Book Review: “Hidden Revenge” by E.K. Powers

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Rating: 1 star

Headline: Hidden Revenge is not a book that can be readily recommended, at least not in its current state

Review:

Hidden Revenge is the new phycological thriller by author E.K. Powers. It follows the story of a small cast of characters, including Ronald, an antihero holding onto a massive secret. After catching his high school girlfriend cheating with Jason, the school bully, Ronald is set on a course of revenge. Ronald’s sudden disappearance following the incident has everyone stunned, leading many to think this high school teenager has vanished for good. And yet, it turns out the initial gun shot was just the warning of more to come. When it comes to revenge, Ronald is only just getting started.

Warning, plot spoilers below (including details of the secret / twist)

Hidden Revenge is a difficult story to work through as a reader. The pacing is significantly off, with very little to no air time given to developing characters beyond 2D stereotypes. Jason is a bully, Kim, a cheerleader, Ronald, the kid that gets beaten up. Within the opening pages Ronald has gone from being bullied to sleeping with Jason’s girlfriend. The romantic chemistry between Kim and Ronald is bare to say the least, covered in one sentence.

“She’s very athletic spreading her legs wide open. One day after having s*x in the back of the boys’ locker-room right after his practice was over, that b*tch told Jason that I was staring at her in gym class while she was doing jumping jacks.”

There is so much to unpack in these sentences alone. Where has this lust come from? Why is Ronald sleeping with Kim if he also hates her? Why does he keep having frequent and lewd internal thoughts about her body?

When a page later Ronald catches Kim sleeping with her ex, Jason, Ronald is so infuriated by what he sees he withdraws a gun (with no context as to why and how long he has been carrying a gun) and shoots the mirror above Jason’s head. How was it any different when he was sleeping with Kim while she was in a relationship with Jason? Despite this violent act Ronald is able to vanish with no police report raised. There is too much here that does not add up, at least not without a lot more character development.

The book then proceeds to jump between third and first person, hopping years into the future, then years back to the point where the time jumps become confusing even to the most seasoned of readers. The tenses also slip between present and past, a subtle grammatical point that adds friction into the reading journey. Below is an example from page 15 with offending words in bold:

Her attention was not on the game or even on her fiancé, Jason, who’s on the court. Instead, her gaze is fixed on a man sitting in the row diagonally across from her.

When it comes to the twist, this feels so ridiculous that it is incredibly hard to take it seriously. Two thirds of the way through, Ronald reveals that following his high school warning shot, he made the decision to change sex from male to female. Ronald’s plan, now going by the name Veronica, is conceived on the ambition that Veronica will eventually get into a relationship with Jason just so she can literally screw him around. To say this plan is far fetched is a complete understatement. There is no development of Ronald’s mental state to understand why he would make this huge decision, let alone have approval from any medical body to proceed with it. Jason, who is painted in the early pages as a nasty piece of work, is turned into a victim of an awful scenario, one which almost results in him committing suicide when he learns the truth about the woman he thought he loved.

Hidden Revenge is not a book that can be readily recommended, at least not in its current state.

AEB Reviews

Links:

Reedsy Discovery Review: AEB Reviews – “Hidden Revenge” by E.K. Powers

Purchase Link: “Hidden Revenge” by E.K. Powers (Amazon)

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January / February 2026 Recap

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The start of 2026 has been a rollercoaster, mostly spent in bed. Here is a quick recap.

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Poetry Review: “Crossing the Sea of Shattered Glass” by Robert Bunn

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Rating: 5 stars

Headline: A beautifully titled work which celebrates the thrill of life’s ups and downs

Review:

Penned by fantasy author, turned poet, R.B. Bunn, Crossing the Sea of Shattered Glass is a poetry collection that brings together all of life’s highs and lows to the forefront in drama and style. Coming in at just under eighty pages, Crossing the Sea of Shattered Glass touches on powerfully emotive themes including family, loss and rebirth, whilst also drawing heavily on emotive landscapes and dramatic storytelling. Split into three distinct sections: Disembark, Storms at Sea and Landfall, personal highlights from this collection include the poems “The Helper”, “Sorrow was her Crown” and “The Fishing Rod”.

