Tag Archives: self published

Summer Of 68

Book Review of Summer Of 68, by Kevin Milikin

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I won an audio copy of Summer of 68, by Kevin Milikin

Description from Goodreads:
When the world ended some people believed that it was the fault of a failed space probe, others–an act of vengeance from an angry God. No one knew the reasons why but across the globe, millions of the recently deceased rose from the dead, possessed with one singular goal: To eat the flesh of the living.

Over the course of a few short hours the world was lost.

In the Northern California town of Red Bluff, a Sheriff struggles to grasp this strange and hellish turn of events that have ravaged his small town and maintain order as it all falls apart.

Two brothers struggle to make sense of this new world, traveling through the putrid remains of their beloved town–torn between survival and the love their mother. The world has ended and soon they will learn that all they need to survive is each other.

Review:
With a few exceptions the writing here is smooth and pleasantly atmospheric. However, there is nothing new offered in this zombie yarn. It is nothing more than the struggle for survival of a few random people in the face of a mysterious zombie plague. No explanation is given, no certain ending provided, no real reason even for why the character we follow are the characters we follow. I won’t go as far as to claim the book has no plot, but it does seem distinctly without purpose. Why are we following the sheriff and two young boys as they explore the landscape? Why not the baker or the barber? What is the goal?

The book is heavy on the zombie gore. So, if that’s the sort of thing you’re interested in, this will be a hit. If you like a little more storyline with that gore, maybe not.

For the most part Rick Gregory did a fine job with the narration. He had an odd habit of breaking sentences in unexpected places and pronounced a couple words in ways I hadn’t expected. But mostly it was easy to listen to.

Fight or Flight

Book Review of Fight or Flight, by Noah Harris

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I picked up a copy of Noah Harris‘ Fight or Flight at Amazon when it was free. It was still free at the time of posting.

Description from Goodreads:
Bryant had always been a fighter. He had fought to keep his family together, and after his father’s death, he had fought to get custody over his little sister. He fought to keep them fed, and he fought to keep a roof over their heads. And he did so by picking up his father’s old profession: illegal werewolf fights. It was a dangerous profession, but he made good money. It didn’t leave much room for a social life or romance, but he liked it that way. Those were just distractions from what needed to be done. He was convinced he didn’t want a relationship.

That is, until Jake walked into his life: an inexperienced rookie with firm determination, an eagerness to learn, and a secret of his own: he’s actually an Omega. Against his better judgement, Bryant agrees to train him but soon finds himself fighting once again. Only this time, he’s fighting himself and his overwhelming attraction for Jake. He soon learns that some fights aren’t meant to be won.

Review:
Sooo, this might have made a good novella, but there really isn’t enough of it to fill 300+ pages. It’s repetitive and slow. Plus, the Amazon description states, “Set amidst a strongly constructed shifter world of werewolf fighting…” But the reality is that there basically isn’t ANY world-building at all. And what very little there is, like alpha’s going into rut and trying to rape any omega they scent, doesn’t really even make sense. Plus, there is very little werewolf action in this werewolf novel. 90% of it might as well be a contemporary m/m romance. The mechanical writing is fine (though heavy on the tell) and I liked the characters (though I thought Jake was stupid and selfish for continuing to knowingly endanger everyone). But the book was less than satisfying.

femme

Book Review of Femme, by Marshall Thornton

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I won an audio copy of Femme, by Marshall Thornton.

Description from Goodreads:
Queeny cocktail waiter, Lionel, wakes up to find himself in bed with Dog, a straight-acting softball player and the two embark on a rocky road to romance. A journey that requires coming out of the closet, going into the closet, a pair of red high heels, many pairs of red high heels, a failed intervention, a couple of aborted dates, and homemade pom-poms. Mostly, Lionel and Dog learn what it means to be a man. 

Review:
Generally enjoyable. For the most part I very much liked this. I liked that it took a look at stereotypes within the gay community, by the gay community. I liked that all sorts of identities were legitimized. And I thought the whole thing was warm and fuzzy and funny.But there were just a few too many moments in which I was rolling along, pleasantly enjoying the narrative only to have some needle-screech moment in which something that made me twitch happened.

I am apparently a lot less forgiving than Leon, because I would not have forgiven Doug for denying me so many times. Nope. Which means I had a hard time rolling with the happy ending. Further, I didn’t think some of the characters whose actions needed to be addressed as problematic were actually challenged. [spoiler] The sister who continued to set her brother up on blind dates (including with his ex-fiancé) despite being asked not to, who then outed him to his homophobic parents, AND THEN brought said homophobic parents to a place she knew he’d be on a date with a man, for example. Yes, she was a perfect example of an ally who is more concerned with how cool it is to be an ally than actual ally-ship, but not once was she reprimanded for her horrendously distressing behaviors, nor were the rest of the family.

Lastly, the book deals with stereotypes and I’m glad it did. I liked that. But I also found the characters, Lionel especially, too pat and stereotypical in some ways that weren’t being explored. Just because he’s femme, for example, doesn’t mean he also has to be flighty, unable to think before he speaks, consider the consequences to his actions, or perform a single domestic chore (like cook). This is not just the ‘femme persona,’ this is a stereotypical representation of the femme persona as it is often stereotyped. And part of the point of the book is that we are more than our stereotypes, a theme I thought would be a lot more effective if the characters actually went past their own stereotypes.

All in all however, I liked the book. I liked the theme. I liked the writing. I thought Joel Leslie did a great job with the narration. I’d happily read another book by this author.