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Tag Archives: Book Reviews

Lenni Reviews: “The Truth of Rock and Roll” by Matthew Keville

12 Thursday Oct 2017

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*This book was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review.

Our main character is facing a crossroads; obey his father and go to business school or chase his dreams. An old man overhears the argument and tells his own story about facing the same choice in his youth. What follows is a cautionary tale of magic and rock and roll.

Full disclosure: This author is a friend of mine who reads my blog and asked me to check out his work. If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you know I will give my honest opinion, friend or not. Dog shit is dog shit even if its your friend’s dog.

That being said, this is NOT dog shit. The way the supernatural elements are running in the background of real life and you get the sense you could see them if you just opened your eyes properly reminded me of some of Gaiman’s work (it also helps I’m also re-reading Neverwhere). Our two main characters may be nameless but their personalities are so well fleshed out, I didn’t feel names were fully necessary.

Compact, entertaining, and touching, this is a magical little story about the dangers of playing life too safe and taking that chance to find your bliss. I left this story feeling inspired! 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Generations” by Flavia Biondi

12 Thursday Oct 2017

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Matteo returns home after spending three years milling about with his boyfriend in Milan. With no job, no money, and little prospects, Matteo has no choice but to live in the same house as his grandmother, three aunts, and his very pregnant cousin. After fleeing this town feeling it was too small, especially after coming out, Matteo slowly rebuilds his connections to his family and discovers there is so much more to be appreciated about where he came from and where he could go in the future.

Watching Matteo reconnect with his family – for good or ill – is a bittersweet and beautifully drawn and written story. The strong lines of the art style make every page pop and the range of characters gives a wide breadth of experience; from the aimless wanderer to the estranged father trying to reconnect. You really get a sense of Matteo coming to terms not only with his family but with growing up in general. This book is a good tug at the heartstrings and I give this book a 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Dirty Deeds” by HelenKay Dimon

05 Thursday Oct 2017

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*This book was sent to me in exchange for an honest review and it rated 18+.

Alec Drummond, a hard-assed billionaire, catches Gaige Owens trying to hack into his computers. After it is revealed Gaige is working for the government as it is suspected someone working for Alec may be tampering with the seed vault Alec meticulously runs. Rightfully suspicious of government monitoring, Alec agrees to let Gaige stay undercover for free access to investigate the tampering but Gaige will be under Alec’s consistent watch the entire time. And it doesn’t help that Gaige is exactly Alec’s type.

Gaige and Alec make an enjoyable couple and, like in Pathogen, they are smart, logical characters. Given the premise, it was nice to see such competency in a genre where it would be very easy to fluff your way to getting the pair in bed. Despite this, there are several places where more description was necessary and more subtlety was needed. I was able to guess who the villain was the second they were introduced and thus it made the rest of the book less suspenseful for me. All I ended up really caring about is how Alec and Gaige were going to work out their mistrust and get together. Their relationship is hot and sweet, the sex scenes are blush-worthy and don’t linger too long, but in the end, I can’t say this will leave much of an impact on me. I had fun reading it, though. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Tea Dragon Society” by Katie O’Neil

07 Thursday Sep 2017

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review

*This review is cross-posted to Otakus and Geeks

When she finds an injured tea dragon in the marketplace, young Greta – who is a blacksmith’s apprentice – returns the magical creature to its owner and learns the nearly forgotten art of crafting tea from the delicate leaves growing from the tea dragon’s bodies.

I found this to be the most refreshing fantasy comic I have read in a long time. The story Greta through 4 seasons as she meets Minette; a seer who has lost her memory, Hesekiel; one of the last remaining tea masters, and his partner Erik; a former adventurer who is now a paraplegic.

There are no grand adventures, no epic battles; just a little girl who finds a dragon and makes some friends. A delightfully progressive slice of life story with simple and beautiful art, about the only thing I can legitimately complain about is there isn’t enough of this. If this was a webcomic or a series, I would be reading it all the time. It’s very rare for me to find something so lighthearted yet well done and I find it perfect. 5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Pathogen” by Jessica L. Webb

01 Friday Sep 2017

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*This book was sent to me in exchange for an honest review and is recommended 18+

*This review is cross-posted to Otakus and Geeks.

In this second entry into the Kate Morrison Mystery Series, Dr. Morrison is tapped to solve a mystery surrounding a deadly viral outbreak in a rich little town called Hidden Valley. Working with her girlfriend; Sargent Andy Wyles, Kate scrambles to simultaneously treat her patients, find out how to stop the virus, deal with demanding rich people, and navigate her new relationship with Andy.

This is not the type of book I usually pick up as medical thrillers just aren’t my thing but this time I wanted to step out of my comfort zone. I found the collection of smart, capable people to be a relief. There are ill meaning characters and a pretty annoying bully but nobody working to solve this problem is grossly incompetent. Sometimes a stupid character will be used for plot purposes but not here.

