Saturday, March 31, 2018

The Book:

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Book Title: A Beautiful Curse
Book Author: Kenley Davidson
Page Count: 162
Publishing Date: February 26th, 2018
Publisher: Page Nine Press
Date Read: March 26th, 2018
Synopsis:  Follow your heart…
But you might just end up snacking on flies.
When a bumbling fairy godfather gifts a humble woodcutter’s fourth child with extraordinary beauty, she spends the next eighteen years trying to hide it—behind a book. Now, Elisette is ready to follow her dreams and become a scholar, but her admirers keep getting in the way of her ambitions. Ellie knows better than to rely on her fairy godfather, but she’s desperate enough to risk asking him for help. The trouble is, Mortimer isn’t feeling very helpful. In fact, he’s downright irritated… 
After a bit of vengeful fairy magic, Ellie discovers that webbed feet and green skin are even harder to manage than beauty. No one cares what happens to a frog, except maybe quiet, unassuming Prince Cambren, who has enough troubles of his own. 
Will Ellie find a way to break her curse and live happily ever after? Or will she spend the rest of her life eating flies and living in a pond at the back of the palace garden? 
A Beautiful Curse is a romantic fairy tale novella. It can be read on its own, but is more fun when read as a part of the Entwined Tales, a series of interconnected fairy tales by six different authors. Each story follows the adventures of one of seven children from the same family as they seek out their own happily ever afters in spite of their reluctant fairy-godfather. 
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The Original Faerie Tale:

The original tale of The Frog Bride is thought to have been a German tale title Cherry the Frog Bride, collected by The Brothers Grimm in the 19th century. It is also believed it originated from an older tale titled The White Cat, written by Marie-Catherine d’Aulnoy in 1698, which may in fact be a variation of an even older tale titled Puddocky. These tales share similarities to The Frog Princess.
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The Review:

A Beautiful Curse will speak to your soul. It is is full of beauty and emotion! Faerie tale lovers rejoice, for this one sparkles with love, laughter, and life lessons!
I’ve probably said this with each book in this series, but each one has gotten better and better, and I now have a new favorite! I loved this one so much! I smiled, I laughed, and I teared up at the end.
This one was so incredibly beautiful! I loved how it fit seamlessly with the rest of the books in the series, but I also loved how it stood out for me. This one really spoke to me on so many levels.
On the surface, it was a humorous retelling of an old German folk tale, that is similar to a couple other tales. It was fun and sweet and entertaining. Digging deeper, this one spoke of self love. It offered life lessons on being careful what you wish for, not judging a book by its cover, the importance of true friendship, and the mantra “looks aren’t everything.” It was a stunningly deep story that also introduced me to my two new favorite characters.
Elisette, or Ellie, was such a strong, independent young woman. She was witty and intelligent, and very adventurous! She was kind, and daring, and wasn’t afraid to go after her dreams.
Cambren was my favorite prince out of the three from the story. He was exceptionally compassionate and loyal. I loved that he was willing to sacrifice for the sake of friendship and that he wasn’t a typical, perfect prince.
I also really loved the King in this one! He was extremely wise and very thought provoking. I enjoyed his reasoning behind the tests he put his sons through, and I found him to be very understanding and caring, both to his sons, and his kingdom!
A Beautiful Cruse was vividly colorful and had such dimension and depth! I could not put it down! It was charming and snarky, and insanely enjoyable! It felt both familiar and original at the same time!
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Thank you to the author for providing me with this free e-copy in exchange for my honest review and as part of my Faerie Tale Friday post.
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Story Time:

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Thursday, March 29, 2018

The Book:

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Book Title: Control Freakz
Book Author: Michael Evans
Page Count: 278
Publishing Date: October 3rd, 2017
Publisher: Palmetto Publishing Group
Date Read: March 29th, 2018
Synopsis: Alone. Abandoned. Threatened.Natalie has lost all hope for a better future. Everything she’s known and everyone she’s ever loved is gone, and it’s up to her to get her old life back. In Michael Evans’s first novel, Control Freakz, Natalie’s journey toward a better life begins.
When Protocol 00 is enacted, Natalie’s family is taken by the government, along with the families of her two best friends, Ethan and Hunter. With nothing to lose, and the threat of government hitmen kidnapping them at any moment, the three must battle to survive in a horrid, post-apocalyptic world run by President Ash and his invasive government. They want answers. And they’re willing to jeopardize everything in desperate pursuit.
Risking ruthless leaders, attempted mind control, and her very existence on the planet, Natalie, along with Hunter and Ethan, will stop at nothing in their quest to regain everything they’ve ever known. Her spirits crushed and her will to live destroyed, Natalie knows everything is dead and gone, and soon she will be, too.
Memories connect us to the past, and can often cause us to long for a better future, but they can drive our minds into a state of hell if a better future is unattainable. Nevertheless, Natalie’s hope for a better a future remains.
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The Review:

Control Freakz is fast paced and powerful. It is a thrill ride through a futuristic dystopian world of fear and power struggles. If you are on the hunt for a inner turmoil driven YA story, this one is for you.
This one left me deep in thought. It was terrifying and exciting at the same time. It kind of mirrored current political unrest while highlighting potential new issues that could evolve if certain technology existed.
The writing itself was a little straight down the middle for me. I was gripped from the beginning. I could picture everything in my mind while I read and I kept turning pages wanting to know what happened next. But, I also felt that the writing was a bit on the wordy side, and the main character had a bit too much inner turmoil happening.
This one was definitely driven by the main character and her inner turmoil and dialog. Because of this, I didn’t really get to know the other two main characters as much as I would have liked. I did learn that Ethan was a bit on the eccentric side, and tended to act without thinking. Hunter was the level headed character that tried to keep things in control, and our main character, Natalie, was super pessimistic and tended to be very over-dramatic.
I would have liked to have more character development, but, where the story lacked in that department, it thrived on emotion. Though, I did not relate to Natalie, and never really felt like I liked her much, I could feel her fear, her anxiety, and her depression throughout the story. I found myself rooting for the characters’ survival and hoping they found answers, their families, and their wills to fight and survive.
There were definitely some issues with the story and writing, but what stuck out to me was the fact that the story still came through and it stayed with me. The twists weren’t as thrilling as I hoped, but they were fairly unpredictable. The world that Evans created was very unique, and though I would have liked more development and explanation surrounding the futuristic tech, it was well done enough to keep me involved in the story.
Am I glad that I read this? Definitely. Am I looking forward to reading the next book? Hell yes! This was an amazing debut novel and the best part about it is the fact that the author is still in high school. You read that right! Though this book did not live up to its full potential, it was still a great read and I have a feeling each book that follows will improve both in quality and thrills. I would definitely recommend this one and I would recommend keeping an eye on what comes next from the author! 3.5 stars!
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Thank you to the author for providing me with this free e-copy in exchange for my honest review!
This author is also a proud member of The Book Robin Hoods site. If you are an author looking for more reviews, or a reviewer looking to help out Indie/Self Published and Lesser Known Authors, make sure to click the link below and join us!

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