Rebels

Rebels by Sarah Noffke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Oh man so much to say.... most of my reasons for a 3 star rating are spoilers....

Defects was so amazing, and it's not so much that Rebels wasn't amazing as that Em didn't seem as strong and independent as she was in Defects. Em as a character felt younger and more naive' to me. I find the title very fitting and this book was a lot like LOTR II where there is a massively long movie gearing up for war, but it just is a LOT longer than it needed to be.

Rebels felt as if it was trying to fill space for me without really much foreground action. I can appreciate what will come and I am honestly very excited to see the culmination of all that has happened come to fruition in Book 3-Warriors.

Overall the biggest issue I had while reading this was the slower pace and the logistics. I didn't feel as though there was a lot of care being taken with the planning and moving around with just Vider's senses they would have been detected and thwarted long ago. Also why has Em never leached Zack? Why is Em so naive when she admits things and then goes on like she didn't. All the screaming and no one does anything about it. Not very convincing. We have more Ren though at least, so it would be interesting to see what he has been up to this whole time.

Overall I have to leave this book with a 3.5 stars... Given the ending... which I am not happy about Sarah.... you know why... it was just so wrong to pull that one on us, especially after you even sent me those photos to feed my obsession. I can't wait to move on to Book 3 and see where all this planning led. PS. Why is there a horse on the cover ;) It's beautiful, but why?

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Fangirl

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I must say that I went into this book expecting it to be maybe a 3 star read. I would have never picked this book up on my own, but my group voted on it for this month's read and I am very happy that they did.

I love how REAL the characters were in this book. Cather (Cath) and Wren are identical twins who have just entered into their Freshman year of college and Wren wants to break away from having to do everything together. She wants to meet new friends and be more independent. Cath is an introverted girl with a bit of social anxiety disorder. The twins have a lot of opposition between their personalities.

Although this story is written about twins, I could see a lot of the difference in personalities between my sister and myself. There were so many relateable parts of Cath's personality to me. There were time in the book where I laugh and even a time when I had tears run down my face for Cather.

Many realistic issues are faced in this book to include familiar upset, and disorders throughout each family member. The whole book revolves around Cath's fanfic writing for another created story that is interwoven within the book. You get to know the characters within this story and within the canon and Fanfic of Simon Snow's world.

I left this book wanting more of a wrap up ending, but hoping instead that it means we will see more of these beautifully written characters. Superb job, I definitely connected with this book. 5 Stars for me.

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Shadow and Bone

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well I actually picked this up because when I went to begin Six of Crows, I felt like I needed the back story. Life got very busy and I actually had to check it out twice from the library before I can fit it in. I finally allowed myself to take a short break from my many obligations in life and sit down and at least get started on it. So I did... And then I read the entire thing.

I just couldn't seem to stop reading it. I was completely wrapped up in the story and the characters and it grabbed me. It was a welcome relief from real life and I couldn't believe it was over so quickly. Now I need to pick up book two.

In the first half I was kind of apprehensive because it was starting to feel like a multitude of other books, but then BAM! Leigh Bardugo said "I tell my OWN story." And then the end came far too soon. I must say that I am now a new fan of hers and can't wait to read more. I hope she upholds this high standard int he rest of her novels.

********************SPOILER ALERT************************

Thank goodness this wasn't another stupid love triangle that made "forgetting" about someone when you are away from them okay blach! Thank you for letting Alina find her confidence and truth of her heart quickly before too much damage was done. Also I feel personally betrayed by Genya. I REALLY want her to NOT be a "bad guy"! 

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The 5th Wave

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm not even sure what to write in a review about this book.... Let me just say that this book IS AMAZING! It deserves, 5, no 10, no ALL the stars.

I loved this book. I loved the characters, it was beautifully written. I love the way the Book was broken up into parts for different experiences and points of view . Cassiopeia is easy to love as a badass dystopian character.

Although the ages of this book make it young adult, if you are into thriller or sci-fi, it has none of the cutesy young adult themes that may make you think twice about it. Do yourself a favor and READ THIS BOOK!

I can't wait to read more in the series, one of the best alien novels I've read EVER. Heck, one of the best novels I've read ALL year!

I had many theories and thoughts, many of which were correct, but some that weren't but it was not predictable. The 5th Waves takes you on a ride and you don't ever want to get off! 5 Stars easily!

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5th Wave:The Movie......

