Tag: Fiction Book Review

Review: A Friend for Hope by Amie White with Illustrations by Olena Oprich

~ likelystory18 ~ Leave a comment

Synopsis:

Nine-year-old Zoe Meadows is the new kid in Ivy Creek. For homeschooled Zoe, every day starts the same: breakfast, then to the living room where Miss Ellis awaits. Only today, Zoe can’t focus—not when she notices neighborhood children playing outside, children she’s yet to meet. Watching all this unfold, Zoe’s parents decide it’s time for a companion—the furry kind, to be precise.

Everything changes when Zoe meets Hope at the dog shelter for the first time. The two girls form an inseparable bond over the following months and find in each other the one thing they both craved for a long, long time: a forever friend.

Favorite Lines:

“Zoe gazed into the dog’s warm, glossy eyes. Two quiet hearts beating the same.”

“She’s a senior, but she still has plenty of love to give.”

“At last, they’d found what they both needed most: a forever friend.”

My Opinion:

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

At its core, A Friend for Hope is about loneliness and connection.  The story follows Zoe in a way that feels soft and a little introspective for a picture book. There’s a quietness to it that stands out, especially compared to more high-energy, plot-heavy kids’ books.

What I liked is that it doesn’t rush the emotional shift.  For a younger audience, the pacing could actually be really effective, especially for kids who might be dealing with similar feelings but don’t have the words for them yet.

The illustrations are really where the book finds its personality.

They lean soft and expressive, with a clear focus on emotion over detail-heavy worldbuilding. The color palette does a lot of the storytelling work. You can feel the difference between the quieter, lonelier moments and the warmer, more connected ones just through the tones and lighting. That shift is subtle, but it’s doing a lot behind the scenes.

The characters comes through well visually. The expressions are readable without being exaggerated, which will make it easier for kids to connect without it feeling cartoonish. There are also small details in the backgrounds that give you a little more to look at on repeat reads. I can absolutely picture kids pointing out the same tiny thing five nights in a row.

This book is not trying to be flashy. It’s not trying to be the next big “message book.” It’s just a soft, steady story about finding connection when you feel alone, and it handles that with a kind of quiet confidence.

Summary:

Overall, this is a gentle, emotionally focused picture book about loneliness and friendship, supported by soft, expressive illustrations that help carry the story. Best suited for younger children who enjoy quieter, reflective stories and for caregivers looking for a calming, connection-centered read. Happy reading!

Check out A Friend for Hope here!

Review: The Knight’s Last Stand by Bear Pardun

~ likelystory18 ~ 1 Comment

Synopsis:

In a world where gods walk among mortals and divine tyranny crushes the innocent, one knight’s investigation into ritual murders uncovers a conspiracy that threatens to consume an entire city. Commander Victus Andreas discovers that the seemingly random cult killings in Lindly are part of a far darker plan—the dark elven goddess Lestar seeks to harvest the souls of every citizen to feed her master’s insatiable hunger for power.
When Victus returns from his annual pilgrimage to find his city overrun by disguised dark elves posing as holy inquisitors, he must rally a small band of loyal soldiers, his adopted son Aris, and unlikely allies to stand against overwhelming odds. As ancient magic tears through the city and divine politics threaten to destroy everything he’s sworn to protect, Victus faces an impossible choice: save his people or preserve his own soul.
With breathtaking battles, complex characters wrestling with duty and honor, and a magic system that explores the cost of power, Battle of Lindly launches an epic fantasy series that challenges the very nature of divine authority. In Bear Pardun’s richly imagined world, heroes are forged not by destiny, but by the courage to defy gods themselves.


If you enjoyed The Way of Kings, The Blade Itself, and The Shadow of What Was Lost, you’ll love Battle of Lindly.

Favorite Lines:

“For all the military training, for all the knowledge that one could learn, humility was to be the shroud of an authentic hero of the light.”

“The way I see it, half-pal, you gave this man a heart—based on who you are as a human. Charismatic, kind-hearted, heroic, loyal—you are a good man. I would dare say a great man. A testament to your race. Yes, you have trained and disciplined your son to be a warrior. He will bring destruction and doom
to those who stand against righteousness. You taught him when and how to fight. It is actually remarkable to see such a young human so beyond his years. Some of your kin live to their twilight years without even a quarter of what that boy has in his head. You have done right by him and by me, personally.”

My Opinion:

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

There’s something kind of earnest about The Knight’s Last Stand that’s hard to ignore. It’s not trying to reinvent fantasy. It’s not trying to be clever or ironic or subversive. It just… commits. Fully. To knights, gods, blood oaths, dark magic, and the idea that honor still means something.

And honestly? That works more often than it doesn’t.

