Time for reviews of a novel and novella by Jamie Foley!
Title: Sentinel
Author: Jamie Foley
Date read: April 26, 2017
Rating: 5 stars
Genre: I… really don’t know what to call it. Fantasy / Contemporary (other world) / Apocalyptic / Suspense
Age: YA
Year pub: 2016
Pages: 281 (Kindle)
Series: Book 1 of the Sentinel Trilogy (Followed by 2: Arbiter, just released, and 3: Sage, coming soon. Prequel novella: Viper.)
Fave character: Jet Valinor!
Source: Amazon
Links: Goodreads • Amazon • Signed Paperbacks • Author’s Website
WHAT DID I JUST READ? I have no idea, but I know I had an absolute blast and loved it so much! 😀
Picture a fantasy world with (surprise!) modern times (not here, but similar to our time-period), and some fantasy elements like mind superpowers; then add an apocalypse, secret military agents out to wreak havoc, lovable characters (including an awesome sarcastic ex-sniper), snarky conversations, and loads of humor, all wrapped up in a layer of suspense, with a dash of Christian-allegory undertones—and you have a unique, well-written, good-clean-fun novel called Sentinel, which reads almost like an action-movie (but funner)! Definitely outside of my normal reading, and I’ve never read anything like it, but I so enjoyed it!
Reasons why this book is awesome:
- Jet! First I have to mention Jet Valinor, who is a new favorite character and definitely a top reason for liking this. He’s my favorite kind of dark, growly, snarky, mysterious, dangerous, but awesome, with a heart of gold, type character. He’s got mind-power skills and military skills and generally you want him on your side when there’s covert military ops attacks, apocalypses, or general problems of any kind. He’s also got excellent snarky lines. What is not to love about Jet? Even without all the other awesomeness (of which there was lots), Jet just totally made the book for me. 😀
- Buddies-who-aren’t. I don’t know about you, but I LOVE stories about two characters who are thrown together and REALLY don’t get along but have to work together. And when one of them is a rather flippant teenage boy (our hero, Darien), and the other is dark, no-nonsense Jet who is not going to put up with stupidity… you know it’s going to be awesome. They kind of hate each other but are the best and have such excellent interactions AND I JUST LOVE IT SO MUCH.
- Banter/humor. Coming right up on that last one, there is SO much awesomeness in the form of Darien and Jet bickering, and general snark and humor, plus some of the writing is humorous too.
- Right there, you have four of my favorite things, all rolled up in this book: an awesome favorite character, a buddy-story (where they aren’t… yet. ;)), humor, and hilarious snarky banter. SO MUCH YES. But oh, you want more reasons?
- Fantasy! Fantasy makes everything better.
- Mind-powers etc. which are called Aether, and the different kinds people can be include Arbiter (mind-things like telepathy or memories), Sentinel (use it like striking force), Valnah (emotions), Vanguard (making walls of force), and rare ones like Healer, or Sage (seeing the future).
- Road-trip! Okay, so it wasn’t a huge part of the story, but I SO enjoyed Jet and Darien stuck in a car together with only Sorvashti to act as peace-maker. So much gold. 😀
- So original and unique—this world and everything is just new and I loved it.
- It’s well-written and gripping.
- The other characters are great too and the different cultures etc. and mysteries and hints are really interesting.
- Everything else—just read it already!
Reasons why I thought I wouldn’t like this book (but actually loved it):
- It’s modern, which isn’t my favorite — but it’s modern in another world and somehow isn’t the usual blech of many modern books.
- It’s apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic (which is a close relation to dystopian, which is a no-no for me, and in general I’m not the biggest fan of the world ending?) — but again, being in another world… I don’t… actually… mind? Plus we didn’t actually see the end of the world happening, since it was kind of off-screen (“Looks like the apocalypse started without us.” — one of my fave quotes in the book) and I’ve heard it’s just going to move more toward general fantasy-world kinds of things with less technology in later books. And because it’s not OUR world, I don’t actually mind, somehow!
- It is definitely SUPER intense and suspenseful, which might have gotten too much for me, but the humor keeps rolling in to keep it a little more light-hearted.
Warnings:
It’s kind of violent/intense/scary, but that’s it. Basically a great YA novel! It certainly kept me breathless on the edge of my seat! O_O (I’m not sure if I remembered to breathe in the last third of the book. Whew. *collapses*)
Overall:
I loved this book and can’t wait to read the next one! (Largely because WHAT EVEN JUST HAPPENED AT THE END? I need Arbiter right now.) I’m quite hooked by this world and in love with these characters, and I can’t wait to find out where the rest of the series is headed. 😀 All in all, an excellent (if different) book. ^_^ *hugs it*
Favorite quotes:
“Easy for you to say. You already know what your power is.”