WTF.  Seriously.  Did whoever wrote the script even READ this book?  The movie was akin to a REALLY Long trailer and lost all essence and emotion of the story.  You destroyed this story.  What a waste.  The characters weren't badly cast, but they truncated every scene and changed intricate details, and WHY?  WHY oh Why?  Please do not just this story based on this horrible rendition that was portrayed in the movie.  This book is SO MUCH MORE!   

The Amber Project

The Amber Project by J.N. Chaney
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Check out my blog to see Reviews of Book and Movies, and check out some Recipes!

The Amber Project opens us up to a futuristic world, about 200 years after the spread of a toxic gas known as the Variant (which spread in 2157). The gas steadily spread across the globe killing all living things it came into contact with and drastically changing the atmosphere. The sky is now purple, the grass is now blue and there are some predators who managed to adapt and change, but little is known about them.

An underground city was established and cordoned off and sealed from the Variant. The population is controlled by 3 main sections, the military/education, scientific and the matron. The three bodies must act together in order for there to be any order in this new world. The matron is in charge of all of the mothers that birth the population. Children are made through contacts and a mother must have the right genetic coding in order to be eligible to be a mother. Women see mothering as a sign of honor and stability and began having children as early as 14.

Once children reach the age of 7 they are taken from their homes (only run and managed by their mother and any possible siblings) and placed into the education system. Mara is one of the mothers with almost perfect genetic coding which causes her to be chosen for a specific scientific program, allowing her to fuse new experiments with her eggs to produce a possible child that can exist on the surface of the Earth with the Variant. This child is named Terry.

If you want to know more, than you must read the book. Suffice to say that the book is loaded with a devastating new world, political intrigue and power struggles as well as the troubles of growing into one self with the added side effects of being a scientific experiment.

The story is told through multiple points of view to give a brilliant all-around look into the world. In addition, there are answered questions through the release of past and current audio files and text to help the reader understand what has happened and is happening in the futuristic Earth.

Chaney has managed to brilliantly fortify a place within a genre rife with half-hearted attempts of literature and created a gripping new series! I can't wait to read on. This was an easy 5 stars and hard to put down.

** I received a copy of this book for free with the For Love of a Book Advanced Reader Opportunity Program

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Girls on Fire

Girls on Fire by Robin Wasserman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I sped through this book and had a hard time putting it down. The events were kind like watching 48 hours or a crime scene, unsolved mystery, 60 minutes about teenagers all rolled into one. Robin Wasserman wove a tale of dark reality was that was to believe was non-fiction while I as immersed within the pages.

Hannah Dexter aka Dex, and Lacey both live on the fringes of the high school social scene. Did I say fringes... what I meant was that they don't fit in for vastly different reasons. Hannah, because she harbors a lot of feelings of injustice and just doesn't have the right look, and Lacey because she is the new girl in a small town, who brings big city Grunge attire and an extreme obsession with Kurt Cobain (the book is set in the early 90s). Lacey takes Hannah and gives her new confidence as she becomes Dex, the trusty sidekick. A hatred of the ultimate mean girl Nikki bonds them together in a girlhood crush on life and hating anything the "plebs" may deign to do or like.

I can honestly say that on the outside look in, that EVERY one of these characters is despicable in some way. Probably Lacey's mom the most for me, with the small glances we get into her selfish thoughts towards motherhood that made me want to beat the crap out of her. Nikki was a CLOSE CLOSE second, especially with the "sleepover" incident.

There is a lot of harsh realities of small town, overly religion, teenage life on these pages. A lot of topics that parents don't ever want to think about happening to their child or have their child out doing. Unfortunately, we can all hide under the blanket of suburbanite life or we can face the fact that things like this will happen to some kids. I wanted to smother my child and home-school him after reading this.

**Sensitive topics such as drug use, underage drinking, "satanic" rituals, rape, emotional abuse and death do occur in this book so be prepared.

With all of the horrors found within, this is also a book that feels so real it is scary. Such as the author either personally experienced these horrors from some point or was privy to someone who did. The book is written that fantastically that to give it anything less would be a travesty... 5 stars for me.

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Review: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I had started this book years ago and could not male it through to the end. That was long before the movies came out. I ended up revisiting this book after a "blind date with a library book" in which the book was wrapped in paper with a short blurb on the cover so I decided to give it another go.

Just the beginning reminded me why I had put it down in the first place, it just was a lot of mean people and young kids as main characters, not really my cup of tea

I forced myself to press through and by the time that Hogwarts comes around it does luckily pick up. Overall tough I must say that 3.5 is the most that I can award it. The ideas are original but not necessarily ones that I like. The audience is very obviously the middle grade reading crow 11-17ish. The chants and songs are original but also annoying, not really anything I would want to be repeated. The ideas are what pushes me through this book.

