Book Review - The Vale of Ghosts (The Archaust Saga, Book One) by Jeffrey Aaron Miller

Release Date: June 7th 2015

Genre: Fantasy/ Paranormal/ Horror

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

Where to Buy:

AMAZON 

Here's the Summary:

A malevolent presence dwells in the vale below the town of Siliven, and only the relic wall of the prophet Cabrien keeps it at bay. When a local girl, Annella Fenn, learns that her cousin has crossed the relic wall and entered the vale, her curiosity compels her to investigate. In the process, she inadvertently sets in motion events that put the whole town in danger. Now, she works feverishly to undo the damage, but she is dealing with an ancient magic that is far more powerful than she realizes, and the fate of the whole kingdom hangs in the balance.

My Thoughts:

The Good:

The character development. Every single one of Mr, Miller's characters are believable as real living, breathing people, and that's hard to do as an author - make them realistic enough so that they aren't two-dimensional, but not overdoing it and making them caricatures. For example, the POV character, Annella (or Ann), can be curious yet cautious, reckless but considerate, but she isn't overtly any of those things. Boys are attracted to her, but they aren't all fawning all over her, and the fact that there is no insta-love gets major bonus points with me.

Ghosts, ghosts and more ghosts! The book is categorized as fantasy, but in my opinion it's far more paranormal, so fans of either genre will enjoy it. I love both genres equally! So mix together realistic characters, possessions, and the mysteries surrounding the Archaust and its owner, Vyshe (our antagonist), and you've got a truly haunting but entertaining story.

Originality. I can honestly say I've never read a book like this in either the paranormal or the fantasy genres, and that gets points with me, as well!

The writing. Mr. Miller's prose flows well and is an easy read. With some fantasy books the author tries to pack in too many descriptions (and hard-to-pronounce names and places) and  makes it hard to trudge through. I like just enough to insert me into the story; I don't need to read three paragraphs dedicated to a single landscape. I'd just skim over it anyway.

The author 'goes there.' Many times an author doesn't have the gall to kill off a character or have them suffer. Maybe just enough so that the story seems believable. But it takes an author with true grit to really put their characters through hell, and this author does - another reason this is an entertaining book. When you find yourself grimacing, gasping and needing to look away so you can gather yourself before continuing, you know you've found a good read! I will offer a word of caution, though, to those who don't like gore - there are a few scenes with blood and decaying bodies being controlled by the dead.

The Bad:

There really isn't anything bad to say about this book, other than I wish there would have been a tad bit more romance. But that's really just a personal preference. Maybe there will be more in the next books!

The Ugly:

Nothing to say in this category!

In Short: 

This paranormal gem is well-written and wildly captivating. I'm eagerly awaiting book two!

Favorite Quote:

"What's it like?" Ann asked. "Being in the Archaust."

He considered the question. "You feel bad emotions, and you go around and around, and nothing ever gets better. But the more you go around, the more you feel pieces of yourself breaking off."

"Doesn't sound all that different from my life lately," Ann muttered.

About the Author:

Jeffrey Aaron Miller is a 1997 graduate of the Creative Writing program at the University of Arkansas. He has held a wide variety of jobs over the years, including but not limited to social worker, bus driver, postal carrier, pastor, tire salesman, and content writer, but through it all, he has remained a storyteller. He is the author of numerous novels in the genres of science fiction, fantasy and YA. He resides in Northwest Arkansas with his wife and children.

Visit his Amazon page here!

Music Crush Monday - Stand by You by Rachel Platten

Have you ever wanted something to hurry up and be here so bad that you just couldn't friggen stand it?? And I'm not talking about Christmas. lol Though I am looking forward to that too!!! I'm talking about the release of Fight for Me on Valentine's Day 2016. So what have I been doing until then? Editing, editing and more editing to make sure it's as close to my version of perfection as possible until Lana gets a hold of it. And while I'm editing, I love listening to music during the process.

The most recent song that's captured my attention is one that fits perfectly with this novel - Stand by You by Rachel Platten. If you've read Captivate Me and know anything about what happened to our sweet baby angels at Midland Pines High, you know they've been through hell, so what else can they do but stand beside each other in Book Two? Have a little listen below. Also, to pre-order your copy of Fight for Me, find links below that.

Love to all xoxo
SJ

Fight for Me Pre-Order Links

(Young Adult Paranormal Romance)

***On sale for .99 during pre-order. Release Day is Valentine's Day, 2016 ***

AMAZON | BARNES AND NOBLE | APPLE | KOBO | SMASHWORDS

Book Review - Angelfall (Penryn and the End of Days, Book One) by Susan Ee

Release Date: August 18th, 2012

Genre: Young Adult Paranormal

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Where to Buy:

AMAZON

Here's the Summary:

It’s been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back. Anything, including making a deal with Raffe, an injured enemy angel. Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they journey toward the angels’ stronghold in San Francisco, where Penryn will risk everything to rescue her sister and Raffe will put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

My Thoughts:

I'm not going to break this one down into my "the good, the bad and the ugly" categories since this isn't a read-to-review book, but Angelfall was so incredibly good I couldn't pass up an opportunity to rave about it for a few paragraphs. 

