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Lost Spell: An Evelina Giles Book
Six new weird tales of Evelina Giles, the Witch Private-Investigator is here!
With her reporter friend, Jeanie, and her assistant/ bodyguard, Mungo, they investigate voodoo, a ghost dog, misplaced spells and demons.
With her reporter friend, Jeanie, and her assistant/ bodyguard, Mungo, they investigate voodoo, a ghost dog, misplaced spells and demons.
107 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 30, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
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June 27, 2020The tales in this book were definitely weird, but because I'm from Africa and live in a culture with beliefs in witchcraft, I found these stories very entertaining because they are so different than the voodoo I'm familiar with.
Evelina Giles, the Witch Private-Investigator would be the perfect character for a TV show, with her reporter friend, Jeanie, and her assistant/ bodyguard, Mungo. The investigation of the ghost dog was probably my favorite. I'll tell my friends about this!
Evelina Giles, the Witch Private-Investigator would be the perfect character for a TV show, with her reporter friend, Jeanie, and her assistant/ bodyguard, Mungo. The investigation of the ghost dog was probably my favorite. I'll tell my friends about this!
July 6, 2020
"One is never use to the weirdness in one’s life."-Mark Slade, Lost Spell: An Evelina Giles Book
Book Synopsis
The book contains six different tales, some of them already appeared in various magazine media. It includes Chicken Foot Blues, Cookie Cookie, Chicken Scratch, Black Dog, Lost Spell, and Dust to Dust. Each tales tell a different story which showcase Evelina Giles'(main character) talent in solving her clients' problems. Together with her reporter best friend, Jeanie, and her unusually tall assistant Mungo, they're all out to investigate the unnatural world.
Book Thoughts
First of all, I'm not a fan of fantasy and horror genre of a story. No matter how much I adore reading mysteries, thrillers, and crimes, I dislike the paranormal ones. So if you're a fantasy or horror reader, you might not want to read this review. I read this book cover to cover and I was really touched with the Author's friend's foreword. It made me think that this book is gripping and full of adventures as it seems to be. But to be honest, I didn't feel much of that. If the author's goal is to disgust and make the readers' stomach churn, he was utterly successful with that.
I wonder why it's titled as Lost Spell though. The title is included in the six tales but I still don't understand the significance of it in the story. The author's way of narrating the story is okay for me. 'Okay' is the only word I personally prefer to describe it. Although fantasy is not my cup of tea, I enjoyed reading a few fantasy/horror stories when I was younger. But to be honest, this one's not for me. In my honest opinion, it's just a story-telling because I don't get the sense of each tales. On the good side, I salute the author's bravery in writing such dark tales. Not everyone has the guts to write such stories. You wouldn't want to read this book when you are alone at night. Better not read it when you're eating too. Even now while I'm typing this, the gross scenes from the book still haunt me.
Quotes from the Book
“For a writer you really suck at telling stories."
This quote's actually for me. As a writer, I really suck at telling stories. But, I would admit that the author of this book tells the story very well.
"One is never use to the weirdness in one’s life."
I guess, there's always a new 'weirdness' we discover in our lives everyday so one will never get used to it.
More quotes from the book:
“You know as well as I do, Jeanie, that we never have a plan.” I told her.
“And that’s why people get hurt,” Jeanie countered.
"Some of us need more help than others, I supposed."
"The way she carried herself. She was the center of the universe, or someone's universe, I should say."
Overall Verdict
It was so-so. I did like some parts of the book but I also dislike some. For me, I just didn't feel like it's a book that engaged me. I like that it was an easy read. You can literally finish this in 2 hours if you indulge yourself in it. If you are someone who's into witchcraft and gross stuffs, there's no doubt this book is for you. Also, I just want to warn you that it contains disgusting scenes so you better prepare your stomach.
With all honesty, I don't hate the book but I didn't like it either. As I've mentioned beforehand, it's not the genre I prefer. So, I hope you'll still give it a chance, we don't know, you might actually enjoy it.
Book Synopsis
The book contains six different tales, some of them already appeared in various magazine media. It includes Chicken Foot Blues, Cookie Cookie, Chicken Scratch, Black Dog, Lost Spell, and Dust to Dust. Each tales tell a different story which showcase Evelina Giles'(main character) talent in solving her clients' problems. Together with her reporter best friend, Jeanie, and her unusually tall assistant Mungo, they're all out to investigate the unnatural world.
