I could definitely get into, and the characters were complex enough that I was invested in their stories, the conflicts within the plot drove me to want to continue reading, but the development of the setting and detail in the storyline left me wishing for more. Even so, the story ends off in a place that leaves the author open to write more about Yarra and Avice in the future with a chance of some new conflicts on the horizon. I would love to read more work from Amelia Wilson in the future and look forward to the possibility of more.

Book Review: Dream Mire by Sharman Badgett-Young

Author Sharman Badgett-Young recently allowed me the high honor of reading an ARC copy of her newest title Dream Mire in exchange for an honest review. In this thrilling mystery, the main character Tiegen is a young woman with a mental illness that inhibits her from being able to distinguish her dreams from her reality. Doing her best to keep the details of her life from intermixing, Tiegen attempts to maintain consistency and stability in her life by concentrating on her studies. When she accidentally overhears what sounds like the plotting of a hate crime, she begins to question not just her self and sanity, but also those around her in an attempt to make things right.

As anyone who receives national or even global news through any medium knows, our contemporary world is littered with Islamaphobia. The hate crime that develops within the story centers around this same line of thought that stems from sweeping generalizations, disingenuous stereotyping, and irrational action against one group based on the actions of a small, separate, minority subgroup. Therefore, the plot lends itself well to readers of our contemporary society who can identify with the social issues that are addressed throughout the novel. And while the plot revolves around this possible conspiracy of the anti-Muslim hate crime, there are multiple facets that contribute to the development of the story as a whole. Tiegen's struggle to maintain control over her sometimes debilitating mental illness, mixed with the possibility of her having overhead the plans for this alleged upcoming crime, juxtaposed against the new male love interest who happens to move into her life all layer against one another to deepen the interest of the story line.

Adding to this interest, the nature of Tiegen's mental illness leaves the reader consistently questioning the semi-unreliable narrator. While the reader learns to trust Tiegen's intentions, it is often difficult to know what is reality-truth and what is Tiegen-truth - are the details that Tiegen reveals an experience from her real world or a dream whose details she cannot regulate? This allows the reader's mind to continuously wander through what may or may not be true which gives room for the plot to take twists and turns that are feasible and probably, but not necessarily factual.

I have not read many stories in which the main character experiences a mental illness - a topic which, when handled without caution and care, can come off as insensitive, stereotyped, and ignorant. While I have not faced a mental illness myself, I have faced physical disabilities of my own - both crippling and slight. And though I have been fortunate enough to not have had to personally deal with anything more than minor anxiety, one of my very closest siblings lives with a more extreme anxiety disorder. While reading Badgett-Young's descriptions of Tiegen's personal struggle with her own mental illness, the experience (I can only speak from my own experiences) feels genuine. The fluctuation of good days into bad days and back, plus the waves of emotion from feeling in control to feeling stifled by and at the mercy of the illness, all come through in Tiegen's thoughts, actions, and interactions with those closest to her. The sometimes crippling thoughts of paranoia and self-doubt of what others think of you, along with the judgments from their well-intended facial expressions and words of sympathy all show that Badgett-Young attempts to address the topic with an understanding of the frustrations, self-doubt, and instability that follow from having a disability of any sort.

Badgett-Young's verity in her plot line, her knowledgeable explanation of what it is like to live with a disability, the authenticity of her setting, and the more-than-probable character development all compile into a novel that keeps the reader interested with little confusion, questioning, or need for suspension of disbelief. All in all, I highly recommend this read to anyone who enjoys light crime drama with psychological twists.

I am greatly obliged to Sharman Badgett-Young for allowing me this awesome opportunity not only to read her wonderful work, but to share my enjoyment of it with all of you. Dream Mire will be available for purchase starting September 16th on Amazon Kindle where her first title, Kiln Zone, is also available for download.  If you would like to follow or get in touch with her regarding either of her novels, her account on Instagram is @pacificnwauthor where she is an active member of the bookstagram community.

Book Review: Monday by E. L. Todd

WARNING: This review, while not explicit, references sexual content that may not be appropriate for all readers.

As noted in previous posts, I don't typically gravitate toward the romance genre. However, I have a  very close friend whose wife is an author and has published a large volume of novels across multiple genres. Even so, I had yet to read anything by her, and felt like a terrible bookworm and an even worse supporter of her authorship. When I received an email from the BookBub organization (SIDENOTE: If you read eBooks and have not yet signed up at bookbub.com, go there now!) that featured one of her titles, I took it as a sign that I needed to get my act together and read her work.

