Curtis Edmonds

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this as a Member Giveaway. No compensation was received other than a chance to read this work.

The version I was sent was a second edition, which included the first chapter of the sequel, A Circle of Moonlight. It appears there may have been some slight differences between this and a previous edition.

Overall, the story was engaging, and the parallel storylines worked without one overpowering the other. While there are pop culture references, such as to Beyoncé and Justin Timberlake, they shouldn't be too confusing to most readers. There are also references to various pieces of high fantasy literature (Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, etc.).

Recommended for those who enjoy Ready Player One, fantasy novel readers, and those who enjoy isekai (anime/manga about those characters summoned to another world).… (meer)

If the author had stuck to a tight storyline this might have been an out of the park homerun. Unfortunately, he is all over the place and while he seems to realize the need to rein in the tangents, they get farther and farther off track. The constant pop-culture references assume that the reader will be familiar and if not, oh well, turn a few pages and try to make sense at that point.

Bottom line – a car wreck, two sisters are the victims. Do they live? Do they share the same dream? Do they come out of the medically induced comas?

I loved the dreamscape where Ashlyn keeps getting knocked on her rear and bounces back to do battle again and again. She is not lucky enough to have dreams about fun things. This is pretty much the beginning, the middle and the end of the book. I enjoyed some of the goofy characters – a large black rabbit with a kind cultured mid-Atlantic accented voice, the guardians, the kindly and caring neurologist, a great set of parents.

Three stars for effort. Thank you NetGalley, Curtis Edmonds and Scary Hippopotamus Books for a copy.… (meer)

I’d received a PDF.file copy of this from the author through a giveaway he recently had on LibraryThing and the following is my honest opinion.

The author, Curtis Edmonds, has written a marvelous rhyming alphabetical listing of girl’s names that one girl imagines she might be instead of herself. Each time she images another name she’s in another state of the U.S. doing some sort of activity. Yet, her imagination is just that for she really enjoys being herself, doing the things she likes to do, but most of all she enjoys being with the family she. What adds to this book’s readers enjoying it is the fabulous illustrations done by Mat Sadler.

While each name appears to have a city and an activity haphazardly associated with it, there’s actually an educational reason behind it. An educational reason which parents can find at the end of the book, where a fact about the state and the activity each girl mention is mentioned is given. Parents can either copy each of these pages from the paperback edition, or copy/paste from the KINDLE and sit with their daughters the first time she reads the book. The inspiration for this book came from the author’s daughters, whose names are mentioned in the book.

For having given his young readers as well as their parents an enjoyable and educational reading experience there’s no way I can’t give its author and illustrator 5 STARS.

Now, that this author has given us a book written for parents and their daughters, I feel it’s no more than fitting that he writes one for parents and their sons.… (meer)