Julie Sara Porter, Bookworm Reviews: 2023

Sunday, December 31, 2023

New Book Alert: Pagan Worship by Patrick Beacham; Political and Religious Satire Has Great Start But Broad Cartoonish Ending

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

This book is also reviewed on Reedsy Discovery

Spoilers: Let's face it, Donald Trump is a man that is screaming to be made fun of. An oversize toddler who threw a temper tantrum because he lost the last election and even though it was investigated to the nth degree refused to accept it, (as far as I know still hasn't), promised his followers that he would pardon them for participating in a violent insurrection (one that I might add included a hangman's noose and chants to hang Mike Pence his Vice President), insults, bullies, threatens, and intimidates everyone on Truth Social, and believes that somehow he should be granted immunity and not seek any justice. All of that and he still has devotees that venerate and deify him instead of moving on to another candidate as though they were afraid to lose without him (or worse are afraid if he wins and their loyalties are questioned).

If he weren't so dangerous, the man would be a total joke and really he is both a joke and dangerous.

The best place to mock someone, especially a controversial contentious figure like Donald Trump, is through satire and parody and that's where Patrick Beacham’s Pagan Worship comes in.

Pagan Worship is a book that starts strong by satirizing Trump and many of the aspects that run adjacent to him like religious hypocrisy, herd mentality, and cult of personality. However its plot and characterization are askew and meanders to an out of place and jarring ending.

David is the son of Britt Hastings, the pastor of the Church of Divine Friendship in Orem, Utah which has made his family very wealthy and famous. Despite the pleasant seeming name, it's definitely a cult. Britt has a tight psychological hold on his congregation and his family including his wife, Maureen, David, and his daughter, Angel. However, his followers supported Donald Trump during the 2016 and 2020 elections. Britt hops on the Trump Train and before too long his family is enthralled by a much larger cult than their own and David questions his own allegiances.

This book is a savage call out to current Conservative politics and what happens when it intertwines with religion. It takes aim at religious leaders and followers who pay lip service to such traits as humility, charity, ethics, values and then back someone who exhibits none of these. When church services are used to disparage political enemies and vilify so-called “sinners” because they look or think differently than them instead of speaking anything about Christ’s love or compassion. When they live in billion dollar mansions yet insist that their flock give more than 10 percent and remain in squalor. When they call liberals snowflakes and scream about “identity politics” but expect separation of church and state to not apply to them because Christians are somehow “special.” When they complain about federal government overreach but want to restrict reading and learning materials in school, strip LGBT rights, and won't let women decide for themselves what to do with their own bodies. They claim to be pro-life when it comes to an unborn fetus but offer only self serving thoughts and prayers when it comes to preventing full grown children from being shot. When mental health is only addressed in deflecting from gun control or vilifying LGBT people but seeing actual mental illnesses as due to a “soft and permissive upbringing” and a need to “pray the illness away.”

Coming from an Evangelist Baptist upbringing, this is not new to me. As an elementary school aged child, I was familiar with the Jimmy Swaggart and Jim and Tammy Faye Baker scandals of the late 80’s. I was raised a Baptist and had a front row seat in the 90’s when the Evangelical Movement began to taste political power and pastor's sermons became darker and more judgemental by preparing the faithful for the End of Days. This was also when cults like the Branch Davidians and Heaven’s Gate and militia members like Timothy McVeigh made the news.

I left the church in the early 00’s as Christians used their religion as a tool of vengeance after 9/11 and justification for hate crimes against Muslims and immigrants. I have been very critical and outspoken against the Evangelical Movement ever since. If a religion has to scare you or guilt trip you into joining and forces you to look down and degrade everyone else as deserving of Hell, then in my opinion it's not a religion worth having.

I have been there and this book is 100 percent dead on. If anything it understates the movement's main actors.

Britt is an example of such an Evangelist. He was raised in the Church of Latter Day Saints but found the Mormon religion “impure.” What he did see however was that starting one's own religion could be a great source of wealth and power. After comparing other religions, Britt created one, financed by Maureen’s family and based on his own interpretation of the Ten Commandments and the Gospels. He tells his flock that they need a friend to guide them to Jesus and who else would be that friend but surprise surprise none other than Britt Hastings himself.

Britt’s arc is one of gaining power and money through his religion. His limited understanding and perception of Christianity appears to strip down to the fundamentals and provide an easy path for others to follow. However, it puts him in a position of power over the followers. Acting as a buffer or an advocate between them and God gives him an advantage in interpreting religion for his benefit. As with many cult leaders, he at first acts like he was sent by God. Then he becomes the only communication with God. Afterwards the leader usually sets themselves up as a Messiah, one who is sent to save the people and was chosen or declared a child of God. Then they make their followers believe that they are God. By that time all bets are off and as Voltaire said “anyone who can make one believe absurdities can make them commit atrocities.”

