All posts by Elena Linville

I am a Russian-Swiss-American citizen of the world. I have traveled all over the globe then hopped over the big Atlantic pond and moved to North Carolina, USA, where I lived for eight years. But staying in one place for too long is not in my nature, so when the wanderlust called again, I packed my meager belongings and my cat continued my great migration all the say from NC to Texas. So here I am not in DFW area with my cat who strongly believes she is a dog and the Queen and Ruler of the house. I have an 8 to 5 job as an field force training specialist and the rest of the time I write stories “for fun and pleasure,” though most of the time it feels like pulling teeth or bleeding on the page. I have two novels, Of Broken Things and The Choices We Make, which are both in the fully finished first draft stage. I’m currently editing Of Broken Things and letting Choices sit in a desk drawer for a few months. I’m also editing my novella Mists of the Crosswords which is almost ready for beta readers. Looking for a few betas btw who are not afraid to give honest feedback. I have an idea for a serial of short stories called the Eye of the Norns Cicle. The first short story had been published in an anthology, the second story is written down but needs editing, and I’m outlining the next three stories. I think I have enough ideas for 2 seasons of 6 stories each. I also love reading sci-fi, fantasy, dystopia, urban fantasy and post -apocalyptic books. I have been known to pick up a romance or two from time to time, but NEVER in the contemporary or historical genres. I don’t read YA, children books or nonfiction.
books, Fantasy, Reviews

The Soul of Chaos (Litanies of the Lost Star 1) by Gregory Wunderlin

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DNF at 30%

It’s not a bad book, but I just couldn’t get into it. The worldbuilding is almost non-existent, and I didn’t mesh with the characters.

I don’t mind being thrown into a story off the deep end and having to figure out the world and the rules… as long as the author provides that information eventually. But 30% of the way in, I still don’t know how magic works in this world. Or what those ancient cities Rurik and his crew dig up mean in the grand scheme of things. Or how it relates to his sister’s chapters and the attempted coup that’s happening there. Who are the Voidtouched? Where do they come from? What is that ancient city and the magic ring Rurik puts on? No clue.

I don’t even know the political system of this world. Up until the ambush, I was convinced that Solara was the marshall for the Iskarion family. Or why the only heir to the family had to flee her home in order to save them all.

It’s hard to follow a story when you don’t know the stakes. And you can’t determine the stakes if you don’t know how this world is organized. Are the runes and portals a normal occurrence in this world? Is Rurik’s ring something special that grants him extraordinary abilities? What are shapers and what do they do? No clue, because I don’t know how magic works in this world.

I also wasn’t particularly interested in either of the two POVs – Rurik and his sister, whose name I can’t even recall anymore. I could have sat through confusing worldbuilding if I was invested in the characters, but I wasn’t.

The writing is also rather stilted, especially when it comes to dialogue. I caught myself rolling my eyes a few times at how unnatural the dialogue sounded, but I decided to quit when I found myself skimming through fight scenes. If even that wasn’t enough to keep me engaged, it was a lost cause.

PS: I received an advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Horror, Reviews

Reunion by Christopher Farnsworth

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Stars: 4.5 out of 5.

This is one darn good book! It’s a bit of a cross between Stephen King’s It and a superhero story, as the protagonists are children that had to fight an unimaginable evil in their high school year. That experience changed them in ways that, even twenty years later, still weigh on them. But those are not ordinary children. All four have superpowers. One has a photographic memory and absolute recall, and also phenomenal powers of deduction. One is a genius inventor with an almost computer-like brainpower. One is half Fair Fold prince who is stronger, faster, and more ruthless than any adult. And finally, one is a literal magician.

It was interesting to get to know these children and their adult versions. I loved that the chapters were split between THEN and NOW, so we got to gradually uncover both what happened during that fateful night of New Year’s Evil during their high school year and what is happening in the present when they are all called back into Middleton for the 20-year reunion. We are gradually introduced to each of the four protagonists and shown what makes them special, but we also discover what drew them together and allowed them to defeat Colchester the first time.

