The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

Gone are the days when fairy tales are censored, cleaned up, and brightened into child-friendly bedtime stories. Nobody wants to hear about innocent tales that teach good manners and not to talk to strangers anymore, now it's all about grisly realism and dark origins. It's these gritty, disturbing kind of fairy tale that is the source of our latest story. When you dabble in the world of fairy tales, sometimes they can have lasting effects. Let's see how it turns out.

Alice is the granddaughter of the allusive, mysterious Althea Proserpine, author of the fabled Tales of the Hinterland, a book with a massive cult following and near obsessive fanbase. Alice has spent her entire life on the road with her mother, Ella, running away from both Althea's reputation and the ever-present string of bad luck that follows them everywhere. It's nothing Alice can't handle until her mother disappears. Desperate to find her, Alice seeks out the one place she's always been forbidden to go...her grandmother's estate, the Hazel Wood.

First off, this book has a lot of really fun aspects to it. The atmosphere is great, the prose is strong, and there's more than enough pop-culture references to get a chuckle or two out of a reader and help us get to know what kind of person our main character is. The writing in this book is definitely strong and I appreciated that. Ms. Albert knows how to tell a story, both in a fantasy world and in the real one. The combination of gritty, curse-word ridden real world language mixed with the darker, more whimsical fantasy descriptions make this book a good balance, especially as the story travels from one world to the other. It was easy to picture and made the contrasts stand out all the more.

Now, some people might have a problem with our main character, Alice. The story tells us, right off the bat, that she has anger issues and is prone to snapping at others and being cold to just about everyone but her mother. However, I found her a little easier to deal with than other angry characters I've read about. She does feel shame when she loses her temper and does have the grace to apologize from time to time. It also helps that, later on, we discover just how this anger ties into who she is as a person. This made her feel a little more real and the anger felt like a genuine character flaw rather than a bitter person who is better for the sake of being bitter. There was a point to her being that way, so it didn't bother me that much. Plus, she had other, far more likable attributes as well. She could be properly sarcastic, witty, determined, and fearless. Overall, I liked Alice as a character, flaws and all.

This book is centered around the Tales of the Hinterland, the stories that Althea wrote about. You soon find that these stories are not just words on paper and they have a big impact on Alice's life. These are stories that are dark and violent and just the kind of thing that we like to find in fairy tales nowadays. My only problem is...we only hear two of them in this book. I feel this might have made more of an impact if we'd read the fairy tales first. You get more excited or scared or whatever if you know who you're dealing with. We're told Twice-Killed Katharine is a scary character who you should avoid at all costs but...we don't know why. I wanna hear more about the Briar King and the Skinned Maiden and all these other stories. Apparently there is another book coming up in which we finally get to hear these tales, so there's that. I just kind of wish we'd heard them first so I'd get a better idea of who I'm dealing with. That being said, the story still worked just fine and now I'm excited to get my hands on another fairy tale book (yay!).

Final Verdict
This story was very enjoyable, I liked the main character, I liked the set up, I enjoyed the writing...I had fun with it. I appreciated the care that it took in creating this universe and that, blessedly, it's a stand alone, which was nice for a change. If this sounds like the kind of thing you'd enjoy, then I'd say it's definitely worth your money at your local bookstore.

Have you read the book? What did you think? Comment below and share your thoughts. Please make sure to Follow Midnight Readings for instant updates. Have a book you'd like me to read or would like to make a recommendation? Contact me on goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/65448711-michelle-beer

If you would like to read my book, Powerless, you can find it at:

Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Powerless-Shelley-Miller/dp/1543482546/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519062043&sr=8-1&keywords=powerless+by+shelley+miller

Xlibris: https://www.xlibris.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-001175242

Next Time: I can come up with some curses for this book....

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Hype can be an evil thing. You see a book all over the media, you see trailers for it, you hear people go on and on and on about a series and...you can't help it. Your expectations rise. It's gonna happen. It just is. So, after hearing all this praise for this book, hearing from friends and the internet alike that it's so good and the next big thing, I got hyped. Was it all it was cracked up to be? Well, let's just get into it.