That's what people like Britt Hastings and Donald Trump demand: complete and utter obedience, devotion, and worship. The monetary gain is the start but the real nucleus is the following, getting gullible desperate people to obey them without question. Setting them apart from others, feeding on their hate and prejudice, causing them to question everyone else around them including friends and family, and mobilizing that hatred and isolation into their devotees. Anyone can get rich by scamming people but not just anyone can create a cult with themselves as Supreme Leader and God. Britt and Trump are masters at that.

While Britt is suspicious of Trump and the church’s involvement at first he is still a large part of it. It is certain that he recognizes the same mentality in Trump that he does in himself. But there is also something else at play. While others see God in Trump, Britt sees the Antichrist. He doesn't want to save the world, he wants Trump to destroy it to fill Biblical prophecy. There is only room in Britt’s cult for one God but that doesn't mean that Trump can't play a crucial part.

Britt's arc is one of gaining power but David's is one of gaining knowledge beyond what he is taught. His parents mold him and his sister into their good little Christians and while Angel morphs into a perfect little Neo-Nazi inheriting the worst of the Evangelical religious traits, David questions his upbringing.

In school two teachers gave social experiments that opened his mind up to group mentality and a distinct unease for the people who implement it. This foreshadows his eventual hatred for people like his father and Trump, those who use and control people for gain and deification.

During homework assignments, he willingly reads news from various sources that his parents had previously forbidden. These acts open up his mind to other perspectives and issues that his church minimizes or derides. However, David's search for knowledge becomes more personal when his friend dies and a schoolmate reveals secrets about his father. David brings forward things that he previously ignored or handwaved and recognizes the hypocrisy and evil that people like his father and Trump represent.

The book definitely has some great potshots at religious hypocrisy and the role that it plays into politics and the satire and commentary is top notch. However on a mechanical level, there are some huge flaws in the book’s presentation especially in the final chapter.

I won't reveal too much but events happen without any build up or foreshadowing. It comes out of nowhere and would have been accomplished much better with a distinct arc leading towards this confrontation. There are also some frustrating questions and logistics with these events that remain unanswered or undeveloped.

For example another far better book which satirized Trump was Paul Chasman’s Lakshmi and the River of Truth. It was not only a good satire but a good story because it followed a consistent path. Because it was set in a dream world, even the illogical became logical and moved the story forward. There was some inconsistency and one plot point left unanswered but for the most part, the book was able to provide a coherent and consistent narrative that flowed.

With Pagan Worship, however, the plot point had nowhere to begin and nowhere to end. It is almost too broad and cartoonish how it was written as well. It's uncertain whether its meant to be darkly comic or serious. Either way, it is confusing and arbitrary. It probably is meant to shock and provoke but it is very hollow without any meaning behind it and there could have been. This could have been a moment where David recognizes the similar situation between what he witnessed and what he lived through. He could have had an important conversation that could have been filled with irony and double meaning in hindsight. It's almost maddening how much this affects the novel especially when it's the most important turning point and is simply revealed without any setup and minimal following.

The final moments however provide a dramatic irony in the form of an emotional gut punch. David finds himself in the very position that he was trying to get away from and plays the last role that he ever wanted. He becomes a tool in both his father's and Trump’s plans and gives them exactly what they want. In David's drive to be independent from his family and his former politics, he becomes more beholden to and identified with them. In destroying his link to his past, David ends up destroying himself.

Saturday, December 30, 2023

Lit List: Escape From Mariupol A Survivor's True Story by Adoriana Marik As Told To Anna K. Howard; Humans Without Borders by Madhava Kumar Turumella, and Anna and Reggie Rapasaurus by William F. Harris and Stacey Roberts, Illustrated by Poormina Madhushani

Lit List: Escape From Mariupol A Survivor's True Story by Adoriana Marik As Told To Anna K. Howard; Humans Without Borders by Madhava Kumar Turumella, and Anna and Reggie Rapasaurus by William F. Harris and Stacey Roberts, Illustrated by Poormina Madhushani

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Escape From Mariupol: A Survivor's True Story by Adoriana Marik As Told To Anna K. Howard

A longer and more detailed version of this review is on LitPick Reviews.

Adoriana Marik is a tattoo artist and merchandiser who lived in Mariupol during the Russian-Ukrainian War. Escape From Mariupol recounts her personal experience living from the invasion, to her attempts at surviving in a violent world, and her eventual escape to the Czech Republic and the United States.

Marik’s book is a detailed, moving, suspenseful, and graphic account of the reality of living in a country torn apart by war. Her descriptions such as walking zombie-like and numb through a devastated almost apocalyptic city is a true moment of heartbreak.

These moments evocatively capture the angst of the average citizen when they are caught unaware in a situation that shatters the world around them.

There are also passages where Marik conveyed the desperation and sacrifice of surviving in a violent world and the resilience to help others in the same situation. For example,Marik took her dog, Yola, to every location and made sure wherever she went, her fur baby came with. Marik kept hold of her pet out of unconditional love and to care for someone during those dark days. Marik even cited Yola as a motivation for her to stay alive and keep going during the war.

