Review: Acorna: The Unicorn Girl by Anne McCaffrey

Acorna: The Unicorn Girl by Anne McCaffrey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It is no secret that Anne McCaffrey has been one of my favorite authors of all time. I think it is within this decade that I was in a bookstore in Reno that had some pretty good deals. They told me that they had just received a huge collection of First Edition Anne McCaffrey’s books. I nearly passed it up. I’ve never been rich monetarily. I figured I wouldn’t be able to afford it. But being a store that wanted to keep their merchandise moving, they actually quoted me a price for the whole collection that I could afford.

But I was working and found that reading “real” or “tree” books hard for my eyes. And I was always tired with fibromyalgia. So the books sat on my shelves.

When we moved here the McCaffreys sat in a box until I got a new bookshelf. Now they are out on display so I can’t resist. Except reading the old way is slow. So I try to keep my paper bookmark where I am in the Kindle version and read a bit when I can.

Luckily, I’ve been collecting the Kindle versions of Anne’s treasures. At least this one has text-to-speech. I kind of hoped for Audible but they don’t have this book. It’s okay as I can speed up the listen-rate to 2x and get through a book in no time.

As much as I looked forward to Acorna, who wouldn’t want to read a story about a unicorn girl? I have to admit that as much as I love her writing style, I found this book wasn’t so much about the girl as it was about child slavery and the men who found the girl. You never get to see her point of view, even when she grows up. Still, Ms. McCaffrey and Ms. Ball cover the issues well and made a good story. I am already into the next book and I see the plot continues with other people. Acorna is still not showing up personally. Maybe that will change soon.

I still liked the book and can’t wait to see what happens in the series.

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Review: Spellsmoke by S.M. Reine

Spellsmoke by S.M. Reine
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sorry to be late to the party, again. Between computer/internet issues and smoke making my eyes too blurry to get online to write this, I am about a week late for this review.

I am always happy when I get to review yet another of S.M. Reine’s books. She has got a library full of her own writing at this stage. She never stops! So I couldn’t wait to read Spellsmoke. Unfortunately, I seem to have a huge amount of books to read right now and some are waiting for reviews. It’s hard to be fair when you have favorites. Wink, Wink.

When a book starts with Meadowood Mall… I’m hooked. I knew of every aspect of the walk through the mall. Even Dippity Dots Kiosk! And Borders! I love when Sara includes Reno and other places many of us know and love in her stories. Who knew so many demons and vampires walked the Washoe County streets? I wish I would have gotten to know her when I lived there!

Okay, Lincoln Marshall is not my favorite character. He maybe is equal or above Cesar but most people will like them, I think. What I liked was meeting old friends like Rylie and her wolf clan. Which reminds me: Please, if you haven’t started these series’s Start with Six Moon Summer (Seasons of the Moon, #1). That’s when you meet Rylie Gresham for the first time. Lincoln comes later in the series. But recurs often enough you get to like him.

Oh, and we get to see Sophie Keyes the historian again. She’s a little weird, but I like her a lot.

Ms. Reine is bringing up touchy issues in this book but handles them with grace. Thing like racism and abuse. I’m proud of how she presents these and finds ways to explore both sides and introduces other angles not in a dogmatic way but rather in ways we all need to think on.

I can’t wait to read book three in this little series. We weren’t left on a cliff but were given enough to want to continue. I hate putting Sara’s books down and go back to real life!

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