Category: Reviews

Book Review: Starters, By Lissa Price

Posted on by anninyn

[1. Review copy provided by Random House Childrens Books]

Callie lost her parents when the Spore Wars wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. She and her little brother, Tyler, go on the run, living as squatters with their friend Michael and fighting off renegades who would kill them for a cookie. Callie’s only hope is Prime Destinations, a disturbing place in Beverly Hills run by a mysterious figure known as the Old Man. He hires teens to rent their bodies to Enders—seniors who want to be young again. Callie, desperate for the money that will keep her, Tyler, and Michael alive, agrees to be a donor. But the neurochip they place in Callie’s head malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her renter, living in her mansion, driving her cars, and going out with a senator’s grandson.

It feels almost like a fairy tale, until Callie discovers that her renter intends to do more than party—and that Prime Destinations’ plans are more evil than Callie could ever have imagined. . . .

Starters is a great YA. The story is complex (though not too complex) the characters believable and likeable, and the dystopia shown in the work is disturbing.

Continue reading “Book Review: Starters, By Lissa Price”

Book Review: The Last Night, by Nico Rosso

Posted on by anninyn

[1. Review copy provided by Carina Press]

After a chain of earthquakes ravaged the globe, long-dormant viruses were released into the air, turning many humans into creatures with an appetite for human ashes. Erica and a group of survivors are barricaded in a half-destroyed hotel, and every day brings them closer to being devoured by the seemingly unstoppable ashers.

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Even though Erica is a fighter, she’s tired of just surviving…

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When a mysterious stranger rides into town, everything changes. Jake knows how to kill the ashers, and he’s the only man brave enough to leave the safety of the hotel in search of a better life. Erica and Jake make a deadly fighting team, with even hotter sparks flying between them. But Jake has survived this long because he rides alone. He doesn’t trust easily, especially in this harsh new reality. Can Erica convince Jake that living is more than just surviving to the next day?

I’ve tried to write post-apocalyptic erotic romance before. Despite the fact this is the second in the genre I’ve reviewed, there’s a huge gap there. I’d personally like to read more of it, and because I believe in writing what I’d like to read, I made the attempt.

I wasn’t very good at it. It turns out, I am not good at writing desire and sex. I am extraordinarily good at writing people having awkward romantic feelings for each other that sort-of maybe get kinda fulfilled towards the end, but I cannot write erotica. Because of that, I am always pleased to read the good stuff.

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Continue reading “Book Review: The Last Night, by Nico Rosso”

Book review: An A-to-Z Guide to Biblical Prophecy and the End Times

Posted on by char

Publisher’s blurb:[1. Review copy provided by Zondervan]

This dictionary is a comprehensive reference tool designed to assist everyday people in understanding biblical prophecy. Based on solid scholarship, it contains clear and readable entries on a broad sweep of topics relevant to biblical prophecy, providing insight to complicated subjects in a balanced fashion.

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It shouldn’t be a surprise to learn that I like the apocalypse. (Ha.) I research it, I read novels about it, I watch movies about it, I poke fun at conspiracies about it, blah blah blah. So it’s probably not surprising to learn that I’ve long been interested in Christian eschatology. After all, the Bible has some wicked imagery about the end of the world. (Seriously, those four horsemen?

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Awesome.)

Anyway. I came across this book on NetGalley, and being a book entirely about a topic I’m ridiculously interested in, I requested it. (And got it. Yay!)

When they say this book is a guide, they’re misleading you. No, this book isn’t a guide; it’s an encyclopedia. There’s nothing wrong with encyclopedias–I’ve been known to read them for fun.

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My point is, this book is one of the most comprehensive resources on biblical eschatology that I’ve ever come across.

Continue reading “Book review: An A-to-Z Guide to Biblical Prophecy and the End Times”

Book review: Resonance by AJ Scudiere

Posted on by char

Blurb:[1. Review copy provided by Griffyn Ink]

THE SHIFT IS COMING. SOON.

Dr. David Carter knows this. However, he’s a geologist, so ’soon’ means anywhere from tomorrow to a thousand years from now.

PEOPLE ARE DYING. NOW.

Drs. Jordan Abellard and Jillian Brookwood are standing at the edge of SuperAIDS.

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Or are they? They won’t be able to figure it out if they can’t get some authorization signed – and soon. But they’re peons and no one is paying attention. That means no one will notice a little forgery either, right?

WHOLE SPECIES DIED AT THE LAST POLAR SHIFT. 65 MILLION YEARS AGO.

Right now Dr. Becky Sorenson has some seriously mutated frogs in her lab. In L.A. Bees are making abnormal columns on the side of the freeways. In Georgia, birds are migrating out of season. It all makes a sick kind of sense when the doctors consider that the last magnetic shift is strangely coincidental to the dinosaur die-out. And the only similarity among the problems today is that each is occurring in a ‘hotspot’ – a pocket of reversed polarity that tells them all.

THE SHIFT IS ALREADY HERE.

I’ll come right out and say it: I really, really wanted to like this book. Regardless of whether or not a catastrophe of this magnitude could be caused by a pole shift, the concept is intriguing.