Book Thoughts
First of all, I'm not a fan of fantasy and horror genre of a story. No matter how much I adore reading mysteries, thrillers, and crimes, I dislike the paranormal ones. So if you're a fantasy or horror reader, you might not want to read this review. I read this book cover to cover and I was really touched with the Author's friend's foreword. It made me think that this book is gripping and full of adventures as it seems to be. But to be honest, I didn't feel much of that. If the author's goal is to disgust and make the readers' stomach churn, he was utterly successful with that.
I wonder why it's titled as Lost Spell though. The title is included in the six tales but I still don't understand the significance of it in the story. The author's way of narrating the story is okay for me. 'Okay' is the only word I personally prefer to describe it. Although fantasy is not my cup of tea, I enjoyed reading a few fantasy/horror stories when I was younger. But to be honest, this one's not for me. In my honest opinion, it's just a story-telling because I don't get the sense of each tales. On the good side, I salute the author's bravery in writing such dark tales. Not everyone has the guts to write such stories. You wouldn't want to read this book when you are alone at night. Better not read it when you're eating too. Even now while I'm typing this, the gross scenes from the book still haunt me.
Quotes from the Book
“For a writer you really suck at telling stories."
This quote's actually for me. As a writer, I really suck at telling stories. But, I would admit that the author of this book tells the story very well.
"One is never use to the weirdness in one’s life."
I guess, there's always a new 'weirdness' we discover in our lives everyday so one will never get used to it.
More quotes from the book:
“You know as well as I do, Jeanie, that we never have a plan.” I told her.
“And that’s why people get hurt,” Jeanie countered.
"Some of us need more help than others, I supposed."
"The way she carried herself. She was the center of the universe, or someone's universe, I should say."
Overall Verdict
It was so-so. I did like some parts of the book but I also dislike some. For me, I just didn't feel like it's a book that engaged me. I like that it was an easy read. You can literally finish this in 2 hours if you indulge yourself in it. If you are someone who's into witchcraft and gross stuffs, there's no doubt this book is for you. Also, I just want to warn you that it contains disgusting scenes so you better prepare your stomach.
With all honesty, I don't hate the book but I didn't like it either. As I've mentioned beforehand, it's not the genre I prefer. So, I hope you'll still give it a chance, we don't know, you might actually enjoy it.
July 13, 2020
I received a free book in exchange for an honest review.
This collection of paranormal short stories focuses on a sassy witch, her extra large assistant, and reporter friend. Each client brings a new adventure full of mystery, spells, and more often than not, gruesome deaths. Some problems are easy to solve, like Chicken Foot Blues. Some questions never really get answered, like Chicken Scratch. The clients are an interesting bunch, especially the ones in Cookie Cookie. Through it all, Evelina, Jeanie, and Mungo are the best part of each story. Their friendly banter and teasing are so relatable, which is a necessary aspect of a story when you're dealing with things that stretch your imagination. The humor between the main characters lightens up these dark tales. If you're squeamish about witchcraft, murder, or horror, this might not be for you! I grew up on Grimm's fairy tales, and this feels like a modern equivalent of that.
I did have a hard time relating to the narration of the stories, something about this writing style just didn't do it for me. There's some sexual content and descriptions of women that I thought were unnecessary. But overall a fun adventure of contemporary magic and mayhem!
Thank you to Henry Roi for the opportunity to read and review this book.
This collection of paranormal short stories focuses on a sassy witch, her extra large assistant, and reporter friend. Each client brings a new adventure full of mystery, spells, and more often than not, gruesome deaths. Some problems are easy to solve, like Chicken Foot Blues. Some questions never really get answered, like Chicken Scratch. The clients are an interesting bunch, especially the ones in Cookie Cookie. Through it all, Evelina, Jeanie, and Mungo are the best part of each story. Their friendly banter and teasing are so relatable, which is a necessary aspect of a story when you're dealing with things that stretch your imagination. The humor between the main characters lightens up these dark tales. If you're squeamish about witchcraft, murder, or horror, this might not be for you! I grew up on Grimm's fairy tales, and this feels like a modern equivalent of that.
I did have a hard time relating to the narration of the stories, something about this writing style just didn't do it for me. There's some sexual content and descriptions of women that I thought were unnecessary. But overall a fun adventure of contemporary magic and mayhem!
Thank you to Henry Roi for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews