Have not had a chance to read this yet, but will keep it on my list for a rainy day! Appreciate being offered the reading copy!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy for review.

I enjoyed this one more than I expected. Sam is our unchosen hero. He is honestly, quite inept at almost everything. He floats by in the background at school, and at home, and is repeatedly saved by his friend Harper. His only refuge is his uncle's shop full of items from his many adventures. Sam finds solace in a collection of books called The Books of Hell, especially in the Book of Stolas. To him Stolas is the ultimate underdog. Born a slave in Hell, Stolas rises above his masters to unify Hell, or so Sam believes. After a rather scathingly, embarrassing event at school he hides out at his uncle's shop. While planning a dinner for him and Harper, they stumble upon his uncle's hidden treasure room. A stranger comes and Harper gets sucked into Hell. Tired of waiting for a hero, Sam decides it's up to him to venture through Hell and rescue Harper. 

Hell is unlike any version you are thinking of here. It is massively varied, and has a complex social structure, It is a safe haven for various demon species that have been kicked out of their homeland. There are also human slaves among them. I loved the way the author created this elaborate Hellscape. Some of the towns were very Wild West in their depictions. Along the way Sam falls in with Hollinshead, a human slave for Pazuzu, and Thurlton. Now, one would expect Sam to do some growing and develop a sense of heroics along the way. This, unfortunately doesn't really ever happen. He stumbles his way through Hell, and honestly doesn't do much except muck everything up, until the very end of course. At some point you get the sense of a looming love triangle in the making, and the building blocks are there, but it never really develops. The ending is fairly open ended with a set up for a sequel. It's a very quick, fun read overall. The setting is honestly one of the better aspects of this story, and really makes the book what it is. If there is a sequel I would be interested to see where it goes and hopefully see a bit more character development.

This book had the potential to be brilliant: the world of Hell was so intricately worked out and very vivid, and the basic story line – a bullied boy, with no self-confidence and a head full of fantasy books prepared to give up his life to save the only person who made his life worth living – almost guaranteed to be a winner.  
But, the whole book felt a bit too rushed.  I would just get used to one scene, one aspect of Hell, one new character, yet another demi-god (demi-daemon?) – and everything would change again.  Trials and tribulations fell over each other to make Sam’s quest to find and rescue Harper impossible – yet each time there would be a miraculous twist and Sam would bounce back, somehow always knowing where to go next.  I lost my way several times, trying to make sense of it all.
I really liked Sam, and his new companions, Hollingshead (human female) and Thorlton (incubus).  Thorlton reminded me of Dobbie, from Harry Potter – just as cute (in an ugly sort of way) and as loyal and steadfast.  Sam did evolve from a very sad and pathetic individual at the start of the book (thanks to his unfeeling parents and his bullying at school) into someone you could almost see as a genuine hero by the end.
I found the use of the terms succubus, incubus, banshee, cipher etc quite disconcerting, as the creatures in this version of Hell had nothing to do with the figures from normal fantasy folklore after whom they were named.  I would have preferred that the author invented new names for the races of Hell denizens, so I didn’t have to consider whether or not Thorlton would suddenly try to seduce Hollingshead.  
There was too much content in this book to work in 280 pages – it could have easily become an epic trilogy.  Often padding in a book can be annoying, but this story suffered from there not being enough of it.  
Over all, it was an enjoyable book, but not a great one.  The author has an excellent imagination, and I hope he will write more.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

This book is set first in the U.S. and then in Hell, I really liked the blurb and I thought it was going to be great, however, unfortunately, this was not my cup of tea, but I pushed through and finished it to see if my thoughts would change. 

I immediately had an issue with the setting of this book, the author's note at the start of the book makes you think it will be set in the 90s, but it isn't, and that note really didn't make sense to me, it still doesn't. The writing style and the actual setting wasn't bad though, I had an issue with the pacing and I really thought that a lot of things were too obvious, there wasn't enough suspense, I knew what was going to happen before it did, and it just generally didn't grab me. 

I did enjoy Thorlton's character though, I think it was my favourite part of the book. However, Sam, Harpen, Hollinshead, Moscow and others just were not very good characters, they were boring, they didn't really have much going for them and I wasn't interested in them in the least. 

Overall, I didn't enjoy this book, I pushed my way through, but it didn't get any better, I found it boring and it didn't feel like it was going anywhere. It seems like this story is not over, I would be inclined to read the second book if there is one, but I really don't fancy going through that again, so I'm probably going to give it a miss. It wasn't a bad book and I can see why others would really enjoy it, it just wasn't for me. It was fairly info-dumpy and at the same time badly lacking in character development, setting, plot and pacing. I gave it 2 stars.

