Mini Time – Black Dawn & Ghost Touch (Reviews)

So I have decided to condense two of my recent reads into a joint review…sometimes a mini-review is all one needs for a particular book. Well, not only that but both books are 180 or less and just don’t seem “meaty” enough to warrant full reviews. I’ve been waiting to find a book to put with Black Dawn and I finally did with Ghost Touch. 

It’s like have a soup and sandwich combo instead of steak, right? 😂🤷‍♀️

But let’s get to the books, shall we? 

Title: Black Dawn 
Author: Mallory McCartney
Publisher: Clean Reads Publishing, 2017 (February 14)
Genre: YA Fantasy

**I received a copy of this book free from Xpresso Reads and the author in exchange for an honest review**

This review can be found on my Blog, TeacherofYA’s Tumblr, or my Goodreads page

My Review (#1)

Credit is definitely due for this amazingly beautiful cover, which sucked me in hardcore. It’s stunning. It’s why I emailed back and said, “Yes PLEASE” to this book.

I’m still torn about that decision.

I have already forgotten most of the book, and that’s never a good sign. But I’ll do my best:

We are told the story from several POVs that jump around: we start with Emory briefly, a girl who has been abducted from her apartment by the man in her nightmares. We hear from her briefly before she passes out and is taken away.

Memphis and Brock return Emory to her real world. Apparently she was stashed on Earth for protection, as she is the last in line of a prominent family and is needed for a rebellion of the people against the evil ruler. This world of Kiero is a world of magic and is ruled by King Adair, a man who used to be friends with Emory, Memphis and Brock’s family but became power-hungry. 

Memphis is in love with Emory. So is Brock. Emory wakes up and has her memories restored: she remembers the rebellion and she remembers who she is…and she is eager to get the rebellion (named Black Dawn) into shape to stop Adair. 

(I was totally confused at this point bc of the POV shifts…I normally don’t mind them but one min I was in Emory’s head and the next minute I’m in Memphis’s head, and he seems like he is supposed to be a bad guy but his thoughts don’t sound bad…then we are in Brock’s head and he really missed Emory but because of some memory-tampering by Memphis, Emory is scared of Brock, which to me seems like a really shitty thing to do). Are you following? Ok…I wasn’t. I almost DNFed the whole book at this point bc I had no connection to the characters and had no idea who to root for as I didn’t care about anyone too much.

THEN, it’s like the story finds its groove and we can understand what’s going on…and some crazy cool stuff goes down but the book is only 180 pages and it ends by the time you really start feeling it. 

The author (pictured right) tells me that a sequel is in the works hopefully – if there’s enough of a demand. I’d like to continue the series, but I forget it more and more each day. When I finished it the first time, the cliffhanger had me in its grip and I was clamoring for more. But it’s not sticking with me. The book actually reads like it’s a sequel to something else: it’s good, but it takes most of the book to get good, and then you’re left with that empty “what do I do now?” feeling. 

I can’t really recommend this for any educational reading and I am going to simply give Black Dawn ★★★☆☆. It’s an okay read, and it does become extremely creative with its path at the end…but unless something follows it up soon, I can see Black Dawn fading from the memories of most readers. 

Title: Ghost Touch
Author: L.A. Dragoni
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services, 2017 (February)
Genre: YA Paranormal 
**I received a copy of this book free from Ebooksforreview and the author in exchange for an honest review**

This review can be found on my Blog, TeacherofYA’s Tumblr, or my Goodreads page

My Review (#2)

Ok. This book. This apparently is not the original cover, and if I had based it off the original, I probably never would have requested it.

 Yes, one of the main character’s is a ghost, but I didn’t know he was a freakin skeleton! Not as romantic if you ask me, and I can see why someone said, “Maybe we should do a cover change?” Yep, good idea…because if I saw THAT on my bookshelf I would probably delete the file for fear of nightmares. 

Above we have the pretty hands reaching towards each other with a misty background, and it’s a beautiful idea that one would love a ghost. 

Yes, a beautiful “idea.”

