Review: Government-Sanctioned Superheroes by Chad Descoteaux

In my previous review of Working-Class Superheroes, I said that there was potential in the sequel to carve out its identity. I believe it succeeded. There are still a few DC references, but there more from Marvel this time around and even a few from Power Rangers. 

Can I say the logic is perfect? No, but it doesn’t need to be, just like the first book. This story shows that this series is more for fun and satire and is enjoyable on that front. While it does occasionally lean into some more contemplative topics, it doesn’t go deep enough to fully unravel the tropes we see in superhero stories. That being said, there were a couple of surprises from some old characters and I thought those were nicely done.

In terms of objectionable content, there was one I didn’t care for and that was Zeke’s mom cheating on her husband. While it was resolved by the end, it didn’t have any of the consequences that were hinted at and treated the affair as okay by all characters who were aware of it. There is also a sex scene with another couple, but it’s not romantically detailed, more an explanation for why a character could get away with something, and it’s a setup for another joke that I didn’t get until I started writing this review.

The last thing that I guess I should mention is there is a lot of usage of c*****r, which I was told is the White equivalent of the n****r though I never knew of any Whites to take offense at it. However, if it does offend you, then beware.

If you listened to the epilogue from Working Class Superheroes, you will notice that it was the start of this book. However, there is extra content in this book’s version of that so I would advise to maybe skip the parts you are already aware of, but not the entire first chapter.

The result? I enjoyed it despite some content objections. I probably wouldn’t let my children read until their late teens, but I personally would like to complete the trilogy. I think this was a step up in terms of storytelling and identity and shows more potential for the series.

Review: Working-Class Superheroes by Chad Descoteaux

Note: this review is of the audiobook version

If you read my stories and my tweets, you may get the sense that I enjoy superhero stories. That is true. When I saw a promo for this audiobook, I immediately took action and I'm happy with that. I enjoyed this book as I listened at night before sleep. That enjoyment is how I rate and so my rating is 4 out of 5. Please keep in mind that is my rating as you may otherwise think differently based upon my analysis.

This book is a hard one for me to review. While I enjoyed it, it's hard to describe why. The first reason is the lack of identity this book has due to two parts.

One, there are many stories that parody or play on the DC heroes, even from DC and Amazon. I have not consumed any of those stories besides the Flashpoint animated movie so I am not bored of that subject. However, I could expect others who have may not care for another one.

Second, the references and allusions to the DC heroes are constant that if you know the DC universe, it's hard to ignore. That being said, that's part of the fun of the story. There's even a reference of the potential romance of Batman and Wonder Woman from the Justice League cartoons. In addition, I'd posit the epilogue shows great potential for carving an identity and that makes me excited for a sequel.

There are a few choices the author made that I like. One is to name the chapters issues. It's cosmetic but I liked it. Another thing was the shift from Kryptonite to Uranium. While it doesn't fix all of the issues I have with Kryptonite, it's a nice usage of real-world. Of course, it's also a setup for some jokes that become more obvious when listening to the audiobook. If I was reading, I might have missed it.

The performance is actually another reason why we are constantly reminded about the DC universe. The reader emulates the voices of famous performances. It's actually pretty good for a few. It did take me a while to get into the performance, but I don't know if it's due to my lack of experience with audiobooks, the actual performance, or the text. I believe though that it was solid after that.

For the plot, while it's not original to see how our would be if Superman was corrupt, I was impressed by how the plot worked overall, even if there were a few scenes that did not make sense to me. In terms of execution, I would say it counts as original enough, especially with the couple of Marvel influences that were thrown in. Again, I enjoyed it.

In terms of characters, they are certainly reasonable takes on people who bear their respective powers. My main dislike is Zeke as Wombat since he goes a bit overboard on his fight on crime, but until then I enjoyed his sections. The Flash-equivalent may not be the most loveable take, but at least he gets better towards the end. And his unknowing relationship with Zeke can be interesting material for a sequel.

There is action, as you may expect in a comic-inspired book, but I felt more compelled by the other scenes such as the infiltration, poker night, etc. There were a few cases where I felt like I missed something critical in the action sequences but due to the format of the audiobook, felt less compelled to backtrack.

