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Book Review: Princess of Ceshela

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princess of ceshela by teralyn mitchell book review via wit and travestyHey, writers and readers!

It’s not a good month without an indie novel or two. Today I’ll be reviewing Princess of Ceshela by Teralyn Mitchell. Check out the review below and make sure to give your two cents in the comments section if you’ve already read the book, too!

Rating: 4 stars

Synopsis:

Orphaned at the age of four, Elizabeth has always been haunted by a feeling of loss and loneliness and the unwavering desire to belong.

Her life is turned upside down when she’s face to face with two strangers claiming to be her parents. Elizabeth quickly realizes that the last 14 years of her life have been a lie–not only are her parents alive: they are the king and queen of Ceshela. Suddenly this teenager goes from an orphan to a princess who is next in line for the throne.

Elizabeth begrudgingly returns to Ceshela with little awareness of the dangers that are stalking her, and is quickly swept up in a world she never dreamed of. This world happens to include an overbearing captain of the guard named Nicholas who annoys her however possible.

Will the Princess of Ceshela find her place in her new kingdom, or is she doomed to a life of duty with no true happiness?

What I Enjoyed:

Introverted readers rejoice: we now have a realistic introverted princess! Elizabeth is cool, shows a quiet confidence, and regularly seeks solitude. I’m kind of obsessed with this because being royalty often have to play the extrovert game and be at all the parties and be super talkative and social. Elizabeth is an introvert through and through; this didn’t change because she went from a village girl to a princess.

I also loved the whole cast. You’ll notice from the cover that Elizabeth is black; her whole family is black and other characters, like Nicholas, are black, too. I’m not sure how many novels about European-style royalty include so many characters of color without making a huge deal out of it. The other characters don’t find it weird and they live in a world where this is perfectly acceptable. I’m not sure if Mitchell intended anything further with this, but she doesn’t use white skin as the default color and doesn’t pretend there is anything wildly special about skin color. Thus, we see black characters lead happy and interesting lives that don’t involve racial hardship and strife—something that I think would be beneficial for young readers.

This novel also covers certain wrinkles that I don’t see in other novels. When Elizabeth learns she’s a princess, she isn’t worried as much about adopting a new lifestyle; if anything, she’s re-learning how to interact with her “new” parents. She was raised by her aunt and uncle and then suddenly realized her parents are actually alive and well. So rather than glossing over this, Mitchell shows this character arc throughout the novel, giving us opportunities to see Elizabeth get to know her parents.

What I Didn’t Enjoy:

I think the only major complaint I had was when the two POVs overlap. We get Elizabeth’s POV in first person and Nicholas’s POV in third-person, so it’s cute and fun to see what they think of each other throughout the novel. However, some scenes felt overly drawn out and overlapped because we got Elizabeth’s take and then a recap of the same scene from Nicholas. It took a bit of the mystery away of how they felt, too. I tend to prefer romances/relationships where you know where one character stands and you need to see the story until the end to learn if the other character has similar feelings.

My Final Thoughts

This novel is very family-friendly; not just the language or the content, but this book is full of happy, healthy families. Elizabeth and Nicholas both have extended family that we get to meet. You can tell that family is very important throughout this novel and I found this heart-warming and refreshing. Even though I know not every family is perfect, it’s nice to show characters who know, love, and interact with extended family and how they benefit from that.

I hope I shared enough to still pique your curiosity without giving too much away. If you’d like to learn more about Teralyn Mitchell and her work, you can catch up with her via social media:

Have you read this novel? Share with me in the comments! You can also see all of my other book reviews by checking our the Book Reviews tab.

Book Review: Be Careful What You Joust For

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be careful what you joust for ryan hauge book review via wit and travestyHey, writers and readers!

It’s not a good month without an indie novel or two. Today I’ll be reviewing Be Careful What You Joust For by Ryan Hauge, which is the first book in the Pentavia series. Check out the review below and make sure to give your two cents in the comments section if you’ve already read the book, too!

Rating:  5 stars

Synopsis:

The fiercest knights in the realm are coming together to compete in the Joust for Arwin’s Lance, a tournament that will divide even the closest alliances. The winner alone will have the power to start or prevent a war from unfolding across the peaceful lands of Pentavia.

House Hornbolt, a prominent family that desires peace above all else, is hosting the tournament. The Hornbolt’s have always been strict followers of tradition. The first born son wears the armor of a knight. The second takes the priestly Oath of Arwin. And the daughters get married off to the most eligible suitors.

The eldest son is the favorite to win the tournament. But the rest of the Hornbolts aren’t as eager to follow the paths laid out for them. What if the second born wants to be a knight too? And what if the eldest daughter just gave her heart to a common thief?

Customs are meant to be broken. But that’s not all that threatens to shatter House Hornbolt, not when a secret deeper than the late king’s grave is unearthed right before the joust.

The fate of Pentavia hangs in the balance as war becomes imminent. And the scales are about to tip.

One wrong move and everything could fall to pieces.

What I Enjoyed:

So there’s definitely a lot of things to enjoy if I gave a book 5 stars, right? I’m a sucker for characters, and Hauge does a fantastic job in creating a whole cast of characters who break their respective molds. Here’s a breakdown of some characters I particularly enjoyed:

Isolda—Yes, a duke’s wife, but she’s got her whole separate life of using underground businesses to get information about her father’s death. I love how communicative and empathetic she is to her children. Hauge avoids a lot of cringey drama by letting Isolda get right to the point and establishes trust really quickly with the other characters.

Bastian—I envisioned him as a Flynn Ryder kind of a dude; he is a charming thief after all. I enjoyed his deeper backstory, his morals, and his honesty with what he wants and who he is.

Garrion—For the longest time, you don’t really know how to feel about him, because he reads as a typical dad and duke: they don’t really know what people want and assume they’re doing the right thing for others. He’s the opposite of Isolda in that regard. He also has a fascinating backstory; he isn’t just a hot-headed zealot like all the other dukes.

Rixin—The story sets him up to be really untrustworthy and cunning, but like most antagonists, he’s a gray character. I sympathized with him in many ways, and you’ll see that there’s a method to his madness. He’s definitely not as conniving as Marcus assumes him to be. 

Oriana—Yay, Oriana! She falls in love with both Rixin and Bastian in an interesting love triangle; I honestly can’t pick which one I like more, so the next book will need to help me decide. However, she’s more than the love triangle or her looks. She’s clever, she learns to value herself, and she uses her agency as much as her life path will allow.

Nesta—What a snot of a baby sister. Y’all will love her.

Overall, I was impressed about how realistic each character was; the parents sounded like parents and the kids sounded like kids. The genders were also very realistic, too. Either he had phenomenal beta readers, Hauge knows his characters, or both.

My Final Thoughts

So I was overall super impressed with the characters, world building, and storytelling decisions. Hauge definitely establishes a flourishing world with culture, religion, customs, and history. Hauge also helps you get to know each character to the point where you’re not sure who to root for. I certainly can’t wait until the next book where I can learn more about who wins out in the end.

I hope I shared enough to still pique your curiosity without giving too much away. If you’d like to learn more about Ryan Hauge and his work, you can catch up with him via social media:

Have you read this novel? Share with me in the comments! You can also see all of my other book reviews by checking our the Book Reviews tab.

Book Review: The Forest House

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forest house by tamara rokicki book review via wit and travestyHey, writers and readers!

It’s not a good month without an indie novel or two. Today I’ll be reviewing The Forest House by Tamarak Rokicki, or the first novel in The Ashar Prophecies series. Check out the review below and make sure to give your two cents in the comments section if you’ve already read the book, too!

Rating: 4 stars

Synopsis:

Hera Comb grew up knowing anxiety and loss up close and personal. Going through high school didn’t make things easier to overcome the grief of her father leaving her family and watching her mother and sister grow distant and uncaring.

So when she’s kidnapped by psychic vampires, she’s not sure which life is more frightening. Hera learns from her captor, Aethen, that she is also a psychic vampire—a being that feeds on human energy as opposed to blood. Not only that, but he reveals that he brought her to the Ashar Coven to help her become a full-fledged psychic vampire and embrace her destiny as their High Priestess incarnate.

Hera soon realizes that this isn’t a joke and she must tap into her abilities before the Wretched—psychic vampires who feed off of pain and agony—come to fight the Ashar Coven in an all-out war. The only problem is that Hera is kept in the dark and is unsure which side truly has her interests at heart.