Monday by E. L. Todd is the first in a seven-book romance series that details the development of the differing and multiple relationships of characters whose lives all intertwine in many ways. This first book in the series details the happenstances between this books two main characters, Francesca and Hawke. Francesca notices Hawke as the mysterious and handsome stranger who frequents the coffee shop in which she works. Even though the attraction between them grows into an eventual first date, they realize that perhaps things between them are not what they thought they could be. But when their paths recross later in unsuspecting ways, they are forced with the reality of figuring out who they are, what they are, and where their relationship stands through both the mundane functions of every day life as well as the hardships that are brought their way.

I greatly enjoy books with narratives told from multiple characters. This narration is told from the point of view of both characters where the chapters randomly alternate between her narrations and his in sometimes uneven proportions.  This back-and-forth narration provides the reader insight into both characters' frame of mind at different points in the story, but does not allow the reader omniscience about every detail of these characters lives and feelings. Todd creates a nice balance of the information revealed to the reader while still holding back enough detail to keep the plot moving forward and the reader guessing where the two may end up.

Within the first 70 pages, I was somewhat underwhelmed by the character development and the voice. Much of the story up to that point seemed cliche and shallow. The first handful of chapters are all told exclusively from Francesca's point of view, and the premise of the beginning of the story - meet in a coffee shop, daydream about encounters with him, ask out the handsome stranger, hook up on the first date when sparks fly - all seemed too familiar to really get deep into the story for me. Perhaps I am a love-pessimist of sorts (which could be a large contributing factor to why I don't read more in the romance genre) but I just couldn't bring myself to care much about what happened next, as it seemed I already felt like I knew how it would play out.

However, when the narrative point of view switched over to Hawke I was drawn back in. His back story and voice seemed much more complex and interesting to me. His character trope, though, was not new. He very much reminded me of an Edward Cullen (from Stephenie Meyer's The Twilight Saga) meets Christian Grey (from E. L. James' Fifty Shades Trilogy). Hawke comes off as somewhat angsty due to his childhood experiences which he pinpoints as the sole contributing factor of making him the man he believes he has become. Even so, he still holds the attractively secretive mystique that keeps women interested in him, even when he doesn't show interest in them. Despite these seemingly cliche character traits, Todd develops,  through his characterization, a richer backstory than that of Francesca by incorporating more pronounced character flaws that Hawke is all too aware of which stem from familial trauma growing up that he cannot seem to break from. Overall, I found myself much more intrigued by his chapters than Francesca's, but both became much more interesting once I got more character development.

The most off-putting part of the book for me was the explicit sexual descriptions of the encounters between Francesca and Hawke. These scenes seemed out of place in comparison to the rest of the story. Their placement throughout the book seemed somewhat forced as if this sort of explicit language and detail was placed there to pander to a more specific genre or audience. My adversity to these parts of the book could, too, stem from the fact that the author is married to one of my lifelong friends of 20+ years. Therefore, while reading these scenes, it made me extremely uncomfortable because I could not get that fact out of my head. The characters are clearly fictitious creations of Todd's mind, and neither Hawke nor his life story are nothing like my friend in any way, but even so I could not get past this detail in an attempt to read the scenes simply for what they were on the page.

SEMI-SPOILER ALERT: The end of the story leaves off at a cliff hanger that leaves the reader wondering as to where the relationship of Hawke and Francesca will lead. The pivotal moment in their relationship where, seemingly out of nowhere, one leaves the other, ends the story with the reader feeling a need to know what happens in the following books in the series. While I never read any of the Fifty Shades Trilogy, I did watch the first movie that was released in 2015, and the ending of Monday felt very similar to how the film version of Fifty Shades of Grey ended off. I can only assume that this sort of what-happens-next cliffhanger is characteristic of romance series novels.

That being said, I have yet to decide if I will continue the rest of the books in the series. While I definitely would like to know where the characters find themselves in the preceding books, and while I am also interested in the other characters and relationships that develop throughout the series, I am still not hooked into the romance genre as a whole. Call me a curmudgeon, but I'm definitely no romantic at heart which makes it hard for me to enjoy this genre of literature in the same ways that I seem to devour other genres. I have, however, recently downloaded another title - Soul Catcher by E. L. Todd - and look forward to seeing how her work in a different genre plays out for me.

