The Gatekeeper's Staff (TJ Young & The Orishas #1) by Antoine Bandele

I was listening to too many serious books that I decided to try one YA or middle-grade fantasy book. It was then I came across "The Gatekeeper's Staff" on Netgalley. I liked the cover and description, on top of that I have listened to one more book by the author, so I applied for the review copy. I got it in exchange for an honest review.

The story is written around boy TJ who belonged to a magician family. Magician in the book is known as diviners. TJ's sister was a child prodigy and was working on a secret project. Though he was from a strong line of magicians, his skill as a magician was nothing but a lucky charm and tingling on the top of his fingers. But the demise of her sister changed everything. He was selected for a camp where wizard kids go for training. Read the book to know more.

When I started the book and heard words like Orisha, Diviner, Ashe I thought the author has taken ideas from Tomi Adeyemi. But later on, I searched on the internet and found that Orisha is mythology and no one has their claim on it. The book is a good mixture of fantasy, mythology, a mystery to give you good company. I will wait for the sequel.

The book deserves a good 4.25 out of 5.

Book review - Blood & Ash (The Jezebel Files #1) by Deborah Wilde

I was sincerely waiting for Audiobook review copies by Netgalley. I started checking out books within a month of audiobook launch. But my selective choices have delayed my Netgalley audiobook experience by 2 months. The very first book for which I applied and received a review copy in exchange for an honest review was "Blood & Ash" by Deborah Wilde. I could have reviewed the book within 15 days of approval, but a month was wasted as due to some technical issues in the app, I was unable to download the book. For another month, I waited for a technical bug to get resolved, which I was facing in the app. The bug was about forward and backward buttons, these buttons were kept playing chapter from the beginning. Also, the app was forgetful many times where I left last. One more thing I found was that this issue was with a certain set of audiobooks only, and unfortunately, Blood & Ash was one of them. Anyway, I don't want to downrate books because of technical issues.

As mentioned in the blurb, the story is portrayed in today's world. But magic is added as a fantasy flavor. The world is having two kinds of people mundane the normal humans, and the Nefesh, human with magical powers. There are separate rules and houses for wizards. The protagonist of our story is Ashira Cohen, a mundane private investigator. All she has in her life are her job as an investigator and her roommate/best friend Priya, a cybersecurity expert, and somewhat space for her mother. Things are changed when she discovers a hidden tattoo on the backside of her body, and she realizes that she can do magic. As if these complexities are not enough, she starts seeing mysterious shadows attacking wizards. She also learns that kids are disappearing from different locations. Read the book to know how things are related. 

Coming to writing style, the author has covered multiple aspects in the book, but my favorite are

1. Badass female protagonist

2. Satirical dialogues

3. Action sequences

4. Suspense behind situations

The character of Ashira is unique. She is intelligent, kind-hearted, too much introspective, less friendly, to the point in nature, and last but not least bad mouth at times. Throughout the book, you will see Ashira's way of seeing her surrounding like you are living through it. Suspense creation in the book was good, but I was expecting more in the climax. 

Anyways a good book series to follow.

I will give 3.75 out of 5 to this book.

8 Reasons why a sci-fi lover must read "Rhythm Roger - The Secrets of Electon" by Himanshu Rai

I think during lockdown I saw a post of Himanshu on my timeline mentioning his upcoming book. As Himanshu has published 2-3 books in the romance genre, I presumed it to be a romcom. Later on, I saw an interesting cover reveal post and the title. I was sure that the book would not be a romcom. I kept his handle under notification and then came full cover and the blurb. A sci-fi book for middle grades and above with theme of Telecom Fantasy, a proposition which was unheard of not only in Indian literature but in other geographies as well. I was a bit skeptical initially as previous sci-fi I read by Indian authors were lacking the spark that foreign authors offer. Almost after a month of the release when I was satisfied by reviews from reliable sources I decided to go for the book.

So in brief my reasons for book selection

1) Novel genre 

2) Attractive cover art

3) Blurb

4) Reviews from reliable sources

Coming to the story, our protagonist is Rhythm in the human world and the same person with the name Roger in Electon. Rhythm was living in the human world unknown to the fact that he belonged to a secret world Electon. When he reached the age of 25 he went to Electon and found out that he was the son of Queen Anagol. He was informed that he was the future king of V-slots and Noise & D-slots were their enemies. On the very next day of his arrival, he was included in an assignment that took him to a rollercoaster ride with his teammates. He also explored various technologies and tools used in Electon. I hope I haven't share any spoilers. Read the book to know more.