I must admit that the NOW chapters were rather depressing, especially when showing their lives before they came back for the Reunion, because all of them, except for Alana, maybe, seemed to have lived in a holding pattern. They had so many dreams and goals before New Year’s Evil, and they just let those turn into ash. It’s especially apparent for Eric who lost his real magic and spent 20 years being a stage magician in Las Vegas, and drinking himself into an early grave.

So while returning to Middleton isn’t something none of them wanted, that return allows them to finally kill the past once and for all. To resolve issues that were left hanging. To defeat the evil that was left to linger and fester because of cowardice. And by doing that, they can let go of that past and finally start living the lives they were destined to have. That’s a powerful message right there.

My only complaint is that the Followers are a very stupid bunch for an evil death cult. I know that humans can be cruel, petty, and selfish, but come on, are you telling me that so many people went along with literally bringing about the end of the world and expected to survive it? Or even gain anything from it? And not kids. Normal adult people who should know better.

But that’s just a small gripe. If you want a good character-driven book and you loved It, then I suggest you go and get Reunion. You won’t regret it.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Ghost Story, Reviews

The Ghosts of Beatrice Bird by Louisa Morgan

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Stars: 2.5 out of 5

This book started with a bang, and I really liked the character of Beatrice and her genuine desire to help people. She is a compelling character and easy to like. Though I must admit that I couldn’t quite suspend my disbelief that dropping acid a couple of times would somehow unlock her latent ability to see other people’s ghosts. However, I was willing to let that slide because I liked Bea, and I wanted to see where this story would go. I wanted to see Bea conquer her ghosts and come triumphant on the other end of her ordeal.

I also loved the island and the nuns who run the ferry. Mother Maggie was a pleasure to read about, and I would have loved to hear more about her life and her very pale and washed-out ghosts. Unfortunately, we don’t get nearly enough of her in this story.

The descriptions of island life are also very calming. I wouldn’t have minded living in Bea’s cottage with the cows and the views of the tumultuous sea. So I was fully engaged with the story and read the first 50% of the book in one sitting. Then Anne arrived at the island, and the book went downhill from there.

See, the story shifted from being about Bea to being about Anne and her abusive and controlling husband. Bea was relegated to a side character who was there to build up Anne’s confidence and be a receptive ear for Anne to tell us her story. It would have worked hadn’t Anne been such a meh character. I understand what the author tried to do here – the battered wife who carries all the guilt about being in this situation in the first place and thinks it’s her fault. However, this is written a bit on the nose here. Her husband is a caricature of an abusive and controlling psychopath. He is so over-the-top evil that I couldn’t take him seriously as a character or as a threat to Bea and Anne. There are better books written about this topic. Heck, even Stephen King wrote a book about a battered wife who ran away from her abusive cop husband and managed to build a new life for herself, and that book was more compelling than Anne’s story.

So after the focus shifted to Anne, I slowly lost interest in the book. In fact, I put it down for a few weeks and only came back to it because I don’t like DNFing books unless I absolutely don’t jell with them. But I skimmed till the end more than I read, hitting the major plot points. And even then I can tell that the ending is very overwritten. It should have stopped several chapters before it did. In fact, it should have stopped after James left the island the second time. Everything else could have been summarized in a brief epilogue. 

As it stands, this book had a lot of promise but ended up a disappointment for me, but I am willing to give it 2.5 stars because in the beginning I really thought I would love it.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Horror, Reviews

The Atrocity Engine (Custodians of the Cosmos 1) by Tim Waggoner

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Stars: 2 out of 5

I was ready to love this book. On a side note, love that cover! That’s what drew me to the book in the first place. 

The idea behind this series is very intriguing – the world is basically dying (albeit slowly) because there is a giant black hole in the center of the universe called the Geir that is devouring it. Our protagonists work for the Maintenance whose sole purpose is to slow down the destruction of the known universe and delay the inevitable collapse. Our antagonist is an aspiring member of the Multitude, whose purpose is the exact opposite – precipitate the end of the universe and inflict as much death and destruction as possible in the process.

The premise is excellent, and I was all onboard to enjoy a thrilling ride… but I was sorely disappointed. 