The book opens brutal.  The whole ritual with Desa sets the tone in a way that doesn’t really let up. It’s dark in a very old-school fantasy way, almost grimdark-adjacent, but without the cynicism. It’s more like: this world is cruel, but there are still people trying to be good anyway.

That’s really where the story lives.

At the center is Aris, but the emotional backbone is actually Victus. The father-son dynamic is what gives the story weight. You can feel how much of Aris is shaped by Victus’s choices, especially the choice to walk away from something bigger (archdom, power, legacy) just to raise him. That’s the kind of thing the book doesn’t over-explain, but it lingers in the background of everything.

The early sections with Aris feel almost deceptively light. There’s training, joking, small-town interactions, Serin sneaking around being chaotic. It almost reads like a coming-of-age story for a while. But there’s always this sense that something is wrong under the surface. And when it shifts, it shifts fast.

Nibarn is a really solid antagonist. Not because he’s intimidating, but because he’s weak. Addicted, unraveling, desperate. The kind of villain who knows he’s in too deep and keeps going anyway. That whole thread with Lestar and the manipulation is honestly one of the stronger parts of the book. It gives the evil side some texture beyond just “dark elves bad.”

Where the book really shines is in the action and momentum. The fight scenes are constant, detailed, and very physical. You always know where people are standing, what they’re doing, what it costs them. It leans hard into that tactile style — blood, weight, exhaustion, mistakes. Aris especially gets put through it. He loses fights. He gets humiliated. He keeps getting back up anyway.

This is a story about:

  • choosing duty even when it costs everything
  • trying to be good in a world that punishes it
  • legacy, especially between fathers and sons
  • and what it actually means to stand your ground when you know you might lose

By the end, it leans fully into that last idea. The title isn’t subtle, and the book doesn’t try to be.

It earns it.

Summary:

Overall, I found this book to be a gritty, sincere fantasy that leans hard into classic themes of honor, sacrifice, and legacy. The writing had an emotional core — especially the father-son relationship and the relentless sense of duty.  If you like fantasy that is sincere about honor, duty, and sacrifice, then this book could be for you. Happy reading!

Check out The Knight’s Last Stand here!

 

Review: SETTUP by TK Thoits

~ likelystory18 ~ 1 Comment

Synopsis:

Respected neurologist and researcher Stella Murray was confident the FDA would approve the experimental medication based on its demonstrated superior efficacy. Knowing a serious side effect would not derail the approval process, she reports that a patient had a significant reaction to the investigational drug.

Shortly thereafter, Grand Rapids Detective Troy Evans is called to investigate the suspicious death of a Site Monitor who, he learns, worked with Murray. Evans asks Murray to educate him on the unfamiliar world of medical research. She discloses that conducting investigational drug studies has become a multibillion-dollar industry, with power brokers providing more oversight than the government.

When Murray informs Evans that a second Site Monitor has been killed, they team up to take down the corruption that is mercilessly burying unwelcome researchers and results of a promising drug trial.

Favorite Lines:

“Sometimes having the loudest voice in the decision-making process didn’t matter.”

“Filling out the death report was his way of delaying that which he dreaded the most. Notification of the parents.”

“‘You can be a real dick sometimes. How does your better half, no, your extremely superior half put up with you?’ ‘She tells me that I was lucky to marry up.'”

My Opinion:

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

SETTUP opens in a way that immediately tells you what kind of story you’re stepping into—fast, clinical, and a little unsettling. The ER scene with the teenage patient in status epilepticus isn’t just dramatic for the sake of it—it feels real. The details are sharp, almost uncomfortably so, and you can tell right away that this book is going to lean heavily on medical realism. It doesn’t ease you in. It drops you straight into it.

From there, the story expands quickly into something bigger than just a single patient case. What starts as a medical situation turns into something that feels more like a layered thriller—part hospital drama, part research conspiracy, part crime story. Stella Murray is probably the emotional anchor of the book. She’s competent, driven, and grounded in a way that makes the more chaotic elements around her feel believable. Her concern about the study drug doesn’t feel dramatic—it feels like someone who knows something is off but doesn’t yet have proof.

And then the book takes a turn.

The introduction of the corporate side—and especially the darker thread involving the trial, the pressure to suppress adverse events, and the decision to eliminate a problem rather than solve it—is where things shift from grounded to unsettling. The email exchange with KFAP is honestly one of the most jarring parts of the book, but in a way that works. It’s bizarre, a little darkly comedic, and also deeply uncomfortable. The contrast between the tone of those emails and the seriousness of what’s actually happening creates this strange tension that sticks with you.

