A Chapter A Day: Day 27 "Sea of Souls" by Seth Ervin and Casey Eanes FINAL

                 A Chapter A Day: Day 27
                    DOUBLE FEATURE
Reviewing book two in the Keys of Candor series, Sea of Souls, by Casey Eanes and Seth Ervin.

Hey there guys, tonight I am doing a special double feature plus a special treat on our Facebook page.
By double feature I mean that this is the review for the last two chapters of the book. The review has actually been done for a while but blogger has been really wonky lately and the scheduled post didn't work so I didn't realize this was so late. Sorry about that.
This is really exciting and bittersweet so lets hop to it!

~~~~~~Double the usual amount of time later~~~~

First I will do the usual hot topics and my personal responses, the more "professional" angle will be further down.

"Son of a.." What? Son of a what, Willyn? Do tell me where you were going with that. Son of a Queen who tried to helped you guys? Hmm.. It's such a shame that she was interrupted right there. I really wanted to know where she was taking that.
*Insert innocent smile*

Aft? Whats an Aft? *googles* Oh, look at this new found knowledge!

The difference between aft and stern is that aft is the inside (onboard) rearmost part of the vessel, while stern refers to the outside (offboard) rearmost part of the vessel.
Obviously the Rooks aren't a ship but they are some type of machine. I would actually be very interested in seeing a design for them.



Moving on!
The young feller that came to get Willyn is gonna die. Its bound to happen. The authors have added another heart wrench and his name is Mundi. Such a sweet and dedicated Grogan with a promising life- Oh wait. Never mind. He is dead. Sometimes being right hurts.

Luken.. Sweety, be strong. I do hope we hear more about that torture though. Haha no.. um, everyone knows I like a good torture scene but I am glad we didn't have one for Luken. I feel like if Seth and Casey really wanted to they could make a gruesome and cringe worthy torture scene and that would have been wayyy too many feels in 2 chapters.

Okay, this next part was probably my favorite.
Best. Mom. Ever.
"When I see you next, my son, it will be in a coffin!" I love it. The queen is one hard core woman and I respect her so much!! That is just the coolest thing. Put her in charge of Candor! Heck, can she lead America? Aleigha 2016!!!

Alright... Things got serious.
That's just cruel. Making Kull kill his dad in a way where he wont even remember its just... Literary beauty and emotional carnage.

Luken saved Willyn... can we just take a moment to squeal about that!!!! I think the proper fangirl text terminology is "asdfskmnejkdlsk!!!!!!!!" which basically means "The feelings I am getting from this is preventing me from functioning properly." That is a huge honor to make me fangirl. (Note* fangirl is more or less a universal term and not entirely gender strict. It is not excluding other guys from being fans it is just stating that fanning does not sound appropriate so we use fangirl.)
That was a really sweet and well delivered scene that proved this ship might sail.
Okay.. Once again I got to be right!! I was thrilled, confused and disappointed.
Hagan was not real. That was a shameful moment even for the reader. I kept trying to find the right word for the emotions that could be felt while reading and I bounced between embarrassment and a "face-palm" moment but in the end it went further than a mistake or a comical error. It was shame, she screwed up so bad that it probably can't be easily fixed.
Isphet, or Maet or whatever was going on there, is something else. Personally I find that show of power and devious if not down right deceitful nature to be majorly compelling.
(TL;DR= His attitude is hot.)

Okay major spoiler alert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kull is the all important Keeper! The main protagonist has been identified! Notify the press, wrangle the paparazzi, we need coverage on that young man right now!
Let be honest though, he always screamed main protagonist. It isn't a shocking development it is just the final satisfaction of knowing the truth, what we all believed. Kull is the Keeper.

That is all of the bullet points that I noticed so now we move onto the overall progress this book has made in relation to the story.

This installment answered a lot of questions about the plot but for each one it answered we got at least two more. However this time around there wasn't a lull in excitement that The Red Deaths had a little of. The story was very fluid and did a wonderful job of linking one tragedy to the next.

Once again one of the most unique parts about this book was successful and that would be the multiple Points Of View that were being delivered. I think that over all there were at least 11 POV's that all had to make their voices heard and I still think it is one of the best qualities of this book. It is so rare to see this done properly and Seth and Casey have this form of story telling down pat.

Now I don't want you to think I am just telling you all the good things about this book, there were some flaws from my perspective.
There were a few typo's and minor errors but this book was written by humans so that's to be expected. My biggest problem with this book was the sudden discovery of cuss words at the end.
They never actually said many of the words they just led up to them. I had a problem with this because I personally don't like cussing. I don't think it is an effective way to communicate. My favorite statement on it is actually from another YA book that read many years ago. I think it was called Lion Boy by Zizou Corder and the MC in that book said something to the affect of,
"If I feel  that strong about something then no amount of curse words will convey my feelings." Now I mind you that I am heavily paraphrasing and conveying what a certain paragraph in that book meant to me. I will have to go rent that series again sometime so that I can find the exact quote.. Either way, cursing to me is a no-no so its not a flaw with the book just a difference in opinions.

Back to singing the praises, One of the best subtle details in this book was the timing of which they revealed information. It doesn't all happen at once so it you aren't overwhelmed with information. Its a nice balance of timely info explosions that keep the read fast paced and full of suspense. I do not recommend reading only a chapter a day haha.  

Overall Sea of Souls has been a thrilling journey through Candor. We have explored emotions and stereotypes that have remained untouched and/or unchallenged in YA fiction until now and we have learned so many new words.
The tides have finally turned as we look forward to the next/last? installment entitled... Dominion's End.
Just a little side note, I love the titles for all of the books. Usually every series is like "The.." this and "The.." that and it gets really annoying to say and type that word so many times. Keys of Candor has given me a lovely break from that.


With this I sign off for the last time about book two in the Keys of Candor series, Sea of Souls.

Goodbye.

~Aki Ame Okami

A Chapter A Day: Day 26 "Sea of Souls" By Casey Eanes and Seth Ervin

                    A Chapter A Day: Day 26
Reviewing book two in the Keys of Candor series, Sea of Souls, by Seth Erving and Casey Eanes.

Hello everyone, I am sorry about the Saturday post. I got to thinking about it and I realized that the potential of these final 3 chapters could be really intense and dramatic so I didn't want to splits them up with the Sunday off. That was just a wild guess because I obviously don't know the content though so lets go read and see if it paid off!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A few stressful minutes later~~~~~~~~~~

So while reading I noticed that sometimes the authors double space things... What's up with that? I measured them because I thought my eyes might be playing tricks on me but no they actually double space things occasionally.
Is this something that is done on purpose or is a habit that one of them has? Whatever it is, it adds a nice affect.

Cacophony: a harsh, discordant mixture of sounds 

Prostrate page 376 3rd paragraph down from the break, I had to read it a few times just to make sure I was reading it right. Imagine how awful it would have been if there was a typo there.
Anyways if you are like me and want to know the meaning and origin of this word then I have good news! Its right here!
Adjective: "Lying stretched out on the ground with one's face downward" 
Verb: (of distress, exhaustion, or illness) reduce (someone) to extreme physical weakness:
Origin:Middle English: from Latin prostratus ‘thrown down 
Woo!!! We learned a few new words! How's that for an accomplishment?  (Referring to the fact that I will never be an Olympian)

Luken and Grift, together again!!!
It was really great to see them working together again with Grift not being skittish. I think they make an overpowered team and I am glad to see them side by side on the battlefront.

"but words will never hurt me?"! Luken you spicy old badger! 
The authors saw their chance and took it! That is nothing short of beautiful humor.

Luken! NO!
That wad intense but Lukens last words disturbed me a little bit.
Why did they let Seam control them? he asked. Does that mean that he wanted them to have free will? I don't think I like that but once again the plot thickens!
Not good....

ABSOLUTELY NOT GOD. Even in literature it is mildly offensive when people claim to be God. I understand it is vital to the plot line and I was expecting it so it's no biggie but I am just saying that as a forewarning because I expect for it to be something that comes up frequently if I continue to do book reviews. Lots of villains have a God complex just like people.

Adley is pinned, Grift is probably on the verge of death, Wael is down the for the count and Rot didn't seem to be too injured... I hope. I am serious about anti-animal abuse in books so hopefully he will pull through.

Now is time for Kull to choose and I think that Aleph will make him choose who lives or something to that effect. Personally I would choose Grift. Friends and lovers can be replaced but parental units are forever.

I can't wait to see how the Aleph twist will play out. That's all for today. I know this was short today but I have been absorbed in the Olympics and college prep.. That's right guys, I have orientation tomorrow morning at good ole WPCC and I am stressed to the max. I try not to do reviews or blog posts when I am that stressed because they seem to lack luster and finesse but I realized today that I don't have that anyways so I went for it. This book helped me unwind a little bit which I am grateful for.
In the end, even if I hate college like I am expecting I still wont be stuck in the middle of a spiritual war that is killing everything so  that's nice.

Stay safe and wish me luck!!! See ya!

~Aki Ame Okami

A Chapter A Day: Day 25 "Sea of Souls" By Casey Eanes and Seth Ervin

                             A Chapter A Day: Day 25

Reviewing book two in the Keys of Candor series, Sea of Souls, by Seth Ervin and Casey Eanes.

Hey guys! So the spontaneous kidnapping today got ruined by torrential rain and washed out interstates. I had a blast because long car rides in the rain are a secret love of mine but there are far more important things to talk about right now...
Like Sea of Souls and the 2016 OLYMPICS!!! Guys its back and this is the first time that I have been a blogger while they were active so expect a lot about them along with Sea of Souls. I will definitely be talking more about that later but this post is dedicated to Casey and Seth's creation so join me in reading chapter 25!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aww man.. Okay, so one of the biggest appeals in the book was the fact that they never cussed.
I consider that a cuss word. It doesn't change much about my overall opinion on this book, it just lost some brownie points was all.

So I might be reading into things again but if Isphets words are always true then that means Willyn isn't just seeing Hagan, it means he is alive. Isphet was the one who sent her all wonky about Hagan back when she was in Preost. Is this an Easter egg in the book or is it irrelevant?! I don't know what to think of this. I actually don't want to think about it at all.

So the next few paragraphs left me with a realization that hit me like a freight train.
I just remembered.. I cant believe I forgot this. In every culture when there are multiple gods none of them are good.
Who said Aleph was a good guy? Sure these people worship him but people also worship Seam, so what now?

The description of Bastion running out of the titan was ridiculously humorous to me.
"Bastion took on the form of a massive boar, running on its hind legs with little human resemblance aside from his massive arms."
Now I am sure that if I delved deep enough into the pits of the internet then I would find an accurate picture but I don't think we need me any more disturbed than I already am. 
When I read that I pictured a tiny little boar body standing upright like a human with these massive human arms and big old boar head. As threatening as it wanted to be, it was too top heavy and instead of running it ended up wobbling and tripping over it's self. I had to stop and laugh for a good 20 minutes.

Sorry about that. Moving on.

Abtren and Bastion are terrified of Aleph and his name obviously holds some power over them so there is that.
This sudden show of power has me second guessing who the good guys are.

"His invisible hand hides within his very name..." What?
Is this like the good ole "He who shall not be named"? 
Is it hand as in handle, does AlePH have something to do with the other strangely powerful god IsPHet?
Am I just full of conspiracy theories that are probably way off the mark? Well at least I have an answer for that one. Yes.

Two fun words and then my overall thoughts on this chapter.
**Note: The italicized font is mostly a result of me being tired and my sarcastic nature surfacing so it is not imperative to the read.
Dissidents: a person who opposes official policy, especially that of an authoritarian state.
Fasincating! I am a Dissident! I think I will call my fandom the Dissidentians! Yeah right, like I have fans.  
Clandestine: kept secret or done secretively, especially because illicit:
This changes everything! Karera's alternative code name (Secret Secret Hush Hush) shall now be Clandenstine clandenstine hush hush!

Lastly we have my personal thoughts! The respectful version at least.

If only they would have died. Seriously, so much could have been avoided. One more Desolate bonfire and we could be free of creepy god humanoids. At least we have Seam on edge!
Now I know I didn't acknowledge the interaction between Seam and Isphet much in this post but that is because I am still pondering how I think that will affect things.
All in all this chapter left me with far too many questions to list.

I hope you guys will join me in the insanity tomorrow!!! (Also in the Olympics!! *Minor excited screeching*)

See ya!

~Aki Ame Okami  

A Chapter A Day: Day 24 "Sea of Souls" by Casey Eanes and Seth Ervin

                                  A Chapter A Day: Day 24

Reviewing book two in the Keys of Candor series, Sea of Souls, by Casey Eanes and Seth Ervin.

Hey everyone! So I had a random thought today...
If you ever feel like your worthless I just want to remind you that you have incredible worth! If you body was drained of blood that is enough blood to cool a sword, if you get cremated you can also be turned into a sword or ring, if someone were to skin you the human leather that comes from you would be very valuable and last but not least, your organs are incredibly valuable so never feel like you aren't worth much! ^_^

Now that I have disturbed the masses lets get on with the read, shall we?

