Book Review: The Ascension Of Melanie Winters By Holly Stockport

Synopsis

SHE WAS A MONSTER. BUT THE WORST KIND OF MONSTER. ONE DISGUISED AS A LIVING HUMAN.

Melanie Winters is struggling with university life just as much as everyone else. Exams, lectures, the power to move things with her min, the usual worries.

After a freak accident that she caused, Melanie is forced to return to her home in the Welsh countryside with her Mother to start again.

But when strange events begin to occur upon her arrival, Melanie begins to realise that she and the powers she fought so hard to keep hidden all these years, might be part of something a lot more sinister.

Review

Melanie Winters is your typical uni student, living in shared accommodation and worrying about if she has time for breakfast before her lecture, but she harbours a secret. Able to move things using telekinesis she couldn’t be more different to her peers. Whilst trying to protect a fellow student Melanie finds herself caught up in trouble and inadvertently causes a serious accident which forces her to leave university life behind.

Living back at home with her Mum in Wales, Melanie decides she needs to try to fit in and be ‘normal’ and manages to bag herself a job at a local shop, where she meets handsome Nathan. The two hit it off immediately, growing ever closer the more time they spend together. Despite this new seemingly normal existence her life has other ideas and keeps throwing strange, unexpected scenarios in her path. Before long she realises her powers are putting her whole family in danger and she must flee from Nathan and the life she has built, whilst trying to make sense of who and what she is….

Melanie is such a relatable character, just an everyday girl trying to find her place in the world and fit in. She is a wonderful strong female protagonist, which for me really makes a novel – GIRL POWER all the way! She has a strong sense of right and wrong and follows her heart regardless of the consequences of her actions. This book sees her begin to learn and understand about her past and who she is, taking the reader along on her journey of discovery as she gleans snippets of information about her extraordinary powers.

There are some fabulous characters introduced in this book which have only just had the surface scratched in terms of background information etc and I’m hoping that a sequel would help them develop and answer the questions I am desperate to know. Even though the book is fairly short (143 pages) it is jam packed with fast-paced action making it a real page turner – I genuinely couldn’t put it down, I kept trying to but was drawn back in as I HAD to know what happened.

I found this book to be quite a subtle sci-fi story running parallel to the love story between Melanie and Nathan. Despite it not being a genre I read much of it really captured my imagination and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. My only criticism is that it ended too soon and of course on a MASSIVE cliff hanger, leaving me dangling in limbo waiting to find out what’s in store for Melanie next! I really hope that there is a sequel in the pipeline and sooner rather than later please as I’m desperate to read the next instalment.

The Ascension of Melanie Winters is a superb debut novel for Holly and is living proof that following your dreams and passions pays off. This is a book she should rightfully feel incredibly proud of and as a fellow blogger a massive inspiration for me to keep pushing and pursue my own dreams.

About The Author

Holly Stockport is a 23yr old author, YouTuber and blogger based in South Wales, UK. After a lifetime love affair with creating stories, Holly has begun to pursue her passions with sharing her stories with the world. Her stories revolve around various genres, including science fiction, fantasy, the supernatural and taboo subjects. As well as writing stories, she runs a personal blog and a YouTube channel where she posts regularly alongside her full-time job. She resides in Wales with her boyfriend Morgan and their pets patch and Bonnie.

The Ascension of Melanie Winters is Holly’s debut novel.

Keep up to date with Holly and her work by visiting her website

The Ascension Of Melanie Winters is available to purchase from Amazon*

I was gifted a copy of this book in return for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

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