I do like the mystery woven throughout but wish there was less immature squabbling between the characters to get through to rally get to the meat of the story. Even on the "good" side there is a lot of wishes to carry out harm and even death to other barely known characters, which seems a bit extreme to me for this age.

I have repeatedly heard that this series does get better with each book, so one day in the future I will find myself int he 2nd book, because I do feel that this series ha potential if it can get more lively. Lots of great ideas here though.

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Review: IA: Initiate

IA: Initiate by John Darryl Winston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the story of Naz, but it is also more than just about one single character. John Winston has created an almost dystopian-type world, that doesn't seem to be so different than a poor neighborhood. If that neighborhood were to be somehow cut off from the rest of society. As I read this book, I couldn't help feeling that there was a vortex around the area that was not escapable.

Naz is an underrated hidden kind of smart, but also has immense dreams that seem to come true in his sleep... without his control. His sister, Meri has soaring intelligence that pushes Naz to live his life for her and push for he to have a better life outside of their neighborhood.

The opening of the book leaves many intriguing questions for the reader, especially in terms of Naz's parentage, and what sort of experimentation may have been going on while he was still in the womb.
Naz faces many challenging issues such as gangs, and foster care and new schools, but he also finds solace in his sister and in chess, and learning how to be a better person and keep himself away from negative peer pressure.

Overall this was a great read, I was left with a lot of questions and would have liked a bit more character development outside of Naz, but perhaps that was intentional. I really wanted to know more about the place they live and why they were there, I hope this will be revealed in later novels. Solid 4 stars for me. A great debut novel!

I received a copy of this book from the author for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.


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The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest

The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest is written by Melanie Dickerson and paints the picture of rising from the ashes of life.

The story revolves around the character of Odette, a girl adopted by her rich uncle who experience poverty after the death of her parents.  This leads her to illegally hunt deer to feed the hungry and poor.  Odette is an eligible bachelorette, but has the good fortune of not being pressured by her uncle to marry.  She has not yet found someone that she can see herself spending her life with, but one festival she finds herself attracted to a man she has never met before: Jorgen.  Jorgen is the hunter is this Robin Hood-esque tale.  The attraction is foreboding of what will come in the future. 

Unfortunately a lot of the story is disjointed and has the flow interrupted with the repeated injection of a few words like “ja” that take away from the story.  (Think of Save the Last Dance and the horrid overuse of the word “Aight”).  I have nothing wrong with adding in accents or other languages, but when it is limited to a few constantly used words it begins to grate on my nerves and become annoying in the reading, making me want to skip over dialogue. 

The redeeming qualities of this novel were the ancillary characters.  I wish I had the chance to get to know them more, as they were described well and felt as though they had more depth and life than the main characters.  I love the independence and strength that Odette stood for, but as the story progressed the dialogue was not developed in a believable manner.  The mystery element was interesting, but it would have been nice to have more misdirection.  I enjoyed being able to read the story from both Odette’s and Jorgen’s eyes.  It added an element of duality from the male and female polarity.

If this book were to be truncated into a short story, I think it would have taken off a lot better.  It had enough of a plot to last through a short story.  Instead it felt stretched and thin in content as if there was a lot of filler instead of actual story development to turn it into a full-length novel.  I would say that Melanie Dickerson has great potential as an author, and I would check out a book of hers that was more recently written.  Hopefully with more editing in story development, as she definitely has a grasp on story telling.  Less filler, more story.

Overall I give this book 3/5 stars.  It had great potential, but I felt let down.  The combination of stories such as Robin Hood/Swan Lake/Romeo & Juliet were present, but fell flat. You may be interested if you enjoy reading romance, fairy tales, young adult, fiction, retellings, etc.

*I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Slip

Slip is written by David Estes, and is the first book in the Slip Trilogy.  It is a fast paced dystopian sci-fi thriller geared for a young adult audience and older.

The book opens up to a view of the now Reorganized United States of American.  After natural disasters have changed the landscape of the country and the scare of food shortage has been numerically assessed, the government has determined an exact population number that can be supported by the current country.  Procreation can only occur after a birth authorization has been purchased and following the receipt of a death certificate.  In short, in order for one to be born, one must first die.  Death certificates can be issued for a terminally ill person, but if that person does not die as planned, than a birth cannot occur. 

