Tag: Magic

Bre Writes Book Reviews: February 2022

This month, I managed to read two vastly different books. One I really enjoyed and one that was not my cup of tea. As a writer, I try not to DNF any books, even though the second one I really wanted to do just that. In my opinion, even books that aren’t the best can be learning lessons, and the second book I read this month was full of them!

Without further ado, here’s what I read in February:

Spellmaker by Charlie N. Holmberg

Spellmaker is the second novel in the Spellbreaker duology. I received the first book in a Scribbler subscription box, and quite enjoyed it. I bought the second one from Amazon as soon as I finished the first book and took my time reading it.

First of all, I love the characters. I love that each of them had their own personality and their own goals and drive. It was refreshing to have a female protagonist and other female characters in the late 19th century that had agency and weren’t just rewards for the men in the novel. I enjoyed that the men in the novel were dynamic and not all cookie cutter as the hero trope.

The setting, I thought was interesting, but I feel needed a bit more explanation or a bit more use as a character. Set in England where magic is real and several different kinds of magic exist, I wish there had been a better explanation for the setting and a more in-depth view of some of the magics. There were times where I was reading and going “Man, I wish I had taken better notes,” but that might have just been me, since I do tend to read quickly.

The plot was surprisingly good for the book being a sequel. The first book had a better plot, simply because it was the first book and there was a lot of introduction and excitement in meeting the characters and watching them find and reach their goals. I’m glad this series is a duology, because there was enough plot for a second book and it was nice to see the characters grow and change from the first book. The book has one of my favorite tropes of fake relationship that’s built on the basis of a real relationship underneath, and it was done absolutely beautifully.

Rating: 4.75/5

Bonus:

Here’s how I saw some of the characters in my head. I always enjoy when I can see the characters in my mind and can hear them as they speak.

Bacchus:

Ogden:

Elsie:

The Phantom of the Bathtub by Eugenia Riley

The Phantom of the Bathtub was a book I either bought or got for free from kindle a few years ago during my Phantom of the Opera phase. Let me say it is nothing like Phantom of the Opera except they share the word Phantom in the title.

I honestly expected a lot more from this book. The back blurb mentioned werewolves, ghosts and haunted houses, but it was very watered down and skimmed over in place of the romance and kissing ass to fit in with high society. I expected a lot more from this book, and I kept reading hoping to find it, but sadly the ending didn’t sit right with me at all. It felt forced and over rushed.

The characters were mainly caricatures of people one would expect to find in the south during the late 19th century, overplayed and underdeveloped. The setting of Savannah, Georgia was never really truly explored and used as a character itself. The ghosts were not as prominent as I would have liked and barely enough of a plot point to make a difference. There were plenty of erotic scenes, but even those were lackluster and made the characters even more wishy-washy. The ending was forced for a “happy ending” with little explanation.

This book was not my cup of tea, and I was honestly glad to finish it, but in reading it I noticed things I can improve upon in my own works, so for that I am thankful.

Rating: 1/5

Bonus:

How I saw some of the characters.

Maxwell:

Aubrey:

Viveca:

Stay tuned for what I’m reading next!

Wednesday Works: The Magic Of Trees and Strangers

After hiking the usual area for weeks and weeks, he found himself surprised when a new tree, fully grown just showed up.

Right in the middle of the path, a full grown tree had appeared, as if overnight. The leaves were full and bright and beautiful, flowing blossoms along the branches, huge apples, glossy and appetizing along the low hanging branches. He reached out and grabbed one, then promptly dropped it.

“EXCUSE YOU!” A voice seemed to come from within the tree. “Those apples are mine!”

He wondered if he was suffering from heat stroke. Trees didn’t talk.

“Hello?” He said, looking around. Someone was obviously playing a joke on him. “Is someone there?”

“I don’t know why I should even bother talking to you, Apple Stealer!” The same voice came from the tree. “I’m not sure what you can do for me!”

The tree definitely was talking. He was definitely suffering from heat stroke or something more serious.

“How are you talking right now?” He asked next. “Why is a tree talking to me?” Maybe he was simply dreaming.

The tree groaned. “I am not a tree!” It screeched. “Don’t you know a lady when you see one?”

He tried not to laugh, he really did. But the laugh came out anyway. “A lady?” He asked. “You’re a tree!”

She scoffed. “I wasn’t always a tree!” She said. “I was a lady yesterday!”

He almost couldn’t believe it.

“So what happened?”

The tree sighed and her leaves shuddered as if blown by a hard breeze. “I am never ever going on a night hike under the full moon again!” Her branches seemed to move like she was pointing a finger at him. “Never. Ever. Make a deal. With a good looking hiker.” Her branch struck him hard. “He will turn you into a tree with no way of returning!” Her leaves and branches shuddered once more then froze.

It wasn’t every day he met a woman in the form of a tree on the path. “Well how did you piss him off?” He asked. “That sounds like a faerie, and they only interfere like this when you piss them off.”

The tree groaned once more. “He asked me for my name,” she said next. “And I called him a creep and told him to leave me the hell alone.” She huffed and puffed. “Next thing I know, I’m a tree.”

He couldn’t help but laugh then. “Well, then you were asking for it.”

That only made the tree more furious, her leave shaking, her apples falling and rolling down the path.

“You are impossible!” She groaned at him. “How was I supposed to know?!”

He couldn’t stop laughing, but then he felt bad. “I suppose you wouldn’t.” He couldn’t help but wonder what she had looked like as a human.

She would probably just ignore him, like every other girl he had hoped would be remotely interested in him.

“Did he give you a riddle of how to reverse it?” He asked next. It was the least he could do to help her reverse it.

“No,” She said. “And if he did, I wasn’t paying attention once I was a tree.”

“Well,” he said, “Maybe it’s a good thing you’re a tree.”

At first she was offended.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong, you have nice apples, but I’m sure your face is just atrocious, like a total dog.”

Still, she was offended.

“And don’t get me started on your love handles.” He had a hunch, but he needed to make her laugh. “If your lower branches are any indication. Curvy tree there. Probably at least 250 if not more.” She was silent and he figured that was a bad thing. “You don’t have any human responsibilities anymore, no bills, no trashy Stacy stealing your man.”

The tree scoffed. “That bitch doesn’t deserve my man and if I could, I would chuck my apples so hard at her.”

He couldn’t stop laughing at her. Eventually, her rage quelled and she started laughing too. The more she laughed, the more her leaves shook, the more her apples fell down to the path, the more her laughter started to sound more human with every chuckle.

When the last leaf fell, in front of him stood a very human girl, her smile lighting up her whole face.

“Well,” he said as she stood before him. “Would you look at that? Not a dog at all.”

She moved her very human hands down her torso and then looked at her own human hands. “I’m me again!”

In the rush of excitement, she tackled him with a hug. Then she realized what she had done.

“Does this me have a name?” He asked next.

“Oh no!” She answered after that, the smile still on her face. “I’m not falling for that one again.”

Wednesday Works: The Snow Wife

The first day of winter was always the best. The weather getting colder, the first snow falls, the garish sun hiding away so she could be seen again. The first day of winter was the first day of his life for so many years and the last day of winter was the day he went back to his boring human life.

As a young man, he had felt the pull of a winter magic. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever met, and they had had a wonderful winter together, and then as the spring appeared, she told him the truth.

The magic was beautiful, but the magic couldn’t keep her alive past winter. The magic kept her young and beautiful and he promised to visit her year after year. Year after year, she stayed the same, but year after year, he grew older.

He had a feeling one of the years coming up would be his last. The winters were no longer as kind as they used to be. But he would still go back to her, as long as he was living.

Once the drifts of snow got deeper, he pulled himself from his cozy chair and his mountain of blankets, got dressed in his warmest coat and made the trek up toward the hill where they had first met.

With each step, his legs grew heavier, his breath shorter, coming out in puffs of steam. When he reached the top of the hill, exhaustion threatened, not too far off, but he built a snowman anyway. One with a coal smile and a cute little carrot nose. A snowman with gentle arms of sticks, with a pink scarf and the wide brimmed hat she had left behind.

When he was done, he sat down in the snow in a huff to catch his breath. Over the years, the magic had taken longer and longer to work.

Just as he was about to give up and go back home, the thought he was too old for magic swimming in his old head, she appeared.

The snow woman was just as beautiful as he had always remembered. Her dark hair cascading down her shoulders, the wide brimmed hat framing her face as if it were artwork, her eyes warm and bright, even on the coldest day of the year.

“I fear I don’t have much time left,” He said, his words forced out through puffs of air, still trying to catch his breath. “This may be the last winter we have together, my love.”

She simply smiled and sat next to him. As she took his hand in hers, it felt real and solid. “I know,” She said gently. Her smile used to be enough to ease all the pain in the world, but it did little now. “Just lay yourself down and fall asleep in my lap like you used to.” She smoothed his hair gently. “Like that first time, and when you wake up, everything will be new again.”

“Just like the first time,” He said, easing his head onto her lap and looking up at the flurry of snowflakes dancing down upon the earth.

He wished he had brought her a warmer jacket all those years ago.