Sandra

I will be back to write my review. Need to process the information that I have read.

I dislike writing reviews for only 2 stars because I feel like I am being unfair. I listened to the audio book (I consider it reading) and.... Well..... I fell asleep near the end of the book because I was so bored listening to the audio book due to how boring the overall book was (For ME). I did not practically care for the view point and maybe that was because I am used to Twilight. I have a feeling I did not like this book because I have already read and love Twilight.

It was a rather dry read. Not bad. However, it was not my cup of tea.

So based off my 2-year-olds reaction to the book I can say the colors in the book are a plus, but other than that, the book is just short and quick to read. I will update my review once I read it again.

I would first like to say, thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of Shebly Mahurin's book The Scarlet Veil in exchange for a review.

I did not read Shelby Mahurin's other book series Serpent and Dove. So, I went into this book blind and I do not regret that decision. The Scarlet Veil took me a total of 20 hours to completely read because I was that engulfed in the story and characters.

Scarlet Veil follows Celie Trembly, who is engaged to Jean-Luc the Captian of the Chasseurs (Hunters). We start with the background of Celie and why she wanted to be the first woman Chasseur. However, we also learn that Jean-Luc treats her differently from the rest of the Chasseurs. He treats Celie as a fragile doll that needs to be protected and safeguarded at all times. This behavior does not feel right with Celie. Celie also learns that Jean-Luc has been keeping something from her. It is not until her friend is murdered that everything for Celie starts to change. From Michal kidnapping her and taking her to a hidden island, to trying to solve murder investigations that might be connected. This is where the story truly starts for our characters.

I do not want to give away more of the story but I truly enjoyed this book. However, there are some aspects that I did not like. For most of Part 1 of the book, the dialogue was “cheesy” almost too cheesy. I do believe that this was a part of the premise of the book to show how (almost) everyone treats Celie. It was not until the final act that Celie finally has this moment of “I am worthy, I am more than a doll”. I do wish it was sooner. In my opinion, Celie's “crybaby/victim” mentality was the biggest pitfall of this book. I truly wanted her to have great character development before the book ended. It is okay though.

When it came to Celie and Michal. I wanted more. Like... A whole lot more. This makes me excited for Book 2. As for the cliffhanger. It was predictable but it will still leave one wanting more from Scarlet Veil. If all of Shelby's books are written like this then Shelby will become my favorite author of all time.


Alright with all that being said here are some twigger warnings/content warnings because “It is better to prevent than to heal” (Shelby Mahurin).

Violence
kidnapping
Slight Depictions of blood/gore
Strong language (I know some find issues with books containing cussing but I would like to let you all know there was a total of 4 times).
Death

I'm sorry but I DNF this. I just could not get into it.

Many other reviewers have already articulated my thoughts. Please go read theirs. Its the ones star ones.

All I can say is this book is just trauma/abuse dumping, cliche, predictable has been done before in a better way.

I really want to give it one star because I have read emotionally riveting books but this type of writing is a hit or miss. It is so easy to cross the line of to much and to little. Staying in the middle while captivating the audience is a hard thing to do.

For me, I was annoyed with this book since chapter one. There was to much..... well..... I'm just gonna stop here.

The kids liked it and it has a lovely message for children to remember.
Keep on trying and don't let others opinions influence your dreams.

Not my cup of tea. Very basic, predictable and has been done before. It could be due to me being older and have read similar books to this when i was a child.

The first time I read this book was back in 2008. I was in 8th grade. I hated reading because every book that I ever picked up was not my style/cup of tea. Then one day I saw this little book on my teacher's bookshelf and asked if I could read it. That day was the day I fell in love with reading. This book is unique with a little hint of W.I.T.C.H. elements in there. Ever since 2008, I have been looking for similar books like this. Yet, I have not found any.

I just finished rereading it in 2023, over a decade later. One of the oldest books on my shelf.

Interesting read. There are several sections of interest for me. For example, the section titled Ethical Issues in Experimental Research.

Social science experiments often raise difficult ethical issues. You have already read in Chapter 3 that Philip Zimbardo (2004) ended his Stanford Prison Experiment after only six days, rather than after the planned two weeks, because of the psychological harm that seemed to result from the unexpectedly sadistic behavior of some of the “guards.” Although Zimbardo's follow-up research convinced him that there had been no lasting harm to subjects, concern about the potential for harm would preclude many such experiments today...

I find sections like this informative that contain valuable information about important ethical issues that have been conducted during experiments throughout history. This information is something that we should be aware of to prevent future ethical violations.

There are several other sections that I would put into this review but I do not believe people want to read that type of review.

Overall, I do believe that others should read this. It is a “simple” read, a rather long - simple read but it is worth it.
I would rate it 5 stars but since it is an educational/textbook. I have to rate it at 3 stars because of the neutrality.

This is a policy I have to keep implicit and explicit biases to a minimum

UGGGG, I dislike this book so much it is unreal. Yes, I know, it is a criminal court book and it is not supposed to be fun. But I could not wait until it was done and over with. The information is good but also outdated. I just want to read one of these books that are up to date with current information.

Okay. I sat on this for a few days to try to figure out how I would review this.

Star rating:
It doesn't deserve any stars. One star is gracious.

Review:
While reading this I felt as though I am in a cornfield being chased by Aliens only to figure out I was never in a cornfield being chased by Aliens.
Instead, I was sitting on my front porch, cracking open a cold one, while pondering where my blue sock went that I had on my right foot at one point. Then realizing I am wearing two neon yellow socks and do not own any blue socks.

Does that make sense?
No, good
This is that book

Update:
Now, y'all do not get me wrong I am no perfect person when it comes to spelling and grammatical errors and I rarely care about that stuff. Plus, that was never the issue. One issue is that this book is blatantly fatphobic before you even start.
For example:
“Before I get into this I have a question. Just how many of these fing books are there? How many fing ways can a person tell write same fing thing. Jesus tap dancing Christ losing weight isn't that fing hard. Sure it's not the easiest thing in the world but it's still not that hard. Look I'll break it down for you.
Stop eating like a hippo. Cut out all the fatty food, while delicious are f***ing terrible for you. Then move around a little bit. THAT'S IT!”.

FILLER. MORE FILLER, AND MORE FILLER.
Then we have

“There is no plan at the moment that will allow you to lose weight and still sit on your ass eating cheese balls. Outside of moving around and eating less there isn't one other way to do it. No matter what a goddamn book promises they just can't carry it out if the person reading it isn't ready to do the work. If the person is ready then anyone's fucking book will work. Doesn't matter if it's wrote by the potato headed Dr. Phil or me it'll work all the same”.

This is just the first chapter y'all. The grief chapter is just as bad. Chapter three is bad and so forth.

Granted, I have read some horrendous books but this one takes the cake.

I refuse to even mention the grammatical errors and spelling issues because that is not my area of expertise but so you are aware it is bad.

Not bad, wish it was more current.

Do not remember when I finished this with my son. It was sometime between April and May. It is longer and well..... Reading this to him was kind of hard for him to sit through. Which is expected for a 2 year old. LOL should have waited a year or two. It is my bad. Overall good book for children.

DNF'd
just nope.

Thank you, NetGalley for the advanced copy of Light Fighters by Palmer Pickering.

This is an absolute gem of a book. It is a wonderful read and it is long, but in the end, it is worth it. The writer is well one of my new authors that are on my “will always buy” list. Sci-Fi readers will love this book (maybe I am just behind in that area). The character development and world-building are amazing. That is a major thing for me. It was also done very well.

So not a bad book, short and quick to read. My 2-year-old was bored with it after the ABC page and decided he was all done with the book.

