Val Muller

The Electronic Wordsmith

Browsing Posts in book reviews

Written in the voice of 15/16-year old Felton Reinstein, this story is told as Felton looks back upon a very trying summer he’s had. When he was five (we learn in the very first few pages), Felton opened the garage door to discover his father had committed suicide. His mother raised him unconventionally, asking to […]

The Lady of Steinbrekka is a young adult fantasy about a twenty-something named Rhea who finds herself kidnapped and taken to a fantasy world run by a despotic king and evil prince. She’d been a grad student in “the real world,” and she was over-worked and lonely, her friend Matt having disappeared without explanation several […]

Today, I’m taking part in a book review/tour on the book Meritropolis by Joel Ohman. I signed up for the tour with Juniper Grove Book Solutions because this freedom-themed book seemed like it would be right up my alley. Check out the synopsis and excerpts, enter the giveaway for a chance to win, and then […]

Today I’m taking part in a book tour for The Lightbound Saga by S. G. Basu. I signed up because the premise for the book intrigued me. The tour includes an excerpt and overview, directly below, and my review, which follows. About the Book The chance of living the life of a regular thirteen year […]

I can’t remember who recommended this book to me, but she (or he) was right: I enjoyed it. This young adult horror novel follows a teenager named Cas as he travels across the country slaying ghosts. He follows his contacts and leads to find ghosts that are actively killing living humans, and he uses a […]

The first book in The Maisy Files series, Maisy and the Missing Mice is a middle-grade (grade 3, perhaps?) mystery that I snagged from Amazon on a day it was being offered for free. It is a quick read (I read it in two very quick sittings) about a fourth grader named Maisy who loves […]

I signed up to review this book as part of a book tour. I only sign up for these types of books when the premise seems interesting. The book was advertised as a combination of Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, so I was intrigued. Though I did not dislike the book, I did not feel […]

Warning: this is a horror novel with explicit content and best suited for mature readers and fans of the horror genre. Dark Hollow was recommended to me by a Facebook friend, who said he could not put the book down. I see why. Keene’s novel is a fun read for fans of horror. It follows […]

This book follows Alexa, a lawyer who moved from New York City back to her roots in Pennsylvania, where she lives in her family’s cabin in the woods. Aside from being a lawyer, she volunteers at a women’s clinic that has been the target of increasing heat and violence because one of the services it […]

Because this book came recommended, I knew I should stick with it even though it didn’t immediately capture my interest. The book is well written, and Hammond’s strength is the way she interweaves her characters together. It certainly is a character-driven story with the plot taking a back seat. Samson Brown has been taking care […]