Book Review: End Of Days by Susan EE

Hi readers,

I have a confession to make; I've not been able to finish reading this! I'm about halfway and though I'm enjoying it, just I've been super busy doing other things. I've been putting in a lot of extra hours at work covering for people and also I started volunteering on reception. I have been writing stories for my blog like a desperate mad person. But my biggest news of all is that I've been filling out an application form for a new job and it's taken me about two weeks to be almost at completing it. I have also been doing some sewing as practice for activities to run at the youth centre and mother's day presents. That'll all be in my life update post next week now. In addition, I have a cold and a crazy sleep pattern. So yeah, with all that I'm not surprised that I didn't get to finish End Of Days.

I realise that talking about it is going to be much harder, but if I make a start, I can do a part 2 later once I've finished - maybe or else just included my finally thoughts in a life update post. So, it looks like this post is going to be very short!

The plot so far has been that Penryn and Raffe have found Paige. She has made a connection with the locusts and they are like her pets now. Though, she is also attached to Beliel and so they all end up escaping together. Finding safety on a island, Penryn discovers Raffe's worried about an possible attack from her sister - who is slowly staving and struggling to stay herself. Penryn also gets to see how attracted Raffe is to her when they have a soft bedroom scene! Of course then it all goes back to them not being able to be together and trying to keep their growing love inside. I still want to see what happened here!

Penryn then discovers a new power that her sword, Pooky Bear, has and she is able to see Beliel's memories and we learn that he is not who we thought he was and that Raffe's past keeps getting darker. Then they have to flee the island as some demon dog, bat creatures called Hellions escape and set about hunting them. They make it back to the camp and meet the Doc from before, who is very interested in Paige, but could also be Raffe's chance to get his wings back. Of course that doesn't go to plan and Raffe leaves to find an angel doctor. Penryn is then captured and taken to the angels, because they have a bounty on her head for her killing an angel in the previous book. Thankfully, Raffe comes to save her, but now they need to raise support for him to become the Messenger. Currently, they have traveled to The Pit to meet up with Raffe's solider who got sent down for being with human woman.

I can kind of predicated where things might be going but I'm going to read further to see! It's still fast paced, though not as event after event as the first book, but that isn't no longer needed, because the plot is strong enough to carry through without the need for all the then this happened pathways. I still have no idea why the angels started the war on Earth and telling apart the lies and truths is also tricky. But I'm glad of the mystery though!

Penryn hasn't developed that much and the sword is still doing most of the fighting. I feel there's a lot more focus on the angels this time around now since it's coming to the end. Penryn still has moments of acting like a total teenage girl - guess that's understandable, but for me she's never come across like that- but it's nothing wincey. I think I was hoping she'd mature and be able to face things with Raffe. In my head, I'm still trying to read this as an adult novel.

I still really like Raffe, though he's become less sarcastic and funny. Not a bad thing though due to everything he'd got to deal with. I kind of what him to become the messenger and sort things out. But maybe there's going to be a big twist and something else will happen? I so need to go and read more now!

Have you read this trilogy? What did you think? Leave a comment and let me know.
Also don't forget to check out my other blog: https://thestoryfiles.wordpress.com/

Image from: Goodreads

Book Review: World After By Susan EE

Hi readers,

Once again, I'm pre-writing this post because I finished this book so fast and now I need to move on to the third, so I've got to get this one out of my head before I do. If you've not read my last post about the first book then please do, because this one follows straight on and I want to avoid repeating myself.

So, the second novel opens with Penryn seemingly died but back with her family and the Resistance. Of course, she turns out to be okay, but her sister Paige isn't. She's become some kind of monster doll and she ends up running away from the Resistance camp after an incident. Penryn, her mother and the woman she escaped from the angels at the end of the first book, set out to find Paige.

They track her to Alcatraz, where they find that people are being kept for experiments by the angels. Penryn escapes and manages to get herself to the new angel hang out. There she sees Raffe. Which is great because they both think each other is dead. Then a fight breaks out and they are forced to flee over the ocean. They take shelter in a house and have a catch up, before heading out to find Paige. They find her at the angel hang out, save her and all leave together, though the ending is very open.

