The Prophet of Marathon by Bob Waldner

The Prophet of Marathon is an offbeat thriller about a lazy everyman from a good family bumming around in Florida. He meets a disgraced evangelist, thoroughly loses his way, and ends the book without the girl but with a new sense of purpose.

Reading this book felt like sliding down a gravel hill on a piece of cardboard. It starts off interesting, but once the initial fun wears off, it gets a little bumpy. There’s an odd sense of inevitability about the ending, probably because the author drops hints almost from the start. I couldn’t predict the exact twist, but I could see its general outline from half the book away. I wasn’t disappointed by the end, but it left me no sense of catharsis or closure.

It’s a good thing the book places inside the main character’s head because it’s hard to have any sympathy for him otherwise. He starts by blaming the government for the whole mess, which is a bit of a reach. His internal monologue is sometimes overly analytical but his actions do feel believable as he makes them. It doesn’t help that 100% of his character growth happens over a few paragraphs in the last chapter.

Despite all of the above, this isn’t a bad book. It’s well-written, with flawed but believable characters. It just felt a bit predictable and ended up not being my cup of tea.

Three swindled starts

I received a copy of this story from the author through ReadingAlley in exchange for an honest review.

Edge of Yesterday by Sue-Ellen Welfonder & Tarah Scott

Atmospheric Time Travel Romance

Cailean Ross has come to the Scottish Highlands to be part of the most famous historical re-enactment around. His skill with a blade lands him at the head table – and then in the past.

I found it a nice twist, for the man to be sent back in the past. Rather than knowledge of the future, his skill with the sword is what sets him apart. Handily, he’s good enough that it saves his life multiple times, but the historical re-enactment makes it harder for him to accept he’s in the past. It takes quite a while for it to click. Therein lies the biggest problem with the book.

It’s so long. The writing is beautiful and atmospheric, but everything takes forever. The plot is so drawn-out that it seems quite insubstantial. There is conflict but it seems unfocussed and open-ended, as if it is part of a larger, longer story. I’m all for multi-book arcs, but each book should have its own standalone plot. I can’t help but feel a good editor could’ve cut it down into a first-class novel.

The romance is nicely paced but has too much outside plot to be the focus of the book. Julianna is interesting and her attraction to Cailean develops believably. The rest of the characters are well-written and charming, but the background cast is almost too extensive to keep track of. Again, a ruthless editor or a persona dramatis could have done a lot to alleviate this.

Overall, this is an interesting romance with flair, but it’s a bit too long to reach its full potential.

Four Scottish Stars

I received a copy of this story from the author through ReadingAlley in exchange for an honest review.

Geekerella by Ashley Poston

Holy fangirling, Batman! I LOVED this book. It has everything I want in a story – it’s cute, funny, and well-written to boot. If you have been part of any fandom in the last 20 years, READ THIS BOOK. I’ve never read a book exactly like it, and yet part of it feels like coming home.

Full disclaimer here: I’m a fangirl. I spend a good 80% of my free time on the internet, immersed in pop culture and fandom. I have read fanfiction until the sun comes up, squealed over trailers with people from other continents, other timezones. In fandom, I found a diverse range of people who still find something in common. Never before have I read a book which captures this so well.

Geekerella is a love letter to fandom dressed up in a Cinderella dress. It hits all the notes of the retold fairytale, swapping the ball for a cosplay competition and the fairy godmother for a green-haired workmate with a knack for fashion design. Beyond that, it echoes You’ve Got Mail through anonymous text messages. Their public interactions even have shades of a gender-flipped Pride and Prejudice, with Darian proud of his nerdy background and Elle prejudiced against him for his soap opera beginnings and screaming fangirls. Neither character is perfect, but they learn and grow as the story goes on.

The rest of the characters are fully fleshed out, as well. Even Catherine, the evil stepmother, has a human side. Instead of some one-dimensional caricature, she comes across as a shallow woman with a deep resentment of the fan culture that makes up the backbone of the story. Not because she’s shallow, but because she feels her deceased husband loved it more than her.

Geekerella is also peppered with fandom references and outright name-dropping, from Lord of the Rings to Doctor Who – all the big name fandoms of the last 15 years save Harry Potter and Twilight (though the former gets a shout out in the acknowledgements – let’s hear it for AVPM!). They all feel natural, inserted with great care because the author loves them and not just the main characters do.

Elle’s final confrontation with Catherine also has a lovely monologue on the power of fandom, how it’s not the subject matter but the community that is built around it. There also is an awesome takedown of the ‘fake geek’ mindset and celebrity culture, and validation of all sorts of fans – even those who liked Val Kilmer’s Batman. The author gets it.

I could gush about this book for a lot longer. It’s not perfect – the story is mightily predictable and I sometimes wished both characters would stand up for themselves a little more – but I enjoyed every word. If fandom means anything, has ever meant anything, to you, go read Geekerella. Please.

Five fangirling stars.

I received a copy of this story from the author through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.