One for the Money, Two for the Soul (Brent Lindstrorm)

I didn’t have high expectations when I began reading this, but it has become one of the best books I've read this year.

It hooked me from the start, and although I drifted a bit in the middle, the build to the climax was amazing, and it was a very satisfying read at the end.

During a botched body and soul snatching operation, something went awry as a girl found half of her spirit gone. This is not a Bart Simpson-esque gig of selling his soul for five dollars to his friend, but it’s the literal meaning that something is missing from her head.

To be honest, it was hard for me to read about her antic, and this part felt a bit dragging. The character became much more endearing later on, but it was hard for me to believe that someone could put up with her for years while struggling to keep the children's home open, especially when her own father fell into despair, which was heartbreaking.

Her other missing soul went on a totally different journey as someone at the other end of the trait, where it was put inside a boy's body and trained to be a soulless assassin. While this sounds like a type of Michael Bay movie, I assure you that the characters and stories go much deeper than I had hoped.

Each character has their own distinction, even Theo the fat-flowing turd and great toadstool (love those) has his own depth, despite the limited screen time as the bottom feeder. Nome is a very interesting villain as well. I like getting inside his head, and he is not the typical mustache-twirling villain, while Burt and Cotton unexpectedly shine at the end.

The shenanigans when everyone comes together in a messed-up situation, the story idea, and the intriguing questions it poses make this a brilliant read. As a dystopian Sci-Fi writer myself, this is up my alley, and I hope to see this made into a movie one day. All the actions and tensions are above the industry standard nowadays, and we need more of this instead of the stale products we have out there currently. The multiple PoVs work well, and this is a very well-written gem.

 5 out of 5 stars

BOOK REVIEW: Round the World: A Life of Jeanne Baret (C.R. Hurst)

 

Round the World A Life of Jeanne Baret is a historical fiction about the character Jeanne, as she embarked on the trip that brings us along around the globe.

I applaud the amount of research that was dedicated to this book. This is the trip that many would never experience, even in modern times, so one could imagine how important it was back then.

While I understand that it was probably done to maintain accuracy and details, I wish the character were more relatable because instead of experiencing the journey through her eyes, I felt detached. There was barely any emotion, consideration, turmoil, but systematic thoughts and actions. I had no idea what she feels, her motivations, and what keeps her going, but the day-to-day, trip-to-trip technicality. People who are supposed to be important from her past are barely mentioned and seem to influence nothing along her journey until she is back with them. For example, I had no idea who Hubert was when he was mentioned again at the end of the book after one mention in the beginning. For his importance, especially when she reflects on her past with him and her decision to come back to the place, she never thinks of him throughout the other milestones of her life, which, imo, should be a very important detail.

There is also a mention of a particular flower that is very identifiable as Amorphophallus titanum as a huge, tall, green and red flower with a yellow pistil and a putrid, rotten cheese smell that is found in Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro. However, Tirta Arum, the common name of this flower, is endemic to Sumatra, Indonesia, and was first discovered in 1878, almost a decade after the time period of this book. I wouldn’t discount the possibility that it is only the official record, but one would wonder that for someone as famous as her in her field and a plant as peculiar as this one, this should be at least documented. While this is a small detail in the book, it would catch the eyes of people who might be familiar with it.

Having said that, readers to enjoy exploration journeys would find this book informative and inspiring.

3.5 stars out of 5

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I’m always impressed with people who have a lot in their lives but still maintain their positivity. As a contrast, I see many whine about every single inconvenient thing that happens to them to get attention.

I have just met a friend who survived cancer, hopefully it’s gone forever. We have been friends for over two decades, but just like with my other friends, we are not the type who contact each other daily, weekly, or even monthly. However, when we have an opportunity to meet, everything flows, and it feels like we have just met yesterday. For some reason, all my strong relationships are like that. We are not overly attached, but we are there when we need each other.

Everyone faces their challenges differently. To see the way she recalled the story, I was the one hanging my jaw because she had gone through such a shitty time from how she found out to her treatments, but she told it just like some inconvenience with jokes and laughter. I guess it helped a lot that she had good support around her, but her own attitude must have helped tremendously.

