Parts of Me: Lost and Found by Cisel Ozbay – Poetry Book Review

Today, I'm featuring one of my really late and overdue book reviews. I first received a copy of Lost and Found from its author Cisel Ozbay in March 2021 and I did read the book a month later. But 2021 was the year of book blogger's block for me and I couldn't write any reviews for months on end. 

So without further ado, here's the book synopsis followed by my review for Cisel Ozbay's Lost and Found, a poetry collection featuring 71 short, free-verse poems.  

Synopsis:

Lost and Found is a poetry book which contains a compilation of short philosophical poems. The book attempts to capture the author's personal journey: all the ways she has lost herself and the lessons that she has found in doing so.

The author deploys a simple writing style, as she believes a lot can be expressed by saying little. This is a deeply meaningful book with many ideas relating to the human experience.

Book Review of Parts of Me: Lost and Found

 

Parts of Me: Lost and Found opens with “Find,” which is something many people talk about today. It's short and Ozbey says a lot in a few words. 

“To be yourself, you need to find yourself.

And that is all life really is –

Finding yourself.”

“All” is one of the longer pieces in the collection but one of the most beautiful. It’s personal and emotional. Similarly, “Heavy” is a long, dark, and personal piece that I enjoyed.

“Futile” hit home for me because it reminds me of someone who doesn’t see the futility of their ‘lack of efforts’ or the they’re going about their work.

The poem “Contrast” is a good read but it didn’t feel poetic to me. And there were a few poems that were vague to me such as “Ash,” “Consciousness,” among others.

Some of the pieces in Lost and Found read like thoughts, ideas, and quotes. Many pieces had ‘big words’ you normally wouldn’t see in a poem, while others had really formal language. It was the first time for me to see ‘Firstly’ and ‘secondly’ in a poem!

Overall rating for Parts of Me: Lost and Found by Cisel Ozbay: 3 stars.

Note: I received a free copy of Parts of Me: Lost and Found from its author Cisel Ozbay in exchange for an honest review. This did not in any way affect my review.

Note 2: The collection is written in British English.

About the Author:

Cisel Ozbay is an author from London who began writing during her time at university in Aberdeen. She was inspired by her own life experiences and the turbulent times in her life.

Acknowledging the benefits of writing on her own self growth she now writes regularly. Her Parts Of Me: From Me to You, and Parts Of Me: Lost of Found books contain poems written during this same period in her life.

Connect with Cisel and read more of her poetry via Instagram.

 

Ghosts, Lore, and a House by the Shore by Nellie H. Steele - Book Review

  

Today, I'm featuring a book review of a new cozy mystery by a new author for me. 

Synopsis:

A new town.

A haunting legend.

New beginnings or the beginning of the end?

After Cassie MacGuire’s husband dies in a plane crash along with her father, both her and her mother, Lily Bennett, are left as widows. Looking to make a new start, they move together to the quiet seaside town of Hideaway Bay.

But their new home, Whispering Manor, has a reputation stretching back centuries. Legends of ghosts, paranormal disturbances and pirate treasure are all associated with the former sea captain’s mansion, starting with the death of its first mistress, Henrietta Blanchard.

When Cassie stumbles upon Henrietta’s journal and Lily uncovers a more recent tragedy in the home, they begin to wonder if the stories may be fact instead of fiction. When the strange occurrences turn dangerous, Lily and Cassie will have to investigate to save their home and possibly even their very lives!

Ghosts, Lore & a House by the Shore is the charming first installment in this small, seaside town mother-daughter cozy mystery series by Nellie H. Steele.

 

Book Review by Nadaness In Motion  

"I'd be careful about digging too deep in the past. You might end up regretting it."

Ghosts, Lore, and a House by the Shore by Nellie H. Steele is the first installment in a new mother-and-daughter cozy mystery series.

Ghosts, Lore, and a House by the Shore opens with Cassie and her mother Lily getting very-late calls informing them of the deaths of their husbands. In other words, Cassie is stunned to learn that she'd lost both her father and her husband in a plane crash.

Chapter 1 focuses on the death and its impact on the two women. It's a very long and painful chapter.