~~~~~~~~~~~A few not as creepy as that^ moments later~~~~~~~

First we have great news....

Willyn is alive!!!!! YES!
Ahem, the rightful leader of the Groganlands is alive and well, sort of. I mean mentally she could probably use a rest but that's beside the point.
It's no secret that I am thrilled about the continuation of her existence so everyone celebrate this with me!!

~~A few fangirling moments later~~

Okay, moving on!

She recognized the Baggers as people and showed compassion. That is huge character development! At the start of the book, are really just a few chapters ago, she would have given anything to stay away from the Baggers who seemed less than civil to her. It is very much like how a lot of people see low income families and homeless people in todays society... Hopefully it doesn't take a war for us to treat them in the same civilized way.

One minor thing, really not a problem at all.
"She had hated him them," I am just guessing but I think this might be a typo. I think they were aiming for "then" but seeing how those keys are right beside each other I can completely understand this.
Shoot, I have done it more than onxe myself.
(If you didn't just look at your keyboard to see if x is beside c then you aren't my kind of people. JK, it was on purpose.)

So this next thing gave me a headache after an hour or so of pondering.
What is going on with "Lyn" and Hagan?! Is he real or is he not? Is he evil because his little shadow peoples sound mighty evil. I really just don't know how to process this. I feel like it could have something to do with her brush in with Bastion because he is the one that initially told her Hagan was alive but I just don't know...

The likely hood that both Luken and Hagan are alive is just too low. I don't trust it but it has certainly spiced up the plot.

Next we have one new word! I was actually pretty confused when I saw this word because it is completely new to me and I thought it looked like a heart attack on a keyboard had happened.

Scintillating: sparkling or shining brightly

Just imagine confusing the masses when you compliment people.
"Your eyes are scintillating like the sunset off of the ocean."
Pair this up with Sanguine and I think I might have a new favorite word pairing.