KFAP as a character is… a lot. He’s unpredictable, unsettling, and written in a way that almost makes him feel detached from reality. But that’s also kind of the point. He’s not meant to feel normal. He’s meant to feel like someone operating outside the rules everyone else is trying to follow. And when his storyline intersects with the medical plot, the stakes suddenly feel very real in a different way.

The detective side of the story adds another layer that I actually liked more than I expected. Evans is methodical, grounded, and a nice counterbalance to the chaos happening behind the scenes. His sections slow things down in a good way—they give you space to process what just happened while also pushing the mystery forward.

If there’s one thing this book does well, it’s juggling multiple threads without losing the core tension. The medical mystery, the ethical gray area of clinical trials, the corporate pressure, and the crime element all feed into each other. You can feel the pieces moving toward something bigger, even when the story jumps perspectives.

This story reads like a hybrid between a medical drama and a conspiracy thriller with a darker edge. It’s not subtle, but it is engaging. And once things start connecting, it becomes hard to put down.

Summary:

Overall,  SETTUP is a fast, detail-heavy medical thriller that starts in the ER and expands into a layered story involving clinical trials, corporate pressure, and a criminal subplot. The medical realism is strong, and the tension builds as the threads begin to connect. The tone can shift a bit—especially with the assassin storyline—but it adds a darker, more unsettling edge. Best for readers who like medical dramas with conspiracy elements and multiple POVs rather than a single, straightforward narrative. Happy reading!

 

Check out SETTUP here!
Book Trailer

 

Review: The Long Return by Scott E. Adams

~ likelystory18 ~ 2 Comments

Synopsis:

In the forgotten logging town of Blowville, some memories refuse to stay buried.

Decades after the hemlock mills fell silent, Jonas Clarke has built a new life far from the shadows of Bailey Run. But when fate draws him back to the place he once called home, he returns as a man with only fragments of his past; haunted by a name, a feeling, and the sense that something in those woods still waits for him.

As Jonas begins to piece together the life he lost, he is pulled into the long-quiet mysteries that shaped Blowville’s darkest years: a troubled town, secrets sealed beneath the hollow tree, and the uneasy pact forged by the men who tried to bury the truth. With each revelation, Jonas uncovers not only the story of a town swallowed by its own history, but the part he played in it, and the price that was paid to keep its secrets hidden.

Book Three brings the saga to its final reckoning, bridging past and present as Blowville’s last unanswered questions rise to the surface.

Favorite Lines:

“He felt as though he had just clawed his way back from somewhere real.”

“You’re becoming yourself. Not whoever you were before, but who you choose to be now.”

“They aged together quietly, without hurry or drama. Their love did not flare; it glowed, steady as a coal ember in winter.”

My Opinion:

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

There’s something quietly unsettling about The Long Return, and I don’t mean that in a horror sense right away. It starts soft. Almost too soft. A boy wakes up with no memory, in a hospital, with nothing to hold onto except a single name—Clara—and a body that remembers more than his mind does. From the first few chapters, you can feel the story leaning into that slow, patient unraveling of identity. It doesn’t rush you. It lets you sit in the discomfort of not knowing.

What really surprised me is how much of the book isn’t about the mystery at all—at least not at first. Jonas builds an entire life in Altoona. He heals, he works, he marries Evelyn, he has children, and for a long stretch, the story almost convinces you that the past doesn’t matter. That maybe it shouldn’t matter. There’s something oddly comforting in those middle sections—like watching someone choose peace over truth. But underneath it, there’s always this quiet tension. The name Clara never fully goes away. The symbol, the dreams, the flashes of snow and water—they linger in the background like something waiting its turn.

And then the book shifts.

The later sections—especially once Jonas returns north—feel like a completely different layer of the same story peeling back. What I appreciated is that the payoff isn’t just “oh, here’s what happened.” It’s heavier than that. The truth isn’t just memory—it’s responsibility. When Jonas finally confronts the past at the clearing, it’s not just about remembering Clara—it’s about reliving it. The scene at the tree is one of the strongest in the book, because it collapses time completely. You’re not reading about what happened—you’re in it. The river, the attack, Clara calling his name—it all hits at once.

And Clara herself… I think this is where the book either works for you or it doesn’t. She isn’t just a lost love or a tragic figure. She becomes something more symbolic by the end—memory, guilt, unfinished truth, maybe even something tied to the land itself. When Jonas finally reunites with her—not as a memory, but as something real, something waiting—it’s less about romance and more about release. The ending leans into that almost spiritual, folklore-like tone where the valley remembers, where people become part of it. It’s not clean. It’s not overly explained. But it feels intentional.

If I had to sum up the experience, it’s a slow-burn story about choosing to forget—and what happens when the past refuses to stay buried. It’s quieter than most books in this space, but when it finally hits, it hits in a way that feels earned.