Marik's survival instincts continued as she sought refuge in the Czech Republic and United States. She moved from place to place taking pleasure in the few little things that she could, a drink of fresh water, some biscuits, a friendly face, a warm bed, and of course Yola’s loyal presence.

Escape from Mariupol, reveals Marik as a complex woman of great strength, spirit, and courage to survive, leave a world torn apart by war, and then to recount her experience with her own words.

Humans Without Borders by Madhava Kumar Turumella

Madhava Kumar Turumella’s Humans Without Borders is an idealistic and hopeful plea for everyone to reach beyond borders and personal identification and to help others on a global, selfless, altruistic scale. To help other people because they are human beings and part of a wide global community instead of thinking of someone as being from another country, race, religion, sexuality, or identity.

Turumella reveals many of the mindset traps that people fall into like exploitation and cognitive dissonance when they categorize, place, and then use others for their own gain. They think of people as “the Other” and create tighter restrictions against them, deny them refuge, and treat them horribly once they arrive. When those mindsets are displayed, dehumanization inevitably follows and it becomes easier to threaten, attack, commit violence, isolate, and eventually kill someone else. Turumella illustrates how easy it is to fall into those mindsets, especially ignorance and cognitive dissonance based on our own limited personal experiences and assumptions. No one is immune from thinking this way but it is important to recognize and make active efforts to change that mindset, think about others, and reach out to help them.

While borders can never truly be erased and it is important to recognize one's home country, Turumella instead offers a way for Readers to minimize the importance of those borders and for governments to be more open and accepting in offering aid, resources, security, and sanctuary to other countries. The European and African Union are examples that while flawed (Turumella cites Brexit and the problems preceding it as one example), still feature countries making consistent and meaningful efforts of working together to create positive change not for one country, but for all of them.

There is one formatting issue that I must address. The chapters are numbered differently than they are in the Table of Contents. It can make for difficult reading especially if the Reader reads the book in E-book format and uses the links to lead them to the chapter. However, this flaw does not deter the book from its central themes.

Turumella insists that this book is not a call for revolution. It is not an altogether new or novel idea either. Instead it is a call for unity, understanding, empathy, and kindness. It is a reminder that while we may have our differences, we are all human.

Anna and Reggie Rapasaurus by William F Harris and Stacey Roberts, Illustrated by Poormina Madhushani

William F. Harris, Stacey Roberts, and Poormina Madhushani worked together to create a bright, vibrant, entertaining children's picture book about friendship and the importance of reading and learning.

Anna, a human girl, loves hanging out with her best friend, a dinosaur named Reggie Rapasaurus. One of their favorite things to do is going to the library and read books together. The book explores all of the imaginative adventures the two take as they read.

This is an engaging story that encourages a love of reading in its young Readers. The two imagine themselves in faraway places like the desert and explore and learn new things about the stars through the power of books.

Reading encourages bonding and communication and the book skillfully explores that through its own words. There is a rhythmic quality to the words almost like a rap number. Some of the pages like “You are a good reader like Anna and Reggie. Reading opens your eyes, so clap your hands, make a wish! Clap your hands, make a wish!” encourages participation and interaction.

The illustrations are bright and vibrant. They reflect Anna and Reggie’s daily routine at the library and the more fanciful trips through their imagination. Reading is exciting when people can imagine the worlds envisioned through the words on the page.Madhushani shows that transition between reality and imagination beautifully.

Through the engaging words and bright illustrations, Harris, Roberts, and Madhushani (as well as Anna and Reggie) reveal the book’s theme, “United we read, together we grow.”

Friday, December 29, 2023

New Book Alert: For All of Us by Jillian Rose; Reincarnation Romance is Centered by Spiritual Connection and Meaningful Characterization

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

This book is also reviewed on Reedsy Discovery

Spoilers: Here's a theme from two years ago: reincarnated lovers reunited in modern day, reveling in their timeless love and weighing whether they should be together in the current timeline. This time, it is captured by Jillian Rose in her Romance/Magical Realism novel, For All of Us. Technically, Rose’s version is nothing new, but it is a spiritually centered and captivating character driven novel. I suppose like its lovers, the theme itself is timeless, that love never dies and that there may be some existence beyond physical death.

Cora is a Yoga instructor, seemingly happily married to Emerson, an architect. She is assigned by Emerson’s partner, Natasha, to teach at the Catskills Retreat Center to encourage creativity and unity among their co-workers. Neither Emerson nor Natasha can come but Cora is sure that she can handle it. While there, she meets the participants in the class and the Retreat staff, particularly its owner, Kai. As she spends time with Kai, she begins to feel an emotional and spiritual connection that causes her to evaluate her marriage and realize that there are things that were unsaid and unacknowledged between her and Emerson. While this is going on, there is another story set in the early 20th Century about a couple named Juliette and Asher who fall in love and have a child, Pearl, before going through a devastating loss. In the present, Cora and Kai share memories of Juliette and Asher, further complicating their relationships both past and present.