Book Review: The Invisible Game by Zoltan: Mindset of a Winning Team by Zoltan Andrejkovics

Nonfiction author Zoltan Andrejkovics was kind enough to send me an e-copy of his premier title The Invisible Game: Mindset of a Winning Team in exchange for an honest review of his work. In this book, he details - from first person experiences - the different skills, abilities, and states of mind that one must hold in order to achieve success in the eSport (more conventionally known as "online gaming") community.

I, personally, am not a player of video games, yet (like most of us I'm sure) I know plenty of individuals who are highly dedicated to the gaming community at so many different, individual levels. Though I have never taken an individual interest in video games, I always find it fascinating to read and learn about topics outside of my realm of experience and knowledge, which was what piqued my interest most about this title. Prior to having found his account on Instagram (@zoltanandrejkovics) I had never even heard of the term "eSports". However, after having read his eBook, it is clear that this name fits much better than other, conventional, titles. I feel that the term eSports (rather than "online gaming", "professional gaming", "competitive gaming", or "pro gaming") carries with it a higher level of respect and reverence for the amount of skill, focus, and determination it takes to become professionally successful within the eSports community - as detailed by Andrejkovics in his book.

While the premise of the book obviously centers around the eSports community, much of what Andrejkovics outlines as successful skills for gaming apply to many other areas of life. Over the course of the 10 chapters in his book, Andrejkovics touches on topics such as goal setting with intention, preparing mentally for achieving goals or facing obstacles, honing in on tactics and strategies that best help meet our goals, finding and maintaining internal motivators to persevere in the face of hardships, and keeping an open mindset to allow ourselves to be aware and objective in our emotions, actions, and interactions. Throughout my reading of his book, I found myself making connections with what he was speaking about in terms of eSports with aspects from my own personal life (health & fitness, career, relationships, etc.) He outlines many ideas and key concepts for gamers, from which a reader can draw motivational and inspirational quotes that can apply to every day life.

The chapters that spoke most to me were "Sensing" (being mindful of yourself, others, and the world around you), "Emotions" (allowing them to flow, yet channeling them in healthy ways), "Thoughts" (the power that they hold over our mind, body, actions, and reactions), and "Leaders and Captains" (as I found much of what he outlined in this chapter applicable to my life as a teacher). Much of what Andrejkovics discusses in these chapters reminded me heavily of my power yoga practice - ideas on being mindful in order to take an objective account of all areas of our lives in order to make more logical, positive, and growth-inspired decisions. He even incorporates yogic beliefs and ideals into his writing to add depth to a reader's understanding of how far back these concepts have been studied.

In the same vein, Andrejkovics also incorporates metaphors for those (like me) who understand best in more poetic, wordy terms, interdisciplinary connections for those who understand best in cross-curricular terms, hand-drawn visuals for those who understand best in more photographic terms, and also paraphrases from scientific studies for those who understand best in more linear, logical terms. As well, he intersperses quotes - some from well-known individuals - throughout his chapters that add to whatever the focus is for that specific section. Some of the quotes are labeled as to whom originally spoke them. Others, however, were unlabeled, and it was unclear as to whether this meant that they were from quoted anonymously or if they were phrases from Andrejkovics himself. 

At the end of the book, Andrejkovics adds a section titled "Key Thoughts" where he has collected the major take-aways from the reading and compiled them into a condensed list for the reader to easily flip back to and review. This list-form of his major concepts from the book help the reader to more concretely grasp the overall purpose of the book and can more readily access these details at any given time, as the need arises for a refresher. 

Overall, the book reads similar to a lifestyle/self-help piece that also provides insight into the mentality and motivation behind eSports professionals, as well as those who aspire to be or be like those professionals. On a grander scale, though, it was a good reminder for me (and hopefully for many others) of many traits, mindsets, habits, and behaviors that one can employ every day in order to experience a more motivated, driven, and positive journey through life. 

Book Review: My One Unexpected Love by Jess Winters

I was fortunate to receive an Advanced Realease Copy of the short story "My One Unexpected Love" by Jess Winters in exchange for an honest review. This short, fantasy story is a college romance that revolves around the premise of the mermaid princess, Sapphira, venturing into the human realm in order to prove herself worthy as a leader of her people and a guardian of the human race. On her first day in the human world she meets a male human named Danielle (Dan) who she immediately feels an innate and intimate connection to (much like the process of imprinting for those who are familiar with The Twilight Saga). The plot of the story centers around their meeting, interactions, and her inner conflict between keeping her species a secret while still exploring her feelings.

