This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by John Thornton for Readers' Favorite
Killing Hitler With Praise And Fire: Choose Your Own Horrible History by Matthew Hutchins is a well done, Chose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) style book. This genre has some devoted fans who will find the book an excellent addition to their reading. The plots (as CYOA books have multiple plot lines) are all fairly well written and engaging. The actions taken vary widely, and that is a real advantage in the CYOA format. Some of the plots are dark, others are humorous, and still another was sort of extreme. However, all are, at least to me, plausible, and would potentially complete the task which is to travel back in time and stop Hitler.
Being written in 2nd person perspective, (Example: "You are standing before a threshold and can go in, or turn left, or climb the ladder. What do you do?") takes a large amount of writer skill, and Matthew Hutchins rises to the occasion and does well. The 2nd person is consistent and carries the plots along better than many CYOA books I have read in the past. I do admit to being a fan of the genre. The characterization is done pretty well. The dialogue, for what can be there in this format, is effective and helps carry the plots along. There are twists and surprises which I found delightful at times, and surprising at other times.
Caution: The Chose Your Own Adventure style may not translate into Kindle or Nook or other electronic formats well. You will need to be able to easily flip to page 113 and then back to 87, and again over to page 76. So-called hot links in a Kindle might be able to handle that, but I have not seen a CYOA book that is effectively done in electronic format. Well done, and thanks for the reminder of what fun choosing your own adventure can be.