So to whom would I recommend this to? That is tough to say. My guess would be people who don't mind a light-heart take on the DC heroes. I don't think the book takes itself too seriously so those who are able to hold that mindset and like superhero stories would enjoy this. Now, if you would excuse me, I need to get to the sequel.


Author: Chad Descoteaux

Amazon link

Book Review: The Pale Rose

Cozy mysteries are a comfort for me. One that I use to practice my Japanese is Detective Conan, which follows a similar premise of a character whom no one expects to be the real detective. What I like about the Pale Rose is that it's an already married couple and the "detective" is decently competent.

Okay, there are exceptions to that claim, similar to many mystery shows. When the real brain appears, everyone else acts less competent. It happens here too but it's okay as there is at least one occasion where he makes up for it.

The married couple dynamic is nice and surprisingly refreshing. There is simple married life banter with no romance to distract from the mystery. That is good because all the clues needed to solve the case are given to the reader. Don't worry about this being an indie title. I only found one sentence that "agitated" me and it was unrelated to the clues. As for me, I didn't solve it despite picking up on the clues but the explanation ties all loose ends and provides that satisfying perspective change.

I enjoyed the story and look forward to reading more. Though one thing I would like to see is if the detective pair can reach the level where they don't have to lie to solve the case.

Check it out on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1475167237 

Book Review: Sapphire Eruption

As part of Indie April, I had picked up the Sapphire Eruption. The cover was really alluring and the premise interesting. So how is it? Here is my review

As of the time of writing, my rating would be 7 out of 10. If the issues I raise get resolved, then it can easily be an 8 or 9. I did enjoy reading it after getting past a few of early tropes. And I look forward to learning what happens next.

To start off, is this the next Avatar: the Last Airbender? I think having that comparison would only serve to disappoint. This story is good on its own and that is good enough for me.

For me, the story doesn't start until about chapter 7, after we get over a few tropes, retreading, and meeting the first companion. However, past that it's full speed ahead for multiple ships.

The many characters are fully realized and have their own motives, personalities, and story. The book is long, but packed with these parallel character-driven threads. This makes the world feel deep and complex and is great. At the same time, it's also one of the areas that requires extra work from the reader to mine the gem of the story.

There are at least 11 point-of-views we hop around in the story. Sometimes this head-hopping happens mid-paragraph, but it also happens mid-sentence. It’s not tied to point of views too. Sometimes the general subject changes with no warning, resulting in having to re-read the same paragraph to sort things out.

While most point-of-views are isolated in chapters with a maximum of maybe 3, the structuring can shift to a parallel thread right at the climax of another arc and with so many stories going on, I didn’t know when I could expect to finish the arc. At least once I learned the chapter I was reading was unrelated to the previous chapter after almost finishing it.

There are other areas that could use some polishing. In addition to grammar mistakes and typos, there is also a bit of repetition of information. Sometimes this occurs with adjacent paragraphs. The times where it occurs in separate chapters is more forgivable as it serves as a reminder, which might be nice if you read the book only a few chapters at a time, which is my recommendation.

In terms of objectionable content, there was one f-bomb which disappointed me because the author did such a great job avoiding it in the rest of the book. Curses that we see were built from the world. Other times we are simply told the person is cursing and it’s fine. The other piece that really sits in my mind is how the one woman who is described as ugly is disrespected and used for “laughs”. While it’s realistic and treated fairly minor, it still left a bad taste for me, perhaps mostly because there is only one woman called out as unattractive.

Putting those issues aside, again I found the overall story good. There is a gem inside and if it didn’t require the extra work to enjoy it, I would have given this 4 stars out of 5. As an indie book, I think this serves as a benefit because the book can be edited to deal with the issues I’ve mentioned. In addition, when the next book comes out, it might be easier to decide if the ending of this book is a cliffhanger or not. Either way, I look forward to continuing to read this series.

Book Review: Beyond My Dying Mind by Andi Loveall

 A while back, I read the sample of Beyond My Dying Mind and left my impressions. Now that I've read the full book, let's see how wrong those impressions were.