Mare Barrow lives in the country of Norta, where the powerless Red blooded people are governed over by the almighty, super-powered Silver bloods. Mare makes her way through life, keeping her head down and avoiding the draft into war and stealing to get by. One day, as she stumbles upon a gathering of Silvers, something extraordinary happens: she's revealed to have powers. The Silvers swiftly take her in and masquerade her as one of their own, keeping her Red blood a secret and having her betrothed to one of the princes, Maven. But Mare has no desire to be a pet in the Silver world and seeks to liberate her Red brethren by joining the Scarlet Guard, but she's surrounded by those who would harm her and seek to destroy her and Mare must play her hand carefully or face the ultimate punishment.

Sounds pretty exciting doesn't it? Well, that's what I thought too...before I read it and discovered that this was...yet again...another girl-starts-rebellion story. Now, that alone is not enough to make a book bad or even mediocre, it's really not. What will kill it for your story is how unbelievably slow the pacing of this book is and how much you do not care about the characters. Katniss Everdeen is someone you root for because you want her to get back to her sister (in the first book anyway). Triss Prior is someone you root for because she's fighting against what she's been told is her destined path and is walking the course she truly wants. Mare Barrow....is sloppy seconds compared to these girls. Seriously, I can't remember what it is about her that I wanted to root for. She's forced to leave her family but...she barely gives them a second thought. She's forced into an arranged marriage she doesn't want but...she's cool with it. She's got both the rebels and the Silvers telling her what to do and how to behave and...she just goes along with it. She comes up with nothing on her own, is that special-snowflake-something-or-other that I hate and she's just so bland. If the character isn't invested, then I'm not invested. Simple as that.

There's almost no other characters in this book that I haven't seen done a thousand times the same way. Cal and Maven both serve as the brooding, silent love interests with the BFF Kilorn dangling over in third-wheel (or in this case fourth-wheel) territory. You have your ruthless, nasty, pain-in-the-butt mean girl, Evangeline, who's also a love rival and bully and hates our protagonist for absolutely no reason whatsoever except that she's the mean girl trope and that's what she's supposed to do. You have your ignorant king, your poisonous queen, your passionate revolutionaries who blur together so much you forget who is who...etc. It's taking all my willpower just to remember the names of these people because they all just left so little impact. If I make it through and entire book and can't remember anyone or at least come away with a character I want to root for...we have a problem.

Now, the Silver classes is clearly where a lot of the creative effort when into with this story (and the soap opera drama, but I'll get to that later). They're divided into houses...I mean districts...I mean factions...I mean categories-to-fashion-into-a-Facebook-personality-test...I mean houses, each with their own X-men power, from controlling water to fire to metal to reading minds and blah, blah, blah. Now, the fact that they're all divided up doesn't bother me (heck, even I've done that in my own story) but what does bother me is that there are too many of them. They're not even clearly labeled either. They just have random nicknames and we're supposed to instantly know who is who and what is what and...you can't. There's just too much to remember. If you're going to have groups of people with different personality traits, powers, or whatever anything over 10 is too much (and yes, this includes the 12 districts of Panem. All these years later and I still can't remember what all the districts are responsible for). I swear, I lost count of all the Silver powers and, judging from the end of the book, there are only more to come. How are we supposed to care about these characters when I can't even remember what they do?

Last rant, I promise. The moral this book wants us to know by the end is that "anyone can betray anyone," (seriously, it repeats this phrase like five times in the last three chapters). There's a lot of backstabbing and plotting and scheming, especially in the third act and...I didn't care. Seriously, I don't care about any of this stuff. And yet, the book just keeps piling the baggage on us. "I'm going to tell you of the tragic story of my sister and make avenging her your responsibility." I don't care.  "I've been living my whole life one way and if I don't do something about it things will never change." I don't care. "There's discrimination within the discrimination within the discrimination and we have to do something about it." I...don't...care! We almost never see anything of consequence happen, so we have no motivation. We can't get invested in the futures of these characters because we don't know these characters. If what you're going for is "anyone can betray anyone" it should end with "but if nobody is invested than it doesn't make for a good story."

Final Verdict
As you can guess, I didn't like this book. But...it didn't make me angry or anything. I was just really, really bored. I couldn't get invested in the bland characters, the recycled plot or its "twists", and the world was too vague to get our attention. I finished this book last night and completely forgot about it when I woke up this morning...it left that little of an impact on me. Still, there are some people out there who might find some joy out of it. If you don't care about the other dystopias out there that are just like this (or haven't read them at all) and you want to give this a shot, feel free...just save your cash and check it out at your local library.