Thank you to Dundurn Press for sending me an ARC via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
3/5 stars. 
I liked the premise and concept of this book. This kid, Sam, who’s honestly pretty pathetic, goes on a quest into Hell to rescue Harper, his best friend and the girl he loves. While there, Sam often relies on other characters to take charge and fight. In the end, he did grow as a character by finally standing up for himself instead of hiding in the background. Unfortunately, I didn’t really like Sam. I didn’t connect with him at all. I felt like the author tried so hard to show that he was just a completely average person, that he made him unbelievable in the role of hero by the end. 
I also didn’t really buy into the relationships in this book. Sam and Harper’s relationship struck me as a decent friendship, but I didn’t believe that either of them had real feelings of anything more for each other. I also didn’t think it was necessary for Sam to be declaring his love for Hollinshead by the end of the book. There was really nothing to their relationship and I had a hard time believing in it. 
One thing I did like about the book was the vivid imagery that the author used. The descriptions of the different places in Hell were quite striking and they seemed well thought out. 
I would have liked to see the same care taken with the descriptions of the setting put into enforcing the characters’ growth and relationships. 

Look out for my review on my Bookstagram page (alli_the_bookaholic13) in the next couple of weeks!

'The Book of Sam' by Rob Shapiro is a "hell-bound fantasy starring demons, damsels, and an unlikely hero." 

If you're anything like me, that simple tagline is more than enough to make you want to read the book. I jumped at the chance for a copy, but sadly.. it was a disappointment. 

After finishing the book, as per usual.. I began to do a little research on it. Of course, I discovered it had been a Wattpad story. Had I known that, I would have probably looked long and hard at the decision to read it, but I try not to let too much in the way of preconceived beliefs get in my way. There certainly are exceptions to my personal rule of Wattpad, however.. about seventy percent of the books with Wattpad origins I've read, have been.. let's just say, not to my liking.

In this story, we follow sixteen-year-old Sam.. a kid who suffers abuse from most of his peers and suffers under the weight of his father, a man who sees greatness in Sam's siblings and nothing in him. Sam pretty much has one friend, a girl he crushes on named Harper.. that at some point in his miserable childhood just designated herself his faithful protector. 

As a kid who seems to do everything wrong, Sam gets an idea from his Uncle to sweep Harper off her feet and confess his feelings for her. A toxic mixture of curiosity, fear, and the need to please lead to the kidnapping of the girl he loves, as she's dragged into Hell. Literally. But unwilling to let her go, he decides to go after her.

I know.. I know what you're thinking. It sounds like an exciting adventure fraught with danger, the opportunity for wildly creative hellscapes, fantastical elements of magic and demon lore, all in search of his best friend. 

Certainly there is danger.. there are a couple of interesting world-building moments, though mostly even in the cases they're explained rather extensively, they're still not explained all that well. They read instead, like half-formed visual ideas and as with most of the book, I felt the author simply lacked the imagination and language to truly breathe life into them.

The dialogue is mostly terrible, which in hindsight.. knowing that the author is a TV writer that has dabbled in film, I'm unsurprised. Long have I lamented the weak dialogue work in these areas. There are barely more than a handful of popular TV and film writers who I feel understand how we interact well enough to convey it in dialogue, a few more probably who are lesser known, but this is an area that strong authors have always done well with. It's almost like novelists.. good novelists.. just have an extra muscle somewhere everyone else is missing. 

Though Sam's backstory is in theory, meant to be sad.. and some of the characters we meet along the way even have what should be tragic backstories, the author presented them in a way that meant little to me. He failed to make me care even a little if any of the main characters would succeed in their goals. 

Yet, Shapiro isn't unable to convey those feelings entirely. He just fails to apply them to those who should matter most in the story. I cared very much about how things would turn out for a little incubus named Thorlton and even a little for a bigger one named Moscow. 

I'm a big fan of stories told in this kind of world, so there was a lot of potential for me to love this book. The execution just wasn't there. I feel like if the author could shake the mindset of images he can show us on screen and learn to flex some muscle with words, he could maybe reach another level with his writing.. but that's purely conjecture on my part. Maybe this is all he's got. 

From a technical standpoint, it's fine.. though, I've never seen so many 'and' sentences back to back in a book. That felt odd and a lot like the way the kids wrote in my grade school, but whatever. It's not a book filled with glaring errors in novel writing or anything. It just falls very flat for me. Maybe you'll be more forgiving.