First off, while the sample ends with indications that the missions would be primary, that's very much not the case. In fact, the first mission doesn't appear until about 25% in. However, once I realized the missions were not primary, the actual beginning made more sense as was a bit more representative of the overall story after all.

Instead, this is a romance story, one that feels much like a high school one for better or worse. After the sample ended, I very much got the vibe that these were mostly just high schoolers by their actions, especially since their romance stays in the "everything he/she says and does is perfect and sexy." Only later did I realize that the two main protagonists were actually adults.

As to my impressions of Jasmine and Noland, I didn't find any cause to not like them. Sure, they act impulsively rather than use reason, but they also felt like nice people who wanted to do good. And I also wanted them to succeed in their romance.

The world is still fairly interesting. I felt the magic system was a bit unique though maybe not fully fleshed out or explained properly. At the same time, it did not matter but acted more like a buffer to give the reader a break, which I liked. The hellish creatures were legitimately frightening, so I'm glad I didn't pay too much attention to the details and read before bed.

That being said, part way through, I thought the system would also become more important, but that proved to be the one occasion the characters act differently than I would have expected based off the intro and their impulsivity. Though maybe it's more appropriate since it would have required a little thinking to actually come to with the action. It's really a pro and con because it gave the nice interwoven pace-changing, but the book would later show that it was possible and more likely.

Now the missions, despite not being as primary, are still important to the story. That being said, i have mixed opinions about the actual preventing suicide cases. There are authentic points to keep in mind, but some also felt cheating. That being said, the actual growth of one of the characters is a nice realization. Again, recognizing that this is a love story, with some action and magic, helps in enjoying the story for what it is.

Perhaps that's a good segway into the controversial elements. No matter your opinion on the matter, I think it's good for readers to know what to expect. The first being that there is a sex scene and characters with multiple partners. To be fair, the world gives an explanation why it could be considered okay in the spirit world, but it still fits the bill of controversial.  Related on a technical level, there are maybe 5-10 f-bombs scattered. And also related on a technical level, there is "encouragement" of a trans character to proceed with the operation. Personally, on a philosophical level, I see it similar to the suicide cases as a mix bag. It touches on some of the important underlying issues, but missing one I think is critical or distracts from it since the whole subject is addressed only emotionally. Finally, the last point that might be controversial without the proper understanding is the spirit world. There may be a few Christian references, but I would assume this is certainly not a Christian spirit world but should instead be considered the author's "magical" world.

Now the rating. I consider stars to represent relative enjoyment and as such I'll give this 4 out of 5 stars. Even though it has controversial elements, focus was not on what I expected, and raised some questions about actions, I did emotionally like the story and was eager to continue reading through to the end. The fact that it's a complete story is also a plus to me. Would I recommend to teenagers? No. At least not my kids without also talking about the controversial elements inside.

The reason why I would require discussion is because the author did a good job of emotionally appealing. However, relying purely on emotional reasoning can lead to dangerous results or actions. And since teens hormones are not balanced, and they feel more attached to emotional reasoning, I think it can be too dangerous for them without a good conversion to help baseline.

Review: A Proposal to Die For by Vivian Conroy

Are you tired of mysteries where the detective figures the case using evidence you have not seen? Do you dislike when they reveal the culprit you had no hope of properly proving? Are you interested in the investigation itself rather than a sudden twist? Then this is a book for you. The fact that it's clean is also a great feature.

Personally, I would call this a Lady Alkmene Investigation rather than mystery, but that's not to dismiss the mystery, just emphasize the strength of the investigation. It also is good to know that you don't need to worry when they examine details of things like a map.

The story is told through the eyes of Lady Alkmene on her first case. It's a very observant book as she notes everything she sees and thinks in a realistic manner. Not only does she see things, but she thinks and feels and then acts based off them. This authenticity carries through most of the book and is expanded upon with the introduction of the foil, Jake.

Jake is almost the opposite of Lady Alkmene. He is more experienced in investigations and lower class. These provide tension between the two as they share their respective biased views. This is used to good effect as we get to see different opinions on the same thing and cases where neither of them have the perfect answer.

