Susan BohnetBesprekingen

Lethal Influence is a book that tells of Kai, a member of an alien race living among humans and trying to guide - "Influence" - humans into making better choices not by force, but by building on the capacity for good inside of us. The story is about Kai's self exploration as well as his exploration of how his race affects humanity.

As Kai learns more about himself, he finds himself doing things no other of his race can, as far as he knows, do. Discoveries include the depth and intensity of his love for a human as well as darker parts of himself - darkness that causes him to become embroiled in conspiracy, intrigue, and questionable acts.

I loved the way that the authors hinted at things to come without being predictable. As an empath, I can relate to Kai's struggling with what he sees not only in humanity but in himself. Thoroughly enjoyable and engrossing, this book is well worth the read.

DNF 12%

Not bad, just blunt and naive in a way that annoys me personally. The bad guys (all men) have so far abused animals and raped/murdered women. Classic, "Want to make sure your readers know he's bad? Make him a rapist, preferably a smirking rapist." It's about as subtle as a sledge hammer to the forehead. Conversely, all victims have been female and one, the love interest, is too perfect to be believed. The whole thing has a certain Mary Sue feel to it that I do not enjoy. There will no doubt be those who enjoy this sort of writing style, I am not one of them. So, I'm stopping. I'm not making a quality judgment, just a 'not the book for me' sort of decision.

This was a book set up I hadn't encountered before, aliens who were on earth to mentally influence humans to be better. That was interesting. The theme of "humans can't know what type of being I am or they have to die, but I'm going to fall in love with one anyway" was old hat. Still, it was developed differently than I expected and kept me engaged. I liked the main character. Some of the other Trebladores got mixed up in my mind, but that could be because I could only read a half hour a day over lunch break. However, the end was very abrupt and wasn't all that satisfying. It wasn't a cliff hanger exactly, but it did leave me wanting a more fleshed out conclusion.
I got this book in exchange for a true review. Thank you for the opportunity. I may read more by this author.

I received this book from library thing early reviewers in exchange for an honest review. I liked the book. It was an enjoyable good read. It was fast paced and I got hooked on it from the start. I am very interested to read any other books written by this author. I would definitely recommend this book to other readers who enjoy blooks from this genre.

This story is based on an alien race, known as Trebladores. They have lived on Earth for thousands of years and their mission is to "Influence" humans who are evil and commit dispicable crimes.
Kai is one of the main caharacters; he soon finds out he has some abilities that his fellow Trebladores do not possess and rebel Trebladores try to use this for their advantage. This also leads Kai on a path of self discovery.
He falls in love with Beth, but Trebladores are forbidden to have relationships with humans.

The story is quite fast paced; character development could of been improved. This is a positive criticism, because I would of loved to know more about the individual characters- I became quite invested in Kai and his mission of love and self discovery.
I found this to be a good read; I enjoyed it.

Lethal Influence starts out somewhat confusing. There is little to no character development of the secondary characters so it's hard to keep track of who's who in the beginning. It would have been interesting to know about the alien society. But the bulk of the first half of the book was the relationship between between Kai and Beth. It was an interesting read. I did keep wondering when the climax was coming. It had a lot of potential. It could have used a few more runs by an editor.½

I quite enjoyed this book.

We follow our main character Kai, who is a Trebladore and his friends; a group of aliens with the power to influence humans, as he comes to term with the fact that he is different from his fellow Trebladores and that his own influencing power is much more than he realises. We see him struggle with this knowledge and how to best use his influencing powers for the greater good as it’s what’s been ingrained into him since he was a small child and is the Trebladore way.

Some action, plot twists that you may or may not see coming with a bit of romance thrown in, it will definitely make you ponder what it means to be human and how far an alien race would be willing to go in order to help us.

This story is difficult and sometimes confusing about a Alien race named the Trelbadors who have lived on earth for several thousand years and are trying to Influence the dangerous human minds to make better decisions for humanity. The only difference between a human and a Trelbador is a gold fleck in one eye. They have strict rules against human relationships. The story is slow in a lot of places and a minor plot twist at the end. For action?? very little to none. Most of the story is of the interaction between Kai the Alien and Beth the human he is in love with.

I often wish/hope/imagine that some 'guardian angels' are out there, ready to influence bad guys to be better. Susan does a GREAT job of building this in a believable way. I don't want to introduce a single spoiler, but the story builds up and ends up with a satisfactory ending.

Lethal Influence is a science fiction novel. An alien society has secretly lived among us for thousands of years. Trebladores can influence humans with their psychic powers and are trying to help humans develop into a more peaceful and wise society. Kai, a young Trebladore male, has a difficult time with the his people’s rules about not becoming romantically involved with humans. He falls in love with a human woman. He also discovers that his powers are different, and more powerful, than the other Trebladores. Soon he becomes the focus of a rebel Trebladore group who want to use his powers for their own purposes. The woman he loves is put in danger and his own future is at risk.

I found the premise of this novel quite promising. The idea of an alien society living secretly among us and trying to influence us was intriguing. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy this novel as much as I had hoped. I found the main character young and naive. This wouldn’t have been a bad thing if there had been some dynamic growth and change in the character. The romance took up much of the beginning of the book and was not very interesting. Once Kai became involved with the rebels, he ricocheted from one improbable escape to another. The ending of the book was rather unsatisfying as well.½

While the book started off in an intriguing way, I found myself unable to continue past 10/%. The characters were interesting, as was their purpose to existing, but the writing flow was difficult for me to follow.

As a species, the Trebladore's are an intriguing race that aim to inspire good emotions in troublesome humans. As stated prior, I believe the idea of the story is great. I just couldn't find myself engrossed in the work.

All the best to those that read. This would make an ideal book for lovers of sci-fi and fantasy.

From the moment I read the brief description, I knew I was in for a good read. This book takes you through SciFi, Romance, Mystery, Intrigue and Suspense. With a bit of Humor here and there. I can definitely see this becoming a series (one can hope) as there is more that can be told. But if it is only to be one book, it is still worth the read.

Overall I enjoyed this book. The author led the reader in unexpected directions into a world with humans and human look alikes. We meet aliens who can influence humans with their minds and make final life decisions. From the very start my attention was caught up in the dramatic scenes that unfolded. Kai, the main character, initially comes off as reactive juevenile, unlike his partners. As the story unfolds, not all is at it first seems. Secrets are unearthed and new abilities come to light for Kai. This book is for sci-fi fans and teens/young adults. There is some romance but nothing too gushy. If you are a fan of happily ever after stories you may be disappointed in the book's ending. I would definetly read another book written by these authors. Great character, storyline, and plot development.

I have to be honest, I am guilty of judging a book by it's cover/ cover art and while I did request this book when the time came to read it I was not overly enthusiastic to start. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the main character and I share a first name. (I'm not sure why, but I love when this happens!) I rather quickly became engrossed in this book. The main Character Jared is your typical Jr high boy. His family is a bit dysfunctional and he escapes into the world of Lavascape (an online multi-player game) where as the title hints at, he is a troll. The book chronicles his growing addiction with the game and the consequences this has on his everyday life. I think this book would be a good read for younger readers (5-8th grade). There are a couple of mature themes that may raise questions for younger kids. I really enjoyed this book and I will definitely recommend it often.

This was a good read. I look forward to a sequel. If you’re looking for a book that has a good moral background of standing up for what is right along with a little bit of action then this is the book for you. Through in a dash of comedy, a pinch of teen romance, a computer game and good ol’ family drama and you have ‘My Life as a Troll’. Don't be fooled, this book will get you hooked within the first couple of chapters.

Jared faces what many kids will go through in School. Having to deal with a bully, choosing between right and wrong and crushes add to that a troubled home life and you have the recipe for normal teen angst. Jared has the choice between living in a fantasy world of a game or accepting and dealing with real life. The game Lavascape gives him an escape from real life but in the game he acquires a resilience and toughness that he lacks outside the game, until events that happen in the game start blending over into the real world. He develops a stronger sense of self and ultimately figures out that living in the real world is so much better than being in Lavascape even with all its problems.

