Book Review: Souls of Three by Ashley McCleo!

A couple of months ago, I wrote a review for the first book in the Starseed Trilogy, Prophecy of Three. All my reviews for the Starseed Trilogy are up on Goodreads, but I wanted to get them all posted on my blog to give the awesome author, Ashley McCleo, some extra exposure! Anyway, the second book in the series is Souls of Three. Here’s the blurb for it:

Evelyn Locksley, water witch, siren, and heiress is back home in New York City. She’s having a blast, running the boardroom like a boss and frequenting hot clubs for some scandalous siren practice.

That is until Evelyn is taken hostage by fata cronies, the Acolytes of Hecate. Locked in a magically warded basement Evelyn witnesses the Acolyte’s strength and begins to doubt that anyone on Earth stands a chance against the fata.

***

Lily Whiplark is still reeling over the loss of her beloved family member, at the hands of the Acolytes. After hearing of Evelyn’s flamboyant and selfish behavior in New York when she’s supposed to be in Ireland training for a supernatural war, Lily’s grief morphs into fury that not even triplet peacekeeper, Sara, can quell.

When Lily learns of Evelyn’s abduction will she be able to put their vast differences aside to save her sister?

***

Will the sisters be able to overcome their rocky past to band together against the fata and Acolytes of Hecate?

And the gorgeous cover:

Here’s what I wrote for my review on Goodreads:

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review! 🙂

I couldn’t wait to read Souls of Three, the second novel in The Starseed Trilogy! The characters are so well crafted and fun. This book continues shortly after the point where Prophecy of Three ended. The triplets (Lily, Evelyn, and Sara) are somewhat split up since both Lily and Evelyn wanted to go back to their respective families before continuing their magical training with their birth family.

In the beginning of this book, Evelyn really annoyed me. She seemed as self- centered as ever, though I was surprised to see how much she actually cared about her family’s business. Without giving away any spoilers, A LOT happens to her in this book, and I was pretty sympathetic toward her character in the end.

Lily also has her own problems she is working through in this book, and I felt like she was a bit bratty and self- centered as well at times. The neat thing about Lily is that she realizes she is acting this way, and grows as a person throughout the book. It’s great to see a character who is actively working on making herself a better person.

In this book, we learn that the universe is perhaps in greater danger than everyone first thought because of the fata. The triplets quickly become more comfortable with their powers- though I feel for them, because the weight of the world seems to rest squarely on their shoulders.

Anyway, this book was so entertaining, and I cannot wait to see what happens in the next one! 🙂

I gave Souls of Three a rating of 5/5 stars. Soon, I’ll post a review of the final book in the series, as well as a novella. Thanks for reading!

10 Things That Make Me Happy!

This is a big of a different style blogging tag, as it is not exclusively gaming related. I saw this tag back in April on the always- awesome blog of The Shameful Narcissist, and she left the tag open to anyone… so here I am, late to the party as usual! Hey, better 5 months late than never, right? 😉

Anyway, the whole point of this entry is simple: List 10 things that make you happy. Despite the fact that I think I am a bit of a realist and am often cynical (which some people see as me being pessimistic *rolls eyes*), I actually am pretty easy to please. I do look for the things that will make me happy, and I hold onto those things with an iron grip; in the end, those are the things that are most important. Besides, I don’t know when I’m going to croak, so I might as well focus on things that are enjoyable, right? Right! So here ya go: 10 thing that make me happy!

1. Family and Friends

Despite the fact that this is a numbered list, all the items are pretty much equal… except for this one! My family means the world to me, every single one of them. I was lucky enough to grow up in a fantastic (if not a bit unconventional) environment, and as a result am close to pretty much all of my family members. Of course, my husband is my family too, and I am grateful for him! With my husband came a whole new set of family members to get to know and enjoy, so when I say “family” here, I am referring to everyone on my side as well as everyone on his side 🙂

I also include friends here, because I do not have many friends. This is my choice… I choose to only have a handful of close friends over many acquaintances, because it just seems pointless to me to have so many people in my inner circle. I’m not really a social butterfly at all either, so my idea of friendship is often just texting, or chatting here on our blogs! 🙂

2. Video Games

Well, obviously! 😉 This blog wouldn’t exist if they didn’t make me happy! Video games are my #1 hobby, and they pretty much always have been. I play when I’m happy, when I’m sad, when I’m sick, when I need distraction… etc. I just LOOK at my video game collection, and I am happy.