Summary:

Overall, The Long Return is a slow, atmospheric story that starts as a quiet “man rebuilding his life” narrative and gradually turns into something deeper and more haunting. The first half is grounded and almost comforting, but there’s always a subtle unease underneath. The second half pulls everything back to the past, revealing a heavier, more emotional truth that recontextualizes everything that came before. Not action-heavy, but very deliberate—best for readers who like slow reveals, emotional payoff, and a slightly eerie, almost folklore-like ending. Happy reading!

Check out The Long Return here!

 

Review: Black Sheep by K.E. Stokes

~ likelystory18 ~ Leave a comment

Synopsis:

Gem was a quiet little girl born of a loving family, or so it seemed. One day, her life was irrevocably changed by her mother’s sudden, unprovoked and brutal attack, fracturing her very existence. Years of intolerable cruelty followed until an adverse event during her teenage years forced her to leave Lanebridge and seek shelter with her sister in London. Her newfound freedom within the hostile depths of a big city came at a price, her innocence and purity attracting salacious predators.

She eventually finds a career, love and the comfort of stability, none of which can erase a torturous past and the underlying bitterness gnawing at her tender soul.

A brush with the mystical brings change, as an unlikely guardian watches from the sidelines, infusing her thoughts and decisions by psychological transference. The dark, influential encounter guides her to a gratifying finale where she must compromise what is right to settle a long-awaited score.

Favorite Lines:

“All she ever wanted was to be normal, and therefore accepted.”

“Gem was now fighting an emerging vulnerability—a shackle of ‘love’ that digs deep into your chest and tears your heart open wide—made harder still when she consumed alcohol.”

“Cruelty is a moral judgement, implying the ability to reflect upon the meaning and consequences of one’s behaviour.”

My Opinion:

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book is not an easy read—and I don’t mean that in a “slow pacing” kind of way. I mean it in a “gut punch from page one” kind of way. The opening alone sets the tone for everything that follows, and it doesn’t really let up. You’re thrown straight into Gem’s world, and it’s brutal, isolating, and honestly hard to sit with at times.

What makes it hit so hard is how grounded it feels. There’s no exaggeration or dramatization for the sake of shock—it just is. The abuse, the neglect, the way Gem is slowly stripped of any sense of self… it all unfolds in a way that feels uncomfortably real. You’re not reading about a single bad moment—you’re watching a life shaped by it, day after day.

Gem as a character is what really carries the story. She’s not written as overly strong or unrealistically resilient—if anything, she feels worn down, conflicted, and constantly trying to survive in small, quiet ways. Whether it’s hiding food, writing in her journal, or just finding moments outside the house, you can see how she’s piecing together something that resembles control. It’s subtle, but it matters.

There are also these small moments that almost feel like relief—like Simone helping her at the store, or her time with Dan, or even just being outside. But what stood out to me is how quickly those moments get taken away or twisted. It creates this constant tension where nothing ever feels fully safe or lasting, which makes the story feel even more claustrophobic.

This isn’t a story about healing or resolution—at least not in the traditional sense. It’s more about endurance. About what it looks like to grow up in a situation where you’re constantly diminished, and what it takes just to keep going. It’s uncomfortable, sometimes frustrating, but definitely memorable.

Summary:

Overall, this is a dark, emotionally intense story that follows a girl growing up in an abusive, isolating environment, where even small moments of relief are fragile and often taken away. It’s raw and grounded, sometimes uneven in writing, but powerful in how realistically it portrays survival, resilience, and the long-term impact of being treated like you don’t matter.

Check out Black Sheep here!

TW: Child abuse, domestic violence, neglect, bullying, coercive control, sexual content involving a minor, mental health distress, and suicidal ideation.

 

Review: While Rome Burnz by Michael Stewart Hansen

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Synopsis:

In a world ravaged by a zombie virus, President Abraham Price sees not catastrophe but opportunity—a chance to expand American power and fill U.S. coffers while other nations collapse into chaos. As the infection spreads across continents and his military wages a ruthless campaign from Afghanistan to the borders of China, Price dismisses warnings from his own Cabinet about nuclear retaliation and the deteriorating situation at home. While Vice President Ariel Perez and Secretary of Homeland Security Elias Rogers desperately plead for resources to protect American citizens from the encroaching hordes, Price remains fixated on his geopolitical chess game—even as Washington D.C. itself falls to the infected. From the White House war room to a struggling gun store where ordinary Americans like John scramble to protect their families, While Rome Burnz reveals a nation torn between a leader’s megalomaniacal ambitions and the brutal reality of survival, where the greatest threat may not be the shambling dead, but the living who refuse to see the fire consuming everything around them.

Favorite Lines:

“Everyone wants to point fingers…The truth is uglier and far more terrifying.””