Pop Con, short for Population Control, is the government agency responsible for ensuring the enforcement and regulation of such laws.  In the event of unauthorized births/beings or UnBees, they are tasked with tracking down and terminating the unlawful child.  Any child that manages to go undetected past their 2nd birthday is henceforth referred to as a “slip” and is deemed a national security threat. 

Pop Con is heralded for their ability to terminate unauthorized births before a slip occurs.  However, one boy finds himself hidden and protected long past his 2nd birthday.  Being raised by a father and a woman who cares for him he finds himself wondering why he cannot be outside with other children as he gets older. 

This child without a name in his youth starts to figure out that things aren’t right in his life when events lead to his father injecting his eyes to change his identity as he becomes instead Benson and is sent to swim in hopes of survival sent off to a futuristic St Louis.  Benson is left alone and outside of society, having no true knowledge of what is going on.  Many questions and theories lead him to suspect that he may in fact be a slip. 

In this book we get to know many exhilarating characters to conclude the head of Pop Con, Michael Kelly: a man who must make ruthless determinations, while in constant battle with his conscious.  Harrison Kelly, his son who finds hatred in his father for missing so much of his life due to work.  Lucy a street savvy friend and romantic interest of Benson’s who fights to protect her little brother.  Janice, the wife of Michael Kelly, who went from eccentric to mental break and now lives in a mental institution; constantly hallucinating about things that may or may not have been.  Domino Destovan is the sadist you love to hate; his evil endeavors grow throughout the book as well as his thirst for death and acknowledgment. 

The first part of the book is told in First Person POV from a young nameless boy and his views in the world.  News headlines and blurbs are interjected to keep the reader alert of the state of affairs in the country.  Then the book moves on to a more third person POV after the nameless boy becomes Benson.  In the initial naming of Benson, I had a little trouble keeping track of the fast paced character change in the story, but once the narratives became more detailed, it was easy to go back to the flow of the book.

Overall I give Slip 5/5 Stars.  David Estes can create a world like no other, and his ability to bring it to life is commendable.  With a slightly rocky character transition, this levels out enough to not detract from the story.  By the time you get over the transition from unnamed boy to Benson, it is practically impossible to step away from as the action is fast paced.  It very readily flows into a desire to want to know MORE about what happens next.  Although this is a young adult novel, it is definitely on the mature end of the spectrum as there are some themes that may be sensitive to include sexual and physical violence.  If you are interested in dystopian, young adult, population control, futuristic, sci-fi, fiction, action, etc., then this book is definitely worth a read. 

*I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Don't forget to also check out my review of David Estes' Fire Country.

Possession of my Soul

Possession Of My Soul is written by Kia Carrington-Russell and is the first book in the Three Immortal Blades Series. The story revolves around the main character Karla, who is an unassuming teenage girl who finds herself thrust amidst a war, where each side of the fight remains unclear in their true intentions.

Karla as a character is relatable. She isn’t annoying in a way that some main characters can be. She finds herself coming into her own with womanhood as well as new-found abilities. My main complaint about her, was that I don’t think that any of her love interests were believably built up. I wanted there to be more of a background to the emotions. There is a lot of thrust upon emotions in terms of those who acquire her fancy. Otherwise, I enjoyed getting to see her find herself and find ways to stand up to adversity and find a strength she never knew she was capable of.

The story itself is an interesting take on fantasy. There are a lot of typical factors, but shown in a new light. There are Starkorfs who are essentially vampires, but almost in a zombie type of fashion if they are not of very pure blood. There was not any real detail about the actual way that one would become a Starkorf, or if it is merely something that one is born into. If so, it would be interesting to know more details about how actual procreation worked, if it was any different than humans, those sorts of aspects. Given that this is the first book of the series, it would be good to see if that was explained in more detail in later books.

I did enjoy the ancillary characters and getting to know them. They did seem as if to be from a distance as a reader. The connection with their emotions wasn’t quite there. Truly reading this book felt like it was going to be a 3 star type of book about 75% of the way in. Kia definitely pulls it out for the last part of the book which caused me to up my rating to 4 stars. She definitely ends in a blaze of glory and leaves her ready to read more of the story.

Overall I give this book 4/5 stars. Kia has potential as an author as she hones her writing skills. I hope to see more of a connection into the feelings of the characters of a world that she does a great job describing. I love a lot of the new twists on unique abilities and would love to read an entire book about the elementals as well as some background about a particular wolf creature. If you are into fantasy, paranormal, young adult, fiction, woman empowering, romance, etc, you may very well find yourself interested in this book.