Have you read the book? What did you think? Comment below and share your thoughts. Please make sure to Follow Midnight Readings for instant updates. Have a book you'd like me to read or would like to make a recommendation? Contact me on goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/65448711-michelle-beer

If you would like to read my book, Powerless, you can find it at:

Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Powerless-Shelley-Miller/dp/1543482546/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519062043&sr=8-1&keywords=powerless+by+shelley+miller

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Next Time: You can spend your life running away from fairy tales, but they'll eventually catch you...

The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo

Just as with Tales of Beetle the Bard and Tales of the Peculiar, Language of Thorns is a collection of fairy tales set in the universe of Bardugo's other works, namely the Grishaverse of the Shadow and Bone trilogy. Being the sucker for fairy tales that I am and having absolutely loved the Six of Crows duology, I just had to get this one and see how this one turned out. In short, it turned out well. Very well.

Walking, breathing gingerbread babies. A coat made from the pelts of all kinds of animals. A prince that rules the land and his brother who rules the woods. These are but a few of the mystical elements you can find within these six tales of magic, murder, love, revenge, triumph and despair. From Novyi Zem to Ravka, from Kerch to Fjerda, these tales tell of using ones wits to determine their own destinies and to teach the harsh truths of life and the rewards of the courageous and just.

As was the story with Tales of the Peculiar, these fairy tales are not kid stuff. There are some very heavy themes and some really dark material woven into these stories. That being said, it's part of their charm. These are the kinds of tales that would get an older reader invested in fairy tales again. They have a sense of wonder and their ability to discuss serious subject matters leads to a really beautiful mixture that drags you in and keeps you invested. The language and flow of each tale is remarkable and I really admired them for what they had to say.

Now, something I did notice pretty quickly is that some of these stories have rather obvious parallels with traditional fairy tales. Adam and the Thorn Wood is a Beauty and the Beast tale, The Witch of Duva is a play of Hansel and Gretel, The Soldier Prince is a retelling of The Nutcracker and so on and so forth. This isn't a bad thing, per se, not at all. Just because the elements of the story are more familiar instead of fresh like Beetle the Bard, setting them in the Grisha world and weaving in a bit of that world's atmosphere, culture, and language into these tales makes them unique and not just another, overly dark attempt at rewriting traditional fairy tales. While there are parallels, they still stand out as their own stories and, just because Hansel and Gretel ended one way, does NOT mean that the Witch of Duva will end the same way. They're unique enough to be called their own stories yet familiar enough so that they're easily recognized as fairy tales. It was a tiny tidbit that I appreciated a lot.

Final Verdict
Not much to say about this story except...read it. Just read it. You'll like it, I promise. Any fan of Bardugo's work or of fairy tales in general is going to love this book. It's well written, has style and character all its own and I'm happy to say this baby is worth your money at your local bookstore!

Have you read the book? What did you think? Comment below and share your thoughts. Please make sure to Follow Midnight Readings for instant updates. Have a book you'd like me to read or would like to make a recommendation? Contact me on goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/65448711-michelle-beer

If you would like to read my book, Powerless, you can find it at:

Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Powerless-Shelley-Miller/dp/1543482546/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519062043&sr=8-1&keywords=powerless+by+shelley+miller

Xlibris: https://www.xlibris.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-001175242

Next Time: Rise of the little lightning girl rebellion....

Aeon Legion: Labyrinth by J. P. Beaubien

After binge-watching every episode of Terrible Writing Advice on YouTube, I just had to get a look at what Beaubien's work was really like. I'm happy to say, it's everything I was hoping for and then some. This book was inspiring, fun, thrilling, and, above all else, not terrible at all. Let's begin.

Terra Mason, newly graduated high school student of the year 2000, was just as surprised as anyone to see Nazis invade her local library through and portal and a superhero from the future to show up and defeat them. Just another day, right? A small act of bravery on Terra's part gains her sponsorship to join the Aeon Legion, a group of time travelers from all across time to protect the continuums and prevent disasters across the time. From a fairly peaceful time and having no fighting experience to speak of, Terra has her work cut out for her. Some of histories greatest warriors are coming together for this tough training in the hopes of becoming an immortal Legionnaire. Terra must use ever bit of stubbornness and determination she has in her if she's going to prove herself and become a heroine.

First off, Terra is a great character and a refreshing change of pace from the typical female protagonist you see nowadays. Terra is nothing special. In fact, the book constantly beats it into your head that she's not special. She has no divine destiny, she's not some long lost princess, or anything. She's just an average girl with the will to change and become more than she is now. No matter how her fellow tirones (student/apprentices) mock her, beat her up, tell her to quit, she doesn't. She never gives up and tries her very hardest at everything she does. I really appreciated that about her. She doesn't cry, she doesn't complain, she can be blunt but tries not to be mean, and when she is mean she's sure to apologize. She can keep up with these tough future types and I really liked that about her. Her sheer ability to never give up and stay strong in the face of adversity is very inspiring. She's easily one of my favorite new characters.

A lot of the characters in this book are really great as well. Alya Silverwind is an interesting take on the mentor figure in that she's young (in appearance anyway), happy and perky. Lycus Cerberus is a big, scary bully of a teacher but you can see he has a soft spot for Terra. Roland, the noble knight, is a lying schemer. Hikari, the extremely talented Japanese warrior, hates honor and is rude to everyone. Nobody is what you'd expect in this book. Even the villain, the Nazi genius inventor Hanns Speer, is polite and values human life (even if he can be a bit delusional).

The training and actions scenes are intense and give a real sense of danger and urgency. People can be seriously injured and even die in this program, which makes you all the more concerned for Terra. You rejoice at her victories and mourn when she loses. Each test in the main training and the Labyrinth itself has purpose and teaches an important lesson. The Legion is an army and what they do is pretty much war. That point comes across well in this book and you become deeply invested in the characters and wonder how they're going to do. This book does a very good job at keeping you invested.

If I had to nitpick there was one, tiny plot reveal at the very end that I kind of predicted but that's hardly a negative at all. If anything it just got me invested in what's going to happen in the next installment. This was a great, fun read and I'm really glad I came across it.

Final Verdict
This book was just awesome. It did a great job at keeping you interested, rooting for our heroine, and holding on until the very end. Bottom line, I'm glad I found Beaubien's YouTube series and this book and it's a welcome addition to the Shelf of Recommendation!

Have you read the book? What did you think? Comment below and share your thoughts. Please make sure to Follow Midnight Readings for instant updates. Have a book you'd like me to read or would like to make a recommendation? Contact me on goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/65448711-michelle-beer

If you would like to read my book, Powerless, you can find it at:

Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Powerless-Shelley-Miller/dp/1543482546/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519062043&sr=8-1&keywords=powerless+by+shelley+miller

Xlibris: https://www.xlibris.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-001175242

Next Time: Tales from the world of grisha....

Tree of Ages by Sara C. Roethle

We've heard stories about people turning into creatures: finding out you're part werewolf, or are secretly a mermaid, you have a demon in your belly...people turn into creatures all the time. But this time, it's a tree. And the tree turns into a girl...or is it the other way around. These and many other questions make up this first novel in the Tree of Ages saga. Let's begin.

Finn doesn't know what happened. One minute, she was a tree and the next she wasn't. She's rightfully confused, but she's soon saved by a strange hermit named Áed, who agrees to help her find a way to transform back into a tree. But as Finn travels the world as a human, she falls into things fairly easily and surprises herself with just how much she knows about the world she's supposedly never seen. Their journey takes them across the world, meeting strange new characters, and Finn starts to learn that her place in the world of humans might be more significant than she ever realized.

To start with, the characters in the book really stood out to me. Everyone was enjoyable and had a clear, developed personality. Finn, who showed danger signs of a whiner in the beginning, soon grows out of it and becomes a competent character, but she doesn't have too much in the way of personality, especially when compared to some of the others we meet in this book. Áed is a riot, the crotchety old man with a soft heart that will help you but grumble about it. He was a lot of fun. We get two potential love interests, Iseult and Kai, but the love triangle aspect is seriously downplayed in the book, which I appreciated. Any possibly developing feelings between the characters are downplayed in order to focus on the plot, which is a good thing. We're here for adventure, not forced romance, and this book gave it to us. I liked that.

As a bit of a downside, the pacing in this book is pretty slow. There's a lot of traveling on the road and it can go on for awhile. There's a lot of staying at inns, finding supplies, losing supplies, moving, stopping, moving, stopping, repeat. When the action does start, however, it is interesting. You learn that this world has been torn apart by war and Faie races are starting to make their way back into the world after being banished. There's a lot of potential with this story, it just takes a long time to get there.

