Book Review: The Feast of the Drowned (Doctor Who: New Series Adventures #8)

The Feast of the Drowned by Stephen Cole
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

rating: 4.5 stars, rounded up ★★★★★
format: audiobook
genre: science fiction

disclaimer: For some reason, I repeatedly typed the title out as "The Feast of the Damned" which is why the url is like that. Sorry!

summary:

If you ever wanted an episode of Doctor Who, but every character is played by David Tennant, this audiobook is for you! The Feast of the Drowned is a short adventure about the Tenth Doctor and his companion Rose, who investigate a sunken Naval ship that Rose's friend's brother was on when disaster struck. After the sinking, ghostly apparitions of the victims begin appearing to their families, begging for help before "the feast."

pros:

• The audiobook is narrated by David Tennant, who reads the story with all of his enthusiasm and David Tennant-isms. It's funny listening to him jump from his native Scottish accent, to the Doctor's British accent, to a minor character's American accent, and back again. I think it would be impossible to be bored during anything read by him. I'm sure I would have gotten much better grades in school had my textbooks been narrated by him.

• I liked the spooky, mysterious story. It was a bit gorier than an episode of Doctor Who, though not in an overwhelming, horror way.

• There was a strong cast of new supporting characters.

cons:

• There wasn't much I could find wrong with this, except for my normal amount of annoyance at Mickey. It seemed like he was just sorta there, and that they plot could have been carried easily enough without him.
  
  

Sorry, Mickey.

overall thoughts:

This was a short, fun listen! I did pay $4.99 for it on iTunes, and while it was worth it, the price for such a short audiobook does not have me in too big of a rush to buy the rest of the books in the series, but I'm sure I will continue to listen to these in the future.

review cross-posted: Skyler St. Clair on Goodreads & Skyler's Bookshelf Reading Blog

applicable challenges:

Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge - Borrowing (a book with a character from a different book - The Doctor)
SFF Virtual Badge Collection - The Monster Badge

Book Review: Norse Mythology

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

rating: 5 stars ★★★★★
format: audiobook
genre: fantasy, mythology, short stories

REVIEW COMING SOON

Review cross-posted: Skyler St. Clair on Goodreads & Skyler's Bookshelf Reading Blog

Applicable challenges:
Books in Wonderland Fantasy Reading Challenge - January (a fantasy book inspired by mythology)

Color Coded Reading Challenge - Black

Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge - Occupations (a book written by a college professor - professor of the arts at Bard College)

SFF Virtual Badge Collection - The Big Battle Badge 

Book Review: Brina: A Pagan Picture Book

Brina: A Pagan Picture Book by Andrea Stein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

rating: 4.5 stars, rounded up for the enjoyment factor
format: ebook (Kindle Unlimited), which was a bit difficult (it would be nice to see the art larger and I wasn’t able to zoom in on the pictures)
genre: children's

I read this adorable book while looking on in the Kindle Unlimited shop for books on Wicca. I was surprised to find a children’s book on the topic, but certainly not disappointed! It’s cute and creative with enchanting illustrations that gave the story a whimsical, yet still grounded feel to it. I loved the sweet, encouraging relationship the mother had with the daughter. Bonus: POC representation that little girls can look up to!

Review cross-posted: Skyler St. Clair on Goodreads & Skyler's Bookshelf Reading Blog

Applicable challenges:
Pick Your Poison - Picture This (an illustrated book)

Book Review: Putting the Romance in Necromancy (The Knight and the Necromancer #0.5)

Putting the Romance in Necromancy by A.H. Lee
My rating: 5 of 5 stars ★★★★★

rating: 4.5 stars, rounded up
format: ebook
genre: fantasy, lgbt, m/m romance

I read this little prequel before having read any other book in the series, just to get a feel for the writing and characters to see if I would enjoy this author’s work. I really did. In just 15 pages I got a great feel of the world and the main character, Sairis. I liked his smart, subtle humor interwoven with a much darker scene of killing a horse and raising it from the dead, which was described in such a creepy, visceral way. I also enjoyed the supporting character and the awkward but sweet conversation that pushed Sairis towards a side quest of self-discovery.

I look forward to starting this series soon!

Review cross-posted: Skyler St. Clair on Goodreads & Skyler's Bookshelf Reading Blog