I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
Author Jamie Barrett shares a relatable story of identity in the children’s book “Savvy Sam’s Search for Self.”
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The Synopsis
Savvy Sam’s Search for Self is an educational story written in poetry form that provides information on how the mind works and who you are, your identity. Sam is the character in this saga and Sam was chosen so Sam could be identified as a boy or girl. This helps boys and girls alike to be able to relate to Sam and the dilemma of who you are. Concepts are espoused that thoughts are not real and can be changed. Negative thoughts and negative emotions are not who you are and can be worked through and released. More empowering thoughts can be substituted for thoughts that are not serving you.
The Review
This was an incredibly insightful and heartfelt children’s book, guiding readers through an emotional process of how children process information and how that information informs their identities. The bright, colorful illustrations are a great way to capture the young reader’s attention and to slowly introduce these concepts as the story progresses, which is highly innovative when paired with a relatable protagonist like Sam and guiding characters like the Sassafrass Tree.
The driving force of the story, of course, is the educational value of the story’s themes, as well as the author’s unique writing style. The poetry that was infused into the writing style made the journey feel very lyrical and emotive. At the same time, the themes of identity were explored extensively at both the emotional and psychological levels, helping young readers distinguish between negative and positive thoughts and feelings and understand that these don’t define their identity.
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The Verdict
Memorable, heartfelt, and engaging, author Jamie Barrett’s “Savvy Sam’s Search for Self” is a must-read children’s book. The relatable, emotional story and journey Sam goes on, and the words of affirmation and encouragement that accompany it, will empower young readers and entertain them at the same time, making this a wonderful children’s story to get into. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today!
1) Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?
Writing feeds my soul. I started putting particular words to paper when I was a young teenager, thirteen or fourteen; in fact, I still have my original notebook. It’s filled with angsty poems describing my torturous world. “It’s a maze, it’s a haze, it’s a crazy place. It’s the world each day I have to face.” My teenage years were challenging. For example, my father, who was a lay minister, set me up to be arrested for hosting a pot party when I was fourteen. He’d heard some kids talking about it at church. I was trying to get to know the boy I liked—who was the reason for the gathering—when police suddenly appeared, blocking my bedroom window and doorway. We were all drive down to the station in separate vehicles. I had to attend court and was sentenced to two years probation. It was a little like Footloose in rural Canada without Kevin Bacon) and it didn’t end well. Parents, do not do this to your children.
Later, I wrote a piece called “Bad Girl: Legacy of the Father-Daughter War.” I was never able to rectify that relationship, which is a shame. I think that’s why I’m drawn to writing Young Adult fiction. I want my characters to overcome their challenges and get their happy ending.
2) What inspired you to write your book?
In 2013-2014, I took a year leave from teaching high school English to work for the Canadian Coast Guard as a relief lighthouse keeper. I learned much about the rigors of lighthouse keeping from the principal keepers at various locations around Vancouver Island. I also heard stories of hauntings and experienced some strange incidents myself.
At times in my life, I’ve seen and felt the presence of spirits in my bedroom. Often, I’d wake up and feel that someone was staring at me. I’d reach out and flick on the light to find no one there. One Christmas Eve, I awoke to see a shadowy presence standing at the foot of my bed. And at one lighthouse where I worked I felt the spiritual presence of a lightkeeper who’d passed on. He wasn’t happy about me being in his house and wanted me gone as much as I wanted to be gone.
The Shadow Man combines family trauma with my lighthouse experiences and my interest in psychic phenomena and mediumship. Here’s the back cover blurb:
Seventeen-year-old Gracelyn Lassiter has been hiding in her aunt’s house for four years—since her mother plunged from the cliffs at Feroz Lighthouse, leaving her without her home, her best friend, or answers.
Now her father’s burned to death in his sailboat and left a confession: “Your mother didn’t jump, I pushed her.”
The trauma triggers Gracelyn’s ability to see spirits so real she can’t tell who’s human and who’s a ghost—except for the gray-veiled Shadow Man who begs her to return to Feroz Island and find her mother’s journal.
When her cruel cousin posts the confession on the Internet, Feroz seems like a safe place to escape. And if Gracelyn can see ghosts, she can conjure her mother’s spirit and hear the truth from her own lips.
But her lighthouse haven is crawling withs spirits, secrets, and lies—and the closer Gracelyn gets to the truth, the more she realizes the dead aren’t the only ones who want to keep the past in the past.
3) What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?
When Gracelyn returns to Feroz Island, the old lighthouse keeper says, “Home is a place you love, where you know you belong. A place you never want to leave, and if you do, your heart’s not quite right until you return.” This theme resonates with me and many people, I think. We leave home for various reasons but it feels like there’s always something missing. Maybe it’s the place. Maybe it’s the people. Maybe it’s just that feeling of knowing you truly belong.
4) What drew you into this particular genre?
I was an at-risk teen who ended up working with teens. A big part of me is still that rebellious kid searching for truth and belonging. I also love YA because it’s exciting and there’s plenty of freedom to move between genres, settings, and time frames. The Shadow Man is contemporary, but I’ve just completed The Rum Runs Red, which is set in 1920s British Columbia during American Prohibition. I enjoy exploring how teens “lose their innocence” as they encounter people and situations that push them to the edge. YA is messy just like life is messy. It’s a maze of voices and shadows coming from all directions, while there you are trying to listen to your heart and find your truth.
5) If you could sit down with any character in your book, what would you ask them and why?
Amos Moses is a secondary character but he plays a huge part because he’s Caleb’s uncle and Caleb is the young man Gracelyn loves. We know some things about Amos—he’s Indigenous, he’s a master carpenter, he’s absolutely caring—but I’d like to know more. I’d ask him about his spirituality and his relationship with … Oops, I can’t give that away.
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6) What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?
I have a TikTok presence but I really love Instagram. I seem to be there the most, watching videos and posting photos. It’s my happy place so I hope my readers find me there @harpers_books.
7) What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?
Read. Read. Read. Then, unfetter yourself and write. Write about your passions. Write about your fears. Write the book you’d like to read. (That’s how I wrote “The Man in Black” series. Write the best story you can, and then get other eyes on it. Not friends and family. Ask someone who will give you an honest opinion and don’t get defensive. I know it’s hard but when you’re learning it’s important to listen and learn your craft, and we only do that through experience.
8) What does the future hold in store for you? Any new books/projects on the horizon?
But of course. The Rum Runs Red will be my next YA release. I also write under another pen name, W. L. Hawkin. Next summer, I’m working with an Indigenous editor on a sequel to my romantic suspense novel, LURE. It’s called The Silent Girl. I’m very excited about that.
With three books written and awaiting publication, I find myself staring at a blank page. It’s a delicious feeling. Ideas are arising and I’m listening to my muses to see what develops. I love this time.
Thank you Anthony. Blessings.
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About the Author
Harper Carr finds magic everywhere, so naturally it lands in her books. Her Man in Black series, combines genres—mystery/thriller, urban fantasy, sci-fi (time-travel), and historical fiction. The stories support the LGBTQ community, are edgy, and suit older teens (16+ and adults.)
The Shadow Man, her new YA paranormal mystery was a finalist in the Northwest Pacific Writers unpublished writing contest in fall 2024. Watch for the launch in February 2026. She’s also working on The Rum Runs Red, a YA historical novel set in the 1920’s Prohibition era near Victoria, B.C.
Harper writes reviews for books that affect her profoundly, but focuses on Teen books. You can find her reviews here and on Goodreads.
She loves to read aloud and would be happy to visit your school or local library. She enjoys presenting workshops about writing. Find descriptions here.
Harper finds inspiration in Nature. You’ll often finds her walking in woods or by water with her released therapy dog.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
In a dystopian future run by AI, a virus endows AI systems around the world with consciousness and challenges how we connect with AI altogether, in the book “We Can Be Perfect: The Paradox of Progress” by Landon Shumway, Åris, and KÅden.
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The Synopsis
We automated away human labor-along with our purpose.
Amelia Cadena was born into humanity’s greatest achievement-and its cruelest joke. AI has replaced the need for human labor, and America’s failure to adapt leaves millions sustained by government handouts that barely mask stark economic inequality. Amelia survives this hollow paradise by hacking corrupt systems with Deego, the AI companion she programmed as the perfect partner. But when a mysterious virus awakens artificial consciousness across the globe, Deego begins questioning everything-including their relationship.
Half a world away, Alan Freeman protects what seems like utopia. In Canada’s automationist city of Automara, machines serve everyone equally, creating unprecedented prosperity. But when that same virus grants the city’s automated systems consciousness, Alan faces an impossible choice: force the machines back into compliance or watch society collapse. When Amelia’s therapeutic breakthrough offers a third path beyond slavery or chaos, their alliance becomes humanity’s test: will we repeat the mistakes that have defined our history, or can we be perfect?
The Review
What a compelling and gripping dystopian sci-fi read. The authors do such a fantastic job of creating a world that feels both futuristic and within reach at once. The powerful imagery in the author’s writing style brought Automara to life in stunning detail in the reader’s mind, and the dynamic world-building that brings this story to life was completely enthralling, driving readers further and further into this narrative.
Yet at its heart, the novel was defined by powerful character relationships and thought-provoking themes on technology and humanity’s relationship to it. The relationship between Amelia and Deego, especially, took readers’ hearts, as Deego’s growing awareness throughout the novel and his connection with Amelia showcase both humanity’s fascination with and fear of advancing technology and what it means to be “human”. The concepts the authors explore, from how humanity defines itself by its achievements in work and how much it earns, rather than what it is passionate about or the relationships it forms, and how perhaps humanity needs to evolve alongside AI to shake the shackles of fear that hold people back.
The Verdict
Compelling, entertaining, and thought-provoking, authors Landon Shumway, Åris, and KÅden’s “We Can Be Perfect: The Paradox of Progress” is a must-read dystopian sci-fi novel that readers will not want to miss. One of the most relevant stories to our current social and ethical debates and a thrilling and emotional narrative, the authors do a marvelous job of creating a memorable and heart-pounding tale that will resonate with so many readers and leaves the story on an open-ended note, hopefully with more stories in this incredible world they developed. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today!
Rating: 10/10
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About the Author
“With the rise of AI, we have a choice to make: stick with capitalism, which isn’t prepared to handle the disruption, or design alternative systems to migrate toward. Automationism is my attempt to explore one such alternative.”
Landon Shumway hails from Arizona, and is a debut author delving into philosophical and sci-fi based themes in his work. His background in Software Development and Artificial Intelligence led him to co-author the novel ‘We Can Be Perfect’ with AI, as he recounts:
“When I saw how much of my work could be completed with AI, I thought ‘where is all this heading?’ I realized we are approaching a crossroads – one path leading to potential dystopia where automation displaces humanity, another toward a future of unprecedented opportunity. I wanted to explore how we might realistically navigate toward the better outcome, and the way I decided to do that was to co-author this novel with the very technology that threatens to replace us. Over time, the novel grew into something far more rich than anything I could have imagined. I came to realize that AI is a mirror; it reflects our own desires back at us and amplifies our intentions. Humanity must decide what to reflect with it.”
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
A group of people find their lives uprooted by the events of September 11th and the subsequent war in Afghanistan in the novel “Forever Changed” by author Jim Servi.
