Hayley's Reviews

"You don't realize how big somebody was in your life, until you measure the space of their absence" (Rozelle, 24). 

The Treemakers is a post-apocalyptic novel about a group of children living in an underground bunker, forced to make titanzium trees that create oxygen for Bygonne, and the Superiors that control them. 

The story opens up with a description of these horrors, and one of the most amazing lines to start a novel I have ever read: "Last week, Pedro looked out the window one second too long and lost his left hand to the chopper". If by some miracle I wasn't convinced about reading this by the synopsis, I sure as hell was one sentence into chapter one. The way Rozelle starts up her story is magnificent and genius. 

The story was quite interesting. A post-apocalyptic world in which the remaining children of Greenleigh's Tree Factory are forced to build trees for oxygen? Not only is the premise great, the plot was even better. Without giving too much away, the children manage to escape and go on a grand adventure - keeping my interest throughout the whole novel. Not once did I get bored with the story, or the characters. 

The main character, Joy Montgomery, or 'Momma Joy' as the children like to call her, is everything you would expect from the oldest child of the group. She accepted her natural motherly instincts and always took what her parents had taught her into account, taking care as much as possible the children of the Tree Factory, even going so far as to tell them bedtime stories to make them feel somewhat normal. She is the perfect example of how brightly a diamond in the rough can truly shine. 

Other characters in the story worked so well with each other. Joy and Jax, Miguel and Aby, Johnny and Smudge, they all make sense and interacted smoothly with each other. Nothing felt forced. 

The theme of this story: things get worse before they get better. Rozelle puts these characters through many obstacles and hardships before finally delivering them to the happiness they deserve. The lesson to be taken from this is no matter how crummy your life is right now, you have the choice to take it into your own hands and make something better for yourself. I find this message truly inspirational, just like Momma Joy's stories. 

The story flow was great. I found that there was a lot of story, but it was spaced out and paced perfectly, as to not seem too cluttered, or like there was too much going on. Everything had its moment, and Rozelle did an excellent job of making her story go smoothly. 

I liked that the story wasn't too predictable. There were many instances of surprises that really keep you enthralled and prevent you from getting bored. 

Overall, I truly loved this novel. It brought post-apocalyptic horror and adventure together to create a mesmerizing story of adventure, heartache, and triumph. With a massive bomb dropped at the end of the novel, I of course look forward to reading and sharing my thoughts on the second book in the series, The Soultakers. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

"Murdering a highborn officer of the crown. Lying to King Lorron himself. Even if I make it out of this alive, retribution will surely be waiting patiently for me in the afterlife" (Roberts, 51). 

Sigil in Shadow is a novel about a lowborn girl who is summoned by the king to re-create a potion that supposedly brought an officer back to life from the dead. Only, she doesn't know if the potion actually revived the officer she assaulted, or just awoke him from unconsciousness. Summoned to the crown, Ellary finds she has no choice but to stay and re-create the potion. The problem? She has no idea what ingredients were put in to make it.

The book opens up with the main character, Ellary Dane, getting home and hearing her father fighting with an officer in their stable. She decides quickly to hit the officer over the head with a shovel to get him off of her father, knocking him unconscious, or killing him. She doesn’t know which.

The quick action at the beginning of the book was a really good way to pull someone into the story, and it made me want to read more. The story was set in what seemed like the late 1600's with the royalty and the clothes that they wore. The book is written in present tense, first person, which seems rare in indie books lately, and I enjoyed it. 

I liked that the story isn't just restricted to one particular event that is drawn out. We are with Ellary for a little over a month throughout her time with the king. I enjoyed the adventure we went through and it was great because the movement of the story kept it interesting. 

Ellary Dane is the main character of this novel, and she fits there perfectly. We got to follow her character development throughout the story and see what the changes in her life did to change her. She is the perfect role model for a lot of people born in a lower class society. 

Other characters like Denzil and Gadiel were entertaining as well. They were more so side characters, but had a great impact on the story. Their personalities complemented the story perfectly and made it more realistic to real life. 

The theme of this novel is along the lines of just because you come from a lower class doesn't mean you can't be just as good or even better than people in a higher class. This is something that is very important for people, especially kids, to learn early on.

There were a lot of different ways that the story could have went, which was really good for keeping my attention. The story wasn't entirely predictable, which is a key element in keeping the interest of your readers, and Roberts did an amazing job at doing so. However, I did find that the ending was a bit rushed, if not forced.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel. I was told there will be a second book to the series, and I can't wait to see where the next adventure takes me. Roberts did a wonderful job with her story and heart captivating characters, and I certainly can't wait to read the next one. I give this novel 5 out of 5 stars. 

