Review of Precisely Terminated

The Cantral Chronicles: Precisely Terminated
By Amanda L. Davis

Publisher: Living Ink Books®
Summery:
[From back Cover]

With Microchips implanted in their skulls at birth, the slaves of Cantral and Cillineese have labored under the tyrannical rule of the nobles and their computers for centuries. Monica, a noble who avoided the implanting and escaped a death sentence at the age of four, is now sixteen and is in hiding. She lives with the slaves inside the walls of the Cantral palace, pretending to be one of them while the slave council plots a way to use her chip-less state to destroy the all-powerful computers that strike down any hint of rebellion.

The fate of millions rides on Monica’s shoulders. As the only chip-less person in the world, she must find a way to destroy the computers and free Cillineese from the nobles’ iron fist before they strike with the ultimate punishment—death for everyone inside the city walls.

Introduction:

Amanda L. Davis is the daughter of Bryan Davis, the author of Dragons in Our Midst, and Echoes from the Edge. I reviewed the first book in the Echoes from the Edge series earlier on this blog. Bryan Davis is one of my favorite authors, and I do keep up with the books he is working on, though there are so many, I haven’t been able to buy them all or read them all yet! I heard through Facebook that his daughter, Amanda, had also published a book, and I wondered what it would be like. Would it be filled with dragons like her father’s books? Would it be a fantasy world? So, I looked up the book, and saw the title, Precisely Terminated. How cool is that title, by the way? I also heard it was a dystopian. They’re very popular right now, but the only one I’ve read, besides Amanda Davis’ book, is The Hunger Games. So, it’s not a genre I know too much about. I’m more of a fantasy/adventure reader. This is also the first dystopian by a Christian author that I have heard about. There may be more, but so far I haven’t come across any.

The way Amanda L. Davis came up with the idea of this story is quite interesting. I’ve heard her story from the videos she posted from the book tour she and her father went on. She said that she actually dreamt the whole first chapter, names for the characters, and title of the book one night. That is quite amazing. It’s like the story was given to her!

Precisely Terminated is the first book in a trilogy. The second book is called Noble Imposter, and the third is Viral Execution, but is still in the editing stage.

Characters:

The main character in Precisely Terminated is a sixteen-year-old named Monica. She was born a noble, but at the age of four, was taken away and hidden as a wall slave in Cantral. The town where she was originally from, Cillineese, was gassed, and everyone, including her birth parents, were killed. Hidden in Cillineese, however, is the secret to shutting down the computers and ultimately, the chips implanted in everyone there. These chips control them, and if anyone steps out of line, they are terminated by electrical shock! Only Monica is without a chip, and since she is invisible to the all-powerful computers, she is able to go places that no one else can. So, she is instrumental in the plan to free the slaves and end the tyranny. Monica has spent her life as a wall slave, and they live within the walls of the palace, doing work like cleaning up after the nobles, repair work, laundry, or working the furnaces. They are considered so low in rank that they are not to be seen by the nobles. That is why there are passages hidden in the walls for the wall slaves to navigate the palace. They are treated like vermin, and the nobles and computers have no qualms about terminating them. One minor slip up could spell their doom.

There are several minor characters, because in Monica’s journey to find the computers, she is helped or hindered by many different people. One is Simon, the old, grumpy librarian Monica eventually meets. He’s also invaluable to locating the computers. He is a Seen, which is a slave that is allowed to work in the house, and be seen by the nobles. It’s a bit better than a wall slave, but the same rules apply. If you make a mistake, or are caught trying to help a rebellion, you are terminated.

My Thoughts:

This book was quite exciting from the get-go. The first chapter did an excellent job setting up just how dangerous these computers can be, and what the risks of trying to stop the tyranny are. It’s not only the slaves that have to worry about termination though. The nobles may get more freedom than most, but even they have fear. Everything came to a head at the end of this book. It was so exciting and action packed, and everything depended on Monica succeeding, even though for a while it looked like she wouldn’t. When books start getting really exciting, I sometimes have a problem reading them too fast, just because I want to hurry up and find out how the characters are going to make it out of their certain circumstances. It happened with me for this book. I had to keep stopping and going back over what I had just read, and force myself to slow down. I kept telling myself, “Stop! Read this, or you’re not going to understand what happens.” Not many books can build up the adrenaline so well that I have this type of problem reading them, but I just couldn’t read this as fast as I wanted to!

There’s also something very unique about this book. It doesn't include something that is usually the main focus in Young Adult fiction. There is no romance! Yes, seriously, Monica doesn’t meet a romantic interest. Usually, books written for this age group always have a love story, and I’ll admit, I do enjoy a sprinkle of it in books. I don’t usually enjoy it as the main focus though (Sorry romance lovers.). But it really makes sense that Monica doesn’t fall in love in this book. She doesn’t have the time for it! I thought it was unnecessary in The Hunger Games, I mean, they’re fighting for their lives, why get involved with anyone when either of them could be killed at any moment? It’s a breath of fresh air to see a book not include romance. Now, that’s not to say that Amanda L. Davis won’t add it in any of her other books, but if the situation changes during the second one, Monica may have the time for romance. We’ll see.

Unfortunately, Monica did get annoying at times. She would complain about the slave council controlling her and always telling her what to do and risking her life over and over. Living in constant fear of getting caught will probably cause one to hate their lot in life, but she’s the only one who can help free the slaves. No one else can do it because they all have the computer chips implanted in them. Think of all the good you can do, Monica! She just seemed like she had a spoiled attitude and wanted things done her way. This seemed a bit weird to me considering she’s a slave. She should be used to not getting her way, I would think. It didn’t get too bad though, and I do believe she learned some very valuable lessons throughout the book, so she will probably have a better understanding of her position in the next one.

The book is very well written, which is what I’d expect from someone whose teacher was Bryan Davis. Amanda L. Davis was homeschooled, so her parents taught her. She also states on her acknowledgements page that she had a difficult time learning to read, she thanked her parents for never giving up on her. Really, you can’t tell someone who had difficulty learning to read wrote this book. She overcame that obstacle and writes very well. I have a lot of respect for her, her father, and the rest of her family as well. They seem like good people.

I’m still looking forward to getting the next book, and I’m anticipating the release of the last one.

The second book: Noble Imposter

My Age Rating: 12 and up. There are a lot of character deaths. So, the readers need to be able to handle that. There are some instances of violence, and Monica gets some nasty injuries. Also, the tone of the book is kind of dark, since the story is set in a dystopian world. There is some hope in the end, though, so it’s not all gloom and doom.

~Cya!

Review for The Hobbit

The Hobbit By J. R. R. Tolkien

Published by: Ballantine Books®

Summery:

[From back cover]

Bilbo Baggins was a hobbit who wanted to be left alone in quiet comfort. But the wizard Gandalf came along with a band of homeless dwarves. Soon Bilbo was drawn into their quest, facing evil orcs, savage wolves, giant spiders, and worse, unknown dangers. Finally, it was Bilbo—alone and unaided—who had to confront the great dragon Smaug, the terror of an entire countryside….

This stirring adventure fantasy begins the tale of the hobbits that was continued by J. R. R. Tolkien in his bestselling epic The Lord of the Rings.

Introduction:

If you have read my previous reviews, you’ve probably seen me mention The Lord of the Rings and J. R. R. Tolkien before. In my opinion, Tolkien is the greatest author of all time, and The Lord of the Rings, is the greatest story of all time. I first found out about Middle-Earth with the release of Peter Jackson’s film versions. They caused me to read the trilogy and The Hobbit as well. I even tried reading The Silmarillion twice, but never got any further than the halfway point both times (I do believe I need to try reading it again). I was eleven when I read The Hobbit for the first time. I remember enjoying every minute of it, but for some unknown reason, I never read it more than once. I don’t know why, since I read The Lord of the Rings so much that the spines of the books are now quite worn. Perhaps I should blame it on Legolas, my preteen self was in love with him. However, just because I only read it once, that didn’t stop me from wanting a film adaptation of The Hobbit. But as the years passed, I started to believe that the only film version I would ever see was the old cartoon. I would actually recommend the cartoon versions of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Return of the King to anybody who enjoys the stories. They’re…interesting to watch. Anyway, after ten years, The Hobbit has come to the big screen! In anticipation to see it, I picked up my old, dusty copy and started reading it again. My plan was to have it read before I went to see the movie, but alas, college finals got in the way and I was forced to leave Bilbo and the dwarves on the side of the Lonely Mountain, looking in through the hidden door. That didn’t stop me from going to see the movie on that Friday, and I did finish the book afterwards.

Reading through The Hobbit again was like returning to a childhood home. It was so full of nostalgia, and even new discoveries that I didn’t remember after all these years. On front cover of my copy of The Hobbit this is written: “The enchanting prelude to The Lord of the Rings,” and that’s the only word I can think of to describe it. Enchanting. You might say awesome, or amazing, but enchanting just fits this book so much better. The way Tolkien wrote it, the narration comes across as having an ageless voice, and it seems like an ancient story, but it also fits perfectly in this modern age. The tone is different from LotR, it’s more lighthearted, but it doesn’t make light of the dark and sad moments. I guess you could say that I think this book is perfection. It’s so easy to believe in these characters and their cause, almost like this really happened. It’s just a beautiful book. I can’t say it any better than many people have already said it. I really want to share this book with others. I think it’s something that everyone should read, young or old.

Characters:

Many people are probably familiar with the characters, but just in case someone who reads this isn’t, I’ll talk a bit about them. Firstly, there’s Bilbo Baggins, who many will remember from LotR as Frodo’s uncle. He is a peaceful, and a well-respected hobbit in the Shire. He never does anything unexpected or has any adventures. All that changes for the poor hobbit, however, when Gandalf the Grey shows up. He’s the wizard who gives Bilbo a little nudge out of the door, and starts him on his way. Gandalf is also there throughout the story, coming and going as he pleases, after all, he is a wizard, he does what he wants. The leader of the dwarves is Thorin Oakenshield. He is decendent of the King Under the Mountain, and vows he will reclaim the dwarves’ home, and take back their treasure from the evil dragon Smaug, who has been guarding it in the Lonely Mountain for many years.

Other characters to note are the other twelve dwarves in Thorin’s company. Let’s see if I can name them all without looking it up. First, there’s Balin, then Dwalin, then Fili and Kili, Bifur, Bofur, Oin, Gloin, Dori, Nori, Ori, and then Bombur. Hey, I did it! Not all of these dwarves have the spotlight put on them. Of course, Thorin gets many lines, Balin gets a number of lines in the book too, Dori gets a few as well, then the rest may get a line or two. It’s a shame that there wasn’t chance to get to know the rest of the dwarves, but then again, thirteen dwarves is quite a lot to deal with.

The evil characters include goblins, led by the Great Goblin, wargs, and icky giant spiders! If I ever saw giant, man-eating spiders in real life, I would probably die of fright. The small ones are bad enough. But of course, the main villain, always looming in the back of the characters minds, is Smaug the Terrible! Their quest will eventually lead them to have to face him, and somehow regain their home and treasure from him. Smaug is a monster of a dragon: greedy, selfish, vain, and extremely dangerous. It will take a lot to get rid of him.

My Thoughts on the Movie:

I guess from the introduction one can tell I really enjoyed this book and have a very high opinion of it. I don’t know what else to add about it. So, perhaps I will speak a little of the movie adaptation that so recently came out. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, is the first of three movies based on The Hobbit. Many people are worried about the book being split into three parts, since Peter Jackson is adding a lot of info and extras to the story. Most of it is coming straight from Tolkien’s notes on the story however. If you open a copy of The Return of the King, you will find near the end the appendices, and this is where a lot of this extra material has come from. Tolkien wrote The Hobbit before he started on The Lord of the Rings, so, at first it was a story meant to stand alone. When he wrote more of Middle-Earth later on, he wrote more connecting his beloved children’s book to the trilogy and lore of Middle-Earth. Peter Jackson is just adding that extra stuff to the story, I believe in a way similar to what Tolkien would have done if he rewrote The Hobbit. Of course, Jackson has added a few things of his own invention. If you haven’t seen the movie, I don’t want to spoil anything for you. Usually, small changes wouldn’t annoy me. It’s a movie, not the book, so it can’t be completely like the book in every aspect. Major changes irk me, however. For example, for those who have watched the LotR trilogy, Jackson changed Faramir’s part in the movie slightly from the book. I never liked the change he made, and wished he had left it the way it was in the story. It showed a difference between Boromir and Faramir, and that’s what I really liked. In The Hobbit, Jackson makes another change, concerning an orc named Azog, and makes it a key plot point. That did annoy me, but it’s the only gripe I have with the movie. It was amazing in all other respects. Sure, there were differences from the book, but there are also so many things that they followed faithfully. Like my absolute favorite quote from Gandalf when Bilbo wishes him a good morning, ‘”What do you mean?” he said. “Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?”’ I really want to use this quote sometime. :)

I think it’s a well thought out movie, full of excitement, humor, and wonderful characterization. Bilbo is amazing. I’ll echo what I’ve heard many reviewers say about Martin Freeman; he is a perfect Bilbo Baggins. There could not have been better casting there. Richard Armitage as Thorin is also amazing and perfect casting. From the previews I wasn’t too sure about him, I guess it was because he didn’t look like Tolkien described him in the books, but I was so glad to see that this Thorin is great. I think I prefer the movie version to the book version.

Warnings:

When it comes to warnings, my opinion differs between the book and movie. In the book, there are some scary scenes where Bilbo and the dwarves get into trouble. (The spiders in Mirkwood are totally icky. If I were little, they might have scared me.) The difference with the movie is that all these scary scenes are portrayed in full, vivid glory, which might make it scarier for the really young. When it comes to the movie, I would judge it by the rating it was given: PG-13. Though, some children younger than that might be able to handle it. I watched The Lord of the Rings when I was eleven, and absolutely enjoyed it and wasn’t scared one little bit. The book can probably be read by younger audiences, since it’s only as graphic as they imagine it. Tolkien didn’t write the book in gruesome detail during any of the fight scenes. In fact, Bilbo is unconscious or doesn’t experience them, so most of the fighting is told in retrospect.

My Age Rating (for book): 9 to 109 (It’s not just a children’s book, anyone can enjoy this.)

~Cya!

Series Review: The Binding of the Blade

The Binding of the Blade Series by L. B. Graham

Publisher: P&R Publishing®

Summery:

[From the back cover of Beyond the Summerland]

Forged to kill and wielded to survive, the blade has bound them all…

It was foretold after Malek’s first fall that twice more he would bring war, and that the last time, the very waters of the sea would obey him and fight for him. If this be so, then I cannot imagine how Sulare will escape his wrath…

Introduction:

Since classes have started back, reading has been pushed to the back burner, so to speak. I’m currently reading three books, and I plan on reviewing at least one of them, but I have no idea when I’ll finish. So, I decided, since I don’t want to have a huge gap between updates on this blog (or longer than what I usually have), I will review some of the books on my shelf that I read quite a while back, maybe even years back! There are many great books on my shelf, and a lot of my favorites are not very well known. Which is a shame, because they were awesome, amazing, and epic! I figured this time, I would review one of my absolute favorite series back in my early teens. The first one was published back in 2004, and last one in 2008. It seems like such a long time ago, doesn’t it? I found the first book, Beyond the Summerland, in the local Christian bookstore maybe a year after it came out. Back then, I was obsessed with The Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, Dragons in our Midst, and pretty much anything else that had to do with fantasy and dragons. Reading the description, this seemed like something very much like The Lord of the Rings, and back then, I compared everything to Tolkien’s trilogy. No, nothing ever matched up to it, which is why I stopped comparing and started judging books for themselves. When I started the book, I was completely absorbed into the world L. B. Graham created. It wasn’t like LOTR really, there were no elves, dwarves, or hobbits to be found, but the grandeur of the story reminded me of Tolkien. This isn’t a light read, since the books are 400-500 pages long, and packed with detail, story, and characters. The other books were harder for me to find. I searched in vain for them at every bookstore I came to, but never found them. I then had to order them from the Christian Book Distributers website. That experience is why I hate ordering anything online. My copy of Bringer of Storms, the sequel, has a tear in the binding, and the bottom of the cover looked like it had been smashed. I was very upset when the book arrived in that condition, but I immediately went to reading it. The rest of the books, Shadow in the Deep, Father of Dragons, and All My Holy Mountain were also ordered from CBD, but fortunately arrived in better condition.