Dripping in raw emotion, Crossing the Sea of Shattered Glass is also home to a wide variety of poetic forms, from traditional four line rhyming stanzas, to a page of pacey two line stanzas, right through to concrete poems (such as “The Bottle” which is formatted / shaped on the page as its namesake). The use of concrete poems alone is such a rarity in poetry collections like these, and Bunn’s inclusion of them here is a welcome sight in amongst the storytelling of light and dark.

With a gorgeous cover design and a beautiful title to boot, it is hard to not want to read this book over and over again, knowing that each time there will be something new for readers to reflect on. While it is worth noting the book includes themes such as substance abuse and alcoholism, the author does include this advisory at the start of the collection. These topics represent a strong backbone of Bunn’s work here, however in many places the content is weaved in such a way that it is not as hard hitting as it could have so easily been. In this regard it manages to tread a fine line with skill and grace.

Crossing the Sea of Shattered Glass has to be one of the top poetry reads of this summer. Brilliantly executed, it is by all accounts a five star read.

AEB Reviews

Links:

Reedsy Discovery Review: AEB Reviews – “Crossing the Sea of Shattered Glass” by Robert Bunn

Purchase Link: “Crossing the Sea of Shattered Glass” by Robert Bunn (Amazon)

Author Website: https://www.rbbunnbooks.com/

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Jus-Rol will not get the hint on their cinnamon swirls / rolls

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Remember how back in 2023 I have a review on the hideous experience Boyfriend Ben and I had while inadvertently trying out the “new recipe” formula of Jus-Rol’s cinnamon swirls? Titled What is going on with Jus-Rol’s cinnamon swirls? Yep, that one.

Well, now it feels like both Jus-Rol and Hello Fresh are out to taunt me. How? By sending me promotional material of a product I badly want to love but categorially detest (on account of the hideous move to separate pastry and filling, whereas before the mix came pre-made, so all the consumer had to do was cut the cylinder of pastry and bake).

Basically, Jus-Rol’s cinnamon swirls are a bad ex that radically changed one day and still wants me to love them. I can’t, I just can’t.

Jus-Rol has also published a how-to guide on YouTube which in my mind says it all in terms of how ‘easy’ the new method is to consumers.

I’m not stating anything as fact, just observing that behind every corporate how-to video is a mountain of calls to customer services to say “wtf?”

By the way, I notice Jus-Rol have also tried to get around the new recipe hate by changing the baby poop paste to sugar that looks like beach sand. A reminder of what the paste looked like when Ben and I tried it out for ourselves:

Call me lazy, but even moving to sugar represents a Jus-Rol’s commitment to drive down production costs at the expense of giving consumers with an inferior product. They need to listen to their markets. Although I am half tempted to compare the two now.

“…Ben!”

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Book Review: “Patches” by Dana Manoli

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Rating: 3 stars

Headline: Set in Romania, this interesting collection of stories is held back by its numerous grammatical errors

Review:

Written by author Dana Manoli, Patches is a cross-generational novel set in Romania spanning circa several hundred years. Following the lives of six women, the novel is comprised of six short stories (or “books”) which follows the plights of its female protagonists as each fight’s to reshape their destiny against a backdrop of cultural resistance. From Katarina, who is running away from a forced marriage to Dafina, a teacher treading a fine line with administering education in a multicultural school, the stories aim to challenge readers on any assumption that society has become more liberal over time. As Manoli notions, “does modern tolerance overcome past prejudices, or are we just reshaping old injustices?”

