Review: Birth of the Storm

 

Title: Birth of the Storm 

Series: Demon Storm #1

Author: Valerie Storm

Publisher: Shadow Spark Publishing

Publication Date: June 13, 2022

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Reading Source: NetGalley

Length: 322 pages

Format: e-book

  Cover Art: 5/5

 Overall: 4/5

A  bolt of lightning. And a dream of vengeance.

For wolf-demon Kari, these define her every waking moment. Her parents are dead, slaughtered by human hands, forcing their only daughter to masquerade among their killers to save her own skin. Now she dwells among them, hiding her lightning-based abilities and plotting a terrible revenge, believing her schemes are all she's good for now. But when she discovers unexpected solace among a group of humans who look past her monstrous nature, Kari finds herself questioning everything. Her mission. Her dreams. Even the hatred festering in her heart.

Is it possible for a creature like Kari to find happiness in a world that despises her?

Review:

Birth of the Storm was a ya novel about Kari who is a wolf demon who has lost her parents by humans. Kari must blend in with the humans in order to survive at least until she can get revenge for them. She has lightning powers. Can she possibly find happiness in a world who despises her. 

I liked the characters. Kari was such a great character. The book was very dark.

This book reminds me of an anime, Spice and Wolf. It read like an action 

If you like anime you would like this book. 

Thank you to Shadow Spark Publishing and NetGalley for this eCopy.

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Update.

 Hello, this is a hard post to make, but I think it is time, far past time for an update to the blog. 

I know that I have not been active on the blog for a while, I could make an excuse but I'm not going to do that. I can say I'm sorry, it's been different than when I started my blog. Sometimes it's hard to get motivated to post anything, I've been pondering whether or not I should update it for months now. 

 I appreciate everyone who has been here to support me and my blog. It's still hard to believe that I still have the blog going.

Change can be good sometimes, I'd like to change it around, change everything about my blog. The layout, the colors, everything including the name of the blog. I have both my instagram as well as my twitter names the same and I'd like to my blog to have the same name. 

I just wanted to make a post before I went up and changed it all. I don't really know how long it will take me to get everything changed, seeing as it's just me working on it and I'm not all that smart when it comes to computer codes and stuff, but we'll see how it goes, wish me luck.  

 So next time you go to check out Wondrous Readings, it will be no more, instead it will have a new color, a new layout even a new name. 

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Review: Downpour

 

Title: Downpour 

Series: Standalone

Author: Christopher Hawkins

Publisher: Coronis Publishing

Publication Date: October 3, 2023

Genre: Adult, Horror, Science Fiction

Reading Source: Edelweiss

Length: 245 pages

Format: e-book

  Cover Art: 5/5

 Overall: 4/5

A sudden storm appears above an isolated farmhouse in rural Illinois, bringing with it a relentless and unnatural rain. A rain that eats away at everything it touches. A rain that turns people into monsters.

Trapped inside his crumbling home, a father must do everything he can to keep his family from falling apart. But the rain calls to them, and not everyone wants to stay inside.

Haunted by memories of loss, he must put aside his painful past and find a way to keep them all safe. But the rain shows no signs of stopping, and time is running out.

Review:

Downpour is a novel set-in rural Illinois on a farmhouse that is under attack. 

 When a mysterious raincloud comes into view the citizens think it’s nothing special, just your run of the mill thunderstorm but it’s actually much worse. When the rain touches anything it erosions away the houses and it changes not just people but also pets. Once they get wet something changes in them, they turn into wild, strange monsters.  

From the cover I thought this book was about something else entirely, (because I am a horrible person who judges books by their covers; I didn’t read the synopsis of the book) with the “roots” covering the walls, but I was surprised when it wasn’t. Downpour is a mix of science fiction and horror that I think works very well together. There was an eerie feeling while reading but I kept coming back to it. (it was like a wreck that I couldn’t look away from). It was part Bird Box part The Rain from Netflix. 

 Normally I read YA or fantasy or romance novels where the MCs are young-ish/er, almost always female (not that I’m against male MCs or anything) but Scott, an older adult man, was a very refreshing character. I enjoyed the other characters as well. Tallie, while understandable whiny, she is only a little girl, but she was brave as well. Jason, the older brother; a typical teenager, rebelling against his father in the beginning but he soon grows up some. He (Jason) is helpful to his Scott when he needs to be though. 

 If I had to nit-pick, the ending was a little rushed, I didn’t read to get the satisfying end that I felt it needed. 

Thank you to Coronis Publishing and Edelweiss for this early review e-arc in exchange for my honest opinions. 

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