Book Review - Dragon Mountain by Katie Tsang

 

Billy Chan doesn't know what to expect from his culture summer camp that his parents are sending him to. The camp is in the middle-of-nowhere China and Billy doesn't know anyone there. When he arrives, he meets his fellow campers and is assigned to a group to work together during the summer. Dylan, Charlotte, Billy, and Ling-Fei, come across a mountain that has four powerful warrior dragons hidden behind the camp. The dragons need the help of the children to help defeat the Dragon of Death before it can unleash evil on the earth. The campers will need to travel to the Dragon Realm to help save the dragons. Can the team work together to help the dragons?

At first I thought the book was going great but, then it went downhill. The writing felt clinical and boring. It felt like the author was in a rush to get the book done and the writing became very straightforward. There was almost no time spent on building the friendships between the characters. They went from strangers to best friends who are willing to die for each other. There was almost no humor and somehow, every single time someone knew exactly what was needed at the right moment.

Book Review - All Things Now Living (Seventh Daughter, #1) by Rondi Bauer Olson

Photo Credit - Amazon

Amy doesn't like to see any animals suffer or die. She refuses to hurt animals, but she can't see herself feeling sorry for the abominable inhabitants of New Lithisle. The dome the inhabitants built to shield themselves from diseases is predicted to collapse and Amy was taught this is God's will. 

While on a trip with her father, Amy becomes trapped New Lithisle. She is kept hostage where she meets, Daniel. He is beautiful and Amy is attracted to him, but he has been modified. Amy is conflicted upon saving New Lithisle and its inhabitants or standing by idly while the residents suffer through God's curse. Will Amy help save the New Lithisle? Will Amy be able to see the humanity in all of God's creatures?

The story had an interesting premise, but I couldn't get into the story. I found the characters confusing and have conflicting ideas. For example, Amy doesn't like to see animals die, but doesn't care about the people about New Lithisle. She constantly judges them by their exterior even though they go out of their way to help her. Daniel is conflicted about doing what Amy wants and what is best for the New Lithisle. He trusts some people, but the others, he judges harshly. He was afraid of Leroy and wanted to leave him behind, but when Scout threaten Amy, he had no problem having Scout tag along with them. The characters all have a strange dynamic with each other. One minute, they trust each other the next they are shooting the other person.

I also found the story to be confusing and convoluted. I had to re-read several sentences and I still couldn't follow. I felt that some of the story could have used more details or backstory. Like more about Amy's sisters and why there are seven of them along with why Amy has a bounty on her. They keep mentioning them, but they never come into contact with each other.  Also, what is this pandemic, they keep talking about since they became immune to the swine flu. What happened to her scientist mother? The dialogue felt a bit weird and not authentic. I have read a few dystopian novels and while I am not a fan of the genre, I do generally like them. However, this one doesn't keep my attention for very long.

**Disclosure - I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion**

Lumene Excellent Future Deep Repairing Cream

 

Photo Source - Walgreens

The deep repairing cream is packed with apple extract and arctic white peat. The product promises to preserve skin’s appearance by promoting the skin’s ability to repair itself. The cream made my skin soft and smooth. I haven’t notice anything any improvement on my wrinkles…not that I have any..just saying if I did. Overall, it is a good cream and this probably should be use more for preventing wrinkles then helping to treat ones you have.