Review Roundup for Cyber Monday: Mindfulness and The Mountain’s Shadow

My blog tour ended up coinciding with two of the busiest weeks I’ve ever had at my practice, so I wasn’t able to post reviews or links to guest posts as they occurred. Yeah, until my writing really takes off, the day job and its demands have to take priority. Someday… Until then, it’s been interesting to apply the psychology part of my mind to the experience of having a book out, particularly with regard to how people see the book. A couple of interesting themes have emerged in the reviews.

One of the principles I teach is Mindfulness. The definition of Mindfulness is nonjudgmental present-moment attention. As you can imagine, this is particularly important for people who have anxiety and/or are having trouble sleeping.

Beyond the day job, Mindfulness is coming up in the reviews of The Mountain’s Shadow, although none of them mention the principle specifically. No, I wasn’t thinking about Mindfulness when I wrote the book. Apparently the twists and turns in the book itself cause people to have to focus on reading it. As one of my friends who read it upon release said, “You have to really pay attention.”

I first got an inkling that this was the case for others when I saw this sentence in the review I got on the Fresh Fiction site (click here for the entire review):

To be honest, I did find it a little too complicated for a quick read, but this is a good book from a different angle in the paranormal world.

At first, I wasn’t sure how to take that part of the review. When I got Samantha’s review from Chick Lit Plus, though, that particular bit of feedback made more sense.  She said:

I’m one who likes to multi-task, such as watching football while reading, but that doesn’t work with this novel either! You really have to give it your full attention so you can keep up with it. 

The Fresh Fiction review also picked up on a theme that keeps coming up in the reviews:  the Mountain’s Shadow is a different take on the werewolf world and brings something original to the paranormal/urban fantasy canon.

The Escape into a Book review started with, Wow, this book is very unique and different from what I’ve read before. 

Ms. Nose in a Book said, I think what I really liked about this story was the story behind the werewolves, how they came to be and how they were being exploited. I think that the story behind the werewolves is so interesting, original and I can totally see it happening in the real world.

There were other similar comments, but I’ll finish with one from Storm Goddess Book Reviews:  This story has SO much going for it! Unique, great writing, suspense, captivating….I love how the elements came together and brought so much to the book. 

Other reviewers commented on craft, and I particularly liked the one I got from Library Journal, which began:

Debut novelist Dominic is also a clinical health psychologist and has wisely chosen a subject area familiar to her, a choice that places this story above the average paranormal romance in plot, as well as in characterization…

If you’d like to check out full reviews, here’s a list:

Library Journal (second one down)
Fresh Fiction
Chick Lit Plus
Authors to Watch
Ms. Nose in a Book
Escape into a Book
Storm Goddess Book Reviews (includes my FAQ about the book)
Keep Calm & Blog On

If you’d like to buy the book, you can find it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Sony, and other ebook retailer sites. You can also buy it directly from the publisher by clicking on the book cover image to the right. They have it in all digital formats.

I’ll have another Characters on the Couch coming toward the middle of the week. I hope your holiday season is off to a wonderful start!