Book Rec: The Book of Lost Souls by Michelle Muto

When I was a teenager, I was into the whole vampires/werewolves thing. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was one of my favorite shows. I never really grew out of this phase. This is why I decided to download The Book of Lost Souls by Michelle Muto. I did it partly for research and partly because it was described in several places as "like" Buffy, and the author is pretty fun on Twitter. Plus, it was only $0.99, so it seemed like I couldn't lose.

What I liked about The Book of Lost Souls:

• The characters. Ivy is immensely likable, as are her best friends, Raven and Shayde. Don't let the names put you off, this is not some Mary-Sue filled author wankfest. Ivy's and Shayde's names are plot points, and really good ones at that. (No, I'm not going to spoil it.) The supporting characters are great, too. Raven's brother, Gareth, and Shayde's brother, Bane; Gareth's pet, Spike; the demon, Nick; and Ivy's pet Beezlepup, Devlin. 
• Vlad the Impaler and Bloody Elizabeth. If you heard a fangirl squeal, that was me. I will confess to always wondering what would happen if the two of them got together, and they really didn't disappoint. 
• Treating magic and monsters like they were special, but not unusual. Does that make sense? A lot of times, an author makes too big a deal out of magic and magical abilities when it wouldn't make any sense for the characters to make a big deal about it because it's just normal to them. Ivy and her friends all have specific talents, but if those magical talents were removed and replaced with more mundane skills, the story would have worked just as well. I really like that. The characters felt real and relatable to me. 
• The story. It was a really good balance of self-absorbed adolescent concerns and more selfless adult concerns. Ivy is worried about boys, but she's worried about her mother, the Regulars (people in town without magical abilities), and her friends. It progressed well, there were plenty of twists (more than once I kept reading when I shouldn't have, just because I wanted to know what happened next), and the ending was satisfying. Everything made sense and there weren't any holes that I noticed.
• The relationships. Ivy's relationship with each of her friends, her relationship with her mother, and the relationships between the other characters felt real and believable. I really liked that. I also liked that not everything was Ivy-centric. My favorite relationship revelation came near the end. I won't spoil it, but I had been rooting for it and suspecting it all along, and when it was revealed, I couldn't stop grinning.  
• The tone. This might be the best part. The author at no point talks down to her reader. It's a young adult novel featuring sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds, which means a younger audience is going to read it, and at no point did it seem like the author was trying to talk down to her readers. It also wasn't too old, either. It was very age appropriate. That brings me to the one thing I dislike. 

What I disliked:

• As far as I can tell, it isn't available in paperback. This bums me out because I've already started my daughter's book collection, and this is a book I really want for her. Ivy is an excellent role model.

I definitely recommend this book. It would be a perfect beach or poolside read. It would also be a perfect cemetery-in-October read. 

It's also available on Nook if you have one of those instead of a Kindle. 

Recommended Reading: The Epic Love Story of Doug and Stephen by Valerie Z. Lewis

Today's recommended reading comes to us from Valerie Z. Lewis, the same author who wrote our last recommended reading. This one is called The Epic Love Story of Doug and Stephen and if you think it's a gay love story featuring men named Doug and Stephen, you are correct. 


Doug is a Midwestern-mechanic-turned-NYC-model. He gets a job at a gay interest magazine called "The Flame" as a regular model/fashion columnist. He's an idiot. I don't mean this to insult him; I actually love Doug. He's just not very bright. The reason there's a button on the cover of the book? He swallowed one. At kind of a key moment. It was even red. Anyway, Doug may be an idiot, but he's a total sweetheart. He's just a good guy, and for some reason, he falls in love with Stephen, who is a self-centered, pretentious jerk. Stephen isn't a bad guy, though; he's just a drama queen who doesn't have enough conflict in his life, so he makes it up. Doug can, apparently, see this. He decides that he's in love with Stephen, even though Stephen "terrifies" him, and proceeds to woo him. "Woo" in this case is more like "stalk," which sounds creepy but is actually quite endearing. Doug just sort of gently bullies Stephen into a relationship by being a complete idiot and not getting any of Stephen's "hints" to back off (read: death threats, threats of violence, threats of bodily harm). Stephen, like the reader, isn't immune to Doug's charms, and eventually gives in. Well, sort of. Stephen is apparently the King of Denial, and even after I would consider them a couple, he insists that he and Doug are only dating "casually." Yeah, buddy. Whatever. 


The relationship gives Stephen the confidence to pursue the second main conflict of the novel, which is nice. 


The whole book is really well-written and really well-crafted, and I just love it. I will confess that I don't care as much about Stephen's writing or the exposé, but that has nothing to do with Ms. Lewis' writing and everything to do with the fact that I am completely enamored with Doug and Stephen's relationship and with the humor (which is absolutely, perfectly spot-on in every instance). 


If you're looking for a fun love story for your Kindle, this is it. At $0.99, it's a steal, so snap it up!

Recommended Reading: The Blood of the Lamb by Valerie Z. Lewis

I just finished reading The Blood of the Lamb by Valerie Z. Lewis on my Kindle. I really enjoyed it.

Basically, I'd describe it as a feminist, agnostic re-telling of the Passover story. I might have this wrong, and my interpretation might upset the author (which I actually care about, since I consider her a friend), but this is my take. Musa is the Moses character, Meren is the real prince, and when their grandfather dies, Meren becomes Queen. She very quickly becomes the same sort of ruler he was, which pushes Musa to save "her" people from slavery in the kingdom. Musa doesn't necessarily believe in God (which is kind of a pity for me, because I love Old Testament God and all of his badassery), but she's a talented magician, and works demonic magic to force Meren to allow the Ebreo (Jews) to leave. The supporting cast of Aaron and Ivrit, the Ebreo who enlist Musa's help, are useful additions to the story. This is nice, because supporting cast in short stories can be really hit or miss.

I wasn't a big fan of the Musa/Meren love interest subplot, but that's a personal issue. (Incest isn't my thing, and though the girls weren't blood siblings, they were sisters as far as I was concerned.) It was handled beautifully and very believably, and while their ending wasn't happy, it was satisfying. Their shared pain over each of them doing what was best for them and for their people was heartbreaking.

My favorite part of the Passover story has always been when Moses parts the Red Sea, and it was no different here. I absolutely loved the way Musa called on the water demon, parted the sea, and let the Ebreo flee to safety.

If you're looking for a fairly quick read and you're interested in a retelling of the Passover story, or even just interested in reading about magic and love and one girl's fight for survival, then I highly recommend this novella. And at $0.99 for your Kindle (or Kindle app), it's a steal.