Also, Penryn's connects to Raffe's sword and she begins to have dreams/visions which turn out to be the sword's memories. We learn a lot about Raffe from these scenes and it's a useful way to give the reader information without having to rehash things or have he characters talking it over. The sword also teaches her how to fight, which is interesting and does work. There's also some funny moments with the sword's name that had me bursting into laughter too.

We get a little more insight into the angels and what they are up to, though it's still no clear why they came to Earth and destroyed it. They are determined to take it over though and this can be seen in the angel hang out scenes. There's still the focus on the dystopia world and the breaking down of humanity, though this does take a bit more of  back seat then from before due to there being a lot of action in this book.

I found once again that the characters all developed well. Penryn and Raffe are falling for each other though and the scene with them eating peanut butter really brought this home to me. I know why there has to be romance, but my problem is I know they can't be together. Raffe really knows it too and I think it'd be interesting to see how they overcome this in the third book. Raffe is my favorite character though, a love his wit and his determination. He's the good guy who wants to set everything right even though everyone is standing against him. I really wish we could learn more about him and it'd be good to hear his side of things.

Penryn's mother is still out of her mind and somehow managing to survive through everything and track her daughters -though how she does this is revealed and we get to learn more about the before her and her husband. As for Paige, I feel sorry for her and what has happened. She's never going back to normal now and I don't think she's going to have a better life either. It feels like she's gone from one disability to another in away, but it sort of reflects how people can see others with disabilities and how we need to stop judging them.    

To be honest I'm also enjoying the sword as a character. I know that's a bit weird, but I have this thing about sentient weapons. I guess it comes from my interest in fantasy and magic. Plus, it's slightly different too and just adds another layer to the novel.

The pacing of this book was very much like the first one, though I didn't think it rushed from event to event as much. I found parts were it slowed down and there was moments of reflection, but these worked well and were needed by the characters. Like I said at the start, I did really rip through this book because it's just so easy to read. Of course that leaves me wondering that if it was rewrote with an adult audience in mind and the characters being older, how would it turn out? There'd need to be more description of the settings and characters, more time would be needed looking at the relationships too and Penryn and Raffe would possibly have to get together.

I did really enjoy reading this and I just hope that the third one is as good or better. I want to find out more about Raffe and the main angels. What's going to happen to Penryn and her family? Will she get with Raffe nor not? And will the world start to be put right? Looks like there's lots more to find out. I also saw on someone else's review that there is actually going to be five books. It said that Susan EE had posted it on her blog, but I didn't actually find the post and no one else seems to be stating that. So, I'm not sure. It is possible for later this year though, so have to keep my eyes out.

I'd recommend this book to teenagers and twenty-somethings because that's audience whom the books are aimed at and they'll get the most out of them. I think adults might find it not engaging enough, but if you are looking for a quick easy read then I'd say go for it. And now I'm off to start reading the third book and I'll be back next Monday with the review!

Please check out my other blog;  https://thestoryfiles.wordpress.com/ for a new short story every day and feel free to follow me. Thanks for reading.

Image from: Goodreads

Book Review: Angelfall by Susan EE

Hi readers,

I fancied something different to read and though I had lots of books to choose from, when I was out shopping with my best friend two Fridays ago, she spotted this book and recommended it to me. She is a massive reader like myself and we both have almost the same taste in books. I was little worried it being a YA dystopia novel that I wouldn't like it that much as every other book at the moment seems to be that! 

I really enjoyed it though and have gotten the other two books -as it's a trilogy- and now plan to read and review those for the last two Mondays of February. Angelfall is set in the aftermath of an apocalypse by angels and tells the story of Penryn trying to find her disabled seven year old sister and her crazy mother. She ends up saving an angel from death and getting him to help her. Raffe has dark secrets of his own though and things really don't look great for him at the end of the book. Nor for Penryn, her sister or mother either.