There are some moments where the Reader feels a sense of spiritual calm. The chapters at the Retreat are filled with moments like these. Cora and Kai take walks in the woods and mountains and their senses are activated by the nature surrounding them. Cora’s classes are lessons in poses as well as mindfulness and transcendence.

These classes and her time at the Retreat benefits her as well as her students. Cora and Emerson suffered tremendous loss in their life, one that they don't talk about but causes a strain in their marriage. They keep the pain and sadness locked away and never acknowledge it. But the more that they don't talk about it, the more it pulls on them revealing the fractures between their happy facade. It is only in the safety of the Retreat and communicating with Kai that Cora finds the catharsis and emotional release that she needed.

It also is at the Retreat in which Cora and Kai awaken their past life memories as Juliette and Asher. Now I will admit that while I don't necessarily dislike reincarnated lovers tropes, I have however seen times when it is done badly. Bram Stoker’s Dracula for example. Just because they were lovers in one life does not mean that they are entitled to be together in the current one. Let's not forget about things like consent and they may already be in a loving relationship. Where many people saw Gary Oldman speaking passionately about “crossing oceans of time,” I just saw a sexual predator who raped, assaulted, and brutalized a woman that he felt entitled to have because she resembled his dead wife.

I have also seen reincarnated lovers as a trope done with the theme that just because you were happy in one life or thought that you were, doesn't mean that you really were or guaranteed to be in the current one. Nikki Broadwell’s novel, Rosemary for Remembrance is a brilliant take on that in which a married couple live simultaneous lives in the 19th and mid-20th century and get all the baggage that comes with it including the arguments, infidelity, incompatible personalities, separations, trauma and so on.

Actually Rose’s novel contains that as well when both Cora and Juliette suffer similar deaths in their lives. Those simultaneous moments of grief, anguish, and the aftermath on how both women and the men in their lives deal with the tragedies in different ways are some of the highlights.

What saves For All of Us from falling into the simplistic style of reincarnated lovers done badly is that Jillian Rose does not shy away from the actual consequences that occur when the lovers are reunited. If they are in another relationship, someone is going to get hurt. Also just because they resemble that person and share those memories doesn't mean that they necessarily are that specific identity. They are an entirely different person with different current memories, have been through different experiences, and have a different personality than the one who went on before.

For All of Us knows about this conflict because exploring Cora’s complex feelings towards Kai and Emerson. It's not a binary “either or” choice. They are both great guys. While yes she recognizes that there are unspoken cracks in her marriage, that doesn't make Emerson an irredeemable monster, just a flawed human being. One that acknowledges those flaws and is willing to work on them.

What helps this particular version is the care that Rose shows all parties in this situation: Cora, Kai, Emerson, and even Natasha who is also affected by these events (and of course Juliette and Asher). They are well written with no direct protagonist/antagonist conflict. They also strive to be their most honest authentic selves in their relationships and finally reach that point with each other. They are paired not just by passion, love, or previous memories but by that honesty and authenticity.

Sunday, December 24, 2023

Lit List Short Reviews: Exiles by Miles Watson; The Kuiper Rogue by C.P. Schaefer The Mango-Lion: The Mangoes Have Fallen by J'yren Christenvie

Lit List Short Reviews: Exiles by Miles Watson; The Kuiper Rogue by C.P. Schaefer; The Mango-Lion: The Mangoes Have Fallen by J'yren Christenvie

Exiles (The Chronicles of Magnus) by Miles Watson

Spoilers: Miles Watson’s previous short work, Deus Ex, was a gripping story about the dramatic fall of tyrant Magnus Antonius Magnus. In my review, I suggested that there was enough interest to write another installment or even a full series set in this universe. Apparently, Watson thought so too. The follow up is Exiles which tells of Magnus’ reign of terror from two people who are right in the thick of it. One is an outsider in every sense of the word and the other was the ultimate insider, the one who helped turn Magnus into the tyrant that he later became.

Marguerite Bain is the pirate/smuggler captain of the ship, Sea Dog. Her crew despises her for being a woman but they follow her anyway. She is hired by an anonymous employer who wants her to deliver supplies to a man who is exiled on a small remote abandoned island. She is not to interact with him nor allow him anything with which to communicate. However, her curiosity gets the better of her and she enters the cabin to see the Exile. Upon arriving, Marguerite wakes the Exile and runs in surprise. While inspecting the return cargo, Marguerite finds a notebook that tells of the Exile’s life story. The Exile explains who he is, Enitan Champoleon, and how he changed history by fighting against the Order and allying with an idealistic young man named Magnus Antonius Magnus who had his own sights set on leadership.

Through Marguerite and Enitan, we get the full account of life under Magnus’ rule and the government before it that Magnus fought against and took over. Marguerite is someone who may have lived most if not all of her life under Magnus' governance. She knows no other life. She had been abused, abandoned, left in squalor, and sold into prostitution and smuggling. She has been forced to survive on her own in a world of corruption, tyranny, and abuse.