There are several issues, but the biggest one is the lack of worldbuilding, or the inconsistency thereof. The author mentions that the Maintenance has existed since at least the Roman empire and that they know everything it’s possible to know about Corruption and entropic energy… Yet they miss some pretty big clues during this book. 

Their agents are supposed to be trained in fighting the Corruption and the corrupted people, yet in all the fights we see, they freeze or behave like this is their first time on the job. The most glaring example is when 4 Interventionists just froze and let their enemies swat them with a car like flies. These people are supposed to be professionals, so why is it that the only two people who know what they are doing are our protagonists? Also, whose stupid idea was it not to arm the agents that are the first in the field? Yes, they their role is to observe and call for backup, but they have a right to defend themselves while backup is getting there. 

But my biggest issue were the characters. They are very one-dimentional. The bad guys are so bad they are almost caricatures of themselves. I mean Rachel takes the cake of psycho bitch who loves making her victims suffer. But she is also not very bright… I would even say stupid. All her actions show a lack of planning and an inability to predict the consequences even two steps in advance.

And Neal and Gina… well, we have the grizzled veteran and the special snowflake. Neither of them are interesting or relatable. 

Neal knows everything better than anyone else at Maintenance, and is always proven right. Constantly goes against the authority of his superior, but somehow never gets even a slap on the hands for it. Then why is he still at the bottom of that ladder?  If he is so great, shouldn’t he be running the joint by now?

Gina comes across as naive to the point of stupidity. Oh, you only now start to wonder if your family is maybe pursuing their personal gain instead of the goals Maintenance has? What, you never noticed that none of the other Maintenance workers lived in mansions and drove expensive cars and wore luxury clothes? You never once stop to consider why your family thinks that is normal when the very core of Maintenance is to live modestly and only take what you need? Yeah, I didn’t connect with her at all, and her POVs were a chore to read through.

The plot itself is full of contrivances and conveniences that drive it to where the author wants it to go instead of letting it evolve naturally as a consequence of the actions characters take. I’m guessing that’s why the villain comes across as brain-dead and making such stupid decisions.

All in all, this was a complete disappointment for me, and I will not be continuing with this series. This was also my first book by this author, and now I’m not even sure if I want to give him another try.

PS: I received an advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Ghost Story, Reviews, Urban fantasy

Ghost Detective (Myron Vale Investigations 1) by Scott William

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Stars: 4 out of 5

This was a surprisingly good book, though not what I expected when I started reading it. I mean, it’s classified as a mystery book, and even though yes, we have a private detective investigating a possible murder, the book isn’t really about that.

This book is about human connections and ties that bound. About love and hate, and everything in between that can spark between two people and can often transcend death. It’s about how we often hurt the people we love, or stay in a toxic relationship because we still love the person hurting us.

I was actually surprised at how much I liked Myron Vale, our protagonist. If you think about it, his life is a bit of a nightmare. He can see ghosts… all of them… all the time. Not only can he see them, but he can also hear them, and smell them, but he can’t touch them. But more importantly, he can’t tell the difference between the dead and the living. To him, they all feel real. The only way for him to differentiate the living from the dead is to touch them. And touching strangers is kind of frowned upon in our society.

I could understand the depth of despair he descends into after the shooting when he realizes that his not being able to differentiate between the living and the ghosts means he can’t do his job as a police detective anymore. When he can’t tell which treat is real and which is just a ghost, he can’t react quickly and efficiently. Worse, he can put his partner in danger.

I wasn’t particularly fond of Billie, but the more I learned about their relationship, the better I understood her as well. Theirs is the perfect example of a love that has turned toxic, but neither is willing to end the torment. In a way, I’m glad about her decision in the end.

The murder mystery case that Myron is paid to investigate in this book isn’t really all that interesting or mysterious, but it was never the emphasis of this book, just a vehicle for the story.

I do have some questions though. Like why did the priest want Myron to drop the case? Why did he imply that if he followed through with it, some entities in the ghost world might consider him a threat and might even eliminate him? This is never brought up again. Maybe this will become important in the following books in the series, and I think I will check out book 2.

books, Horror, Reviews

Haunted Ground: The Ghosts of Laskin’s Farm by Cailyn Lloyd

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Stars: 2.5 out of 5

I had such great hopes for this book! It started strong, and I thought that finally, this would be a decent ghost story. One where supernatural elements would help the protagonist against the very real threat that the cartel poses.  Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. 

