The idea is simple: on the last Friday of each month, post about the best book you’ve finished over the past month while visiting other bloggers doing the same. In this way, we’ll all have the opportunity to share our thoughts with other enthusiastic readers. Please join us below.
“I’m late, I’m late. Late for a very important date.” (or something like that.) ~The White Rabbit
So, all month-long I’ve been reminding myself not to miss this post, and sure enough, that’s exactly what I did. Oh well, I tried. I’ve been doing a self-assigned graphic novel read-a-thon this month and I’m down to wire trying to squeeze in as many books as I can before nightfall on Wednesday. Of course, this would also be the month that my creative juices would start to flow, but I just don’t have enough time in the day. In any case, I’ll tell you what has been my favorite read so far, but I don’t have a full review for you yet. So sorry for that….
Below I’ve listed its stats, blurb, and my overall rating; however, I will say that the artwork in this book is so beautiful that even if the story wasn’t that great, I probably would have given it a 4.5 stars with an asterisk.
Title: Montress, Vol. 1: Awakening Series: Montress #1 Author: Marjorie M. Liu & others Artist: Sana Takeda Genre: Fantasy, Graphic Novel Pages: 192 Reading Level: Teen-Adult Content: R (strong language, violence, brutality, crime, war, adult and mature situations, brief partial nudity, oppression)
Set in an alternate matriarchal 1900’s Asia, in a richly imagined world of art deco-inflected steampunk, MONSTRESS tells the story of a teenage girl who is struggling to survive the trauma of war, and who shares a mysterious psychic link with a monster of tremendous power, a connection that will transform them both.
Collects MONSTRESS #1-6
I give this book a 5.
Please stop by and see what others have read. 😀
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords
This time around, I took the writing prompt to heart and made sure to actually include the words in my story. I hope you find this piece amusing and will consider the request I’ve posted at the end. So glad to be back in the WEP challenge again. It’s the best writing challenge I’ve come across.
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Anybody, Save Me
How can my throat be so parched when I’m surrounded by water? No matter how hard I try I keep gulping down pounds and pounds of sharp grains. Throbbing constricts my efforts to push forward. My nostrils blister as the particles scratch and burn my nasal passage. The notion of weightlessness is but a faint, cruel, memory now. My feet are lead; my hands are clawing nubs. Coarseness rushes to my lungs and punches out any remaining air leaving behind only a saline sludge. Stabbing blindness and stinging deafness are also claimed by the sludge and I know now, I’m in way too deep. This must be what it feels like to drown at sea.
But, wait. There’s something pulling me. It’s pulling me down even further than I thought possible, aiding the death that lingers in my final thoughts. No one should have to experience their last seconds of existence so vividly. Why – am – I – not – dead – ye…?
>Ping<
What was that? Where am I? Why aren’t I dead?
>Ping. Ping.<
Wait. I can see. I can hear. What the heck? I can breathe, but I’m still under water. Wonder if I can talk?
Yep. I must still be pretty deep. All the colors are somehow a bit grey. But… it’s not cold. At least I don’t feel cold. He he he. I do feel weightless though. I feel like I could float, maybe even fly. Ha ha he he. There’s no reason I should be feeling this good. Pretty sure I just drowned to death, but …
Whoa, am I seriously bound? What the effen heck is happening? Why am I chained to the – the – I guess, the sea floor?
Did I seriously just see a green fish person whoosh up to me? “What the holy heck are you?”
“Oh, my love. My sweet mortal. I am your savior?”
“Uh, no you’re not.” Are its eyes fluttering at me? “You’re some magic welding sea monster who brought me back from a death I was just beginning to accept. Please, I beg you. Send me back to my doom?”
“Aren’t you silly. I know this will be quite an adjustment, but once you acclimate, everything will be fine. You’ll see. You’ll be happy here with me.”
“No. This isn’t right. I died. I should be dead.” I sure as heck shouldn’t be trapped by a sea monster. “I’m guessing you’re a nice sea monster and all, but I’m pretty certain what’s dead is supposed to stay that way.”
“First of all, I’m not a monster; just because I look different from you. Secondly, you died a horrible death and I saved you. Would you really rather go back to being a bloated sinking corpse?
A bloated corpse sounds terrible, but if I’m dead, it’s not like I’ll know. This situation, on the other hand, is downright scary. “Sorry, you’re right. I had no right to call you a monster. It’s just that I’m not used to talking to creatures with scales and green skin. Oh, is creature offensive?”
“No, creature is fine. Besides, you’re my favorite creature in all the world. That’s why I saved you.”
“But, don’t you see. You didn’t save me. You brought me back to life. Why would you do that?”
