AkitoTakahashi

Oh, love stories. Ash, who broke your heart, or which woman out there are you trying to marry? Haha. This little tale is an interesting concoction of youthful exuberance, emotions, and interwoven narratives about, well, romance. Billy Scott, our university student, has a strange past due to the trauma. He's pretty clumsy with women. And by women, I mean just Amy. And guess what? She's a professor at that college. Yep, it's one of those romantic stories. Is Amy an angel? No, sir! She's got quite the multifaceted persona. Ash, however, does a fair job at excelling the narrative. He's either in college or recently graduated/dropped out. You can tell because of how he portrays the story's environment. The only thing "wrong" is the occasionally meandering into soap opera territory, particularly with the melodramatic love declarations and somewhat predictable misunderstandings. Apart from that, it's really just youthful folly.

If you've been following us for x amount of time, you'll know that stories like these are not our cup of tea. After all, we maintain an unshakeable Christian status quo. That, of course, does not prevent us from seeing new authors trying to refine their skills in this (somewhat) doggy-style environment. Fundz, or "Da Fundz," as some of you may know him by, has one dark imagination. The elements of horror, fantasy, and maybe a little self-discovery are clear in these pages. Valyn's basically tormented by evil spirits. What he needs is Jesus Christ in his life. Because of that, he eventually finds himself in "Andraxyl." Interesting setup there, Fundz. So there's myth and modernity involved in this new world. Valyn only seems to be compelling enough to tolerate. Let's just hope he doesn't become an emotional wreck. The prose has both intensity and humour and the pacing is actually really well. Definitely a lot of adrenaline-pump action scenes juxtaposed against quieter introspective moments. Enthralling tale? Yes. My cup of tea that I would recommend to my Christian readers. Lol. No!

To think that the author put this off for almost a year. One of Scribes' other works has been read by us. Notwithstanding, romance novels can be a hilarious read for us, based on how they're written. Now onto the review! Can I call this a captivating tale that transcends the boundaries of other love stories? Yes and no. Arjun (a bookworm) and Lila don't seem to have any chemistry. That is, until Scribes transports them to another world. How's that for a hook? There's definitely some magic involved that's likely to make things emotional if the story progresses. You can almost consider this more of an adventure tale because of the aforementioned supernatural occurrence. The author's known for pacing issues, and this story has the same problem. Of course, it's not a huge issue since it's a love story. Let's just see how he keeps up the momentum.

I'd first like to commend the author on the cover. Looks authentic. Now onto the review. Once again, we have the mixing of myth, fantasy, and adventure. Now, things like that aren't our cup of tea, as some of you may know. But the author was compelling enough to get me to read, and read I did. Perhaps it's the Indian mysticism or the martial realm that surrounds Vijay. Speaking of the MC, the other characters are somewhat relatable. But that comment's subjective. The grandmother, though. Lol. Let's talk about the word world-building: striking, a lot of history, and some strangeness to it. Apart from that, the prose wasn't half bad. It's probably the spiritual undertones that don't sit with me. The narrative can also suffer from pacing issues. Can't sleep on the author's integration of cultural elements. I'll assume they're from India. I mean, it was pretty obvious from the start.

Here we have a story mixed with historical and fantasy elements. I can already tell you that Alberto... Sorry, I mean Lt. Alberto, has some crazy goals in mind after being reincarnated. There's themes of duty, sacrifice, and rebirth—which is quite common for novels like this one. Black does an interesting job showing off the world-building. Not too bad of a new universe. The battles with mythical creatures were also a tad interesting. What more can you want in a fantasy realm? However, despite its strong premise, the pacing could use some work, particularly during exposition-heavy sections. Some readers may not have a problem with it, though. It's commendable nonetheless and could benefit from a tighter focus to maintain narrative momentum. A cover for the novel would also be pleasing to see. Other than that, interesting work there, Black.