3.5

“Slaves to Gravity” is a fun and unusual tale set in St. Louis, and revolves around a woman named Charlie, who is left in a paraplegic state after an unfortunate state after a recent construction accident. The opening chapters present Charlie as somber and irritable as she adapts to her new and unexpected

lifestyle. She nearly pushes herself to the brink of suicide, until she uncovers an imaginative talent that was endowed to her amid her previous misfortune-she has the ability to fly.

She eventually congregates with other like-minded individuals who possess her same power, and that’s where the strength and muscle of the novella lies; individuals gliding over the darkness of the city, reflecting on their misfortunes and personal lives. I don’t cerebrate well with positive religious insight found in any horror novel, but there’s some Jewish prophesies that add slight significance to the overall plot.

The cosmic elements involving a rat race weren’t as inviting as the earlier ideas presented, mainly because of the buildup. but overall, I enjoyed his.

Thank you NetGalley and Silver Shamrock Publishing for the free ARC.

Thank

A beautiful book. Magically written, well executed and inspriational. I laughed so hard while reading this book. (It might sound odd, given the book's topic, but there is a scene in that book which is just so perfec and awesomely written, it's making it difficult not to love.)
The ending was slightly confusing, but I fear this book is a stand-alone, so I presume I'll have to deal with that. I don't exactly know how, because I really loved this book...


I received a free ARC by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Charlie Snyder wakes up in a hospital bed, paralyzed from the waist down after an accident on a construction site which caused damage to her brain and spinal cord. Her husband is there to offer love and support, but she has always lived a very active life, and she is dejected and depressed at the prospect of her future being bound to a wheelchair. She dreams of the freedom of her former body and she dreams of flying. After one flying dream, she wakes up to find herself levitating inches from the ceiling. Charlie slowly explores her new-found ability but hides it from her husband- he would think she was crazy. One night while out stretching her wings, she meets some other people with the same ability. They all have suffered a traumatic brain injury which have resulted in gaining the ability to fly. But sometimes when flying, Charlie gets a terrible sense of danger and foreboding. Are there dark forces at play, working against her new friends?
What a cool premise for a story – what would it be like to gain the ability to fly? Who hasn’t dreamed of that as a kid or maybe more recently? Travel where you want without the hassle and inconvenience of needing an airplane. BUT – you have to hide it or your husband and the world will think you’re crazy and probably commit you. This story takes you on a wild ride with the experience of flying and sharing the ability with others. I really enjoyed reading this novella, particularly the first half, and I couldn’t stop turning the pages, reading it in one evening. It was fast paced and kept my interest well. It was a unique mix of horror and magical fantasy. Charlie’s character, in particular, was quite well-written – her frustrations, fears and anxieties felt very real and relatable. There were some very visceral scares that had me pulling the covers up around my ears. The scares built up through much of the book and were spine-chilling. I will be looking for more from these authors in the future. Thank you to Silver Shamrock Publishing and to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

when I finished this book I was speechless, I didn't know what to say or think about it, but it wasn't bad, this book was impressing, and I could read it again, I wasn't expecting what happened

This book was insane, but in a good way. You will be able to find nearly any genre in this story.

After an accident a woman wakes up at the hospital and starts to notice that after her surgery something has changed inside her.

But this does not even come close to the madness and the great adventure this book will give you. A great combination between sci-fi and a bit of horror. Definitely a weird read for people that are looking for a complete crazy near future story.

The story was so original and it was packed with action and twists. I just wish it would have been longer

this was a really great horror novel, I really enjoyed that it was not just a supernatural horror but a bit of psychological horror and the idea of gravity not being there is terrifying.

We've all had that feeling that creatures may lurk in deep water or dark caves.....but what about the night sky? What and who would you find if you could soar up above the clouds among the stars?
Charlie suffers a spinal injury and finds her active life forever changed when she wakes from a coma she finds she is a paraplegic and realizes she will spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair. Marcus, her husband is her great blessing as he remains as her best friend, lover, helper and light.
One night while sleeping next to Marcus she feels something rough bump against her face. Waking, Charlie realizes that she is floating in the air above the bed, her legs dangling down and her face scraping against the ceiling. After some scary moments Charlie wills herself back down to the bed. Gradually Charlie realizes that she can float at will, then float with direction and then fly! Fly she does.
While exploring the city sky at night she meets fellow flyers, all connected by brain injuries. Charlie and one of her new friends senses that there are "others" that seek to harm them. She is also warned to never fly above the clouds..... .but one night she does just that and that is when "they" come and everything she trusted and knew to be true is put to question.
Slave to Gravity is a unique horror-fantasy that brings to mind that old chestnut, "there's a monster inside all of us"
#netgalley #SlavesToGravity.

Enjoyed reading Slaves to Gravity. I've heard about both authors before, and all good things. After reading, well deserved. I nice fantasy story, where, despite a terrible accident, something good can come, but with the good, there is a cost. This will be the horrific part of the story. Good introduction, and will need to seek out more from both writers.

This book wone me over by cover appeal. The cover and the small amount of repeated sketch art inside are in fact great, the rest…considerably less so. Mind you, this is a very quick read, it took maybe 105 minutes for all of the 130 pages and was free from Netgalley with read now, but it still manages to leave a lot to be desired. Primarily because it has a perfectly sound concept of prehistorical races inhabiting the Earth who hides among people and come out in extreme situations to battle it out, but it just really doesn’t get properly at all. Not even quite sure how to put it into words, when my fiancé asked me why I didn’t like the book, I said something as eloquent and elaborate as…it was kinda stupid. And yes, that’s reductive and insufficient, but then again how much time does one really want to spend describing the book they didn’t especially like and trying to work out the reasons why. I mean, it starts off decently enough, actual character driven writing, when the main protagonist gets paralyzed and finds out that while her legs no longer work, she can actually levitate herself all around. So she takes random flights until she meets a group of similarly abled individuals…and that’s where it all goes to the toilets. Because somehow neither her new found friends are compelling enough nor the sinister creatures determined to prevent these gravitational defiances are interesting enough. It’s like it’s all almost there, but sketched out instead of fleshed out (and yes, I know the page cunt is low, but more has been done in less so that’s no excuse), the backstory leaves a lot to be desired, the action is disproportionate to the rest of the plot, the ending is abrupt. The entire thing is a mess. I’m not sure if this is more to do with the authors abilities or the fact that the collaboration itself was so clunky, but this really does seem like too many cooks in the kitchen sort of thing. Kinda frustrating, because the potential to take off is there, but the writing just weighted it down too much. Also, you might get Defying Gravity stuck on repeat in your brain as a sort of funny soundtrack to this silly mess. If you can’t enjoy it, make a joke of it. Thanks Netgalley.