*I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.

All Four Stars

All Four Stars was written by Tara Dairman and revolves around the life and love for cooking found within an adorable sixth grader named Gladys. 

This book was unexpectedly spectacular.  I had no idea how much I was going to love this book.  The writing was brilliant and entertaining.  I read that it took Tara many years to actually get this published, with it almost not happening, and I am so happy that she took the leap into being a published author because the world would have been missing too much cuteness in Gladys, and a wonderful light-hearted story with All Four Stars. 

Gladys lives with parents who walk a line of constant crap food and microwaveable “healthy alternatives”.  They are not big on utilizing anything past the microwave by way of cooking.  It isn’t until a visit from her aunt at the age of eight that Gladys even realizes that there is a whole world of food that she has been missing out on.  Thus begins her double life of secret cooking. 

I felt pain at thinking how many households may live off of fast food and cheap restaurants instead of exploring their palette.  As a mother I cringed to think of the lack of anything actually good going into Gladys’ diet at the hands of her parents.  I rejoiced in Gladys’ rebellion against constant manufactured food in her quest to reproduce recipes from scratch.

Overall I give this book 5/5 stars.  This was an easy love in a book for me.  I do not often read books such as middle grade, but this book was so much more than a specific age book.  As someone who also loves to cook, it would be awesome to see some of Gladys’ recipes into a possible future recipe book.  Gladys could inspire anyone to find their own “flavor” and if you already have a love of food or cooking, than I am sure you can easily relate to this book.  This book is great for pretty much anyone.  I am happy to see that The Stars of Summer will be coming out this summer as the sequel to this delightful read!

*I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.

A Human Element

A Human Element is written by Donna Galenti and is the first book in the Element Trilogy. The book revolves around 3 main characters, Laura Armstrong an adopted girl who exhibits amazing healing abilities, Ben Fieldstone, a boy whose past links to the site of her birth, and X-10 or Charlie who has a darkness within and has been fueled to anger and an obsession with Laura that has turned to black hatred as he is forced to watch her from afar.

A Human Element covers a span of time periods as we watch the characters grow and develop into whom they are, shaped by forces around them. Each of these characters knows loss in a painful way. Donna was not afraid to face painful and REAL issues head on. There are definitely some areas that graphically deal with encounters such as rape, addiction/depression and death that seem to follow each character. If you are overly sensitive to any of these issues you may find some parts are painful to read.

Galenti did an amazing job of bringing each character to life, whether ancillary or main, they will all be as if before your eyes. I also must commend her on adding in the realism and “humanity” aspect so that no character is 100% perfect or 100% evil.

This book is one of many dark twists and turns and leaving you with many questions that cause you to pass through the pages wanting to know more. Galenti is a superb storyteller and is one that we will see more from in the future. She has the gift of bringing her story to live, the visualization and attention to detail in both character and setting make her rise above many other independent authors that do not devote the time to show a true love for their story as it is transformed into the written form.

Overall, I award this book 4/5 stars. This is an amazing story in the stages of development, although it could definitely be cleaned up a bit (at least on the Kindle copy that I read). This would help eliminate any break in flow. Otherwise, the story was really great and definitely worth the read. This is definitely a story unlike any you have read before. If you are into sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, suspense, romance, fiction, young adult, etc you will definitely want to check this one out!

*I received this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.

If you are interested in viewing the author spotlight that I wrote on the fabulous Donna Galenti, check it out here: Spotlight on Donna Galenti

Air Riders Review and Author Spotlight

REVIEW

Air Riders is written by Echo Fox and is book 3 in the Equilibria Series.  It is featured around the main character of Tai who is from a race of people that live in harmony with the wind. 

The Zephyrus build things with wind, create wind weapons from any semblance of a sound and live in a world with two other races.  There are the less flying creatures known as the Daiku who seem to resemble some sort of flying reptile that are a defensive breed by nature.  Then there are the ground bound Riku who are described as fast and reptilian like  that will attack either Daiku or Zephyrus for food if they are within reach. 

Air Riders starts out with a Prologue that shows us the character of Aiko going through an intense defensive and emotional time.  As I woman I felt for Aiko and was intrigued by her as a character.  This prologue painted a picture of her which would stick with me through at least the first third of the book.  Following the prologue we are immediately introduced to Tai, who is a young up and coming leader in the Hunting Wing who has proven his skills in hunting and earned much respect.  He is pledged to bond with a beautiful Zephyrus from the Teaching Wing named Keiko. 

