My Review of Sallowed Blood by Stuart G. Yates

I have four thousand books waiting for me on my Kindle. For reals.  So--choosing my next book is always difficult. I decided to read Sallowed Blood by Stuart G. Yates  because I found the description intriguing, but even more interesting to me was an exchange between another Amazon reviewer and the author. Basically, the reviewer said, "Hey author, you need to have this edited again. There are some errors and you changed one of the character's names midway, and then changed it back." And then the author said, "Nuh uh." (I paraphrase both parts, of course.) Well, any author who is willing to argue with a reviewer has my attention! So I decided to read the book for myself to see who was right!
Any bets on who that might have been??
This story is about a boy named Daniel who is about fifteen years old. His mom has recently passed away, and his dad has taken to drinking. A lot. When his grandmother dies, that is the last straw for Daniel, until he finds out she was filthy stinking rich, and now he has a trust fund. And also a castle. Yeah, Granny left him and his dad a castle in Bavaria.

Daniel's grandma left him a castle. All mine left me was a copy of Little Women and a painting of a dog.

From the first night in the castle, Daniel is uneasy. He's hearing weird sounds. The staff is creepy, and there's some weird dude who keeps showing up telling his dad he wants to buy the castle and they shouldn't move there. But Daniel is a trooper and he is determined not only to stick it out but not to point out any of the weird sounds or creepiness to his dad, not even when one of the maids turns into a monster in front of his face and another one of he workers tries to kill him. Nope, why would you mention that to your dad?
Eventually, a tutor comes along and enlightens Daniel that there are a bunch of legends associated with the former owners of the castle dating back to medieval times.  They go exploring in caves nearby and villagers tell them to move.  Again, why tell your only living parent any of this?
People start showing up dead, and then Daniel's dad goes away for a while, leaving his son alone in the creepy castle where at least two people have supposedly died in the last two weeks. As any good parent does.
Daniel's Aunt Flo shows up--no it isn't that time of the month, that's really her name--and the story begins its climax with Daniel stumbling upon the secret to all of the evil noises coming from the pits of the house! Will Daniel survive? Will things with Aunt Flo get messy? Does Dad ever realize that his son has been accosted by the waitstaff? Well, to find out, you will just have to read this one for yourself.
Here are some things that I really liked! First of all, the backstory to the castle is great. I'm not sure if Yates made up the history he weaves into the story or if he's just an excellent historian, but either way, I found it intriguing.  I really liked reading about the medieval characters and the history of the castle. Also, I found parts of the plot to be very creative. I'd certainly never read anything like this before, and when it comes to the paranormal element, I think that's saying something. There isn't a lot that hasn't been done to death.
Here's where I had some issues. Remember that reviewer? She was sooo right. There were a lot of sentences missing words, grammatical errors, punctuation in the wrong place or doubled up, things a good proofreader could have caught. The story was also in need of some actual editing as parts were hard to follow. I'm talking about overly wordy sentences and things like Daniel handing a cup to a maid only to be gripping the cup a few minutes later--things that take you out of  the story and make you say, "what just happened?" There is a character named Mr. Spencer in the beginning of the book. About a quarter of the way through, he is referred to as Mr. Simpson, and then later he becomes Mr. Spencer again. This is confusing, particularly in a book where characters have similar names--like Martha and Maria. And then there's Daniel and Dad. Yes, the character may as well be named Dad as that is pretty much all he is ever called. The book is written in third person limited, not first person, so the character should really be referred to by his name, particularly in scenes where Daniel isn't present, but even then he is called Dad most of the time, which gets annoying after a while. (As any parent knows, having one's own identity is crucial to existence. My name is not Mommy!)
Another thing that bothered me is that Daniel cries. A lot. He is a 15 year old boy who has a crush on a 18 or 17 year old girl (the book gives her both ages, in that order) who cries at least a half a dozen times. I don't think most teenage boys cry that much--but if they are the kind of boy who does cry, then they are probably also the kind of boy who tells their dad they saw a monster in the kitchen!
I wanted to like Daniel, but I couldn't.  He was too pathetic for me. I did really like the character of Rex. I don't know if I liked Dad or not because he was a stereotype and not a real person, which is indicated by his name (which must be Dad.)
Overall, I would say, if you like a quick read, paranormal with historical background, and you don't mind the problems I've listed above, then check this one out. You can find it on Amazon here and at the time of this posting, it is still free, regularly $2.99.
One more thing, I know as an author it is difficult to read critical reviews. (I literally know that!) But I don't know that it is ever a good idea to respond back to a reviewer with negativity. In this case, maybe it was a good move on Yates's part because it caused me to read his book, but it also caused me to leave a three star review on his book, which may or may not be a good thing.  Sometimes, it's best to leave those types of things unsaid, or publish them elsewhere. Like on your blog.... If you'd like to read my three star review on Amazon, which is slightly different than this one, you can find it here. If you find my review helpful, please click "yes." It is alway nice to get positive feedback on my reviews!
I wonder if Mr. Yates will find it helpful.
Now, what am I going to read next....Perhaps something the negative reviewer wrote! She really did have a way with words.

My Review of Taming Beauty by Lynne Barron

With the upcoming release of the new live-action Disney film, Beauty and the Beast, there are sure to be a lot of retellings appearing on the bookshelves. This one, however, has been around for a little while. And if you're looking for a re-imagination of the well-known story, then I highly recommend you check this one out.
In this particular retelling, the beast isn't an actual animal but more of a brutish baron. Jasper, Baron Maleville, finds himself betrothed to the daughter of one of his archenemies in an attempt to underhandedly undo the scoundrel. However, as the wedding party arrives at his manor, it isn't the young and fetching sister he is promised to that catches his attention, rather it is her slightly older, slightly bawdier, sister Lileth. And while Lileth pretends to have absolutely no interest in the baron, it soon becomes very difficult for her to keep her growing attraction a secret.
I really enjoyed several aspects of this story. First of all, Barron writes with prose that transports the reader back in time. With her skillful turning of phrase that sounds remarkably suited to the time period of her writing, it is quiet easy to find oneself immersed in the story. While some authors are not capable of taking such a sophisticated approach to historical fiction, Barron does so in a way that is not only non-distracting from the storyline, it actually enhances the experience.
The character of Lileth, though she is very unlady like in many ways, is immediately likable, and I found myself cheering from her from the very beginning. She is no damsel in distress! Rather, she is witty, charming, and highly intelligent.  She doesn't really seem to care what other people think of her and has little time for the rules of high society of the period. There are points in the story when she does show vulnerability, which leaves her a very well-rounded character.
I was not as impressed with Jasper, though, partially because I felt the picture painted of him was a little difficult to follow. My mind kept wanting to make him a hideous beast, but he is described as attractive with some physical scars. Perhaps it was the influence of other "beast" characters that wouldn't let me fully see this character the way Barron intended, but I felt he could have used some more depth and transparency. I did find his backstory very interesting.
There are several other characters that were intriguing and fit in well with the story, including the younger sister who is betrothed to Jasper and the nieces and nephews who live in his home. Barron does a wonderful job of including these other characters and describing the setting where the story unfolds. Even the father who has so many flaws becomes intriguing and charismatic the more we learn about him.
There were some proofreading mistakes, which occasionally distracted from the reading--missing words, phrases that weren't quite complete, etc. But this did not ruin the story for me, and I was able to get back into the action fairly quickly after re-reading a sentence here or there.
Overall, I feel this was a very well-written piece of historical fiction with quite a bit of romance. If you're looking for something to tide you over while you wait for Beauty and the Beast on the big screen, I highly recommend this one. You can find it here on Amazon, and the current price is $2.99. I received my copy for free in exchange for a fair review. If you've read it, let us know in the comments what you thought of Taming Beauty by Lynne Barron.