The nth Day by Jonathan Huls

When I first read the synopsis of the book, I was really intrigued. I liked the idea of God, or a version of God being reborn in our present world and time. Despite the original ideas, I had a really hard time getting through the whole book.  For the most part, the story was captivating, and I always wanted to know what happened next. However, despite the fascinating scenes, it was too difficult to overlook certain things.

First off, let me say I'm usually ok with a certain amounts of gore and horror. In this book, however, it was it was too vulgar and gory for my tastes. A character getting stabbed in a testicle? I really don't need to read that. Another character getting emasculated after an accident? I see a pattern forming here. And it's not just the gore. I thought it was tasteless to include a scene where a little girl is almost rapped by a foster parent. I had to skip over most of the scene. I can understand if it needs to happen in order to further the story, but please don't make me read through it like any other regular scene.

Justin is by far the most interesting character that I've read in while, I'll give you that. I like that it's never really clear whether he's simply a supernatural deity or if he's actually God with a capital "G". I also like that he was born from immaculate conception. I'm not a religious person so I really don't care whether it's blasphemous or not. Then again, the joke about getting it in the "wrong hole" was another tasteless matter. It's quite interesting to see Justin go from a very serene and beautiful baby, to a trouble-making pre-adolescent. However, as a god, when Justin throws a tantrum, bad things happen which sometimes extends to the entire world. The repercussions can be minor, such as changing most of the population's eyes to brilliant emerald green, or catastrophic, like the disappearance of all money and currency.

The timeline is a little confusing. One moment Justin is a toddler, the next he's a little bit older. How old isn't very clear so it's hard to judge the passage of time. Cassie's timeline is as confusing. She survives an atrocious upbringing as a toddler and then she's thrown into foster care. Her amount of time in foster care isn't very clear and her age only guessed by another character towards the end of the book. As Justin's journey converges with Theodore and Cassie's storylines, I really thought things were going to escalate and lead to something meaningful. However, when the story ended, I was confused and left searching for the point. It feels like there wasn't really any meaning to the story, except destruction and chaos.

Also, the actual writing felt a little clumsy. Like I mentioned, it was difficult to follow the timelines, and the passage of time. The story could have used a little bit more editing and a little less thesaurus use. If you want to say blood, simply use the world blood. Don't describe it as hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is a protein in your red blood cells, which is a composition of blood itself. Another grammar error that I couldn't ignore was "genetically disposed" instead of "genetically predisposed." Whether that error was done purposely or not, I'm not sure, but I just couldn't overlook it. My spelling and grammar is far from perfect but I expect a little better from published books.

Overall, the ideas in the novel were interesting but could have used a little bit more finesse and little bit more editing. If gore isn't for you, I would stay clear of this book. Honestly, I can't think of any books to compare it to. It's definitely original, but in this case, that's not necessarily a good thing.

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by Tynga at Monday, January 11, 2016

 Apocalypse, Author, Duvinchi Media Group, god, horror, Jonathan Huls, Review  1 Person left their mark

✎

The Mesmerized by Rhiannon Frater

I've been a fan of Rhiannon Frater ever since I read her As the World Dies zombie apocalypse trilogy a few years back. THE MESMERIZED may not be my favorite novel of hers but the writing is on par with her other books. In this novel, the apocalypse has arrived in a weird plague like storm but instead of zombies, most of the population become entranced, or mesmerized, and start walking in one direction, as if they had only one purpose but no control over their body. They become mindless shells which leads to destruction of cities and the crumbling of societies. The main character, Minji, is one of the very few that is still conscious and able to control her own body. She sets out to save her family, her daughter and her husband among the many mesmerized.

Personally, I find this idea of the apocalypse very frightening. At least with zombies you know what you're dealing with but in the case of the mesmerized, it's very difficult to see who you're fighting against. An act of terrorism or a supernatural plague are theorized but nobody really knows what is going on. The mesmerized hordes don't seem dangerous. Many are dying but deaths are all self-inflicted because the mindless drones don't know what they are doing or walking into. The unknown is very frightening but for Minji, finding the cure is the one and only thing that's on her mind. One of my greatest fears is to lose my mind or lose my memory so an event like this would probably be up there on my list of worse apocalypses ever.