Marguerite is part of an organization called the Brotherhood, but that name appears to be a mere suggestion rather than demonstrating anything resembling allyship or brotherhood. In fact, she is warned that one of her crew members is a spy and potential assassin. She has to ferret out the traitor amongst her band of misogynistic murderous scum while learning about how Enitan helped put the Lead Scum in charge.

Marguerite’s story is that of the outsider, the effects of Magnus' reign and how it affected the lowest level of people in this society. Enitan’s story is from a different place. He is the one who has been there and shaped history. His actions are the cause, the one who helped Magnus obtain power and saw the tyrant that emerged from the front row.

Enitan recounts a life of intellect but also abandonment, where he had a great mind but little opportunity to use it. The only way he can use his mind is to read escapist adventure novels that mentally take him places that he wants to go. (In one of the saddest reveals, Enitan confesses that he still has those books, even in exile, because all he has left is the imaginary world that was nothing like the real one that he helped change).

Enitan goes AWOL from the military and runs into a group of activists protesting the current government, The Order. They claim that the Order must end and they are the Solution. At first, Enitan sees a quick way to earn money and gives a stirring speech to open up activists’ hearts and especially wallets. He doesn't really believe in the rebel cause, though he hates the Order. He just sees some people who can keep him safe and earn him money.

Enitan changes his tune when he meets the eloquent, firy, idealistic Magnus. The man who wants to put an end to the old Order. Like many rebels before and since, Magnus has a just cause when he sees people getting hurt and being degraded as second class citizens. His far reaching vision promises a better future and his active aggressive personality shows that he's not afraid to fight alongside the soldiers. Enitan is sold, especially when Magnus is impressed by his friend's intelligence and strategic thinking. Unfortunately, that strategic thinking is unable to see the future tyrant's manipulative nature and true ambition until it's too late and Enitan realizes the full scope of what those plans lead to and how much Magnus has changed or rather how much he kept hidden until his true nature emerged. To quote The Who’s “Won't Get Fooled Again,” Enitan “meets the new boss same as the old boss.” Spending years in exile on this tiny island, Enitan feels the weight of remorse and regret for the world that he helped create.

While Deus Ex gave us a glimpse into the Magnus dictatorship, Exiles strengthens it by showing us the people who suffered through it. History is often written on the blood of those who were crushed under the dictator's boot and those who gave the dictator power to do the crushing.

The Kuiper Rogue by C.P. Schaefer

C.P. Schaefer's The Kuiper Rogue is a tech heavy Hard Science Fiction novel that is perfect for that type of Science Fiction fan. Those who are more interested in character and world building, well there is some of that too.

On the Gaia 3 Titan Moon Base, hopes are high for a new Earth based space colony. There have already been bases established on Earth’s moon and on Mars. Saturn’s moon is the latest. However, something in the sky might put those plans to a screeching halt. Will Vandoloh, astronomy prodigy and son of Margaret, Gaia 3’s captain, sees a curious object in a computer simulation. An enormous comet passes through Saturn and triggers a chain reaction of catastrophic events including oxygen depleting on the base, crew members acting delirious and succumbing to insanity, and radiation levels rising to fatal levels. Worse, this comet is heading for Earth and even worse according to ancient writings from Earth’s history, this happened before and the results weren't good. It may lead to the extinction of not only Titan’s population, but maybe Earth’s as well.

The technical details in Kuiper Rogue are plentiful. They are very reminiscent of a Star Trek episode where one of the crew members, like Spock or Data, will go into a long winded explanation of what is going on and what if anything can be done to stop it.

For the tech heavy Sci-Fi fan, there is a lot of talk about orbital singularities and the schematics of the Gaia 3 project. Sometimes those passages can be a bit dense and unwieldy for the less scientific minded.

The most memorable aspects of the book are the rare moments of characterization underneath all of the science hardware. There are some chilling chapters when the crew goes insane because of the high radiation, low oxygen levels, and the comet’s arrival. One appears to be eating human flesh and another’s eyes glow red and face distorts into a very monstrous appearance. It's like a horror movie in outer space.

Some of the best moments are between Margaret and Will. Margaret is the tough as nails strong willed head of her crew but also a loving mother. There are many times when she has to walk a tightrope between those roles, worried about the danger that her son is in but knowing that he can help save the rest of the crew.

Will is a brilliant young man who finds his niche in examining space and working on other worlds. He also wants to make his mother proud. The duo’s love for each other is paramount throughout the whole book.

While the technical detail in The Kuiper Rogue is massive, so is the human element, particularly the family ties between mother and son.

The Mango-Lion: The Mangoes Have Fallen by J'yren Christenvie.