Continue reading “Book review: Resonance by AJ Scudiere”

Book Review: Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson

Posted on by anninyn

[1. Robopocalypse was provided for review by Simon & Schuster]

Twenty years from now, a high-level artificial intelligence known as Archos comes on-line…and murders its creator.

Humanity has no idea when it starts to silently take over our cars, power grids, aircraft guidance systems and computer networks.

In the early months, sporadic glitches are noticed by a handful of humans, but most of us are unaware of the growing rebellion until it is too late.

At a moment known later in history as Zero Hour, every mechanical device in our world rebels against us, setting off the Robot War that both decimates and – for the first time in history – unites humankind.

Something I’ve had to learn with my increasing review schedule is this: Just because a book is good doesn’t mean I’ll like it, and just because I like a book doesn’t mean it’s good.

I like this book a lot. But, objectively speaking, it’s not that good. It’s action-y brain candy, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Continue reading “Book Review: Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson”

3 Free Comic Previews – Post Apocalypse

Posted on by tavia.

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the saying, “if it’s free, it’s for me” doesn’t always ring true. See, on Comixology.com they’ve got more free comics than you’ll know what to do with. Literally, you’ll have so many options and so little time you might find yourself overwhelmed by the selection and possibilities. This is similar to the Kindle quandary: How do I know if this item is worth the time or dollar it takes to check it?

Never fear, I love apocalyptic comics, like trying new things, and don’t like wasting money. So, I’ll let you know which preview comics (not full-length issues) I checked out and if I think you should too – or if you should avoid them like the plague. Continue reading “3 Free Comic Previews – Post Apocalypse”

Review: Stupid Zombies (Android)

Posted on by tavia.

Stupid Zombies by GameResort is your basic time-killing puzzle game.

Every lever hosts a small room occupied by a number of zombies, just standing around, and one gun-toting fighter. “Fighter” is an over statement. The man stands at the edge of the room and is unable to move anything but his arm.

Armed with five bullets and unable to move, the man must kill all the zombies in the room. Luckily, the stupid zombies don’t realize bullets bounce off walls and can move objects so they just stand there waiting to die like losers.

Sure the mechanics don’t make any real life sense but they stand within the confines of the game.  Charged with killing all the zombies in the room, you have a limited number of bullets and each bullet has a limited number of bounces. To win the level, you kill all the zombies without running out of bullets. To get the high score, you kill all the zombies with bullets to spare.

Stupid Zombies is a basic high-score app-game with unique mechanics and challenging levels. I didn’t feel like I was playing [Name of Popular Game] with zombies inserted and a little twist.

You don’t need to have an internet connection to play and it doesn’t draw too much battery power– which is good because my Instagram and flashy  transitions suck enough of its battery as it is.

The drive to get all the stars for the level or out do your last high score is a standard for app-games and works well here. I found myself replaying levels trying to finish with more bullets left over or get all the stars.

There are three sections and tons of levels in each section. You’re required to get a certain number or stars from the previous section to unlock the next.

For a free app-game, Stupid Zombies is fun and I recommend sparing a bullet on it.

[rating:4/5]

 

Post-Apocalyptic Reading – Impressions: THE INFECTION by Craig DiLouie

Posted on by tavia.


Description of Craig DiLouie’s THE INFECTION[1. This book was provided for review by Permuted Press]

A mysterious virus suddenly strikes down millions. Three days later, its victims awake with a single purpose: spread the Infection.

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As the world lurches toward the apocalypse, some of the Infected continue to change, transforming into horrific monsters. 

In one American city, a small group struggles to survive. Sarge, a tank commander hardened by years of fighting in Afghanistan. Wendy, a cop still fighting for law and order in a lawless land. Ethan, a teacher searching for his lost family. Todd, a high school student who sees second chances in the end of the world. Paul, a minister who wonders why God has forsaken his children. And Anne, their mysterious leader, who holds an almost fanatical hatred for the Infected.  

Together, they fight their way to a massive refugee camp where thousands have made a stand. There, what’s left of the government will ask them to accept a mission that will determine the survival of them all—a dangerous journey back onto the open road and into the very heart of Infection.

The best part about apocalyptic survival stories is the rogue, make-your-own-rules mentality the characters get to embody. The worst part is the reality behind why they now have this mentality. Everyone they know is dead, missing, or has been murdered (possibly at their very own hands).

Unfortunately, The Infection has much more of the latter than the former. There are at least half a dozen characters, and most of them are sad or damn-near suicidal — actually someone in their party killed himself before we, the reader, join the story. Continue reading “Post-Apocalyptic Reading – Impressions: THE INFECTION by Craig DiLouie”

Ruin is a thing of Post-Apocalyptic beauty.

Posted on by anninyn

Ruin is a short film – around 9 minutes – by Oddball Animation. A simple story set in a post apocalyptic world.

And it is BEAUTIFUL. Stunningly animated with wonderful music.

Seriously. Look.

 

Ruin

Wasn’t that lovely? That is how I like my post-apocalyptic worlds. Overgrown, crumbling and filled with remnants of old tech. Someone needs to give Oddball Animation a boatload of money to make a feature length thing. I would watch it, and so would you.