“She was holding them together through sheer force of will, maintaining the routines and rituals that kept them human, that reminded them they were more than just survivors scrambling through wreckage.”

“The memory was a wound that never closed.”

“He turned to face his chief directly; his expression carried a determination that came from some deep place of need and love that transcended duty or mission or survival calculations.”

My Opinion:

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book drops you straight into chaos—and I mean immediately. There’s no slow build, no easing into the world. From the first few pages, you’re thrown into a full-scale collapse scenario where society doesn’t just crack… it basically implodes overnight.

What I liked most is how big this story feels. It’s not just one group of survivors trying to make it—it’s global. You’re seeing the outbreak from multiple angles: government breakdown, military operations, families trying to get out before it’s too late, and even underground broadcasts trying to make sense of it all. It almost reads like a mix between a thriller and a documentary of the end of the world.

The zombie concept itself isn’t reinvented, but the execution feels more grounded and brutal than a lot of others in the genre. The idea that everyone is already infected and only turns after death makes everything feel more inevitable—and honestly more unsettling. It’s not about avoiding infection, it’s about delaying the inevitable as long as possible. That alone adds a layer of tension that carries through the whole book.

I also appreciated how much attention is given to the human side of things. The scenes with John and his family stood out to me the most. They feel real in a way that a lot of apocalypse stories don’t always hit—worrying about bills, kids, whether to leave, what’s actually safe. It’s not just action, it’s that quiet dread of realizing your normal life is slipping away piece by piece.

That said, the pacing and writing style can feel a bit heavy at times. There’s a lot of detail—especially in the military and political sections—which makes the world feel expansive, but can also slow things down. It reads almost like you’re being briefed on the end of the world rather than just experiencing it. Some people will love that level of detail, others might find themselves skimming a bit.

This feels like the start of a much larger story. It’s less about resolution and more about setting the stage—showing just how bad things are going to get. If you like apocalyptic stories that go big and don’t hold back, this one definitely delivers.

Summary:

Overall, this is a large-scale apocalypse story that throws you straight into the collapse of the world, blending global chaos with smaller, personal survival moments. It’s heavy on detail and world-building, which makes it feel realistic and immersive, though sometimes a bit dense. It’s a strong start to a series that focuses less on action alone and more on the overwhelming scope of everything falling apart—and what that actually feels like to live through. Happy reading!

Check out While Rome Burnz here!

 

Review: Brilliant Genesia by Eva Barber

~ likelystory18 ~ 2 Comments

Synopsis:

In a society that cages women’s minds, a young girl’s disturbing visions lead her to Dr. Mitchell, a psychiatrist who helps her escape her predestined existence. Zara must now hide her true identity to follow her dreams of becoming a scientist studying dark matter. But when a tragic explosion shatters her world, she must flee to a different continent with her forbidden lover and their unborn child. In that new world, the foe from her past resurfaces and kidnaps her daughter. Zara must now follow her foe into a different realm.

Years later, her daughter, Emery, emerges from a different dimension with amnesia, forced to piece together her mother’s fragmented legacy to rediscover her own identity and the extraordinary power she possesses. Taunted by figures from her past she can’t remember, Emery must confront a multi-generational conspiracy that threatens to alter reality itself.

Favorite Lines:

“Ideas and thoughts are never stupid, Zara.”

“Fourth time is the charm?”

“She is the love of my life. She is my emery. I knew and loved her in a previous life, in another dimension, in another realm. She is my destiny.”

My Opinion:

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

Brilliant Genesia begins as a quiet, unsettling dystopian story centered on Zara, a girl growing up in a rigid society where gender roles are enforced with clinical calm. Her visions of a woman trapped behind glass feel, at first, like a psychological mystery. Is she ill? Is she imagining things? But the more Zara questions the world around her — the aptitude tests, the carefully controlled research, the expectations placed on girls — the more it becomes clear that the real instability lies in the system itself. The early chapters are heavy with tension, not because of explosions or spectacle, but because of silence: what Zara cannot say, what her father will not discuss, and what her doctor may or may not be protecting her from.

What works particularly well in the first half is the slow intellectual rebellion. Zara’s awakening doesn’t come through dramatic speeches. It comes through memory, curiosity, and the terrifying realization that she might be smarter — and freer — than the world wants her to be. The recurring image of the glass barrier becomes a powerful metaphor for confinement, truth, and generational suppression. The therapy sessions with Dr. Mitchell are layered with subtext, and the domestic pressure from her father reinforces how deeply control runs in Andalian culture.

But the book does not stay contained in that quiet psychological space. As the story progresses, the scope widens dramatically. New characters step forward, and the narrative shifts into something more kinetic and expansive. Underground facilities, covert movements, rescue attempts, confrontations with authority — the second half becomes much more action-driven and ensemble-focused. The stakes move from internal questioning to physical survival. What began as a personal awakening evolves into a larger reckoning with systemic control and hidden truths. The world-building grows broader, and the tone becomes more urgent.

This structural shift may surprise some readers, but it ultimately reinforces the book’s central theme: once truth surfaces, it spreads. The later chapters lean into loyalty, sacrifice, power, and the cost of confronting institutions built on deception. Where the first half feels claustrophobic and introspective, the second half feels dangerous and wide open. Together, they form a story that moves from quiet resistance to tangible action.

Summary:

Overall, Brilliant Genesia is a layered dystopian novel that blends psychological tension with broader sci-fi elements. It asks big questions about gender, autonomy, institutionalized falsehoods, and inherited control — and then explores what happens when those questions refuse to stay buried. Readers who appreciate both slow-burn intellectual rebellion and later plot-driven momentum will likely find this one compelling. Happy reading!

Check out Brilliant Genesia here!

 

Monthly Features – February 2026

~ likelystory18 ~ Leave a comment

Twin Rivers by Jeremy Bender

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: The High Priest rules the city of Twin Rivers in the name of the Lord of Mercy, his AI god. In this land, where robotic Brothers complete all labor and humans are left to enjoy the fruits of this Eden, something rotten grows. Yonatan, a newly ascended Priest in the sclerotic Priesthood, is meant to shore up the faith of those left behind. Yet as Yonatan’s preaching takes him deep into the city’s bowels, he must confront heresy far deeper rooted than he ever imagined. When he sees one of the city’s paramilitary Keepers leave a young woman to die because of her unsanctioned implants, Yonatan must decide whether his faith in the Lord of Mercy outweighs his own belief in human exceptionalism.

Summary: Overall, Twin Rivers is a dense, unsettling dystopian sci-fi novel about a city that calls itself paradise while feeding on control, faith, and violence. Through priests, enforcers, and those left outside the walls, it explores how power hides behind ritual and how mercy becomes a weapon. Dark, intense, and uncomfortable in the right ways, it’s a story about what people are willing to ignore to keep believing they’re safe.

See the full review here: Twin Rivers
Purchase here

 

The Dog Years of Ananias Zachenko by Paul H. Lepp

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: What do you do when you run out of time? Ask Ananias Ezra Zachenko what he did after he was diagnosed. He set an agenda, took care of finances, delved into relationships, considered the heroic act. Didn’t go into denial, but defiance, there’s a difference.

He put it all in motion during the time he had left. A dog gets seven years to our one. Chenko rationalized the relationship by taking the best from both, our days the dog’s years and began to calculate. Anything to lengthen the short leash he is on.

During his dog years he planned for everything, but nothing turned out as expected. He concentrated on time, when he should have been looking at weight. No matter the type of year, when one runs out of time on this side, one has to figure out how to make weight on the other side.

Summary: Overall, The Dog Years of Ananias Zachenko  is a quiet, thoughtful novel about illness, time, and the way diagnosis forces a person to renegotiate their relationship with living. Grounded, reflective, and emotionally restrained, this story explores how we measure time when the future becomes uncertain — and whether time can ever really be controlled at all. 

See the full review here: The Dog Years of Ananias Zachenko
Purchase here

 

Her Ravishing Heartless Prince by A P Von K’Ory

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: He’s a European prince with a thousand-year lineage—and he hates her as much as he craves her.

Alyssa:

Prince Carl-Theodor Frederick Maximillian Christoph Albert Maria Johann Anselm is as insufferable as his name is long. Arrogant, powerful, entitled—everything I despise wrapped in devastatingly gorgeous packaging.

So I do what I do best: verbally eviscerate him and his precious bloodline with razor-sharp insults. I avoid him like the plague.

But avoidance only delays the inevitable.

Soon he has me exactly where I’ve been secretly fantasizing—on my knees before him. The problem? I can’t tell if this is seduction or revenge. Prince Hot and Cold swings between arctic ice and molten lava, dragging me to the edge of beautiful insanity.

The real question: will I survive the fall?

Prince Carl-Theodor:

Alyssa obliterates my world like a derailed train the moment we meet. Her beauty blinds me—then her vicious tongue insults thirteen thousand years of noble bloodline.

No one has ever dared.

As Head and Defender of the House of Saxony-Bremer, I vow on my ancestors’ graves to make her pay. I’ll bend her. Break her. Make her beg until she drowns in regret.

But here’s the twisted irony that threatens everything: hurting her destroys me too.

I can watch her crumble, hear her wounded cries—but the moment she surrenders, something in my chest stops cold.
Have I sworn an oath that will damn us both? And why does her pain feel like my own destruction?

