Alicia RadesReviews

Crystal Frost learns she has psychic abilities after seeing a ghost in school. She wants to use her gifts to help a fellow student. Crystal and her friends work together to make things right.

DNF ~ 20%

This was a free audiobook on Apple Books, and I saw the Indigenous and disability representation and figured why not. I went in with low expectations, but I still find myself unsurprisingly disappointed. Because I don’t feel like writing out an essay today, I’m just going to bullet-point through the things I liked, didn’t like, and what was in between…

The Negatives
- Sophia was a very average immature teenage girl Mary Sue Chosen One main character. She had almost no personality and I found myself wanting to skip to Liam’s point-of-view chapters at times just to not have to hear about her inner monologue.
- Liam was a very typical angsty boy love interest, but given his situation I found it a little bit excusable. He was the more enjoyable of the two main characters.
- The magic system was unoriginal. Earth, air, water, and fire is a story I’ve read too many times before.
- The writing was very immature for a book aimed at new adults, I feel like this could’ve worked better as a young adult novel.

The In-Between
- This was one of those books where you can tell the writers are 100% millennials. Take that as you will.
- While the side characters weren’t the most fleshed out, they weren’t completely forgettable either.

The Positives
- Both of the audiobook narrators did a great job. In all honesty, their reading was the only truly enjoyable thing about this.
- The Indigenous and disability representation, which had been my main reason for reading this book, was actually very heavily present in this as far as I read in the story. Almost all of the characters are Indigenous and the love interest has a chronic disability that is present and spoken about within his point-of-view chapters.

TL;DR: Not completely awful but I didn’t find any worth in continuing on with this.

Awakened by Grace: Divine Fate Trilogy (Davina Universe Book 3), my third read from author Alicia Rades. The story continues seamlessly from Touched by Grace: Book 2. Coupled with a somewhat unique plot the book becomes a page turner that you can't wait to complete. I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review." The gifting of this book did not affect my opinion of it. I look forward to reading more from this author. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).

Chosen by Grace: Divine Fate Trilogy (Davina Universe Book 1), my first read from author Alicia Rades and it was a page-turner. I don't do spoilers so you'll have to read blurbs for those. Rades character development is excellent. She creates first a primary character and then a supporting cast that the reader gets invested into. Coupled with a somewhat unique plot the book becomes a page turner that you can't wait to complete and then get into the next book.
Touched by Grace: Divine Fate Trilogy (Davina Universe Book 2), my second read (back to back) from author Alicia Rades. The story continues seamlessly from Chosen by Grace Book 1. Coupled with a somewhat unique plot the book becomes a page turner that you can't wait to complete and then get into the next book.
Awakened by Grace: Divine Fate Trilogy (Davina Universe Book 3), my third read from author Alicia Rades. The story continues seamlessly from Touched by Grace: Book 2. Coupled with a somewhat unique plot the book becomes a page turner that you can't wait to complete. I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review." The gifting of this book did not affect my opinion of it. I look forward to reading more from this author. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).

My first read from author Alicia Rades and it was a page-turner. I don't do spoilers so you'll have to read blurbs for those. Rades character development is excellent. She creates first a primary character and then a supporting cast that the reader gets invested into. Coupled with a somewhat unique plot the book becomes a page turner that you can't wait to complete and then get into the next book.

The premise is interesting but the execution boils down to listening to gossip, speculation, more gossip, and spreading gossip.
I felt sympathy for her situation and her broken family: an absent and divorced dad and a horribly neglecting mother.
But how she goes about dealing with the main mystery is just tedious to read.
She wasn't tstl stupid but the book fails miserably at conveying the emotional impact of the murder she witnessed. It seems like her emotional experience is on a similar level as gossip about a scandalous kiss or who slept with whom at summer camp.
Sometimes she clearly gets the gravity of the situation but at other times the tone is completely off.
After almost 2 hours of audiobooks and 9 chapters, the book still hasn't progressed beyond the MC asking around and thinking about what to do about the murder she witnessed.

The few clues I have noticed so far point to a very underwhelming run-of-the-mill plot and very little subtlety.

Maybe I am just too impatient but the writing feels off and I am done waiting for things to happen.

