Mini Reviews: Anomaly & Balls and Bones

Posted June 27, 2021 by elzaread in Mini Reviews / 18 Comments

Greetings you guys! How was your week? We aren’t going to do our regular Sunday Post, as we actually don’t really have that much to say. Except that my Mommy is on holiday!! Although this week was chaotic and hectically busy, she managed to finish 2 books. 

So we are just going to do two mini reviews. Both of them are prequel to series’ and we would rather slot it under novellas than full books. That’s how she managed to finish both. Look my Mommy is pretty awesome, but she’s still not a superhero! 

Title: Anomaly: The Blood Race Prequel 

Author: K.A. Emmons
Published: 05 April 2020
Pages: 133
Series: The Blood Race #0.5
Read: 24 June 2021
Source: Author’s Facebook Page
Rating: 

Content: Genre: Young Adult, Sci-fi Age appropriate: from young adult +. Language: clean. Violence: in context
Synopsis: 14-year-old Ion Jacobs just wants to belong to a family and feel normal. But his past is a mystery, his future is a question, and his whole life is about to change.

Tossed from one foster home to another and shadowed by his mysterious past, Ion fears he’ll never fit in — until one day, when he drops a pencil and instead of falling to the floor…it floats.
Shocked and bewildered, Ion searches deeper and discovers an undeniable truth about himself: he possesses extraordinary powers beyond his control. Healing injuries, levitating objects, and superhuman strength come as easy to him as breathing. Now Ion only has one goal: make sure no one finds out what he’s capable of.
Struggling to keep his newfound abilities a secret, Ion finds himself more isolated than ever — until he meets a mysterious stranger in the woods who seems to understand Ion better than anyone else. As tensions rise at home with his new foster family, Ion finds it harder and harder to control his powers. And when he accidentally sparks a fire that nearly destroys their home, Ion is forced to face the reality of his situation: not only is he capable of healing — he’s also capable of fatal destruction.


This was a surprisingly good read. My Mommy saw this book one night on Facebook and it sparked an interest. As you know, sci-fi isn’t our cup of tea. But every now and then, she’s willing to give it a go. I’m glad we read this prequal and it actually didn’t feel like a sci-fi/fantasy read at all. It felt more like a coming of age novella about a young boy who needs to find is place in this world. Strange powers or not. The story was filled with raw emotional power and some wonderful wisdom for coming of age children.
Here’s a few of the most memorable ones:
“The wind carries seed from everywhere spreading them over the earth in all directions, We cannot control the wind; she breathes and blows wherever she wants to. We can’t control which seeds scatter across our soil, but we can control what we do with them… – We all have bad thoughts and feelings sometimes. It’s what you do with them that matters.”

“You will always think and feel – you just have to watch which thoughts you are allowing to grow.”

“Just because there are leaves floating on the surface of the lake doesn’t make them part of the lake. The lake is just a vehicle to carry them. Let go of the thoughts that hurt.”

Will we read the rest of the series? Maybe one day when there is a bit more time. But we will definitely recommend it for coming of age and young adult readers. By clicking on the image below, you will find 5 reasons why you really should read it.

Title: Balls & Bones

Author: Tracey Drew
Published: October 2020
Format: Kindle (Book Funnel)
Source: From the author herself
Series: Knitty Kitty Mystery #0.5
Content: Squeaky Clean (how well do you speak cat?)
Genre: Cozy Mystery/humorous 
Rating: 
Synopsis: 2 wannabe sleuths. 1 (or more) sloppily buried human bones. A whole lot of murderous mayhem.

This is not the first time you guys hear me getting very excited about this series. We have read them all upside down and first read the second one, then the first one and now the prequel. And the prequel was my favorite by far!

Am I a going to be placed under spoiler alert arrest if I tell you that the two wannabe sleuths are Pearl and Kit themselves in this novella? Yes! The two adorable black cats that grace the pages of the Knitty Kitty series in the rest of the books. They each get a chance to tell us about themselves a chapter at a time. 
You should hear they describe themselves and each other. It’s as feline as you can get. I felt as if they really speak my language.

Pearl: “You may address me as Your Grace, or my Fierce Warrior Queen of Darkness.” 

While describing her brother, Kit, as follows:

“Frankly Brainless suits him better. The dear thing isn’t the sharpest claw in the paw.” 

My Mommy read this book aloud to me and Daddy and we all enjoyed it immensely!  It was such a fun book and I would strongly urge the lovely author to please, please, pretty please – write another one in Kitty Talk.

We loved how the two feline sleuths solved the murder mystery and I think I will be allowed to play Cluedo with from now one. Cats really do have a sense for murder. 

Have you read any one of our two novellas? We definitely recommend both of these. Quick reads and you can still get through your hectic week.

Hope you are all well and that you will have a wonderful week ahead. We will try to check in as much as possible, but I can’t promise much. Mommy is busy packing and sorting out the house so that she can start sorting out all our books and pack them away. Not as bad as it seems, as soon as all the renovations are done, we will have our very own little library! Can’t wait!

Lots of Love,

















































































































































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18 responses to “Mini Reviews: Anomaly & Balls and Bones

  1. Sound like an interesting read. I haven't had to do a lot of renovation work since I live in an apartment but boy I'm glad we haven't had to deal with anything during the pandemic. In the past we had both elevators fixed and the roof of our building and wow!

  2. These sound like good books. I hope you are enjoying your holiday even though you are packing up. Renovations are exhausting, but fun at the same time. And a library? Totally worth it!

  3. Being on holiday is wonderful!
    Am caught up in re-reading (re-listening) to two book series, both of which take place in London; one is a Scotland Yard Superintendent, and the other is an exorcist because the dead aren't staying buried anymore.

  4. Hmm.. YA sci-fi? Not a genre I've seen much of before, so definitely sounds very interesting. Going to pass on the rec to my teenager nephew for sure. Thanks! 🙂

  5. Novellas can be such fun and both of these look great! You've really got me curious about Anomaly and somehow I've never tried that cozy series!

  6. I imagine that cats would make very good detectives. Elza would be an especially good detective. I like cats so much. Wish I could talk mi esposo into bringing a cat home with us.

    I'm glad you are on holiday, Mareli. I hope you get a chance to rest and relax.

    I prefer mini-reviews to long reviews. I've never been good about writing long reviews. When I first started as a blogger, my reviews looked more like haikus.

    • Our holiday has been really great so far! Hectically busy with sorting out stuff at home and decorating, but that's fun too. Just about done and then we'll have a bit of a rest.

    • Hi Anne! Thank you so much. It actually works for me too and it helps me to sort my thoughts easier.

      Thanks for stopping by and sorry for the late reply.

  7. Happy holiday to your Mommy!

    I read the Tracey Drew book and loved it. Those snippets were so funny.

    Hope you all have a great week!

    • Hi Yvonne! We are having a good holiday, but it doesn't include a lot of reading and blogging. That's okay too!

      Glad to hear you've also enjoyed the Tracey Drew book, lots of fun hey!

    • Hi Diane! We are having a wonderful holiday yes! Not reading or blogging much, but we do enjoy sorting out all the stuff at home.

      So sorry for the late reply…!

  8. Glad your Mommy is on holiday! I just got back home from one myself.

    I haven't read any of those books, or any books for the last 9 days 🙁

    I hope you have a great week!

    • Hi there Vicki! I'm there now! I haven't read a lot over the last 10 days at all. Been busy with things at home and it's good and great un. We'll be back into blogging within the next couple of days.

      Thanks for stopping by!