Greta and the Lost Army, by Chloe Jacobs - Book Review

Greta and the Lost Army

Mylena Chronicles, #3

By:  Chloe Jacobs

Publish Date:  February 1, 2016 
by Entangled TEEN Publishing

Genre:  Young Adult, Teen, YA Fantasy

Pages:  259 Adobe Digital Editions
377 Print

Source:  Entangled TEEN Publishing/via NetGalley

After spending the last four years trapped in a place of monsters, demons, and magick, the last thing the fierce teenage bounty hunter Greta expected was to ever be back on Earth. But a rare opportunity gives her and the Goblin King Isaac the opportunity to do just that. Now she’s home. With a boy in tow. And her parents have lots of questions.

Although Greta finally has her heart’s deepest wish—to see her family again—every step she takes to reconnect with them drives her further away from Isaac. Greta and Isaac planned for her to return to Mylena and become his queen, but she’s not sure if she can go back to that harsh world, though staying on Earth means giving up the boy she loves.

But a powerful enemy refuses to let Greta escape. A demon who will stop at nothing to destroy her and everything she loves. Even if it means following her to Earth and forcing her to face a fate as unavoidable as love itself.
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I came into the Mylena Chronicles late, at book 3, so it was great that author, Chloe Jacobs, gives a prologue scene at the beginning of The Lost Army showing when Greta originally met the goblin prince. This helped give me immediate perspective for where Greta’s been in the last two books though I think it’s definitely better to read the series start to end.

Greta, Isaac the goblin prince, and the boys have finally made it home to Greta’s family after four years and the boys are reunited with their families. I felt the author deals with this scenario very realistically. Returning to regular life after everything she must have experienced in Mylena is not going to be easy and her take on mundane life is going to be different. And mundane life is just not going to cut it for Greta while the demon Agramon still has to be defeated so we know where stubborn Greta is headed.

I felt the writing style/prose a bit run of the mill but the author keeps the action tight and scenes moving with great emotional connections to the characters through the whole book. We return to the battle against Agramon and his hold on the faerie hive full tilt back in Mylena. It’s pretty hard going. Can they even muster enough forces to take down the powerful demon? There’s a neat twist I didn’t see coming towards the end.

Isaac is very steady goblin prince and you get a good sense of the strong, even magical, connection between him and Greta. I would have liked to see more of what he actually looks like in book 3; I got a sense that he’s big and devoted to Greta but not a lot else. It’s great that Isaac has no problems with Greta being human. And she’s one strong, determined girl who knows her own mind and works through thick and thin to get what she wants.

I really liked Greta and the Lost Army as an enjoyable, solid YA fantasy romance. Totally feel good ending. 4.4 Stars!
  
You will find Chloe Jacobs on the web at these links:

Amazon | Entangled Teen | Author Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Facebook 

The Secret Language of Women, by Nina Romano - Book Review

The Secret Language of Women

Wayfarer Trilogy, Book One

By:  Nina Romano

Published:  September 29, 2015

Turner Publishing Company

Genre:  Romance, Historical, International

Pages:  372 Paperback, 381 PDF

Source:  Author/Turner Publishing Company

Set in China in the late 1800’s, The Secret Language of Women tells the story of star-crossed lovers, Zhou Bin Lian, a Eurasian healer, and Giacomo Scimenti, an Italian sailor, driven apart by the Boxer Rebellion.

When Lian is seventeen years old, she accompanies her Swiss father, Dr. Gianluca Brasolin, fluent in Italian, to tend the Italian ambassador at the Summer Palace of Empress Dowager where she meets and falls in love with Giacomo.

Through voyage and adventure their love intensifies, but soon is severed by Lian’s dutiful promise as the wife to another. Forbidden from pursuing her chosen profession as a healer, and despised because she does not have bound feet, she is forced to work in a cloisonné factory while her in-laws raise her daughter, Ya Chen. It is in Nushu, the women’s secret writing, that she chronicles her life and her hopes for the future.

Rebelling against the life forced upon her, she empowers herself to act out against the injustice and becomes the master of her own destiny. But her quest for freedom comes at a costly price: the life of someone close to her lost in a raging typhoon, a grueling journey to the Yun-kang Caves, and a desperate search for beauty and love in the midst of brutality. 

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The Secret Language of Women is the fascinatingly written journey of Lian, daughter of a Swiss physician and Chinese mother, set in China on the verge of 1900. Because of the influence of her European father, Lian grows up very non-traditional and desires to be a healer like him. It is from her mother and grandmother that she has learned Nushu, women's secret writing. Lian’s parentage is especially relevant as the story takes place during the Boxer Rebellion, a Chinese uprising against all foreigners, probably even those of mixed heritage.

We follow Lian from her first bliss of love with shipboard Sicilian chef, Giacomo, as they spend time at the Empress Dowager’s palace, then unexpected separation, on to Lian’s brave quest in life to find happiness and love. Her ordeals and wanderings really take the reader through a large cross section of Chinese life at the turn of the century and a gamut of human experiences.

Nina Romano runs two narratives; that of Lian’s as well as Giacomo’s through their never-ending search to find each other again. I was looking for more distinct voices between the female and male perspectives even though Lian’s story is told in first person while Giacomo’s is mostly third person omniscient. Both are told in a similar tone so the author may have wanted the entire story to have a continuous feel.

The book is replete with cultural and esoteric pieces, traditions that endure through separation, war, and death through the generations. Some of these are details on the practice of traditional Chinese medicine, herbalism, and lots of fabulous food (Italian and Chinese).

The astrology references intrigued me as I sporadically study Qi Men Dun Jia where I learned the Chinese divide the day into 2-hour segments corresponding to their animal signs; hence “hour of the rat” etc.

We also see the terrible effects of the rebellion on the Chinese themselves and foreigners alike.

Ultimately, I think the value of Nushu in this novel is that it provides a way for these women to journal/express their true personal thoughts without censure in a society that overlooks their real contributions. They are considered chattel and/or sexual possessions. The actual and terrible practice of foot binding that required repeatedly breaking bones in the feet of very young girls and causing a great deal of pain to achieve a perceived level of beauty/sexual utility is a stark example of this (that this practice brought unforeseen sexual benefits is one of the strangest things that I’ve ever read).

My fav quote: “You are alive, therefore all things are possible.”

If you’re looking for a deeply satisfying and contemplative read, I highly recommend this beautifully detailed book.  5.0 Stars!

My special thanks to Nina Romano and to Turner Publishing for the pleasure of a soft-cover reading copy. This in no way influenced my review.

Book Two of the Wayfarer Trilogy, Lemon Blossoms, is being released February 16, 2016. For more on Nina you will find her on the web at these links: 

Amazon | Author Website | Twitter | Goodreads

The Curse of the Golden Coins, by Kaye Pascal - Review

The Curse of the Golden Coins

By:  Kaye Pascal

Published:  February 14, 2015 on Amazon Digital Services

Genre:  Historical, Civil War, Mystery, Paranormal

Pages:  181 Word Doc (40,000 words)

Source:  Author/Book Review Swap at Goodreads

Treasure. Curse. Adventure.

1865. Some legends aren't meant to stay buried. Some myths have a life of their own.

In a cave, Del discovers a chest of gold coins. He thinks it is a long forgotten treasure. Soon he discovers his treasure is a curse. He must face a sinister spirit and a vengeful enemy. With the help of Sawyer and Willow, he embarks on a journey where magic meets myth.

He must break the curse before he becomes its next victim.

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My review of The Curse of the Golden Coins is for the Goodreads book review swap group. My thanks to Kaye Pascal for a reading copy!

This is a tale of a young man who yearns for adventure despite having been born on a genteel Arkansas plantation.

Delbert Baxter leaves his pleasant life to become a US federal army private in 1865. He eventually turns deserter. Sawyer, one of father’s plantation slaves, also joins the army and then comes to aid Del in his escape. The story takes an intriguing turn when Del discovers ancient Spanish cold coins and his desire for adventure comes true though not in the way he might have wished for since the coins come with a vengeful spirit.

This story is an unusual mix of civil war/plantation life set with paranormal elements. The characters, including Willow the Cherokee woman who joins Del and Sawyer, are interesting and I felt the writing style nicely evoked a time and setting much less complex than modern day, even a little other-worldly. The gold coins are linked to Hernando de Soto, the first Spanish explorer to have crossed the Mississippi river. There is some mystery surrounding his death.

However, there are several technical issues with the writing. These include incorrect comma use, missing periods, incorrect homonyms, in some sections too much passive telling versus showing, lack of contractions making for a bit stilted writing, and some typos. I also found the romance between Del and Willow develops beyond the reader’s eye so this needs more open work to round out the novella/novel.

These issues bring down my rating a lot. The writing is somewhat detached in places as if the author is writing about the characters not in the here and now but from a long ago book. This is quite dreamy and I don’t feel easily works in modern fiction which is (based on the books I've been reading), fast, and pretty much in your face.

Overall, I felt the story was interesting with a good period feel but needs editing and more polishing. 3.5 Stars

You'll find Kaye Pascal on the internet at these links:

Amazon | Goodreads | Southern Authors | Wattpad | Twitter