Roberta Writes – The Realm: The Realm Trilogy by L. Marie Wood #Bookreview #horror

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What Amazon says

Patrick thought he knew what awaited him in the afterlife. He’s learning the hard way that he was dead wrong. He is hunted by a race of giant beasts, the likes of which have never been seen by living eyes, and he is surrounded by the newly-dead from worlds beyond knowing. In this Realm, nothing and no one can be trusted.

Patrick’s choices will create echoes in the world of the living. He may be the key to salvation in this Hell known as The Realm, but it may come at the cost of his family.

With his legacy on the line, can he make the right choice?

My review

I reviewed this book in my capacity as a member of Rosie’s Book Review Team. If you would like your book reviewed, you can contact Rosie Amber here: http://rosieamber.wordpress.com/.

While I was attracted by the blurb for this book, I must admit that the reality of it did rather offend my Christian upbringing and belief system. I am stating this upfront because it may not be a suitable book for all readers.

The book opens with Patrick, a middle aged man, dying. He is aware of his surroundings and his own dying. He knows that what is happening to him is not in line with his Christian ideas about death and the afterlife. Patrick’s death was unexpected and violent and he is quickly expelled out of physical life as he has known it, and into the afterlife.

Patrick finds himself in The Realm. A dreadful place that is not either Heaven or Hell nor even the Catholic Purgatory, but rather a desolate and dreadful place for souls whom God has turned his back on. A place, where unprepared souls must spend all their time fleeing from the Hunters who feed on them, thereby turning them into monsters. There is no escape from The Realm and no way of seeking salvation or redemption. The descriptions of the Hunters were rather in line with my idea of a swamp creature or monster from a comic and their ‘eating’ of the damned souls was rather unsophisticated and unimaginative for me.

When Patrick unravels the details of his fate and understands the curse that he has unknowingly passed on to all his future descendants, he is compelled to find a way to change the status quo.

Patrick’s character is well drawn and his bewilderment and confusion on arriving in The Realm and unravelling its meaning are realistically depicted and make for compelling reading. I did enjoy his guts and perseverance in the face of overwhelming difficulties. Patrick meets a number of other characters who are equally desperate but less worthy, given the ease with which they succumb to effectively ‘making a deal with the Devil’ which in this case is the head of The Realm.

There were a number of editorial issues with the version of the book I read which had the effect of pulling me out of the story. This sort of issue doesn’t bother me if it is occasional, but I did feel the entire book needed another round of editing.

On the whole, for me, this story was mediocre in comparison to other horror stories I’ve read and I did find the depiction of a God who would turn his back on not only an individual, but his entire future line, rather unpalatable.

You can purchase The Realm from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Realm-Trilogy-L-Marie-Wood-ebook/dp/B0CM42CQH1

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Published by robertawrites235681907

I am a writer of young adult fiction and poetry

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37 thoughts on “Roberta Writes – The Realm: The Realm Trilogy by L. Marie Wood #Bookreview #horror”

  1. At first, I was not going to read the post nor your review, Robbie, simply because I have never yet found a horror story that’s horrifying. Anyway, I did start to read it and found I enjoyed your criticism, finding them all believable, but the storyline is too much like other monster-walking-eating monsters ‘stories.’ By the end of your well-balanced review, I was smiling having been thoroughly entertained.

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    1. HI Danny, I am glad this review entertained you. I have been messing around with it for a whole week because I wasn’t entirely sure how to approach it. Eventually, I decided to be blatantly honest. I am not a fan of horror comics or Marvel movies and those are what came to mind for me as I read this book. Of course, this book may be a 5-star read for some people but I didn’t enjoy it much.

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  12. I think that being honest about the need for further editing is a gift to an author whether they want to hear about it or not. I completely reject the notion of a God who has all the failings of a human being!

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    1. Hi Liz, it depends what sort of horror fiction, if any, you enjoy. I like clever paranormal fiction and am not keen on cartoony monsters and good versus evil battles which I think have been completely worn out be Marvel and other similar movie productions. But, Marvel has a huge following as do some horror comics so there is an audience for this.

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  15. Hi Robbie – you’ve written a very fair review here. I appreciate that you are honest in your opinions. Great job – not really my genre, so I’ll probably pass, but I always like to know what’s out there. Happy reading!

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  16. Thanks for your honest, mindful review, Robbie. The cover is certainly stunning. The concept doesn’t offend me, it sounds exciting. However, I can see where certain details would have to be described “just so”. Best wishes to Ms. Wood. I hope everyone at your house is doing better. Hugs.

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  17. The cover was a show stopper and not sure in what direction but def grabbed my attention. I’m not much of a thriller book seeker. I loved your honest review. Thanks and all the best to L.Maria Wood. I know many who would love a thriller. 💕

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