The pace of this novel is really fast and that's the real reason why I got into it quickly and struggled to put it down. There is no real slow/stopping points and there is always 'something is going to go wrong' moments that just keep you on your toes. Even though it was one thing after another or very goal/obstacle/goal patternized, it was written very well and with nice little details. I can only hope the other two books are the same because they look bigger and I now have a time scale to keep! Also, and typical of YA novels aimed at girls, Penryn is the narrator, so everything comes from her point of view.    

The characters are well written and do seem realistic. Though Penryn is too well set up to fight to my liking. Her mother made her take fighting/self-defensive lessons, which then do come in use for Penryn escaping and rescuing people, though she does struggle to hold her own sometimes. There was also a scene at the end of the book where I did question how much Penryn could actually see from her line of sight, because it seemed a lot more then she should have been able too. 

Raffe - without spoiling anything- I found to be fascinating character and I always wondered if he was like a different/special angel just because of his behavior. The twists with him are really good and I didn't see those coming really. Be interesting to see where his story goes in the next book. I didn't feel that the angels came across as being like new or different, they just felt typical. Perhaps, things will be explored more in the other books, but for me I'm just happy that they are what I'm use to really. 

Penryn's mother is a schizophrenic. She has visions and believes in demons ect and comes across as being out of her mind most of the time. However, she still has strong motherly instincts towards her daughters and does try to help throughout the novel. I found her to be a very different character from what I was expecting and I image that she might have been a challenge to write. I like the idea that she had issues before the apocalypse and that having to survive in a dystopia world has made her worse. 

The settings in this novel come across really well even though we don't spend a lot of time in one place. The description of the destruction worked well for me and I was able to picture a great deal in my mind. Also, I guess because of my fascination with abandoned places these destroyed- semi-abandon settings really appeal to me. I also liked the fact that the timeline was like 6 months after the angels invaded and everything was still in the aftershock of it. So, unlike some other dystopia novels people haven't had time to set up new societies and leaders yet, meaning that everyone is slipping back to a caveman like life style, which is interesting. 

Overall, I'd so recommend this book to everyone because I do think it's very good. Of course, if you are a fan of The Hungry Games then you might like it, but it doesn't really flow in that same vein and I actually found it better and more to my liking. On to the next one! 

  

Image from: Goodreads

February Update: How I'm Coping Being Single.

Hi Readers,

Hope you all had a good weekend and week! To answer the question, I'm doing okay. I thought I'd be a lot more depressed, lonely and lacking in the motivation then I've turned out to be. But I guess that's in part because I've willed myself not to be. It's super hard because I'm going through the grieving process and even though my ex and I have had a clean break we are still trying to be friends. So far that is working out, but I wondered if in the coming months we both decided to drift and start over again. I'd love to meet someone else who was better suited to me and giving time it'll properly happen.

Right now though, I've been spending some me time and doing a few things I've been planning to do. I had this huge list in my head and though I've started on it, I've still got a lot of things planned. I think keeping busy and not spending too much time reflecting and getting upset is really helping me to get through. I agreed with my best friend that I had to do stuff that made me happy and I had to learn to love myself again. So, here's what I've spent the last few weeks enjoying and I hope that if you're feeling low at the minute you can find something here to cheer yourself up with.

Happy Book

I started this 'Happy Book' soon after a left uni. My friend give it to me and I didn't really know what to do with it as it wasn't suitable for any purpose I had. Then she told me about this memory box she had which is filled with things that made her happy and I decided to make this little notebook into my happy space. I got some quotes and memes off the internet that meant something to me or else were very positive. Some are to do with writing, others life, love, loss, moving on etc. There's also quotes from books and famous people. I scrap booked some of the pages with stickers and things to brighten them up further. 

Some of the pages have really random things on like cardboard cut outs of Adventure Time and Minecraft characters. There's also some cut up birthday cards, postcards and a poem my mum wrote that had come loose from one of her old notebooks. I've got some prayers too and then there are these plastic cards that I think came with badges or brooches. I don't remember, but I use to keep them in a jewelry box. Now they have a home in the Happy Book and they do seem to be very fitting. I've no idea where they dried flowers came from though! 