First of all, this was everything I had been hoping for in Alice in Zombieland (and if you follow me on Goodreads, you know I was sorely disappointed!). Angelfall was gritty, intense, deliciously disturbing yet wonderfully poignant. 

So let's start with Penryn's family, which, in addition to Penryn, who is a semi-normal teenage girl (well, as normal as one could be in a post-apocalyptic world), consists of a disturbed, schizophrenic mother and paraplegic younger sister, and they are trying to survive is a world that is in ruins after the angels came to destroy it. Yes, angels destroyed our world! Their family dynamic here is gut-wrenching and harrowing (and when you read about some of the things her mother does, you'll know why I say harrowing), but somehow still manages to give you warm fuzzies. Because despite everything, they still love each other and stick together as best they can. Kudos to Ms. Ee for being able to pull that off. And as the summary states, one of the angels takes off with her disabled sister, which spirals us into the events to come.

Now for the state of the world. Not only did the angels destroy it, they're still stationed on Earth and kidnap small kids (like they did Penryn's sister) for... well, I'll let you find that part out on your own. But it was horrible. Not that we get many true answers as to why they did it, but I assume that will be answered at some point in the next two installments. Lets just say there were many times in this book that my jaw was hanging open and I had to actively pull myself back together to keep reading.

DID I MENTION I LOVE THIS BOOK?

Lastly, there was the gorgeous and contemptuous angel Raffe who'd had his wings cut off by fellow angels, and after Penryn helps saves him, he grudgingly agrees to help her find her sister. Of course there's some selfish ambitions involved on his part - he wants to try and get his wings back. But who could blame him? And yes, a forbidden romance is hinted at, though never fully engaged. Maybe in the next book? I hope so! The rest of the book follows their travels, and little pieces of the overall plot are put together along the way. For instance, we find out that there is a human rebellion planning a counter-attack on the angels, and that there are little demon creatures that like to eat humans, but it isn't clear yet why they're there or where they came from. And  in addition to destroying the world and kidnapping kids, the angels have taken a fancy to many human indulgences, including, um... our women.

We'll leave it at that.

So... to say that I loved this book would be an understatement. It was one of the most well thought out, exciting and gut-wrenching Young Adult, Paranormal books I've ever read. And that still doesn't even cover it. If you love grit and suspense with a touch of the warm fuzzies, you'd be doing yourself a horrible disservice if you don't pick up a copy of this up immediately! Just be forewarned that parts of Angelfall are not for the squeamish. If you can't tolerate hints of gore, this isn't for you.

About the Author:

Susan Ee is a USA Today bestselling author of the Penryn & the End of Days trilogy, ANGELFALL, WORLD AFTER, and END OF DAYS. Her books have been translated into over twenty languages, and her short films have played at major festivals. She used to be a lawyer but loves being a writer because it allows her imagination to bust out and go feral.

Sign up to hear about her next book at www.susanee.com or follow her on Twitter @Susan_Ee.

Fight for Me Pre-order links!!!

It's almost here! In just three short months, Fight for Me, Book Two of the Captivated Series will officially be released from online retailers. It felt like this day would never come! But some things are worth the wait, right? ;)

To pre-order your copy today, see the links below.

Love to all xoxo

SJ

Summary:

A fresh start – something Kat and Gabriel thought they would find when they left their pasts behind at Midland Pines High and moved to a compound for hybrids. Or at least safety from a witch seeking revenge. But now… that’s all changed. Now, thanks to a flirty hybrid hell-bent on winning Gabriel’s attention, the terrifying visions of another prophetic Gifted, and the strange and worrisome behavior of one of their closest friends, Kat finds herself fighting for things that had once come so easily, including her relationship with her soulmate. And now she’s afraid. 

Recommended for readers 16 and up due to mature content.

Pre-order Links:

AMAZON | BARNES AND NOBLE | APPLE | KOBO | SMASHWORDS

Blog Tour Final Day - Spectacle

Tour Stops:

–Reading in Wonderland (Review)

–Random Redheaded Ramblings (Review)

–A British Bookworm’s Blog (Review)

–EscapeNBooks (Review)

Favorite Review: 

"Random Redheaded Ramblings"

So I really enjoyed Spectacle, it has a dystopian setting and like the tag line above says it does have hints of Avatar (blue, lots of blue!).

Set in a future where the world has been ravaged by earthquakes changing the landscape for the worse, Mira lives with her parents on what is left of the USA.

We first meet her as a young child during a time when her life changes for the worst. The discovery that her family, more specifically her father is not what he seems.

He is far from human, he is of alien descent and Mira discovers that he is covered in blue markings that will easily identify him from everyone else. He is a changer.

Not to spoil the story for you, due to events in the book involving her father, Mira ends up banished to island along with others like her who have been descended from the aliens. They are kept away from the human population, they are a threat.