Lily and Cassie decide to leave their city and move to the much-smaller town of Hideaway Bay, where – unbeknownst to them – they buy a reportedly haunted house overlooking the ocean.

After they settle in, the two women learn that a few tragedies had taken place in their new home. But is the new house-by-the-shore really haunted?

 

"On the large mirror above the dresser, in dripping red blood was the word LEAVE."

 

What I liked about Ghosts, Lore, and a House by the Shore 

One of the things I liked about Ghosts, Lore, and a House by the Shore was the presence of the two diaries that Cassie and Lily uncovered in the library.

We get to learn about the mystery of Black Jack's treasure and the former occupants of Whispering Manor through these detailed accounts.

"Others would say it's whispers of past souls, long since forgotten, but not yet gone."

A few of the characters in Ghosts, Lore, and a House by the Shore reminded me of characters in the Hallmark sort-of-paranormal series The Good Witch.

Even the mayor, Tinsley reminded me of Martha Tinsdale from The Good Witch. It made me want to re-watch the show.

 

What I didn't like about Ghosts, Lore, and a House by the Shore

One of my biggest problems with this book was the number of times characters raise their eyebrows. You'd think that from the sheer number of times the characters do this, their eyebrows would be stuck to their hairlines by the end of the novel!

There were over 70 references of 'raised eyebrows' in the book! Seriously!

Another problem was that half way through the book, the reader isn't introduced to a 'real mystery.' It's only when Cassie and Lily hear of the tragedies that took place in Whispering Manor and discover the journals of Henrietta and Susan Davis (two women who died in their house) that they begin reading into the mysteries.

I'm not sure if my copy was an uncorrected proof or not but there were many grammatical errors and phrasing problems. Plus some illogical verb usage. (Does your cat 'sigh?')

Also, halfway through the book, I began to question the coziness of the story. It's significantly different from standard cozies because

1)    It opens with a heartbreaking event (two deaths for two family members)

2)    The mystery comes in very late in the book

 

Review sum-up

Overall, I think Ghosts, Lore, and a House by the Shore has lots of good potential. It can act as a prequel to the series, though not book 1.

As an Instagram follower of Nellie Steele, I learnt that Ghosts, Lore, and a House by the Shore is a spin-off of another historical fiction series featuring Henrietta and her brother Clifton and some piratey tales.

That said, I think there were many redundancies in the novel that could have been crossed out. I'd have liked to see more focus on the mystery and a faster pace.

 

Note: I received a free Advanced Readers' Copy (ARC) of Ghosts, Lore, and a House by the Shore by Nellie H. Steele as part of a blog tour by Lori Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours.

 

Overall rating for Ghosts, Lore, and a House by the Shore: 2.5-3 stars

 

About the author

An Indies Today finalist for Best Book of the Year 2020 with Cleopatra’s Tomb, Nellie H. Steele made the leap from science to art with her first book, The Secret of Dunhaven Castle.

An animal enthusiast, Nellie often features a version of one of her fourteen rescue animals in her stories, though the fictional pets are usually better behaved than her own fur-babies!  A literary split personality, Nellie’s work ranges from cozy mystery to supernatural suspense to riveting adventure.

She lives in the South Hills of Pittsburgh.  When she isn’t writing or engaging in animal care, she enjoys teaching Statistics and Data Science at a local university.

Check out all Nellie offers at www.anovelideapublishing.com/novels  or at her blog, Nellie’s Book Nook, available at www.nelliesbooknook.com

Connect with Nellie Steele via her Website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Goodreads, Bookbub, and Amazon.

 

Publisher Website: www.anovelideapublishing.com    

 

Horror in the Highlands by Alison Golden – Book Review

Book: Horror in the Highlands

(Book 5 in The Reverend Annabelle Dixon Series)

Author: Alison Golden

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Number of pages: 254 pages

Publication date: 19 June 2017

ASIN: B072WLHQYR

"The island is cut off right now. That means one of us locals is the murderer. I can't fathom it. I can't think of anyone on the island who would murder someone."

In Horror in the Highlands, Reverend Annabelle Dixon goes to visit her brother and his daughter in the remote Scottish island of Blodraigh. She's also substituting for the local church minister. 