The other thing I've got is two pages for Yankee Candle labels. I really like the images on them and had a few stuck to the side of my PC tower. Then I decided it couldn't go on and so decided to put them in the Happy Book. Looking at them and remembering the smells, makes me feel happy and lets other good thoughts appear. Plus, it's a great way to remember all the melter candles I've tried out so far!  

I mainly add to the Happy Book when I'm feeling upset and low. It gives me something to focus on and reading all the positive stuff does help. I also read through it when I need a little pick me up or some inspiration. When I'm adding, I'll go on Pinterest or Google and look up whatever quotes I need, I have a running collection of them on my board now, which is very useful. I'll sort them all out into a word doc, making them as small as possible, but still readable then print them out and stick them in. I do find crafts so calming and I think that helps too. The only problem is that my little notebook is almost full now! I guess I'm going to have to find a new one soon. 

Lip Balm Collection

I've always had a little bit of a collection and addiction to lip balms. I love the smell of them more then anything. Though in winter and summer when my lips tend to be all dry and cracking, they are useful. My favorites have to be from the Body Shop because they smell so good and they had an apple candyfloss one come out at Christmas and I'm fully addicted to it. 

My mum actually got me all these for Christmas and they are a mix of small tubs and tubes. I really like the old fashioned sweet flavored ones, which remind me of the sweets I use to eat as a kid. There's also Coke Cola, Fanta and Spirit ones, which don't last long with me because I end up licking them off! My current favorite is the top one- the lemon berry blast, because it just smells so fruity. 

I'm all set for the next few years with my collection now, but no doubt I'll find more. Collecting things always makes me happy, even though I've run out of room now!   

America sweets

Whilst Christmas shopping my mum and I can across these candy cups in BM bargains. They seemed really interesting and when I opened my mine a few days after Christmas I got kinda hooked on Cow Tales! I have always liked America sweets even though they are expensive in the UK and they are not as sugar sweet as the things we have over here. I just have a very sweet tooth. 

I ate like half of the cup and it was mostly lollipops, nerds and laffy taffy. But I just knew I'd have to  get another at some point. I got lucky because when we went back to the shop for something a few weeks back they still had them and there was one that had like 6 Cow Tales in it! So now when I'm writing and need a quick burst of something I just paw through the cups and decided what to have. The gobstoppers and jawbreaks have been lasting me ages though! but that's been real useful during editing. 

So, trying something new -even if it's just as simple as snack food can also help take your mind off things and get your brain thinking other stuff.   

Chinese New Year 

Every year my family celebrates Chinese New Year, though we're never been to China nor have any Chinese relatives/friends. I think this is because it fall on my brother's birthday, which was yesterday and we kinda stick the two together and celebrate with Chinese food and sometimes going to Manchester to see the parade. This year it's just me and my parents because my brothers are busy, so we decided to switch our normal Sunday Lunch for a three course homemade Chinese meal. That meant a shopping trip to Chi Yip and a chance to get all my favorite snacks. So much for the diet!  

To be honest we only go once a year and though I know a few places that sell panda biscuits and pocky sticks / Pepero / 'stick biscuits' as I call them, I always get them from the Chinese supermarket. I love the strawberry and chocolate pandas -though they didn't have any and I had to get milk instead, but I've not seen the green tea ones before, so eating them is going to be fun! I'm going to try and spread them out over the year, but it's going to be so hard.  

Arts/crafts: Owl pouches

These cute little coin pouches popped up on my Pinterest two weeks back and I thought they'd be great to make with the kids at the youth center. It then turned out that I'd used another owl pouch pattern from this website before, though I'm not sure what happened to the one I made, but I'm sure I did do them with the kids. A part of me is thinking that maybe I never did due to the fact that I needed metal poppers and buttons. But I might made the pattern simpler and that's why I can't remember fully. 