Mira, we meet again as a teen still on the island, most of the residents live like it is the dark ages. Mira still has one foot in her old life, where others are now wearing animal skins she still wears normal clothes.

The story progresses with Mira getting the opportunity to prove the innocence of her father, how, well I won't spoil it for you but the government of New America are not known for their kindly nature and Mira is going to have a hell of a time clearing her fathers name.

This is a really enjoyable novel, dystopia of course is everywhere just now and a novel in this genre really needs to stand out from the masses out there. Spectacle does a good job with a interesting plot, characters you can root for and wonderful descriptions of those blue markings! Well worth a read!

Great review, Heather!!! xoxo

Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour Day Five - Spectacle

Tour Stops:

–Arkham Reviews (Review)

–Two Ends of the Pen (Excerpt)

–The Avid Reader  (Review)

Favorite Review:

"The Avid Reader" Book Blog

I received a free copy of the book from the author for my honest opinion.

The earth was destroyed two hundred thousand years ago by earthquakes. They were so many that most of the land ended up in the ocean. Mira and her family lives in one of the three pieces of land that is left called New America. There are a lot of people where she lives and they are running short on food and supplies. There is a lot of sickness going around and a lot of people are dying. People are starting to lose it and there is a lot of chaos.

Mira learns that her father is not from earth that he is from another planet. Her father and around one hundred thousand people had to leave their own planet because people from another planet came in and took over their planet so they stole their pods and escaped to earth. Where they lived among humans in disguise for many, many decades. No one knew that they were from another planet. They lived and worked among the humans until they couldn’t hide their markings any longer.

Once everyone learned that they had been living with aliens it scared them. They really didn’t know what to do. They didn’t know if they could trust them or not. You would think that if they had been living with them for all these years that they would be no problems. But people are afraid of the unknown and they are also afraid of someone that is different than they are. Instead of trying to get to know them and learn who they are they finally rounded up all of the changers and sent them far, far away to live on an island all by their selves. All because they were afraid of them, they left them there to die. But Mira and her new family and friends fooled all of the humans they learned to adept to the land and how to survive.

Mira missed her mom and dad very much but she had some great friends who helped each other through their lost. Mira learned to hunt for food just like the guys did but she also loved working in her little garden. Everyone on the island had a job to do and they each knew what that job was and they did without any questions. Mira was just as good of a hunter as any of the guys and even better than some. Mira cared a lot for the people she loved and would put her own life in danger before putting one of her friend’s lives in peril. Mira was a strong young woman both mentally and physically. Mira would do anything for one of her friends.

I loved the world that the author created for Mira and her friends. The author drew you into Mira’s life and made you feel as if you were right there beside her wanting to help every step of the way. Mira and Luxxe were two of the best characters who could make you laugh one minute and crying the next. Spectacle pulled you in from the very first page and didn’t let go until the very end. Well ok maybe I am stretching it a little bit there it didn’t let go at the end it is still hanging on making you want more. It has the tendency to make you get lost in its story so deep that you may not find your way back out if you are not careful. In my opinion if like dystopian stories then you are going to love Spectacle. I know I did. I am hooked on dystopian stories at the moment and can’t seem to let them go and Spectacle has made it to my top ten list of dystopian books to read.

Thanks, Nancy, for the wonderful review!

Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour Day Four - Spectacle

Tour Stops:

–My So-Called Book Reviews (Review)

–Jazzy Book Reviews (Review)

–Brian’s Book Blog (Review)

–The Indigo Quill (Review)

Favorite Review of the Day:

"The Indigo Quill" Book Reviews

For those who love The Hunger Games and Divergent, S.J. Pierce's new novel, Spectacle, will be sure to tickle your readerly taste buds.

In this newly established dystopian, the world is becoming overpopulated 200 years post "The Great Disaster." After a series of ravaging earthquakes, the planet suffers from limited land. Mirabella Foster resides with her family in New America. One day, her father reveals to her a secret that seems to uproot the earth all over again...he is part of an alien group called Changers. They are covered with blue markings that are mistaken as a disease that sets the community into an uproar, leaving the Changers quarantined on an isolated island to live away from the humans.

I enjoyed the plot of this book, and the undertones of acceptance woven into the storyline. The opener is attention-grabbing, which is always more pleasant than trying to plow through the foundations of the plot just so you can reach the part where the story travels on its own. The best part was the Changers. They were well-developed and I felt a connection to their story that surfaced emotion.

Some low points for me were that some of the ideas weren't quite original. There were a lot of parts that seemed to be taken from other stories, such as The Hunger Games, Game of Thrones, and Avatar. But, if you're looking for a book that contains similar elements as these, then you'll enjoy Spectacle. I also felt like the romance was rushed near the end, and I just wasn't feeling it. It felt underdeveloped and a little messy.

Overall, I liked this book. People who enjoy young adult dystopians as their main genre of choice will likely enjoy it as well.

Thanks for the review, LisAnn!

Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway