Review ~ Drowning Instinst by Ilsa J. Bick

Drowning Instinct by Ilsa J. Bick 5/5

I bought this book because I loved Ashes, so when I heard Ilsa had another young adult novel out I looked it up and it sounded great. I absolutely adore this book, I devoured it three days, I couldn't put it down. I was reading until dawn last night because I kept telling myself just a little bit more before I go to sleep, eventually I had to force myself to put it down. So what can I say about the book without giving anything away. Of course the writing was great - that I had expected  - the story was way more captivating than I'd anticipated, a total work of art (okay I'm fan girling a little, but who can blame me). This book bought a whole new light to the taboo subject of a student teacher affair, it was written in a way that was totally new to me with no clear lines between monsters and victims. I was totally mesmerized by the damaged and broken characters they were so layered and well developed - Jenna is a great protagonist, I cried a few times reading her story and it pained my heart a little but in the good way, the way that tells you your never going to forget this book or these characters.

Such a great book, an epic as far as i'm concerned, as soon as I had finished I wanted to read it all over again.  It only took me three days to read but will stay with me forever, a complex novel about a girl with emotional and physical scars who falls for a guy who shouldn't fall for her, but their both broken and maybe their forbidden love can save them, or not since Jenna's story is told into a police recorder. After all "this is a fairy tale with teeth and claws" The book was so powerful I think it may have permanently scorched a mark on my soul, there are so many poignant quotes in this book, but you can read it for yourself for them, however I think the book is best summed up in this quote from the acknowledgements "People drown, quietly, before our eyes all the time" ~ Ilsa J. Bick. Seriously I highly recommend this book. it left me breathless, and I was still crying a little even as I closed the cover and slid it back on the shelf.

Goodreads ~ Amazon

Review ~ Godhead by Ken Mooney

Godhead by Ken Mooney 2.5/5

The author sent me an e-copy in return for an honest review. Okay, let me start by saying that fantasy and horror are among my favorite genres so I really wanted to like this book. But something was missing, a certain spark that makes you want to read into the small hours. This book took me over a month to finish which is totally unlike me, and its not because I didn't like the book. The premises was great, the writing was good but there was something missing. I felt no attachment to the characters, they weren't very layered and even though I wanted to know what happened to them I wasn't very invested in them. I couldn't  laugh or cry with them, I couldn't become totally involved in their world I felt like a bystander watching their trials and tribulations with cold indifference.

This book started well I enjoyed the beginning, the battle of the gods and demons was so promising I really liked Aphrodite and Hera's rivalry, but then it flicked to the present day and things started to slow. The book dragged for awhile and the flitting randomly into different characters pasts got kind of tiresome. It started getting good toward the end of the book and then suddenly finished leaving me a little deflated. Obviously the book had good points otherwise I would of given up, the battles were good, very in depth and I love the idea of demigods just discovering their powers. The writing was good, I mean the author clearly likes an ellipses but if you wade through those there's a good author who got a little side tracked with juggling characters and pasts. Although I would like to find out what happens I'm not sure if I can read a whole other novel like this one to find out, it was just so slow and empty. If you like horror and fantasy definitely give it a try, just because its not my cup of tea doesn't mean it isn't yours.


                                                     Goodreads ~ Amazon