What I Enjoyed:

I didn’t think that I would be super crazy about another vampire lore novel. As in, vampires seem a bit cliché to me, so I wasn’t sure how Rokicki would make her novel stand out from all the others. Turns out she pulled it off quite nicely by focusing on explaining her lore rather than the sensuality of vampires feeding on unsuspecting humans. I think that part always creeped me out, so I enjoyed Rokick’s take on vampirism.

The psychic vampires feed off of energy, which seemed like they reached out via meditation to take a sample of energy or aura. The victims don’t notice the decrease in energy and they don’t become vampires either. Each of the vampire characters have different powers as well. The Wretched, on the other hand, feed off the negative energy humans experience when tortured or in serious emotional pain.

The main enjoyment for me was the lore and background history tied to the story—it seemed much more thought out and it’s meticulously revealed throughout the novel. Just when you think it’s too simple, there’s another new detail and thus a new wrinkle in your theory. Despite the various fantasy elements in the novel, it’s still clearly explained as they happen. You can tell Rockiki is in her element and enjoys sharing this story with her readers.

What I Didn’t Enjoy:

I know I’m the party pooper, but I wasn’t a fan of the romantic elements. Hera informs us early on that she’s sixteen, and Aethen is in his early twenties. It made me uncomfortable that he was interested in her even though she’s a minor. From what I can tell, vampires age like normal people. So, I don’t think he’s hundreds of years old like Edward Cullen but their connection made the romance not as hot.

Marina, an old flame and fellow vampire, is also downright mean and plays the jealous ex throughout the novel. It often sets Hera over the edge and puts the cast in jeopardy just because she can’t handle that Hera is supposed to be the leader. Basically, there were some slight pet peeves throughout the romance aspects that made the characters human, but still slightly cliché.

My hope is that Rokicki will flip the script on me. I’m a big fan of being shocked by the sequel!

My Final Thoughts

With the vampire tropes we left behind in the early 2000s, I wasn’t sure if anyone could pull off the vampire novel in a new, fresh way. Rokicki probably saw the same challenge and rose to meet it. I bet you’ll agree with me, too!

Additional warnings: there are depictions of sexual assault in this novel, so if you find that triggering, consider skipping some scenes. Other than that, there aren’t any intimate or sex scenes in the novel, so you’ll likely find this novel appropriate for high school readers and beyond.

Hopefully I shared enough about The Forest House to still pique your curiosity without giving too much away. If you’d like to learn more about Tamara Rokicki and her work, you can catch up with her via social media:

Do you enjoy novels about vampires? What do you like or dislike about vampire lore? Share with me in the comments! Don’t forget you can see all of my other book reviews by checking our the Book Reviews tab.

TESTIMONIALS

Whitney helped me with two short projects written for children, and she was very pleasant to work with. She has an eye for detail, helping me with small grammar errors as well as insights about adding scenes that would enhance my story. Her turnaround time was extremely quick, which I really appreciated when on a deadline!
Brittany Olsen
Whitney and I worked together in a writing feedback group some years ago and have remained in touch since then. From the beginning, I was struck by her absolute responsibility as an editor. Even in the capacity of a group member, not even being employed or contracted by me to edit my work, Whitney was unerringly punctual, thorough, and accurate with her feedback. Her advice is genuinely insightful and I believe the marketability of my work was noticeably increased due to her guidance. I so value her skills that I still turn to her as a resource after three years of working with her in-person have passed.
Jonathan Baker
Whitney did a copy-edit on my third novel, Checkmate. She was a pleasure to work with, and helped me give my novel that final polish that it needed before publication. Put her on your list for editors that help your work shine!
Angelika Offenwanger
Whitney McGruder has created a vast and imaginative world in Destiny Seeker with surprises to delight the reader at every turn. Readers can settle in to devour the diverse and ingenious magic Destiny Seeker has to offer. I highly recommend it.
Jessica Frazier
I won a contest via Wit & Travesty in the summer of 2017. The prize was a professional edit of the first 100 pages of a WIP. My middle grade fantasy was only 90 pages, so she read the entire manuscript. She was communicative and positive about the project. Her edits markedly polished up my manuscript and were easy to understand.
Rachel Barnard
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