Lastly we have Willyn's rising to power.
If she were in charge, I would follow her blindly. That entire scene was pretty emotional. This is the rallying before the war, you know that scene in Narnia: The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe where the two armies start rushing each other but their is no sound. The entire thing is void and you unconsciously hold your breath in anticipation, you can feel the rush of the warriors racing to battle. That is this moment.  She is taking a moment of silence before a battle to the death at Zenith, or so it seams. (Seams, get it?)
She also pulled a Dobby when she announced that part about the Baggers. They are free from their drifting ways because she is going to try and give them back their civilization. This is certainly going to be harder than stealing a sock. 
(If you aren't in the HP fandom then that wont make much sense.)

That is all I have for today, I don't know if I will be here tomorrow. My roommates keep whispering about kidnapping me so I don't know what's going on but I assure you that I will be in no actual danger.. probably.
Anyways, I hope you are all doing well and I look forward to our next interaction!!!

~Aki Ame Okami
 

A Chapter A Day: Day 23 "Sea of Souls" By Seth Ervin and Casey Eanes

                            A Chapter A Day: Day 23Reviewing book two in the Keys of Candor series, Sea of Souls, by Casey Eanes and Seth Ervin.

Hey there, I hope you have had a good day and that you didn't have any flooding! I know a lot of our state is struggling weather wise so stay safe out there please.

Alrighty, grab your copies of Sea of Souls and read with me!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A few minutes later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Hmm I am afraid that there isn't much you can do to come back from fake dying on your friends.

Luken and Grifts relationship is very stressed. It's hard to see them fight but it is also very refreshing because that is a very human response. If someone you were friends with and relied on "Died" then came back you cannot honestly tell me that you wouldn't be suspicious and if their death lead to the deaths of others you cannot tell me that you wouldn't be mad. This realistic touch makes it even more emotional to read.

The Desolate?  The good guys have gods too. The odds don't seem hopelessly in Seams favor anymore.
I like this change of pace and how they waited until almost the last possible moment to flip the scales and up the antics.
So now on team good guy we have Grift, Adley, Ewing, Wael and countless other mortals, Luken, The Desolate, Pred. tech  and Aleph.  Not to shabby looking.


Grift was very emotional this chapter and because of that we got a lot of feelings out in the open and we learned that Luken can be controlled by Seam. I can't help but feel like that might be foreshadowing something terrible...
Like maybe Grift accepts Luken and buries the hatchet and then Seam controls Luken, he kills someone important like Willyn and ends up dying. **That is all my speculation and probably not at all what will happen**

Luken was sad that Willyn might be dead! I hope she isn't because that is just too cute. I still really want to know how Willyn will react to him, if she rejects him that might just break his heart.
The good news is, one of the next few chapters should be hers so we might find out soon enough.

Its about to go down! Everyone is geared up and heading for Taluum to protect/retrieve Isphet whom, apparently, is far too dangerous to be released. If the Serubs and humanity agree on something then you know its got to be the truth.
Something big is coming and the suspense is killer, be sure to join me tomorrow as we discover more questions and hopefully a few answers!

Oh also, I might be getting sick. I haven't felt too good these past few days and I may have stressed myself out to the point of illness.. Good job Aki. -_-

See ya!

~Aki Ame Okami

A Chapter A Day: Day 22 "Sea of Souls" By Casey Eanes and Seth Ervin

                        A Chapter A Day: Day 22
Reviewing book two in the Keys of Candor series, Sea of Souls, by Seth Ervin and Casey Eanes.


Greetings bookworms, We are moving ever closer to the end.. I know it isn't healthy to focus on the end but I can't help feel all nostalgic about this experience.
Lets make some more memories by reading chapter 22.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A Few Memories Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ma'et? I wondered what it meant so I did a quick Bing search and got, "(Maat, Ma’at, Maât; note that there are two vowel sounds in the name) The personification of the multivalent Egyptian concept of ma’et, that is, justice, truth and order, Ma’et is depicted as as a woman wearing a tall ostrich feather (or sometimes two) on her head, frequently with wings extending along her arms and usually carrying the ankh, sign of life." and I think that is just beautiful. I wonder if this has anything to do with the reasons they named the Unmighty, Ma'et and I wonder what the real reasons are?
(It spells team backwards.. I don't know what we are supposed to do with that information though.)

Ma'et's actions were kind of flashy in comparison to Stranger.
I mean, lets look at the events.

Stranger:
"You want to chop wood and fetch some water with me? I have honey!" VS Ma'et:
"ROW YOU WORTHLESS SCUM! ROW UNTIL I DEVOUR YOU!"

Which one stands out more to you? Yeah.

Okay, moving on! This next part is my personal favorite of this chapter.
I was right.. Aleph. Kull has been doing divine chores with ALEPH! He is actually a lot cooler than I was expecting him to be and I really like the fact that he wanted Kull to figure it out. Most the time in situations like this it is glaringly obvious who the person is but no, this time it was very smooth and mysterious and that added such a personal touch to these past few Kull chapters.
Wonderfully done.

Our sweet baby doesn't feel good enough! I mean, um... Lets try that again but more professional this time.

The impression I got from this chapter was that Kull doesn't feel like he deserves to be in Alephs presence and he doesn't understand why Aleph would choose to spare him from an eternity at the hands of Ma'et.
Kull was a non-believer in The Red Deaths and now he is with Aleph so I can only imagine the confusion that is tormenting his incomplete mind.
The real question now is, What will Aleph do with Kull?

With only 6 chapters left I honestly have no idea where they are going with this but I get the sneaking suspicion that someone else will die before this book is over. Lets see how that turns out tomorrow!
See ya!

~Aki Ame Okami

A Chapter A Day: Day 21 "Sea of Souls" by Casey Eanes and Seth Ervin

                A Chapter A Day: Day 21

Reviewing book two in the Keys of Candor Series, Sea of Souls, by Seth Ervin and Casey Eanes.
Hello there everyone! I missed you and the book very much over the weekend! I discovered something this weekend... I don't know how to relax or have fun if it isn't considered work except by reading! So lets go and relax with chapter 21!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~A Many Relaxing Minutes Later~~~~~~~~~~

Kicking corpses? That is relaxing...
Seams eccentric tendencies are getting worse.

Casey and Seth did a wonderful job describing burnt corpses which was mildly concerning. Actually, very concerning. How did they make it so accurate?!


"A quilted patchwork of hell on earth" Not to be a nit-picker but  shouldn't "hell" be capitalized? It is referring to a place and a proper noun which are both eligible for capitalization.
It could still just be one of those words that, despite having an actual meaning, get used out of context and become an adjective.
(My favorite example of that is the word Schmuck, it really means brother in German however we all know what America did with it :/ )


They couldn't just let Bri die in peace could they? Why do that when you can rip out the readers hearts. I mean who needed emotional closure anyways?

Bastion gave the other Serubs hope so I am expecting him to be a really sneaky and powerful creature. I hope he does something inexplicably evil!!!


"Celestial pets"... Ownership is kinda derogatory but I don't know what else I expected from Seam.

Hmm... I don't know how I feel about Seam treating Bronson so terribly. It is completely understandable for people to not handle world destruction very well. Of course he wouldn't be able to remain sane after murdering hundreds of people for the Serubs to feed on. Seam shouldn't be so hard on one of his closest "friends". Bronson of course was never his friend but they have the most history out of everyone left alive besides Seams mother.

Speaking of Seam's mother, what is he going to do with/to her? I am guessing murder but that will be the last straw. If he does that then.. then I have to switch to team good guy. I don't support children disrespecting/murdering their mothers.
Yes, even I have morels. (Get it? Morels!)

Announcing your next target to the world is not the best war strategy out there. Sure everyone involved in the war knew it was coming but that doesn't mean you should just throw out that possible advantage.
It wouldn't have mattered anyways because Seam thinks he is unstoppable.


That is the main points from todays chapter, I look forward to reading with you guys again tomorrow!!! Stay safe out there :)
See ya!


~Aki Ame Okami

A Chapter A Day: Day 20 "Sea of Souls" by Casey Eanes and Seth Ervin

                   A Chapter A Day: Day 20


Reviewing book two in the Keys of Candor series, Sea of Souls, by Seth Ervin and Casey Eanes.

Hey there everyone! So just a little reminder that this weekend I wont be here. I am taking Friday off to work on TLOST, Saturday I have AARC and Sundays are no work days anyways.
That doesn't mean that I am any less excited to be celebrating our 20th day!!! Only eight days left to spend with you Keys of Candor fanatics.. I don't know how I feel about that..
Oh well, lets just cherish out time together and read chapter 20!


~~~~~~74 minutes later~~~~

First I just have a few thoughts.
How will Willyn react to Luken? Will she be ecstatic or afraid?
I am interested in how that will play out.
I bet she will think that Luken being alive means Hagan could be alive and it will cause some problems.

You should never agree to a plan you are uncomfortable with. At least meet in the middle.
When Bri was so against it Willyn should have altered it then. If you have allies and need them to do something you should make sure that everyone is comfortable with the plan because if not things wont go well..

Which brings us to this.
Willyn should have known better.
If she was as talented at war as she claimed to be, then she should have known that wasn't going to end well.
Was time really that short?
They could have taken a path with stronger cover and a better retreat, they could have turned around when they saw the Dominion appear on the map.
It didn't have to go down like that.

But... I can't think of a better way for the protagonists to find out about Seams morel army. This was right for the plot.

I did really like the war terms and the proper maneuvers. It felt like the authors put a lot of thought into it and that helped sweep me into the book. They did a very good job with that and I appreciate the effort.

Now the bullet point of this chapter...

Why. Why must you do this? The sweet teddy bear took on the grizzly and it didn't work. Gah I am an emotional wreck because of this. 
I didn't particularly care about Bri's character. When he was introduced he reeked of "disposable character" smell and I knew it was coming but the way he died made me respect his character.
Not only did Bri sacrifice himself for Willyn but he agreed to her plan knowing that it would end up like that! Ultimate self sacrifice right there.


Okay guys, that's the end of todays review. I am looking forward to Bastions release and Willyn's reaction to Luken, hopefully we will get one of those things in the next chapter which I will be reading on Monday.
I hope you choose to join me, can't wait to see you all again! BYE!!!

~Aki Ame Okami

A Chapter A Day: Day 19 "Sea of Souls" by Casey Eanes and Seth Ervin

                              A Chapter A Day: Day 19
Reviewing book two in the Keys of Candor series, Sea of Souls, written by Seth Ervin and Casey Eanes.


Hello there everyone! I hope everyone is doing well and that you managed to stay out of the heat today! A nice way to get out of the heat it to settle down with a good book! I have just the recommendation for you. I recommend The Red Deaths by Casey Eanes and Seth Ervin! That is kind of a prerequisite course for this book seeing how its the first one so be sure to go and read that one first! Now for those of you who are reading along with me, lets go read chapter 19!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~45-ish minutes later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, I love how Grift freaks out. I feel like that is exactly how a normal person would react to seeing a friend rise up from the dead.

Then when he interrogates Luken and gets no answers and he just turns to Wael like, "Explain yourselves?!" It's great because he is only making the confusion worse.

Okay, we can be serious for a minute.
Lots of people lose faith after losing loved ones. It doesn't particularly affect one faith more than another but it happens to a ton of people. When the almighty thing that you believe in lets something bad happen you lose hope and you doubt and you resent and you have never disliked someone as much as that almighty thing but in the end you know you can't feel that way about them because you have always loved them, Always.
I feel like Grift was going through that when Wael did the blessing over Rose and Eva.

"Can't say I've ever seen someone do that." - Cryic
Oh how I love that man! I lost it when he said that. I could just imagine this man who is totally confident in him self and his capabilities just sitting there lighting up a cigarette and being all chill about the fact that another human being can throw cars like pebbles.  That is how you impress and Aki apparently.

Parker? I dislike that name but the ugly face fits. If he knows about the powerful war technology then good, bring him in! Unless he wants to stop it then send him back.

The fact that Luken got nervous around the war tech makes me nervous but it is certainly a plot thickening element so that intrigues me.

That is all I have for today.
I would like to remind everyone to ALWAYS SAVE IMPORTANT FILES I had to reconstruct this review and the entire second season of TLOST because I forgot to save it. So please don't be like me :P
Oh also, we got confirmation and we will be attending Yama-Con 2016 in Pigeon Forge TN!!!!!!!!! There was actually a funny problem with it, Heiwa had registered us as well and I didn't know it so I feel awful about the confusion I am sure we caused.
See ya guys!!

~Aki Ame Okami

A Chapter A Day: Day 18 "Sea of Souls" by Casey Eanes and Seth Ervin

                                     A Chapter A Day: Day 18

Reviewing book two in the Keys of Candor Series, Sea of Souls, by Seth Ervin and Casey Eanes.

GUYS! Before I get started I just remembered something that I forgot to mention in lasts nights review.
Cyric the bad-butt bounty hunter... drives a... Jeep. A JEEP!!!

Mother of all vehicles and master of all the toys. Even in an alternate universe Jeeps exist and I will be honest.. That was a very touching moment that something I am so passionate about can transcend reality. Thank you for giving me that.

Okay, Anyways I hope everyone is well and that you are excited for todays chapter! Lets go read!

~~~~~~~~~JeepJeepJeepJeepJeepJeep~~~~~~~~


They will meet again soon? Where? How? Why?
If they see eachother again soon then that means someone else will probably die.. again.. I don't want to know the details.

That was an incredibly sweet moment between Kull and Rose.
*I am going to go all stereotype ranting on you again.* 
Usually protagonists have at least one crappy parent and a tragic backstory but I just realized the we are living his tragic backstory.
He is manning up in the moment because he has to, he isn't rising up for glory and power a few years later. That is really cool to me because as crappy as life has been its realistically not that bad (I am a pessimist/realist so I didn't expect much) so this makes it easier to relate to Kull's character. He wasn't anything special and didn't have any life altering moments, he was almost human.

We later figure out that he is special and yaddy-yadda but for the time being it was really special.


Pretty birdy-kitty-puppies?
Those obsidian guards were pretty sick. In a good way.  I was all for the creepy critter description until we hit the word "Beak" and that was... unexpected. I like birds, especially birds of prey, but that just threw me off. I really enjoyed the curveball. I love that no matter how much I have figured out in this book they always surprise me.
But I would seriously like to adopt one of those lil cuties ^_^

Aleph above, is that Aleph? Is Kull doing house chores with ALEPH? I think that Aleph is essentially the Almighty in this book so basically Kull is washing dishes with God. That's kinda... epic.

Nah, I don't know who Kull is with in Mir but I do know that they are helping him so I am alright with them.

Kull so would have burned his mouth. When StrangerDanger gave him the fresh loaf of bread from the pan that was buried in part of the fire bed he would have burned his mouth. There are no ifs ands or buts about it.

