Paranormal – The Bookish Deer

Goodreads rating: 4.56

Pages: 180

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy

Date published: December 31st, 2017 (US)

My rating: ★★☆☆☆

Synopsis

Jake’s Father is an archeologist who is in Israel to complete a dig on King Solomon’s Temple. As an eighteen-year-old American, Jake is unwelcome by the people in the territory. Defending himself against the townspeople is a constant torment.
Through a map Jake finds on his Father’s desk, he and his friend Avner decide to explore a newly discovered chamber. At the end of a dark and deserted tunnel, Jake uncovers the treasure of King Solomon’s Power ring. He puts it on his finger and feels his life changing.
Jake passes off the ring as a replica, but he starts to hear a voice that belongs to Smith. Smith provides him guidance on how to deal with his newfound powers. Jake wants to learn all he can about his new secret ring. Smith encourages him to sharpen his fighting skills by joining the Army.
Is Smith leading Jake to a newfound life where he can become a hero? Or will the decision to join the military endanger his life? Will Jake find out the ring he wears is good or will it be of evil intent? And who keeps trying to steal the ring?

My review

I was sent a copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review. Big thanks to Sam B. Miller!

Stopped at: 47%

Unfortunately, and I hate to bring you a negative review, I did not enjoy this book. I won’t be finishing it, as I see no point in forcing myself to read something I don’t like.

The premise was cool, and since I’m a history student – and obsessed with ancient history -, I thought this book would be right up my alley. It takes place in Israel, where our American main character, Jake, is currently living. He accidentally finds King Solomon’s ring, named Smith, and later realizes that the ring speaks to him. Then, he starts making decisions based on what Smith tells him to do – such as joining the Army.

It kind of reminded me of Rick Riordan’s books, which I also didn’t finish 😅 I had read the synopsis before going into this book, in which we are told that Jake is 18 years old. However, the whole time I felt like this was a middle-grade novel narrated by a 13 or 14-year-old. I only realized that wasn’t the case when I eventually thought “Wait, how old is he if he is joining the Army?”. So I really didn’t enjoy that, the main character is rather childish for his age.

I wasn’t a fan of the cast of characters either, which sucks because I usually read books for the characters. If a book has a terrible plot but it features characters that I like, I’ll probably still enjoy it. If it’s the other way around, it’s much harder for me to like it…

Unlike I had expected, the whole plot was not of my liking either, so I started losing interest as I read and, eventually, gave up. I think it’s a matter of age. Maybe I’m too old for this shit? We have to recognize it when a book is not right for us, right?

Well, that’s about it regarding what I actually read. I’m really bummed that I didn’t like this book, but such is life. Apparently, a lot of people give it 4 and 5-star ratings on Goodreads, so it can’t be a terrible book – it just wasn’t to my liking!

★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

Have you read Smith? Did you like it? Let me know in the comments! ♡

I hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts on Smith and if you’d like, check out my other book reviews!

Thank you so much for reading,
I’ll see you in my next post ♡

Bad Girl Gone by Temple Mathews

Goodreads rating: 2.95

Pages: 256

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Paranormal, Romance

Date published: August 8th, 2017 (USA)

Goodreads // Buy this book: Hardback

Synopsis

Sixteen year-old Echo Stone awakens in a cold sweat in a dark room, having no idea where she is or how she got there. But she soon finds out she’s in Middle House, an orphanage filled with mysteriously troubled kids.

There’s just one problem: she’s not an orphan. Her parents are very much alive.

She explains this to everyone, but no one will listen. After befriending a sympathetic (and handsome) boy, Echo is able to escape Middle House and rush home, only to discover it sealed off by crime scene tape and covered in the evidence of a terrible and violent crime. As Echo grapples with this world-shattering information, she spots her parents driving by and rushes to flag them down. Standing in the middle of street, waving her arms to get their attention, her parents car drives right through her.

She was right. Her parents are alive but she’s not.

She’s a ghost, just like all the other denizens of Middle House. Desperate to somehow get her life back and reconnect with her still-alive boyfriend, Echo embarks on a quest to solve her own murder. As the list of suspects grows, the quest evolves into a journey of self-discovery in which she learns she wasn’t quite the girl she thought she was. In a twist of fate, she’s presented with one last chance to reclaim her life and must make a decision which will either haunt her or bless her forever.

My review

Firstly, I want to thank St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a copy of this book for review.

Trigger warnings: violence, murder, haunting

This book has a cool premise, I thought the plot was very interesting. It’s not the best book I’ve ever read, but I really liked seeing the story from the ghosts’ perspective. It’s not a very common thing – or at least I don’t know of many books that feature the perspective of ghosts.

I was starting to get mad, thinking I could not go off into eternal rest looking like a country-western singer!

The characters could have been developed a bit better, and I think the book is too short for so many characters! If we had 100 more pages it could have been a way better book. I did enjoy the kids, and they were very funny, but they lacked development.

There is sort of a love triangle, between the living and the dead, so if you’re someone who can’t stand love triangles, this one might not be for you.

The kiss lingered and he was already halfway down the hall, and about three-quarters of the way into my heart.

The pacing was a little inconsistent at times – there were a couple parts in which I felt as though everything was happening very fast, others very slow -, but the majority of the book felt fine!

There is a mystery element all throughout the book, which hooked me. I really wanted to find out what had happened! And when we finally found out, I was perplexed. Did not see that coming!

“Sometimes bad things happen to good people,” said Zipperhead. “There’s no accounting for it. Shit happens, and then you die.”

The author’s writing was nice, and the way he wrote Echo felt true to a teenage girl – at least in my opinion! I could relate to her most of the time, although she made stupid decisions from time to time. Don’t we all?

I liked the atmosphere of the book, too, it felt very creepy in the beginning, and then it turned into sort of an adventure, and I loved both!

The ending was a bit predictable, but that’s very common in contemporary books.

My rating

In conclusion, I did enjoy this book, and I recommend it for the fact that it’s different, and also a quick, spooky read – perfect for Autumn and Halloween time!