John Lahammer

John LahammerHaving an interesting take on the magical school setting, The Incandescent follows an akward by the books school teacher Dr. Walden and the unique challenges she faces. She has to teach and try to connect with kids, learning dangerous magic, and more and more things at the school system failing her as the novel runs its course. The novel also gets quite dark at times and takes itself pretty seriously. Throughout the novel, Walden often finds herself in difficult situations, having to make use of her quick wit. Contrasting that, the book contains other things like jokes and Walden being an out of touch millennial, bringing a touch of much needed levity. I have not quite read a book like this one, and while it was quite good, at times, things seemed a bit off, and the book is difficult to recommend to the average person.

John LahammerThe Sweetest Betrayal goes out with bang, being an amazing ending to a rollercoster of an enemies to lovers story. The tension between Zahru and Kasta gets ramped up to 11, with their relationship being a constant push and pull. I loved their back and forth and the fact that they do not trust each other while also relying more and more on each other throughout the novel. Alongside this love story is a wonderfully weaved backdrop of Zahru having to deal with a world out to spite her. Rival nations don't trust her despite her continued pleas of just wanting peace. She is slowly losing control of her powers and emotions along with it. And, all the while, Zahru starts to rely on her power of influencing others magically as a crutch in difficult situations. There is more, oh so much more, but I will leave that for the reader to discover.

John LahammerWith its enthralling set of short stories set in widely different settings, Buried Deep goes about immersing you in its deep yet bite sized worlds. Being a fan of Naomi's previous work, I enjoyed the stories, but this book will give new readers a peek into Naomi's writing style. In addition, despite the book's widely different settings, one could still find some underlying themes throughout the stories, such as the changing of fate and facing adversity and overcoming it. I was satisfied with what the stories had to offer, and was often left wanting to read more.