Beautiful Demons

Beautiful Demons

Sarra Cannon

Supernatural

136 Pages

Teen 

Warnings: Death, violence

 After getting kicked out of her latest foster home, Harper Madison is sent to Shadowford Home for Girls in Peachville, Georgia, her last chance before getting sent to juvenile detention. She wants to start fresh, she just has to make sure that she doesn't lose her temper, as things tend to start flying around the room, against her will. Everything is going fine until the head cheerleader, Tori, is murdered and she becomes the main suspect.

Writing Style: 10/10

I didn't see any errors and the characters were well fleshed out. There were a few characters that were just sort of introduced and not heard from much afterwards, but there were reasons for it that made the story that much more intriguing, especially seeing as there are sequels that they may play a bigger role in.

Plot: 9/10

A murder mystery always seems to be a good time. Mix that with the supernatural elements and you've got a recipe for a good story, if you manage to pull it off. Sarra Cannon did just that, giving me a plot that I wanted to know more and more about.

Originality: 8/10

There seemed to be a few things that I've noticed happen a lot in this type of story that docked a few points. First, there is a mystery about the parents. Harper was adopted when she was young and doesn't know who they are or if her ability comes from them. Second, she cannot control her ability and it keeps getting her into trouble. Third, there is something that happens that she has to find out the answer to. The formula mirrors the first Harry Potter book to me, but it was pulled off completely differently and some of the fleshing out between it was very original.

Enjoyability: 10/10

I couldn't put this down. It's not a very long read, but I had some other things that I probably should have been doing that got put to the way side in order to finish this book.

End: 9/10

The main point of the book is all wrapped up in a nice, neat ending. There are still questions that are about the series as a whole that need answered, but you could just end after reading this book and be content. It also wasn't too cliched and had some nice twists to it.

Overall: 46/50

You can get Beautiful Demons at Barnes and Noble,  Amazon, I-tunes, Smashwords, and Kobo.
Visit Sarra Cannon's website.

Has anyone else read Beautiful Demons or some other good self published book? Is there some book that I haven't gotten to that you think would warrant a review? Let me know in the comments.

Enigma

Enigma

Aimee Ash

Supernatural, Romance

238 pages

Teen

Warnings: Mentions of sex and sexual activity, non-graphic

Kate, a girl who has been forced to move around her entire life, ends up in Long Beach right before starting her freshman year of college. She's hoping to finally settle in and make some friends when she meets a mysterious neighbor, who seems to be avoiding her. When she finally catches up to him, she finds out that his name is Jack and the weird things that have started happening to her are related to him and a curse, one that she is now completely caught up in.

Writing Style: 7/10

There were a few spelling/grammar errors, but nothing major. The biggest problem is that I keep hearing how independent and strong that Kate is supposed to be, but she seems to be very reliant on Jack and his family. In the beginning I could see this trait, but as the story progresses she seems to lose a lot of what I think originally made her a good character. Jack also seems to be a very different character in the beginning, but begins becoming a jerk. Some of this can be written off by his twin brother coming back into the picture, but the rest is very much just Jack being problematic.

Plot: 6/10

The main plot of the story was good, but it had too many side plots that really seemed to come out of nowhere or happen too fast, especially with Kate's family. For example, there is some talk about her brother having a drinking problem, but it's also said everyone pretty much ignores it until suddenly when they decide that something has to be done and it has to be done immediately, without any clear reason as to how it this course of action was decided. I also think that there may have been too many plot twists for the story. Instead I think some may have been able to be dropped in order to flesh out some other parts.

Originality: 9/10

This was a pretty original story. Jack's powers and curse are not your standard vampire or werewolf or anything like that and that was very refreshing and the powers weren't just your standard super strength and the like either. This made the story a much more interesting read.

Enjoyability: 7/10

Enigma reminded me a lot of Twilight, which isn't my favorite book series in the world, though I did read them all. That being said, I really think fans of that series will like Enigma. I also had some issue reading it due to the side stories and plot twists.

End: 7/10

The end was pretty much as expected. It wasn't a crazy twist, but it also wasn't disappointing. I feel like it was a safe ending, but a good one.

Overall: 36/50

Enigma is available from  Amazon, Smash Words and I-tunes.
Visit Aimee Ash's website.
Does anyone else have an opinion? Let me know!
Also, sorry for the delay in posting. There were some technical difficulties.

Panamanian Stompers

Jake F. Simons

Horror, humor

25 pages

Adult

Warnings: Language

Fernie Deacon is a low-life who earns his living by shady means. While waiting for an friend for his newest job, he talks to a bar mentally handicapped barkeep and another bar patron about Panamanian Stompers, a fish that comes up on land and kills people on the shore not far from where they are, especially on rainy nights like the one that they're currently experiencing.

Writing Style: 6/10

Fernie is skeezy and it definitely shines through really well and I give the author props on that, but this isn't a style I generally like. That being said, many people do like it. It's just never been anything I've been interested in.

Plot: 8/10

The plot was amusing. It wasn't confusing and it was very straight forward. Fernie was just attempting to pass the time until he could go and hold up some gangbangers and get his money. Terrorizing a poor mentally handicapped barkeep was just something that he thought would be fun to do. When it ceased to be that, he leaves and does what he needs to do to finish up the story and bring it full circle.

Originality: 5/10

This is story similar to what many have heard with snipes or jackalopes when parents or older siblings want a young child out of the way or the scary creature in the dangerous area to keep kids away. It also followed a very predictable path to the climax there were no huge surprises.

Enjoyability- 3/10

For me, the enjoyability on this was very low. I knew where the story was going from the beginning and I didn't like the writing style, so I didn't really enjoy the story much. There was a highlight or two though, making it a little better.

End- 6/10

Although predictable, the end was amusing to me. I was holding out hope for something a little different, but justice was served and that was what mattered most in this story.

Overall- 28/50

Get the book for the Kindle.

Visit Jake F. Simons' website. Note: Simons is a pseudonym to distinguish between his all ages works and his adult works.