We went to the beach! Second and third photos from Carrie Robinson’s collection
Florida is home to gators! Check ’em out. Photos from Carrie Robinson’s collection
We even went back to my Alma mater New College. Photos from Carrie Robinson’s collection
Speak of the Tiger by Martha Deeringer
A YA/Teen Read Novel published by Fire and Ice Young Adult Books (03/10/15)
Summary:
“It was a great feeling to do something you weren’t sure you had the courage to do. Especially after it was over.” (Kindle Locations 566-567).
When the ninth grade class goes on a long field trip in a semi-isolated ranch in South Texas, they expect fun filled days of camping, horse riding, and camaraderie. Before they’ve even arrived the problems begin and the students are quick to point the blaming finger at the quiet new boy, Lee Boyd. As issues escalate, from toilet papering to property damage in the hundreds of dollars, everyone is more and more convinced that Lee is the instigator.
Justin wasn’t the only one to misunderstand and make assumptions of Lee, but he is surprised when the new boy steps up during the biggest turmoil of them all. Was Lee the one causing all the catastrophes, or was he framed? After the big thunderstorm and daring rescue, Justin will try to befriend Lee and break down the prejudices surrounding the boy.
Keywords:
Change, horses, school, Korean, boys, 9th grade, high school, fitting in, thunderstorm, secrets, bullying, needing help
My Review:
If you like reading at the level of the Magic School Bus about bullies and boy troubles and friendships, you will like this book. This book had a little bit of each of many issues that plague pre-teens/teens, but didn’t delve too deep into the nitty gritty of them. The issues of bullying and suicide are very real and very serious and this book touched on both. Personally, I wanted more emotion, more action, and more consequence related to these issues, but if you don’t want to get too emotionally involved in this book, then the way the author writes them into the story won’t bother you.
I thought this book was a fun easy read, but I didn’t come away with anything unique. It was just a story about two boys becoming friends and overcoming sucky teen attitudes and prejudices. The book wasn’t deep into any of the subjects or themes.
A girl showed some bullying, but it was very vanilla. These were ninth graders in high school and there were no insults, no name calling, no extreme racist remarks. The bullying was toned down as if the kids had grown up isolated and protected and their best insult was laughably poetic and only the intent communicated that it was an insult. Are these really ninth graders? They appear very polite and behaved, only committing what seemed like isolated acts of defiance and damage and only a few of those acts. Where are the teen attitudes? The sulking? There wasn’t offensive language or swearing. There was no sexual tension. These kids acted far more like sixth graders than ninth graders.
I did quite enjoy the story of Justin becoming unlikely friends with the quiet and misunderstood Korean boy and I thought the twist involving his home life was fascinating. I would have enjoyed a book told from Lee’s perspective, because Justin wasn’t that big of a personality and only got sucked into Boyd’s story.
Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.
This novel was published by Fire and Ice Young Adult Books on March 10th, 2015 and is available on Amazon here.
TL;DR Star Rating: 3.75
Links for more information:
Sticks and Stones (The Wish Makers Book 1) by Shawn McGuire
A YA Low Fantasy Novel published by Brown Bag Books (06/12/14)
Summary:
“Live a little, Mandy Rose. You never know when life will take a sudden change.” (Kindle Locations 1745-1746).
Amanda Rose has a pathological fear of upsetting people and a fear of screwing up. Ever since the incident with her sister Alexa, Mandy has made sure to be the Goody Goody and not mess up, but she’s sick and tired of trying to be perfect. “I get straight A’s. I’ve got this great cooking club going, Nourishing Nosh, and I’m planning to put up a cooking and nutrition website for kids, NourishingNosh.com. I’ve got a plan for my future as thoroughly mapped-out as the garden I’m going to plant.” (Kindle Locations 790-794). Inside, Mandy knows there is something missing in her life, that there is something hiding in the very depths of her soul. When she makes her birthday wish, she is surprised to find that it wants to come true, or at least take her down a path to figure out what secret she is hiding from herself. Her wish takes the form of her childhood imaginary friend Lexi, who is guided by the Wish Mistress Desiree.
Keywords:
Wish Mistress, Fairy, Carpe Diem, Goody-Goody, Imaginary Friend, Live Life to the Fullest, Teen Romance
My Review:
Mandy was annoying, Desiree was annoying, switching POV made the book annoying, the shallow romance was annoying. The message in the book was shallow and pushed again and again. There was a wonderfully captivating fantasy story within Sticks and Stones, but it got buried beneath these annoyances.
I felt like many scenes, especially in the beginning, were dragged out with too much detail in the wrong places. McGuire was overly wordy where it wasn’t necessary. I could feel the story wanting to hit the initial conflict or triggering action, but was held back by too much exposition.
When the story hit, I was eager to read more, but then McGuire sideswipes the story entirely to nearly abandon the main character and focus on Desiree the Wish Mistress. I didn’t want to know more about Desiree. She was a part of Mandy’s story, but she wasn’t an important enough character to warrant her own chapters with a storyline apart from Mandy’s. The POV switch was the most aggravating choice the author made for the novel and I eneded up skimming and skipping almost all of Desiree’s short chapters. They were dull and meaningless in the scope of the overall story. Desiree is a messenger in Mandy’s story and didn’t warrant or deserve as much focus as she got.
The story was intriguing, regardless of the annoying points; however, I don’t feel that I would read anymore from this author because of the choices she made in Sticks and Stones.
This novel was published by Brown Bag Books June 12th, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.
TL;DR Star Rating: 3.25
Links for more information:
Harbinger (The Greatest Sin, #2) by Lee French with Erik Kort
A Fantasy Novel published by Tangled Sky Press (09/09/14)
Summary:
Harbinger focuses on the mystery behind one of the Fallen agent’s disappearance in Ket, a small coastal city in this second book of the Greatest Sin series. New agent, Chavali, who was introduced in the first Fallen book (The Greatest Sin #1) as a seer and no-nonsense woman of the clan of the Blaukenevs, is sent on the mission to find out what happened to the agent in Ket. Along with a man she saved from death (Harris), a morally stringent man who upholds honor and truth above all else (Colby), and another woman (Portia), as well as Colby’s strange and large horse (Karias), Chavali will have to use her skills and the help of these companions to figure out what is really amiss in Ket.
Keywords:
Fantasy, Clan, Family, Loyalty, Prophesy, Seer, Close-Knit, Sacrifice, Strength, Evil, Friendship, Mystery, Thriller
My Review:
Lee French delivers again in the second book in this series, with Harbinger. Just like The Fallen, Harbinger was full of great quotes, quippy dialogue, fun and larger than life characters, and a female kick-butt main character who took no nonsense from anyone.
I like the way French weaves fantasy into her story and makes the reader wonder, what is the greatest sin?
French has a way with words and phrases that is mesmerizing. Her writing style is elegant and captivating. You can tell she is a professional and knows what she’s doing. She gives Chavali a bite to her words. I love the quick wit Chavali exhibits and the way she talks back without trying to usurp anyone or prove she’s better. Though anyone in her position would have an immense chip on their shoulder, Chavali is down to earth and confident in hereslf.
Chavali is more than just emotionally tough, she is shown to master the fight in Harbinger. She has been trained and now she uses these new skills to defend herself and other Fallen.
This novel was published by Tangled Sky Press on November 9th, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.
TL;DR Star Rating: 5.0
Links for more information:
Caching In: A Geocaching Love Story by Tracy Krimmer
A Romance Novel published by Amazon (12/11/14)
Summary:
Ally cooper is in a rut; same banking job for six years, no boyfriend, and a day with nothing to do…
On a hike she runs into a Geocaching couple and decides to pick up the hobby herself. At her first find and second Geocaching attempt, she meets Seth at his Bed and Breakfast and he takes her out. Meanwhile, her best friend, Chelsea is in her own type of rut, stuck on a man who already has a girlfriend. When both Ally and Chelsea compete for the same promotion at the bank, Ally’s life will turn on its head and the only constant and stable part will be her growing number of Geocaching finds.