While neither fantasy nor romance are genres that I typically read, I have lately been trying to step outside of my comfort zone in terms of genre reading. This short story was a good cushioning beginning for me, as it allowed me to make it quickly through a story that I otherwise would not have picked up. The chapters are short (no more than 5 pages in length each) which makes the story an extremely quick read (40 pages total). The premise of the story did seem intriguing to me as a reader unfamiliar with these particular genres. However, because it is so short (both the chapters individually and the story as a whole) it left me feeling much more to be desired in terms of development, explanation, and detail. 

In the beginning scenes, the reader is introduced to Sapphira, her royal family, and their attendants within the mermaid realm. This opening scene reminded me much of Disney's version of The Little Mermaid (young, teen-aged mermaid daughter interacting with friends and attendants to leave the mermaid realm for the human world on dry land), though this could be because that is truly the only mermaid story I am familiar with. Sapphira's relationship to her parents, as well as the descriptions of her and her mermaid realm home seemed somewhat under-detailed while the imagery that was included seemed almost forced and out of place with the flow of the rest of the story. It made sense that the descriptions provided about Sapphira and her family sounded regal and elevated, but that seemed to contrast with the more colloquial dialogue that followed throughout the story. 

As well, the few descriptions in the beginning left me wondering more about Sapphira's past, her childhood, how she was brought up, her personality, her hobbies, and the background behind her familial and friendly relationships. As such, I was left with some confusion in understanding Winters' take on the mermaid race. It was unclear whether the royal family resided within the water or if the palace itself was surround by a pocket of magic that allowed the mermaids to remain in human form while home. Also, Sapphira at one point references "Lady Youle" and it is the only time within the story that this name is mentioned which left me wondering if this was a reference to mermaid myth and folklore or another character that was eventually erased from the released version of the story. As well, the author alludes to mermaids having supernatural powers such as telepathy, the power to conjure up items simply from thought, and something that Winters referes to "reorganization",  yet it is not clearly stated or detailed in terms of the limits or explanations of these abilities. Because of this lack of detail, it felt as though the author added these abilities as an afterthought. I feel that with a longer story (with this current short story version acting as the preliminary draft) Winters would be able to more fully develop the mermaid species and realm in much more detail, and also provide much more explanation into the character relationships and background to create a fully-developed and unique world into which a reader could immerse his or her self.

The characters themselves also felt under-developed as noted previously with my questions about Sapphira, her species, her family, and her friends. I also didn't quite understand why Dan seemed so formal around his adopted family when he seems, at the same time, to be so grateful at their having taken him in and speaks about them so reverentially. As my own parents have actively worked in the foster care system for almost 10 years, and have also adopted my two youngest brothers, it felt inauthentic that Dan would not talk about, interact with, and embrace the Stuart family (his foster family) as his own after living with them for the entirety of his teenage years. Much like the early scenes with Sapphira, the scenes with Dan and the Stuart family left me wondering more about Dan's early life with his biological parents, the time he spent with his first foster family (which remains unnamed), and more detailed development of the Stuart family themselves as well as his interrelationships with them.

It may have been due to my misunderstanding of the author's intentions with these characters, but their relationship seemed shallow and inauthentic. For example, in the middle chapters when Dan and Sapphira begin to interact and develop their relationship it seems rushed and incongruous. Early on in the story, Dan is described as a shy, introverted boy who does not have many close friends and is somewhat socially awkward. However, in the first "date" between him and Sapphira, Dan begins as his nervous, shy self, but then is suddenly confident, flirty, and overcome by his emotions and physical attractions so much that he then throws himself at Sapphira. This sudden change in his personality in this scene makes him sound overtly dominant in how he comes on to Sapphira and, with a lack of her own thoughts in the scene, can come off as non-consensual. As well, the description of their physical intimacy in this scene attempts to circumvent being too explicit while still addressing sexual desires and emotions which makes the scenes sound unconventionally naive.