Tai lives and breathes his hunting wing and can only be distracted by his love for Keiko.  The Daiku have all of a sudden begun attacking the Zephyrus, which leaves me as a reader quite suspicious and also throw the entire lives of the Zephyrus into chaos.  Tai must do all that is in his power to defend his love and his people from succumbing to the attacks coming from the Daiku, but more importantly those coming from within his own people. 

I did not read the first two books and initially I thought that they may have answered some of the questions that I had within Air Riders, however as I have looked into them, they seem to overall be standalone books about entirely different races and main characters with only an end game lead up in common.  With that being said I want to talk about the few negative aspects I felt were found within Air Riders.  There were many things that were described that seemed to need to be assumed by the reader, whereas I would have liked to have gotten a better grasp on things.  For instance, the other Zephyrus, there was not much talk about their living arrangements, how they would communicate across distance and what would happen to them during the coming together of the battle.  I also was never able to fully grasp just how many people we were talking about.  In a way, I found some of the Zephyrus qualities akin to Native Americans had they held mythological beliefs.  Although many of the Daiku and Riku are talked about, it was hard to get a really clear picture of exactly what they would look like, for me anyway.  Lastly I felt as if they Zephyrus were a bit TOO ignorant and unquestioning of anything going on or of all the people who wound up missing.

Brilliant points to this novel will first start with the sheer genius possessed by Echo Fox in her creation of many aspects of this world.  The air elements and how many things that she utilizes them within her story were wonderful.  It was nice to use a familiar religion base that was not overbearing but still was able to shed light onto some of the beliefs and culture of the Zephyrus.  Tai and Keiko was real, as was the pain that was felt by Aiko in the rare moments that it was glimpsed.  The end held a big shocker for me and I definitely found myself with tears in my eyes.  Echo did a superb job of creating relatable characters with real personalities.

Overall I give this book 4/5 stars.  It was definitely a wonderful read, it could use a tad bit of extra explanations within the story for lesser aspects but overall it is a solid good book.  I would love to read the first two books in the series as well as any that follow.  I highly recommend her writing style and her genuine sense of great story telling.  This book held aspects for any interested in fiction, mythology, fantasy, romance, suspense, mystery, young adult, etc. 

Author Spotlight

Synopsis of the book:

Tai is in love and he wants to fly across the mountain shouting it to the skies. He is ready to share his life with Keiko, when a strange event turns his world upside down.

The Daiku, long-time prey of Tai’s tribe of Zephyrus, start fighting back. With the whole tribe in danger from the reptilian creatures that roam the dark forest below, Tai must put all his knowledge of hunting to the test to help safeguard his people.

With the Daiku becoming an ever more erratic threat, control of the hunters is given to a fast-rising star of the Hunting Wing, Aiko, and for a while all seems to be going to plan. The Daiku can be defeated and Tai can finally live his life with Keiko.

However, is everything as it seems? Is Aiko really the Zephyrus’ salvation? Or will Tai need to gamble everything – and everyone – he loves for the greater good?

See the book trailer on Youtube

Excerpt:

Tai closed his eyes and was transported back into his memory. He remembered the rush of cold air over his shoulders, pressing against his head as he rose through the hair. He was following Keiko,
upwards, towards the Ororan undulating through the sky above the mountains.

Keiko dipped through the gossamer curtain, the waves of light flickering over her skin and casting rose pink tones to her hair. A glimmer of soft sea foam green swept over her shoulder as she glanced
back over her shoulder at Tai.

‘Race you!’ she called.

Tai grinned and summoned a wind to bear him along but before he could gain on her, she flipped; diving deep into the curling colours, riding the air faster and faster, disappearing from view behind
a deep purple wave of light.

Blinking in shock at her speed, Tai shook his head in wonder and then jumped onto the back of the wind he had summoned.  Whooshing through the air, Tai clashed through the delicate ripples of
colour. He raced along on the wind, glimpsing the ground in the distance as he flew above. 

Every other second or so he caught a glimpse of Keiko’s long white blond hair whipping fast around a pattern of deep pink or coloured pale green as she dove alongside a curtain of moving light. She
was so fast!

Tai felt an exhilaration bursting in his chest, he was smiling so widely he could feel his cheeks begin to ache in the cool air rushing over his face. His own white hair flickered around his neck and
back as he flew. He wondered briefly what they would look like to anyone down below.

