My Best Friend`s Exorcism Book Review

My Best Friend’s Exorcism

SPOILER FREE

My Best Friends Exorcism was written by Grady Hendrix

SUMMARY: A young Abby Rivers has the worst birthday ever, but midway through her lame party, she’ll meet a special someone that’ll drastically change her life forever.

In this this story of friendship, we follow the high school years of Abby, Gretchen, and a few other friends within their circle. One day, the girls are having a great time hangin’ out and having fun. Things get crazy and go sideways when one of the girls has a wild idea… and in comes the devil!

CHARACTERS: This novel contains a nice cast of characters. I will only mention the two leads.

Abby: She’s a nice kid, always reward hang out and cut loose with her friends. Her favorite movie was E.T. Her parents aren’t wealthy, but they do manage to have Abby in a private school. (Where all her wealthier friends are). Abby is loyal, encouraging, and extremely brave.

Gretchen: The innocent, friendly right hand of Abby. She comes from a wealthy family, which comes with a little baggage, irritating parents. She’s very nice, a great friend… until the devil comes in.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: My Best Friends Exorcism, was a wonderful read. I enjoyed it so much! I may even return to this book next October, turning it into an annual horror read. It was a quick read, loaded with good times and horror.

The characters were written so well! The chemistry between the friends, teachers, and parents was so organic. I was reminded of my high school years through these characters, except I’m a dude… and we didn’t do drugs.

My only issue with the book, was the faith part of the story (being that faith in each other is more powerful than Christ). That’s just due to my personal belief.

Do I recommend you read My Best Friends Exorcism? Yes, I highly recommend this book!

RATING: I will give this book a 4.5 of 5

Star Wars: Leia Princess of Alderaan Book Review

by Matthew Wilson

Star Wars: Leia – Princess of Alderaan Book Review

The Journey to The Last Jedi

SPOILER FREE

Star Wars: Leia – Princess of Alderaan was written by New Your Times Bestselling Author, Claudia Gray. This young adult novel is part of the Journey to The Last Jedi marketing. Claudia Gray also wrote Lost Stars another YA novel and Bloodline.

SUMMARY: Princess Leia begins her trials to be recognized as the official heir to the throne of Alderaan. The 16 year old Princess must test herself, so that one day, she will be named the Queen of Alderaan. In this book of self-discovery and the unintentional discovery of political unrest as she uncovers her parents secrets. Leia needs has to be extra careful and play it cool around her peers. The secret of the rebellion is a heavy burden.

Leia and other youth around the galaxy attend the Apprentice Legislature, a program designed to shape future government officials. The program allows the youth to mingle, to get to know each other and learn more about the Empire and Galactic Senate.

We learn a lot about Leia’s rise to power. She’s got the best intentions, but it seems no matter what she does, she’s always at the wrong place at the wrong time. Leia’s efforts definitely didn’t go unnoticed by the Empire… or the rebel alliance.

CHARACTERS: As always, there will be a mention of a few characters. I will mention two that we already know, but explore further in this book. One surprise character from The Last Jedi

Leia: She is brave, honorable, and daring. She feels distant from her parents lately. The feeling comes as she prepares for the royalty trials of Alderaan, to be recognized as the proper heir to the throne. Leia is a smart young lady. She loves her parents and is saddened by the distance between them. She’s able to reveal these feelings after finding trouble on a humanitarian effort, meddling in business.

Princess of Alderaan

Bail: The adoptive father of Leia and viceroy of Alderaan. We know him from the prequel trilogy. He’s an original member/founder of the rebel alliance. He is stern and confident. For a long time, he has been building up a rebellion against the tyranny of the Empire. Bail wants the best for his daughter, wanting her to remain ignorant of the plans to overthrow the Empire, to remain innocent. However, when Leia starts putting pieces together, he does have a bit of a temper.

Amilyn Holdo: She’s from the planet, Gatalenta. She serves in the Apprentice Legislature alongside Leia. She is super weird, most of time she annoys everyone with her strange behavior. Her view on life is abstract, she approaches situations differently. She gets quite a few eye rolls from Leia. She’s highly fashionable in the strangest sense, donning bright colors and extreme hair colors.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: I’m convinced Claudia Gray is the supreme writer of the new canon. She’s 3 for 3 when it comes to superior storytelling in Star Wars. Her books are deep, the characters well fleshed out, and her books are laced together in subtle ways.

While this story wasn’t action packed, it was political and entertaining. There are a few nuggets referencing the film The Last Jedi such as Amilyn Holdo and the planet, Crait. I’ve complained in the past about writers handling Leia wrong, Gray understands the character and does a fantastic job.

As I like to remain as spoiler free as possible, I will say that I was pleased with the new planet, Crait. It’s used a rebel base, from The Last Jedi footage we’ve seen as the time of this review, looks like either snow or sand… it’s actually salt.

I couldn’t help but smile at the tie in to Lost Stars and the link to Bloodline. I mentioned there wasn’t much action, which is perfect. Why does every Star Wars book have to have loads of action? This story focuses on Leia at the age of 16 and her introduction to galactic politics. As for the climax… there really wasn’t one, but the story wraps up nice with some tragedy.

Do I recommend you read Star Wars: Leia – Princess of Alderaan? Absolutely yes!

RATING: I will give this book a 5 out of 5.

If you enjoyed this review, you should check out my book review on PHASMA!

Princess of Alderaan - Princess Leia Book Cover Image

Star Wars: Phasma Book Review

by Matthew Wilson

Phasma

– A Star Wars Book Review –

SPOILER FREE

Star Wars: Phasma was written by Delilah S. Dawson. She wrote a short story for Star Wars in 2015, The Perfect Weapon. Phasma appears on the novel timeline after Bloodline.

A BRIEF SUMMARY

SUMMARY: Vi Moradi, a resistance spy, sent by General Leia to verify the First Orders presence at a specific location. When Vi drops out of hyperspace, she is immediately captured, caught in a tractor beam from First Order ship, Absolution.

A red clad stormtrooper meets Vi when she’s brought aboard his First Order destroyer. He quickly takes her to an isolated interrogation room before anyone else really notices. The trooper straps her into a torture chair and sends electrical shocks through her body. He gets straight to the point, making it clear he will do what it takes to get what he wants; information on Phasma.

Vi knows this trooper as Cardinal. What she doesn’t know, is that Cardinal knows that she’s a resistance spy, her name is Vi Moradi, and that she has family. Cardinal is aware that Vi recently visited Parnassos, Phasma’s home world. He wants everything she’s learned about Phasma. He believes Phasma is a threat to the First Order and she has already committed treason. He just needs to prove it.

The story Vi tells is of Phasma’s life and how she was able to get off her desolate world of Parnassos. It was a tough time, leading up to her joining the First Order.

ABOUT THE CHARACTERS

As always, I’m going to mention a few characters. With this novel, I’ll go ahead and talk about three.

Phasma: She’s a mighty warrior of the Scyre people of Parnassos, where the young rule over the elders. Parnassos is a barren world, its’s hard to survive. While she’s the fighter, her brother is the leader of the Scyre. She’s hard edged, she’s serious, and to her enemies, menacing. She doesn’t speak often, when she does it’s too the point. The other Scyre warriors look to her for guidance, and trust her with their lives. However, Phasma is a very selfish person. She’s all about herself and keeps others at a distance. Her entire life, she still remains a bit of a mystery.3

Siv: A Scyre warrior. She’s also tough, yet emotional. It is her duty to pass on the ritual of the detraxors. The detraxors are used to extract the essence of life (the fluid) from the fallen Scyre bodies. They put the salve on their skin to protect from the elements, “your today will help our tomorrow.” It’s a mystical type tradition and it’s up to Siv to continue this tradition by teaching it to others.

