Tuesday, April 20, 2010

HBIC Review Embers by Laura Bickle

Review Posted by Tina at Tinasbookreviews


Beginning Laura Bickle’s debut novel came with some hesitation for me, and only because this area of the PNR world is much darker than the ~emo~ Vamps or the in touch with their feeling’s werewolves or even the sparkly dancing faeries I love so much. Bickle’s words are for sure attention grabbing- immediately the reader is pulled into a situation of gloom and darkness, with a very weary and tired protagonist, from the first page you can sense that Anya is stressed and tired. Also within the first few pages we meet the gang of ghost hunters Anya works with and Sparky a torque necklace that comes to life as a salamander spirit and helps Anya defeat an evil spirit living in an old soda machine.

After reading through a few more chapters I honestly felt it was time to put the book down. Those of you who follow the Blog with Bite should know I’m defiantly the more cautious reader when it comes to demons. I can handle fantasy and magic and pretty much anything on the scary side when it comes to mythical creatures……but when we start getting into demon possession and taking spirits into yourself, that’s where my red flags come up. As a person who enjoys the paranormal and fantasy realm my lines have many gray areas. The one area for me that’s completely black and white is handling subjects like witches, mediums, demons and occult like activity teetering on the edge of Satanism.

In other words Sparky represented a demon and no offense to Ms. Bickle’s novel -but Sparky and I were not going to get on a familiar basis. Nor were me and Anya going to be pals for a few hours while she sucked demons into her body.

So to be fair- because I did not finish this book, I cannot give it a rating or opinion on the writing technique.

What I can tell you is I don’t recommend this for anyone who is cautious of demonic novels.

DNF- PNR, Demons, Arson, Ghosts

BWB Discussion Questions

1.So if you had the chance would you have a pet elemental, even with the inconvenience of broken microwaves? NO---I will live demon free thanks.

2.What did you think about the relationship between, Brian, Anya and Drake?

N/A --I didn't read enough to answer this question

3.Did the book make you want to visit Detroit or steer clear?

I don't have to read this book to stay clear of Detroit......have you ever driven through a rough part of that city.....scary.......

4.A big part of Embers surrounds paranormal activity and the whole Scooby style system....What do you think of shows like Ghost Hunter, Paranormal State and the such?

I think they are a crock...frankly it all just seems fake, if you've ever been a witness to real "paranormal activity" it doesn't look anything like those shows.


5.Do you believe in the paranormal world around us or chalk it up to complete fantasy and make believe?

I believe demons and angels are real, as well as believing that God is real. I think vampires, werewolves, faeries, goblins, ghosts, greek gods and what not are all myths.

7 comments:

ParaJunkee said...

Sorry to hear that it crossed your line, Tina dear. Didn't even think of it that way...urgh. See this is why I'm always getting in trouble with the nuns. Oooh witches next, is April gonna be a bad BWB month for you?

Julie@My5monkeys said...

I do see where this does cross a line for you and totally understand. Yeah sparky is something.

Anonymous said...

LOL- Witches dont bother me as much as demons...I mean I loved Harry Potter and wizard stuff...BUT remember that movie with the girl and her head spinning and the whole crucifix thing...yeah.......

Wings said...

wow, you learn something new about people every day!

im sorry you didnt get to finish the book, but honestly, you werent missing out on much :)

i would love to talk to you about your views someday, sounds very intersting :)

just a warning then, you're not going to like Hex Hall either...

ParaJunkee said...

Oh I love it that all of our tastes are so varied...makes this so much more interesting. Urgh...The Exorcist what a fur-reaky movie. I think that one screwed up me psychologically...along with Poltergeist. Which is the funny thing, when I went to that signing this weekend with Carrie Ryan (The Forest of Hand and Teeth) and she says she was scarred because of Poltergeist to. You don't realize how much this stuff affects you, especially at a young, impressionable age (5). My goodness that tree and the clown ack. Then that pea soup stuff with the Exorcist.

Anonymous said...

Poltergeist was one of the scariest movies I saw as a kid....... the clown messed me up bad and the old creepy lady (go into the light)......Nightmare on Elm Street had the worst effect on me....Freddy scared me for years!!!!!!!!And the girls name in the first movie was Tina....years I tell you.

Amanda Leigh said...

I'm sorry this book crossed a line for you Tina. I can see where it would for some people. After I read it I figured it was one of those books you would either really enjoy or not like much at all.
I never watched many scary movies as a kid, I got freaked out too easily, so my parents never let me. Yet I was fascinated w/ vampires. Now I love scary stuff. I make no sense. LOL