-How did you make Hunter when you’re so slow?- Keiko’s voice snickered joyfully in his ear as she darted over a shimmering wave of lilac. She laughed, he could hear that without her pushing her voice to his ear, and blew him a kiss.

Determined to catch her; Tai stopped chasing and dropped through the light like a stone. He plummeted down, feeling his adrenaline spike as he went into free fall through the glimmer. Catching
himself in a bundle of warm air, Tai eyed the wheeling and dipping Ororan above him and spied Keiko following the movements of the light ahead of him. Sneakily, he flew straight underneath the colours, watching to see where the next ripple would place Keiko.

Smiling, he rose up through the air and appeared directly in front of her, catching her startled face just before she crashed into him.

He wrapped his arms around her, holding them both still in the air as she pummeled his shoulder.

‘You cheated! Couldn’t catch me after all, huh?’ she squealed, laughing.

‘What do you mean I cheated?’ sputtered Tai. ‘I think you’ll find I’m the one who tracked you down and caught you. And that’s why I made Hunter.’

She curled into his chest, allowing him to carry both of them through the soft streams of colour as they descended back to the ground. Tai alighted and started to stoop, to put Keiko back on her feet
but she stopped him. Her hand crept up his arm and caressed the side of his face and they looked at each other.

Tai saw himself reflected in her violet eyes as she leaned forward and planted a sweet kiss on his lips. Tai felt his heart race and he hugged her tighter.

‘I think I may be falling in love with you Tai.’ whispered Keiko in his ear.

He smiled and kissed her again.

‘I know I’m in love with you.’ he murmured. ‘Absolutely, irrevocably, in love with you.’

Buy Links:

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About the Author:

Echo Fox lives in a sleepy town in the south of England with her partner and supremely fluffy cat. She studied Classics and Archaeology at university and is forever inspired by the myths and legends of the past. Echo finds the best writing fuel is freshly baked cookies and she is always 100% more productive on a sunny day.

Connect with the Author:

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• Amazon Author Page
  
• Goodreads
  
• 1st book Wave Singers on Amazon
  
• 2nd book Earth Drummer on Amazon
• 1st book Wave Singers on Goodreads
  
• 2nd book Earth Drummer on Goodreads
  
• 3rd book Air Riders on Goodreads

Giveaway:

Win a $20 Amazon gc (open internationally) or an arrow charm necklace (restricted to residents of the USA or UK). This giveaway will run 10/1/14 – 10/29/14. Enter through Rafflecopter! 
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The Glass Heart Girl

Book Review

The Glass Heart Girl is written by Michelle Diana Low and is a book about statutory rape and the painful recovery process that Alena goes through in order to find a way to open her heart up completely to the man that she loves years later.  

The concept of this book is very exemplary and the base of the story is definitely well done.  Unfortunately I spent a lot of time, especially in the first third of the book wondering why so many common words that could have been used were instead interchanged with weird sounding thesaurus words.  There is a scene in which Alena and Phillip first meet and are kissing and it’s calling their mouths orifices…  I wasn’t sure if I should be picturing myself in a laboratory or in a porno….  I kept thinking back to the movie “10 Things I Hate About You” and how the counselor Miss Perky was trying to write an erotic romance novel and coming up for different names for sexual parts.   

I feel like there is definitely a wonderful story in here, but it is still in need of some major editing.  Alena’s trauma that she is going through when described is very realistic and believable when she is in her mind reliving past memories.  This part of the writing was superbly done.  Also the romance with Philip was a bit over the top and seemed geared for a younger possibly immature mindset, but this could tie into the sexual trauma that can be a result of how many people’s minds in love do not fully progress past the point of sexual trauma without healing, if ever.  

What was the biggest negative for me in this book was the way that Alena would sexualize and describe herself with such confidence one second and then immaturely cry and shut down and refuse to talk to Philip about anything.  I felt that there were two different people here and two different story lines that weren’t completely syncing up in a believable manner.  Then you throw in the in love with my friend vibe from the roommate Becca.  I get that the title of the book is glass heart girl, but there was no need to keep constantly saying that she had a glass heart, it did start to get a little old.

Most positive aspects of the book for me were that the characters are all wonderfully described in that you can see them in your mind as people and they have real human emotions, not just words on a page.  The trauma in Alena’s mind and the flashbacks again were wonderfully written and Michelle obviously has skill in this department.  