Jared is an outsider at school and unhappy at home, his parents fight all the time and his sister only has time for her boyfriend. So when he gets a copy of Lavascape, a fully immersive MMORPG with helmet, gloves and other tracking devices, he jumps at the chance to play a Troll. At first he is content with hanging out in the village, playing games all the time, but when he starts to have visions of a beautiful princess in distress, he starts to change his mind and prepare for an adventure. While he is spending more and more time in Lavascape and thus neglecting both his friends and his homework, he starts to notice strange changes with himself. Some injuries he incurred while playing suddenly appear in real life, and where are all those muscles coming from?

Susan Bohnet manages to take a coming of age story with a strong focus on computer games and takes it to the next level. My Life as a Troll is a very captivating read that I could not turn down, and even though I foresaw some plot points, there were turns I didn't see coming at all. Highly recommended for anyone who has ever played a computer game and a must read for everyone who plays MMORPGs!½

At the beginning I thought this book is for kids (and I even had an intention to drop the reading) but very soon I found myself enjoying the story. Wonderful idea.½

Meh, confused. The author doesn't quite manage to make any specific point, although the attempt to show that video games corrupt children was probably the intended one, but it fails in many areas. As "just" a story it's even worse with far too many contrived plot points resolved at a poor ending, obviously left floating for a sequel.

Jared is a young guy at school in the US and probably in the near future but unspecified. Who is the latest to sign-up to a new 3D immersive video game called LavaQuest. You fill in a detailed character form and choose a race to be - goblin, troll elf or human (and already the author's unfamiliarity with games comes through, as troll is very unlikely gaming class with severe drawbacks that the author ignores. The 'skills' given to a troll are equally daft, face reading? really? from a troll? It's a very contrived way to get Jared through various plot scenarios that a teenager would struggle with, but it's seriously wrong for a troll skill set.) The game requires a mask and gloves and maybe some other physical components but they aren't mentioned. Where Jared got he cash for these presumably expensive tyoys while the rest of the house struggles to meet the bills (a key point -they're a poor family.) is left ignored. He enjoys the game and quickly makes significant progress.

However his progress in the game is not matched by his life outside it as the game takes more and more of his time. (He has to be logged in at 6pm US (eastern?) time for a "feast" energy boost, which is silly, these games are worldwide all timezone affairs - login once a day, sure. But a set convenient US timezone only, no.) His school grades go down, he ignores his friends (who stick by him), and his family breaks up - although this has nothing to do with him, but does give him more incentive to spend time in the gameworld where his friends start out as being more reliable (again the confusion, are game friends more real than his RL friends? but it's his RL family he has trouble with). What makes absolutely no sense however is the impact the game has on him as a person. I've no issue at all with the psychological changes, and it's up to the author whether they're portrayed in a positive or negative light (or a mixture which is more likely the case). But the physical changes are just silly. No mechanism is given, or implied, no other games or virtual worlds seem to cause them, there's no consistency between what in game effects cause them, they're semi-transitory, which is even more stupid, and have no impact on the plot either.

The last thing that really annoyed me was the contrived assignation of his other game companions to his real life acquaintances (I'll let you guess who). Which was done in a similarly un-thought through way, leading to at least one serious chronological paradox (Sparklet?!).

Which isn't to say that it's a bad book. But it's not a good book, and with a little more careful background thought and planning it could have been a great book. The actual writing is generally engaging and well targeted at a YA audience. The characters do have personalities of their own and there are som interesting dynamics between them. But it isn't enough for me to recommend that anyone reads this, and I'm certainly not gong to follow up with the obvious sequel that must be planned.

I found this book really interesting. It reminded me a bit of Ready Player One by: Ernest Cline in the way that virtual reality can take over reality. The protagonist Jared was interesting and believable. I enjoyed the fact that the game had consequences in real life it upped the staked of the book and added a level of tension.