Review: Parasite

 

 

Series: Parasitology #1

Author: Mira Grant

Publisher: Orbit

Publication Date: October 29, 2013

Genre: Adult, Horror, Science Fiction

Reading Source: NetGalley

Length: 513 pages

Format: e-book

  Cover Art: 5/5

 Overall: 4/5

A decade in the future, humanity thrives in the absence of sickness and disease.

We owe our good health to a humble parasite - a genetically engineered tapeworm developed by the pioneering SymboGen Corporation. When implanted, the tapeworm protects us from illness, boosts our immune system - even secretes designer drugs. It's been successful beyond the scientists' wildest dreams. Now, years on, almost every human being has a SymboGen tapeworm living within them.

But these parasites are getting restless. They want their own lives...and will do anything to get them.

Review:

Parasite was an adult futuristic horror. In this world SymboGen Corporation has developed a genetically engineered tapeworm. The tapeworm keeps people safe from illnesses and increases the immune system. Years after most everybody has a tapeworm thriving within them. And for the most part they are out of harm’s way until the parasites start to get restless. 

Parasite is the first book in the Parasitology series by the same author as The Feed series, I have not read that series yet. The thought of a parasite inside is just disturbing. It reminded me of the t.v. series Monsters Inside Me mixed with the book The Host. The strange thing about it is that it was a real “diet” plan back in the 19th century. People really did buy and swallow tapeworms. 

Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinions. 

 

Read More

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.

Read More

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. 

Read More

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. 

Read More

Review: Everneath

 

Title: Everneath 

Series: Everneath #1

Author: Brodi Ashton

Publisher: Harper Collins

Publication Date: January 12, 2012

Genre: Young Adult

Reading Source: NetGalley

Length: 370 pages

Format: e-book

  Cover Art: 5/5

 Overall: 4/5

A captivating story of love, loss, and immortality Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned—to her old life, her family, her boyfriend—before she's banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists. Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance—and the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

Review:

Everneath is a retelling of Hades and Persephone.

Nikki has been missing, taken into Everneath, the underworld 

 but she comes back Nikki only has six months before she returns to Everneath this time for good. 

 I am a sucker for retellings. I really liked the characters. 

Thank you to NetGalley and  Harper Collins for the e-ARC.

Read More

W.O.W. #81

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine to post books that you have been really wanting for a long time.

 

Title: Pretty Fierce

                    Author: Kieran Scott

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire 

 Release Date: April 4th 2017 

Kaia has been on the run her whole life. The daughter of professional assassins, she knows true danger—and she’ll do anything to survive. After her parents vanished during a job gone bad, Kaia’s spent the last year in hiding, trying to blend in as an ordinary teenager, and there’s no one who makes her feel more normal or more special than her boyfriend, Oliver.

But when she’s jumped by a hit man, and Oliver catches her fighting back, Kaia’s secret is exposed. In a split-second decision, she flees the small town, taking Oliver with her. With professional killers stalking their every move, can Oliver and Kaia protect each other long enough to uncover the mysteries of her past? 

Read More

W.O.W. #80

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine to post books that you have been really wanting for a long time.

 

Title: Love and Vandalism 

                    Author: Laurie Boyle Crompton

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire 

 Release Date: May 1st 2017 

Rory has a secret: she’s the vandal who paints graffiti lions all over her small town. If her policeman dad knew, he’d probably disown her. So when Hayes, a former screw-up on the path to recovery, catches her in the act, Rory’s sure she’s busted. Instead, he makes her a deal. If Rory shows him around town, he won’t turn her in. It might be coercion, but at least the boy is hot. As they spend more time together, Rory worries she made the wrong choice.

Read More