3. Reading

Reading is also something that makes me very happy. I’ve always been a reader, too, and I enjoy picking up a book and being transported to a different world. For that reason, I prefer to read fiction, because I’d rather read some shit that is made up just for my entertainment!

4. Animals

I am a huge animal lover. I love most critters- from the fuzzy to the scaly to the furry and everything in between! (Just… not some insects, okay? I’m talking about roaches in particular- those disgusting fucks!) Just being around animals makes me more zen. I have several pets of my own, but I’ve often been told that I tend to spoil every animal that I know.

5. The beach/ pool

I’ve lived in Florida my entire life, so there’s always a beach or pool close by. When I lived at my grandparents’ house growing up, I could swim whenever I wanted since they had a pool! Anyway, I find that being out in the sunshine and near the water is very cathartic for me. If I could spend the entire day lounging on a raft, I would.

6. Music

I love listening to music! I do it quite often- when I’m driving, when I’m cleaning, when I’m reading… you get the picture. I’m sort of becoming an old fuddy duddy in the fact that I don’t like a lot of newer music that has come out recently- I like to stick to my old favorites! My favorite genres are heavy metal and hard rock along with some reggae, but there are songs that I like in pretty much every genre. A special shout out to punk rock for getting me through my teenage years! 😉

7. Horror/ Skulls/ Other Goth Stuff

I’ve always been drawn to the darkness, what can I say? 😉 I love horror movies and horror novels. The scarier, the better! I also love scary artwork. I’m endlessly fascinated by anything that goes bump in the night. And skulls? Skulls are my favorite. I have a lot of shirts and socks that have skulls on them, I have tons of skull jewelry… I even have a skull tattoo. I don’t know quite why the darkness fascinates me so much, but I just roll with it.

8. Writing

If writing didn’t make me happy, I wouldn’t be doing this blog, but anyway… I love sitting down with a good old fashioned pen and paper and seeing what kind of crazy ideas I can come up with. Problem is, I am the absolute worst at finishing anything I start, so I have like 30 stories that aren’t done. Maybe one day I’ll actually finish one.

9. Holidays

What holidays make me happy? All of them! Holidays both big and small are a great excuse for me to get together with my family and have a blast. It doesn’t really matter what the occasion is! Plus, any holiday that gets me off work is a bonus! Just don’t make me choose between Halloween and Christmas. I can’t pick!

10. Chips/ French Fries

This may be a stupid response to wrap up my list, but here’s the cold hard truth: I am human. I try to eat healthy, but I don’t always succeed. And sometimes all I want is a big bag of potato chips. Or a large fry. And dammit, I don’t care if it’s bad for me. There are worse vices in the world.

Well, there you have it! 10 things that make me happy. Honorable mentions go to nail polish, pens in many different colors, candles that smell like baked goods, and many other little things that bring a smile to my face.

 

The Sunshine Blogger Award!

Back in April (geez, one day I’ll be caught up on my posts!) I was nominated for The Sunshine Blogger Award by Red Metal over at Extra Life! It’s always an honor to be nominated for an award- it feels good to know that there are some people who find my blog interesting, haha! So let’s get started!

1. What is the dumbest competition you ever got in with your friends?

Indeed.

Hmm…. that’s an interesting question! I’m not a very competitive person- I mostly stay out of any sort of competition if I can help it! Even when I was in school when I was younger I didn’t care much to compete. I guess I’m kind of a softy, haha.

2. If you could form a band, which genre of music would you end up playing?

Slipknot is one of my favorite bands! 