Anyway, this one is a lot easier due to just having a slit at the top.  I thought it'd be quick to make up and great for using up all the scrap felt I'm hording. Which tuned out to be true and I had time to make my mum one too. It's going to go with the owl purse I brought her Christmas in her handbag now. I hope the kids like them and you can find them here;

http://www.dosmallthingswithlove.com/2013/09/felt-owl-pouch-free-template.html

I've got a few more patterns on my desk right now, but I'm going to leave them till the March update as this post is already feeling a bit long.

Bottled Lights

I just had to share this even though I've done a post about it before, but I just so love fairy lights in used bottles. My mum spotted this 100 red lights in BM Bargains for a £1. We talked about what we'd do with them if we got them- no way would they be used on the Christmas tree next year as we'd only just replaced the lights on it this year- but then mum suggested we put them in bottles and I said we could give it a shot. I'm so glad I did and also upset we only got two boxes of 100 lights and one of 200. They fitted perfectly into my large Morgan's bottle that I'd just finished off. I have it sit on my printer and it just lights up the corner nicely.

Poncho mum made

This is another great thing I wanted to share. My mum loves knitting and she gets this magazines which have nice patterns in. I like ponchos for sitting around the house in or when I'm writing. They are so warm, snugly and keep the cold off me. When I saw this big one I had to have it! My mum had a few problems with it and she didn't get it right a lot of the time and mostly it felt like she was undoing it more then knitting it! Finally, she got it right and I just love it. I get wrapped in it like a soft woolly blanket and I just want to go to sleep. 

I like knitting too, but having issues with words and numbers kinda stops me. I know how to cast on, cast off, knit and purl, but that's it. I like making scarfs because they are really easy! I've not knitted anything in awhile though because I've been busy, but on Friday I picked up a knitting mag that had just arrived and I saw this awesome soft toy whale. I like sea creatures and I really wanted him even though he's like 3 meters long! Somehow, I talked mum into making him and now we are going to try to knit him together! (After she's finished off another poncho she's busy making me).  

Patch eating a bone

Three weekends back, I got my dog, Patch, a bone. It's huge and is about the same length as her. I thought it'd be fun to see what she'd do with it. She's not big on bones or food that she can't fit perfectly in her mouth though. Everything has to be made smaller before she eats it and it's turning out to be the same with the bone. She was interested in it at first, but now if I'm not tearing little strips off for her she doesn't seem to want to even attempted to chew on it.

She also has a habit of hiding/burying things too. I guess this is because our other dog, Sindy, use to steal things from her and always ate them first. Then Sindy would cry and we'd think that Patch had stolen her treats when really Sindy had already eaten her's and just wanted more. So, Patch would try to hide stuff for later. I don't think it really worked. Now, she's by herself Patch still buries things in her blankets and we are forever finding dog biscuits in the living room.

Something tells me this bone will never get ate. It's very rare we give her such things anyway- mainly because she doesn't eat them! She seems to enjoy snuggling up to it though.  

Reward Chart

So, I had this idea to try and help me do some more exercise and stay focused on it which was to go back to basics and get a reward/star chat online. I thought if I could set out my goals and give myself the promise of a small reward (I choice the Assassination Classroom manga books because I really want to start reading them) that I might feel better about the whole trying to loose weight thing. I've always been big and my weight hasn't seemed to bother me that much, though there have been times when I've wanted to be slim. I thought now that I'm trying to love me more I should try harder with this, but doing the whole diet thing doesn't work with me.

You see, when I tell myself I can't have something, I want it more and more and then I have to give in because I get so worked up and everything over being denied it. Then I eat it, feel guilty and give up on the diet. So, this time I decided not to do that and instead focus on just doing some exercise and thinking more about that. The reward chat was kinda working till it bugged. I can't click the box to add a star and the screen is displaying wrong. I think I might have to look for another, but I already know I'm not going to meet all the goals I set down. 

I've not done an hour walking or gone swimming last week, so I'll have to double up at some point. Luckily, though I got on this fitness program thing and soon I'll join the gym and the swimming pool be able to go whenever I like. I love swimming. Not so much the gym though, but my mum and I have agreed to go together and help each other out. 