This story is quite different from the other books in the series. Whereas in first book Death at the Café, Annabelle comes as across the death in the first chapter, no deaths occur in Horror in the Highlands till the middle of the book.

The story moves but you're not sure where it's going. Many of the main events don't happen in the first few chapters.

"We police ourselves here. There's not station on the island. All 999 calls are directed to the pub."

Annabelle is entrusted with safekeeping some jewels on the island so she hides them in the church but they are stolen that same night. This happens in chapter 14 or around 37% into the novel. That's the first bit of suspense.

Similarly questions about the mystery jewels and the death (40%) begin towards the middle of the story. Once they begin, however, things begin to move faster.

"I'm afraid Evensong is the least of my concerns right now. A man is dead, and the church has been robbed. It will surely take more than a few prayers to sleep well tonight."

One of the things I like about Alison Golden's books is the recipes included at the end of each book. I'm new to the kitchen but I'm planning to try a few of them out. 

I've started reading many books in different series by Alison Golden. Horror in the Highlands was by far my least favorite because I couldn't find a mystery early on.

I loved Annabelle and her niece but… 

Overall rating for Horror in the Highlands: 2.5 to 3 stars

Don't let this book deter you from the series though. I've read Death at the Cafe and it's 100% 5 stars!

Other books and reviews by Nadaness In Motion for Alison Golden's books:

Killer at the Cult (Book 6 in the Reverend Annabelle Dixon Mystery Series)

Witches at the Wedding (Book 6 in The Reverend Annabelle Dixon Series) 

The Case of the Screaming Beauty (Book 1 in The Detective Inspector David Graham Mystery Series)

The Case of the Hidden Flame (Book 2 in The Detective Inspector David Graham Mystery Series)

The Case of the Broken Doll (Book 4 in The Detective Inspector David Graham Mystery Series)

The Case of Samson's Leap (Book 8 in The Detective Inspector David Graham Mystery Series)

The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur - Book Review

I hadn't heard of Rupi Kaur before but when I picked up The Sun and Her Flowers by chance, I discovered she's popular contemporary poet and author. I also learnt that this is her second – and apparently widely anticipated – poetry collection.

That said, when I started reading I felt that there was such a big hype about this book and that I was put off by it.  

The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur is divided into 5 chapters: Wilting, Falling, Rooting, Rising and, Blooming.

I felt that the poems, or rather short quotes first two sections were sappy. I was put off by them and was seriously considering NOT finishing the collection. However, the third section "Rooting" showed a significant change in both the content and level of writing, as if the author had suddenly grown up.

Most of the poems in The Sun and Her Flowers are untitled, a few have the sort-of-title at the end, and every now and then there is one long piece with a title. This makes it quite hard to point out which pieces I liked (which weren't that many).

"love does not look like a person

love is our actions

love is giving all we can

even if it's just the bigger slice of cake

love is understanding"

The above extract is from "what love looks like" one of the longer pieces in Kaur's collection. Another long one is "questions" which ironically has no question marks. It's also long, dull, and sappy, unlike its predecessor.

Another thing about punctuation is that The Sun and Her Flowers has zero punctuation. I know many poets are doing this with their poetry nowadays BUT the problem lies when as a reader I can't tell if the line I'm reading is meant as a thought or question. There were parts when I was utterly lost and only realized that I should have been reading questions not thoughts. The confusion irritated me.

"why are you so unkind to me

my body cries

cause you don't look like them

i tell her"

Many pieces aren't poetic or what I'd describe as poetry; more like quotes. You know those quotes people share on Instagram and Facebook. They're great, just not poetry in my opinion.  I found some of the pieces to be recitable but not poetic, like "home" a long sad piece about a rape.

Starting "Rooting," many poems focus on the themes of maturity, womanhood, being an immigrant and a refugee. Starting this section, we see a major change and development from the previous sections; lots of growing up.

One of the strongest pieces in The Sun and Her Flowers is in "Rooting" and it's called "advice i would've given my mother on her wedding day." This piece is a mixture of short poem-like-pieces and 'bits' in the form of bullet points and advice. The first advice is "you're allowed to say no."