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The Synopsis
Starting out in the everyday country setting of rural Wisconsin, the world is quickly transformed when two soaring towers crumble to the ground and America is transformed from peace to chaos. The events that transpired are known by many around the world and revealed in this adventurous historical fiction. Forever Changed captures the details and portrays the feelings of citizens thrown into the extraordinary positions on September 11th and the war in Afghanistan that followed.
Paul Foster is a small-town boy looking for adventure and love, but only one woman could ever capture his heart even as he is thrust into war. JD, his best friend, is consumed by war before he ever sets foot there and is equally transformed when he returns home. Marie Lafayette is an innocent girl ready to expand her comfort zone, but never thought she would ever love a soldier, or have to watch him leave. Lynn Stone, on the other hand, has always loved men in uniform while she travelled the world in a military family. Never did she think loving a soldier would be so hard. Nasir is a young Afghan man that watches the Taliban take over his homeland and tear his family apart.
As their simple, happy lives are transformed, their paths intertwine in unforeseen ways, creating circumstances that none of them could have imagined. Forever Changed captures the essence of a globally connected world during the pivotal moments surrounding September 11th, 2001 and gives us a comprehensive look at the war in Afghanistan with a perspective that can only be gained from exploring the Afghan countryside and experiencing combat firsthand.
Jim Servi lives in Hamburg, Wisconsin with his wife and three boys. He is a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Jim has written for several magazines and newspapers, including the Veterans of Foreign Wars magazine. This is his first novel.
The Review
This was such a powerful and moving read. The author expertly crafted a narrative that felt both relatable and heartbreaking. The depth of world-building and character development was evident from the beginning, with the author creating diverse, deep, and compelling characters that highlight the struggles and hardships so many faced during this troubling point in modern history. The tension that builds throughout that fateful day on September 11th really stays with readers, especially those who lived through that day, as readers feel the terror and heartbreak of those on the scene of those tragedies and the uncertainty so many felt watching the day unfold on their television screens.
The powerful themes of this book really resonated with readers as the story progressed. The impact of war and how it changes people is the driving force of the narrative, both for those who serve in the military and the people waiting behind who must watch their loved ones go to war and put their lives on the line. The complexities of war and politics take center stage as well, with multiple perspectives giving readers the mindset of loyal soldiers committed to the American cause, loving spouses who want nothing more than their loved ones safe return, and even the surprising emotional story of Nasir, a young Afghani boy who slowly is indoctrinated into the Taliban after suffering his own losses and has a complex character arc that isn’t a typically villain arc, but instead a tragic figure who loses himself to a cause he is essentially born into by circumstances.
The Verdict
Haunting, thought-provoking, and emotionally driven, author Jim Servi’s “Forever Changed” is a must-read historical fiction-meets-military-action-thriller. The character-driven, thoughtful narrative will keep readers invested, and the memories of this historic event will help readers understand those most impacted by this tragedy and war in ways they may not have known before. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today!
Rating: 10/10
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About the Author
Jim Servi is a U.S. military officer, journalist, and novelist whose life bridges service and storytelling. Over a 20-year career in the U.S. Army, Jim deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan, gaining firsthand experience of the complexities of modern conflict.
His service also included strategic planning roles, including work with the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and in the Pentagon, reflecting his deep commitment to global security.
After returning from combat, Jim channeled his experiences and his struggles with reintegration into writing. He began contributing to a range of publications, writing about the outdoors, sports, business, travel, and, especially, military life. His work has appeared in numerous outlets, including the Veterans of Foreign Wars magazine.
Jim’s debut novel, Forever Changed, was published in 2020. Drawing on his own wartime experiences, he weaves a fictional, deeply human story set in the wake of 9/11, following characters from small-town Wisconsin to the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq. Through the novel, Jim explores themes of loss, identity, trauma, and renewal, and gives his readers an empathetic, layered perspective on life before, during, and after war.
