Dracula: The Rise of The Beast Book Review.

Hello all, 

Today lets dive into a book for NetGallery. 

Dracula: The Rise of The Beast. 

Blurb: Anthology of stories exploring the secret history of the world’s most iconic monster 

That the cruel, ambitious monster of Bram Stoker’s most famous novel was once Vlad III Drăcula, Voivode of Wallachia – the Impaler, to his enemies – is known. A warleader in a warlike time: brilliant, charismatic, pious, ferociously devoted to his country. But what came of him? What drove him to become a creature of darkness – an Un-Dead – and what use did he make of this power, through the centuries before his downfall?

Decades after the monster’s death, Jonathan and Mina Harker’s son Quincey pieces together the story: dusty old manuscripts, court reports from the Holy Roman Empire at its height, oral traditions among the Szgany Roma people who once served the monster.

David Thomas Moore, editor of Two Hundred and Twenty-One Baker Streets and Monstrous Little Voices, brings together five new and established authors with roots in Central and Eastern Europe to reveal a side to the literary world’s greatest monster never seen before.

4/5 Stars

What I Expected: A vampire take on history to do with Dracula and those to whom he sired or others that might have learned how to survive with them. I expected to sink into the world of Dracula and feel the great excitement that comes with this sort of book.

What I Got:  A series of disjointed stories that didn't really work as well as I had hoped. I started having to read them like they were stand alones which is not what I thought I was getting.

Review: The book has many points of view at the beginning it starts  out with part one that is long winded. Sometimes dragging in parts. This made the enjoyment hard at times. There was humor only I wasn't able to get a lot of it. Lots of parts lost me.

Part two tying the story to the countess that was legendary at around the same time as Dracula was interesting and made me feel like the book picked up. There wasn't much of Dracula in this part though, which I think would have made it truly shine. Other characters seem to become forgotten in the shuffle. It had a strong ending, this is where I realized that they were single stories not whole ones.

Part three: Had a very jerky start to it. It wasn't holding my attention well at the beginning and found it a hard fought battle to not want to pick up other books. The mixture of witch, hunter and business man became interesting as the story progressed. Even if it was disjointed and felt like a big let down after part two.

The fourth part to me seemed to lack a hook, very disjointed and slow at times. It dragged to begin with. You witness his personal struggles. Siring three children with a succubus.

After so long he finds a town that he has hidden from him for so long and the hardships it now faced. It's a very strange take on the folk lore. What made it nice was how well the birth and change in him was done. The creation of a new legend.

The final part of the book we saw a hunters point of view, I like the gypy element and how well it was done. How they had looked at the way the hunter had to earn the gypys trust, staying at the castle or estate. The curse that is explained in detail. Journalist dies before the article can be finished and I was saddened at this point.

It doesn't move flawlessly into the letters from the descendants. Lolo's meeting and cliffhanger ending with Dracula was rushed and just not what I hoped for this book at the end.

Those are my honest thoughts and I am grateful for the chance to share them with all of you.

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Thank you for stopping by and I hope to hear back from you at your earliest convenience,

Kristal McKerrington 

The Woman In The Woods Book Review

Hello All, 

So my adult fictional novel for the month was no other than The Woman In The Woods by Lesley Pearse someone I respect alot and she is my buy right away without reading the blurb. 

Fifteen-year-old twins Maisy and Duncan Mitcham have always had each other. Until the fateful day in the wood . . . One night in 1960, the twins awake to find their father pulling their screaming mother from the house. She is to be committed to an asylum. It is, so their father insists, for her own good. It's not long before they, too, are removed from their London home and sent to Nightingales - a large house deep in the New Forest countryside - to be watched over by their cold-hearted grandmother, Mrs Mitcham. Though they feel abandoned and unloved, at least here they have something they never had before - freedom. The twins are left to their own devices, to explore, find new friends and first romances. That is until the day that Duncan doesn't come back for dinner. Nor does he return the next day. Or the one after that. When the bodies of other young boys are discovered in the surrounding area the police appear to give up hope of finding Duncan alive. With Mrs Mitcham showing little interest in her grandson's disappearance, it is up to Maisy to discover the truth. And she knows just where to start. The woman who lives alone in the wood about whom so many rumours abound. A woman named Grace Deville. The Woman in the Wood is a powerful, passionate and sinister tale of a young woman's courage, friendship and determination. Santa Montefiore and Penny Vincenzi fans will swiftly fall for Lesley Pearse's mesmerising novels - you'll want to read them again and again . . . 'Heart-warming and evocative, a real delight to read' Sun 'A narrative that gallops along, this is quintessential Pearse that will delight her army of readers' Daily Mail 'Glorious, heartwarming' Woman & Home 'Evocative, compelling, told from the heart' Sunday Express

Review

5/5 Stars

What I Expected: Was a historical tale about a woman who lives in the woods and has had a hard life. I expected that maybe she was the one being sent away and what I got wasn't even close to what I expected. I must admit Lesley Pearse outdid herself with this book.

What I Got:  A traumatic, wonderful tale of growth from two young children that have a seriously hard time, however, find solace and help from Grace who is a woman they hear is a mad woman living in the woods. The real danger was going to be closer to home and they were about to have their innocence ripped from them over a summer.

Review: I found that the woman in the woods is often forgotten. Lesley manages to draw out some very strong emotions from her readers in this great tale. It makes you question family and friendships. Seeing Maisy grow into her character was one of the many highlights of this book. Random insight from the murder made it feel a little jerky at times. Softening of the harsh grandmother to the child was a nice turn in the book. Seeing Grace become who she was meant to be was heartfelt and lightening. The constant downfall of Grainger was well done and thought out. There is a really nice touch done with Maisy near the end. A very well out together story that deserves every star it earned.

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I hope that you will come back to see what other authors I might cover on this blog.

Kristal McKerrington 

Percy Jackson and The Titan's Curse - Book Review

Hello All, 

Lets jump into the next book in the Percy Jackson Series. Percy Jackson and The Titan Curse. 

Half Boy. Half God. ALL Hero.

It's not every day you find yourself in combat with a half-lion, half-human.

But when you're the son of a Greek God, it happens. And now my friend Annabeth is missing, a Goddess is in chains and only five half-blood heroes can join the quest to defeat the doomsday monster.

Oh and guess what. The Oracle has predicted that not all of us will survive . . .

RICK RIORDAN IS THE MYTHMASTER
The Greek Gods are alive and kicking - go to www.rickriordanmythmaster.co.uk and see for yourself.

Review

5

/5 Stars

What I Expected: I wasn't sure I was expecting to much from this book. I was scared that he would love steam with the series as this can often happen with authors when they get by the exciting first two books.

What I Got:  A girl driven story where Percy managed to also play a role in. There was a great detail to what goes on between the female warriors and the mission they end up on.

Review: I was worried at times that Percy was going to be shoved out of this book instead he managed to stay in it and was not just there for the sake of being there. I liked the part about the hunters, to see the female Gods in this story setting. I think its set up for a great ending to the series. I can't wait to dive into book 4 and 5.

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Thank you so much for your time and I hope that you will come back to see the other books I have reviewed.

Kristal McKerrington