Cardinal: He’s taken under the wing of Brendol Hux, on Jakku. He was raised up as a First Order stormtroomer. He excelled in all his duties, granting him promotion after promotion. Cardinal was the first to done a unique trooper outfit!, and it’s RED! He became the right hand man of Hux, personal guard. Cardinal trains the youth to become stormtroopers, while Phasma fine tunes them and makes them great warriors. He’s supposedly a tough guy, but he’s a softy. He’s angry that Phasma seems to get all the glory that should be his.

NOW FOR MY OVERALL THOUGHTS

Phasma is certainly entertaining, mostly. I’ve gotta say, I’m not a huge fan of the way this story was told. There were many times this novel stepped over the line from Star Wars and reality. We’ve got that classic line you’ve heard many times, “it tastes like chicken.” So now we have chicken in Star Wars. There’s also that ridiculous sand quote from Anakin, from the mouth of Phasma! I literally put the book down and walked away from it a few times with irritation. The Scyre warriors pull a Poe Dameron from The Force Awakens… they meet stormtroopers, and as you know they have ID numbers, not names. Well, PT-number number number… we’re not gonna call you that, we’ll call you Petey… Petey! LE-2003, you’re Elly. That… is stupid! The mention of R&R time with umbrellas in drinks also irritated me… a lot.

The Detraxors thing, it’s interesting, but it’s extremely gross. Not complaining about that, thought it was a cool idea for the culture.

Do I recommend you read Star Wars: Phasma? Sure, parts are cool… but be prepared to get irritated by many earthly things.

AS FOR THE RATING

I will give this book a rating of 2 out of 5.

Check out another review… Thrawn, right here.

Star Wars: Adventures In Wild Space The Heist Book Review

by Matthew Wilson

SPOILER FREE

The Heist

Star Wars: Adventures in Wild Space – Book III

Star Wars: Adventures In Wild Space – The Heist was written by Cavan Scott. This book is part three in an ongoing young readers series.

SUMMARY: Lina and Milo Graf, still on the search for their parents, head to the planet Lothal, the source of a rebellious transmission they came across. The children want to find the source of the broadcast in hopes that they can find someone to trust. Once they find the trustworthy party, they will ask for assistance in the tracking down their parents, who were taken by the Empire.

The Imperial, Captain Korda, has hired a bounty hunter to find these pesky children, and bring them to him.

Once the children and their droid CR-8R make landfall on Lothal, they are met by a Devaronion. He overhears the siblings having a conversation and uses it to his advantage. He takes the children to his boss, Rask Odai, who is said to be a powerful man, who can help them find the transmission source. However, once again, events go sour.

CHARACTERS: Because this young readers novel is so short, I’m only going to mention one character.

Captain Shalla Mondatha: She’s the owner of a mobile restaurant, her ship! She’s the cook, dishwasher, and owner. She is kind and helpful. Once she sees Lina and Milo, she sees their grief and wants to help. Long ago, Shalla was actually a smuggler. She uses her past experience to help the children with a local problem.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: This book had a direct tie into Rebels, I only know this because I’m somewhat aware of the main characters in the show. We meet a certain characters parents.

This book was good. In my opinion it’s better than the previous two. It really shows how dangerous the galaxy is. These kids have such a difficult time and their trust for others is quickly fading.

The villains in this book were good, didn’t like the way dialogue was handle among them though. There’s always got to be that idiot bad guy that talks like a moron? I understand it’s a kids book, but don’t kids need to realize that bad guys don’t always talk like idiots?

RATING: I give this book a 3 out of 5

Related Reviews

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BOOK TWO: THE NEST

Star Wars: Aftermath Empire’s End Book Review

by Matthew Wilson

Star Wars: Aftermath Empire’s End

Star Wars: Aftermath Empire’s End was written by Chuck Wendig, a New York Times Best Selling Author. It is the third and final installment in the Aftermath trilogy.

SUMMARY: All the characters from the previous Aftermath novels are present in this tale. Our team of heroes are on the search for Grand Admiral Sloane. They desperately want to find her, and bring her in, so justice can be served.. if they don’t decide to kill her first.

The antagonist, Sloane, is on a mission of her one to find out more about the mysterious Gallius Rax. She want’s to find out what his plans are for the Empire. She’s desperately wants to seize control for herself.

Finally, the Battle of Jakku takes place! This confrontation is the last desperate attempt for the Empire to recover, to heal its wounds before the rebellion/new republic takes them completely out.

CHARACTERS: Gallius Rax was interesting, in the previous book. In Empire’s End he remains mysterious, until the end. His character and his plans were a major let down.

The other characters were consistent and honest to who they were in the previous Aftermath books. They were just so boring, dramatic, or gay.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Thank you Lord, this trilogy is over. I was really hoping this book was better than the previous books. Life Debt was better than the first book, this one sinks right back down to the crap of the first book.

The best part of the book was that it was fast paced. The rest of it, an intense build up to a major… major let down.

RATING: I will give this book a 0 of 5

World of Warcraft: Traveler Book Review

by Matthew Wilson

SPOILER FREE

Traveler Series – Book One

World of Warcraft: Traveler is written by Greg Weisman. The art within is done by Samwise Didier and Stepane Belin. Traveler is a junior novel based on the online fantasy game World of Warcraft by Blizzard Entertainment. It was announced in 2016 that this book is the first in an ongoing series. Though as of this review, I have found no details regarding a release for book two.

SUMMARY: Aramar Thorne aka Aram, is a boy who’s forced to spend some unwanted time with the father he could care less about. Greydon Thorne, the father of Aram, made the choice of abandoning his family while Aram was just a small child. Now Greydon is back, with permission from Aram’s mother and stepfather to take the boy with him, to spend six months at sea. Greydon is the captain of his own boat and contractual crew, traveling the sea as a merchant, trading goods from coast to coast. Aram is to learn the ways of the sea, how to trade, wield a sword, and understand various cultures.

The ship is targeted by a sinister group known as The Hidden. They seek a compass possessed by Gredyon. As the crew of Greydon’s ship is separated, Aram obtains the compass, his father tells him to protect the compass, at all cost.

We follow Aram and his companions through tough times, unfamiliar terrain, and dangerous situations in a desperate attempt to avoid The Hidden.

CHARACTERS: I’d like to mention three characters; Aram, Makasa, and Murky.

Aram is just a boy, an artist, putting to paper people and places. He keeps his sketchbook and pencil in his pocket, handy for when the urge to draw strikes. He doesn’t want to become his father, doesn’t want to spend time with, not even talk to him. But, a piece of Aram wants to learn. He’s innocent but angry, kind and adaptable.

Makasa is a young lady, pretty much adopted by her captain, Greydon. Greydon had saved her when she was young so she’s owes him a life debt, as her culture requires. She’s strict and disciplined, brave and honorable. Makasa has the spirit of a warrior but has a soft spot, but keeps up her guard. She doesn’t want attachment and definitely doesn’t want to be drawn in Aram’s sketchbook.

Murky is a murlock, a young fisherman murlock who lost his family. That’s sad… but I hate this character so much. That is all.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: I really enjoyed this book. Blizzard Entertainment had announced in 2016 that this junior novel will be the first in a series. However, as of this review, I have not heard of any updates on when book two will be released.

All the characters were great. The dialogue and interactions between most of the characters was enjoyable. The one major complaint I have for the book, is the stupid murlock character, Murky. Don’t give a creature that can’t talk a big part a story. The pages with Murky on them, I wanted to rip out.

The book was fun and adventurous. Aram character was really fleshed out and has a great backstory. Aram and Makasa actually have a character arch that’ left me satisfied. I can’t wait to read more on the adventures of Aram Thorne and what obstacles he will face.

RATING: I give this book a 3 of 5

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