This book includes several plot twists that take place in this story and, I have to say, they're pretty good. I honestly didn't see some of these things coming (though the ones toward the end I did) and the tension is very well done. The characters deal with their new situations and deal with the issue head on. There's no "I don't want to"s or "it's too hard"s that sometimes pop up when dealing with these types of stories. The characters take the situation before them and deal with it. They make the most of their skills and work together to deal with the issue. They all had great attitudes and faced their problems like pros. Now, really quick, I will say that the ending of this thing felt pretty rushed. It didn't really end so much as it...stopped. We get an info dump from some random guy and then we just stare into the horizon and wonder what lies in store. I don't know, it felt a little Empire Strikes Back (granted without the carbonite) and it was a little off-putting. Not bad, mind you, just a little lackluster.

Final Verdict
This was a fun adventure and a great way to begin the series. While it had it's flaws and dragged in places, there wasn't anything bad about it. I never got angry or got too bored with it. All in all, if this sounds like an interesting story for you, feel free to check it out but maybe wait for it on paperback.

Have you read the book? What did you think? Comment below and share your thoughts. Please make sure to Follow Midnight Readings for instant updates. Have a book you'd like me to read or would like to make a recommendation? Contact me on goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/65448711-michelle-beer

If you would like to read my book, Powerless, you can find it at:

Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Powerless-Shelley-Miller/dp/1543482546/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519062043&sr=8-1&keywords=powerless+by+shelley+miller

Xlibris: https://www.xlibris.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-001175242

Next Time: His writing advice may be terrible, but how's his actual writing?

Monstress by Majorie Liu and Sana Takeda

I hesitated about whether or not I was going to do a review of this book. I am, by no means, an expert in comic books (graphic novels...what-have-you) and so didn't know if I was really qualified to do a proper review of this book. But, after reading the thing, I had a lot I wanted to say about it so...here I am. Now, while I'm not an expert on the medium, I am a fan of graphic novels. They can tell just as gripping a story as a regular novel and can be accompanied by some really beautiful artwork and this is the perfect example. Let's dive in.

Maika Halfwolf lives in a world in a delicate state of post-war. A catastrophic battle between humans and Arcanics. Trying to solve the mysteries left in the gaps of her memory, Maika must hunt down the deadly Cumaea sisterhood. In doing so, she stumbles upon an incredible power that threatens to destroy her and anyone else who dares to stand by her. Seeking answers and trying to keep the beast within her in check, Maika is constantly in the midst of hunting or being hunted, killing or being killed.

Now, when I picked up this book I was told that it was a steampunk fantasy and...I kinda see it. The steampunk element is there but it's not very prominent, at least in this first part of the story. It's most especially obvious within the Cumaea base, where we get to seeings like a brass flamethrower in use (which was pretty awesome, I must say). So, yeah, the steampunk style is mostly reserved for the weapons, an airship, and that's pretty much it. For the most part, it sticks to being mostly fantasy. Not that this is a bad thing. The two elements always work really well together, and here's a great example. Everything in this world feels like it belongs and the inclusion of technology and magic together flow nicely together. It's a great combination.

Here's something that I don't get to talk about normally...artwork, and heavens it's gorgeous! The colors, while sticking to mostly muted tones, gives life to the dark and gritty tone the book sets. The characters and designs are just beautiful. Maika looks every bit the fierce warrior she's meant to be. This is the advantage that graphic novels have over traditional novels, you can see the characters and know just how they look and can read their expressions instead of having the information fed to you. One look from Maika in a silent panel and we know what she's thinking and how she's feeling without it being told to us. They did great work on her. Sir Corvo looks great, Kippa is adorable, and if I weren't allergic to cats I'd take Master Ren home and spoil him rotten! Both artwork and writing for these characters is just awesome and I really liked it.

Now, before you go off buying this book for your kid or something...don't. This is a mature comic and for good reason. It's a violent book. There's blood, there's gore, there's swearing, and...well, some nudity. It never goes too far or is overly explicit but it's there. It hides and blurs details to keep it from being too much, but it's still there. This is defiantly for older teens and adults who can handle this kind of material. However, it's not just violence for violence's sake. It serves a purpose. This is a comic that features war, inhumanity, slavery, cruelty, cannibalism...really heavy themes and the graphics reflect those themes. So, yeah, viewer discretion advised with this one. However, if you're one of those people who doesn't mind this kind of material in any medium, then it's fine.