I can give 8 reasons why middle-graders and sci-fi lover will adore "Rhythm Roger - The Secrets of Electon"

1) Out-of-box conceptualization

2) Good linking with physics, physicists & fantasy

3) Characters built around physics concept used in communication & digital world

4) You will find the time-traveling, multiple timelines and what not

5) Three groups to get you engaged and think who is right and who is wrong

6) Easy language usage ideal for kids

7) Age-appropriate content

8) The artwork was given throughout the book, showing places and characters. It helps the reader to visualize clearly.

There are a few points I found confusing related to time travel, but that's not the author's problem. I always find it difficult to digest why one cannot go back to a time (if one can actually time travel) and change things until he is satisfied with end results. I think the book is good enough to have fans & cult following. If marketed and placed well book is capable to capture large readership. I will congratulate and wish luck to Himanshu for bigger success for the book.

Overall I will give 4.5 out 5 to this good book.

Book links Goodreads and Amazon

The Hidden Children: The Lost Grimoire by Reshma K. Barshikar

I was getting The Hidden Children: The Lost Grimoire's reviews on my Twitter, Instagram and Goodreads timeline multiple times. Though I was knee-deep in the commitment of review work, my inner mind was not ready to miss the chance to read the book. I would like to thank AuthorsChannel for providing us a review copy in exchange for an honest review. What made me select this book

• Wonderful cover
• Interesting promising title
• Chance to be the part of another wonderful book series

Book Blurb

Shayamukthy cruises through life: shooting hoops, daydreaming and listening to her favourite books. Even moving from the US to India, to a new school, a new culture, hasn't really rattled her. But something isn't right anymore and it begins when a New Girl joins the school.

She pulls Shui into a world of magic and wonderment, a world she has been hidden from all her life. What starts as a quest to look for a lost book, hurtles Shui into a world where people live in trees, talk to the dead and speak to butterflies.

But like all power, magic comes at a steep price and under all things wondrous lie demons waiting to crawl out. The more Shui learns, the more she doubts everything and everyone around her.

Will she be able to master her powers, or will they devour her and everyone she loves?

The protagonist of the story is Shyamukthy (Shui), a dyslexia girl of early teenage, who had only two friends in class or I would say in her life. The book is divided into two parts. The first one covers her life filled with problems and introduction with Ananya. This part shows how an introvert, shy girl with just 2 friends met new entrant and later on became the point of attraction. The second part covers mystical things where she could listen to animals and insects. This part is really interesting and makes your reading pace fast. I wish I could tell you to jump to this part directly, but how can I, when both are interlinked.

If you read regularly then you must have encounter books being damn interesting after going through first/introductory boring part, just like those movies which become interesting after intermission. That is what happened to me, after reading the first part, I went to Goodreads and checked what others are saying. Review of many people gave me an indication that if I had left it DNF I would have missed the main fun, so I continued.

A good YA concept and a good read. I will give

1. Concept - 4/5
2. Cover - 4/5
3. Character  - 3/5
4. Content - 2/5 (Deducted due to first boring portion)
5. Overall - 3.75/5

Book can be found at Amazon & Flipkart

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads

Book Review - Scepters of Empyrea: A Journey to the Andromeda Galaxy by Vignesh Ravichandran

I have seen this book first time on Amazon in their suggestions. Later on, I saw this book's review by DDS' on b00kreviews and that made me more curious. So the book reached to our wishlist I would like to thank DDS for coordination and arranging the review copy in exchange for an honest review. I have received this book in the first week of April. And I have done reading the book by end of the April, but unfortunately during May vacations (yes we get 21 days of paid vacation in May). I forgot to update the review of the book. So I would like to apologize to the author and DDS for delaying the review.

Book Blurb

Empyrea, an island in the Andromeda galaxy belonging to planet Vathura is serene. Everywhere your eyes turn, you will feast on the lovely birds singing their heart out in the lush green vegetation. Osiris Mysterio ruled the regions of Empyrea with his brother Tyrant Seth and with their children Pitheceus Babi, Kraity Wadjet, and Horus Mysterio.

5000 years ago, the ancient Egyptians were the only humans to receive the invitation to enter Empyrea. They gladly on-boarded into a Pegasus chariot and took their journey to Empyrea. Their journey is indescribable. Empyrea by itself was like a fairy-tale garden, an ocean of flowers and exotic trees. 

Talking about the review, let's take storyline first. The story started with excavator restoring and clearing Pyramids and items within. During which she came upon interesting sets of scrolls. These scrolls talked about the link between ancient Egypt and Planet Vathura (and its island Empyrea). Then the story goes back and past & present. The things excavated from Pyramid were stolen by a thief. This is where action and thriller enter the story when thief solved the puzzle found in stolen materials which open portal to planet Vathura. Things became interesting when this guy found Scepter which can grant unparalleled powers to its wielders. Check out the book to know more.