>Ping. Ping.<
“Oh goodness me. I’m so glad I set these alarms. We’ll be late if we don’t hurry.”
“Late for what? You haven’t told me why you brought me back. And while you’re at it, why can I breathe underwater now?”
“Oh you, silly guppy. We’ll have our whole lives to learn about each other. We really must hurry.”
“What do you mean we have our whole lives? Please, for all that is decent in this crazy world, will you tell me what’s going on?”
“Fine. If you must know, I’m Fae of the sea. I grant wishes from time to time. And your wish was irresistible.”
“My wish? What wish?”
“Your last dying request. ‘Somebody, anybody, save me! My lover’s trying to kill me! Save me, please! Save me! I’ll do anything to repay you!’”
“Wait. I didn’t say those words to you. I was pleading for my life. I was being thrown overboard. I wanted someone to pull me out.”
“Well, I heard your plea, and unfortunately I can’t pull people out. I can only pull them down. I also can’t restore human lives, but I can reshape a mortal soul into something else. You have been given a second chance. A new life among the merfolk. A life you will spend wed to me.”
“Wait, merfolk? Wed? What the holy…” I can’t believe a scaly webbed hand just mushed my face.
“Sorry, we don’t look like your human fairy tales. But when you live this deep, what do you expect?
So, I tried something a little different this time. I wanted to be as descriptive as possible while not using any gender-specific words. I was hoping to tell a story where the reader could decide for themselves the sex/gender of the characters, but I’m not really sure if I pulled it off. I’ve seen other writers try to use gender-neutral pronouns, but most of these efforts have left me feeling disconnected from the story. When I thought I didn’t like romance and could never write it, I challenged myself to dive in and do it. While the work I produced may not be award-winning, it’s not too bad and it’s made me appreciate the genre and those who write it so much more. So that’s what I’m trying today. I’m diving in to see if I can write a gender-neutral story and have it actually make sense. Please let me know if this worked or not; this really is a learning experience for me.
Updated 2/28/18
I’m so honored to receive this recognition!
If anyone is interested in the finale to my five-part series, Music My Muse, head over to A Small Gang of Authors to check it out.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords
This is a special post I do once a month to highlight a book I reviewed some time ago, but never actually featured on my blog. Because this is an author blog and not a book blog, I don’t always feature all the books I read. Like all good and dedicated fans of the written word, I do my part and leave reviews on Goodreads.com, Amazon.com, and sometimes other places, but don’t always bring attention to what I’m reading, unless you follow me onYouTube… hint, hint, wink wink 😉 In any case, please enjoy this review of a book I read at some point in my life.
~
Today’s flashback review is a little special but mostly because today is International Authors Day. I’m featuring a review of a book from an author I really like.
~
Goodreads
Title: Firebound
Series: Spellbringers #2
Author: Tricia Drammeh
Genre: Urban Fantasy Romance, Paranormal
Pages: 285
Reading Level: Teen
Content: PG-13 (violence, sensuality, brief mild sexual content, dark and mature themes, adult situations, suspense)
In book one my heart went out to Bryce who seemed to be misunderstood, but in book 2 I really fell in love with Alisa. She’s the only character with no power of her own, yet she seems to be the strongest of them all. Depending on how you look at it, Alisa is the reason the Alexander family is as mighty as they are. In their society of magic and Spellbringers, their connection to this one human keeps them all from becoming monsters… I may be exaggerating a bit, but in any case, I really adore Alisa.
Rachel, on the other hand, is a character that despite her many many flaws, I can’t hate but don’t exactly love her. I feel for her in many ways, but she seems to be a bit self-destructive. Like all self-destructive people, she also hurts others as a result. The one thing she seems to have going for her is the fact that she is apparently the most powerful being on the planet though she hasn’t realized the extent of her powers. As destructive as she is, I still like her more than Jace.
It’s not that I don’t like Jace. I feel a bit indifferent about this character. I can see that he will continue to grow as the story develops, but for now, he’s a pretty face, decent brother, and good son.
The action of this book is much more involved, which I didn’t think was possible. Alisa and Bryce struggle to be close yet so far apart. After he speaks the claiming words to her, they crave each other but can’t share each other or live together. Alisa is forgetting what an independent person she used to be and Bryce is clinging to her affection so he won’t turn to the dark side. Yeah, whoa!
Rachel has the best of intentions trying to protect her brother but she has to know that going on dream dates with a demon isn’t going to end well. Plus, there’s more than one demon after her. When, Alisa, the only human in the bunch has to risk her life to save Rachel, things heat up in more ways than one. What a perfect end to this installment and a grand enticement for the next.
I think I enjoyed this one just as much as the first. Highly recommended again.
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