Patches is a pleasant read, with a nice use of mediums to influence the style and personality of each. Dafina’s story makes use of back-and-forth letters and Ada’s is entirely told through diary entries. This helps prevent the tales from feeling repetitive or undistinguishable. There are some great turns of phrase to be discovered in this collection of short stories, including a personal favourite, “Dafina’s voice is dry as her mother’s medicinal herbs.” The six short stories are broken up into chapters (meaning that no story is ever more than about fifty pages in length). For Eilna (number three), the story opens with “chapter nine”. Given each story is standalone, it might have made more sense to start each “book” with chapter one. For the most part all the stories are set in the present tense (more on this point to follow).

Where this book holds itself back is in its grammar. Patches is the first book this Romanian author has written in the English language which, outside of this book review, needs to be acknowledged. Manoli’s ability to write something of this standard in a second language is a challenge that few native English speakers would attempt to take on. That said, it would be wrong to consider this in isolation when it ultimately this a book aimed at an English-reading audience, battling alongside other historical novels of its type. With this in mind, the grammar is off in places, with the tenses slipping into past, incorrect use of semicolons and turns of phrase that do not quite make sense (yet might do for Romanian readers). The best way to rectify these would be to employ the use of a professional copy/line editor who is a native English speaker.

Patches is a solid book with layered meaning and merit to its strong cast of female characters. A good starting point for any future publications penned in English, a personal recommendation would be to locate beta readers or a proficient editor. This has the potential to be a five star read, yet ultimately is only hampered by the number of small grammatical errors which add friction to the reading journey.

AEB Reviews

Links:

Reedsy Discovery Review: AEB Reviews – “Patches” by Dana Manoli

Purchase Link: “Patches” by Dana Manoli (Amazon)

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If (cat) looks could terrify

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Mum and Dad’s new cat, Jim, is definitely not okay with my existence, as shown by this picture.

(Before you worry too much about Jim, just bear in mind this is also the same cat who will see anything as a challenge, even an ironing board.)

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Book Review: “Until I Came Home: A Sunset’s Journal” by Russell Earle

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Rating: 5 stars

Headline: Until I Came Home is a must for anyone planning to explore South America by backpack

Review:

Penned by South Caroline State University graduate, now Computer Scientist, Russell J. Earle Jr., Until I Came Home: A Sunset’s Journal is a memoir made for any reader looking for their next 300 page adventure hit.

The memoir makes the clever approach of starting at the end, with the author reflecting on his tatty shoes, overgrown hair and the flags snitched onto the top part of his book bag as the proud mementos of all the countries he has visited in South America. Almost battle weary, he is ready to return to his home in North America. For the readers it then becomes all the more interesting to see how the narrator has got to such a position. From this scene the book snaps straight back into the past, where Earle is spending his evenings researching ways to tell his boss he is quitting his job to travel around the southern continent.

Following this interesting hook of an opener, Until I Came Home takes readers through the journeys and experiences Earle has while making his way through a multitude of different cultures including Venezuela, Columbia and Peru. Dealing with the expected language barrier is just the start of his challenges! Readers can expect to see, live and feel a multitude of different locations and characters, including the highs and lows. All this, and in such vivid detail as if they were walking alongside the author every step of the way.

It is very hard to find fault with this book, the writing quality and pacing for a travel memoir of its type is executed very well, by an author with all the skills and background in creative writing. The fact that Earle is not afraid to shy away from conveying the challenges he faced (such as breaking news to his family of his desire to travel and conversely his relief to be returning home at the end of the experience), it all adds up to show the measure and breadth of the author himself. A complex character that grows, changes and adapts to the real-world situations he is placed in. The cover is absolutely gorgeous and sets the tone perfectly for what is to follow.

A must for anyone planning to following in the author’s footsteps and explore South America by backpack, Until I Came Home is a great piece of travel writing and one that makes for a thoroughly enjoyable read, cover to cover. Five stars, simple as.

AEB Reviews

Links:

Reedsy Discovery Review: AEB Reviews – “Until I Came Home: A Sunset’s Journal” by Russell Earle

Purchase Link: “Until I Came Home: A Sunset’s Journal” by Russell Earle (Amazon)

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There is a place in the world called “Farty” and I am so here for it

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Don’t ask me how, don’t ask me why but the other day I discovered there is a place in the world called Fartygsholmen and in the moment it completely made my evening.