So in the spirit of some of my favorite discussions on Disqus this week I was inspired to prepare a short Haiku for this.

Make friends with stranger,
The worlds at war but who cares, 
As long as there's wine.

Note: A Haiku is 5 syllables, 7 and then 5. It usually relates to seasons but it was made to fit the topic of review.

That is all that I have to report for todays chapter, it was really light and fluffy so I am concerned about what comes next!
I actually finished this post at about midnight but the internet is down once more so I don't know when it will be posted. Sorry guys :/

See ya later!!! Stay safe out there!!!

~Aki Ame Okami

A Chapter A Day: Day 17 "Sea of Souls" By Casey Eanes and Seth Ervin

                                         A Chapter A Day: Day 17
Reviewing book two in the Keys of Candor series, Sea of Souls, by Seth Ervin and Casey Eanes.

Hey everyone, so just another random thought that relates to the reviews. I don't know if anyone has noticed this yet but I take care to rotate which name gets spelt first for each of the authors. It starts from the blog title and then every time I mention them by name thereafter. Alrighty, lets get to reading!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Some Time Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This chapter was exciting so I am going to do the least exciting thing first.... That would be the meanings of words!!! :D

Topographical: of or relating to the arrangement or accurate representation of the physical features of an area:

Abode: a place of residence; a house or home.
(Like the term, "welcome to my humble abode")

On to the seriousness!!! *My inner sarcastic voice weeps*

My reactions went from,
"Finally!!! We hear from Wael! I was getting worried that we hadn't had a chapter from his point of view." then they dropped drastically to, "no no, that's not what I had in mind O.o ".
As much as I love any chapter that features Cryic, I really didn't want to have a double feature like this however I like the mature seasoning it added to the book.

Cryic is well trained in his field and he is certainly a beast but he isn't a monster.
I liked how civil he was towards Wael and how there wasn't mindless abuse.
The stereotypical assassin/hunter (Minus the Winchesters) would have been physically or mentally abusive to their bounty, the old "They only need you alive" shtick but Cryic wasn't so that's nice.

Next up we have my um, settle reaction about the last paragraph.
I am pretty sure that we have already covered my obsession with being right, right?
I WAS SO RIGHT! I WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING!
The authors used "anime logic" and Luken isn't actually dead!!!! HE LIVES!!! but not only does he live, he is The Sixth.
The one who can help them save the world has returned and boy am I glad.
Hey Willyn, I know that you can't really celebrate this but Luken is the "take home to Momma" type. Good choice and great catch!
(get it? Catch? since he was last seen falling into the ocean I think its funny but that might just be me...)

Luken my precious, welcome back! How have you been? Oh and um, I know you don't like him but please don't hurt Cyric too much, okay?


With the celebration over I need to look at how this will affect the plot. Will Cyric pursue Wael even though he is under the protection of Luken? Would it matter? The position Cyric is in will end up with him dying no matter what. If he returns to Seam without Wael he is dead and if he goes to get Wael he is dead and that is not a happy thought. I wanted to be attached to him, mostly because I thought he would live, but I will sacrifice that love for Lukens survival.
I think.. I dunno, I might add him to my group of favorite characters that also happen to be dead.

I am happy you all joined me today, I hope you had a good Sunday and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow!
See ya!

~Aki Ame Okami  

A Chapter A Day: Day 16 "Sea of Souls" by Casey Eanes and Seth Ervin

                              A Chapter A Day: Day 16
Reviewing book two in the Keys of Candor series, Sea of Souls, by Seth Ervin and Casey Eanes.

Hey guys, so I just wanted to remind you that the way I write is very personable and how I would speak to my closest friends so if you have seen my at any of the conventions or anywhere else and thought that I was very polite and well spoken I just wanted to apologize because everyone knows by now that I am 15% manners and 85% fangirl noises. 

