Author Archives: rachelauthorbarnard

Book Review: Marionette by T.B. Markinson

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Marionette by T.B. Markinson

A YA Novel published by T. B. Markinson (11/01/13)

 

Summary:

 Paige is a troubled freshman in college who is trying to start fresh. She is continuously held back by her family’s sordid secrets and the way her past binds her and drags her back into it. When she tried and failed to commit suicide, Paige is forced to deal with her conflicted feelings, and upon the insistence of her girlfriend Jess, promises to see the college counselor once a week. From her homophobic Catholic roommate to her girlfriend’s misguided mission to help everyone around her, Paige will have to learn to deal with who she is and what happened in her past. In learning who she is, Paige will discover the most juicy, horrific secret of them all.

 

Keywords:

 Suicide, Intrigue, Lesbians, College-Life, LGBTQ issues, drama, friendship, loyalty, teen issues, dark secrets

 

My Review:

From the very beginning through to the very end, I was hooked. The opening was wonderfully executed by introducing a fluid and fantastically intriguing writing style. The end was one of those one liners that is so satisfying as the final sentence of a novel.

Paige is such a dynamic character. She may talk about herself as having specific characteristics and personality traits, but her character has depth. The narrative style reminds me of the style used in the movie Warm Bodies. T.B. Markinson and the Warm Bodies screen writer Jonathan Levine employ continuously running inner-dialogue that is amazingly interesting and spot on for the character. I am in love with Paige and how she tells her story. Her thoughts are juicy, spicy, and vivid. This would make a very good audiobook.

This book had me laughing as much as the Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. The main character Paige is one for a witty comeback that makes for such a fun read. Her unintentional humor as a person makes these situations even more funny. One of my favorite lines was Paige’s response to one of Liddy’s comments about how Liddy doesn’t do her job for the money. Paige says to Liddy, “I suppose prostitutes could say the same thing.” (Location 462).

I recommend this book for anyone who enjoyed the witty comments in Warm Bodies, wants a book that integrates the LGBTQ community without being obvious about it, or would like a dynamic YA book featuring a troubled college-aged female protagonist.

This novel was published by T. B. Markinson November 1st, 2013 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TLDR Star Rating: 5.0

 

Links for more information:

Goodreads

T.B. Markinson’s website

Nano ’14: Day 10 Update

by in NaNoWriMo, Rachel Barnard and tagged

Word count for the day: 1,925

Total word count: 35,667

Total Words to Write to be on track: 16,667

I get the day off tomorrow so I’m going to use that time to work out some kinks in my fingers and get closer to that 50k goal! Planning on finishing the first draft this week.

Nano ’14: Day 7 Update

by in NaNoWriMo, Rachel Barnard and tagged

Word count for the day: 3,766

Total word count: 28,773

Total Words to Write to be on track: 11,667

Total words on Day 6: 25,0007

It’s time to come clean. I’ve been writing my socks off, just not on the novel I meant to. I got scared. Afraid I wasn’t ready and that I hadn’t planned adequately I was getting stressed as the days disappeared before Hallonanoween. I had joint pain and headaches. Then I had an idea and I got excited about NaNoWriMo again. Yes, it’s a young adult novel. Yes, it’s in familiar territory. Yes, it’s something I know and love. Yes, I started planning just days before November 1st. Yes I’m a pantser this year. And yes, it’s been going quite wonderfully. Check out my word counts if you don’t agree. I’ve been getting really into the idea and yesterday I had an epiphany on how to make the novel into the best ever! I know I need to work on oonphing up the plot and creating better character development. Hello editing in December! Now I know exactly how to do that, though and I’m very, very excited!

Here is the novel I’ve already written over 25k words of (too late to back out now and pretend I’m still writing the Geocache Killer):

Mark on the World by Rachel Barnard is a novel that lies somewhere between John Green and Suzy Vitello.

Vanessa was a shy, introverted girl before she found out she wouldn’t live to graduation. It had always been her best friend Nichole who dragged her out of her shell, but now it’s Vanessa with her list of Challenges who is learning to pull Nichole along. From sneaking into strip clubs, construction areas, and into trouble Vanessa learns to cope with death and dying. When everything falls apart in a school shooting showdown Vanessa will have to give up herself completely to save those she loves. Will this be the mark Vanessa is hoping to leave on the world or will she be forgotten in the aftermath of the tragedy?

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Book Review: Roll the Bones by Rob May

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Roll the Bones by Rob May

A Fantasy Novel published on amazon.com (01/01/2014)

 

Summary:

Roll the Bones, the second book in the Kal Moonheart series, begins right where Dragon Killer leaves off, with action and adventure and Kal dropping right into the fighter woman character that she is. The opening scene involves Kal caught up in the robbery of the local gambling house by the King of Thieves. In order to pin down the thief and find out his identity Kal gets caught up in further trouble, involving murder and an ancient ghost of ancestors past.

 

Keywords:

 Young heroine, adventure, dragons, Dragonites cult, gambling, fighting, strong females

 

My Review:

The Kal Moonheart series focuses much on the main character Kal Moonheart and her adventures in the fantasy world Amaranthium (and beyond). Rob May does the unpredictable and accomplishes a difficult feat in literature by not forcing the gender-neutrality, as if the world just naturally exists as it does without walls and glass ceilings and labeling people into corners. His main characters and, in fact, all females in his books overcome the fighting female trope.  Kal is the what-would-happen-if-a-girl-played-this-role character that one normally sees a guy play. She isn’t just a female in a male’s role. She IS the characteristics of a macho, strong, take none of your crap character that doesn’t flaunt gender stereotypes as the norm. Rob May creates a new norm in Kal that every reader, male and female, will enjoy reading. Kal is a role model for girls in that she doesn’t have to overcome the prejudices of being female or a woman, she just is herself. I love her for this and you will too (or you might not even notice and just enjoy her story and how she kicks butt).