There are some points of improvements that I would like to discuss first

• Font size - I think if you have written a lengthy book then split it into volumes or publish it as one, but don't decrease font size to this level. I had to literally train my mind to read such small text with little line spacing.
• As long as the story continues with the environment or setting it is okay. But don't overdo it. At some places, I found surrounding information in excess.

Coming to positive points

• You might have seen Ravana movie (Abhishek & Aishwarya starring) which is remembered for its awesome cinematography. The same way you will remember this book for its illustrious surrounding descriptions.
• A true fantasy genre book. It contains aliens, past, future, space travel, black and white magic, animals, dinosaurs, etc.
• Light read and fast-paced story. You will keep turning pages once tempo sets (which is true for 70% of the book)
• Nice colorful cover design.

Overall nice read. Ratings

1. Cover - 4.25/5
2. Concept - 4/5
3. Content - 3/5
4. Characters - 3.5/5
5. Overall - 3.75/5

Book can be found at Amazon

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads

Shadows - Dark Touch - 1 by Amy Meredith

"Shadows" is the first novel in dark touch series by Amy Meredith. I picked up this book because of its trendy cover. It's edgy YA supernatural/paranormal story.

Book Blurb

Fifteen-year-old Eve Evergold is cute, sassy and enjoying a busy social life. What she doesn't know yet is that someone close to her is an evil demon that only she has the supernatural power to defeat. She needs to work out who it is - and fast! Because although there's something very attractive about the dark side...dating a demon? Pure hell!

The story is about Fifteen years old Eve Evergold, who lived in small-town Deepdene where everyone knew each other. As the year begin two new boys moved into town one was minister's kid Luke and the other mysteries fellow Mal. Some mysterious things started to happen as the year started. Some of the girls were seeing shadows and having nightmares about demon sucking their soul. These girls soon went crazy. On the other hand, Eve was discovering some strange power in herself. She could feel electric charge in her fingers. She could move things without touching. To find out more about her powers and the thing that happened to other girls she took help of Luke and her best friend Jess. They soon found out that she was the great great great granddaughter of Deepdene's witch. She also had acquired crush on mal and he invites her to his house. There suddenly she realized that mal is the demon and he tried to suck her soul but she killed him. Story end where Eve is thinking that either she has killed mal or send him back to hell.

I enjoyed Eve and Jess 's friendship and their fashion talk, what I didn't like was saving of Deepdene was solemnly resting only on Eve's shoulder. Other than that I enjoyed this book.

if you like to read paranormal and supernatural things than this book is a perfect pick for you.

Ratings

1. Cover : - 4/5
2. Content : - 3/5
3. Character : - 2/5
4. Concept : - 3.5/5
5. Overall : - 3/5

Book can be found at Amazon India & Amazon US

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads

Book Review - Lauren Kate's Torment Second Installment in Fallen Series

Torment by Lauren Kate is the second book in Fallen series. I was randomly going through youtube and I came across the movie that was made from the first book of series "Fallen" last month and I loved that movie, I wanted to read Torment ever since. So when I found this book in book fair I was so excited, but after reading this book I was bit disappointed.

Book blurb

How many lives do you need to live before you find someone worth dying for?In the aftermath of what happened at Sword & Cross, Luce has been hidden away by her cursed angelic boyfriend, Daniel, in a new school filled with Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans. Daniel promises she will be safe here, protected from those who would kill her. At the school Luce discovers what the Shadows that have followed her all her life mean – and how to manipulate them to see into her other lives. Yet the more Luce learns about herself, the more she realizes that the past is her only key to unlocking her future. and that Daniel hasn't told her everything. What if his version of the past isn't actually the way things happened. what if Luce was really meant to be with someone else?

The story starts after the events of Fallen, Cam- the demon and Daniel -the angle made an eighteen-day truce to protect Luce who was Daniel 's love and a mortal from the Outcast. Luce was hidden at Shoreline, a school where both humans and Nephilim - half angle attended. Luce found out more about her past lives with the help of two Nephilim friends Shelby, Luce's roommate, and Miles, whose affection for Luce causes her to doubt her relationship with Daniel. Daniel will do anything to protect her. Discovering some of her past lives, Luce realizes how their love hurt the thousands of families she once lived with. During her time in Shoreline, Luce's division between angels and demons becomes blurry when she discovers that Daniel and Cam are fighting side by side. At times, Daniel visits her to try to make her feel happier about her situation. At one time, when Daniel comes to visit her, he sees Miles kiss Luce on a window sill. She finds out that not only the Elders want her, but that the Outcasts - beings who are neither angels nor demons - want to capture her. Luce's parents have a Thanksgiving party, and when her parents go out the Outcasts arrive in Luce's backyard to fight the angels. Luce finds out that Miles has feelings for her, as he can replicate a person, but only if he loves them. Luce is stressed from the violence and decides to find out more about her past lives by jumping through one of the shadows, leaving everybody behind her. Leaving her past and into her future and Daniel,  follows her.

I am love reading books with angles, demons or vampires in it, in short, YA fantasies.  That was the prime reason I liked this book, otherwise, I found writing style quite poor. One particular thing that I didn't like was the meetings between Luce and Denial. Whenever they met, they just fought over stupid things. And then Denial will leave saying "I have to go". After watching Fallen I had big expectations from this book, which were not fulfilled.

This book is a bit like the Twilight series, instead of vampires in this book we have angles and demons. So I recommend this book to YA fantasy readers only.

Ratings

1. Cover : - 3/5
2. Content : - 2.5/5
3. Character : - 3/5
4. Concept : - 2.5/5
5. Overall : - 3/5

Book can be found at Amazon & Flipkart

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads

Book Review - Exposure by Simron Gill

When I checked this book cover, title, and blurb; I got a completely different impression. Frankly speaking, it is true "Never judge the book by its cover". "Exposure" is a mixture of Sci-fi, Fantasy & Dystopian genre by Simron Gill.

Book blurb

"I guess I don't really understand why I am writing this; but, I feel that if I don't I might just lose whatever hope I have left - and then I will truly lose myself!"The world is being destroyed, people are being slaughtered on the street, and newly abandoned Sarah has to fight if she wants to survive. But after being abandoned by her family can she really accept the help of a new one, and if she doesn't then will she be able to live through the fight?

Exposure is the story of Sarah, who had spent all her life on the Earth with her family. But one fine day, an unknown species called Gymps attacked earth and started killing people. Gymps raided Sarah's house and to Sarah's surprise, all his family members abandoned her to survive on her own. Sarah survived 4 months 10 days on her own, but then she met James who claimed himself as another species alpha. Alpha had special powers and they lived on Earth only but on clouds. From James, Sarah came to know that she had another family on the cloud. She went to cloud with James and learned much shocking truth.

Things that I liked about book

• Author's imagination about alpha or cloud people's world
• Deep psychological thought process of four main characters Sarah, Her mother, James & Kai

Things that author missed to give explanation

• The time lapse between Alpha & Human. I found multiple instances where characters mentioned being friend with the known figure from the past (as far as Cleopatra). 
• Sarah checked documents of all people killed by Gymps in multiple universes, each person has an individual paper copy. Can you imagine how big that room could be just for people of earth with 7 billion people? 

Well, considering age group for which book was written one can ignore those flaws. Consider it as a light read for the young generation.

Talking about ratings:

1. Cover: 3 / 5 (Not able to gauge what book is about)
2. Storyline: 3.5 / 5 (Fast paced)
3. Characters:4 / 5
4. Concept: 4 / 5 (Something new)
5. Overall: 3.25 / 5

Book can be found at Amazon UK, Amazon US & Amazon India

Reviews from other readers can be found at Goodreads

The Magician's Workshop - Volume Two

One will find thousands of books in fantasy genre which are based on magical world, but very few stand out of the crowd and leave an impression on readers mind. The Magician's Workshop is well thought & properly drafted story line. I strongly believe this story has potential to capture a huge fan following.

Book Blurb

Return to the world of The Magician’s Workshop: Where Dreams Become Reality.
In Volume Two, the Festival of Stars has finally arrived, and the Color Ceremony is about to commence. As children from all over the islands gather to stand before a puller, one question remains: who will have a Color, and who will be found void?
Rejoin your favorite characters as they step forward and receive a label that will have the power to dramatically alter the course of their lives forever.

Second part of "The Magician's Workshop" started where first was finished, i.e. just before colour ceremony started. All coming to age kids participated in the colour ceremony. Few found colours in them, few found void, and few got multiple colours as well. Colour has changed each character's life. Weston, Luge & Kalaya found void. Luge was mentally ready for the void, but for Weston and Kalaya shock was huge. Weston took daily jobs soon after ceremony to help his family financially. Kalaya's dad help her to regain confidence and she decided to join a team to train irrespective of void. Talia & Kaso found single colour. Talia joined her island's own team for training. Kaso join Aaro's team for training. Kai & Layauna found multiple colours. Layauna had no difficulties for trainer due to her grandfather's reputation. But for Kai it was a difficult task. Due his fiasco of his father people were reluctant to train him, and in such time two conflicting colours made his life more difficult. At the end his grandfather came forward to train him. Second part ended with each member's resolution to get trained with a trainer and show their prowess. And then there is also a suspense created by author in last chapter as a prophecy.