Final Verdict
It's been so long since I've looked at a good graphic novel and this book marks its welcome return in my life. Am I going to review a ton more graphic novels/comic books from now on...eh, maybe. For now, let me just say that this was an enjoyable, quick read and definitely worth your money at your local bookstore.

Have you read the book? What did you think? Comment below and share your thoughts. Please make sure to Follow Midnight Readings for instant updates. Have a book you'd like me to read or would like to make a recommendation? Contact me on goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/65448711-michelle-beer

If you would like to read my book, Powerless, you can find it at:

Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Powerless-Shelley-Miller/dp/1543482546/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519062043&sr=8-1&keywords=powerless+by+shelley+miller

Xlibris: https://www.xlibris.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-001175242

Next Time: I've heard of being a tree hugger...but this is ridiculous....

As You Wish by Chelsea Sedoti

If you had one wish that was guaranteed to come true, what would you wish for? And, at the tender age of eighteen, would you make the right choice? Would you be selfish or selfless? Would the outcome of your wish be what you'd imagined it...or would there be a downside you weren't able to foresee? This book explores a town were wishes come true and just what that means for people of Madison.

Eldon Wilkes was born and raised in Madison, the town where wishes come true. As his own eighteenth birthday, and his wish, are starting to creep ever closer, Eldon has a lot to think about. He starts to wonder what kind of wish he should make: everlasting money? Happiness? His ex-girlfriend back? His popularity restored? As Eldon seeks the perfect wish, he starts to take a closer look at his little town and the people within it. Just how happy are these people? Is wishing really all it's cracked up to be? As answers allude him, Eldon must come rely on his friends and figure out what's really important before making the biggest decision of his life.

First thing I'd like to point out is that I really liked how this book was written. It really captures the feeling of life and teenage angst that everyone has been through (whether you admit it or not). As we take a look around this town, we can find people who we relate to in some form or another. We all know these people. The ones who peak in high school, the ones who long for freedom, the guy around town how always wears cowboy boots, the guy who goes through your trash...they're all a lot like real people. You sympathize with them and understand where they're coming from. The atmosphere of Madison was captured really brilliantly.

Now, that being said, I did kind of find Eldon to be a...difficult protagonist to take a journey with. While he, himself, is not the nicest person in the world, he also doesn't have the nicest life in the world. His family is poor, his sister is in a coma, his parents are only together because they have to be, his ex dumped him, he's suffering on the football field (mostly from people who keep wishing to be the best player in town), and so on and so forth. As a result, this book is angsty. Like, exhaustingly angsty. There's almost no let up. However...it's well-written angst. It feels very real. Eldon feels like a perfectly real kid with a billion problems and little to no outlet for them. He has every reason to be this way. He feels his world is falling apart and, as a teen near the end of high school and with few prospects, it's natural to feel this way. It's time for him to grow up and that's scary. Add on the idea of a life-changing wish on the horizon, and I don't blame him for not having the best attitude. Just something you should know before going in.

Speaking of the wish, the build up for it is actually really well done. Every chapter is like a colossal countdown. It kind of reminded me of Majora's Mask with each day starting with an enormous chapter heading, counting down the days until fate is upon you. It really captures this sense of dread that Eldon is feeling as his day is drawing closer and he still doesn't know what to do. The build-up leads to a pretty intense climax and then...it goes on for a little while longer before ending. Probably could've ended a few chapters sooner while we were still on a high and not drag things out...but I suppose the author wanted to tie up loose ends and I respect that, I guess.

Final Verdict
While it can be tense and angsty and you have to deal with teenage feels throughout, it is still a great story about life, finding what you really want, and growing up. I can see a lot of younger people reading this and getting something great out of it. If you're into this kind of story and you like good writing and don't mind teenage drama, I'd say this one is worth your money at your local bookstore.

Have you read the book? What did you think? Comment below and share your thoughts. Please make sure to Follow Midnight Readings for instant updates. Have a book you'd like me to read or would like to make a recommendation? Contact me on goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/65448711-michelle-beer

If you would like to read my book, Powerless, you can find it at:

Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Powerless-Shelley-Miller/dp/1543482546/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519062043&sr=8-1&keywords=powerless+by+shelley+miller

Xlibris: https://www.xlibris.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-001175242

Next Time: And now for something completely different....