Characters:

There were so many characters in these books, both good and evil. However, I will only discuss a few of the main ones, since trying to write about all of them would take almost forever. And I think I’ll just discuss those in the first book, since most of them are still major throughout the series. Firstly, there’s Joraiem, who is a young man of the Novaana, which are like the ruling class of people in this world. He is also skilled in using his bow, which he calls Suruna. (Archers FTW!) Joraiem is the main character, and the story follows him as he leaves his home to head for the Summerland, where young Novaana go to train and prepare for the time they will have to lead and make decisions for their people. He meets a man named Aljeron, who is also a Novaana. He has a mysterious past, which is evidenced by the three large scars on the side of his face. Aljeron also has a tiger friend, named Koshti, who is always at his side and helps him in battle. And seriously, who’d want to mess with a guy with a tiger? I loved Koshti though. He was actually one of my favorite characters, even if he wasn’t human. While in the Summerland, Joraiem also meets Wylla, who is the princess of Enthanin, the country in the east, and Rulalin, who becomes another good friend of Joraiem’s. There is a problem however, because both young men fall in love with Wylla! Talk about tension, and this leads to something unexpected later. There is also a blind prophet named Valzaan. He is a lot like a wizard actually, except he speaks Allfather’s will. Allfather is the god of this world.

My Thoughts:

I was literally obsessed with this series growing up, and I know a few people who would testify to that. It had the scope of LOTR that I was looking for, and a clear Christian message that added the extra depth to it. A person can learn a lot about sacrifice and faith by reading these books, and a lesson like that is something that will stick with you for all time. One doesn’t have to be Christian to enjoy this however, there’s still a marvelous world to explore with amazing people and creatures. Yes, this world is populated by more than just humans. There are dragons, giant talking bears (who are original to anything I’ve ever read before or since), and evil creatures like giants and Malekim, which could give an Uruk-hai a run for its money. Also, there is a giant snake, which you can see on the cover of the third book. That scene is exciting and tense, especially since it involves my favorite character out of the whole series. There is also the most unexpected and shocking of all plot twists at the end of Beyond the Summerland that probably has ever been in fiction. Seriously, L. B. Graham, I never thought something like that would happen! There are a lot of tense and sad moments, so if you’re one who easily cries, I would suggest keeping a box of tissues with you. You won’t know what will happen, or who will live or die during this war. I love that sense of uncertainty in stories.

Not all my thoughts on this are positive, however. Reading the book can get tedious, just because it is so detailed. If you can read stuff like The Lord of the Rings, you probably won’t have a problem with this then. I had read LOTR before this, so it kind of prepared me, and it’s actually an easier read since it’s written for young adults. Another thing about it that I didn’t care for was how the characters talked. The book has this fantastical setting, exotic names, many fantasy elements, but then you get characters speaking like they’re from modern day America. It doesn’t have an old world feel to it when they speak. They don’t say things like, “dude” or “cool” or “Hey, s’up?” but it’s still too informal. I was eventually able to look over that though, even though it still felt odd to me. There are parts when it seems to get bogged down, especially when Valzaan lead this religious ritual that involves a lot of talking and a lot of repeating what was said. Doing it one time was ok, it showed a part of their culture, but when it happened a second and possibly a third time in the series, it grew very boring and I found myself skimming over it. Aside from those three points, not much else to complain about, unless you want to say something about hard to pronounce names, but there is a glossary in the back of the book, so you can breathe a sigh of relief there.

There is this one other thing I didn’t like about the series: All My Holy Mountain. I can’t say what I didn’t like about it because it involves spoilers, major spoilers, but the last book was definitely the worst book in my opinion. Disappointing for me since I thought each book was better and better. My favorite being Shadow in the Deep! There was so much about that book that I thought was awesome, but again, I can’t say because of spoilers. ;)

Warnings:

No language, no witchcraft, no adult themes. It’s completely decent in those respects. These books do have descriptive violence though. It’s a war going on, so there’s lots of blood and people getting hurt. It’s not terrible, but appropriate for teen to adult readers.