Between chapters 7 and 8, it felt as though a large chunk of the story had been removed. The plot moves quite suddenly from Dan and Sapphira saying goodnight after the first date at the end of chapter 7, to Dan barging into Sapphira's room while she is half-dressed to rush her out the door to meet his foster family. The story seems to lack any development of Sapphira and Dan's actual relationship in getting to this point and it seems improbable, even in the throes of hormones at the age of 18, that the two would jump to this connection overnight. There is another 9 month time jump again between chapter 8 and 9 where there is no information about the development of their relationship, and all of a sudden their relationship is challenged with the only conflict the two fact throughout the entirety of the story as Dan discovers Sapphira's secret of being a mermaid. However, instead of developing this conflict into a complex story line, Winters quickly resolves the climax of the story by sweeping Dan's confusion and questions about Sapphira away when the two exchange their love vows at the end of the same chapter. Then in chapter 10, Dan and Sapphira are suddenly in the middle of their marriage ceremony where it is unclear whether they are on land or water and how they plan to make their relationship work within these two, very different worlds. These quick time jumps lacking in relational development in the short three chapters left me with the sense that I didn't quite understand the relationship between Dan and Sapphira, and made the relationship  itself seem rushed, childish, and ill-thought-out on the part of the characters.

Though Winters has some other short stories which she has released to the public, I have never read anything from her prior to this title. Therefore, I am unfamiliar with particular author's writing style. Personally, I found the writing hard to read which distracted from the overall sense of the story itself.  As a a native speaker of American English and an American English teacher, I found it difficult to get deep into the plot as there were many English language and conventional grammar errors that distracted my mind from delving fully into the author's imaginatively constructed world within the story. One glaring example is that one of the secondary characters named Armanian is called by his nickname at multiple points by Sapphira. However, it is sometimes spelled as Arny and other times spelled as Arni. There were also some grammar and punctuation oversights throughout which were distracting. In my opinion, some third-party editing of the story by a more fluent English language editor could help to counteract these distractions for future readers. 

Another disconnect resulting from the lack of detailed setting was that I found it difficult to infer where (geologically) the story took place. Please forgive me if this paragraph sounds ignorant and uncultured of me in not understanding the university format of other cultures; I am only familiar with American cultural standards and therefore found some of the information unlikely and improbable. For example, when Sapphira shows up for her first day of human college, Winters implies that the college has lockers for the students, which is highly improbable according to conventional American university campuses. Winters somewhat tries to explain this by detailing how the college also serves as a high school campus (where Dan was in attendance as a high school student and now as a university student) but this setup seemed highly unlikely according to American cultural norms, as well. I could be wrong, but I'm not sure many parents would feel comfortable sending their 14-17 year old sons and daughters to the same campus as young men and women in their early 20s, so I'm not sure a campus such as that conceived by Winters in the story could thrive in attendance.  And while I understand that it is a fictional story and setting, these seemed to too closely mirror true society for me to allow for the suspension of belief on these parts. Another disconnect that stuck out to me was when speaking of some of the college courses that Sapphira and Dan take together, the other refers to their "Maths" course, while in American English this title would sound incorrect. Due to the lack of development in the detail of the setting of the story, it was hard to tell if these were oversights in detailing the setting story or if the story takes place in a location and culture where the seeming disparities are more conventional. 

Overall, the basic idea for the story was quite interesting. While much of this may sound as if I didn't enjoy the story, that is not true. The premise of the story, as noted earlier, definitely intrigued me. I was simply left wanting more from the length and development of the story. I hope that Winters turns this short story into a longer, novel-length book that can help the reader to more fully understand her imaginative, mermaid tale (puns!). 

Book Review: Ava Coulise & the Time Pieces by Heather Rose Walters

Back in the beginning of August, I discovered one of the most creative storytellers on the Instagram (bookstagram) community that I have yet to find. Heather Rose Walters' story, Ava Coulise & The Time Pieces, is a work of fiction told in extremely short chunks. The story is about a girl names Ava Coulise (obviously) who embarks on a journey that takes her not only to distant places, but also - as the title suggests - through time, as well. Ava inherits a watch from her now-deceased grandfather, and after hearing his many stories about jumping through time and changing the past - most of which she assumed to be tall tales - Ava decides to take on these same adventures herself. In an attempt to fix her grandfather's mistakes and to find her long-gone sister (an added mystery element within the plot), Ava teams up with a few other characters familiar with her family's unique time-travelling tendencies in order to set things right again.