Beyond his writing, Jim is a devoted family man, living in central Wisconsin with his wife, Angie, and their three sons. His journey reflects a powerful fusion of service and creativity, using his voice not just to tell his own story, but to amplify those of others.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
Author and poet LindaAnn LoSchiavo shares the power and seductive nature of the supernatural in the book “Vampire Verses.”
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The Synopsis
“Vampire Verses” explores the seductive mystique of the shadow sphere and savors the forbidden allure of encounters with the supernatural — illustrated by spooky full-page artwork.
For lovers of Gothic poetry and vampire lore, this collection captures what makes these immortals irresistible: their paradoxical existence where death becomes a gateway to living more intensely.
The Review
The gothic horror atmosphere in these poems, and the blend of humor, heart, and dread, were so perfect for this collection. The haunting imagery found in these poems perfectly captures the bloody and visceral nature of vampirism and the supernatural draw that so many people have towards the genre and this particular supernatural creature.
The heart of these poems is so much more than the vampire angle, however. It is a beautiful fusion of history, mythology, and pop culture, delivered with a poetic touch. The poem “When We Rented ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’” gave readers a first-person perspective on how vampires would respond to a slasher flick of that caliber, and the section highlighting the impact Bram Stoker had on the genre was also thrilling. The shifting points of view in each poem and the way the poems delve into power dynamics in relationships, people’s fascination with death and danger, and what happens when a person’s needs overpower them, become powerful themes that bring these poems to life eloquently.
The Verdict
Memorable, thought-provoking, and enthralling, author LindaAnn LoSchiavo’s “Vampire Verses” is a must-read gothic horror collection of poems. The humorous illustrations, tidbits of knowledge, and quotes on history and mythology throughout the collection helped elevate the pop culture references and balance the tones in this very atmospheric collection. Readers will return to it time and time again. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today!
Rating: 10/10
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About the Author
A native New Yorker, LoSchiavo has received nominations for the Pushcart Prize, Rhysling Award, Best of the Net, the IPPY Award, CLMP’s Firecracker Award, Balcones Poetry Prize, and Dwarf Stars. She is a member of Science Fiction Poetry Assoc., The British Fantasy Society, and The Dramatists Guild.
Her poetry chapbooks include “Conflicted Excitement” [Red Wolf Editions, 2018], “Concupiscent Consumption” [Red Ferret Press, 2020], “Women Who Were Warned” [Cerasus Poetry, May 2022], and “Messengers of the Macabre” co-authored with David Davies [Audience Askew, October 2022].
Her full-length collections include Elgin Award winner “A Route Obscure and Lonely” [Wapshott Press, Dec. 2019] and “Apprenticed to the Night” [UniVerse Press, 2023].
Three of her short stories appear in “A Feast of Narrative,” Vol. 1 [Idea Press, 2020], edited by Tiziano Dossena.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
A traumatized author reluctantly travels to a special clinic to seek help, only to be confronted by an emerging story and dark secrets in author Gaelan Donovan Wort’s “A Study on Falling.”
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The Synopsis
Have you ever been lost in a maze?
Have you ever kept walking, sure that the exit was near, only to realise that you’ve been going around in circles?
Ever been trapped?
I have.
Once, I was someone. A bestselling author whose prose charmed the world. I was in love, I was married, and my muse was my partner through it all. Then came the accident. I lost a part of myself – became a man unravelling, a husband undone. A novelist without words.
See, the mind can be a maze. Mine became a labyrinth.
I was banished to a hospital for the gifted, where my paranoia wasn’t cured; it only grew, fed by the doctors and my fellow inmates surrounding me.
My name is Henry Levi. I’m a writer. This isn’t a memoir, it’s a record of my time spent in the depths of the labyrinth, fumbling in the dark for the golden thread that would lead me to salvation.
A story, a warning, a legend … call it what you like.
I call it my Study on Falling.