Tamara is a technical writer who recently lost her mom. At 19, she runs her family’s farm all by herself…and she has recently been plagued by nightmares. Nightmares involving disfigured ghouls trying to chase her and grab her. When she goes out to the barn one night to investigate a noise, she comes to find that her nightmares have come to life: there is a real-life portal in her barn and ghosts of all kinds are spilling out into her backyard. 

As she’s freaking out (as I imagine anyone would when seeing a pool of ghosts in your yard), a skeletal man wearing a cowboy hat introduces himself as Cal. Unsure of his past and reason for not crossing like the other ghosts, he has been around this Ghost group for awhile. They have 15 minutes a night to essentially come out of the vortex and, I don’t know, “stretch their legs,” and Tamara doesn’t understand why her barn, why she personally, has been picked as a local “haunt” for the ghosts. (Get it? Haunt? 😂🤣)

But Cal knows why: Tamara has the Ghost Touch: she can see and communicate with them, in hopes of helping them cross to the other side. But Tamara doesn’t know how to do that, and either does Cal. But as they spend more time together, Tamara is drawn to Cal and his kind and gentle disposition (yes, she seriously starts to fall in love with a skeleton! I know!!)

When Dex, the dressed-down hunky coworker, finds out about Tamara’s ghost infestation, he pulls a ghostbusters and decides he wants to help. They together must find a want to help Cal and the others to cross, or they’ll be stuck like this forever. The only problem? Maybe Tamara isn’t so eager to let Cal go…

Ummm. Ok. 

What did I just read? This was a YA/NA paranormal romance, and though the story is written well (no typos really and very clear writing), and though I actually cried at the end (what can I say? I’m a sucker for a love story), this was a strange read. 

We never really know why or how the vortex is there. We never know why there’s a time limit. We do learn some other “Ghost facts according to Dragoni,” and a lot of other spiritual stuff is discussed in the book…but it’s too short and too obvious how the book will end, and that’s not what I was looking for. I wanted some cute ghost love story like my fantasy books (since I love them) to read and gush over. I only read paranormal bc it’s usually extremely similar to fantasy.  It was a cute little story with some feels from Tamara, but we never really get attached to either of the men in her life, who fight over Tamara like a side of meat.

I didn’t dislike it, but I didn’t love it either. Once again it was a meh story with a nice fluffy theme and some sad stuff at the end. Which as you know is not normally my cup o tea. I probably would have ended it much differently, and maybe that’s why i wasn’t thrilled with it. Who knows? 

So all in all, for being 140 pages, I give Ghost Touch ★★★☆☆. Two meh books. Go together like birds of a feather. 

So two meh books down, and a HP reread post coming up…plus I’m reading a sequel that was much anticipated by me from an indie author I love…so maybe I’ll escape the “mehs” and end up reading something great? Thank goodness for Harry Potter as that series is always a lifesaver after a meh book! 

What have you all been reading? After this batch, I’m hoping to read something new from my Netgalley shelf! Or one of my many books siting on the shelf…which is why I signed up for the Beat The Backlist challenge to begin with! 

***A Public Service Announcement***

If you haven’t seen on Twitter yet, I’m trying to get to BookCon. I had a friend pull out and I’m stuck by myself, and my funds are limited as a substitute teacher and part time bookstore employee. I have set up a GoFundMe campaign and with the help of fellow book lovers, I have made it 1/3 of the way to my goal of $300, which will cover gas, tickets, and a place to stay. 

I am asking for your help, my blogger family: I want to expand my lesson plans and find new reads for the classroom. I would love to go as I have never been to a convention before. And my friends is going without me, which breaks my heart. 

So I’m asking all who can to help….and if you can’t help, share! I plan, if I go, to do a giveaway with any swag from the event (I’m going purely for educational and social aspects), and if I don’t raise enough, I’m not pocketing it, but rather donating it to a charity to help fight illiteracy. So your help will either help me go and share the experience of a lifetime (been to two signings in Michigan, both with the lovely Elly Blake, but there’s not much around here) or it will help people to learn to read. Two very good causes! 

My campaign info is on Twitter and Facebook, but the direct link is here: My GoFundMe Campaign: Help Me Get to BookCon

If you prefer PayPay, I also have set that up to where I can track the donations as well: TeacherofYA’s PayPal

Thank you all for your time! I love you guys! Wish me luck and as always, Happy Reading!