My Age Rating: 13 and up (Teenagers would probably enjoy this more than adults, but I’d still recommend it to them no matter their age.)

 

Sorry there are no pictures in this post. I couldn't upload anything. If you want to see what the covers look like, check out the site below. It's the main site for the series.

http://www.bindingoftheblade.com/

~Cya!

 

Review for Beyond the Reflection's Edge

Echoes from the Edge: Beyond the Reflection’s Edge by Bryan Davis

Publisher: Zondervan®

Summery:

[From Amazon.com]

Sixteen-year-old Nathan Shepherd has a great life traveling where the careers of his father, and investigator, and mother, a renowned violinist, take him…until his parents are found murdered. Left with only a mirror and notes from his father’s last case, Nathan goes into hiding at the remote country home of Tony, his father’s college buddy, and Tony’s teenage daughter, Kelly, The mysterious mirror must be a clue to what happened to his parents, and when images appear in it---people and things that don’t exist---Nathan and Kelly painstakingly gather evidence. But the killers want the mirror too, and danger threatens the teens at every turn. As it becomes evident that Nathan’s father has stumbled upon dark forces at work in the world, several questions arise. Could it be that the mirror is a portal to a parallel world? Could this technology be used for evil purposes? And could his parents still be alive, trapped in another dimension? Nathan and Kelly struggle to solve the mystery before they too become victims. This chilling, hair-raising adventure is jam-packed with action in a fantastical world where nothing is as it seems, and even mirrors tell lies.

Introduction:

Bryan Davis is one of my all-time favorite authors. He’s written series such as the Dragons in our Midst series and its companion series, Oracles of Fire, and also the Dragons of Starlight series. Bryan Davis is actually one of the first authors who started the Christian fantasy genre, with the publication of Raising Dragons, his first in the Dragons in our Midst series. The books showed that you can mix fantasy and faith, and because of the success of those books, Christian fantasy has now become one of the largest in Christian genres, and it produces many great books. And I am glad for that. When I was eleven or twelve, I read The Lord of the Rings for the first time, and then soon after that, The Chronicles of Narnia. They really awoke my interest in dragons, elves, dwarves, brave knights, and fair maidens, but the fantasy genre was full of things my parents wouldn’t allow me to read about; sorcery and immorality being two of the mains. That’s when the title of Bryan Davis’ Raising Dragons caught my eye in the Christian bookstore. After reading and enjoying that, I snatched up all the Christian fantasy I could.

Now, Beyond the Reflection’s Edge, the first book in the Echoes from the Edge series, is more like a sci-fi thriller than a fantasy, so it’s something unique by Mr. Davis. It’s actually the first book I’ve read from him that doesn’t have dragons in it. But it has many of the same fantastical elements that I enjoyed from his other books. Also with his distinct writing style, the book just had a familiar feel to me, even though I had never read it before. Unfortunately, it was hard finding a copy of this book. I had tried finding it in a bookstore for years, but only ever found the last two in the series. It wouldn’t have made much sense if I started the trilogy from the middle now would it? I eventually gave up on finding them, until a few weeks ago, when Bryan Davis posted links on his blog to where the eBook versions could be bought! Since it was only 99 cents, I decided to get the first book, but I was wary at first. I had never read an eBook before. I’m one of those purists, I guess you’d say. I think an actual book is way better than a version on an electronic device. It’s not the same thing, I’d argue, but since it was a book from Bryan Davis (and one I couldn’t find anywhere else), I decided to cave in and give it a try. At the end of the review, I’ll give my thoughts on the eBook experience.

Characters:

As always, Bryan Davis has created some realistic and lovable characters. Though in this book, I found his main character to be a bit unbelievable. Nathan Shepherd is the son of an investigator and a famed violinist, and he seems to be the perfect mesh of the two. Seriously, is there nothing this guy can’t do? He’s a black belt, accomplished musician, can ride motorcycles and cars like a stunt driver, and is the ideal gentleman. I really couldn’t find many flaws in Nathan’s character, scratch that, any flaws in his character. He’s like Superman. I guess what made him likable for me though, was the realistic way he dealt with his parents’ deaths. The grief he felt made him human. It wasn’t a blow he was able to get over after one chapter, but something he had to deal with throughout the course of the story.