The setup is perfect – an old farmhouse in the middle of nowhere seemingly frozen in time. Fully furnished and provisioned, like the family just stepped out for a minute and never came back home. All their possessions still there. A desperate protagonist who is willing to put up with the creepiness of the situation in exchange for a safe haven from the evil that is hunting her. I loved the beginning of this book with Kat finding the house and setting up, but unfortunately, the story went downhill from there.

The biggest problem is Kat herself. I hate protagonists who are too stupid to live, but survive against all odds (and common sense) because of plot armor, and Kat is a perfect example of such a protagonist. 

So she is on the run from the cartel. She thinks her best bet is to go to ground and disappear off the radar for a while. That makes perfect sense. If I were her, I would leave the state first, and go as far as I could before I found a hole to hide in instead of staying in the vicinity, but okay, to each its own. She finds this abandoned farmhouse by looking through satellite images and Google Maps. Okay, that works too. But then she starts remodeling the place and improving it once she gets there – clears out the backyard, dumps the trash from the house outside, etc, and it never crosses her mind that all those changes will be visible to satellites? Google updates its maps regularly. So a cleared-out backyard in an abandoned farm would stick out like a sore thumb. Does she think that the people looking for her are too stupid to use Google Maps?

Also, if you are trying to hide and keep a low profile, settling near a small town where almost everyone knows each other and the presence of a stranger will be noted is not a very good idea. Biking to said town several times a week for supplies is also rather stupid. People remember a stranger on a bike buying provisions twice a week. At least spread your shopping between several small towns. Go to different ones each week, etc.

My other issue is that I didn’t particularly like how women were portrayed in this book. Other than Kat, who is portrayed as this good person who slipped and make some mistakes, but is turning her life around now, everyone else is bitchy and condescending. Natalie is judgemental and self-serving, oh, and seems to hate rich men for no particular reason. And Gina… don’t even start me on Gina. Power-hungry but insecure she-bitch. I mean, I thought we were done with these cliched representations by now. All the women in Kat’s life are horrible, apart from her cell-mate who is conveniently absent from the story. All the men around her are also horrible, apart from her love interest who is too nice to be true. 

Finally, why did we even mention ghosts in this story? They play no part in it. Everything that happened is a geological phenomenon. Take the ghosts out of the book, and nothing changes. I came for a haunted house book, not for whatever this turned out to be. 

Also, the plume affects literally everyone apart from Kat herself? She is the only one who can keep her wits about her and not succumb to paranoia, violence,e and stupidity? Yeah, I don’t believe that. 

books, Fantasy, Reviews

Dead Country (The Craft Wars 1) by Max Gladstone

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Stars: 3 out of 5

I love the world of the Craft that the author so carefully crafted (pun totally intended). However, I didn’t love this book as much as I loved the previous ones in the series. 

It took me a while to figure out why. This book has all the right ingredients: a compelling protagonist (and I love Tara), a mystery that threatens something she cares about, so the personal stakes are front and center, and another facet of this complex world carefully painted and shown to the readers. I should have loved this as much as I loved the previous books! But instead, this book left me mildly irritated while I was reading it, and a bit dissatisfied when I finished.

The biggest reason is that, as much as I like Tara Abenati, she shines when given good secondary characters to bounce her ideas off of. Even though the previous book was mostly about Kai, Tara’s brief appearances were memorable. Or her interactions with Abelar, Shale, and Selene in Alt Columb. Characters make good stories, and good characters make excellent ones.

Unfortunately, secondary characters are sorely lacking in this book. And by that I mean the relationship that is front and center in this story – the one between Tara and Dawn. I was actually looking forward to seeing how Tara in the role of a mentor for once. To see how she would approach this responsibility and what kind of teacher she would choose to be. And the answer is – a rather boring one. 