Well for starters, I think every single one of us have felt like a same at one time or another in our lives. There were parts of this that were absolutely gripping, and parts that really fell flat for me. When it was good, it was an emotional roller coaster. Definitely still don't regret this read.

The book of Sam was solidly mediocre. 

It wasn't a bad book but there wasn't anything special about it. The conflicts were predictable and frequent and yet it still felt like the plot wasn't well developed at all.

The writing style felt more suited for books aimed at a younger audience (similar to Percy Jackson) and had it had a younger narrator, I think it would've been more fitting.

I was also not a fan of the main character, Sam at all. He was just so naive.

Sam is a bullied kid who ends up going to Hell to save his best friend Harper. This book was an okay read. The characters fell a little flat to me but the storyline kept it interesting. I would be interested in reading another book by this author because I enjoyed the writing style but I wouldn't want to read another book in this series.

One hell of a thrill ride and everything I needed!!! 
Full of thrills, and chills; complex storyline, and even more complex characterizations. Everything about this novel screamed my name, but i liked it more than i thought i could have!! 
Amazing writing, fluid and easy to follow. Series of events flowed together perfectly!! 
An amazing edition to every readers shelf!!

Unfortunately this book just wasn’t for me. The blurb intrigued me, which is why I wanted to read it but as much as I hate to do it, it was a DNF at around 20%. Therefore I am not able to give the book a proper rating or review. I would suggest you give the book a chance and decide for yourself.

***I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*** The Book Of Sam is a young adult fantasy novel about a boy who’s victim to harsh bullying at school and relentless criticism from his father at home, which leaves him hopeless and doubtful all the time. His only source of happiness is his friend who he’s secretly in love with and the Cloaked Atlas, a shop run by his Uncle Bear which houses strange and ancient artifacts he’s collected. Sam’s courage and his faith in himself is put to the test when his friend, Harper, gets kidnapped by the residents of Hell, and he decides to go there to save her, battling the demons that reside there and making some friends as well as foes along the way. The Book Of Sam was the kind of novel that I had desperately been looking for without knowing it, and didn’t realize that I had found it after I was done reading it in merely two days. It was splendidly enjoyable and undoubtedly admirable. I loved every bit of it, and the fact that it was lighthearted and still managed to be the kind of story that keeps you on your toes (as in, quite thrilling) was so awe-worthy. The characters were just so easily likable, especially Sam and Hollinshead (I hope I’m spelling her name right) and Uncle Bear. Their character development was smooth beyond words, and the writing style was oh-so-amazing! I had no idea I was in for a hell of a ride when I decided to start reading this book, and now I’m really, really happy I did. It exceeded my expectations more than words can define.

Unfortunately I did not get on with this book and got to 20% before deciding to DNF.

Therefore I can not give a proper review or rating, many thanks for giving me the opportunity to try this title.

The Book of Sam is an edge-of-your-seat thrill ride through a uniquely fantastical Hell.  This is not the religious underworld you think it is.  A cross-section between multiple worlds, Shapiro's Hell delivers a complex kingdom filled with diverse creatures of every moral shade.  The vivid descriptions give the world a sense of realness while still being blanketed in obscure images like red-tinged skies and ash-covered streets.

Compared to this dark, exciting world, our "hero" Sam is a bit underwhelming, albeit purposefully so.  Described numerous times as a failure who is "not really good at stuff", this book becomes a journey of both courage and heart.  The classic hope-conquers-fear mantra is alive and well here.  Aided by an unruly (far more interesting) cast of characters, Sam manages to completely botch several "missions" needing near constant rescue himself.  The secondary characters are so intriguing and well developed that I often wished one of them were the protagonist, but Sam won me over by the end of the book.

The pacing of this book is brisk to say the least, which can be very exciting particularly in YA.  Unfortunately, this book reads a bit like a road trip full of little pit-stop adventures.  I would have liked to see more depth and detail to tease out the story and make it fuller.  Additionally, for a book this short, there are a lot of named characters.  Many of these characters exist for only a page or two and could simply have been "a beggar" or "her daughter".   The blunt writing here lends itself more to Middle Grade fiction and I think this could have been much more successful (with a younger protagonist) in that level.  

Fair warning: this book has a cliffhanger ending.  I was not aware that this is a planned series upon my initial request of this book.  However, I am intrigued enough by the world building and characters to read the next book.