Now that we have that out of the way lets begin our leisure reading!


~~~~~~~~~A Timely amount of Time Later~~~~~~~~

The long awaited battle...

                                    Willyn VS Rander

                     Grand prize: Leadership of the Groganlands
                                1 round, winner takes all,
                                                
                                                  Fight
                                                    To
                                                   The
                                                  Death

That was a beautifully written physical altercation.
It contained proper amounts of strength and strategy.
I really liked the way Willyn sized up Rander, she noted his strengths but didn't rule out other possible strengths. Such as his legs, he didn't presumably have any reach with them but she didn't rule it out.
The authors made sure to use more than the usual hit points, such as the knee cap, back of the neck, kidneys and so on. Usually
people just aim for the face so it was very refreshing and inspiring to see them hit elsewhere.

I liked the way that Rander and Willyn made "peace" after the fight. They are both true Grogans to the core and even though they can't trust each other completely, they can understand why and that's a form of trust on its own.

Willyn is known as the Sar and the Groganlands are united again!! That was exciting but I didn't fully appreciate it because I was a little busy laughing at the fact that she had to have her hair dyed before the broadcast. I understand her wanting to be her true self whenever she was acknowledged by her people.
But I think that was the first girly thing that she had done.

Also, I love the description "He was built like an anvil."

Credit to jerzeedevil.com

That made me picture Rander as this guy with tiny little muscle-y legs and these super broad shoulders and a flat face. I am sure he looks nothing like that but I definitely got a good laugh out of it.


That is all for today, I am going to actually go and post the link on the FB page now. I know I have been doing a terrible job of updating you guys with that :P

See you all on Monday!! Have a safe day tomorrow :)

~Aki Ame Okami 

A Chapter A Day: Day 15 "Sea of Souls" by Casey Eanes and Seth Ervin

                                    A Chapter A Day: Day 15

Reviewing book two in the Keys of Candor series, Sea of Souls, by Seth Ervin and Casey Eanes.

Hey guys! So it hit me today... When we finish this book in 13 chapters there wont be another book ready for us to read.
Somehow that train of thought sparked another thought, who's

Obviously, this is Draco Malfoy.

faces did they use for the book covers? I am assuming that the people were asked to do it and stuff but the bottom left face on the cover of Dominions End looks like Daniel Radcliffe. 

Oh well, just some pre-chapter thoughts. Lets get to digesting this new chapter!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~25 minutes later~~~~~~~~~~~~

First, I must warn you that I have been up for about 20 hours so my train of thought might be a little stranger than usual and I probably wont be covering much from this chapter.

Lets go ahead and get the fancy words out of the way.
Strafed: attack repeatedly with bombs or machine-gun fire from low-flying aircraft:

I actually really like that word and had no idea that it existed.

Adley... dang girl! She has this war thing figured out. I was very impressed with how she took control and fought alongside (if not ahead of) Grift. Usually this is about the time when the girl starts crying and begs the guy to not do something stupid but she is just like, "If we are going to do this, we are doing it right!" and runs off and does the stupid thing with him! 

Now even after having said all that I don't think Grift was being overly stupid. That was the appropriate response for the situation and he was still using strategies and military tactics to remain as safe as possible.

This book has some revolutionary technology! Where can I get one of those things? It wouldn't be for mass murder or anything, more like minor destruction and amusement.

Seriously though, I think that this is a brilliant and plausible way to defeat the Serubs without going all magic-y in the book.
If they somehow find a way to wrap this up using technology and the human brain/body I will be ecstatic because that is the type of example young readers need. Not to say that whatever holy thing that the Monks got going on isn't cool, its just not applicable to the problems of our world.

They are falling back to Preost. That will have to be one of the last stands because now they are all that stands between Seam and Isphet. I am excited and concerned for the release of Isphet... I like his and Bastions personalities so I am sure this will be fun.

That brings us to the end of the review, I know it was short and I am really sorry about that. There is something to celebrate though.... Rot made it through another chapter!!! The dog LIVES! You don't usually get to celebrate and animal surviving so lets not underestimate this grand achievement. 

Thank you for reading along, I am sorry if I ended up disappointing anyone. I will see you for Saturdays chapter later but I wont see you Sunday. Thanks for being awesome, just remember you are all wonderful people and I am glad you exist ^_^ 

See ya!!

~Aki Ame Okami

A Chapter A Day: Day 14 "Sea of Souls" by Casey Eanes and Seth Ervin

                           A Chapter A Day: Day 14
 Reviewing book two in the Keys of Candor series, Sea of Souls, by Seth Ervin and Casey Eanes.


Hey there guys!! Today has been another busy, busy day. I am well into the making of another sword! This time is going much better than the first time I made a sword and documented it for you during the "21 Days of Cosplay" segment.
But we aren't here to hear about that ^_^
Grab your books and lets go admire a literary masterpiece!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~45-ish minutes later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Oh good! The very first sentence has us gasping and panting for air. Those are my favorite ice breakers, you know.



The Beast referred to the serubs as his kin... This is interesting.
Now here is the tricky part with that way of referring to the serubs, does that mean that "The Beast" is somehow the way that Isphet is gaining power without leaving the mirror, or is Satan just really close with the serubs and likes to refer to them as his kin?

This is probably just a little personality flaw but I love the "I own you" scene.
For some reason whenever there is an announcement of ownership in a book, tv show, movie, ect. I pretty much get cold chills because there are very few things that are more evil and more profound than stating that you "own" someone. That is right up there with the ill wishing of ones mother. You just don't do it, unless you do and in that case you better be entertaining.
A new word!!! There is only one that I am going to focus on because the past few days have featured a lot of cool new words. I am no monster so I wont make you suffer days on end of learning. That is what school is for.....

Asunder: apart; divided OR into pieces.

So... I don't know how to say this where it won't sound conceited but um...

I was right! Nameless was/is Kull!!!! It's not like that was a shocking plot reveal or anything but I still like being right so that was a very good moment for me.

On a more serious note, I think that the ending was very touching and heart warming moment. The authors used Rose in a way that I hadn't thought about.
Like a true Mother she went and found her son, saving him from The Beast himself. Now we get to see what she is truly capable of. So far all the of the people who loved her have been talking about how strong, brave and caring she was and now we may finally get to see that with our own eyes.

I know that if you are reading this post, it probably is the weekend already. So let me be a dear and tell you how wonderful Century Link internet is! We have been stuck with them as a provider for many years and they always do this thing where the internet will die whenever I am trying to do daily posts or post something I promised would be up.
I might be bad with deadlines but I am very devoted to my blog and to my people, last time I reviewing I came home from Prom early so that I could still have the post done at a reasonable time so please never doubt me when I say I will do something if its humanly possible.

Obviously if you're reading this then the internet came back but I still wanted you to know I am hopelessly devoted to you guys :)
See ya tomorrow, provided I have connection.

~Aki Ame Okami

A Chapter A Day: Day 13 "Sea of Souls" By Seth Ervin and Casey Eanes

                        A Chapter A Day: Day 13

Reviewing book two in the Keys of Candor series, Sea of Souls, by Casey Eanes and Seth Ervin

Howdy my friends, you may have noticed I have already posted once today. That was the promised review of my trip to Shelby-Con, minus the part about me winning the costume contest, and it wont stop me from writing this! My headache and the building list of props I need to finish before AARC might try and stop me but it still wont happen, so grab your books and possibly your reading glasses and lets get our read on!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~25 Minutes Later~~~~~~~~~~

Today I am going to do things out of order, first I will cover the deep "Plot thickening" points of the chapter, then I will do the funny things and provide humorous pictures and lastly I will let you adore the vocabulary used in this chapter. This way if you aren't interested in any of that you don't have to read it.

The plot thickens!!!

Seam is becoming madly overpowered to the point that the Serubs are worried about it. This is really intriguing because the way the book has read up to this point makes it seem like the Serubs were the ultimate evil but I think it is pretty clear that if Seam concerns them then he might be worse.  I think that he is just about as unstable as Vanessa and Tiffany from Big Brother but whatever.

I thought it was a little awkward when Seam was talking about experimenting with his powers on Kulls shell of a body. I get it, kind of. It really doesn't matter how you look at it, it really isn't healthy to be playing with undead bodies. When serial killers keep a trophy it usually isn't an entire body so we are breaking new ground for psychologists everywhere!!!

Reuben... Ewing trusted you. Imagine the sad and disgruntled face of our lil old Ewing when he finds out your a traitor and plotting to bring Aleigha into Seam. How could you willingly disappoint him? I am very concerned about Aleigha. I can't decide if I think Seam will kill her or make her a morel/puppet type of thing. How twisted would you have to be to control your own mother... I actually don't want to think about that.

Isphet and The Betrayer (The 6th) Returned the Serubs to Aleph. Why is Isphet locked away if he helped lock the others up? What secrets does he know about gaining power and stopping The Keeper and did he learn those secrets from The 6th?

Even though this is one series I feel like I am trying to piece together the plot of about 6 different books. I actually don't hate it. Being able to see the protagonists and the antagonists points of views makes me drawn into the world even more. As always, I am still rooting for the bad guy even though I love the good guys.
Gotta love the love/hate relationship with the book :P

Okay, I have two shamelessly funny things.


First, we have Reuben.


Not only is he a traitor to the rebellion, he is also a delicious looking sandwich that is made out of Corned beef, Swiss cheese, Sauerkraut and Russian dressing, grilled between two slices of rye bread. (The kind with the swirls) Why does he have to look so good and be so bad?



So at some point in this chapter Seam referenced the black Spartan uniforms..... That lead to one of the best google searches ever. 

The results went from normal to more clothes, less clothes, male, female, game uniform, army uniform, football and basket ball uniforms, some little logo guys for some brand and pet costumes but the best by far has to be seeing these two side by side. I just... I don't know what I am doing with my life..

                         


And finally, my favorite segment, the Vocabulary lesson!
Charade: an absurd pretense intended to create a pleasant or respectable appearance:
This word isn't all that rare but most people don't know what it means so it made the list.

The meanings of this word go from simple to rocket science.
Oscillated: move or swing back and forth at a regular speed: AND "vary in magnitude or position in a regular manner around a central point"

Defiler: Noun of Defile: sully, mar, or spoil.
Basically someone who had sullied, marred or spoiled.

Incensed: very angry; enraged.
I actually didn't know this word and its existence fascinates me!!

Sedition: conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch 


So once again I thank you for joining me on this reading journey, we are far from over and I can't wait to see you again tomorrow.
See Ya!

~Aki Ame Okami

A Chapter A Day: Day 12 "Sea of Souls" by Casey Eanes and Seth Erivn

                      A Chapter A Day: Day 12

Reviewing book two in the Keys of Candor series, Sea of Souls, by Seth Ervin and Casey Eanes.


Hello there everyone, I hope that you have been well and had a good Tuesday. I still have a lot of work to do but I sat down an hour early to write this up for you all so that maybe it wont be 2 AM by the time I post it! Lets get reading!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Minutes Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had almost forgotten about the position that Willyn was in.

I feel like ever since she found out that Hagan was "dead" she had lost a certain defiant spark, it was the same spark that had drawn me into her part of the story. Her change was proven even further when she faced the Serub in Preost and he got inside her head.
Thankfully in the chapter we saw her reignite that spark and take on her old Willyn ways.

I loved the moment when she lied to Bastion. I am amazed that he believed it though, I feel like the serubs would usually be able to spot a lie a mile away but hey, what ever works.

The main stars of this chapter were the Baggers. I feel like we learned something very important about their history and the future but I am not sure what.
Maybe the Baggers know how to destroy the mirrors? That strange chant thing certainly felt like "magic" of some sort and I think that it definitely had an affect on Bastion.
What other secrets are the Baggers holding? Should I still call them Baggers or should I call them Former Rihts? Gah.. So many more questions.

Back to Willyn, Her fight with Rander is going to be great!!! As a dabbling author I am always looking for great fight scenes in written format because I always have such a hard time with even trying to write that up because it ends up really wordy and I never think its intense... then again almost 1000 people looked at the first chapter so maybe wordy is my style.

I predict that since I am so excited for that fight, it wont happen. Either the Dominion will invade and prevent them from fighting, Bri or Wael wont let it happen or somehow they will make peace beforehand. I still want the fight but it is always good to look at your options.

Since todays chapter was pretty short I don't have that much to say about it, mostly I just have another grand list of questions. I hope that we continue to explore Nameless and the Baggers in the chapters to come.
Thanks for reading, I tried to keep it brief and to the point-ish. See you tomorrow for chapter 13!!!!!!!!


~Aki Ame Okami

A Chapter A Day: Day 11 "Sea of Souls" by Seth Ervin and Casey Eanes

                     A Chapter A Day: Day 11

Reviewing book two in the Keys of Candor series, Sea of Souls, by Casey Eanes and Seth Ervin.

Hello there everyone! So I know this little intro is my well wishes and letting you know how much I missed the book over the weekend but I have to admit that I have been a little distracted this weekend..
Not only did I win my very first Cosplay Contest (I took 1st!!!) I also completed my placement tests for college and have all of my classes registered!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Of course I will be in class every day at 8 AM and on the campus until 8 PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays but I am sure it will be fine... Sort of.
The reason I am mentioning that to you guys is because with this schedule I will be completely uprooting my life schedule and trying to make myself a morning person, that means I will be trying to write my posts in the morning and going to bed before 3 AM so in the long run it is good for you!!!

Okay with that out of the way I feel comfortable typing my signature words of, LETS GET READING!!! (Chap. 11)