Yes, I understand that the theory of the Craft is important to the story, but I think the lectures are a bit overdone here. It bogs down the story and kills the momentum. I mean, there is literally nothing going on in this book between the first attack of the Raiders on Tara’s village and the last stand during which the Father is kidnapped. And that’s about a third of the book. I admit that my attention started to wander in that section, and I had to put the book away for a bit and read something more exciting before I came back to it.

It would have been okay if Dawn was a more fleshed-out character. As it stands, we don’t know anything about her apart from the fact that she wandered onto this farm with her father, and was not treated well after he died. We don’t know about her dreams, her fears, or what she is like when she isn’t trying very hard to be the best student Tara could want. Try as I may, I can’t picture her in my head. She is not a person, but a concept. I don’t feel a connection to her like I felt for other characters in previous books. 

And without that connection, everything that happens in the end of the book, and it supposed to have the impact of a gut punch… feels flat. 

Same with Tara’s home village. I know I was supposed to grow to care for it by the end of the book and understand why Tara would fight so hard to save it, but I was mostly irritated with everyone instead, including Tara. And since I didn’t care for the stakes, I wasn’t fully invested either.

Don’t get me wrong, this is still a solid entry in the Craft series and it advances the story. It’s just not the strongest entry to date.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic, Reviews

Among These Bones (Among These Bones 1) by Amanda Luzzader

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Stars: 2.5 out of 5.

This started pretty strong but petered out by the end. 

The premise is fantastic – a global pandemic destroyed society as we know it. The survivors must take a serum every year in order not to contract the disease that killed most of humanity. The unfortunate side effect of this serum is that it wipes your memories. So every year you start as a blank slate, with the Agency telling you who you are, who your family is, and what you did in life. But who is to say that any of it is true? Is that child that the Agency shoved into your arms really your son or a random stranger? Is your name really Allison? 

I believe the author wasted the potential of this premise because there could have been so much more she could have done there! Allison in particular seems prone to accept these facts at face value and not even question them until the later part of the book. She is content just to keep her head down, get her rations, and hole up in a ratty house for the rest of her life. It’s Arie that is trying to push the limits of their world and to discover what really happened on Year One. 

And I think that was ultimately the biggest issue for me. Allison is the protagonist, and she is boring as fish. I couldn’t care less for her tribulations because she didn’t really commit to anything until the end of the book. Until then, she just kind of floated along the current and followed whichever person of authority she happened to be with, be it Arie or Ruby. Also, she is written as a bit dim. I mean you know an Agency supervisor took a special interest in you and your son, and you discovered that Arie was being tracked via his chip. Why oh why would you bring a very recognizable truck straight to your house? Especially when working vehicles are so rare? And why would you rush back there after the stint you pulled at the serum storage facility? That’s next level stupid.

Actually, all the characters in this book are written as not very bright, even if the author says otherwise about some of them. They survive and pull a successful heist only because of plot contrivances and kevlar-thick plot armor. And once I realized that, I couldn’t really care for their well-being because it felt like they would survive no matter how dire the situation was. Apart from Gracy that is, but then again, we barely knew the girl. I’m almost convinced that she was introduced only for the purpose of fridging her to create some motivation for Allison.

All in all, this was a rather disappointing read. It started great but devolved into the standard and stereotypical story of an evil corporation doing something to common people for nefarious but nebulous reasons. Also, the bad guys in this story had no shades of gray whatsoever. I don’t think I will be continuing with this series.

books, Reviews, science fiction, Space opera

Lords of Uncreation (The Final Architecture 3) by Adrian Tchaikovsky

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Stars: 4.5 out of 5

This is a fitting conclusion to an epic trilogy. I must say that Mr. Tchaikovsky created a truly unique world. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with concepts of real and unreal (or similar) that are so well integrated into the story. This world feels lived in. It has an inner logic and it works. 

Things have gotten from bad to worse since the end of the previous book. You would think that a treat of truly galactic proportions would unite people, right? You couldn’t be more wrong. Humanity fractures and splinters, because each faction has its own idea of how exactly humanity will be saved, one which leaves them in power over the rescued remnants, of course. And none of those ideas include taking the war to the slavemasters of the Architects. 