The poem "accent" is one of the stronger pieces in the collection. One of my favorites too.

(image)

There's a lot of experimentation in The Sun and Her Flowers. Some good, some not so much. But that's the normal case with poetry collections. You can't like every piece.

The saddest poem in The Sun and Her Flowers is "female infanticide," which shows women struggles in the course of hundreds of years. I loved the progression. Despite centuries passing, women are still struggling. 10 stars to this one.

Every few poems are accompanied by some artwork, I don't know what this type of art is called but it's not paintings. Also, some pieces are in short paragraphs.

One of the things I disliked about The Sun and Her Flowers, and I'm glad I had an e-book for this not a print one, is that some pieces were just a line. Yes, a page with one line and move on. That's wasted paper if you ask me. I suppose I don't view one-liners as poetry but at least they could have been combined in a single page with *** between each.

Another thing is the flow of the pieces; many aren't what you'd call poetic. They read like prose, including the poem "broken english." It's a great piece but it would have been better off placed in paragraph format than an attempted poem. It also had many words that felt like the Kaur was showing off vocabulary and was distant even though the poem is about her mother.

Overall, I have mixed feelings about Rupi Kaur's The Sun and Her Flowers. I was expecting a lot more from it. It's a good read, not amazing. There are powerful poems but there many weak ones. I think the "bestselling status" earned from the first book made many people pick this up.

The book's style reminded me of Amanda Lovelace's poetry collection The Princess Saves Herself in This One. The style being, the short pieces and the titles being the conclusion of the poem.

Overall rating for The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur: 2.5-3 stars.

Fountain Dead by Theresa Braun - Book Review

"How could [Mark] tell his father the house was like the witch in Hansel and Gretel tempting the family with baked goodies before pushing them into the oven?"

Fountain Dead by Theresa Braun is a paranormal horror that runs on two levels and point of view characters over a hundred years apart.

Though the book in narrated in third person, the point of view character is Mark, who in the present day or in 1988, is forced to leave his home because his parents have gotten jobs in a small city in the middle of nowhere. There they live in a grand Victorian mansion, where things aren't as they seem.

And as soon as Mark sets foot in, he begins to see things that shouldn't be there. For the reader, other events are happening in the "Victorian" but in the 1800's. A family is moving to the Victorian to settle there and on the way, tragedy strikes, leaving behind Emily, the only daughter in a household of brutes, well minus one decent brother.

As the novel progresses, the two timelines slowly begin to collide, which naturally doesn't bode well for Mark.

"Unbeknownst to Mark, the Victorian planned his summer boot camp the minute he stepped onto the property."

In terms of characterisation, I felt there were a lot of characters. In the modern world, there is Mark, his sister, their parents, and their dog. In the past, there is Emily, her two or three brothers, father, and two recurrent guests. At times, I kept losing track of who was doing what. In addition, in the present day, Mark begins to see or rather sense spirits. I tried to connect the dots between which spirit was which person in the 1800's but often failed.

In the first few pages, I felt that there was some kind of distancing and shifts in the narration like "the father asked his daughter" and "wrapping his arms around his wife, Dad…" and the like. That could just be me.  

With two timelines in motion in Fountain Dead, we see each of the main characters struggling personally; Mark with feelings for Jack and leaving on a bad note, and in the late 1800s Emma is struggling with the death of her mother, and her brother Riley secretly blaming her for it.

"Following a drowsy blink, his sister was suddenly sitting up. The pipe Mom had found perched in Tausha's hand. Tobacco embers smoldered. Her eyes flamed red with malevolence, worse than any portrayed in a scary movie. "It's in the blood," she whispered.

Mark swallowed his heart and lost his balance.

With the next blink of his eyes, his sister slumbered just as before."

The book isn't divided into chapters but time periods. You can stop at the beginning of each shift in the timeline.

My biggest problem with Fountain Dead, and which is why it took so long to write this review, was with the ending. I felt confused. And now that several months have passed since I've read the book, I don't feel like I can review it well. My notes aren't helpful although I was able to connect some dots as I checked my notes.

