Review: The impossible creation by Betsy Flak

I will not show you a place today since this reading has been chosen in a different way. I'm getting ready for a big trip (it's a surprise, you'll see) and I feel like discovering more indie authors in the fantasy/horror genre. So I was given the chance to do a review before the launch of the book I'll be talking about here today. 

Title: The impossible creation

Author: Betsy Flak

Genre: YA fantasy

Format: Ebook

Blurb: A vampire with otherworldly ambitions. A vampire hunter, adrift in a sea of grief. And an oblivious girl, over whose fate they fight. Devastated by grief, Lucy fled from her supernatural birthright as a vampire hunter. Now she pretends to be a normal college student. She goes to class. She works a part-time job. She hides her superpowers from everyone except her best friend--who happens to be a witch. But when a vampire enters her town and targets a high school girl, Lucy must hunt again. Can Lucy win a tug of war where the prize is a girl's life? The Impossible Creation is a prequel to the upcoming The Clan-Vampire Clash.

The story

I must admit that, being an avid reader of this genre, the story didn't feel very original, but that is not something that would put off a fan of vampires. We know what we are getting ourselves into. This is the usual story of vampires versus hunters. However, it is the hunter who denies her nature this time. Lucy is a college student who tries to live a normal life while a plan is being designed on the low by a group of vampires who need to find someone with a very specific gift to fullfill their ambitions.

I did enjoy the parts where the narrator focused on the vampires' world which, in my opinion, was very well designed. The book intertwines the narration of the vampires and Lucy's opposite worlds with the life of a teenager called Grace.

The characters

As mentioned above, there are several important characters in the story. Lucy is a mysterious young woman who seems a bit dull at the beginning, but who starts progressing as the story unfolds. Grace, on the other hand, is the typical teenager with the problems we all had at that age —there's a love story, if you were wondering about that— and I have to say the author did an amazing job developing this character. I could totally see myself back in high school as I read the dialogues. Finally, we have the vampires where two of them stand out: Duncan and Adara. Here goes the vampire-freak side of me: I simply loved Adara. That's it. I don't know what's going to happen in the following books, but I'm just going to beg the author to please not kill Adara! She's a badass vampire with really good lines and comebacks, who pairs wonderfully with Duncan.

The style

I saw two different writing styles here, and I don't know if that was intended. Betsy Flak uses a very simple and direct style when writing about Lucy and Grace, and then changes into a different one with elaborated paragraphs and beautiful and original imagery when it's the vampires turn. She achieves the perfect atmosphere for the night creatures without being too bloody nor too violent. Another aspect I want to highlight is I found no typos, no grammar mistakes and the formatting was of a good quality, and I do like to mention this because people tend to dismiss indie literature on the grounds that it's not well written and full of errors —and that's true for some—, so when there is an author that took the time and the effort to have a good quality book, I'll shout it from the rooftops.

My opinion

This is definitely a YA book. You alreay have guessed that my favourite part is when they story focuses on the vampires and, although I enjoyed the book, I think this is a novel I would have totally loved to have come across when I was a teen. Perhaps now, being a bit older —almost coming to my thirties—, teenage problems are a little behind for me to relate to the characters, but if you are still in this period of your life or you have kids who are, go ahead and give this book a chance. You'll certainly have a good time.

 

Review: The etymologicon by Mark Forsyth

Here we are again and this time I want to show you a place where I go often that is not a city, a town nor a little paradise in nature. Here it is:

Place: Café de Autor, Linares (Spain)

Date: May, 2017

Yes, it's just a coffee shop, but for writers these are the most inspiring places. For some reason, we simply love to sit in a cafe and write as we observe everything around us. I run a book club in English in this coffee shop (if you feel like it and live nearby, you can come join us, you'll have fun, I promise!) and from that, you might get that I'm a language enthousiastic. That takes me to the book I'll be reviewing today.

Title: The etymologicon
Author: Mark Forsyth
Genre: Non fiction

Blurb: What is the actual connection between disgruntled and gruntled? What links church organs to organised crime, California to the Caliphate, or brackets to codpieces? The Etymologicon springs from Mark Forsyth's Inky Fool blog on the strange connections between words. It's an occasionally ribald, frequently witty and unerringly erudite guided tour of the secret labyrinth that lurks beneath the English language, taking in monks and monkeys, film buffs and buffaloes, and explaining precisely what the Rolling Stones have to do with gardening.

Format: Ebook





The book

Since this is a non fiction book, I cannot talk about a story per se, but this book does have a story, or more accurately, a lot of them. It explains the origin of many of the most common English words and expressions by using a story that connects to the next word and the story behind it, and so on. The author intertwines the origin of a word with the origin of the next one in a fantastic and entertaining way.

I'm in love with languages and how they were formed so I enjoyed every bit of this book, but for those of you who are thinking "are you kidding me? a book on languages? Boring!", I'll let you know that this is not a book addressed to language experts. It's for everyone with a bit of curiosity, and I guarantee you'll be surprised by some of the stories.

The style

This is my favourite part. Mark Forsyth is obviously an expert in the field of etymology but he's also fun to read. He writes in a way that mixes interesting technical terms and explanations with witty and hilarious comments that makes you want to keep devouring chapter after chapter. (It took me a weekend to finish this book!).

My opinion

I simply loved this book. I couldn't say it better than that. The only "bad" thing I'd have to say about it is I wish I had a good memory to remember everything I learned from this book. I could see myself being as annoying as Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory with fun facts on words in every meeting with family and friends!