Stained Review

Review by Ashley Laura Smith

Where do I even begin with Stained? First, I’d like to say how I hands down loved this book. I read it in less than a day. The story was completely gripping and it plays on the emotions the way Fault in Our Stars by John Green. If you loved that book, you’ll most likely love this one. I do have a few warnings for anyone thinking about picking up this book. While I applaud Rainfield’s use of showing Sarah overcoming her victim mentality to save herself and the ones she loves, I caution readers because of the content she chooses to share about Sarah’s abduction. I do believe all of these were important to her story but when I think about my nieces and if I’d want them reading something this traumatic. Even when I was in high school, I think this book would have been hard for me to read because of its content.

I must say I love the divergent points of view of Sarah and Nick- especially after Sarah was kidnapped. Nick’s point of view was definitely needed to keep the story going along at a good pace. I’m slightly annoyed that Nick didn’t even have an inkling about who Sarah’s kidnaper could have been. He’s a smart guy. He should have put two and two together especially since it’s a well-known fact that most kidnapers tend to be known to the family and that most even inject themselves into an investigation. I would have loved to see Nick at least been a little bit more suspicious rather than just being a love sick boy wanting to get Sarah back.

I understood Charlene’s character in some ways because I was picked on as a child for being overweight. I wish that she was in the book more, even though she is mentioned quite often as not being able to cope with coming over. Her character fell flat at some points. One great thing about Stained is there are plenty of characters people could relate to in the book. I wish more books did this with their characters. Though I did like the ending, I wish it had been drawn out past where it left off. I would like to know more about what happened to the characters; maybe see them getting back into the swing of things or a few years down the road.

I loved this story and it really touched my soul. I will fully admit that cried in several parts of this book. At the beginning, I thought that I may not enjoy this story. I’m happily surprised to say that I ended up enjoying this book. I’d love to read a continuation of this book by Rainfield with the characters dealing with the things that happened in this book; maybe even having a trial for her abductor.  Though I caution those who want read this because of the content of this book, but if the reader is comfortable with this subject I think they’ll enjoy this novel.

Also available here: http://www.literarylunespublications.com/stained-review-by-ashley-laura-smith/

Sky’s End Review

First, I’d like to give a warning to any parent before getting this book for your child/teen. This is a very good book but there are quite a few violent scene and also some sexual in nature, the book never actually the act but it does get close to it at points. Also if you don’t want to read- or you don’t want your child reading- curse words, this might not be the best book for you. I must say had I been in high school when I read this, I would have loved it for all of these reasons. I love a book that takes risks. I know most teens in high school get bored by the generic straight to love situation.

I must say, I really enjoyed this book. The first pages were a little hard to grasp, however I was quickly whisked away as the storyline picked up within the first few chapters. I loved that Young didn’t start at the beginning of Cassiel arriving at the academy. It started after she failed the first test and with the second test looming over her head. It was a bit cliché with how if she failed the test she’d get out but ends up getting a second test by the top dogs there. The only reason she failed the test in the first place was because they tricked her.

Something that really did exasperate me about this set up was there had to be at least one girl who was more experienced in battle than she was and was still inexperienced when it came to sex. I understand it setup the story for Cassiel to go after her brother, but who didn’t see that one coming? I enjoyed that they explained all about Thell’eon aliens but it did seem to be a bit of an info dump. I wish Young would have developed more of the briefing instead giving us all this information. However although it remains something to yearn after, I did enjoy her commentary.

Overall, I found the storyline to be so enthralling and I practically inhaled this book. The romantic aspects of the book could have been carried through the entire story, but I do hope that in the second installment it will be revisited. The first perspective in no way hindered the storytelling of this book. It actually added humor and suspense within the storyline. I’m excited to see what Lesley has in store for the second installment!

You can also read my reviews at Literary Lunes Magazine here.