I liked the setting in Fountain Dead, the Victorian mansion is the perfect place for horror and the house literally goes bump in the night. There are also several layers of horror here, the sections with Emily show the horrors of the civil war and her family of brutes. On Mark's end, there are several levels and instances of creepy. I really liked that.

Fountain Dead would make an interesting Halloween read and it will keep your mind working. 

Overall rating: 3 to 3.5 stars

Note: I received a free copy of Fountain Dead from its author Theresa Braun in exchange for an honest review.

Invitation to Poetry by Mihai Brinas – Book Review

Book: Invitation to Poetry
Author: Mihai Brinas

No. of pages: 65

Invitation to Poetry by Mihai Brinas is a collection of poems on various topics, from love to longing, to fantasy, to books, to some pieces whose main theme I couldn't pinpoint.

The collection opens with a 'sweet poem' though the ending drags me out of the mood.

"Let There Be Rain" and "Time in Unequal Installemnt Payments" are one of my favourite pieces in the collection. I'm including "Let There Be Rain" in full below.

Overall, I think an Invitation to Poetry is an introduction to the poet's work but I also think it needs some work. Some pieces had unnecessary repetition, some read more like prose rather than poetry.

But having taken a second look at some of the pieces while writing this review, I feel it has potential. Some poems are deep, others light. It is a collection of diverse poems.

Recommended pieces in an Invitation to Poetry include: "The Guard", "Hidden Truths", "Searching for the Light", "Knowledge of Returning", "The Sadness of Books", "The First Contact", "Jealousy", and "Dream Come True"

Overall rating for Invitation to Poetry: 3 stars

Note: I received a free e-copy of Invitation to Poetry from its author Mihai Brinas in exchange for an honest review.

The Children of Hurin – Book Review

The events of The Children of Hurin by J. R. R. Tolkien or as I would prefer to call it The Series of Unfortunate Events that Befell the Children of Hurin, take place probably thousands of years before The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

There are elves, dwarves, and Men, a wingless dragon, and lots of sadness and destruction.

The main idea behind the story is that Hurin curses Morgoth in his face, so the latter curses Hurin and his family, making Hurin watch his children unknowingly destroy themselves.

"I am the Elder King: Melkor, first and mightiest of all the Valar, who was before the world and made it. The shadow of my purpose lies upon Arda, and all that is in it bends slowly and surely to my will. But upon all whom you love my thought shall weigh as a cloud of Doom, and it shall bring them down into darkness and despair. Wherever they go, evil shall arise. Whenever they speak, their words shall bring ill counsel. Whatsoever they do shall turn against them. They shall die without hope, cursing both life and death."

The Children of Hurin opens with an info dump of the people in the book and who married who, including several names we never actually meet. There is a genealogy tree at the end of the book, which honestly should have been at the beginning because I had to go back to it several times while reading. The info dump wasn't necessary but just got me confused.

Hurin had three children: Turin, who is the main focus of the story, his sister Urwen, and his other sister Nienor who appears towards the end and is dragged into the curse laid upon father by Morgoth.

"The doom lies in yourself, not in your name."

What my book looks like after reading

The language is really tough to get around. True, I've been reading modern and contemporary fiction but this was a tough read. Reading this book, one sees how the elements of fiction have changed over time. There is no showing versus a lot of telling. The description is simpler and there aren't many alternatives to "said".

There is minor character development for Turin. Sometimes he's likeable and sometimes he isn't. But it is easy to sympathise and connect with him. In terms of imagery, there aren't many, but there were several sections of rich descriptions.  

One of the things that The Children of Hurin has gotten me excited about is rereading The Silmarilion, where there is a powerful tale of Beren and Luthien. People in the story make many analogies between Turin and Beren. I also have The Book of Lost Tales part 2, which I plan to finally start.

"This man is not Beren. Even if he be both as fair and as brave. A doom lies on him; a dark doom."

It is interesting to learn that The Children of Hurin was originally written as a poem – a very long one "running over 2,000 lines", according to the notes section after the novel.