~~~~~A Many A Minutes into the future~~~~~~~

Dang them feels.  I actually have a little something extra for this chapter.. I recommend this song for it.

I never thought about how Ewing would feel about Kull "Dying"... I mean, he is the one who let him go. That moment was strong and reminded the readers just how human everyone was. I just... Ouch.
Ewing, a weathered man of sound mind, will always carry the guilt of letting Kull go. This is one of those things that you regret doing and no matter what you are told or tell yourself the pain doesn't get better.
Why did you have to go all feels heavy on me today? It has been a very emotional weekend and you guys are bringing me to tears.

Dang it Grift. I don't like that side of me so please don't make me talk about it... Ugh, I have to talk about it now. I have been in those shoes far too many times for me to be this young. I am in those shoes at the moment so my next comment is going to be emotionally charged and I do apologize for that.

Loving someone who will never get better.. It changes you. As humans we have this annoying habit of hoping for things even when we know that we should give up. It isn't something we do on purpose and it's not something we can change. In the long run we just hurt ourselves even more and some of us push ourselves past the point of repair. We break with the broken ones and become something a little less than human. The armor that we spent so long perfecting cracks and the barest part of our soul and true character is revealed.

That is a hard thing to write without being emotionally invested or having previously experienced this pain to some degree so Authors, if you have been in that spot I am genuinely sorry for whatever happened. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you making this character and describing a more in depth version of this emotional state than most authors are willing to do. Thank you.

Okay, I am going to be heartless and a schmuck.
We knew it was coming, Rose was going to die. I am kind of relieved that she wont be a stress factor anymore. She released our supreme warrior of his last earthly tie so that he can unleash the beast. What comes next is going to be a mix of disaster and glory and I am glad that I will be there to see it.
I would also like to note that I think she was talking about Kull not Seam. So what about Kull would make him "Unstoppable"? This is certainly another secret that has tons of theories running through my mind that I wont bother you guys with.

We are undoubtedly about to face some hard times and I am incredibly interested to see where they take it. I do have one warning though, if Rend or Rot die I might riot. I have decided to emotionally attach myself to those characters because they are the least likely to die. Now because I said that we will probably find them both dead within a few chapters... Ah Suspense....

That was an emotionally exhausting chapter on top of a lonnggg 4 days so unfortunetly I am ending this here.
Be sure to come back and cry with me over tomorrows chapter, I am sure someone else is gonna die!!!
Just kidding, I hope you are all doing well and I look forward to seeing you again soon ^_^

~Aki Ame Okami

A Chapter A Day: Day 10 "Sea of Souls" By Casey Eanes and Seth Ervin

                   A Chapter A Day: Day 10
Reviewing book two in the Keys of Candor series, Sea of Souls, by Seth Ervin and Casey Eanes.

Hey everyone, I am sure you noticed that Friday's post was postponed. Sorry about that, I had to travel and figure out where Shelby-con was at and I don't think I would have been able to properly review anything last night. Before we get reading I do want to say a few things about today, I entered my first Cosplay Contest and I won first place which was amazing! I will be posting the review of said con tomorrow so if you want to come back and look at it then feel free and I have also been inspired to talk about Con Etiquette and that will probably not be a passing thing because I was strongly affected by some things from today. I am going to leave that at that for now. Lets go read! (Chapter 10)


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Minutes Later~~~~~~~~~~

**********Warning! I am in a good mood so there might be a little bit of hope, happiness and kindness in the review, sorry about that.*******************

This chapter speaks to me on a deep level. The first thing I see is "Where am I?  How long have I been here? Who am I?"
Is the answer Kull for $200? We don't find that out in this chapter but that's where I am throwing my chips in.

Funny thingy, so um.. Nameless can taste the Blackness..?
What exactly does Blackness taste like? Can I have some? I think that might be what my soul or heart tastes like...
No, in all seriousness I do think that that detail and section where Nameless is all disoriented is very important to help with the setting.

What is this setting? Well, like everything this is up to interpretation to everyone. I am sure the authors have their own view for it but what I saw in it was Heaven and Hell, or at least Purgatory.
Aleph is The Almighty and, I am going to make a new word, The Beast is The Unmighty. Satan. Evil incarnate, the great no-no. Whatever you want to call him it doesn't change the resemblance.
This place where Nameless has ended up seems like Purgatory.

I don't mean to go all "learning" on you but its happening so buckle up, butter cup. What exactly is Purgatory? I am glad you asked because like many things in relation to the past and religions it has a wide variety of meanings. The noun version of Purgatory is defined as "(In Roman Catholic Doctrine): a place or state of suffering inhabited by the souls of sinners who are expiating their sins before going to heaven"
So it is basically like a holding cell or torture chamber in that sense.

But wait! There's more!

The Adjective: having the quality of cleansing or purifying: Now that sounds totally different, doesn't it? 

Another definition, ":Severe anguish or suffering."
That one is pretty good.

And another "Purgatory, according to Catholic Church doctrine, is an intermediate state after physical death in which those destined for heaven "undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. " Now that sounds very close to the first version except it doesn't sound like a torture chamber! That combines versions 1 and 2 and makes it sound a little sweeter...

But the perfect version that I think fits this story is the version used by the wildly popular show Supernatural.
"Purgatory is a realm where the souls of supernatural creatures go after they die. Its physical location is separate from both Heaven and Hell. Crowley estimates there are 30-40 million souls there.^[1] It was originally created by God to contain the oldest creatures, Leviathans, for fear they would destroy the rest of creation" (Courtesy of the Supernatural Wiki )" OR the more colorful version, " It's like the backside of your worst nightmares. It's all blood and bone and darkness. Filled with the bodies and souls of all things hungry, sharp, and nasty." (Courtesy of Bobby Singer- Supernatural Wiki )
I think that version compliments the Candor world very nicely. Not the whole "Full of nasties" thing but I do think that it is a special realm made for the "Essences" that The Serubs Excuse from existence. There you go, you learned something... Sorry....

We have Rank and File, those names compliment each other so nicely. Okay, We have these two vile creatures/people that are the harbingers of essence and hold them captive for manual labor to keep themselves away from The Beast.
This is actually a disturbingly wonderful thing for the plot because now Nameless is surrounded by people who are probably from the last time the Serubs were free which means there is a good chance that they will know how to stop them. Remember how the Serubs usually only Excuse people who do something awful to them or their kin? Obviously the people on that boat are not innocent and know something about the Serubs. This is going to be another wonderful element and I looking forward to see how it alters the story.


One more thing about Rank and File... If this series did get turned into a movie or television series I think that the "dusting" scene would have to be altered a little... We literally have a bright light of a person that they go and rub dust all over that turns into a bare human body.  That wouldn't be camera friendly but I would laugh like crazy because that would be so awkward for the actors to do and for me to watch.
I cannot believe that I just admitted that the remake shouldn't be just like the book! Oh how I have fallen....

Alright I will leave you with the meaning of 4 wonderful words that were used in this chapter.

Detritus: waste or debris of any kind

Despondent: in low spirits from loss of hope or courage
Cur: an aggressive dog or one that is in poor condition, especially a mongrel. (I actually didn't know that one)
Dank: disagreeably damp, musty, and typically cold.

Okay, I didn't get into my feelings on the literary masterpieces above because I know that this post is very "Fact heavy" and  I do apologize for that but sometimes it really helps to be able to dig into the meaning of things and figure out what you are looking at or doing. Rethink this chapter where Nameless, Rank and File are all just in pitch black. It doesn't have the same depth or emotion behind it, its a meaningless fact that we brush past and forget. That is why I tortured you for what has been almost an hour to write.

I hope you all have a wonderful day tomorrow, I wont see you but that doesn't mean that I don't want you to be happy. Lets all look forward to resuming our reading on Monday!
I am honestly going to need your reassuring presence and normalcy in my life on that day because that is the day I take the test. 

See ya!!! :)

~Aki Ame Okami





 

A Chapter A Day: Day 9 "Sea of Souls" by Casey Eanes and Seth Ervin

                        A Chapter A Day: Day 9

Reviewing book two in the Keys of Candor series, Sea of Souls, by Seth Ervin and Casey Eanes

Hey guys, obviously I am late today as well! I will try to work on that.... I hope everyone is doing good and that you haven't read ahead without me! I would understand if you did but it would make me a little sad.. Lets go read!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Some time later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seam is losing it. He has developed such a "god complex" that I thought for a moment that I was reading a *Manga or Light Novel*!
*= Historically the majority of anime/manga/light novel villians and pretty much every villain in history has had a major god complex.


"Nyx would only need remind him of his debt to her, and he obeyed, praying that his compliance would prevent Abtren from saying anything-" Abtren? shouldn't it be Nyx? I could have sworn that
Bronson was thinking about, talking about and had made the deal with Nyx. It is a little confusing this way but I am probably just not reading it right or missing something.


Bronson's term, Zookeeper of Nightmares, has inspired me to write a story... I am very much into that plot.


Bronson, drinking and drugs are never the answer. How my favorite cinnamon roll has fallen. :/
*Cinnamon roll generally refers to the sweet innocent characters that don't deserve whatever fate they have.

Authors, good jobs depicting the different ways that people use to cope with severe stress, regret and self hate. This is probably the best description of a depressed person that I have ever seen.
Bronson is to the point where he doesn't feel like he deserves Aleph's grace. I have been there, felt like that and I can promise you that this reaction is accurate. I don't know if the authors have ever felt that way but major respect to them for this accomplishment.  I hope that we see Bronson's struggle have a good outcome but that would be too much of a happy ending...

I am happy to know what Abtren does for the creepy trio. So far we knew that Arakiel and Nyx made the morels, or at least the undead armies, but I wasn't sure what Abtren had to do with it. Apparently she is useful for trapping which I think compliments her seductive abilities quite well.
That entire process with the baggers and the serubs got me thinking... The authors did such a wonderful job creating a disposable population. The baggers are really essential to the environment and government in this book and I don't think it would flow as smoothly with out them. So lets just take a moment to appreciate our sacrificial citizens.


Seam.. tone down the control issues O.o
I don't know what was going on with that last thing. I have honestly mulled over the interactions and the trains of thought but I cannot piece it together. Good job Casey and Seth, you have stumped me and I love it.


That is all I have on todays chapter. I would like to tell you guys that I am about to go curl up in bed and get some sleep (Since its 2 AM) but I have been watching the "Wrong Turn" movies on Syfy and I doubt that I will be sleeping tonight.
I also have good news, I will be helping with props for the short film A Many A Moon and we are setting to film from the 11th-15th of next month!!! That's super exciting!
Can't wait to see you all tomorrow, or later. Whatever you wanna call it, I will still be here!

~Aki Ame Okami

A Chapter A Day: Day 8 "Sea of Souls" by Casey Eanes and Seth Ervin

                    A Chapter A Day: Day 8
Reviewing book two in the Keys of Candor series, Sea of Souls, by Seth Ervin and Casey Eanes.

Hey everyone and sorry about the title slip up yesterday, I promise you that today is the official day eight review! It is about midnight right now and I am super sorry about that. As you can tell I am obviously a night owl and that throws off my timelines. Anyways, lets get reading! I will try to not rush the review portion ^_^


~~~~~~~~~~oh so many minutes later~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, like most of her chapters, this one was all about Willyn!

The authors and her earned some brownie points this chapter when they showed her gaining respect or at least some understanding for the Baggers. I feel like in the her last chapter she really looked down on the Baggers for their dirty and unstable lifestyle but in this chapter when they easily adjusted to their forced allegiance I think she saw a new aspect of their life and that caused her to think of them a little differently. Or I could be totally wrong and she could have over looked all of that...


Willyn you can't do it alone. I know you want to but you can't. That isn't how life works. 
Her decision to go into the mine alone and unarmed was not only risky but stupid as well. Her life isn't just hers anymore, she is one of the few people who can help stop The Dominion so she needs to be a little more careful.

BUT because of that decision we are put in an interesting position.

The Serub in the mirror can potentially save her or kill her and she thinks she is hearing Hagan telling her to trust him even though she knows better. That is a wonderful cliffhanger. I am interested to see what choice she makes because it will certainly speak leagues about her character.

I think the person descending from the gap is Bri. That is just my personal opinion but I refuse to believe that Wael would have sent Willyn out without a capable body guard so I have the utmost faith in Bri.

I know that is a pretty short review but this was a pretty short chapter and the time was stressed...
I can't wait to see you all tomorrow and read about what horrible thing Seam is doing next ^_^ Good night friends!

~Aki Ame Okami