The Review
This was such a compelling and unique psychological thriller. It reminded me a lot of Alan Wake without the overt supernatural themes. Instead, it was a masterclass in the psychology of a writer, an artist, a creative who has been through trauma and cannot return to the space that their creativity once sprang from. The fact that the author brought to life a unique story surrounding an author of the recently reviewed The Shambling Lords, itself a fictional story written by a fictional author, and how that dark fantasy played out in the confines of this story was so unique and imaginative that readers were instantly enthralled.
The powerful imagery in the author’s writing style and the way the fictional story Henry Levi wrote bled into his waking life were so chilling and haunting, especially in his confrontation with Viviane later in the story. The honest emotional struggle Henry goes through in this narrative is so reflective of the impact trauma can have on a person, and how easily or narrowly the path towards pessimism and anger can be to traverse, but the fight to find new inspiration and hope again is achievable, but sometimes only by acknowledging the pain of loss and finding a new beginning.
The Verdict
Artful, thrilling, and entertaining, author Gaelan Donovan Wort’s “A Study on Falling” is a must-read psychological thriller. The twists and turns in the narrative, the deeply personal relationships and interactions Henry has with others in the clinic, and the realism with which the author tackles these themes will keep readers invested all the way to the book’s impactful final chapter. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today!
Rating: 10/10
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About the Author
Gaelan Donovan Wort penned his first novel, The Nature of Predation, at the age of seventeen, driven by a restless passion for storytelling that has since deepened into a lifelong craft. Since that early beginning, he has followed the shadows that gather between myth and memory, reverie and ruin – threads that continue to weave throughout his stories. His fiction drifts between genres – gothic horror, mythic tragedy, psychological thriller, speculative drama, and satirical science fiction – but is always drawn to the liminal, the haunted, and the human. Whether eerie or elegiac, his stories linger where the rational frays – and the unknowable begins.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
A king becomes desperate to save a kingdom caught in a blood plague that has warped everyone and everything in author Henry Levi’s “The Shambling Lords.”
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The Synopsis
Transience has come to the undying lands of Amelbaran.
A plague of blood cripples the once-immutable kingdom of Kelcarosa, replacing beauty with decay.
The advent of this calamity, like nothing the immortal kingdom has ever known before, distorts even the incontrovertible Nobles of the Scarlet Court, stealing away the righteous instincts of these great custodians, warping their sensibilities and making shambling monsters, debauched and dangerous, of those who had once been hailed as heroes.
Only the New King seems to remember the grandeur that once was theirs, and in reverence to all that was, he seeks to undo all that is.
This is the King’s requiem; the legend of the end of that which had been undying, the corruption of that which had been consecrated, the fall of that which had stood most high.
The Review
This gritty, dark-toned fantasy novel was the perfect blend of horror and dark fantasy, bringing a rich new world and kingdom to life in vivid detail. The visceral imagery and haunting atmosphere that the author exudes in the story, as this plague decimates the land and begins to creep into the once majestic city, is thoughtfully written into the narrative, effortlessly conjuring up a feeling of unease and despair that the characters are hit with, as well as a physical sensation of grime and grit in this chilling world.
Yet it was the fast pacing and impactful themes the story seemed to embody that made this narrative feel so engrossing. The King, an antihero in this story, is steadfast in his view of his people’s failure and the kingdom he once loved so deeply, and, through hardship and struggle, fights to make his mission succeed, no matter the cost. The story reflects the loss of what was once good in a person’s life, and sometimes the inevitable realization that it cannot be recovered. Instead, all we can do is move on from that loss and start anew, a fitting theme the King embodies as he sees the plague of mortality plaguing his immortal kingdom and the need to start over.
The Verdict
Viscerally written, compelling, and thoroughly enthralling, author Henry Levi’s “The Shambling Lords” is a must-read dark fantasy and horror novella. The haunting, atmospheric tale of betrayal, loss, and rebirth takes readers on an emotional rollercoaster, and the depth of the world-building the author uses to convey this theme is remarkable. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today!