Overall I find myself giving this book a 3.5/5 stars.  I wanted to love it so much, but it felt so raw to be still.  The flow was constantly being interrupted for me.  The immature feel of the relationship would have been more believable if this would have been a book about a younger girl in high school as opposed to a college age woman (in my humble opinion).  Throw away the thesaurus and let your own words flow!  This got better as the story progressed, but in the beginning it really was breaking up the natural flow of the writing of the story.  There is no need for constant renaming of regular body parts such as mouths into orifices, it just sounds weird.  I would definitely read more by Michelle in the future and would love to see this book finely polished and to read more from her as she develops as an author.  If you are into romance, young adult, sensitive topics, real-life issues, fiction, this book is for you.

Blurb:

On the surface Alena has a wonderful life – she’s a bubbly, vivacious 20 year old woman enjoying university with bestie, Becca, her quirky Californian housemate and Phillip, her amazing boyfriend. But beneath all that happiness there is pain, a despairing sorrow and a heart cut so deep that it might never heal.   She is a wounded woman, psychologically trapped between two worlds – a realm of darkness and desolation and a life of love, hope and freedom. The man, who controlled, manipulated and mistreated her as a child, is a malignant shadow – a dangerous spectre lurking in the backdrop, who is hell-bent on destroying and consuming her. But now she must find the strength to fight for liberation. Banish the demons forever and embrace true love, before she is devoured by the spirits of yesterday.    This is a powerful and riveting story of one young woman’s courage, bravery and determination to overcome a distressing and traumatic childhood and welcome a new life with the man she truly loves.

See the book trailer on Youtube 

Excerpt:

Chapter 3

The Heartthrob

A tall, dark, handsome guy breezes into my dorm room, his long brown  cardigan swooping across the scope of the generous space. I’m sitting on my bed, eyes closed, heart open, feeling the coolness of his sexy ambiance rushing onto my face. It feels refreshing, delightful, satisfying. Slowly, I ease my eyes open halfway, and my glance moves to the doorway, where the presence of an ebony shadow stands proudly, absorbing the light from the corridor. It makes me feel weak in the knees, like a damsel in distress whose superhero has come to rescue her from the tedium of uni life: studying, essays, exams and heavy assignments. My face brightens, and I welcome the distraction.

Quickly, my eyes fully open; my heart races. I know who this sexy 20-year-old guy is. I am so happy he has come. I cannot breathe for a few moments, and I push my hands firmly into the bed, leaving a dent, my imprint of love, in the malleable covers. I lift my body up vertically with these sturdy hands, and swing my bottom, back and forth, using the strength of my body weight to keep me balanced. I stare deep into his eyes, rendering him speechless at the sight of my light acrobatic performance. I’m excited! He knows it. He can see my enthusiasm shining through my eyes.

I am completely stimulated by this luscious visitor, and I can see  his eyes  nearly bursting with fervour. He wants to touch me, I can tell.  But he is much too far away to do more than enjoy my body from a distance. He licks his lips, staring readily at my breasts, nature’s  kind gift to men. I move into his line of vision like an ocean’s soft, iridescent current, and moisten my thin, red lips, desperate for him to come closer. Slowly, teasingly, he ambles towards me, his custom-made jeans with diamond studs at the sides hanging loosely down, sagging at the bottom. The waistband of his blue Calvin Klein boxer shorts is clearly visible, more than adamantly insisting on his sexual prowess.


Buy Links:

Please note: All who want to pre-order need to register first on BNBS – www.britainsnextbestseller.co.uk. Once they register, they can make their order. When readers pre-order the book, they can opt to become supporters, by ticking (checking) the relevant box on the pre-order page. If they do this, they will then be listed as a supporter – their name is added to the supporter list, which is visible to all who go on the page.

Britain’s Next Bestseller

About the Author:

I was born in East London and have lived there most of my life. I started writing stories at six and have enjoyed writing ever since. In 2005 I graduated from Roehampton University and it is then that I found my literary voice. I began writing professionally in January 2014, when my novel ‘Heaven Calls For An Angel’, was published by a digital publisher. I wrote this book as a tribute to a friend who sadly died of cancer. My latest novel, The Glass Heart Girl, I published as an indie author at first. But then I got discovered by a publisher and I am on the verge of landing a book deal.

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Giveaway:

Enter to win one of five autographed posters of The Glass Heart Girl!  Open internationally. The giveaway will run 10/12/14 – 10/19/14. To enter, simply leave a blog comment on the tour post, and please make sure to include a valid email address! Winners will be randomly selected and contacted by the author after the tour is over for delivery. To increase your chances of winning, simply follow the tour and comment at each stop.