Source: Netgalley

Even though there had been several books between me experiencing Rough Riders Vol 1 and Vol 2, I found myself quickly remembering how much I liked some of the characters, and laughing at the dialogue. And, of course, anticipating a certain one's return - which I was given rather swiftly. However, unfortunately, I feel like this one had a serious case of try-too-hard-itis going on. While I loved a lot of the action and the witty repartee between Annie and the rest of the Rough Riders was awesome, the repeated twists and turns of the plot had me sighing.

My main problem with Rough Riders, Vol 2: Riders on the Storm were the parallels to America today. I read to escape, so finding myself plunging into a version of our current situation had me wrinkling my nose. And from a certain word to the characters that were obvious stand-ins for some of our politicians in office today, it was impossible to not see the similarities. However, the dialogue between the Rough Riders about democracy, anarchy, and frustration with the system was very plainly put and easy to relate to. And the end of this issue, well, let's just say it was believable as well. So while I didn't like that aspect of things, I still appreciated how the writer laid things out.  I do want to comment on a lot more than I currently am, simply because I lack the skill to get my point across.

The other thing is that while I can suspend quite a lot of belief in logic and abilities in search of a good story, Rough Riders Vol 2: Riders on the Storm, just had a few too many cases where I felt like it was pushing the envelope of realism a bit too far. There was a scene in particular involving one of the characters and four horses that had me rolling my eyes.

My favorite line comes from Roosevelt in the first issue (#8) of Riders on the Storm. It's just an awesome insult.

"For a civil war veteran, I found age and fear had given him the spine of a chocolate eclair."


As for the individual issues themselves, while I liked the The Big Burn (#8), Maiden of the Mist (#12) was the stand-out winner for me. Mostly because I love Annie, in case I haven't mentioned that three times already. Strange Days (#13) was my least favorite of the bunch. Given the way Strange Days ended things, I can't say that I would be interested in picking up any more volumes from the Rough Riders' series. 

Overall, just can't recommend this volume, sorry. It had it's high points, but not enough to make it worth spending money on.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher for review consideration 

Source: Netgalley

It had everything my little heart could desire. Geniuses, super-powers, intrigue, shoot’em-ups, a hint of the wanna-smooches, and a surprisingly gentle and solid relationship between a husband and his ex-wife that didn’t include a lust to get back together.

Brilliance, first in the Brilliance trilogy, is a well-written exploration of an alternate history for our world, where ‘norms’ are forced to face the fact that they’re quickly becoming obsolete in the face of evolution. Naturally, there’s fear and anger (understandably so. That’s how humans always react to crap they don’t understand.) and those two emotions are swiftly fueled into a firestorm that could potentially destroy America as tensions build to a head.

Sakey has a great (if not unique) plot, and a solid writing style. This book had all my little “Happy-spot” triggers. So, why in the world did this book not appeal to me? That’s what I’m still trying to figure out.

Brilliance was a difficult book to read in a way that’s hard to describe. The simplest way I could put it is it didn’t hook me until almost the very end, but it never bored me. It was just an extremely easy book to walk away from. I read so many short stories and other books in between spurts of reading this book. I always enjoyed it while I was reading it, but I never had the drive to finish it.

Source: Netgalley

There is some excellent writing in this book. The authors obviously have a strong grasp on something that a lot of authors I’ve read recently have trouble with. That is, giving the right amount of description and avoiding massive unnecessary info dumps as I was subjected to in Ready Player One (I outright snickered when I hit a point where one of the characters is talking about a client’s ridiculously obsessive interest in the 1980s.)

The characters are interesting, and though not exactly fully-fleshed out, given enough depth that none feel like cardboard cut-outs. Though, to be honest, with some that’s a “just barely”. Mainly the songstress and her slightly The Goblin-esque husband. Kai, I think, is my favorite (probably because I’m always attracted to strong, self-confident women in literature.) Occasionally, early on, I got confused as to who was doing what, as there were several characters to keep track of, but as I read more and got to know them, I didn’t have that problem again. So I’d advise readers to stick it out if they feel like there’s too much happening. It does get easier.

One of the things that I really like about The Beam is how well the relationships are written. Nothing is floating-on-clouds perfect. People do bad things. People do good things. Sometimes bad people do good things, and good people do bad things. Just like it should be.

There are definitely more than a few pop-culture nods, but they are done in such a way that you just smile a bit when you see them, and then move on.

There’s nothing that I can truly criticize (beyond TBDCH (The Big Dang Cliff Hanger) at the end that’s meant to make us want to read the next season) and I admire the authors’ obvious talent.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

Source: Netgalley

Sandman is a hard book to review, because it's a good book in certain ways. On the other hand, it would be easy for me to write an absolutely scathing review of it. Sandman is the very definition of a book that's so bad it's good.

It is not well-written. Some of it I feel might have been been deliberate. For example, the choppy sentences. Those can be used for dramatic purposes quite easily. However, I can't think of a good reason for the author to constantly reuse certain descriptions. The little boy's voice is, past a certain mark in the book, sounds like a 'deep well-hollow'. You are never given a chance to think otherwise, as the phrase seems like it was used at least 20 times!

It is, however, a fine example of cheesy 80s horror. It's awesome in that respect. Paul is the perfect 'evil little boy'. If over-the-top ridiculousness is your cup of tea, you'll love it for the drama of it alone. There's also no way you can read this book and not laugh your butt off at it. There lines that were so bad/good that I kept stopping to read them aloud to my partner. We were both groaning and snickering. It's one of those books that, if you go into it with the right expectations, you might love. 

Overall, I definitely enjoyed myself reading this book. However, unless I'm completely off the mark, I probably wasn't supposed to be quite as amused as I was. I wish I knew exactly how the author intended this book to be written, as it would make it much easier to review. As it is, I'm judging it on the assumption that it is actually supposed to be a horror book.

As a horror book, it fails. As a horror-comedy? It's absolutely awesome. 

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book free from the publisher for review consideration.