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Book Review: Sunbolt

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book cover for sunbolt 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 Sunbolt by Intisar Khanani. 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:

The winding streets and narrow alleys of Karolene hide many secrets, and Hitomi is one of them. Orphaned at a young age, Hitomi has learned to hide her magical aptitude and who her parents really were. Most of all, she must conceal her role in the Shadow League, an underground movement working to undermine the powerful and corrupt Arch Mage Wilhelm Blackflame.

When the League gets word that Blackflame intends to detain—and execute—a leading political family, Hitomi volunteers to help the family escape. But there are more secrets at play than Hitomi’s, and much worse fates than execution. When Hitomi finds herself captured along with her charges, it will take everything she can summon to escape with her life.

What I Enjoyed:

While the magic system took a while for me to catch onto, I thought it was really fun and interesting. Hitomi has some pretty incredible powers with surprising consequences. I was impressed by how much she could do and how clever she was. It’s a fresh take on the hero’s journey—she’s fully capable but keeps her abilities secret to draw less attention to herself. Also, the villains are pretty interesting—you’ve got something akin to a vampire, a werewolf and a soul reaper/Dementor involved in this story, but I like Khanani’s take on these types of creatures. I don’t want to reveal too much, so read it and let me know if my comparisons were on point or not.

I also liked how Hitomi was such a realist. Nothing gets past her. Following her in the story was fun because you know you’ll get a realistic view of her options and it’s crazy to watch her deal with crazy issues and she either shrugs out of it, or takes what’s been dealt to her.

Another enjoyable thing: the story is short! Khanani is able to give a really riveting story in such a short amount of time. The edition I got (via F-BOM) also comes with an additional story, which I can’t wait to read. So if you like an interesting story that gets right to the point, then you’ll love this story especially.

What I Didn’t Enjoy:

I’m normally pretty bad at remembering details from books, and it often does take me a while to get settled into a setting or a character. While I was immediately enchanted by Hitomi, it took me a while to figure out the magic rules in the novel. Also, some of the characters in Karolene are shapeshifters, which took me a while to pick up on. Since the novel is written in first-person present, you sort of have to pick up details as you go along. I had to reread stuff because I wasn’t fully paying attention.

Whether or not that’s my fault, it’s something that made it hard for me to give the novel 5 stars. I guess if you enjoy books that treat its readers like they are extra clever and observant, then this might not bother you at all. This novella doesn’t wait for you to catch on, so hang tight through the whole ride.

My Final Thoughts

This novel is very clean. I’m not sure if it was intentional or not, but the plot is very much like a Bollywood movie: no sensual romance (not even kissing), and hardly any foul language. You can definitely give this to a teenager without any worries.

Sunbolt is also a great book to introduce to kids or to your own reading repertoire if you’re looking for more diverse reads. The character is definitely a fish out of water in Karolene and learns to blend despite looking different from the others, while repaying the locals for their kindness.

I hope I shared enough to pique your curiosity without giving too much away! If you’d like to learn more about Intisar Khanani 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: Reflections

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book review reflection via wit and travestyHey, writers and readers!

It’s not a good month without an indie novel or two. Today I’ll be reviewing Reflections by Briana Morgan. 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:

“Rama would trade almost anything for the chance to become someone else, even for a little while.”

Ramachandra “Rama” Ganeshan lives in small Aldale, West Virginia, and she would rather be as small and unnoticeable as her small town. After she faces a brutal assault, her confidence and self-esteem, she feels more alone than ever. She doesn’t know where to turn or if she should even tell anyone else about her assaulter or what happened. 

At the same time, the town becomes increasingly uneasy about the beautiful, popular girls her age that continue to go missing and never come back. When she comes across the dead body of her classmate, she is discovered by a group of shapeshifters. They seem to know about the killings but keep mum about it.

Rama stays with the group in hopes of learning what they know about her missing classmates. She also has to learn to love herself and confront the events she had to endure to stick up for the friends she lost and seek justice. 

What I Enjoyed:

Rama. What a real character. I sure wished I read something like this in high school. I think anyone who has dealt with self-confidence or body dysmorphia will find a piece of them in Rama and will find her journey throughout the book pretty realistic even though the novel has fantasy/supernatural/paranormal elements to it.

And as many reviewers have already said, there was an excellent blend of fiction and supernatural; at first I thought this would be a standard teen fiction novel based on the tone and setting, but the light burst of the shapeshifter stuff—and the magic rules that go along with it—only enhanced it.

All the shapeshifter characters are also really fun. Morgan has a way of making each character interesting and relatable, but you’re still not sure who to trust. She keeps you in suspense until the very end. As in, you weren’t sure if they witnessed the murders and didn’t want their group to be found (while playing the heroes), or if they were up to something more deviant.

What I Didn’t Enjoy:

I think the only thing that consistently didn’t work for me was the overdose of inner dialog we get from Rama. Someone would ask her a question or tell her to do something, then she would think to herself for a page or so. The pacing was disrupted because she was feeling a dose of self doubt and needed to fully express it. Thus, it felt a bit redundant. I’d prefer to have that peek inside Rama’s mind not interrupt the dialog.

My Final Thoughts

Morgan deals with a lot of serious issues such as rape, assault, and victim blaming. She handles these sensitive topics well throughout the novel but also provides professional links and resources at the end of the story. I’d also say that Morgan doesn’t add this kind of content for shock effect, but it serves a deep purpose to the novel. If you prefer to avoid novels about rape and assault, there’s no way to avoid this while reading, as Rama thinks about the events over and over again in order to analyze the situation and overcome the trauma.

I hope I shared enough to pique your curiosity without giving too much away! If you’d like to learn more about Briana Morgan 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: When Rains Fall

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book review when rains fall via wit and travestyHey, writers and readers!

It’s not a good month without an indie novel or two. Today I’ll be reviewing When Rains Fall by Cassidy Taylor, or the first novel in the Lost Fields 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:

When rains fall and tides rise, you must decide on which shore you stand.

Sibba Hallowtide finally has the opportunity to strike out on her own and search for independence. However, a few things stand in her way: a young man who wants her crown (whatever that means), and the stern request to bring her brother safely home to become chief. She soon realizes that she has to let go of past hurt while learning more about her mother’s secrets in order to move on with her future plans.

Rayne Crowheart was taken from her royal family when she was twelve, and now five years later, her one mission is to assassinate her own sister. Her past failures and her empathy for her sister makes this her most difficult mission yet. However, an unlikely ally helps her face her corrupt father, her ignorant sister, and her manipulative future brother-in-law.

What I Enjoyed:

You’ll soon realize that the story follows two POVs: Rayne Crowheart and Sibba Hallowtide. I thought the pacing was well done and the exchange back and forth was well done; since we were going back and forth, there were more opportunities for cliff hangers and they weren’t annoying or ill-placed.

There were also a few characters that stood out to me. I especially enjoyed Tola. I imagined her as a mature, witch version of Merida. It’s probably the wild red hair that gives that image. I really enjoyed how she’s introduced, her personality, and the role she takes in the novel. She’s a healer, which is nifty for someone like Sibba who gets stabbed and cut more often than one prefers. She’s also the voice of reason when Sibba gets violent. She’s also a fantastic character on her own and I didn’t feel like she was primarily functioning as a support character.

Overall, I loved how there were smart and flawed women on both sides. Rayne and Sibba both made excellent protagonists.

What I Didn’t Enjoy:

As much as I truly enjoyed the world building and history, some aspects of past events were confusing to me. There’s a bit of family and royal drama and I had to read certain passages multiple times to understand the gravity of current events. Granted, I read this during a red-eye flight, so maybe I wasn’t in the best circumstances to take in exposition. All I can say is that the drama and who’s related to whom took a bit of extra work to internalize and understand.

My Final Thoughts

As a bonus, you should also read the short story prequel, The Dry Season. I read it first before When Rains Fall. It’s a super quick read—it probably took me twenty minutes to finish. It’s a quick story from Jamisen Malstrom’s point of view. I really liked this choice. Oh, you’ll learn more about Jamisen from the novel, so don’t worry if this doesn’t mean much to you right now.

As for whether or not it’s helpful, the full novel is written in a way that whether you read the prequel, and regardless of when you read it, it won’t tamper with the experience. Since I read the prequel first (as was probably intended), I had a better handle of the story’s history and how certain characters related to each other.

I’m also happy to say that this novel (and probably the rest of the series) is LGBTQT+ friendly. Yay! We could always use more of that.

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

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

TESTIMONIALS

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
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 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
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
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
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