Currently reading: Angelfall trilogy

I'm busy reading a young adult dystopia trilogy at the minute. I won't go into too much detail though because I've decided to review them with the first book being looked at next Monday. I enjoyed the first one and got really into it. I just hope the other two are as good and I'll be reviewing them in the following Mondays. 

I've also been tidying my room today and sorting out my books. I have so many and I feel bad when I have to get rid of them, but some of them I'm just not going to read. I've a load on my pile right now, so at least I'll always have book reviews to write on this blog. 

Viva Pinata game play

Lastly, this is my new addiction. My ex got this game as part of a box set I brought him for Christmas and I played it at his. Then after the break up, I decided I really needed to get this myself and I found because he'd saved the game to the Cloud that I could download my garden and carry on playing! This game is so cute and colorful, I find it really easier to play too. All you have to do is get the wild pinatas to come and live in your garden then you can breed them and make money from selling the babies. 

Of course it has it's challenges and recently I've taken to looking some stuff up online, but doesn't everyone do that for games now a days? I just find it very relaxing and it gives my mind something to focus on. There's a second one, which I do want to get, but I've got enough games to play on the Xbox 360 at the moment. 

I hope you've found reading this informative and fun. Writing it sure did help me! If you give any of this stuff ago I'd love to hear from you and please check out my other blog:    https://thestoryfiles.wordpress.com/

Images from: 

My own

http://penryn-y-el-fin-de-los-dias-la.tumblr.com/page/8

http://directdownloadstuffss.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/viva-pinata.html

Time To Talk About Mental Health Day

Hi readers, 

I'm doing an extra post this week because today is mental health awareness day and as someone who's suffered through a lot of mental health problems, I thought I'd take sometime to write about it. 

I've had three lots of depression; one which was undiagnosed when was I fifteen -because everyone just thought I was unhappy at school, but on reflection and knowing what I now know it was clearly depression. One for a brief time when I left uni before returning to do my masters - I was upset that I had to close the door on what had been a great three years of my life and I wasn't sure what to do next. And my finally one which was about three/four years back now, when I couldn't get a job and I just wanted to give up on everything. 

That most recent one was longer and more serious then the other two. I had to have pills and counselling. It all came about because after graduating I spent two years trying to get a job. The first year I told myself was like a gap year because I so needed the break and I did get stuff done and I was okay. 

The second year though the job center and my parents were on my back a lot. I must have applied for 200 odd jobs that year and got hardly any interviews. I didn't want to do anything, everyone was putting me down, so why not agree with them? I begin to beat myself up over how worthless and bad I must be. I told myself that there must be something wrong with me. All my friends had jobs and were moving on with their lives and I was just stuck in the gutter. What was the point?

The job center told me I was depressed and I needed to see my doctor. I did and found out I was dangerously depressed and suicidal. It came as a shock to me because I'd not realized how bad my mental health was. I think that it happens to a lot of people, but they just decided to get on with it and keep it hidden. It's a hard topic to talk about and other people who've not had mental health problems can't always understand how and why people who are affect behave the way they do. 

I've always been very talkative and I found that talking to my family and friends as well as the counselling did help. I started doing a lot more volunteering and found that I was getting into all the crafts and sewing at the youth center. I started to sew at home and discovered a liking for it. It became a hobby and it helped a lot of my depression. It give me something to focus on and do, which meant I wasn't thinking about stuff all the time and I had something of a purpose, because I'd then teach the kids how to do it. Then of course, I got a job and things have been pretty stable. 

Well, until last month when I broke up with my boyfriend. I've been boarding on being depressed again. Some of the signs have been there; lack of motivation, being stressed, ill, feeling uninspired and putting myself down that I won't fall in love again. I decided that I just couldn't go backwards and I didn't want to get so depressed again, that's why at the start of February, I picked up the list of stuff I'd wrote down I needed to do at the start of the new year and began thinking and doing some of them. I still have moments - I guess it's going to take some time to get myself right again- but for now I'm doing okay.  

