Arcana by Jessica LeakeMy rating: 1 of 5 stars The genres under which this book is listed are as follows: historical fiction, magic, young adult and young adult romance. Then I had to ask myself what very explicit love scenes were doing getting more attention than the historical fiction or the magic, which is what the book promised to focus on in the first place. I was excited and intrigued to read a story that potentially combined all of my favourite genres into one, but I was greatly disappointed and even grossed out by the very detailed make-out scenes that began to occur early on in a story that is…

Homeground by Caterina EdwardsMy rating: 1 of 5 stars This relatively short play was meant to address various issues with regards to immigrants in Canada; however, it fails to connect with the reader/audience, since the dialogue is inconsistent. The entire play is in English with directions given that these character are Italian and are actually speaking in Italian – in that sense a built in translator for the English speaking audience – but in order to convey a sense of “foreignness” the written English is heavily infused with a written accent, bad grammar, making this reading experience very difficult and unpleasant. The conflicts are mediocre at best, nothing is resolved…

World After by Susan EeMy rating: 5 of 5 stars The, for me, long anticipated sequel to Angelfall had me looking at this book in slight hesitation, since I have read a few reviews that pointed out the resemblance to Angelfall, a sort of recycling of the first book’s plot. But considering that Angelfall stopped in the middle of the main plot, World After is in fact a continuation. Since the reader is right in the middle of the story that was designed by the author to span three books in total, I cannot really comment on any one part of the book in detail without giving something crucial away…

Across a Star-Swept Sea by Diana PeterfreundMy rating: 4 of 5 stars I was so enamoured with For Darkness Shows the Stars that I ran out to the bookstore to buy the sequel/part two to this series before I finished the first one. Unfortunately, I could not be as enthusiastic about this book as I was about the first one. Generally speaking, the writing and descriptions of the world the author created were still as breathtaking, if not more, than the first book; however, the story continued to drag out for much longer than it was necessary. With respect to the main character, the reader could identify glimpses of the…

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana PeterfreundMy rating: 5 of 5 stars With a classic such as Jane Austen’s Persuasion it is almost impossible for a reader of fiction to not stumble across one of its many retellings and like many other enthusiastic readers, I was a bit hesitant to endeavour on the journey of another retelling with a fantasy twist. However, For Darkness Shows the Stars did not disappoint in the least. The author was able to integrate not only the bare bones of Austen’s classic story, but also take scenes from the original and mold and add them to the new story line so that these two…

Bahnwärter Thiel by Gerhart HauptmannMy rating: 5 of 5 stars A spine tingling psychological thriller that shows tremendous depth and insight into the personalities and psychology of the characters. I was fascinated by how quickly the author was able to get to the reader invested and involved in the story and the unfolding of the events, considering that this story only spans about 55 pages. The characters portrayed the reality and the ugliness of everyday life that drives people to actions unimaginable. The setting was described with enough detail to paint a clear picture of the German landscape without getting too caught up in that which does not serve a…