I think I recapped complete story in above paragraph. But it's not just story for which you read this kind of book. It is about going through the experience of fantasy world, which authors have done wonderfully. As I have already mentioned in first part review, many aspects of these fantasy world was visualised and presented very well. Tempo of the story was like a sine wave for me. Story started with high high temp with starting of colour ceremony, then temp went low (I would say touched bottom) for almost 30% of the part, but authors were able to finish it at high peak once again. Prophecy revelation made me connect to publishers same day to enquire for next part's availability.

In and all, a wonderful read. Talking about ratings.

1. Cover - 2.5 / 5 (I can hardly differentiate 2nd volume from 1st)
2. Language - 4 / 5 (For book audience of kids, YA)
3. Story Line - 3 / 5 
4. Characters - 4 / 5
5. Concept - 4.5 / 5 
6. Overall - 4 / 5

Book can be found at - Amazon

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads & Facebook

The Magician's Workshop, Volume One

If you think thoroughly before creating a magical world, you will bring a good fantasy story to your reader. "The Magician's Workshop" by Christopher Hansen and J. R. Fehr is one such wonderful series. If marketed and promoted properly this can be a create a huge fan following. Book is yet to come in printed format, I got free copy in exchange of unbiased review. Though I have scheduled it to read after a 30-40 days according to pipeline, but I cannot resist it after reading first two chapters. 

Book blurb

Everyone in the islands of O’Ceea has a magical ability: whatever they imagine can be brought into existence. Whoever becomes a master over these powers is granted the title of magician and is given fame, power, riches, and glory. This volume of books follows the journey of a group of kids as they strive to rise to the top and become members of the Magician’s Workshop. 
Layauna desperately wants to create beautiful things with her magical powers, but all she can seem to do is make horrible, savage monsters. For years she has tried to hide her creations, but when her power is at last discovered by a great magician, she realizes that what she’s tried to hide might actually be of tremendous value.
Kai just wants to use his powers to have fun and play with his friends. Unfortunately, nearly everyone on his island sees him as a bad influence, so he’s forced to meet them in secret. When one of the creatures they create gets out of control and starts flinging fireballs at their town, Kai is tempted to believe that he is as nefarious as people say. However, his prospects change when two mysterious visitors arrive, praising his ability and making extraordinary promises about his future.
Follow the adventures of Kai, Layauna, and a boatload of other characters as they struggle to grow up well in this fantastical world.

O'Ceea is a magical lang where where people can project things as per their imagination. Though anyone can project things in O'Ceea, only those having permission from authority can project legally. Otherwise person will be punished. Anyone below 16 cannot project publicly until he gets recognition. As per law set in their world at age of 16, girls & boys will eligible for examination. The most important factor during this test is standing in front of a system/device/magician called as puller who will decide whether person has any of the 9 colors in him or he is a without color (people without color known as void). This ceremony is celebrated on grand level and called as color ceremony. Apart from puller test person can go through other test and earn chips which will be useful for professional guilds.

Now coming to main story. It is about five teenagers Layauna, Kai, Weston, Talia, Kalaya, Kaso from different region and clan who are on the verge of becoming adults as per O'Ceea's regulations. Each person has their own strength, weakness and pasts. In this volume they just gathered at Color ceremony. Things will be continued in next part.

Though I liked the book by reading first two chapters, it doesn't mean I got use to with unconventional words and plots. There are gaps that readers have to image or wait for next few chapters to get it cleared. I had that problem while reading, and there are some doubts that I hope will be cleared while reading next part.

What I like in book?

• Authors have thought about new currency, different way to show timings, new way of calling last names and many more things differently.
• Fast paced book, without unnecessary details.
• Plot was well planned.

What I thought could be improved?

• First and foremost, cover. It requires better cover page for fantasy book.
• Book has built wonderful tempo, but end was abrupt.
• I was expecting each characters know results of color ceremony and then in next volume they face other challenges.
• It would have been nice for readers if few clarification of O'ceea have given to readers before hand.

In and all, a wonderful read. Talking about ratings.

1. Cover - 2.5 / 5
2. Language - 4 / 5 (For book audience of kids, YA)
3. Story Line - 4 / 5 (No ups and downs, straight forward)
4. Characters - 4 / 5
5. Concept - 4.5 / 5 (Something new)
6. Overall - 4 / 5

Book can be found at - Amazon

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads & Facebook