While reading Ava's story I was reminded of Scarlet from Marissa Meyers' The Lunar Chronicles. They are similar in the context of family loyalty, adventure driven by searching for a beloved family member, and then having those adventures through France. As well, though, the sci-fi time jump aspects of the story were reminiscent of The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger meets a more contemporary version of Hermione's time turner in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. As Ava travels through time, the different adventures she undertakes allow the reader to feel as if reading a historical fiction piece. While the short trips to the past are not elaborately detailed in the way a longer work of historical fiction would be, these snippets into past lives still provide a change in setting and the new characters within those settings reveal enough to the reader to know which time period is emerging within that scene.

While the stories are reminiscent of these characters, plot lines, and literary elements, they do not - in ANY way - seem shallowly contrived nor do they hinder the story or character development. Rather, Walters seems to take the differing elements of these components and meld them seamlessly into a completely unique take on these timeless (pun certainly intended) story elements. It is important to note, though, that I do not know whether or not Walters gained any of her inspiration from these stories. They were simply recalled from my own memory while reading Walters' work. I thought it would be notable here in terms of giving interested readers an idea of the vibes of this particular piece of writing.

Each time Walters posts a new chunk of the story, she posts it on Instagram which allows her incorporate a photo that alludes to the plot in that section of reading. The photos are also manipulated slightly to include the number of the chapter that corresponds with that given post (an easy guide for those who follow the story). The images are often full of natural beauty and add intrigue to reading the newest section of the story, though they rarely reveal any major plot details too far in advance.

I love visuals that accompany a reading; a picture truly is worth a thousand words. And as a logophile I also believe that you can draw even more than those thousand words out of yourself after looking at an inspiring visual. I implement images to inspire and accompany writing prompts quite often in the classes I teach (I teach high school English). And as I writer myself, I often find beauty and inspiration in the visual aspects of the world around me rather than the inner workings of my own imagination. Therefore, I was curious to know which came first for Walters' creative process - the story or the photo.

As noted, she is quite active in the Instagram bookstagram community. Therefore, I simply reached out to her on her account and asked. Her response is as follows:
"...usually the story comes first, but occasionally the photo will happen and lead the story a little [...] when I first started the project I used images from unsplash.com because I am a writer first and photography really intimidated me. Then I started trying it out, occasionally editing the unsplash photos, then attempting to take a few of my own. [...] Then I started enjoying photography and doing it more and more! Then I decided to commit to only ever using my own imagery, Which is the rule I hold to now."
Her response reinforced to me how much inspiration, imagination, creativity, talent, and sense of adventure it truly takes to be a dedicated writer of any genre. Her ideas for Ava's stories and adventures, the talent she has in storytelling, and the willingness to take on a new skill (photography) in order to enhance her stories and promote them in a unique way show that Heather Rose Walters is truly a creative mind.

The story starts en media res and was somewhat difficult to understand the first time I read through the beginning chapters. I am the kind of reader who likes to understand all of the details as I begin to dive into a story, so I found the ambiguity of the beginning somewhat off-putting at first. However, as I got further into the chapters, the story began to unfold in a way that made the beginning details click better. I found myself re-reading these beginning chapters multiple times to try to put all of the pieces together (again, pun intended - you will only get it when you read the story). As such, though, I was still unable to answer all of my questions: How does Ava know how to use the watch? How does she know how to fix the timepieces? How do Charlie and Abe know so much about Ava's family and heritage? But with each continuous question I found myself asking, I realized that these are probably all details that can be answered as the plot develops and the storytelling continues. I'm hoping that as the story continues, Walters reveals more and more about Ava's background and family, the interrelationship between Charlie, Abe, and Ava, and even more about Cece's background as well (what happened in her life that made her so manipulative and cruel?!).

Readers can download a PDF copy of the first 90 installments of Ava Coulise & the Time Pieces at the following link: http://www.heatherrosewalters.com/ava-coulise-part-i. While this medium is easiest to read (in terms of having all of the story in front of you at once), it does not include the same visuals as Walters' Instagram account (@storiesforbreakfast). While reading the PDF on my tablet, I kept my phone handy to indulge in the photos at the same time to enhance my reading experience. I would suggest to interested readers that you find a way to incorporate Walters' Instagram images into your own reading of the story, as well, as it creates a different overall experience.

Again, Walters' Instagram handle is @storiesforbreakfast and when I first heard the account name, I interpreted it as an author whose dedication was found by being determined  to write something every morning (hence, stories for breakfast). Whether or not this is true of Heather Rose Walters, I cannot say, and though this may not be a story in the traidtional sense, as I sit at my own laptop and watch the sun rise out my back window I am nonetheless thankful for the inspiration she has brought me.