Reading Journal -- Review of When Heaven Came Down By Bryan Davis:

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I was offered a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Premise:

In a time of chaos, creatures known as angels took over the world, enslaving humans as their hosts.  A rebellion is desperate to get rid of the angels, but the odds are not in their favor.  Even so, the rebels do everything possible to solve the problems in their way and complete their mission to free humanity.

Audience:

Not many content cautions in this one.  As implied by the angels mentioned in the book's synopsis, there are a few mentions and brief discussions of religious topics, but it shouldn't be too much for most people.  And while this book features adult protagonists, the content is probably clean enough for both teens and adults.

Pros:

The idea of the angels and how they operated was easily my favorite aspect.  It's nice that, instead of simply having their mission and trying to fulfill it, the plot requires the chars to learn interesting tidbits about the angels.

Another upside is that the story emphasizes platonic relationships instead of relying on a romantic subplot.  There's nothing wrong with romance in stories, but sometimes it's nice to read tales where that isn't the focus.

There were several specific things I liked about the plot and angel design, but I won't get into them because they take place far later in the story and I want to avoid lacing this review with lots of spoiler warnings.

Cons:

The characters in this book weren’t as interesting as they are in some of Davis’ other tales.  A few basics of their backstories and personality were there, including things commonly fit into action characters (losing/trying to save a spouse or child) but since the story didn't feel as rooted into the characters' perspectives, it was hard to connect with them beyond the initial acknowledgement that they were going through a hard time(just like any other set of action movie characters).  And while there were differences and development for each character, those aspects felt more at a surface level of assigning a few beliefs/traits without using the narrative in a way that made us feel the pervasiveness of those traits.  So it was harder to experience the full breadth of each person's perspective/relationships.  

Some of the speech patterns and such also reminded me of several character types in Davis' other books.  That isn't bad in and of itself since it can be a stylistic thing, but when combined with the lessened depth to character perspectives, those speech patterns felt a little recycled, rather than simply following a style.

Because of that, everything seemed centered mostly on the plot, action, and creature design of the angels.  That’s actually not a bad thing.  It’s perfectly valid for a book to emphasize the situation/mission/etc, rather than harping on the unique perspectives of the characters and their feelings.  But since the book wasn't very long, it would have been nice to have a little more description and depth to character things and scenery.

Conclusion:

It's very rare for me to give five star reviews, and since the characters weren't as well developed as other Bryan Davis books I've read, I'm going to go ahead and rate this book as a three star.  But it's not a bad book at all, and I do recommend it for people that prefer quick sci fi reads focused more on plot, action or creature design.

Review -- Let The Ghosts Speak by Bryan Davis

To listen to the audio version of this review, click here: https://youtu.be/1qxNSJHdkwI

Or, if you just want the text version of it, read on :)

Hello everyone. Recently I was given the chance to read Bryan Davis’ new book, Let The Ghosts Speak, in exchange for an honest review.  The link to the book’s Amazon profile can be found here:  

https://www.amazon.com/Let-Ghosts-Speak-Bryan-Davis-ebook/dp/B084J7ST65/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=let+the+ghosts+speak&qid=1582172503&sr=8-1

Let The Ghosts Speak is a mystery story set in 19th century Paris. The protagonist is Justin Trotter, an orphaned English immigrant doing his best to provide for himself and his little sister. Justin’s faced tragic circumstances before, but he endures far worse after attending a party where his friend’s mother is found dead. Unfortunately, Justin is a prime suspect, and must navigate ghostly entities and unjust circumstances as he tries to clear his name.

Audience/Content Cautions: This story discusses a lot of religious themes and matters, so it is best suited for those that don’t mind that. Also, this story is mainly intended for older teens and adults, and thus contains a few mature themes. Although this book is fairly clean, there’s still some morbid content like hangings and beheadings. Furthermore, a character is accused of a very heinous sexual act.  Discussions around the issue are not gratuitous, however, and depict sexual abuse as the evil that it is.

Pros:  I don’t read mystery and historical fiction much, even though I don’t mind those genres, but Let The Ghosts Speak has an interesting premise with a touch of fantasy that makes it a fascinating read. At the very least, it’s worth hearing the way ghosts operate in this story world.

The tale itself had a dreary, tragic atmosphere with a bit of hope at the end. Several real life topics were discussed, such as societal injustice, finding ways to be at peace when everything goes wrong, and not letting romantic feelings lead to blind trust. There were also some portrayals of family conflict that were reasonably well done. Justin, as an outsider looking in, saw several hints of resentment from two of his friends, but later on he saw that those hints were only the tip of an ice berg of family drama.

Some issues mentioned in the book, such as the dark historical conflict between Protestants and Catholics, could hold a parallel to our modern day. Such issues are reflected in conflicts between Democrats and Republicans, Conservatives and Liberals. Those fights are usually less violent, but they still stem from harsh judgments and cause lots of harm and damaged relationships.

Cons: There were, however, times where this story came off as a little preachy. This is somewhat understandable since it’s told in first person and therefore all the character’s judgments and opinions are more in the reader's face.  But it was more blatant with several characters that were teachers to other characters. There's nothing wrong with the teacher dynamic, and many times teacher and student conversations can be good for relaying information naturally, but now and then those conversations didn’t feel like a natural discussion these characters would have.  The heart of their lessons surrounded good topics like love and mercy, but since they didn’t come across as natural, it sometimes just felt like the author preaching through the text.

Some characterization aspects could have also been better. I’ll discuss one example really quick, but please note that it is a bit of a spoiler, so read it at your own peril: <spoileralert>Near the end, Inspector Fortier talked about how the people of his era needed to stop being blind to their own injustices. That’s certainly true, and he did try to help Justin at various times, but the fact was that Fortier was part of the reason Justin’s life ended the way it did. Fortier jumped to a conclusion and arrested Justin before checking the facts and finishing the investigation, which led to Justin’s execution. In spite of this, Fortier did little, if anything, to show regret for that.

Fortier did express sadness, but it was more in response to societal injustice and trying to prevent a bad thing at the last minute, rather than acknowledging the part he played. And that’s a real shame, because Fortier could have gotten more character growth from that. Realistically, it would have compounded Fortier’s grief even further and made the story more powerful after showing that Justin forgave him in spite of everything. Or Fortier could have taken it as first hand proof of how easily someone could have a hand in injustice, and decide to do everything possible to avoid making such a mistake again.

But there wasn’t much, if any, indication that Fortier noticed his own faults, so instead of us seeing what Fortier would do after realizing his own contribution to injustice, he just seemed lacking in self awareness instead...  Particularly after criticizing the rest of society for an unjust outcome that he technically took part in. Everyone lacks self awareness in some area, but this seemed like a situation where most people would at least notice their part in this tragedy, even if they didn’t feel bad about it. </spoileralert>

Conclusion:  All that said, characterization is something I can be rather picky about, and a lot of the characters were still very interesting even though I didn’t always like the way they were presented.  I liked the dreary tragic atmosphere present in this tale, and the story felt a little different compared to what I normally read, so it was enjoyable even just from that standpoint. So if you like ghost stories, historical fantasy, mysteries, or explorations and critiques of society, this book might be for you.

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