Hi friends– Just a quick note to let you know that you’re not on the wrong site! I’ve made some changes to the layout and design of Indebooks. Hopefully this makes it easier for you to navigate and find older reviews. Please feel free to get in touch with any questions or comments. Thanks for reading! Have a great three-day weekend!
The internet is abuzz with discussions about paid reviews following this weekend’s New York Times article on the subject. I wanted to take this opportunity to thoroughly explain my review policy. 1) My reviews are 100% my own opinion. If I laugh, or cry, or grimace, I’ll say so. We may not agree, but you’ll always know I’m honest. 2) I do not (and will not) accept any payment from authors in exchange for a positive review. 3) If a book is suggested to me by an author or someone associated with a book, I will disclose this within the review. I will also disclose if a review copy of a book is provided to me for free. See above re: honesty. It always applies! 4) I will do my best to share other opinions so that readers can be exposed to a wide variety of book reviews. If you have something to say, please email me or provide comments on any of my reviews. 5) If my review policy changes, I will explain why as clearly as I can. Thanks for taking the time to read this. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at indebookreview@gmail.com.
Note to readers: This is the second in a series of posts on book reviews. Share your thoughts in the comments section. If you’ve been reading the reviews on this site, you may have noticed that I don’t give star ratings to the books I’ve reviewed. It’s because I really hate the star system. Oh sure, it’s been used to rate products and services for millions of years (okay, a slight exaggeration). Three-star hotels, four-star restaurants. One-star pedicures and five stars for the pizza place around the corner. Who am I, a lowly indie book reviewer, to question this long-held tradition? But face it: the stars had it coming. Here’s why:
Author: Debora Geary Publisher: Self-published Genre: Paranormal My price: $3.99 Confession: I was a very bad book blogger. You see, I stumbled upon this book, read about five words of the blurb, thought it sound interesting, and then bought it. If I had been a bit more patient, I would’ve seen this very helpful note right at the bottom of the blurb: “Witches on Parole is the first book in the WitchLight spin-off trilogy, set in the world of the A Modern Witch series. This trilogy can absolutely be enjoyed on its own, but if you haven’t yet read A Modern Witch, you might consider doing so–many of the characters featured in Witches on Parole get their start in the main series…” Yeah. If you decide to read this book, start with the original series. Witches on Parole makes sense on its on its own, but I had a number of notes in the ”margins” saying things like “Wish we had some more context,” or “What’s this character’s back story?” Now, I haven’t read the Modern Witch series yet, but I’m willing to bet that some of the answers to my questions are within those books. With that longer-than-necessary introduction, let’s get to the actual review. Witches on Parole is a story of a witch named Jennie and her friends in Witchlight, a close-knit community of witches. Jennie is chosen to host and guide two troubled witches, Elsie and Lizard– two witches who couldn’t be more different, at least on the surface. Jennie enlists a crew of friends to challenge Elsie and Lizard to knock down some of their barriers, boost their confidence, and help them find their way.
Author: Karen MacInerney Publisher: Self-published Genre: Mystery My price: $3.99 *This book was recommended to me by the author. I did not receive a free copy of the e-book or any other compensation in exchange for my review. The review is filled with my own opinions, as always.* When I was a kid and young teenager, I was obsessed with mystery books– so much so that I formed my own short-lived detective agency with my sister and neighborhood friends. We were pretty terrible. It’s been awhile since I’ve read a mystery, mainly because I grew tired of the trite plots and the protagonists I couldn’t relate to. However, Mother’s Day Out is a really delightful book, filled with interesting characters and laugh-out-loud humor. (I mean that literally, by the way. You’d be surprised at the weird looks I got on the train.) The main character, Margie, is a former stay-at-home-mom who has taken up a new part-time job as a private investigator. She’s a bit of an everywoman, juggling two kids, managing a household, worrying about finances and her marriage, and now, trying to fit in a part-time job. Even though I’m not a mom, I could feel myself slipping into her shoes. I got annoyed when she did, rolled my eyes when she did, and cried when she did. In short, I’m glad that I got to be Margie’s friend for the duration of the novel.