Overall rating: 3 stars

Odinsmal, the Rise of Jotunheim by Sammy Zakaria – Book Review

Book: Odinsmal
Author: Sammy Zakaria
Publication date: 31 March 2017

Synopsis:

Forced to flee from his home on the island of Algir Oya, young Odin finds that the evil he'd barely escaped is already causing death and destruction on mainland Midgard. In a bid for survival, the humans of Midgard have united and taken up arms in a battle which Odin unwillingly must join against the forces of Jotunheim whose ruthless ruler, Loki, is enslaving humans to mine for the precious metal, Blóstein.

Befallen by a lack of strength and resources necessary to stand against Loki's army of savage footmen and bloodthirsty wolflike berserkers, Odin must venture with his friends Thedrick, Vili, and Ve beyond the boundaries of Midgard in search of an ally to stand with them against the Jotun invasion.

Book review by Nadaness In Motion

Odinsmal, the Rise of Jotunheim by Sammy Zakaria is a tale of Norse mythology unlike the popular Marvel comics and movies we have been watching for years.

The story follows Odin, a young warrior from the distant realm of Algir Oya. It opens with Odin’s father preparing to attack Jotun soldiers, but his plan fails because of wolf-like beasts called berserkers that were created and brought by the Jotun. After that Odin and two of his friends are forced to flee after their land is attacked and brought to ruins by these soldiers.

After that Odin, an Oyan or half-breed from the marriage between a Jotun and a human, begins a journey in which he thinks he is simply running away from the invaders only to have to befriend one of them.

The first in a series,Odinsmal, the Rise of Jotunheim is a story of discovery, curiosity, and prophecies. There are many mysteries surrounding several of the characters, particularly the young Odin.

“The berserkers continued to enter the Muspel capital. They channelled through the small roads and paths of Ginnungagap like a dark substance poured into a clear stream.”

One of the things I liked about Odinsmal was Zakaria’s cinematic technique in narration. It gave great visual and I could picture the story unfold as if it were a movie.

The downside to this technique, however, was that it made the novel longer and often made the language distant from the reader. Some parts, mostly in the passive voice, felt like they were stage directions in a play rather than storytelling.

I think the novel would be an easier read with a map at the beginning detailing the places the characters live in and visit. There were several parts where I was not sure which way the characters were moving. It would also help to know which domains are occupied by the Jotun and which are not, especially since the novel does not take up after any of the Marvel movies.

As the novel progressed, I had contrasting feelings about the book: There were too many characters that at some point I got lost as to who sided with whom and how some characters related to the novel. I realise that much of this will be revealed in part two but having a map – as I mentioned earlier – may help with that as well, since it would show which characters are located where and why would they be important to the story.

Although the novel is mainly about Odin, we do not see him in every scene. There are many intertwined events taking place at the same time. Some intersect, while others keep moving parallel to each other.

The Odinsmal series has great potential, especially with the revelations that come at the end. But it definitely needs editing – and I’m not talking about grammar, that was well done. No, I’m talking in terms of showing rather than telling, avoiding certain repeated words that jar the flow of the novel, and in some cases removing unnecessary dialogue.

Would I recommend this series? Yes.

One of the characters I absolutely loved was Gialp, a friend in the form of a foe. I will not divulge much about Gialp because that would entail spoilers. But he was kind, wise, and fierce all at the same time.

There were not many notable lines or images in Odinsmal but I enjoyed the action nonetheless. Odin’s character development was minimal, although there was some progress at the end. This is understandable particularly that there are more books in the series; although a little more development especially Odin would have given more depth to the novel.

For those who like mythology, particularly the Norse tales, Odinsmal would appear to them greatly. It’s a clean read (at least this book) with several fight scenes.

Odinsmal by Sammy Zakaria would make its own great action movie.

Overall rating for Odinsmal: 3 stars

Add the book on Goodreads

Note: I received a free copy of Odinsmal from its author Sammy Zakaria in exchange for an honest review.

About the author:

Sammy Zakaria, author of Odinsmal

Sammy grew up in Denmark, but today resides in the land of meatballs and IKEA, Sweden. By day he works as an IT professional; by night a progressively balding couch potato. Aside from channel browsing and being fascinated with Norse mythology, he enjoys cooking, reading, and spending time with his family.

Follow author Sammy Zakaria on Goodreads and Facebook.

Purchase Odinsmal via Amazon