I am a BookSneeze book reviewer. My reviews are posted here with the most recent at the top. I receive free books from BookSneeze in exchange for my honest reviews. To find out how to purchase these books, click the book titles in blue. Thanks for reading!

June 16, 2012

Behemoth by Jonathan C. Leicht  * * * (Three stars)

Behemoth follows two main characters and their crews through separate adventures with the same goal; to determine if the mysterious creatures they are tracking are actually dinosaurs. Jim Thompson runs the Masai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya where something has been goring elephants to death. He is determined to find out what kind of animal could accomplish this feat. In a similar quest, Professor Stephen Gregory, recently relieved of his distinguished career due to his belief that dinosaurs could still exist, is offered the incredible opportunity to prove his theory correct in the jungles of Africa.

I wanted to love this book. The idea was quite intriguing and I truly wanted it to hold my interest. Unfortunately, it didn’t. The dialogue was cumbersome and often preachy (even though I agree with the author’s premise.) The character’s words seemed so forced and unnatural most of the time that I just couldn’t enjoy the read. It was disappointing.

I think the author has a great story idea here. His passion and understanding of the topic is commendable. However, the story which has great potential, is lost in the disappointing storytelling. I’m giving this three stars because I hate to give anything less for a work that is obviously well-researched and a topic that has merit.

(I received this book from BookSneeze in exchange for an honest review which I’m happy to give.)

May 20, 2012

Angel Eyes by Shannon Dittemore  * * * * * (Five Stars)

High School senior, Brielle Matthews is returning to her hometown after a tragedy at her Portland boarding school shakes her to the core. No one understands the pain and fear she is struggling with and she’s unable to act like nothing has changed. As she begins going through the motions of daily life, she notices a new face in town. This strange boy, Jake, has a strange effect on her and she finds herself drawn to him. Something about him just seems to soothe her fears and help her feel more normal. But Jake is anything but normal.

As danger begins to descend on Brielle, she discovers, through Jake, that there’s an entire spiritual world that she has been unaware of…that most people are unaware of. Yet the battles that go on in that world are intricately linked to what happens in Brielle’s world. The more she learns about Jake and his guardian, Canaan, the more she realizes she may have a destiny bigger than she can comprehend. In fact, the lives of many will be decided by Brielle’s choices before the story is done.

I am impressed with this romantic, suspenseful story. It reminds me of a modernized “This Present Darkness” (Frank Peretti) highlighting the spiritual realm alongside the earthly realm. It’s a difficult subject to write about because we don’t know much about what goes on in the spiritual realm. So much is conjecture. But since this is a fictional story, that’s okay. The author isn’t saying, “This is how it is.” She is saying, “This is how it might be.” I find it fascinating to think about what may be going on behind the veil and Shannon Dittemore creates a vivid and compelling “Celestial” world that sparks the imagination.

She has also created characters that are interesting and multi-layered and the chemistry between the two main characters is palpable. (I love that instead of avoiding the inevitable comparisons to Twilight, the author hits them head-on by including them within Brielle’s thoughts.) The dialogue is witty and realistic and the relationships between all the characters are well written. The only aspect I had trouble with was that much of the fighting and battling toward the end of the book became confusing. There were so many characters involved by that point (celestial and terrestrial) that it became difficult to keep it all straight. But by the end, it was all sorted out so it wasn’t too big of a deal. The sequel was very well set up with a good cliff-hanger at the end of this first book of an intended trilogy.

I think the best way to determine if you will enjoy this book is to think about how you feel about superhero movies. If you are able to suspend belief and enjoy the ride as you watch a movie about a man in a cape flying to the rescue for the girl he loves or scaling sky scrapers to apprehend the bad guys, you will like this book. If you find superhero movies to be too far-fetched, you will probably feel the same about this story. Personally, I love those kinds of movies and I loved this book.

If I find a book hard to put down and if I find myself thinking about the characters when I’m not even reading the book, I think that deserves five stars. Angel Eyes deserves those stars.

(I received this book from BookSneeze in exchange for an honest review which I’m happy to give.)

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