Review: The Witches of Vegas by Mark Rosendorf

Product Description:

Where can Witches and their vampire mentor practice their powers without being discovered or persecuted?

By using their magic, the Witches of Vegas become the number one act performing on the Las Vegas Strip—a great achievement for them, but not so much for the magicians—who can't possibly keep pace.

Isis Rivera is the adopted fifteen-year old daughter of The Witches of Vegas. Zack Galloway is the teenage nephew and assistant to the last magician left in the city. Although they should be rivals, when Valeria, a four-hundred-year-old witch with a long-seeded grudge against humanity arrives in Sin-City, both teens act to bring their families together to stop the evil hag in her tracks.

But can the combined witches' powers and the ingenuity of the magicians be enough to stop Valeria from taking over the city and possibly the world?

My Thoughts:

Lately I haven't read a lot of YA because I always end up feeling a little bit frustrated with the scenarios the teens in the book go through. Often times they're acting way more adult than I feel a YA book should be. The Witches of Vegas was actually pretty true to how most teens behave even though it was pure fantasy.

I really enjoyed the story and it was a fun adventure following along with all the drama of being undercover witches with a rival trying to ruin things.  There was a good mix of highs and lows and the action always had a lot of suspense to keep me pulled in to the story and reading through the night. 

Isis and her adopted family were easy to love but my heart was with Zack. He was lovable and endearing as the love-struck hero. I cannot wait for the next installment of the series. 

My Recommendation:

I recommend this for anyone who loves a fun teen adventure. 

Review: The Witches of Vegas by Mark Rosendorf

https://www.readingwithmonie.com/2020/07/review-witches-of-vegas-by-mark.html

Review: Witches Protection Program by Michael Phillip Cash

Product Description: 
Wes Rockville, a disgraced law enforcement agent, is given one last chance to prove himself and save his career when he's reassigned to a 232 year old secret government organization. The Witches Protection Program. His first assignment: uncover a billion-dollar Cosmetics company’s diabolical plan of using witchcraft for global domination, while protecting its heiress Morgan Pendragon from her aunt’s evil deeds. Reluctantly paired with veteran witch protector, Alastair Verne, Wes must learn to believe in both witches and himself. Filled with adventure, suspense and a rousing good time, Michael Phillip Cash creates a tongue-in-cheek alternate reality where witches cast spells and wreak havoc in modern day New York City.

My Thoughts: 
Overall for a children's book this was a fun adventure. After disgracing his law enforcement family, Wes Rockville is assigned to a secret organization that is tasked with keeping the peace between two dueling factions of witches. Of course things go wrong but Wes pulls it out in the end and makes his father proud. 

Although the book had a slow start, the story picked up pace about halfway in and I finished it within a couple of days. If this wasn't a children's book it would rate it fewer stars but I can see tweens loving the book and hope it does well as a series. 

My Recommendation:
This would be perfect for younger teens and older children that love supernatural fantasy reads. 

Review: Witches Protection Program by Michael Phillip Cash

https://www.readingwithmonie.com/2015/11/review-witches-protection-program-by.html

Review: The Glittering World by Robert Levy

Product Description:
In the tradition of Neil Gaiman (The Ocean at the End of the Lane), Scott Smith (The Ruins), and Jason Mott (The Returned), award-winning playwright Robert Levy spins a dark tale of alienation and belonging, the familiar and the surreal, family secrets and the search for truth in his debut supernatural thriller.

When up-and-coming chef Michael “Blue” Whitley returns with three friends to the remote Canadian community of his birth, it appears to be the perfect getaway from New York. He soon discovers, however, that everything he thought he knew about himself is a carefully orchestrated lie. Though he had no recollection of the event, as a young boy Blue and another child went missing for weeks in the idyllic, mysterious woods of Starling Cove. Soon thereafter, his mother suddenly fled with him to America, their homeland left behind.

But then Blue begins to remember. And once the shocking truth starts bleeding back into his life, his closest friends—Elisa, his former partner in crime; her stalwart husband, Jeremy; and Gabe, Blue’s young and admiring co-worker—must unravel the secrets of Starling Cove and the artists’ colony it once harbored. All four will face their troubled pasts, their most private demons, and a mysterious race of beings that inhabits the land, spoken of by the locals only as the Other Kind…

My Thoughts:
When deciding if I should read and review this book what really caught my attention and made me choose it was that it was compared to Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane  and Scott Smith's The Ruins. Both were books that I loved. The Glittering World is definitely a strange journey with suspenseful moments throughout. 

The story sucked me in at the very beginning and the book narration switching from Blue to each of his friends added even more suspense but about halfway through I felt it lost a little steam. Things just kept getting a weirder and weirder and I was actually more creeped out than hooked on what was coming next. 

The ending was very supernatural and eerie but it actually won me back over. Taking the entire book into consideration I will call this one a win. 

My Recommendation:
I recommend this one for anyone who loves supernatural fantasy books. 

Review: The Glittering World by Robert Levy

https://www.readingwithmonie.com/2015/02/review-glittering-world-by-robert-levy.html

Review: Landline by Rainbow Rowell

Product Description:
Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble. That it's been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply—but that almost seems beside the point now. Maybe that was always beside the point.

Two days before they're supposed to visit Neal's family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she can't go. She's a TV writer, and something's come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her—Neal is always a little upset with Georgie—but she doesn't expect to him to pack up the kids and go without her. When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she's finally done it. If she's ruined everything. 

That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It's not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she's been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts. . . .Is that what she's supposed to do? Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened?

My Thoughts:
Who wouldn't love to have a way to connect with a loved one in the past? This book got me thinking about who I would call and what I would say to them. It gave my reading experience an added bit of whimsey and fun. 

The characters were so well done that I could totally picture them as part of my family. They were quirky and had real life drama that worked well with the contrast of the fantasy aspects in the book. 

The only thing that irked me a little was Georgie's relationship with her friend Seth. It was too predictable and didn't tie together with the ending. I wish the twist with Seth that Rowell put in at the end was completely left out but overall it didn't take away from me loving this book.

My Recommendation:
I recommend this one to anyone who loves contemporary fiction with a little bit of fantasy thrown in.

Review: Landline by Rainbow Rowell

https://www.readingwithmonie.com/2014/07/review-landline-by-rainbow-rowell.html

Review: The Ocean and the Hourglass by Dan O'Brien

 Life has been hard on Nicholas Miles. His father left him and his mother when he was younger and his mother uses alcohol to deny that reality. Added to that, he’s bullied at school because he loves to get lost in his reading adventures. One morning when three bullies confront him and tear up one of his favorite comic book, Nicholas runs away to the library. The librarian immediately realizes what happened and shares something special with him; a book and an hourglass. Together they transport Nicholas to the land of his comic book hero and the adventure begins.

If you loved the movie The Neverending Story you will love The Ocean and the Hourglass. Nicholas goes on an epic adventure with the book guiding his way. The world and characters that O’Brien brings to life is amazing and vivid. The only reason I didn’t give the book five stars was because of the ending. The fantasy portion of the story was wrapped up nicely and the reality portion of the story had the beginnings of a wrap up but I wish I knew more of what happened to Nicholas once he got back. Other than that this is a perfect adventure for YA readers or anyone who loves a great fantasy read.
 



Review: The Ocean and the Hourglass by Dan O'Brien

https://www.readingwithmonie.com/2012/01/review-ocean-and-hourglass-by-dan.html