J’yren Christenvie’s book, The Mango-Lion: The Mangoes Have Fallen, is one of the strangest allegories that I have ever read. It is about the youth and maturity of a mango. Yes, a mango, the fruit. Once you get past the odd premise, you will find an uplifting story about growing up and striving for one's goals.

Liligu is a young mango spending his days on a tree with his mango family and friends. His mother tells him that one day, he will become a big beautiful mango tree. Before he can ask how, the tree is invaded by humans, called “bigmouths.” They eat some of Liligu’s friends and family and pluck him, carrying him away from the tree and his mother. He is then given to a human girl named Lilibeth and through her and the new friends that he makes, Liligu learns exactly what he needs to become a big beautiful mango tree.

Liligu starts out like a small child. He is curious but afraid of everything. He wants to become a tree but is afraid of the Bigmouths. Left on his own, he is scared, uncertain, shy, and nervous about everyone around him.

He befriends two stuffed animals, a giraffe named Girigu and a pig, Piligu. Because their memories come from being made in factories alongside their “brothers and sisters” (other stuffed pigs and giraffes), Liligu gives them his memories of having a mother and being close to family.

He also learns to trust some bigmouths. They aren't all bad. Lilibeth is very kind to him and treats him like a favorite toy or pet. Through her, Liligu learns to trust those even if they are part of people that he thinks that he won't like.

During his journey, Liligu obtains knowledge. He has dreams of his mother and wants to know what they mean. He wants to be educated. He receives wisdom from Mr. Wateru, a watermelon, Dr. Uki, an apple, and Bozero, a dog who advise him based on their own experiences. They only give him some information, which while helpful, is incredibly limiting. It takes his friendship with an orange named, Orange where he learns about love, sacrifice, independence, and what it takes to fulfill one's dreams.

Liligu learns that it takes growing up, experiencing the world, and making a positive choice to make it better.

Weekly Reader: Root of All Evil: The Deluxe Edition by Ayura Ayira; Dictator’s Wife Fights For Love, Freedom, and Her Own Identity

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Ayura Ayira’s previous book, The Protectress, was an erotic power play between two rival warriors who tried to dominate each other but ended up fighting on the same side. Though there were large stakes, the emphasis was on the personal, the two enemies turned lovers. Ayira’s latest novel, Root of All Evil: Deluxe Edition, combines the personal with the political, showing the internal struggles between characters and the external struggles in which they live. As a result she created a better story that is just as erotic but also widely encompassing and incredibly involving.

Zayani Ada is the wife of dictator Changa Ada and not by choice. A former child soldier, she was taken during an ethnic cleansing raid and forced into marriage for political reasons. Her husband's grip on his country and his wife is tight as she sees him for the monster that he really is. Surrounding Zayani are plots of rebellion and assassination, including from some of her own people. A handsome aid worker, Stefan Du Mal, then appeals to her to become an active participant in the resistance.

Zayani is a memorable protagonist in a very tough situation. She is part of the Ijuns who are considered a lower class and looked unfavorably by the Kcohomi, of whom Changa is a part. His goal in marrying Zayani is to make it appear that the Ijun and Kcohomi are working together when nothing could be further from the truth. He is controlling towards his people and his wife. He is like most tyrants: suspicious, paranoid, and corrupt. He can only lead by fear and intimidation because that's all he has. No new ideas, no ways of helping the people, no aid or comfort. Just shouting, belittling, arresting, and executing. Changa is physically, verbally, and sometimes sexually abusive towards his wife and tries to dominate her the way that he does everyone else.

While Zayani hates and sometimes fears her husband, she does not allow that to interfere with her goals of helping people. She secretly funds and volunteers for humanitarian projects to help the Ijun advance in society. While she does not take an active part in rebelling against her husband, she knows many that do and keep them secret from him. She considers these rebels to be family and doesn't want to turn in any of them. In one heartbreaking moment, she is forced to name one of the rebels and it's clear that this action will haunt her forever.

It takes Stefan to guide Zayani into becoming a more active participant though not just for himself. When he tells her that some school kids are missing, Zayani realizes that she has passed a point of no return. She is now actively involved in the fight against Changa and that if caught could mean arrest, exile, or more than likely death. All of the times when she silently planned for her husband's death and a regime change now has to come true and she has to lead it.

Erotica plays a part in this book but isn't as evident as it is in the Protectress. There are some sexual moments between her and Changa that are uncomfortable and unpleasant but they are meant to be. Zayani is in a submissive position practically owned and sold into marriage. There is no love in their moments of togetherness. There is just his power over her and her subversive nature in debating and arguing against him.

When Zayani is with Stefan, it's not only truly sensual. It's a breath of fresh air that she is with someone who is an equal match. He shares her ideals and sees her as an individual, not just the First Lady of her country. Zayani meets someone who is on her level and this love allows her to become more open to joining the fight.

There are certain twists that happen halfway through the book that change Zayani’s perspective. She emerges more active and takes a leadership position. She does things that the Zayani of the earlier chapters would never do but demonstrates a strength of character and the tough decisions that she has to make so that her country and people don't fall to another dictator.