She is cleared now, but she has a long recovery journey ahead of her and has to learn to walk properly again. We are back to being thousands of kilometers away, each facing our own challenges in our lives. I hope we have plenty of opportunities to share laughter again in the future and to be as strong as her.

If you are one of those who are struggling with something you don’t talk about, I wish you strength and support, and know you have my admiration.

BOOK REVIEW: Collapse Years (Damir Solkovic)

Collapse Years is a book I would recommend for anyone who is looking for a good quality short stories. It exceeds my expectation, I like all the tales and how they are presented.

Touching deep and mature subjects, the stories are well-written, but the strongest factor of all is how every tale is presented through the lens of characters who experience it directly. It gives closeness, attachment, and readers are able to read along as if they are there.

The tales are dark and heavy, but they’re right up my alley. I also like that it explores various places and cultures. There are some minor nitpicks, like the first story is based on Indonesian culture, but chopstick is not the common utensil, especially not used to eat goreng, which is a term to describe how the food is prepared instead of the food. Komang is also a Balinese name, an area that has a very defined culture. It refers to the third child, while it’s not the case in the story, and usually, they would use the same way of naming for the first child as well. It can be important since there are a plethora of ghost types in the country, and Bali has its own, which doesn’t seem to be the type told in the story.

Almost every story ends on the right note. I can imagine this would make a good anthology for a TV series, similar to Black Mirror, but more realistic and sociological.

5 stars out of 5

BOOK REVIEW: Dusk (Mrs. Kimberly Tashner Shyu)

 

 

I didn’t have much expectation when I read the book, and I only read the blurb after I finished the book. I’m glad I did it that way.

The book follows a main character, Theo, in his younger days through his perspective, and the older him through the perspective of his android caretaker, set around five decades into the future.

The revelation between the two PoVs is clever, and the way the story goes back and forth, one moving to the future and the other reminiscing about the past, works well. It weaves readers into the plot, giving enough but not too much, with many intriguing world-building along the way. I kept thinking about 3 Body Problem, although it’s not similar, but imo, exploring humanity and how we deal with invasion threats are much more intriguing than the cliche Sci-Fi with green alien, especially when there is a relatable character with their ordinary lives. Older Theo is heartbreaking to read.

The characters are distinguishable and very believable. The only setback in this brilliant book, imho, is the ending. I like the ending, however, I don’t think there is enough build-up, not in terms of quantity, but more in potential and possibility. I feel that the attempt to hide the twist backfires a bit and dangerously leans into character inconsistency.

4.5 rounded up to 5

BOOK REVIEW: Treading Water (Jane C.R.Reid)

 Treading Water is an intricate tale that focuses on relationship between Saul, his wife, and his ex-mistress trying to rekindle their old relationship.

It's a tale as old as time. Most likely, everyone has seen, read, or encountered something like this before. However, what makes the book good is the consistency and realism of the characters. They maintain their respective traits like manipulative, doubtful, erratic, etc throughout the book and nothing is over the top, the scenario is very plausible and while personally the ending doesn't feel as satisfactory as what I would hope, it's a very realistic one.

There are hidden questions brought out but not addressed in detail, which is not necessary but it's good to ask in sync with reality, something probably controversial but shouldn't imho: should a man have a say in a situation when a fling ends up in pregnancy?

 

 

 

BOOK REVIEW: The Christmas Getaway (Flavia Labre)

 

The Christmas Getaway tells a story through two POVS: Bruno and Laura. They decide to spend Christmas in Bruno's family's holiday house, where Bruno plans to propose.

I think the author did a good job portraying the characters' body language and expressions, showing how they feel and what they think instead of telling them. The writing flows, and these two are the strongest factors of the book.

I can't decide whether this book is too short or too long, because by the time I have read 50% of the book, readers are none the wiser about what is going on, yet I have predicted the correct second half of the book. Imo, it's more optimal to be a short story since the effort to hide the character's real intentions from the readers becomes contradictory at the end. We are in the characters' heads in their own PoV, they shouldn't be tricky with their own actions. For example, without spoiling anything, Laura shouldn't clean the dishes first before doing the other thing.

If it's expanded to a longer story, more plots would be needed, but the potential is there.

4 out of 5 stars