Earthbound Bones: A Psychic Seasons Novel (Earthbound Series Book 1) - Regina Welling
Due to the worldly success we had last time, I’m teaming up with Cindy from MyBookfile again today (and on other random Thursdays in the near future)! If you’ve read our previous Double Review, you’re going to notice a slight angelical theme we’ve got going. Apart from us being two lovely angels and all (obviously), this is entirely coincidental. Our next book will be about swords and sorcery. I think. And a reaper of souls…*strokes chin* mkay.

What were your expectations before you started reading?

Cindy:Hm.. my expectations… do I ever have expectations for anything? Yes, actually I do, but that’s not the point. I probably expected that this book was going to be a chick lit/comedy kind of novel, but then with angels.

Anne: I honestly don’t know. The cover looked like this was going to be a Disney chick lit crossover, so I kind of expected something I could make fun of, I suppose?

What is this book about?

Anne: It’s about an angel, Galmadriel (seriously?), who falls out of heaven onto planet Earth and finds herself trapped there inside a human body. She still has a tiny bit of angelic power left, though, and manages to save her own life with it in the first chapter. Galmadriel (seriously) is then picked up by people who own a diner/lunchroom (desserts only actually) nearby. Pam, a 40-something woman is the owner of the place and takes Galmadriel (…)in so she can work for her food and accommodation, the accommodation being an old lodge in which Uncle Craig, Pam’s uncle used to live until he got Alzheimer’s. Galmadriel (who, thank fuck, is now called Adriel) slowly gets acquainted with the other people in the small wooded town, their history and…her own human body.

Cindy: Hahaha yes, seriously. I was so glad that they shortened it to Adriel! I was already dreading needing to read that name for the rest of the book. For some reason, though, my brain started to call her Ariel :’)

Did you find the story interesting? Did it take you by surprise or was the plot predictable?

Cindy: Okay, so no it wasn’t all that surprising or unpredictable, but not in a bad way. I wanted to finish this book and it was actually amusing to read. Some moments were more interesting than other’s (obviously) but overall it was fun enough. There were some things that I actually did not see coming, but that might be because we were so smart not to read the books before this spinoff :’)

Anne: It took me by surprise when it took a different turn than the standard romantic crap I expected. It does say it’s a Psychic seasons novel, though, so I should’ve been prepared for the psychic part… As for things being predictable, yes, a lot of it was. I wrote too many notes saying “Oh BOY, I wonder what’ll happen next?! or something of the like. Strangely enough, it didn’t bother me all too much either, though.

Who are the main characters and what did you think of them? Are they changing or maturing by the end of the book?

Anne: The protagonist is Galmadriel. My biggest issue with her is that she’s pretty darn stupid for a millennium old angel.

“She had watched civilizations rise and fall for reasons she found completely frivolous. She had watched over kings and paupers. Now, her biggest concern was remembering how many donuts were in a baker’s dozen.”

I mean, I get that she feels weird being in a human body all of a sudden (I don’t think angels take a dump like we do), but she doesn’t even know how to make coffee. You’d think she was around when coffee was discovered…

Thankfully, she gets her shit together by the end of the book. Maybe a little too much even, but hey, she’s supposed to be a powerful angel.

Another important character is Pam. When I read about Pam, this was the first image I got of her:

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Now rest assured (or be disappointed), Pam is younger, less violent, and altogether more sane and sophisticated than this lady. But, it’s the spirit that counts innit, and Pam sure isn’t someone you mess with. She is a woman in charge of her own business on all kinds of levels! Yep, definitely liked her the best. I also had a soft spot for little Ben with his bike from the ’70’s. Cute kid.

Cindy: Anne already mentioned what is to mention about the main character, so I’ll cheat and start on the minor characters instead because I thought some of them were pretty damn amusing:

Rodeo Bill, an awesome oldish guy who ran away from home and joined the rodeo.
Callum, Ladies man who is supposed to hit on every girl in town, but he has a hidden fondness for a certain someone.
Ben, Pam’s brother, such a cute kid! He had humor… good kid.
And even though these characters are some of the minor characters, they change as well. Small changes, yet changes they are.

Earthbound Bones is a spin-off of the Psychic Seasons series. Do you recommend reading the series or can this one easily be read as a stand-alone novel?

Cindy: I already mentioned that this was a spinoff and so yes, I’d say that it would come in handy to have read that series first. It wasn’t all too bad not having read the Psychic Seasons, but there was not enough introduction to simply understand what happened before all this. There wasn’t even enough information about the group from Psychic Seasons series to form an image of them.

Anne: Yeah,the whole situation with Kat and Zack (who, you say? yes, that’s exactly what I thought) and what exactly happened to Galmadriel which made her fall is explained a bit messily in this book. You can still easily read it as a stand-alone, but I would’ve liked more of a proper introduction for some characters.

Was the ending satisfying to you? [If so, why? If not, why not…and how would you change it?]

Anne: Meh. The mystery is solved in the end, so that’s one thing, but the outcome was rather disappointing. I would’ve picked a different one with more meaning to the reader; that’s for sure. And maybe one with a more of a GASP!-moment.

Cindy: The ending was okay! Don’t go all meh. I nearly cried at the end… then again, I tend to cry a lot, so I guess that that doesn’t really count for anything haha. In the end, it is all okay; mystery solved and on to the rest, I’d say.

Anne: Wimp :’). Yes, it’s an okay ending, but the perp, Cindy! THE PERP!! I just wished it would’ve been someone else *shrugs*.

Would you recommend this book? If so, to whom?

Cindy: Yes, I’d recommend the book. I think it was light and fun at times. People who like a paranormal/mystery sort of thing should like this book.

Anne: Yes. What Cindy said.

It’s the final verdict!

Anne: I’m going to give this one three brownies. I did like it and enjoyed the psychic mystery part. It felt like watching an episode of The Ghost Whisperer; enjoyable emotainment which gives you a snug (and snotty for some people ;) ) feeling but it's nothing outstanding or anything.

Cindy:  Final verdict time already huh... okay well... yeah, I think I’ll give it three stars. It was okay and fun at times, but because of the lack of information concerning some of the minor character and the pace/interestingness, I’ll give the book three stars.

Overall Rating:

A joint 3 stars it is!

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We would like to thank CrushStar Multimedia LLC for providing us with a copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest opinion!