Summary: Overall, this is a high-drama, ego-heavy royal romance where attraction and revenge walk hand in hand. If you enjoy dominant alpha tension, pride-fueled misunderstandings, and romance wrapped in luxury and lineage, this delivers an intense, indulgent ride.

See the full review here: Her Ravishing Heartless Prince
Purchase here

 

The 7 Albums of Stovepipe by Paul H. Lepp

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: From 1948 to 1982 nothing was as high mileage as a turntable. The speed limit was set at 331/3 rpms to take a spin down a highway of tunes on a ten-inch vinyl LP (Long Play) record album. The turning point 1982 when Compact Discs began to put the albums in our attics and closets. To some the change from LP to CD was a turning point on the same level as BC to AD. A wealthy collector has a well-trained staff they spend their time on finding the artifacts the turning points of the Boomer Generation left behind, items like Lee Harvey Oswalt’s belt, Jack Ruby’s cuff links. His staff comes across a nine word offer on the net, “Any Albums Made by the Stovepipe – Name Your Price.” He allows his staff to investigate, the project becomes an obsession. What they find out is a group known as The Chronologists are also interested in the authenticity of Stovepipe, the Musical Massiah between LP and CD, master of voice and instrument, lord of technology. Both Collector and Chronologists want to prove Stovepipe beyond a myth like Paul Bunyan or Johnny Appleseed, but for different reasons. One wants to prove he is alive, the other dead, and only one can be right.

Summary: Overall, a dense, unconventional novel that blends conspiracy, cultural history, and myth-making, The Seven Albums of Stovepipe is less about proving whether its central figure exists and more about why we need him to. The book rewards patient readers who enjoy experimental fiction, unreliable narrators, and stories that feel part oral history, part conspiracy file — especially those interested in music culture and how influence gets erased or mythologized. 

See the full review here: The 7 Albums of Stovepipe
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Review: The 7 Albums of Stovepipe by Paul H. Lepp

~ likelystory18 ~ 2 Comments

Synopsis:

From 1948 to 1982 nothing was as high mileage as a turntable. The speed limit was set at 331/3 rpms to take a spin down a highway of tunes on a ten-inch vinyl LP (Long Play) record album. The turning point 1982 when Compact Discs began to put the albums in our attics and closets. To some the change from LP to CD was a turning point on the same level as BC to AD. A wealthy collector has a well-trained staff they spend their time on finding the artifacts the turning points of the Boomer Generation left behind, items like Lee Harvey Oswalt’s belt, Jack Ruby’s cuff links. His staff comes across a nine word offer on the net, “Any Albums Made by the Stovepipe – Name Your Price.” He allows his staff to investigate, the project becomes an obsession. What they find out is a group known as The Chronologists are also interested in the authenticity of Stovepipe, the Musical Massiah between LP and CD, master of voice and instrument, lord of technology. Both Collector and Chronologists want to prove Stovepipe beyond a myth like Paul Bunyan or Johnny Appleseed, but for different reasons. One wants to prove he is alive, the other dead, and only one can be right.

Favorite Lines:

“Every great turning point in history leaves behind some artifact of the moment.”

“Human nature moves in two gears: conscious and subconscious, what we see and what we dream. At times, human nature finds it hard to separate the real from the imagined. That it’s in our nature to combine the two and call it history.”

“The only thing we can’t afford is to overlook any moment in our time that changed us.”

My Opinion:

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is a book that doesn’t want to be read quickly. It wants to be circled, revisited, argued with, and maybe put down for a while before you come back. The Seven Albums of Stovepipe presents itself as a kind of investigation, but it quickly becomes something stranger: a meditation on authenticity, myth-making, and how culture decides what (and who) matters.

The framing device — a wealthy collector obsessed with historical turning points — works as more than a narrative hook. It becomes a lens for examining how we assign value. The artifacts, the surveillance, the obsession with documentation all point toward a deeper anxiety: that something meaningful slipped past unnoticed, and that history might have gotten it wrong. Stovepipe isn’t just a missing musician; he’s a missing explanation.

What’s most compelling is the book’s refusal to settle into a single genre. It reads at times like a conspiracy file, at times like oral history, and at others like philosophical riffing disguised as cultural criticism. The voices of the First Contacts feel intentionally uneven — not polished, not always reliable, but deeply convinced. Their certainty becomes contagious. You start wanting Stovepipe to exist simply because so many people need him to.

The language is dense, rhythmic, and unapologetically idiosyncratic. This is not streamlined prose. Lepp leans hard into repetition, digression, and accumulation, and that choice mirrors the book’s central question: does meaning come from clarity, or from persistence? The reader is asked to do work here — to follow long riffs, to sit with ambiguity, to accept that proof may never arrive in a clean form.

