Location: United States
Member Since: Aug. 05, 2010
Jennifer DeFoy
Books
This member has not published any books.Smashwords book reviews by Jennifer DeFoy
- Selene of Alexandria
on Aug. 05, 2010
This book has everything... It was such a great story. I LOVED Selene, she was such a great character. I'm really finding it hard to describe her. There were times when she was so strong, emotionally, and yet other times when she would let her emotions take over. She was so strong-willed and yet still understood her place in her world and did as she was supposed to do. I guess the best way I can think to describe her would be, she was a real woman. I was very attached to Selene. She was just so real. While the story focused around Selene there were so many other things that were going on around her. Even when the story didn't focus on Selene she always managed to get herself right there in the middle of what was going on. There were times when I wanted to knock some sense into her, but I knew that she could handle whatever situations she was placed in. The ending was great. While not everyone had a happy ending it was very realistic. There were a few unexpected twists that really added to the tension of the story, but they made for great reading. The story was so great, it had everything. It was exciting, endearing, suspenseful, and emotional. There was a very tense felling around everything. The fight for power in the city, the fight for Selene to get what she wanted out of life, the fight of religion in the city. Everything was marked with tension. This one did take me a while to read. I spent many hours with Selene, Hypatia, Phillip, Rebecca, and Orestes. I'm not sure why it took so long for me to read it, as it was a fairly fast-paced story. Despite the time it took me to finish it was well worth the read. It was beautifully written, it was an intelligent story, and it was easy to escape into Selene's world.
- Follow The Money (A collection of interconnected short stories)
on Oct. 22, 2010
A review e-book copy was provided for review by the author. This book was hilarious, right from the dedication through to the end. I still hate to admit that I have a sick and dark sense of humor, but the fact that I laughed through most of this book I think just sets that even more in stone... The stories were so weird. They all seemed to revolve around, what most people would consider, "trash". Sadly though there were a few characters that when I started reading them I thought to myself "This is just like ..." It was both a frightening and liberating, it meant I could laugh at it because I was part of it. For being short stories the characters are very well developed. The fact that some of them carry through one or two of the stories helps build them even more. I think the ability to create such developed characters within the limitations of a short story is a sign of a great author. The stories are well written. Sometimes it took me a minute to find the "connection" to the previous stories, but once I figured it out it all really started to make sense. Again I have to mention the humor that was so well-placed in the stories. I don't want to give anything away but my favorite bit of humor is the toe/thumb... (That's got you thinking doesn't it???) Like I said, it's kind of dark twisted humor. While I didn't get lost in the story, and the characters were all fairly despicable I do have to say that I really enjoyed myself while reading this book. I really hope Cavins writes something else because I think I'm going to have to read this a few times. Not only to pick up some of the things I may have missed but also because I enjoyed it so much.
- The Mask of the River King
on Dec. 18, 2010
I've been reading this book for a long time. It's got a good premise, and the world that Jules creates in this one is beautiful. I just can't seem to keep things straight in this one. I don't know why, but it's been very difficult for me to read. Every time I pick it up I have to go back and re-read a bit of it to re-orient myself as to what is going on. I really want to like it. I like Frey, the main character. He really seems to be coming into his own. The other characters are so neat. The way some of them are mixed breeds is a cool concept. They're not mixed like characters we're familiar with, from mythology or something, they're really unique mixes. The idea of the Nexus is a really cool idea. It gives the book endless possibilities. I just, for whatever reason, can not get situated with this one. I really want to like it, and I've been trying to. I just can't get there... It's got some great qualities. The world(s) that Wellesley creates are amazing. I would love to give this a much better review, as I think it has the potential to be a great book.