There are some similarities in the characters to the Dragons in our Midst characters that I find in these books, but I suppose that since it’s by the same author, there are bound to be some things that are alike. One of the main ones was Clara, Nathan’s tutor, who is his older mentor who offers him wisdom and guidance. I found her character similar to Professor Charles Hamilton in Dragons in our Midst. I guess it’s supposed to teach young people that the adults in their lives are there for them, and are a great source of wisdom. Everyone does need a mentor or teacher, someone who cares for them and looks out for their best interests.

Kelly, the main female protagonist, was probably my favorite character in the book. She was strong, and a little rough around the edges, but she’s had a hard time in her life and is working on becoming a better person. She’s the character that changes the most over the course of the book, challenged by Nathan’s high standard of morals to become something more. Kelly also has a best friend named Daryl, and this girl is the silly, movie-quoting kind of best friend. She was very enjoyable and challenged Kelly for position of favorite character for a while. I’ve always loved Bryan Davis’ humorous characters. They’re always the ones I wished were real and were my best friends.

Oh, and the villain! Who is this Mictar guy? He has this really creepy aura about him, almost like pure evil. Where’d this guy come from? What is he? Ergh! I’m going to have to read the rest of the books to figure that one out.

My Thoughts:

Probably by the way the rest of this review has read, one can easily tell I enjoyed the book a lot. Yes, I did. The story was one exciting thing after another, full of plot twists, and it kept me guessing until the end. I’m the type of reader who likes to try to figure things out before the end of the book, and this was one book that kept me confused. When I was about three-fourths of the way through, I decided to quit trying to figure out every plot point and every character’s motives and just read the silly thing and see what happens. Many forms of dimensional travel or parallel worlds confuse me, and this was one of them, especially since there was more than one alternate reality. Yikes! It was hard to figure out who to trust and who not to trust, but that was one of the enjoyable aspects about it too. Sure, there were things that confused or annoyed me about the book, but as a whole, it was pretty good.

Now, my thoughts on the eReader experience. When I first started reading it, I told myself that it will be like reading a story off the internet. I really enjoy going to sites where people post stories or fan fiction, so I figured this wouldn’t be much different. Well, one annoying thing about reading the eBook was the device I read it on. I had to read the entire book on my iPhone. A little two-by-three inch screen isn’t fun to read anything on for a long period of time. This book has 300 to 400 pages when it’s in book form, so it was almost maddening on the phone. Another thing I found that I didn’t like about it was the way it kept track of my progress. Sure, telling me I was 20%, or 43%, or 94% through the book was nice, but it still felt like I had no idea how much progress I was really making. For me, I like having the book in my hands, and being able to see how many pages that are left and being able to estimate how much longer it will take to finish the book. I guess you could say I like having the end in sight, and with the eBook, I couldn’t physically see the end coming. It was like I was blindly treading along. I like measuring my reading by distances, not percentages. That aspect would take some getting used to. Then there was the most annoying problem of all: the typos were terrible! Now, I know Bryan Davis’ writing, I own eleven of his books, and never have I seen such punctuation errors in his writing as I have on this eReader version of the book. I seriously do not believe any of this was his fault, he’s a very talented and skilled writer. I believe it is just the adaptation from page to screen that has caused these errors. But still, someone should have gone through the book and made sure there were no errors in the transition. Maybe things would have been better if I was actually using an eReader device (the larger screen would definitely be nicer), but I still am firmly a book over eBook kind of girl. There’s just something about having the actual book in your hands or on your shelf. Call me old-fashioned, I will take it as a compliment.

Warnings:

Well, being a book from a Christian author, there really isn’t much that could be labeled as a warning. There are some graphic, and even scary, scenes, so I don’t think this book would be good for young children. There are some mentions of people living an immoral lifestyle, and those mentions usually come from Kelly. The poor girl comes from a broken home, a situation a lot of children unfortunately have to deal with.

My Age Rating: 13 and up.

~Cya!