“They’re called ‘gifts’,” Tera murmured, “and I’m pretty sure yours is impatience.”
***
Levi yelled something about volleyballs being expensive.
***
Darien racked his brain for the smallest reason he could have been summoned by something as scary-sounding as ‘the Grand Master council’.
***
He squinted and found a fresh crack snaking from the right windshield wiper to a small spider web in the center. “Speaking of bad news, you owe me a thousand credits.”
It’s the end of the world:
“Cool. So, the world is ending, but who cares, right?”
***
“So it’s the apocalypse and special forces are after us. Awesome. We’re all gonna die.”
Darien and Jet:
“That’s enough,” Jet said.
Darien froze. “What?”
“Jet! Would it kill you to be nice?” Aleah shot Jet a disapproving look, then gave Darien a sheepish grin. “I’m sorry. He’s just… introverted.”
Jet snorted and looked back out the window.
And a psycho. Darien forced a laugh. “No problem.”
***
Is ‘Thracian’ his dad? Why does he call his dad by his name and not ‘Dad’?
Jet barely contained a growl. He could call Darien out on it—again—but this time it’d be just as awkward for himself. Note to self: get him to build mental shields. Immediately.
***
Darien’s thoughts ran over Jet’s like a freight engine.
***
“Why not?”
“Because it’s dangerous, you idiot! And untested and stupid.”
Darien grinned. “Did you just call yourself stupid?”
Jet sighed. “I should have left you in Katrosi.”
***
(I love them so much. ^_^)
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Title: Viper
Author: Jamie Foley
Date read: April 12, 2017
Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Military Thriller / Contemporary Fantasy (in another world)
Age: YA
Year pub: 2016
Pages: 118 (paperback)
Series: Prequel to the Sentinel Trilogy (Sentinel, Arbiter, Sage)
Fave character: Jet Valinor
Source: From the author (thank you, Jamie!)
Links: Goodreads • Amazon • Signed Paperbacks • Author’s Website
A little different than the main series books of the Sentinel Trilogy, Viper is set years before Sentinel, and therefore pre-apocalypse… which means society hasn’t collapsed yet, and it reads very much like a contemporary thriller, with a dash of fantasy powers and military strike team and hostage situations. Just… y’know… in another world. 😉
It was VERY thrilling and intense and suspenseful! Not what I usually read, but I was definitely super absorbed and worried. 😛 As a novella, it was also a quick read. There were a few typos, I had trouble keeping Copperhead and Moccasin (two of Jet’s Viper strike team) straight, plus it’s short, and generally not entirely my usual reading cup of tea, hence 4 stars; but I did really enjoy it and it was engaging, well-written, and super intense!
Also Jet is awesome. I found him to be even more awesome in the next book, meeting him from an outside perspective, so I didn’t realize when I read this just how cool he was… so in a way I didn’t appreciate that, but now I do. 😛 Now that I’ve read Sentinel, I actually want to read this again as backstory-on-my-favorite-character. XD
Jet and Sorvashti are great together, especially with her way of speaking since she doesn’t know his language well, and he doesn’t know hers—loved that! Language-barrier things are so fun. It was hilarious and adorable. ^_^ It’s told in their alternating POVs, which was really interesting. I enjoyed both of their perspectives.
Like I said, it’s a prequel, and I read it first, instead of starting with book 1. This was an interesting introduction to the world/cultures/characters of the series, so I enjoyed having some background on everything. But it would also be awesome to read as backstory once already familiar with the way things are introduced in Sentinel. So… I can’t decide which is better. 😛 Probably don’t do it like I do, and instead start with Sentinel. (But you can read either first.)
Definitely an overall enjoyable, quick read which got me hooked on the series and world and characters, and left me eager to read more! 🙂
(I was given a copy of this novella by the author; I was not required to write a review; these opinions are my own.)
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(Look, it’s Jet with a spear! This cover means SO MUCH MORE now that I’ve read Sentinel…)
Arbiter (book 2) just released!
Check out the Arbiter Blog Tour and giveway! My post for the blog tour will be going up on my other blog Wednesday morning — tomorrow! — so watch for that!)
I’m going to be reading Arbiter soon; I can’t wait! 😀 I’ll be reviewing it here once I’ve read it, so stay tuned. 🙂
What about you, my Pagelings? Have you read any of these? Do they intrigue you? Let me know in the comments!
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Thanks for reading! 🙂
Dream away in those pages . . .
~ The Page Dreamer
Also not pictured above (because ebook), like Jenelle 
The Page Dreamer (Deborah O'Carroll) 