Oh, no doubt I would be in a metal band! I love metal, hard rock, etc. so it would only be natural that I would be in that type of band. I’d probably play the guitar, despite the fact that my poor arthritic hands no longer have the dexterity to do so. Or maybe I’d just be the lead singer so I could scream all day long! 😉

3. What is the first film you ever watched in theaters?

Oh wow! I don’t really remember going to a lot of movies when I was younger. For some reason the first movie that comes to mind is Casper the Friendly Ghost, which came out in 1995 when I was 9. I also remember the fact that it was pouring down rain that day! There may have been an earlier movie that I went to, but I just can’t remember!

4. What is the oldest film you’ve watched all the way through?

Follow the yellow brick road, or something.

Well, I’m not exactly a movie buff. I do enjoy watching movies, but it’s not like I’ve seen all the classics or anything. I would say the original The Wizard of Oz (1939) is the oldest movie I’ve seen. I have a distinct memory of watching it on my old tiny black and white television when I was 3 or 4 🙂

5. Have you ever fallen asleep watching a film before?

Just… no.

Oh yes. This shitty “horror” movie called Dark Water. It was so cheesy- basically this stupid woman was screaming because there was black mold growing slowly on the ceiling. Okay, so the mold actually wasn’t mold- it was a demon or something. I don’t know- I fell asleep, remember? All I know is that it was lame and even the fact that I consumed too many shots before watching did not help keep me entertained!

6. What is your personal record for most number of films watched in a day?

Probably 3 or 4! Sometimes when my husband and I are lazy on the weekends we’ll watch a few movies just to veg out!

7. What is the single most heretical opinion you hold when it comes to video games?

Sorry, just not interested…

Umm…. I do NOT like the Fire Emblem series at all. I’m sorry. Fire Emblem is a series a lot of people enjoy, but it’s not for me. It’s mainly the gameplay that I don’t enjoy, but I don’t seem to connect with any characters either. I’m not downing the series in any way, and I feel bad for even saying that I don’t like it! I can certainly appreciate Fire Emblem, I just don’t care to play the games.

8. What is your proudest achievement playing a game?

❤ ❤ ❤

I’m proud whenever I stick to and actually beat a game, haha! I am gonna say, though, I’m proud of myself for completely mastering Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. I have fully maxed out every character, done every little side quest, collected everything there is to collect… I’ve even found all the little treasure chests hidden everywhere. I’m obsessed, I can’t help it! And since I have an SNES Classic, I’ll probably be playing it again soon 🙂

9. What do you believe to be one of the few advantages that gaming critics have over film critics?

I think that the fact that you can actually interact with the medium is huge! I enjoy watching movies, don’t get me wrong, but it is a passive activity. Gaming is interactive, and everyone’s experience will vary.

10. Have you ever binge-watched a show?

Walter White was one of the most bad ass characters ever to grace a TV screen!

Yes! There have been several. Breaking Bad is one of the main ones… believe it or not, my husband and I didn’t watch this show at all until a few months after the last season aired! For some reason, I didn’t find the premise that interesting, so I never tried to watch it. Then my mom and stepdad told me how great the show was, so we decided to check it out. We were instantly hooked! In fact, when we got to the last season, only the first half was on Netflix here in the USA. So naturally, we tricked Netflix into thinking that we were in the UK so we could watch the rest! We couldn’t wait 🙂

Also, Stranger Things. We told ourselves we would spread the shows out and watch them over time, but that did not happen! Where the hell is season 3?!

There have been other shows I’m sure, but those two definitely take the cake!

11. Do you follow any webcomics?

No, I don’t! Should I be? 😉 I’ll happily take some suggestions!

And there you have it! Thanks again for the nomination, Red Metal! I appreciate it! 🙂

My Gaming Month in Review: August 2018!

Despite my best efforts, I still suck at posting and being up to date on everyone’s blog posts! I just have not had the energy. However… after 7 1/2 years at my current job, I am embarking on a new career path starting this Tuesday! I am hoping with this new job I will be less stressed and have more energy to be able to get back to more of the things I enjoy doing. Some of those things include reading all of your posts as well as writing more of my own!

With that being said, here’s a short post detailing what I played in August. Unfortunately, I didn’t make a whole lot of progress in any of my games, so this isn’t going to be the most interesting post! Sorry.