Keywords:
Romance, Bed and Breakfast, Bank Teller, Best Friends, Cheating Boyfriends, Geocaching, Predictable Plot
My Review:
From page one of Caching In, I found the novel to be raw. It follows your average girl Ally and she isn’t all Pretty in Pink or perfect manners. She fights with her best friend. She jumps to the wrong conclusion almost every time. She’s almost thirty, but acts like a rebellious and sullen teenager. She is overly melodramatic, but also gutsy and sticks with her convictions doggedly. She is a girl to be admired, though it is difficult to see her as an adult and not as a eighteen or nineteen years old, because that’s how she acts. She gets overcome by her own emotions and drama and sometimes you just want to smack her for overreacting and jumping to the worst conclusions in both her romantic life and in her relationship with Chelsea. Over time she has to get over her romantic past and move one.
“Maybe this was the problem. For so many years, I maintained the same hair, the same job, and the same things always held me back. ” (Page 168).
The author falls into the trap of describing details of Ally’s environment that aren’t always important to the main narrative and I ended up skimming a lot of these extraneous parts. Krimmer also uses phrases and wording that comes off as awkward and hard to read. At times, though, Krimmer punches off a clever phrasing like the previous quote.
This novel was published by Amazon December 11, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.
TL;DR Star Rating: 2.75
Links for more information:
First to Find by Mark Gessner
A Thriller Novel published on lulu.com (07/26/2010)
Summary:
First to find is full of firsts and finds that you may think you have all figured out until the ultimate first to find, every nightmare any geocacher has dreamed about. If it’s a gruesome murder, then why leave behind a jar of urine or a dead dog? Casual geocachers out for their finds will stumble upon more than they bargained for in this tale of murder and revenge. If the geocachers put together the clues, will they be led right to the killer or will he catch on to their game?
Keywords:
Hiking, Woods, GPS, Murder, Deranged, Thriller, Geocaching, Clues, Romance, Texas
My Review:
Mark Gessner opens his book First to Find with the quote “Never mess with a Geocacher — we know the best places to hide a body.” (Page 5). Gessner continues to give out great tidbits in this book, like little treasures waiting to be read. The writing style was continuously smooth, without hitches or hiccups. The flow of action was also quite smooth and progressed naturally, building up tension over time to its exciting climax.
Gessner doesn’t give the reader a chance to guess the identity of the killer, but he brings us along as the two geocachers attempt to pin down who it is. We are right along with them in their hunt. The moment when the killer turns on them is the ultimate tense scene, because at that point I am so invested in their story and so completely believing of the killer’s ability that I can only think it will end poorly for Judi and Kurt.
Each character was given full room for development and each was fully made alive. The killer had a larger role than I would expect, but even he was made bare by the end. Gessner was able to give me a well-rounded killer with equally well-rounded motivation, even if it wasn’t fully explained until the end. I absolutely loved the line, “The killer kept himself in good physical condition, and except for an occasional swig of Old Granddad and a recently developed taste for murder, he had no vices” (Page 147).
By the end everything made sense and the puzzle pieces fit together perfectly. I understand why Gessner would give his killer the name “The Killer” until the main characters found out his identity, but I didn’t think it was necessary, since even his name didn’t mean anything until that was later further explained.
This novel was published by lulu.com 07/26/2010 and is available on Amazon here.
TLDR Star Rating: 4.50
Links for more information:
Have you seen these movies about writers/writing? What’d you think? Know any good ones not on this list that every writer should watch?
Of all the yogurt I’ve ever tried, this honey noosa is my favorite
Pros: Delicious, sits well in the stomach, no food coloring or artificial ingredients
Cons: high calories per container (290), high price per container $2.50 – $2.99
The Treemakers by Christina L. Rozelle
A Dystopian/Sci-Fi Adventure Novel published by A Spark in the Dark Press (12/03/14)
This review brought to you by Silverbow Promotions Tour
Summary:
“To be strong in the face of weakness,’ I begin. ‘This is something our sister, Abrilynne, and our brother, Miguel, taught me. To smile, though there’s pain. To laugh, though there’s sorrow. To love, no matter what. And to forgive.” (Page 206).
The Tree Factory. It sounds hopeful, but it isn’t. Inside the walls of the factory are Bygonne’s orphans and they have been forgotten by all but the evil Superiors who work the children to their death. The trees are meant to keep the dying outside world alive with fresh oxygen while inside the factory the children are dying and enslaved. One of the olders, Momma Joy, takes it upon herself to find a way to free them all. No matter where you look it’s a hard life. The world outside has suffocated under the heat and poisonous air. The world underground harbors monsters and killer beasts. The world in between is full of those who seek freedom and survival. It is there that Joy must bring her precious sisters and brothers and it is there that more hardships will be encountered.