Friday, December 22, 2023

New Book Alert: A Southern Enchantress by Deborah Trahan; Enchanting Contemporary Fantasy Novel About Dark Secrets and Magical Gifts Passed Down Through Familial Generations

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

This review is also featured on Reedsy Discovery

Spoilers: Deborah Trahan’s Contemporary Fantasy Magical Realism novel, A Southern Enchantress, tells the story of a family of mostly women who share a magical and dark disturbing past. This past binds them to each other even beyond death.

The women of the Lafountain Family of Pass Chastain, Mississippi are all-powerful. They are clairsentient. They can experience other's emotional and psychic energy. They also can communicate with the dead, particularly their own ancestors, such as Jack, an over 150 year old angel who vows to look after his descendants until he can move on. Other women in the family practice hoodoo, a folk magic that combines Abrahamic and indigenous religions and encourages practical uses such as rootwork, using elements of nature to treat, heal, or cause illnesses. Their abilities give the Lafountains a reputation for being Enchantresses, but hadn't exactly made them lucky in life or love.

Most of the book focuses on two Lafountain women, Suzanne, a modern English teacher and Addy, her 1940’s-era grandmother. Suzanne just ended a terrible marriage and is trying to rebuild a new life with her twin sons. She meets Max, a wealthy charming man who seems alright at first. But the more Suzanne gets to know Max, the more exposed she becomes to his violent jealous nature and the dark spirits that seem to surround him and threaten her.

Meanwhile, Susanne's grandmother, Addy also has to sort out her own troubles during WWII. She is romanced by Cash, a future GI whom her family does not approve of. While Addy and Suzanne are troubled by their relationships with men, they also experiment with their abilities and powers and discover some dark secrets that the Lafountain Family have been carrying for years.

Addy and Suzanne are exceptional protagonists and both their stories are superbly interwoven by similar experiences with men and a stronger link that is revealed later in the book.

Their backgrounds are very different. Addy has an affluent family with parents, siblings, and her grandmother. Most of Suzanne's antecedents are dead and she is particularly grief stricken over the horrid murder of her mother.

Addy is still somewhat sheltered and naive, a young woman attending parties with handsome men and looking for love. Suzanne already lost one love and is more concerned with rebuilding a life with her sons.

Addy falls for Cash immediately and both make overtures towards dating and romance. While Suzanne thinks Max is attractive, she is somewhat cautious because of her previous divorce, but Max eventually wins her over.

Even their approaches to their abilities differ in how they use them and are affected by them. Addy is at the beginning of discovering them so this is new, frightening, and somewhat exciting to her. She seeks guidance from her paternal grandmother, Mimi Jeanne who also shares them. She fluctuates between her interest in the supernatural world and her involvement in the natural world of finding an advantageous marriage.

Suzanne on the other hand has always known of her abilities. Jack’s presence is no more startling than a friendly dog jumping on her lap. She sees visions of her deceased mother and other ancestors that help guide her on her path. However, these abilities aren't helping her adapt to a normal life. Most people either think she's crazy or bewitched and want to have little to do with her. Suzanne just wants the spirits to go away so she can care for her sons and live in peace with Max. No can do, her ghostly ancestors tell her. They want her to get to the bottom of this mystery that ties her family with Max's, a mystery that began with Addy.

Despite Addy being a naive young woman at the beginning of her magical journey and Suzanne being a bitter middle aged woman about ready to reject her magical journey, the grandmother and granddaughter do have something in common: horrible taste in men. Neither Cash nor Max end up being terrific guys.

Before he ships out, Cash threatens Addy when she gets pregnant. Even after he returns, he commits a severe betrayal that haunts Addy for the rest of her life.

Max is much worse and we even have POV chapters from his perspective to prove it. He appears handsome and charming but his actual nature appears under his superficial facade. He turns out to be a bad tempered manipulative crook who isn't above breaking the law or using violence to get his way. Unfortunately, he puts a tremendous hold on Suzanne that is hard for her to break until she learns that his past ties with hers.

What is more important than the Lafountain’s relationship with men is their relationship with each other. Even though there are some things that are hidden and need to be discovered, the family members love, care for, and will protect each other. This is the type of family that guides, advises, and assists their loved ones, dead or alive.

Wednesday, December 20, 2023

New Book Alert: Kutri by Blake Rudman; On Danger, Beauty, and The Future of Reality Programming

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Between Dark Beauty and his latest work, Kutri, Blake Rudman knows that there can be danger found in great beauty. His previous book, Dark Beauty, was a psychological thriller about a pair of beautiful twin models turned actresses who take their rivalry to fatal proportions. Kutri shows a future in which women exist solely as objects of beauty by men who use a declining population as an excuse to dominate and control women.

