Ragtag Giggagon

A gladiatorial battle in a bull ring, a fight against goblins on a ship, and a struggle against a monster whose gutting results in the salvaging of a fallen soldier are three highlights in this urban fantasy novel focusing on journalist Nathaniel Runnels and the vampiric Daniel, who acts as his mentor. Runnels is struggling through life, somewhat poisoned by the cynicism of the world, it seems, when he first encounters Daniel - who's a tour de force of cynicism when he chooses to be. His dialogue with angel Sariel is a case in point. A great read that's well worth diving into. Get Only Human here . You can follow JD Estrada on Twitter and Facebook .

Can’t we all identify as black sheep occasionally? Don’t we occasionally vent at, or declare our love for, those who don’t deserve it? Do we not engage in retail therapy? Haven’t we all stayed home instead of going to parties occasionally, due to social anxiety? Well then, Natasha Helen Crudden wants to have a quick – and powerfully eloquent – word in your ear. Much of this poetry is directed at persons. These subjects are rarely the general reader. The power of much of the work, however, lies in taking many of her admonitions, tributes, compliments and criticisms personally. The beauty of much of this talented poet’s work is in the identifiable. Trigger Warning , for instance, is directed at a (probable) female whose “killer Achilles heels” and “summer wardrobe of disorders” provide validation. It transpires that this subject doesn’t have “all that much to say”, falling back on trigger warnings as an excuse to retreat after causing the mayhem typical of somebody with (

A novel written in verse, Anais Chartschenko’s The Weightless One is an unconventional character portrait of a young woman who’s been sectioned due to an eating disorder. Seemingly inadvertently – and with consummate skill through the prism of convalescence and therapy – Chartschenko slowly reveals a family background and the possible rationales for the development of her heroine’s psychological issues in the series of poems. We also get an insider’s view of a mental health facility. We learn how patients shouldn’t compare care and diet plans with each other. We discover a little about how detrimental the pursuit of modelling from an early age can be on a psyche. That some airbrushed celebrities may not be the best people to place on pedestals is also hinted at. Again, showing impressive topicality, when it comes to the reasons for being placed in the care of the mental health services, there are echoes of the misogyny prevalent in the high school and college campus sexual as