By the time the book reaches its later sections, the search itself feels more important than the answer. The Chronologists, the collector, the First Contacts — all of them are trying to control a narrative before it controls them. Whether Stovepipe is real almost becomes secondary. What matters is the hunger for belief, the fear of being late to history, and the quiet terror that the most important things might only exist on the margins, half-heard and easily erased.

This is a book about music, yes — but more than that, it’s about who gets to define influence. About how culture canonizes some voices while others survive only through rumor, devotion, and fragments. The Seven Albums of Stovepipe doesn’t give you answers so much as it dares you to decide what you’re willing to believe without them.

Summary:

Overall, a dense, unconventional novel that blends conspiracy, cultural history, and myth-making, The Seven Albums of Stovepipe is less about proving whether its central figure exists and more about why we need him to. The book rewards patient readers who enjoy experimental fiction, unreliable narrators, and stories that feel part oral history, part conspiracy file — especially those interested in music culture and how influence gets erased or mythologized. Happy reading!

Check out The 7 Albums of Stovepipe here!

 

Review: Her Ravishing Heartless Prince by A P Von K’Ory

~ likelystory18 ~ 2 Comments

Synopsis:

He’s a European prince with a thousand-year lineage—and he hates her as much as he craves her.

Alyssa:

Prince Carl-Theodor Frederick Maximillian Christoph Albert Maria Johann Anselm is as insufferable as his name is long. Arrogant, powerful, entitled—everything I despise wrapped in devastatingly gorgeous packaging.

So I do what I do best: verbally eviscerate him and his precious bloodline with razor-sharp insults. I avoid him like the plague.

But avoidance only delays the inevitable.

Soon he has me exactly where I’ve been secretly fantasizing—on my knees before him. The problem? I can’t tell if this is seduction or revenge. Prince Hot and Cold swings between arctic ice and molten lava, dragging me to the edge of beautiful insanity.

The real question: will I survive the fall?

Prince Carl-Theodor:

Alyssa obliterates my world like a derailed train the moment we meet. Her beauty blinds me—then her vicious tongue insults thirteen thousand years of noble bloodline.

No one has ever dared.

As Head and Defender of the House of Saxony-Bremer, I vow on my ancestors’ graves to make her pay. I’ll bend her. Break her. Make her beg until she drowns in regret.

But here’s the twisted irony that threatens everything: hurting her destroys me too.

I can watch her crumble, hear her wounded cries—but the moment she surrenders, something in my chest stops cold.
Have I sworn an oath that will damn us both? And why does her pain feel like my own destruction?

Favorite Lines:

“She emboldened, motivated, encouraged, and inspired me tirelessly over the months.”

“But above all else, I have half the entire planet’s butterflies residing merrily in my belly.”

“I love her like the devil loves sinners and God loves the devil for being capable of that.”

“For that, I’ll love him even after death and in every other entity form I become.”

My Opinion:

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

There is something wildly unapologetic about this book. From the first chapter, Alyssa announces herself as messy, sexual, ambitious, and emotionally reactive in a way that feels both over-the-top and strangely honest. She is not a soft heroine. She is sharp-edged, proud, dramatic — and I kind of loved that about her.

Carl-Theodor, on the other hand, is less brooding prince and more simmering strategist. His inner monologue runs on discipline, revenge, family honor, and suppressed desire. The tension between them is not sweet. It’s combative. Competitive. Magnetic in a way that feels dangerous rather than tender.

What really drives this book is pride. Hurt pride. Family pride. Social pride. Romantic pride. The entire story pulses with ego clashes and misinterpretations that spiral into obsession. Their chemistry thrives on restraint and retaliation. Every conversation feels like a fencing match. Sometimes they wound each other deliberately. Sometimes they do it accidentally. Either way, sparks fly.

The world-building is lavish — castles, heiress empires, royal jewelry, elite universities, helicopter landings at Burj Al Arab. It leans hard into opulence. If you like billionaire/royalty romance that fully commits to excess, this delivers.

That said, this book is not subtle. It is dramatic in all caps. Characters monologue. Emotions explode. Internal thoughts can be theatrical. But there’s a sincerity to it that makes it compelling even when it’s chaotic.

At its core, this is a story about two powerful people who refuse to yield first. It’s ego vs ego. Attraction vs revenge. Control vs surrender. And honestly? Watching them circle each other is half the fun.

Summary:

Overall, this is a high-drama, ego-heavy royal romance where attraction and revenge walk hand in hand. If you enjoy dominant alpha tension, pride-fueled misunderstandings, and romance wrapped in luxury and lineage, this delivers an intense, indulgent ride. Happy reading!

Check out Her Ravishing Heartless Prince here!