In the future, a Slow Plague killed off millions of women and girls world wide severely depleting the future populations. Females are now a rare commodity and marriage is considered so highly desirable that the Powers That Be created a reality show (figures).called Good Breeding. Good Breeding’s premise is that women are recruited from all over the world selected for their appearance, intelligence, background, ethnicity, and anything to make them desirable to their future grooms. They are selected in a process that reeks more of a sleazy beauty pageant than any promise of eternal love and personal commitment.

Trouble begins when matchmaker Jakob Freeman recruits Kutri Chandigarh, who was selected because she is one of the few remaining female Punjabi around and matching race and ethnicities is very important. (Chandigarh is not even her surname. It was the place where she was found.) She seems really good on paper, so good that Jakob falls in love with her and vice versa.

Like most good science fiction dystopian writers, Rudman crafted interesting details about a world that is in decline. Women in this universe are treated as valuable rare commodities like gold or oil. They are put on pedestals and valued specifically for what they bring to marriage and breeding. Their appearance and abilities to bear children are their only means of collateral. While claiming to respect women to the point that crimes against women are punishable by death or dismemberment, this male dominated society objectifies women by depriving them of freedom or choice in their own destinies.

Jakob works for The Studio, the real power in what used to be Los Angeles. What studio? It never says. More than likely in this day and age of studios merging and buying each other, it's quite possible that by Kutri’s time, they simply became one gigantic media and entertainment corporation.

In a government controlled by corporations in Kutri's world, is it any surprise that the one that openly controls California is an entertainment conglomerate? It is they who feature the Good Breeding series and they who decide which marriages will be arranged and how the population will grow under its tight rule. When entertainment and the arts becomes propaganda to promote the government instead of the channels in which to satirize, challenge, mock, argue against, or even question that same government, it loses its bite and becomes a means of control. It becomes something to fear instead of something to engage in, enjoy, and even escape into.

Jakob and Kutri are the typical protagonists in this kind of science fiction novel. They are participants of a system that they don't always like but can do little about. Kutri agrees to be on Good Breeding because she has very few options. She was abandoned by her father and her Punjabi heritage makes her stand out. She knows that she is being sold and forced into marriage but it her choices are limited to either being owned in public or assaulted and possibly murdered in private. From the moment that she arrives in California, Kutri is constantly monitored and on the air. People study what she wears, what she eats, where she goes, and who she talks to so they can assess her potential as a bride. Despite the pampering and celebrity treatment that she receives, Kutri is always on, a prisoner of instant fame.

Jakob has his reasons to stay within this system because he literally cannot think of any other options. He is a widower and remembers how his wife died but nothing else about her: her appearance, personality, or even her name. He was given a modification chip inside his brain to forget everything about her except for the fact that he was once married. This chip also causes Jakob and other men to be unable to resist or act with violence towards the Studio and their representatives.

It is only after Jakob and Kutri start to develop feelings for each other, that they decide to actively rebel. In this process they meet other characters who also would like to see The Studio and the rest of these tyrants taken down.

The resistance has many faces and takes many forms. There's Jason's former partner, Sven, who collected memorabilia from the time before the Slow Plague (things like Pokemon cards, old cell phones, board games, acid free paper books, and vinyl records). There's Kirmi Teng, the previous groom who commits an act of violence live on air. There's Jimmy Ching, a pawn shop owner with his own secret connection to Jakob and Kutri.

In one chilling chapter, the couple encounter the A&L Club, a private club for men who lost their appendages after being convicted of various crimes and now want to restore the right to divorce. Then there's La Vie, a group consisting mostly of former Good Breeding couples who are planning an all out rebellion in which the women will fight to free the other women from bondage and deactivate the chip from men's brains.

The resistors are various individuals and groups that have their own agendas for fighting the Studio. Some are more trustworthy than others and some show that just because they have the same end goal in mind, getting rid of this oppressive government, doesn't necessarily mean that they are good human beings. What they have in common is they want this oligarchy gone and will use any means necessary to achieve it.

Kutri is a sharp warning about the future where beauty is valued too highly, audience dependence on exploitation entertainment becomes destructive, and love, friendship, and commitment are distant memories. It demonstrates that we have the ability to let our forms of entertainment destroy or save us.

Saturday, December 2, 2023

December’s List

Finally finished with my list for September and October! This year reduced my entries because of non-blog projects in summarizing and editing other books.

I finally have some new books to read and review

Death in the Holler (Luke Ryder Book 1) by John G. Bluck

Mystery in the Metaverse by Nick Airus

The World As It Should Be by Lee Ann Kostempski

What Happened At The Abbey (The Straithbairn Trilogy Book One) by Isobel Blackthorn

Try the Leopard's Mouth by Charles Moberly

Escape from Mariupol: A Survivor's True Story by Adoriana Marik, as told to Anne K. Howard *

Humans Without Borders by Madhava Kumar Turumella

The Mango-Lion: The Mangoes Have Fallen by Christenvie J’yrens

Kutri by Blake Rudman

Journeyman by Indy Perro

A Southern Enchantress by Deborah Trahan