Keywords:
Factory, Orphans, Survival, Death, Exploration, Dystopian World, Polluted Air, Evil Intentions, AI, Motherliness, Help, Underground, Paradise, Fighting, Strength, Resilience, Spirit
My Review:
I was given a copy of the book in exchange for this review.
The world Rozelle has created is a mix between dystopian/fantasy/futuristic/jurassic/etc. She has pulled so many intriguing elements into the world of The Treemakers that every new part of it is fascinating and alive. The Treemakers doesn’t just take place in the factory, but moves among different environments that are each unique and mesmerizing in their own way. Not only is the environment a slight twist on the familiar, but the characters and the story and the depth involved contain their own twists.
The setup was well-written and instantly pulled the reader into the otherworldly dystopian setting. But Rozelle didn’t stop there, she went further. She pushed the boundaries of the world she created and the genres the novel falls under. This book kept surprising me with the layers upon layers that unwrapped and interconnected to the end.
Though I found the romance both distracting and unnecessary, I didn’t think it inappropriate and thought it only logical in the book. It’s always mildly disturbing for young children to be flirting and reproducing, but in a dystopian future where not many reach over 30 years, it’s perfectly natural and the only way to continue the line of humanity.
This novel was published by A Spark in the Dark Press on December 3rd, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.
TL;DR Star Rating: 4.5
Links for more information:
Christina L. Rozelle’s Website
Christina L. Rozelle on Twitter
About the author:
Christina L. Rozelle, author of the YA Dystopian-Scifi-Romance-Adventure, “The Treemakers,” is a mother of four currently residing in Dallas, Texas. She enjoys fiction that shines a light in the dark; has emotion, intensity, verve, depth, and truth. She writes what she’d love to read. Though her focus is currently YA speculative fiction, she dabbles in other genres as well, including adult speculative, fantasy, addiction/recovery fiction, and other general fiction. To find out more about her, as well as links to her other social media outposts, please visit her fan-site: http://christinalrozelle.com/
P.A.W.S. by Debbie Manber Kupfer
A YA Paranormal Novel published by Rocking Horse Publishing (06/25/13)
Summary:
“You never know how strong you really are until you are tested.” (Page 263).
Miri Katz is barely keeping her head above water. She is clumsy and nerdy. She has made no friends at her school and is made fun of by the cool kids almost daily. She is an average girl, maybe even below average because she has no special talents. She is failing math. But then everything changes when, in a moment of panic, the amulet her omama gave her transforms her into a cat. Now everyone wants Miri, but not to be her friend.
Keywords:
Animagi, Shapeshifters, Werewolves, Animagi, Revenge, Loyalty, World Domination, Special Powers, Friendship
My Review:
I almost put this book down. It started off with a historical fiction spin which was really exciting, but then quickly turned into something else entirely that was barely keeping my attention. The writing was a bit stilted and the main character Miri was much too pathetic to like or relate to when we first met her. “Miri did very little other than read fantasy novels and write in her notebooks. In her classes she was a mediocre student at best, plus she was clumsy and socially awkward.” (Page 65).
But I kept reading. There was something about the story that just wouldn’t let me go. And then the story got so much better. The author sucked me into the clutter of Miri’s life and the deepening intrigue of the multiple subplots that eventually merged into the main story. The author had woven a complicated plot that was not at first visible.
Normally I don’t pick up and read paranormal fantasy, but I liked the story and the characters of P.A.W.S. In a world where there are shape shifters, werewolves, and animagi, Kupfer has done a great job sorting through the possibilities of what life would be like in this kind of environment. There are rules and boundaries that make these abilities much more interesting. Kupfer is great at world building.
The essential story Kupfer tells is the one that hooked me. In the beginning I thought it was about a girl trying to find her place in the world (coming of age) and it was, at least to begin with. Then Kupfer adds in complication after complication and the depth of the plot was what held my attention raptly to the end.
If you want a young adult version of Interview with a Vampire, then P.A.W.S. is your book.
This novel was published by Rocking Horse Publishing June 25th, 2013 and is available on Amazon here.
TL;DR Star Rating: 4.25
Links for more information:
Rachel Author Barnard 