"Murdering a highborn officer of the crown. Lying to King Lorron himself. Even if I make it out of this alive, retribution will surely be waiting patiently for me in the afterlife" (Roberts, 51). 

Sigil in Shadow is a novel about a lowborn girl who is summoned by the king to re-create a potion that supposedly brought an officer back to life from the dead. Only, she doesn't know if the potion actually revived the officer she assaulted, or just awoke him from unconsciousness. Summoned to the crown, Ellary finds she has no choice but to stay and re-create the potion. The problem? She has no idea what ingredients were put in to make it.

The book opens up with the main character, Ellary Dane, getting home and hearing her father fighting with an officer in their stable. She decides quickly to hit the officer over the head with a shovel to get him off of her father, knocking him unconscious, or killing him. She doesn’t know which.

The quick action at the beginning of the book was a really good way to pull someone into the story, and it made me want to read more. The story was set in what seemed like the late 1600's with the royalty and the clothes that they wore. The book is written in present tense, first person, which seems rare in indie books lately, and I enjoyed it. 

I liked that the story isn't just restricted to one particular event that is drawn out. We are with Ellary for a little over a month throughout her time with the king. I enjoyed the adventure we went through and it was great because the movement of the story kept it interesting. 

Ellary Dane is the main character of this novel, and she fits there perfectly. We got to follow her character development throughout the story and see what the changes in her life did to change her. She is the perfect role model for a lot of people born in a lower class society. 

Other characters like Denzil and Gadiel were entertaining as well. They were more so side characters, but had a great impact on the story. Their personalities complemented the story perfectly and made it more realistic to real life. 

The theme of this novel is along the lines of just because you come from a lower class doesn't mean you can't be just as good or even better than people in a higher class. This is something that is very important for people, especially kids, to learn early on.

There were a lot of different ways that the story could have went, which was really good for keeping my attention. The story wasn't entirely predictable, which is a key element in keeping the interest of your readers, and Roberts did an amazing job at doing so. However, I did find that the ending was a bit rushed, if not forced.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel. I was told there will be a second book to the series, and I can't wait to see where the next adventure takes me. Roberts did a wonderful job with her story and heart captivating characters, and I certainly can't wait to read the next one. I give this novel 5 out of 5 stars. 

"'Good night, Peacock. Sleep well.'" (Roberts, 206). 

Sigil in Shadow is a novel about a lowborn girl who is summoned by the king to re-create a potion that supposedly brought back to life an officer from the dead. Only, she doesn't know if the potion actually revived the officer she assaulted, or just awoke him from unconsciousness. 

The book opens up with the main character, Ellary Dane, being home when she hears her father fighting with an officer in their stable. She decides quickly to hit the officer over the head with a shovel, thinking that she may have killed him, but glad she got him off of her father. 

The quick action at the beginning of the book was a really good way to pull someone into the story, and it made me want to read more. The story was set in what seemed like the late 1600's with the royalty and the clothes that they wore. The book is written in present tense, first person, which seems rare in indie books lately, and I enjoyed it. 

I liked that the story isn't just restricted to one particular event that is drawn out. We are with Ellary for close to a year throughout her time with the king. I enjoyed the adventure we went through and it was great because the movement of the story kept it interesting. 

Ellary Dane is the main character of this novel, and she fits there perfectly. We got to follow her character development throughout the story and see what the changes in her life did to change her. She is the perfect role model for a lot of people born in a lower class society. 

Other characters like Denzil and Gadiel were entertaining as well. They were more so side characters, but had a great impact on the story. Their personalities complemented the story perfectly and made it more realistic to real life. 

The theme of this novel is along the lines of just because you come from a lower class doesn't mean you can't be just as good or even better than people in a higher class. This is something that is very important for people, especially kids, to learn early on. I was also surprised that the message in this book was so clear, considering that themes in indie books are getting sparse. 

There were a lot of different ways that the story could have went, which was really good for keeping my attention. The story wasn't entirely predictable, which is a key element in keeping the interest of your readers, and Roberts did an amazing job at doing so. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel. I was told there will be a second book to the series, and I can't wait to see where the next adventure takes me. Roberts did a wonderful job with her story and heart captivating characters, and I certainly can't wait to read the next one. I give this novel 5 out of 5 stars.