The book is also clean in content. While there is some class politics discussed, neither side makes a strong enough case and it was more to provide context for the characters’ bias while sitting the world is more complicated than expected. The only moral injection I had was Lady Alkmene lying in one case.

The weakest part of the book is the ending. It wraps things up, but it's one that gives the impression  it was writing what the plot demanded rather than what the story needed. The characters rightfully acknowledge it should be hard to catch the criminal they suspect, but then it's easy and the criminal admitted to everything on incomplete and circumstantial evidence. And don't get me started on the use of circumstantial evidence.

That being said, the book held my attention throughout and only dropped in the end. There were a few sections where I had to re-read, but it was not a serious issue. I liked the book and reading how the investigation played out. I enjoyed the interactions between the characters and reading their thoughts. There is no sudden and great twist, and there is nothing for the reader to solve, but this book is proof those are not necessary in a mystery after all.

(By the way, the sequel addresses some of the issues and is indeed an improvement. You can also get a 4 mystery bundle)

Review: The Strangers We Know by R.M. Mulkey

Jared regrets not spending more time with his sister before her murder. Rylee is an artist and was her best friend. When Jared visits the small town of Crescent Valley, Georgia to see where his sister lives and potentially get answers, they meet. Will their love bloom and find answers or will Rylee be the next corpse to plant flowers next to?

I wrote that description to help explain what the book is about. From the title and description on the product page, I was under the impression that I was going to be reading a mystery. After reading the book, I am more convinced it is a romance novel set in the context of a mystery. When assuming this, I think it's easier to enjoy.

If you are a mystery lover like myself, who likes to solve the case, you probably will be disappointed, unless the types of mysteries you like are dramas such as NCIS where you are not really allowed to solve the case. You may know the culprit, but the real focus is the drama.

I did find myself interested in the book and often looked for time to read. However, I found myself disappointed that the progression was primarily revelations rather than investigations and deductions.

A tricky thing with mysteries is that they depend upon the twist revelation to be well executed. A servable twist explains things. A great twist not only explains things, but completely changes how you view events, and it does so by overturning something the audience took for granted. Examples of this would be the Prestige, Empire Strikes Back, or the Sixth Sense. In this novel, I felt like it really only affected my view of one character, who was not the culprit.

Another thing about mysteries is the deduction process. A good mystery, in my opinion, shows more than it tells. Here, rather than actions leading to results, people just inform. This applies to the storytelling as well. It's said that Jared is a good negotiator, but I really did not see any evidence of that.

Finally, the ending has a lot to be desired of. It does not make sense in terms of some character actions. While it does tie up the main mystery, it still left me with some questions. At the same time, the last chapter felt tacked on. As a result, I see this as mostly a plot-driven-story rather than a story-driven-plot, which is probably best for a solid mystery.

But what if we think of this as a romance first? Then I don't think my complaints above matter so much. If you are not interested in who is the culprit but whether Jared and Rylee get together or not, I think it works. I'm not a romance expert, but I found it interesting enough. For me, the importance of romance is not if the characters are compatible, but rather the emotions and choices they make feel real and nothing objectionable happens. For those two points, I think it succeeds here.

One critique that will still stand is that it can be a bit hard to read at times. Occasionally a paragraph would take up a whole page. I would sometimes have to backtrack and re-read entire pages. One mystery in each chapter is when it occurs and where as sometimes you might expect it to continue to right off the previous, but it takes place days later. There are also a few grammatical errors, though one might be how they talk in Georgia. I asked my colleague from Georgia and she said that she has heard some people speak of the dead like they are alive like “Jess is our friend.”

In conclusion, it may not be the best novel you have ever read, and certainly not a best mystery, but as a romance, I thinks it's fine.

Note: if you are curious about language content, there was at least one f-bomb and a quite a few cases of "God" used for emphasis. Otherwise, a relatively clean book when it comes to language. As for sexual content, there was nothing explicit, but Jared is hinted at doing one night stands with many women before the events of the book.

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Review: The Nightmare by Rachel Sandell

Greetings!
Today, I would like to share a review of The Nightmare: A Short Story by Rachel Sandell. Quick notes:

1. This is not a horror story despite what the title might have you think
2. Since this is a short story based off Greek Mythology, spoilers are a bit hard to avoid

Summary
This story takes a look at two questions:

1. What were the god of the Underworld's thoughts about falling in love with Persephone? 
2. What if Hades was good and Zeus was the malicious one?

The result is a story from Hades point of view about falling in love with Persephone. The story is entirely from his perspective and his thoughts and that serves as the appeal that carries the story through. The result is an interesting story with potential to be even better, but something that I still enjoyed.

Structure
Since the story is told by Hades himself, I found it a bit difficult to understand the structure. While I can understand the story and follow along, I found myself afterwards wondering how I was supposed to interpret the storytelling.The best that I can think of is that it was reflecting while also moving forward in the present. That would help explain why the ending does not appear to reflect the beginning. However, because Hades is the narrator and speaking in past tense, it's a bit difficult to confirm if that was the case.

Accessibility

While Rachel does a fair job of providing most of the details needed to enjoy the story, my gap of knowledge surrounding Greek mythology made some things a little difficult to understand. However, even with a gap of knowledge, I found the book easy enough to read. After reading the story and then Wikipedia, I can see the story follows enough on course which can help explain some things I was left wondering after reading the book, though not all. 

Characters
Of all of the characters, Hades is the most developed and his perspective is what made me interested. He comes across like a bitter introvert who thinks the world hates him, but at the same time, doesn't understand why. We see the signs of trickery and we can understand why Hades feels like Zeus was always tricking him, but I was never satisfied with an answer why. This leads Zeus into being simply a villain with no understandable motive. The closest hint I get is that Hades might potentially be more powerful than all of the gods. If this is the case, perhaps it makes sense that Hades does not understand the reason himself, but that still left me wondering long after I read the story. At the same time, that could be a good setup for a followup.

Now while Hades' crush on Persephone is understandable and a good depiction on what a guy of that type might think, I did not find the actual portrayal of Persephone appealing. The impression I got was of a female stereotype who does not have a good reason for falling in love with Hades. At least not any reason that we see. The same applies to the other gods' hatred and actions as well such as Demeter taking her rage on Earth when she is angry with Hades.

Perhaps the second best-developed character is Hermes, the messenger god. A guy who perhaps best understands Hades is not evil and yet is fearful of Zeus, leading to some personal turmoil.

Moral Caution

The only morally objectionable action by Hades is taking Persephone without her consent and against her will. While he did obtain Zeus' permission, I would certainly emphasize to my son that it is not a good way to make your crush like you. However, since that is being true to source material, I cannot blame Rachel for following that path. At the same time, if the reader does not have any background knowledge of the source material, then that might leave them with a bad taste.

Writing Lessons To Glean
All of that being said, since Hades himself is a well-developed character and his thoughts are interesting enough, the story being carried by his narration works out very well. Aside from taking Persephone without her consent, he's not a guy to hate. By having a decent character with interesting thoughts, that can be enough to entice the reader and be enjoyable.

However, that is not to say the narration and thoughts do not have room for improvement. There are a few times where one paragraph took up the entire screen on my kindle. A few of these, I think could have been broken up into multiple paragraphs which would have helped with keeping my place on the page and organizing the content. In addition, I had at least one occasion where I backtracked figure out if I had not skipped a page by accident. In the end, these issues were minor enough that they did not detract enough from the experience, but if there would be a revision, I would promote paying attention to them.

Conclusion

Personally, I liked the story in the end and have no regrets for paying $1 to read it, even though I was not at all interested in the underworld or Hades. And yet, Rachel did a good job that enticed me to buy the story with just the 10% preview on the Amazon page. I was worried that there would be horror elements, but there was nothing compared to what I can expect to find in Greek Mythology. I certainly do not expect it to give me a nightmare, but I can admit it makes me think a lot.

I do think the story can be improved, maybe even reworked to help address the issues I had. Perhaps the biggest issue is that I'm not sure who the target audience is and therefore cannot make an accurate recommendation. All I can say is I like it and I think it's worth to at least preview it, but I do not have a name for the type of audience that would like the book. All I know is that I somehow happen to be one of it.

J. D. Nyle

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Review: I Told You So!: The Adventures of William and Thomas by Mark Gunning

Greetings!
As first post of the blog, I would like to share a review of I Told You So!: The Adventures of William and Thomas by Mark Gunning.

Summary
The book is a collection of six hi-jinks of William and Thomas. Primarily, William is the creative and driving force while Thomas is the accomplice and chronicler. This dynamic leads to not only fun escapades but also ones with believable and compatible characters.

Structure
Each episode is pretty much self-contained aside from a couple of references to the previous one. Each starts off with Thomas receiving texts prompting him to excitedly visit William for the next adventure. William shares plans and then they execute to a mishap but somehow amusing end. Things always go wrong somehow, but never tragic (unless you count some broken bones) and not necessarily how you expect them to go.

Length
The book is easy to read within one or three sittings. The brevity of the book may make you a bit sad, but it actually is perhaps for the best. While I don't need to read the stories a second time for myself, I can certainly see myself reaching for the book to pull a story for my son for bedtime. In fact, I can see him asking me to, "Read me the plunger one! No wait, I want to hear about the ramp again!"

There are only six escapades, but each is a decent length for a bedtime story. At the same time, by having only six episodes, the welcome has not been worn out by the end and it makes it easier to enjoy the individual episodes. I think if I was reading twelves adventures straight, I'd be a bit tired of them. But with just six, I would not mind occasionally re-reading one and then after a few months, maybe pick up the next collection.


Writing Lessons To Glean
There are two main characters in the book and Mark Gunning does a good job of making them distinct, compatible, and believable. At the same time, he does a good job harnessing the essence of two types of adolescent boys. Something that may seem silly or stupid to an adult can be incredibly cool to a 12-year-old. I remember when I was little and thinking that jumping off a ramp with a bike was so cool. I know my cousin would certainly would be the type to do these sort of escapes much to his mother's dismay.

One tiny annoyance is the overuse of William's name. I forgot Thomas' name because I feel like it's mentioned only in the title and description, whereas William's name is mentioned multiple times in the same paragraph even though the subject did not change. It's a minor thing, but it did catch my attention that I was pulled out of the book for a moment.

The book contains a few illustrations throughout, at least one for the texts and one for a plan. These are good for a few reasons. One, it actually made me more interested in the book when I read the preview. Two, it helps with understanding what is going to happen. By having a picture of the plan, it makes it easier to know what Thomas is writing about. Three, it helps with mental spacing and refresh. Small paragraphs and a little variety for the eyes helps keep the brain alive and know where they are in the story. I once read a detective novel but it was really hard to read because the paragraphs were often as large as the page. That made it easy to lose my place on the page, but here that was not an issue.


Moral Caution
From a moral standpoint, there is not much to object here. There is no swearing, no profanity, no sexual objectification, etc. The book is simply boys having fun being boys and I like that a lot. The only thing I would caution against is that, while there is no bullying, if not cautioned about, the sense of humor in the book could lead to bullying. Thomas certainly has boyish respect for William, but he also is sure to record the moment when things go wrong to laugh about.

To be fair, it could be said that Thomas is laughing at the situation and not William, but it is also understandable for William to be upset about that every time. Therefore, when reading these stories to children, who are developing their sense of humor, it would be a good time to point out how to avoid being like a bully. For more info on this opinion, I recommend reading the essay Concerning Humor.


Conclusion
I like the book. It's simple boyish fun that I would not mind reading to my own son. I hope that it would spur his imagination while also serving as caution to avoid doing too dangerous things. My only worry is the sense of humor may develop wrong. However, as long as I fulfill my role as a parent and talk to him about that sort of thing, I don't think I need to worry too much.

If you want a book that is light and fun, I recommend at least previewing this book. If you need more, I noticed it was available on Kindle Unlimited, which I read still pays the authors based off the number of pages read. This book is actually what convinced me to try out the service. I hope you enjoy reading if you decide to pick this up.

J. D. Nyle

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