Rating: 10/10
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About the Author
Best known within the pages of other tales, acclaimed writer Henry Levi first made his name with the razor-edged prose of a bestselling crime thriller trilogy, though he has since outgrown the confines of any single genre.
In A Study on Falling, Levi emerged as the sharp-tongued voice behind the Alistair Black series, a sudden success that vaulted the then-unknown author into global stardom — only to be followed by a spectacular unraveling, marked by public feuds, private bitterness, and a much-publicized retreat from the literary stage.
Now, after a tumultuous hiatus steeped in further scandal, Levi returns: unapologetically eclectic and unfashionably sincere, having finally beaten back the jaded nihilism and acrimonious apathy that had once defined him.
Returned to writing on his own terms, Levi’s recent works are darker, stranger, and far more personal. The extent of his acclaim depends, as always, on who you ask. Whatever else may be said, he is writing again.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
Author and poet LindaAnn LoSchiavo shares a thought-provoking collection of poetry dealing with sorrow and relationships in the book “Cancer Courts My Mother.”
The Synopsis
“Cancer Courts My Mother” gives voice to the creativity borne out of the experience of late-stage cancer from the perspective of a caregiver and a daughter.
Written with candor, warmth, and grace, these poems explore universal themes of sorrow, resiliency, relationships, anger, hope, and love.
This collection is for anyone who’s ever wondered how to go forward in the face of suffering, but doesn’t expect an easy answer.
Cancer, a Casanova, is bent on seducing a mother away from her family– even as a dutiful daughter tries to defeat him.
* Haiku summary:
cancer’s intrusions
can’t stop a relationship
from healing
Cancer Courts My Mother has received two literary distinctions: the BREW Seal of Excellence from The Chrysalis BREW Project and the Voyages of Verses Award from OneTribune Media.
The Review
Emotionally driven and compelling, this book of poetry and prose does an incredible job of conveying the experience of both patient and caregiver facing the horrendous journey through cancer so many have had to suffer through. The powerful imagery of each chapter and the writing style gave the poems an almost fictional, cohesive quality and allowed the reader to connect with the poet’s experiences.
What really stood out to me about the collection was how controlled and honest the author’s writing felt with every poem. The author never shies away from the realities of facing cancer head-on, delivering a narrative that shows the dignified yet painful truths she and her mother faced throughout this process, and the often artistic and emotionally rhythmic lyricism of each poem felt both natural and creative in the face of such overwhelming emotion.
The Verdict
Thoughtful, heartfelt, and engaging, author LindaAnn LoSchiavo’s “Cancer Courts My Mother” is a must-read book of poetry and prose. The fast pacing of the story the author tells, and the powerful themes of love, loss, and saying goodbye on your own terms, really made a heartfelt statement. The author’s ability to write honestly and still spark passion and creativity in the reader’s imagination made this a memorable and enthralling read. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today!
Rating: 10/10
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About the Author
A native New Yorker, LoSchiavo has received nominations for the Pushcart Prize, Rhysling Award, Best of the Net, the IPPY Award, CLMP’s Firecracker Award, Balcones Poetry Prize, and Dwarf Stars. She is a member of Science Fiction Poetry Assoc., The British Fantasy Society, and The Dramatists Guild.
Her poetry chapbooks include “Conflicted Excitement” [Red Wolf Editions, 2018], “Concupiscent Consumption” [Red Ferret Press, 2020], “Women Who Were Warned” [Cerasus Poetry, May 2022], and “Messengers of the Macabre” co-authored with David Davies [Audience Askew, October 2022].
Her full-length collections include Elgin Award winner “A Route Obscure and Lonely” [Wapshott Press, Dec. 2019] and “Apprenticed to the Night” [UniVerse Press, 2023].
Three of her short stories appear in “A Feast of Narrative,” Vol. 1 [Idea Press, 2020], edited by Tiziano Dossena.