This is one of the better books that I have read for criminal justice degree. All the other books I have read for my classes have been outdated and this book finally reflect current issues that have been happening since 2001ish-2017ish and some older issues. It does have similar data, facts, and paragraphs as other criminal justice books that you will probably read for you degree.
I was impressed that this book finally mentions BLM movement, minorities and First Nation communities. Granted, I wish it was a whole chapter on each minority community instead of just a 500 word essay about them. BUT it was a nice change to learn more about the minority communities that actually reflected current conflicts they have with the police.
I do wish there was more about those groups but its better than just reading outdated statistics about how many are in jail vs. white in 1990, or how those groups are apparently overrepresented in jail. Do not get me wrong, I love looking at that data it adds to the book to prove the point but it was refreshing that this had current data.
Now for me, the only thing I did not like in this was it focused on LA, Huston, Chicago and New York when it came to the minority communities, which I understand why. To me that was redundant to every other book out there. It would have been refreshing to focus on Maine, Arizona or another place that has a large Indigenous population, or El Paso for another minority communities and so on so forth. Focusing on different Cities around the country would have been more insightful.
Anyway good book.

I would like say congratulations on being self published, that takes strength and courage.

Honest review: In regards to this book/novella it seems to juvenile for my taste.

I have been reading the preview of it to see if it is worth the buy, to finish reading it. In my opinion, for me, I will not continue reading it due to how juvenile it sounds and a few other reasons but I will not nitpick a self published book that took the time to write and had the guts to publish it.

Example of what I am taking about:
“The were one for all and all for one , type bros.”
“This royal family was one of the happiest family in this universe. And they have all the technologies of great qualities. As the ages passed the two bros were read to take the control over their fathers throne......“
“........he believed that he had much more knowledge of keeping their societies more happier.”
“Yes the Jupiter is the largest planet and because of it beauty and abundance of technologies and good facilites and more people started to settle on.....” Facilities was spelt wrong but like I said I will not nitpick all the small details because that is not fair.

There are very small spelling mistakes and grammar mistakes that can be overlooked, but as I continued to read the more childlike it seemed. I DO believe that the audience for this middle schoolers and not adults, unless this is your type of book.

Another reason why I will not be continuing to read this book is because I honestly do not like this type of genre, the whole Greek, Fantasy, sci-fi feel of it is not my prefeed read. I do tend to read Fantasy or dystopian, because Greek, Fantasy and Sci-Fi pretty much all in one is not my cup of tea. I was never able to get into that type of genre because it seems over rated and over done (just my opinion)

I will give you 4 stars for being self-published and having the guts to do what many are to afraid to do. I give you 4 stars because there are people out there that will love your writing and books. I am just not one of those people. Take my review with a grain of salt my friend, It is just an opinion, I am sure others will love your works of art. Please keep writing and keep pushing. I do recommend that you should broadcast this towards the younger audience.

Keep up the work, keep trying and keep going.

Uggg, so glad I am done reading this book. Uggg, that is my review.

Better than others i have read. Does have similar information from other books but at least it is straightforward.

Easy, good, efficient, straight to the point with no extra fluff.

Thank you Net Galley for providing me with a copy of Coven by Taous Merakchi & Da Coffee Time.

This is a witchy graphic novel with a spooky setting/”vibe”. In this graphic novel, we start with four teens that dabble in witchcraft to save a tree in their city park. At first, everything is going according to the plan to save this tree. However, that quickly changes and everything starts going wrong.

Coven was an enjoyable quick read. Each character had their own story and background. We also see different communities represented in this graphic novel. I do wish it was longer so I could get to know the characters more. The illustrations were adorable but also showed the reader the personality that each character has.

Were to start.
So I recieved this book as an gift or something. Wwwwaaayy, wayyyy back ago and never read it in a one year sitting due to how many pages it had (9902).
Maybe it is a glitch on my kindle or something but there is 9902 pages all different and no repeating of chapters. An im gonna be honest with ya, I was bored reading it. I started this in 2013 maybe earlier and finally got around to finishing it off just because.... Anyway, 3 stars just because I don't truly do not remember the whole book. Nor am I going to sit through this again.