Review – Tentacles and Teeth (Land of Szornyek, Vol 1) by Ariele Sieling (3/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic/Science Fiction
Length: 294 pages
Publisher: Independently Published
Release Date: March 28, 2019
ASIN : B07NPYBMQ8
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Land of Szoenyek series
Source: eBook from Kindle Unlimited
Rating: 3/5 stars
“The apocalypse wasn’t what anyone expected–no rising flood waters, no zombies, no nuclear bombs. Instead, monsters. Their sudden invasion left the world in shatters, and now, decades later, all that’s left of human civilization are a few nomadic bands struggling to survive off the land.
Askari was born to this world, and lives, fights, and survives alongside the community that raised her. But when she breaks one too many of the community’s rules, her punishment is severe: leave.
Armed with her bow and blade, Askari sets off alone, guided only by a map and the promise that if she can find a book hidden in a nearby town, then she can return. But what can one person do alone in such a harsh, violent landscape? How will she survive?
Askari faces a challenge that will force her to learn not only about the world she lives in, but question what she believes about herself.”
Series Info/Source: This is the first book in The Land of Szornyek series. I got this ebook for free for my Kindle.
Story (3/5): This story follows Askari, who is living in a post-apocalyptic monster infested future Earth. She is kicked out of her community for not following rules. She has to adventure through the monster-infested landscape on a mission for her village elders if she is going to be given sanction again. The story is okay but is fairly simple. It has a very middle grade tone to it, but also has some very viscous monster fighting scenes. There is adventure and a bit of a mystery as well. It was fairly predictable and I struggled with the monster names and descriptions, but I didn’t hate it.
Characters (3/5): The characters in here are fairly stereo-typical and show very little growth throughout the story. Askari is a hot-headed warrior, one of her friends in the typical female healer type, and her other friend is a typical weak, but super smart, male type. I really struggled with the monsters in here; they are given goofy names that are hard to remember and their descriptions make them hard to picture.
Setting (3/5): This is an interesting setting, even if it’s been done many times before. I enjoyed exploring this monster-infested post-apocalyptic world. The description was really lacking though and made the world and creatures in it very hard to picture and engage with. The story also takes place in a very small area, so there isn’t a ton of world-building here.
Writing Style (3/5): The writing here is okay but feels somewhat juvenile. Descriptions aren’t well done and characters feel very stereotyped. The story is very straight-forward and the language and dialogue are simple. This really feels like an early middle grade novel but with a lot of gorey descriptions and gory fights. Those things combined make this an odd book that doesn’t really fit well into an age category. It’s too simple for young adults but too gory and scary for younger kids.
My Summary (3/5): Overall this was okay, I liked the premise and enjoyed the adventure and the monsters. However, there is a lot lacking here as well. The story and characters are simple and the monsters are hard to picture. Some of the battles are very vicious and things the monsters can do are very gory. This makes it an odd book that doesn’t really fit well into any age group. I didn’t hate it but I don’t plan on reading any more books in this series.