As mentioned earlier, the writing is amazing. The descriptive narrative is very well done. Rhiannon Frater is a genius when it comes to describing horrible scenes, and I mean that as a compliment. One can only think of her opening scene in First Days, the first book of her zombie trilogy, where she describes a child's little fingers trying to scratch their way out from under the front door of a house. In THE MESMERIZED, obviously the situation is a little different, but the intensity and the emotion felt in the first minutes of the plague is due to the wonderful writing. I could feel Minji's horror and her intense desire to assemble her family and keep them safe. It's strange that for a good part of the beginning of the plague, Minji was literally on her own, despite being surrounded by the mesmerized. This part should have been difficult to read because of the lack of dialogue but fortunately, Rhiannon's strong narrative allows you to overlook this lack and become absorbed in the story. Eventually, Minji finds other people that are immune, like her, but for the time she was alone, we obviously had to rely on Rhiannon's great narrative.

A strong female lead is typical for this author and I wouldn't expect anything less. I love how Minji is a no nonsense character and deals wonderfully with the apocalypse. Her fear is very real, and you can see how she fights to stay strong for her family, but you can also tell she's often moments away from a breakdown. The other characters are not as well developed but their own unique story has you sympathize for them and their situation.

The setting for the majority of the novel was perfect. "This was Las Vegas, a place that never slept, but it now appeared empty and abandoned by the living." Vegas is the city that never sleeps, the city of sin and you would think if one city needed to be purged of sin, it would be Las Vegas. Unfortunately, Vegas isn't the only city affected. The mesmerized seem to be appearing in different cities, at different times, in different waves.

Overall, the characters were wonderful, the writing exceptional and the story original. Fans of Rhiannon Frater will be pleased to read something completely new and new readers will be stunned by the impressive, yet terrifying novel.

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by Tynga at Sunday, October 05, 2014

 Apocalypse, horror, Permuted Press, Publisher, Review, Rhiannon Frater  Leave your mark

✎

Married With Zombies by Jesse Petersen

I’ve been binge watching The Walking Dead lately so that made me revisit my favorite zombie novels, MARRIED WITH ZOMBIES. Since it’s nothing like the famous AMC TV show, I would say the only thing they have in common is zombies. However, this is the book that started my fascination with zombies. Before, I was a little disgusted/afraid of them but now, I simply see them as unfortunate beings that can sometimes bring comedy in books like MARRIED WITH ZOMBIES.

I guess you can say the book begins like any contemporary book where a couple is having marital issues. Sarah and David have been seeing a couple’s therapist about their problems and they were actually on their way to therapy when they first discovered the apocalypse was upon them. The whole scenario is actually quite funny and ironic because what was making their marriage fail was their ordinary life, while what eventually makes them a stronger unit is the end of the world. And the most ironic thing is that what really begins their reconciliation is actually killing their marriage counselor turned zombie.

I would say Jesse Petersen’s comedy is really original. I’ve never encountered another book that’s quite like it. The humor and the zombie-ness is balanced perfectly and she is able to pull off the comedy really well, in what could have been a disastrous attempt to make light of a difficult genre to write. I really admire her ability to make you laugh and keep things light, while still making her hero and heroine fight off hordes of zombies. And she’s not afraid of gruesome details. And what’s even better is the fact that the humour is actually the kind of humour that makes you laugh out loud and make you stop reading because you have the absorb the greatness of the hilarity. It’s not just haha filler-type comedy.

Sarah and David’s quest to find safety makes them depend on one another. Their hope, not only to survive this thing, but their hope for their relationship makes this somewhat a romantic story. It does have those chick-lit moments but for those of you who stay clear of those, they are few and far between. It’s still nice to read about their relationship and how it evolves throughout the novel.

