Tuesday, July 10, 2012

End of Days Book Review

First, let me say that Roland Yeomans is one of the kindest bloggers in the blogoverse. I commented how much I adored one of his characters, Alice Wentworth, and he gifted me the book, End of Days, featuring her as the protagonist! Thank you Roland!

Also, this is my first book review. Ever. And I'm kind of nervous. If I mess this up, it's my fault, not Roland's.

So here we go!

Blurb:

St. Marrok's. The most eerie high school in which you will ever die. Some call it the high school for the damned. The damned merely laugh.



Located in the lovely, Katrina devastated French Quarter, it stands as it has always stood since the sky chariot of the Queen of the Tuatha de Danann was shot down over Roswell, New Mexico in June 1947.


St. Marrok's is a school run by the Sidhe for all the preternatural children of America. A few mortal teenagers are invited for the amusement and education in the frailties of humans for the Sidhe.


Now, the celestial configurations are almost in allignment. The Nameless Ones are nearly through the frayed barrior between their dimensions and ours. The plan set into motion in 1947 by the Tuatha de Danann are finished.


Plots and counter-plots by Sidhe, revenants, and Olympian/Asgardian factions are all coming to a head. The End of Days is at hand.

And only Alice Wentworth, a Victorian ghoul, with a rag-tag group of misfit students and human teachers stand a chance at stopping it. All it will take is their lives and all they hold dear.

My Review:

Protagonist Alice Wentworth is a 175-year-old Victorian teenage ghoul. She is the sweetest ghoul ever, never mind that she must eat human flesh to survive. It gives "fast food" a whole new meaning, but it's only the scum of the earth that she consumes, so no big loss. I mean, what's a ghoul to do?

The cast of characters is eclectic to say the least. A ghoul, a revenant priest still in love with his ex-wife, wolfling, hellhounds and other creatures, not to mention the real-life historical characters who weave in and out of the story. The characters are mostly larger than life, with egos to match, but even larger hearts.

Alice and her rag-tag group of friends, in particular sisters Trish and Becca, infiltrate St. Marrok's, a school for the preternatural with a few humans thrown in (proving they're not biased - everyone has the same right to die), where the master plotters reside. The plan is to thwart The Nameless Ones from taking over the world, fight the other wannabe's along the way, and in danger all the while of President Bush pushing The Nuke Button.

But first and foremost, they must stay alive.

No need for too much worry, though, because Alice "The Wentworth" is one kick-butt ghoulfriend. Her sense of right, wrong and justice for all is highly tuned. With her super powers and the dead love of her life, Victor Standish, advising from inside her head, the ghoul can't lose.

End of Days is a dark urban action-packed fantasy. A plot expertly weaved with a mix of Indian and Celtic lore, preternatural and human beings, fictional and real-life historical characters, all occupying the devasted streets of the French Quarter in the aftermath of Katrina in a post apocalyptic setting.

But at the End of the Day, End of Days was about love and friendship. And that's why, in my book, End of Days gets five stars!


You can buy Roland Yeoman's books at Amazon.com.



12 comments:

  1. I think you did great for your first review! Roland will be very pleased. And he is one of the most generous, thoughtful bloggers on the Web.

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  2. This review sounds was really, really, really good. The book, too.

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  3. Roland really is a generous and all around nice blogger and I do enjoy his writing style.
    Gwen, you'll have to forgive me but I skimmed your very first book review afraid of spoilers. I recently finished The Legend of Victor Standish (a fun and enjoyable read) and plan on reading the rest in the series. But I'm sure you did a great review! (:

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  4. Very nice review! This sounds like a really fun and interesting read--thanks for sharing!

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  5. Thanks so much, Gwen. You did a great job (sounds bias coming from the one being reviewed -- but it was well-written and fun with its own sense of wry humor)

    Alice blows you a kiss. Victor winked at you when she was wasn't looking! I am so glad you got that my main theme was the healing power of friendship and love. Alice's motto is: "Leave no friend behind. Friends are the only true wealth we will ever have and the only treasures we can hope to find on the Other Side."

    Thanks for being my friend, Roland

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  6. Dropping by on the request of Alice Wentworth and Roland Yoemans. (I confess I didn't read the review as I'm currently reading the SAME book - it would spoil it for me)

    The best way to gain confidence in reviewing books is to practice. It's a good idea to state what types of books (unless it's eclectic) that you like to review.

    Nice meeting you. Good Luck!

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  7. Alex, thank you. Roland is a very kind man and so are you!

    Shelly, awww, thanks for the really, really, really good review of my review:)

    Elise, no spoilers here, just general stuff, so feel free to come back and check it out:)

    Meradeth, thank you, I hope you put it on your TBR list:)

    Roland, wow, Alice knows who I am? She better be careful because I might go all Lucy Ricardo on her. I tend to get starstruck! And Victor, I am old enough to be your grandmother! *winks back*. I love "Alice's" motto:)

    D.G., I know - practice, practice, practice:) Thanks for stopping by.

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  8. Awesome review Gwen. The book sound exciting and ghoulishly fun :)

    .......dhole

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  9. YOu did grreeeaaaat!! Made me want to read his book:-)

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  10. This is a fantastic review! I very much enjoyed the book, and in particular, The Wentworth myself.

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  11. sounds direly awesome! on my tbr list!

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  12. Donna, it was ghoulishly fun!

    Jamie, thaaaanks!

    Christine, Alice is a particular favorite of mine, too:)

    Tara, direly it is!

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