Review: The Frivolity Fairies by Jo Michaels

Summary:

It's Christmas Eve, 2014, and thirteen-year-old Shirley is listening to the same bedtime story she's heard every year.

This year, she comes face to face with the frivolity fairies from the tale; naughty, careless creatures who cause mischief with no regard to morality.

In a tale of Christmas spirit, magic, and happy endings, find out what happens when one little girl sets out to make things right.

Publication Date: October 5, 2014

What a sweet Christmas fairy tale! I really liked Shirley’s story and her adventures with the Frivolity Fairies. I enjoyed the way Jo introduced certain fairy tropes in the story and put her own twist on them. I think children in the 10 to 13 age range would enjoy the story the most since some of the themes could be frightening to younger kids. The short story is free on Amazon and I’m glad I picked it up since I feel more in the holiday spirit after I finished reading. On a side note, I have to say I love the cover! The picture and typeset are gorgeous!

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Review: I, Zombie by Jo Michaels

Goodreads Summary:

It's the end of the world as we know it.

Trixie Collins is a normal teen making her way through high school. One night at a party, a boy comes on to her and won't take no for an answer. As she jerks her arm away, his fingernails cut into her skin.

When she finds her dog's mutilated body and realizes she's to blame, she starts to think maybe the zombie apocalypse they've been screaming about on the news isn't a hoax after all. Worse, she begins to think maybe she's one of the infected.

Now it's a fight for life as she joins together with her brethren to stop the humans intent on destroying them. Are zombies all bad, or is it just a huge misunderstanding?

Publication Date: January 8, 2014

Books about zombies always give me a lot to think about and I, Zombie continued this trend for me. I’m always impressed with zombie novels that aren’t simply gore fests, but instead make me think about the human condition. The author created a thought-provoking read by having the narrator not only be a zombie, but starting the novel before Trixie becomes infected.

Trixie was a main character that needed to grow on me. She came across as a little self-righteous as a human so I thought it was awesome when she became infected. As a zombie, I found her much more likable and was glad to see the author continue her theme of featuring strong women. I really liked her best friend Jack and found him my favorite character of the novel. One character I didn’t care for was Trixie’s mom. Her reactions to certain situations seemed a little unbelievable. For instance, Trixie comes home with scratches on her arms and says one of the boys at the party got too touchy-feely. Her mom’s response is to tell her daughter to be more careful. Huh?

The writing was good and the novel is well edited. It moved along at a nice clip and I never found myself bored with the plot. There’s plenty of action as Jack and Trixie run for their lives while the zombie outbreak becomes a showdown between the infected and the non-infected. I could tell the author did her research while writing the novel and found it interesting that she tied the disease to kuru. There were a lot of fun touches too like the creative chapter titles.

I did go through a lot of emotions while reading. I was angry at times and crying at other points. There were a few deaths that were surprises and I liked that there were twists up until the end. It is a zombie novel, so a few out there concepts are expected, but the teens Googling diseases and helping the CDC figure out a cure probably could have been left out. Trixie became a hero in so many other ways I don’t think it was necessary.

All in all, I enjoyed the book and I’d recommend the novel to fans of YA horror novels. There is some violence but I didn’t think it was graphic enough that younger teens couldn’t enjoy the book. I think the author’s recommendation of 13+ is a good guideline.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Review: Melody by Jo Michaels

Goodreads Summary:

Melody Acworth sounds like an angel. If she's not careful, she'll become one soon. Enrolled in singing lessons at age seven, she took to the stage and began to get fan letters. Some were good, some were detrimental to her psyche.

When Melody sees magazines laden with beautiful girls, she begins to look at herself in the mirror and think she should look more like them. Her mind takes the cruel letters to a dark place and she stops eating altogether. Before long, she's in the clutches of death.

By the time Markaza, a mystic with purple hair and tattoos, shows up, Melody's on her last legs. It's either eat or die. Markaza works furiously to try and repair the mental damage done so she can get Melody to New York; where she must learn to use a power hidden deep within herself to save the world.

They're running out of time. As December 21, 2012 approaches at an alarming rate, Markaza's visions turn dark and foreboding. The creature grows stronger every day. Soon it will rise and destroy mankind unless all six women band together to fight it.
Melody must be saved or the world will be destroyed.

Publication Date: September 24, 2013

To be perfectly honest, I was a little nervous going into Melody. Although I really enjoyed the other Mystic novellas, anorexia and bulimia are diseases that I take very seriously and are close to my heart. I was pleased to see how well Jo handled the topic and how the relationship between the central characters are growing with each entry.

Jo is certainly one of my favorite feminist authors (although I’m unsure if she would label herself this way). Women in her books face serious problems but they are able to overcome not because they’ve found a man to rescue them but because of female camaraderie. Overcoming an eating disorder isn’t easy and Jo didn’t shy away from how many difficulties Melody faced.

The book was a lovely read and I especially loved the descriptive writing. There was a part where Melody compares herself to a wilted flower and it was very touching. My only complaint was I wish a few more of the sub-plots were fleshed out. Jo’s been stingy over revealing anything about the big bad that the women are going to face. I also wanted more of the romance developed. However, since romance isn’t really the focus of the novels, I kind of understand why not a lot of attention was placed on Lily’s romance with Melody’s doctor.

The novellas are short and I usually breeze through them in an hour or so.  I’m looking forward to the next novella and I hope Jo plans to combine the series into one edition once the final book has been released.

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Review: The Bird by Jo Michaels

Goodreads Summary:

Stormy Terrabonne's life is about to be changed forever by a bright red cardinal. She soon finds herself being whisked away from all she's ever known to save an entire race of people known as Trobodytes. When she's presented to the Queen, Stormy learns how she's expected to help: By killing an evil wizard named Bordash Bladeslinger and stopping him from cutting down the sacred trees that bind Trogon to Earth.

Now, there are only two trees left. One of the trees presents a double dose of jeopardy: It's also tied to the renewed life of Stormy's mother. While Stormy learns more about the gifts she gained by becoming a Trobodyte, someone manages to poison that all important tree.

It's a race against time as she faces a legion of fairy tale creatures she never knew existed, learns to harness the power within herself to battle Bordash Bladeslinger, and tries to find a way to heal the dying tree before it collapses and takes her mother with it.

Publication Date: February 26, 2013

I’m normally not a fan of fantasy novels. Blame it on my ADD, but I have a hard time keeping all of the characters and world building straight. The Bird is a fantasy novel, but I never felt overwhelmed by information dumps or elaborate back-stories that were hard to follow. It was a great read and I thought it was creative the way Jo worked in themes about feminism and nature into the narrative.

The Bird has parallel plots going on. The first plot centers on a woman named Stormy and her quest to bring down a wizard in an alternate world. At the same time, Stormy’s mother is given a second chance at life and is reborn as a thirteen year old. I liked the way Jo tied the two worlds together and how things occurring in Trogon affected her mother in the human world.

What I always enjoy about Jo’s books is that she writes strong female characters. The men usually take a backseat and the women shine. The Bird was no exception. Stormy is a force to be reckoned with and that’s even before she becomes a master of weapons. As tough as she was on the outside, I liked how her romance with Michael was able to bring out a softer side.

The plot’s pacing was good and the action started quickly. Some of the character’s choices were rash and I felt myself wanting to yell at them through the book. But it only shows how invested I became with the story.  

There were a few great twists I didn’t see coming and the ending tied everything together nicely. This is a wonderful indie fantasy novel and I highly recommend it to all readers.

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars