Julian Worker

This review was originally published on Reedsy Discovery.

Wendy Draig is tired of stereotypes and is determined to do all she can to fight all forms of injustice, whether against a human, animal or any other sentient being. That is why she decides to become the first dragon lawyer of the Land of Fair E, travelling through different towns to offer free legal assistance to anyone in need. Between meetings, court hearings and even some investigations, Wendy comes across a wide range of show more characters, some already beloved protagonists of well-known fairytales and some perhaps lesser known, but all in need of counsel and joined in the desire to make their land a better place for all.

The starting point for Dragon Lawyer: Scales of Justice - a dragon lawyer providing legal assistance to fairytale characters - is intriguing and original, holding much promise for a fun and engaging read, as does the clever wordplay in the title. Unfortunately, its execution does not allow it to reach its full potential, leaving the feeling that the book would have greatly benefited from some further editing prior to publication.

The writing flits between overly simplistic and verbose, often relying on complex sentences and legal jargon, unnecessarily or on occasion even inaccurately (for example, at one point a character talks about something being hearsay when in fact they are referring to speculation). The dialogues are also stilted and deeply unnatural, and are often relied upon as an exposition technique to allow different characters to convey multiple points of information to Wendy.

The story itself feels too condensed to allow any character's storyline sufficient space for them to truly develop. There is hardly any conflict that is not almost immediately resolved, Wendy welcomed with open arms and instantly trusted by everyone she meets, resulting in a complete lack of tension and virtually no stakes.

One of the biggest problems with this book seems to be its indecision over who its audience is: at times, it seems as though what we are reading is a fairytale with little depth beyond relaying a series of events; at other times, however, this reads more like a satirical work aimed at an adult public, with frequent references to real-life modern issues (such as immigration, social networks and environmental issues, to name only a few). This confusion in its tone ensures that the story ultimately works for neither public, resulting too complex and lacklustre for a younger audience while far too simplistic and lacking depth for an adult one.

I received an advanced review copy of this book for free from the author via Reedsy Discovery. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way. show less

This British based cozy mystery is a romp. The characters in Goat Parva are anything but ordinary -being involved in bed hopping, stalking, strident animal liberation. The characters and their activities are depicted with a tongue-in-cheek touch of humour which is very enjoyable and well written.
Several members of a group of voyeurs are murdered, but how, if at all, is that connected to the animal shelter and its workers? It is up to Inspector Knowles and his off-sider Sergeant Barnes to show more discover what is going on amid the many comings and goings in and out of the woods. They’re a very active lot at Goat Parva – retriever Bingo and his owner Adelaide Hills not the least.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley for an honest review. show less

The Diary of a Buddhist Cat reminds me of an adorable children’s book that rambles on for way too long.

The premise is good. Freddie, a Buddhist-leaning cat with a philosophical bent, is adopted from an animal shelter by married couple, John & Mary. He spends his time in his new home making friends with the local wildlife, surreptitiously visiting the neighborhood library, and trying to understand Gemma—the embittered feline who shares his new home. The narrative takes the form of a show more stream of consciousness diary as Freddie observes the world around him and adjusts to life in his new, loving home.

The Diary of a Buddhist Cat is a simple, lighthearted read that is a pleasant enough way to while away a couple of hours. However, it wasn’t as good as I was expecting.

From the description of the storyline, I expected it to be more clever and humorous than it actually was. Freddie himself is a fun character, but all of the secondary characters are flat. The action is negligible (& painfully farfetched); the most ‘exciting’ portion of the tale is Freddie and his animal entourage trying to figure out a way to get a human to shave Rufus the Squirrel’s tail so he can be more aerodynamic and get more distance going down the park’s playground slide. Meh.
Unfortunately, the author goes way overboard with the poop references and derriere photocopying. And Freddie’s persistence in aggravating the elderly, blue-haired librarian—even though he knows she is distressed by his antics—really goes against character. Although it was based on a great idea, the writing—while not downright awful—does come across as amateurish.

The text suffers from typos and bad punctuation.

The character of Freddie the Cat and the idea behind this book were fantastic; the execution was only so-so. It’s mostly a cute little book, but I’m not chomping at the bit to read the sequel. show less

I was quite gobsmacked. I had to remind myself that this is non fiction, some of these traditions sounded pure storybook. I never knew that the human race could be quite so creative and bored to think up some of these traditions. I mean turtle rinsing, duck quacking and animal gambling to name a few.

A book that will have prde of place on my bookshelf. Highly amusing read!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.