Console

Nintendo Switch

I’ve gotten back into playing Super Mario Odyssey, which continues to delight and surprise me! I haven’t played a whole lot of it, but I’m enjoying every second of it. I completed the Metro Kingdom, which I enjoyed despite my reservations at first. I mean, realistic looking people in a Mario game really weirded me out at first!

Anyway, after the Metro Kingdom I ventured to the Seaside Kingdom, which I found beautiful! After getting rid of the weird ass octopus-boss-thing, it was even more fun to explore.

Edit: According to my strategy guide, the name of that thing is Brigadier Mollosque- Lanceur III, Dauphin of Bubblaine. Um WTF?!

Right now I’m chillin’ in Snow Kingdom (ha! An unintentional pun!) and I am just about to participate in the Bound Bowl Grand Prix, so I believe I’m almost ready to travel to the next kingdom!

Mobile

iPhone

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp had some fun changes this month. They updated the way the goals are laid out, and they are actually much more fun to complete. Each event has several goals to complete as well, and the prizes are pretty generous!

Speaking of events, there were 6 events this month! They were:

1. Redd’s Summer Festival- a gardening event *rolls eyes.* I played it very passively, and got a couple cool items.
2. Fishing Tourney #5. I always enjoy the fishing tourneys, even though they upped the goal requirements and I never get the gold trophy anymore. Oh well. The piranhas were fun to catch!
3. Flower Festival. This was a cute gardening event. I enjoyed planting the flowers and creating hybrids! I felt like there was actually a decent amount of time allotted for this event. which made it way less stressful.
4. Gyroidite Scavenger Hunt #4. This time around I hunted denim gyroidites, which were super cute! I didn’t care all that much for the actual prizes, but it was fun collecting them anyway.
5. Summertime Bug Catching. I enjoyed this little event, because some of the prizes included fortune cookies! I didn’t complete the last goal, though, because no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get a goliath beetle to show up for me. Fuck you, goliath beetle.
6. Brewster’s Sweet Harvest. Another gardening event that just started on 8/31, so it’s not done yet. I’m sure I’ll bitch… er, tell you how well I did next month!

Currently, I’m at Level 91 and have 107/ 109 animals invited to my campsite!

***

I started playing Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery this month. I’ll admit, I avoided playing it at first because I wasn’t in the mood for bullshit energy meters and microtransactions. I have a couple friends that like it, though, and since I really love Harry Potter, I decided to give it a chance.

You start off as a young witch (or wizard, if you are a guy of course) who gets an acceptance letter into Hogwarts. (I’m in my 30s, but I’m still waiting for my letter dammit!). The story is set in a time when Harry Potter is a baby, so he’s not at Hogwarts. Your story is pretty similar to Harry’s, though: you make a good friend, you make an immediate enemy, people think you’re a freak because of something that happened in your life… etc. I have to say, I really do enjoy the story and I can’t wait to see how it all plays out as the in-game years progress.

The game is divided into Chapters, and each Chapter typically has a few story- related tasks as well as Lessons for you to complete. Everything you do requires energy, which is where it gets annoying. Also, most tasks have a time limit, so running out of energy is an issue. ALSO…. the game is very passive. You tap away on the screen, you trace a pattern… there really isn’t much to do.

And yet… I find myself enjoying the game. I enjoy the story, and when I run out of energy, I just put my phone down for a little while and do something else. I don’t even play it every day- I’ll just pick it up every few days or so and complete part of a chapter, then leave it alone for a bit.

Maybe I like this game because I’m not really in any big hurry to complete it. I’m sure people that play it religiously and want to beat it ASAP get pissed off at it, and I understand. For now, I’m just enjoying the slow journey. I’m on Year 1, Chapter 7, and I’ve completed all the story tasks. I’m just finishing up my Lessons 🙂

That’s it for my gaming in August. Not much progress, and sorry for the lack of screenshots! I just wasn’t up to the task. Like I said at the beginning of this post, things are changing for me, and hopefully everything will be headed in a more positive direction. Thanks for reading!