Still liking it :) Although I am a little disappointed at how quick a read these books are. This book was very episodical, more like a short story than a novel. The story is wonderful but not fully developed, that's not a bad thing. It's probably a good thing because it means I want to read/know/experience more. Hopefully the next books will give me that little something extra.

This was really nice! The writing was flowing a lot better than the previous book, the author has definitely experienced some growth.

Ryn Tyler didn't intend to kill a demon when she moved to Eagle Valley - or to become the hero of a divine race of angels. She just wants to be a normal teenager, but fate has other plans.

As she prepares to attend Galen High, a magical school for angels, Ryn navigates a complicated relationship with Marek, the guy who can't stop saving her life. But Marek knows more about Ryn's magic than he's letting on.

Only Ryn has the power to stop this age-old war. But there's a demon in Eagle Valley who wants that power for himself - and if Ryn wants to survive, she'll have to fight back.

This is the fourth book of the exciting series! DEFINITELY need to read the previous books before this or you'll be completely lost. My heart shattered reading this book. However with any quest or journey, to reach the pinnacle one usually has to go through immense hardships. My word did our faves go through crazy hardships!!!! I can't wait to see what's next, for this book truly wears our faves down. I've no doubt they'll rise like Phoenix, but to do that they must burn within the fires

FINALLY....Sophia, Liam, Jonah and imogen have supposedly found refuge. Unbeknownst to them, they found their way to the lost Anichi settlement which also happened to house the rebellion! For the first time in a long while they could breathe and maybe relax a bit....

Or could they? This book (like all in the series) is filled with hard choices, emotional/spiritual growth, life changes, blessings, a few immense secrets along the way, and massive changes. However, friendship and FAMILY by choice and by blood are at the center of it all. We see Sophie and her friends grow up long before they should. Still grieving the loss of loved ones from the most recent fight, everyone is doing their very best to learn all they can and become the best versions of themselves. Uniting the tribes is definitely NOT going to be easy, but they learn a few things that could possibly help the situation. Prepare yourselves for crazy ups and downs, lots of revelations, a celebration or two along the way, and a few faces return. Will everyone finally band together, or splinter at the first inkling of trouble? Can our fave group find true happiness, or will doubts and other influences break them down and move them apart? We're down to the final hours as
we near the conclusion to this fun and addictive series in the next and final book. I for one can't wait to read it!!!

I loved this series. It is great seeing Crystal grow up through these stories. The storyline itself is awesome. This book is not a standalone. You have to read the previous two. This story has some twists and turns, so it isn’t like all the books with a psychic character you have read before. That aspect is refreshing.

I loved this series. It is great seeing Crystal grow up through these stories. The storyline itself is awesome. This book is not a standalone. You have to read the previous two. This story has some twists and turns, so it isn’t like all the books with a psychic character you have read before. That aspect is refreshing.

This is the beginning of a YA series about psychics, friends, families, and responsibility. Though written with a youthful tone the story and plot pulled me in and held me there. I would like to read more in this series.

What did you like most about Fire in Frost?
I found this a great story building on friendship trust and helping those friends and others in a time of great need. Learning to believe in oneself and finding the strength within yourself to trust in yourself and your friends.

What does Kim Reiko bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
Kim Reiko did a great job in bringing Crystal to life and I found her tone and nuances for the other characters belieable and enjoyable. Kim was able to give a real 'young' tone to the YA characters and a more 'mature' tone for the adults. I think if I'd only read the book I would have used the same tone, within my head, for each of the characters.

Any additional comments?
I loved how this book embaced friendships, belief in oneself and belief in your friends. It was a constant story, no action, but definite had the odd suspenceful moment where you hoped that everything would turn out for the best. I also found that as the story progressed, the main character really developed, especially as her psychic abilities grew. Even though this is a YA book, I think adults that like paranormal psychic type stories would also get enjoyment from this book.

Simple. Straight to the point.

This could be a series like the 1-800-Where-R-You series.

Did she grow at all?½

Notes:

*Could be 3.5/5
*A more serious case to solve

Notes:

*Actual rating: 2.75/5. Could be rounded to three.
*A straightforward, simple story of how a girl discovered her latent psychic powers.
*Which she used to help.
*Great relationship between a parent and a teen.
*No angst regarding potential new parent. They get along great.
*No romance; which is good and it doesn't really need one.
*Perhaps a bigger case to solve in the next book?