She is more than just a role model for girls, she is a role model for any reader because she is confident and collected. She doesn’t get carried away by emotions or let herself get weakened by pain or failure. On the other hand, she isn’t too fictional because she doesn’t always win. She isn’t invincible, just impervious to pain. She can get hurt. She can get caught. It is the way she evades death and despair and the way she gets out of the more rough situations that makes her a true hero.

If Kal wasn’t enough woman for you, one of the more aggressive characters is also female, which is unusual for most novels. Those in power and those who are more war-oriented are generally male, but Rob May breaks these stereotypes by giving us General Cassava, another strong woman and character.

Roll the Bones continues the intermingling of one of Kal’s past adventures with her exciting present predicament so the reader once again gets two stories in one. Rob May also continues to interweave the characters from book one into book two, giving us more background information on Kal’s benefactor Ben.

 

I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys the adventures and strengthof Tarzan, the fun cockiness of Crocodile Dundee, or a novel with a young kick-butt female hero.

This novel was published through Createspace Independent Publishing Platform 01/01/2014 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TLDR Star Rating: 4.50

 

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Rob May’s Website

Nano ’14: Day 5 Update

by in NaNoWriMo, Rachel Barnard and tagged

Word count for the day: 3008

Total word count: 23,032

Total Words to Write to be on track: 8,333

Words written yesterday: 8,935

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Me and my Geocache Killer duck took a vacation day yesterday to take care of some business. We went to the Geocaching Headquarters in Seattle and boy what a trip! For anyone who has done Geocaching or wants to and is anywhere near Seattle I highly recommend going. For this one you have to make an appointment, so be prepared.

What fun! Here’s some of what I learned. GC HQ employees 81 people, but four work in the warehouse near the Needle. They have their own Café that serves breakfast and lunch called the Signal Café after their mascot. They are quite a visual company and their office building is stunning! There is a large TV that continuously displays the most recent caches that are logged all over the world. They have a wall of cache goodies, where you can buy the specialized “found it” shirt only available at GC HQ. My tour guide was wonderfully informative and very excited about getting to see me. She succeeded in making me want to work for them! It sounds like such a cool and fun place to work at.

ducks

Book Review: Dragon Killer by Rob May

by in Author Tuesdays, Book Review and tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Dragon Killer by Rob May

A Fantasy Novel published on amazon.com (05/01/2013)

 

Summary:

 Kalina Moonheart and a man in pursuit of knighthood find themselves on the same quest to rid a gold-mining island of a terrible beast. Two stories unfold, one of Kalina the Dragon Killer and the other of her present day predicament trying to solve the mystery of the island’s dragon and eventually just to stay alive. This is an adventure for those true of purpose and  who are ready to take on any enemy, no matter its form or shape.

 

Keywords:

 Young heroine, adventure, dragons, Dragonites cult, gambling, fighting, strong females

 

My Review:

It is easy to fall in love with Kalina Moonheart. Her name alone would make any reader a fan. She presents herself as erring on the arrogant side of confidence. Anybody looking for a super hero will adore Kalina. She is a young heroine of no doubt and no hesitation. She is strong, witty, and clever. She can use all the tricks up her sleeve to accomplish her goals. She remains emotionally above her past’s tragedies and stands tall in the face of her current enemies. She is the renegade Indiana Jones and for her to grow and develop as a character throughout the series, my guess is that she will learn humility. At times it was difficult to connect with her as a real person because she is superhuman. She gets injured but doesn’t tell us of any pain and is not slowed down by these injuries.

In Dragon Killer dragons are clever and to defeat one Kal must be cleverer still. Rob May has one more trick up his sleeve where dragons are concerned.

I wasn’t sure which I wanted to read more, the backstory of how Kalina got the name Dragon Killer or her present adventure in the heart of a mountain on the island of the present dragon, but I was glad May gave me both and integrated them smoothly throughout the book.

The author has a knack for throwing out intriguing cliff-hangers at the end of each chapter to keep you moving through the rather short chapters.

The only part that seemed out of character for the balanced novel was the romance between Rafe and Kal. It was as if Rob May was told his story needed romance, and he threw it in after he had written the entirety of the novel.

 

I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys the adventures and smart alecky-ness of Indiana Jones, the relentlessness of the Terminator, or a novel with a young kick-butt female hero.

This novel was published through Createspace Independent Publishing Platform 05/01/2013 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TLDR Star Rating: 4.25

 

Links for more information:

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23021166-dragon-killer

Website: http://www.robertwilliammay.com/

Wattpad: http://www.wattpad.com/list/120355025-rob-may-dragon-killer

Nano ’14: Day 2 Update

by in NaNoWriMo, Rachel Barnard and tagged

Word count for the day: 1918

Total word count: 7543

Total Words to Write to be on track: 3,333

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I’ve already broken one of my guidelines! I may be in the middle of reading another Indie book, which is a good and bad thing. Good because I read quite fast, it isn’t too long, and it’s fantastic! Bad because it’s so good I want to finish and it’s distracting. Gr. I just have been in a reading mood these past few weeks.

In other news I was doing some geocaching with someone when we came upon this little fellow (can you call a female deer a fellow?)