If you’re remotely interested in zombies, you definitely have to read this book. If you’re curious about zombies, you definitely have to read this book. If you’re crazy about zombies, you definitely  have to read this book. If you think zombies aren’t your thing, you have to at least try it, please! It will most probably change your opinion about zombies. This is without a doubt, my favorite zombie book and series. You can’t get any better than this!

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by Tynga at Sunday, April 27, 2014

 Apocalypse, Hachette, Jesse Petersen, Living With the Dead, Orbit, Purchased, Review, Zombie, Zombies  2 People left their mark

✎

Iced by Karen Marie Moning

I was actually a little bit anxious to read this book. Published over a year ago, I wanted to buy the paperback anyways to match my other books, so even if the hardcover was available at my local library, I kept putting it off. To be honest, as a huge fan of the Fever series, I didn't want to read this first book of the spin-off series and be disappointed. In the other books, the main character of this spin-off series, Dani, wasn't really my favorite person and I didn't know how I felt about leaving Mac behind as the main character for the first time. Despite my apprehension, I ended it up really enjoying ICED, and to my surprise, I even started to like Dani, even with all her faults.

I think my major issue with Dani is the fact that she's a fourteen year old, playing the role of main character in an adult series. Her teenage ramblings and immature stunts can get a little annoying but I think I've started to look past that because she's actually a really funny character. Her spunk and her courage make her a true hero, in the real sense of the word, because with her super-strength, super-hearing, super-vision and super-speed, it makes her look almost invincible. Like any super-hero, she has her faults and vulnerabilities, and one of them is the fact that she's always putting others before herself, and she's always trying to save the world, one person at a time. Going back to the fact that she's fourteen years old, I don't think this book is appropriate for young adults with all the sexual references and the naked men. Sure, some young adults might end up reading it, but I'm just saying.

One issue I had with the book is its pace. The story felt slow at times and the build up seemed very gradual. To be honest, I think some scenes could have been cut out or at least edited without the teenage ramblings that were quite repetitive at times. Despite this, the anticipation was definitely there, and even if it was slow, the story still kept me interested. Sometimes I really appreciate a slow build up because it keeps me in the story that much longer, and in this case, I really didn't mind.

The writing was your typical Karen Marie Moning, with all the humour and sarcasm from her previous books. Dani is like Mac (from the original series) in so many ways, and I think that is a reflection from Moning's writing. I was surprised on how much I enjoyed reading about Ryodan, the mystery man (or whatever he is...) that owns the only bar worth visiting in post-apocalyptic Dublin. Ever since the wall between the human world and the fae world collapsed, everyone has been flocking his club called Chester's; humans for the thrill of interacting with the fae, and the fae to prey off humans.

Dani and Ryodan make an unlikely team and together they investigate the mysterious "ice" attacks that have been killing both fae and humans. And since these icey attacks could be one of the few things that can kill Ryodan, he wants as much help as possible to get to the bottom of it. Even if it means he has to endure Dani's antics. You can really feel the tension between these characters and I think Moning is a pro at describing feelings and developing these scenes, without really naming what's going on between the characters. Obviously a romantic relationship between a fourteen year old and an ancient being (who knows how old Ryodan really is...) would be a little weird but you can definitely tell there's something there. It's actually kind of funny to see how jealous Ryodan can get about Dani being friends with the teenage boy-genius, Dancer, and how he refuses that the half Unseelie Prince/half highlander, Christian be anywhere near Dani. This makes for a complicated love triangle/love-square but oh so interesting.

With everything I've said, it might sound like I didn't enjoy this book, but on the contrary, I think ICED is a great addition to the Fever world. This is just me being critical about something I really liked. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to newcomers, but it's a definite must for all fans of the Fever series. Usually, I'm a huge fan of spin-off series because it's a way to explore a literary world you love, through a different point of view and with new characters. In this case, the story is completely different from the original series, while still keeping true to the original world. Moning fans, add this one to your list!

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by Tynga at Sunday, March 02, 2014

 Adult, Apocalypse, Dani O'Malley, Dell, Faeries, Fever, Karen Marie Moning, Paranormal, Purchased, Random House, Review  3 People left their mark

✎