I even understand why. Fighting something so unimaginable and unreachable is daunting, to say the least. It’s much easier for the human psyche to find a smaller enemy and concentrate on them. Hence Hugh and the Parthenon are at each other throats again. And the Boyarin want their Arcs back. The galaxy is a mess even without Architects popping up at random solar systems to turn inhabited planets into tragic art. 

And the crew of the Vulture God is still stuck in the middle of it all. Though I’m not sure if they are a crew anymore since only Oli and Kit are technically on the ship itself. Idris and Kris are on the Eye, where Idris is killing himself, trying to find the mysterious Masters who send the Architects out into the real. Solace is also there with the Partheny Ints, but it seems like everyone has their own agenda now. Until all hell breaks lose, that is. 

If I had one complaint about this book it’s that the first 30% of it or so drags. I understand that all the pieces had to be put on the board and set in motion, but it made for a rather boring read. However, once the attack on the Eye happens, things pick up. And after Anku brings the hammer down on the whole system, the action doesn’t let down until the end. 

All in all, I liked how things got wrapped up in this book. And the fate that befell the Lords of Uncreation was a fine example of poetic justice. I was a bit surprised bout Oli, but it makes sense and is in tune with her character. Solace had a huge crisis of faith in this book, and I’m happy with the choice she made. Also, she is a badass. The only non-Int to stand in the middle of creation, face a very alien and overwhelming force, and not give ground. “Pret at combattre” indeed. 

I am also happy with Idris’s arc. It felt at times like he was drifting through the story as a passenger more than an architect of the events, and he would make a lousy action hero, but he saved the world in the end. And now Kris might even save the Ints from indentured servitude, but either way, unspace is a lot more welcoming for them from now on. And I like the concept of Saint Idris.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

books, Horror, Reviews

Mothtown by Caroline Hardaker

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Stars: 3 out of 5

This is a hard book to review. I’m not sure if I liked it or hated it, to tell the truth. The narrative is a jumbled mess with the concept of an unreliable narrator pushed to the limit. It did, however, leave an impression on me, and that’s usually an indication that it’s a good book even if it’s not really a book for me.

Let’s talk positives first, shall we? The prose is beautiful. The author knows her way with words and how to paint an immersive picture. It’s beautiful and haunting at the same time. The descriptions worm into your mind and slowly seed a sense of malaise the longer you read the book. Things aren’t quite right, you can feel it, but most of the time, you can’t really put your finger on what’s wrong. This is a psychological horror story, so there will be no jump scares and splatter gore, and it’s exactly how I like my horror books.

However, this book is also a jumbled mess, which makes it confusing and frustrating, and you don’t get all the answers by the end of it. 

The biggest issue I had was the split timeline. We get the Before chapters following the 10-year-old David dealing with the disappearance of his grandfather and then his slow descent into a full-blown psychotic break. But we also have the After chapters that follow David as he is trying to retrace his grandfather’s steps and find the door he used to escape this world.

Problem is, at the beginning of the book, we don’t know that the After chapters and the Before chapters are about the same person, and we have no emotional connection to the narrator. So I didn’t really care about what happened to this strange person running from some pursuers in a very strange world. It was, as I already mentioned, confusing and even a bit irritating.

I liked the chapters with young David the best. I can relate to his struggle to accept that his grandfather is gone, especially since he was the only person who talked to the kid. I mean, the rest of his family sure didn’t. I was a lot less invested in the older David, even though I could empathize with his slow unraveling. 

I think my biggest issue is that the After chapters are pretty much useless to the story. If I understood well, they were just hallucinations born from DAvid’s broken mind during a dissociative state. There were no doors to other worlds, no strange liminal land called Mothtown. Or was there? There is no clear answer to that.

Also, if all of this was just in David’s head during a mental breakdown, what of all the vanishing people? Is that real? Or is that also part of his delusion? There is never a resolution to that particular plotline. It just gradually disappears from the narrative. 

All in all, even though I loved the prose of this book, the story was way too confusing and jumbled for me to enjoy fully. I don’t mind working for my answers, but I need to get at least some of them by the end of a book.

PS: I received an advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.