Magus Tor

My Ladybird Story by Magus Tor is a story about John Bird who had no friends in school, who was often bullied and who always knew he was different. Life was quite miserable and it was then that he meets Aureus Conner. With the entrance of Aureus, his life turned for the better-yes, he still knew he was different but he had Aureus for a best friend and was no longer bullied.

The book narrates how he deals with being different, the way he tries to be normal like others. It is during his college years that he realizes the reason for feeling so different- it was gender dysphoria.

The author beautifully describes the issues and emotional turmoil a transgender faces. Having never read a book based on the same topic this book was very refreshing and unique. The author has managed to keep the story very realistic almost throughout. You cannot help liking John and feel the pain when he does.

I loved the character Devon- John’s elder brother who always accepted John for what he was and supported and loved him unconditionally. I liked the part where Aureus comes to know about John’s secret. Also the transition of John into Joyce was seamless.

What I didn’t like in the story was that at the end the story kind of stretched a bit too much. Until the last few chapters it was the perfect book . Also the poem in the beginning acts as a spoiler as the last line gives away the crux of the story and kind of what we can expect the end to be.

Overall it was a great book. I feel we need more books like this. This book is a must read.… (lisätietoja)

This is an interesting novella. The first third of the story went along fine, introductions were made all around. How are you? I'm fine. Lets have dinner. How about coffee? Sure. Great. Who the fuck cares? I don't read books for the detailed descriptions of everyday life. I don't care what you had for dinner, lunch, what kind of fucking coffee this character likes, etc.

I care about the story, and the relationships. The first third of this story establishes the relationships, but does absolutely nothing to further the story. The second act didn't do much to further the story either. In fact, the second bit just made me want to take a fucking nap.

It was really a bit of drudgery to get to the third act, which finally did pick up the pace a little, and got heavy into the meat of the story. It's about a political conflict, set in a society that has been built on the moon. A large part of the moon's population are clones, which serve as slaves to the rich and powerful.

These slaves WANT their rights, goddamnit. They're just as human as anyone else. This last third of the book is actually quite good. I really wish I had just started reading at the 70% mark. I would have been much happier with the story.

Then, of course, the last 10% of this novella goes to shit again, and gets convoluted as all hell. The author busts out like 3 crazy plot twists in the end, which is good, I guess. I mean, it did make the story more interesting.

But then, yet another plot twist is thrown in at the last second that didn't make any fucking sense. I was like, seriously dude? Come on, man. You were doing just fine, then you had to skull fuck it with this garbage. It would have been a much better ending if it was just the first few twists. Those were fucking awesome. They actually made the story make sense.

In the end, I still liked this little novella. I'll probably even continue with the next book in the series. I mean, how much worse can it get? Oh who am I kidding. It can get much much worse.… (lisätietoja)

A YA/NA Sci-fi dystopia that's fast-paced and has some intriguing characters and a captivating plot. This novella has a leading female MC that is a bit naive, but she's intelligent and thoughtful. She's also a doctor. The author does an excellent job of describing her experience during her first flight in space. One of the other MCs is a clone and I look forward to reading more about his storyline in the next installment. The other male lead is arrogant at times, but he's not unlikable. There's a have and have-nots plot, a clones equality struggle, and a budding romance. Because the book is a novella, the story feels rushed occasionally, but overall, a very good start to a promising series.… (lisätietoja)