Fantastic Flash

The Flash: Hocus Pocus by Barry Lyga

My Favorite Quotes/Lines:

“He would fix everything and paper over the hole in his heart.”

“And in the morning, things seemed different and not so bleak, as things in the morning so often do.”

“Overcaffeinated ADHD meets superspeedster. The two great tastes that taste great together.”

“But another part of him—a much bigger part, the part that was a dad and a cop—knew that anything was possible, that even the fastest man alive could be caught off guard. Barry wasn’t Joe’s biological son, but he had a claim on Joe’s heart just the same.”

“But she’d taken that moment. And to someone as fast as Kid Flash, that moment had lasted forever.”

“Dude’s obsessed with having people get their worship on. He needs a reality TV show or something.” “Or he could run for president,” Caitlin said. “Don’t even joke about that.”

“But what sets you apart from other people, Barry, is that when you get evidence to the contrary, you don’t just charge ahead with your original thought. You actually change your mind. And that’s a rare thing in this world.”

“Oh well. Life with superpowers means getting dirty sometimes.”

Review:

5 out of 5 gnomes

Wow, I really loved this book. After reading if you're anything like me you'll be wishing that the author Barry Lyga wrote for The Flash TV show. I adore the show too but his version of flashpoint not happening makes for some strong reading.

The author really seems to understand what makes these characters shine. Hocus Pocus is a great villain too. The tone, dialogue, etc… all felt legit to the series and characters.

The ending is To Be Continued, so here's hoping the next book is published ASAP. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Wild Wildefire

Wildefire by Karsten Knight

A firey 4 gnomes out of 5 gnomes for this great take on a wide range of pantheon’s gods and for having quite a kick-butt main character.  This story has a lot to it and I forsee it getting even more complex in the future.  I love stories that involve mythology and this story has gods from many pantheons.

Ashline other then the weird name, is quite an interesting character.  The first glimpse the reader gets of her is when she’s fighting someone in the parking lot at her school.  Things go from bad to worse when her estranged sister Eve shows up.  The fight doesn’t stop there though and with the chapter being called “Lightning Rod” you should take the title literally and know that it doesn’t end on a happy note.

After the roof incident things pick up with Ashline far away from home at a boarding school in the middle of nowhere.  She thinks that she’s left her past behind but realistically enough someone finds out her past by using the internet.  

The relationship between Ashline and her sister is tumultuous at best.  Eve has discovered that she has powers and is not afraid to use them.  Her and Ashline are on separate sides of this reincarnated gods situation.  It’s always interesting when sisters are on opposing sides and what’s great here is that each sister’s argument makes sense.  There is a lot of gray area involved, so there don’t seem to be any easy answers.

The pacing was a little slow at times and the chapters felt really long but the action does really pick up later in the book.  I wish some of the slower school parts had been cut out and that Ashline had found out her heritage sooner.  It seems at times that Ashline is written as older then she actually is.  I guess this just gives her more room to mature.  There are also a lot of characters to keep track of that I hope we learn even more about in the next book.

Ashline’s love life is full of trouble.  She can’t seem to find the right guy.  In a refreshing twist from the usual she knows who she wants to be with and has no qualms about going for it.  Also like any good relationship being with the guy she likes could be very complicated.  

The story has a couple of very surprising twists of the WTF variety.  These twists show a lot of promise for some juicy developments in the next book.  There are surprises aplenty including a killer ending that may leave you cursing.  I'm looking forward to the next book and can't wait to see where these characters go next because it looks like there are some big changes in store.

My Favorite Quotes/Lines
"I figured I'd tag you, so that ani-mal control would know that there's a bitch on the loose."

"It was the quiet ones you had to watch out for."