    

My mum directed me to the Time To Change organisation because she thought it'd be good for me to run an activity on mental health with the 8-12 year olds I work with. I know that sounds a little young, but research is showing that a lot of young people are suffering with mental health problems. So, I thought it'd be cool to get the kids to make these folded claw things -that's what I call them! and talk about stuff with them. 

I think that depression, anxiety and stress - both which I've also had bouts of- are the top mental health issues. I think it has something to do with the societies and lifestyles we now all have. But there's also other mental health problems like phobias, grief and panic. A lot of this just goes undiagnosed because people won't go see doctors or talk to people about it because they are embarrassed. Today is the day to change that. And I know it's hard because you don't want people to be mean or misunderstand you etc, but actually the first step of admitting you might have a problem will make you feel better and of course once the ball is rolling it's a lot easier!  

Finally, I wanted to share this image below about stressing less. There's lots of things you can do when you're feeling stressed or having other mental health problems. Reaching out to people and getting the help and support you need is important and I think remembering these 10 points can also be useful. 

So, I hope that whatever you're doing to do is good and that you've found reading this inspiring enough to either make that first step or help others. Until Monday. Thanks for reading and please check out my other blog; https://thestoryfiles.wordpress.com/

Images from: 

http://www.time-to-change.org.uk/timetotalkday-resources

http://www.dailynewsservice.co.uk/mental-health-misconceptions/

http://historiasdeariadne.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/os-piores-12-habitos-para-nossa-saude.html

Book Review: Not Before Bed by Craig Hallam

Hi readers, 

This wasn't the post I set out to write today, it was meant to be a life update one, but I'm way behind with doing stuff and it's already 8pm. So, I thought instead of spending an hour or two writing and sorting out the photos for the update post, I'd write a review about the book I just finished reading instead. 

The back story behind how I came to own this book is interesting. Remember in December I went to the Leeds Steampunk Market? (http://hailscrazyblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/leeds-steampunk-market-and.html) This is one of the books that came from there and spent a lot of time talking with the writer. I think he had like three or four different books for sale and I ended up picking this one because it was a collection of short stories and I liked it more then the others. He did sign the book for me, so I now get to add it to my collection of signed books! Don't worry though I'm still going to give this book a fair review.  

It's a collection of 13 short horror stories and though the blurb warns you to get ready to be scared, I didn't find them that scary. I don't know maybe I've just read too many horror stories? There was a recurring theme of tentacle creatures and my favorite story happened to involve one of those. Lovecraft is about a woman who decides to make her own man and ends up with a blob like alien creature instead. I loved how she and the creature connected and I did feel sad at the end. My other favorite story was Albert which is about a fisherman who is like the last person in this deserted seaside village which holds a dark secret. 

The stories are well written and there is enough subtle in them to grip you, but it is easy to work out what's going on. Like with the female werewolf story or the zombie one. The longer stories make it for me though because the suspense is kept up for longer in those. For me though, I did want it to be a lot more darker and threatening. The monster in the room story was interesting but I think a lot more tension could have been created. I didn't see any major faults with any of the stories or the writing really. It's a good mix of stories that covers the popular horror and supernatural aspects and characters.

I think if you are looking for some short stories that you can just dip in and out of or even some inspiration to write some of your own, then this would be a good book to get. It's small so easy to take places and doesn't take long to read. Though if you are looking for something bigger and better in the horror short story area then check out The Mammoth Books of New Horror. They bring a new one out every year, but there are also lots of other ones in the series. 

Reading this book has made me want to read Hallam's novel Greaveburn, which I think is a fantasy novel. Reading the reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, it seems good and my type of book. So, it's on my list and hopefully I'll get it soon. I've got so many other books to read right now and I fear a clean out might be needed in the next few weeks as I'm running out of space again. 

I'll be back next time with that life update. Thanks for reading and please check out my other blog were you can read a new short story everyday.    

   

Image from: Amazon UK