*I received this ARC through Netgalley, so I would like to thank Netgalley, Mr. Shapiro and DunDurn Publishing for the opportunity to read this. All thoughts and opinions are my own*

Oh, Sam. I think all of us, at some point in time, either know or have been a Sam. That one guy or girl who is overlooked by family, bullied at school, crushing on the best friend. Sounds a bit cliche and The Book of Sam appears to start out a bit cliche for some readers, but Shapiro does attempt to turn the trope on its head. Sam, our hero, goes to Hell in order to rescue his best friend after a dirty dirty trick is played and from there, the adventure ensures. 

I wanted to like Sam. I really did. However, Sam came off very unlikable for me despite his going into a very dangerous territory. For as smart as Sam appeared to be in the beginning, he did not do enough questioning for my own taste. Being in Hell, I would think, would bring about an immense onslaught of questions, but Sam just went with everything at face value. Even after being faced with the old adage of "Never meet your heroes" when freeing the demon Stolas proved to be less than, Sam still didn't learn enough to start asking. 

It was a okay story for me. I think that Shapiro wove a fairly interesting plot even with the lack of character development and Sam's apparent ability to fall in love very easily, but the quality world building was fun. I honestly not expecting to have such an incredible setting in Hell and I appreciate Shapiro's outlook of it.  I do look forward to reading another one of Shapiro's work at a later date, but no more Sams please.

Very Bland Story

I was quite interested in the story of The Book of Sam by Rob Shapiro. A story of a bullied kid that ends up going to the depths of Hell to save his one friend! It sounded like a fantastic story that a bullied kid could relate to, and make a fantastic YA novel. I was sorely disappointed.

This read was daunting even though the page count was below 300. The writing style was decent, but the characters felt very plastic, not fleshed out, and I didn’t really grow to like any of them. Many times I felt like Rob was borrowing ideas from other great fantasy stories. However, the execution was poor.

I really didn’t even want to finish this novel, and I really hope that another one doesn’t make it to press. With that said if there are any forthcoming “Sam” novels I will pass. I just couldn’t get into the headspace of any of the characters. I even tried to think as I did when I was a bullied teen, and it still didn’t resonate.

Overall, I felt like The Book of Sam was a very poor YA fantasy novel. The writing was fair, the story was sloppy, character development was very poor, and I simply wanted the book to end. I wouldn’t suggest this book to anyone personally, but possibly it may be a beacon of hope for a young teen or preteen to read.

All in all, I give The Book of Sam 2 ⭐️’s out of 5 ⭐️’s. It was not a great read, but I can honor the concept. The writing was alright as well, not great, but okay. I will not read another entry in this series if another arises though. Honestly, to say the least it was a bore.

I do want to thank #netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC. I have done my very best to provide a fair and honest review. Also, thank you to #dundurnpress and #robshapiro #thebookofsam

This title read a bit more like a young reader novel than a young adult novel (except all the blood and demonic torture). It was quick and entertaining, but I wanted more character development throughout. Everything seemed to happen too easily and quickly for the protagonist. 

I'd be curious to see what else this author has up his sleeve though.

I regret that this was a DNF for me. I'm not fond of fantasy, but I like quirky stories, so I thought I'd give it a try. I expected something like  Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore or anything by Carl Hiaasen, and it wasn't. It was definitely fantasy, with all of the weird names and places I can never keep straight. Sorry!

The Book of Sam was a well written story with an interesting premise. The world building on this was excellent, which is always a big plus in my opinion. The authors imagery was fantastic and really made it all come to life. I felt Sam was well rounded and likeable though I didn't connect him very well, as I felt like there was no real story or true character growth. I felt like he was incredibly underprepared for his journey to hell and he himself is not overly useful. The book has a fairly open ending which was a bit of a let down.

This is a book that's.... fine? While I've certainly read worse YA fantasy, I've also read much, much better. The Book of Sam is an average, mediocre, 50%-engaging, type of book - and for some, that's fine. There wasn't anything really fantastic about the book, save for perhaps the writing style, which did incorporate unique imagery and vivid writing that I don't see too often in YA. The characters, the plot, the themes - all of them were so middling that I'm having a difficult time trying to pick any distinct elements to highlight in this review. The story arc feels unfinished (probably because, as the author has said on his Goodreads, he hopes to write a trilogy) and the resolution felt flat. Not much of it was meaningful beyond its own narrative, but if you're interested in fantasy, maybe give it a try. On the whole, I didn't hate reading this book, and I am glad I read it, but I don't have any interest in reading it again and wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it to anyone else, either.