According to Google Maps, Fartygsholmen (or, as I like to shorten it to, “Farty”) is an island off the coast of Finland . Quoting the great Wikipedia:

“The island is located about 17 kilometres southwest of Kotka and about 97 kilometres east of Helsinki. The island covers an area of 0.4 hectares and its maximum length is 90 metres in a southeast-northwest direction.”

Credit: Wikipedia

The icing on the cake? The extremes of the two Google reviews, one of which reads (translated) “A good place to take a break from loved ones” and the other, “HAHA Farty”.

Credit: Google Maps

It’s the little things.

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Book Review: “Everwoven: A Memoir. A Reckoning” by Megan Margherio

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This article was produced following a request from the author to write a fair and honest review for their book.

Rating: 4 stars

Headline: A heartfelt memoir of resilience and transformation, “Everwoven” speaks to readers with delicate poise and consideration

Review:

Penned by debut author Megan Margherio, Everwoven: A Memoir. A Reckoning (hereafter Everwoven) is a first person account of the author’s life, from her formative years, through to her thirties. Blending the genres of memoir and creative storytelling, Margherio states the intention of her work succinctly in her opening introduction. “Everything you read [in Everwoven] is my truth, my reclamation,” she says, “but I intentionally crafted this story to allow you to feel, rather than simply observe, what happened.”

Beginning in a small American Midwestern town of circa 55 people, the opening chapters of Everwoven makes for what is, at points, a heart breaking read of a child recounting alleged abused at the hands of those she trusted most. It is a saddening tale only deepened by the author’s realisation some years later that the family’s main source of income came from running a puppy farm. From here, the narrative moves onto first jobs, careers in the hospital Emergency Room (ER), and the many forms of love, including loss and heartbreak. This, before eventually detailing the author’s rebirth and her optimism in what lies ahead.

The memoir is structured differently to many titles in this genre of non-fiction, in that there are conventional sections where the author recounts her life growing up, paired with sections where the author interacts with younger versions of herself in the third person. The below example from page 14 demonstrates how this plays out within the context of the memoir:

“Are you there, Little Me?” I hold my breath, hoping.
Silence.
But I feel her. I know she’s there, hovering just beyond my awareness.
Watching.
“I know you’re there. The air thickens when you’re near. I can hear
your breath—small, quiet, waiting.”
[…]
A whisper. Sharp. Skeptical. “You always say that.”

It is certainly a different approach to writing a memoir and for some it might take a chapter or two to get into the swing of it. Sections like these alter the tempo and tone of voice from something very direct and factual, to something more softly spoken (and, dare I say it, novel-ish in approach).

Coming in at 377 pages, cover to cover, Everwoven is a book best absorbed in chunks, especially given some of the challenging themes it tackles head-on. As memoirs go Everwoven is by no means an easy read and, to some, the darkened content might be a bridge too far. However for those who take heart in a memoir filled with sparks of joy and uplift, there is much to be commended here.

While there are always two sides to every story, Margherio’s characterisation of the significant people in her life allows a deeper understanding and connection to the figures in the author’s life, including those of her younger self. With this, Margherio has been able to perform something striking, transforming the bitter bile of the past into the sweetened honey of hope.

AEB Reviews

Links:

Purchase Link: “Everwoven: A Memoir. A Reckoning” by Megan Margherio

Author’s Social Media: @megan_margherio on Instagram and TikTok

Author Website: meganmargherio.com

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The Writers College Prize

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A little bit of writing news. Out of nearly 700 entrants to The Writers College prize (based in New Zealand), I’m thrilled to have gotten honours for my Soviet-era short story, “Laika”.

Full list of winners can be found here.

While this does not count as a prize-winning or placed story, it is a bit of positive feedback (and that is never a bad thing).

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