Andy and Kate are a true power couple; quick thinking, intuitive, and well-developed but I do feel I would have needed to read the first book to get the full impact of what happens between them. This is especially evident in the ending (which I will not spoil) where the combined events and stresses of both books impact the ending. And as this is an LGBT novel, there is a little smut but the soul of this book is the medical mystery. It may not be my usual fare but I enjoyed it nonetheless. 3.5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Lighter Than My Shadow” by Katie Green

26 Saturday Aug 2017

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is recommended for mature readers

In this graphic memoir, Katie Green takes a look back on her relationship with food and body image from early childhood through college as she battles with anorexia and binge eating.

I LOVE graphic memoirs when they are done right. The combined ability of art and the written word can impact you on a much deeper level than either one on its own. Lighter Than My Shadow is now among my favorites.

This book is not an easy read. Green is shamelessly honest in her depiction of the disorder and the toll it takes not only on the afflicted but on their friends and family. It’s heartbreaking to see this young girl’s self-esteem take hit after hit until her own mind circles the drain of all those negative thoughts. As dealing with depression is similar, I can empathize with her.

At times the narrative can get repetitive but if you remind yourself this is a person relapsing and not a fictional character, it’s forgivable. There is always a forward momentum, though. I admire the author’s courage and if you can read such things without getting triggered (SPOILER: I will have to insert a trigger warning for rape as well as the eating disorder), I highly suggest giving this book a try. 4.5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Smokin Parade” vol 2 by Jinsei Kataoka and Kazuma Kondou

19 Saturday Aug 2017

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A group of spiders calling themselves the Shikagura directly target the Jackalopes; leaving them battered and inured in body and mind. The only remaining three who are able to combat these spiders are Youkou and his rival Kotoharu and the cook, Shiba; who is secretly a total badass.

Of course there are connections between the members of the Jackalopes and the members of the Shikagura; and this is aside for Youkou and his sister. It will be intriguing to see how this plays out considering the wild personalities of the other Jackalopes. You can tell Youkou will go though an arc where he will try to save his sister but end up having to kill her. That’s fairly predictable. I’ll give this series a ton of credit if it does something different. 3.7 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “School Live” vol 1 by Norimitsu Kaihou, Sadoru Chiba, and Leighann Harvey

18 Friday Aug 2017

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Yuki Takeya loves her school. Her teachers are nice and she has a lot of fun at the School Living Club after classes are over; where she can hang out with her friends. At least what’s left of them after a zombie breakout.

This book reads like Highschool of the Dead’s sweeter and less slutty little sister and that’s not an insult to either series. In this story about a group of survivors in a school lacks the absurd fan service of the former and I dare say, this tries to be cute! Our living characters are adorable but the undead are kept mostly in shadow. It’s obvious the story will take a dark turn but this first volume is fairly light-hearted. 3.7 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Yona of the Dawn” vol 7 by Mizuho Kusanagi

16 Wednesday Aug 2017

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Yona and company decide to help Awa free a town from a group of human traffickers. But while she’s there, Yona runs into the man who killed her father and cost her her kingdom; Su-won.

While it may seem rehashed for a character like Yona to instantly inspire everyone to follow her into battle but as a character, Yona remains a capable yet vulnerable person you can relate to. How she inspires others isn’t with grand speeches but for her willingness to do anything it takes and those around her admire her bravery and determination. Even when she is face to face with her father’s killer, she is more than willing seek revenge but after Su-won is gone, she breaks down and cries.

Yona really outshines her dragon compatriots in terms of personality but they are an enjoyable group of contrasts. There’s a silly side story about a love potion so you can watch them play off each other without Yona around but I would have rather seen the story progress. 4 out of 5 for this one.

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Lenni Reviews: “Courageous Love” by K. C. Richardson.

12 Saturday Aug 2017

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*This book was sent to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+

Alex Taylor and Francesca “Frank” Greco didn’t meet under the best of circumstances. Frank pulled Alex over for speeding and talking on her cell phone but they meet up again at a party that same day. Despite this initial stumble, they can’t deny the attraction is there between them. As they pursue a relationship, Alex is suddenly diagnosed with breast cancer and Frank has to decide if she is willing to watch another woman she loves wilt to the disease; like her twin sister, Toni.

This book breaks Fiction 101’s most important rule: show, don’t tell. Not a single emotion this book tries to evoke ever manifest. At 70%, all I felt was annoyed there was more to read. Everything is set in front of you in such a dry, wooden way, I felt as if I was reading a detailed outline. The characters were flat caricatures and it really, REALLY bothered me to have a complete bitch/saint dynamic in Alex and Frank (respectively) where a person with cancer and struggling with treatment is portrayed in the book as a bitch for going through a wide range of emotions. Despite those emotions coming through in as monotone a way a possible.

And after all the delicious prose in Rainbow Gap, I was doubly disappointed. 2 out of 5.

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