Book Review: Closed Hearts (Mindjack Saga Book 2) by Susan Kaye Quinn

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Closed Hearts (Mindjack Saga Book 2) by  Susan Kaye Quinn

A YA Science Fiction Novel published through Createspace Independent Publishing Platform (12/20/13)

Summary:

“Different isn’t a crime, you know.” (Kindle Locations 7202-7203).

After announcing herself and many others as mindjackers, Kira is hidden to the world no longer. Some of those that can only mind read are wary, scared, and prejudiced against the mindjackers. Some powerful politicians are attempting to take away the mindjackers’ rights as citizens, to lock them up and keep the general populace safe. Kira can’t live in hiding forever, either she will have to help the mindjackers in their political crusade for rights or in their physical war for freedom unless she’s discovered by the government first and they have more than just imprisonment in mind for mindjackers.

 

Keywords:

Abilities, Skill, Mindjacking, Future, Telepathy, Technology, School, Love, Friendship, Clan, Power, Special, Female Main Character, Mind Reader, Mind Control, Mind Powers, Paranormal Abilities, Hard Choices, Danger, Fighting

My Review:

As with most trilogies, I liked the first book (Open Minds) better, but Closed Hearts stuck with Kira and the story of jackers versus regular mind readers – with the government interfering in the middle. I like Kira’s story and wanted to watch her grow in her abilities and within her changing world. I wish more had happened with the love story in this second book. I also thought Kira was not as good a role model, leader and protagonist in this book. She became wishy-washy and an emotional mess. What I love about dystopian kick-butt female characters is their ability to rise above the world-in-the-toilet messe and be someone you root for that is amazing. Kira was less amazing in this book as she worked through consequences of her actions in book one and dealing with a world that thinks she and her fellow jackers are to be feared.

This second book also contained Julian, the leader of the rebels and I liked seeing different types of jackers. Kira is certainly not alone in her exceptional abilities. We also get to know more about Kira’s dad and his background working as a jacker.

The story of the mindjackers was still continued and it’s always exciting to watch the good guys versus the bad guys and to wonder how good the good guys really are…

This novel was published through Createspace Independent Publishing Platform on December 20th, 2013 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.00

Links for more information:

Susan Kaye Quinn’s Website

Goodreads

Book Review: Open Minds (Mindjack Saga Book 1) by Susan Kaye Quinn

by in Book Review and tagged , , , , ,

Open Minds (Mindjack Saga Book 1) by  Susan Kaye Quinn

A YA Science Fiction Novel published through Createspace Independent Publishing Platform (12/20/13)

Summary:

“What good were crazy mind powers when they forced me to control or lie to the people I loved?”(Page 80).

“People like us don’t follow the rules, Kira,” he said. “People like us make them up.” (Pages 117-118).

In a world where everyone can read thoughts, at least after they’ve been through the change, which coincides with puberty, there are still those that are different and who don’t conform. Kira, is one of those. She is sixteen and can’t read thoughts at all. Nobody trusts a Zero. The only type of person people would trust less is a mind controller, aka mindjacker. When Kira finds out that instead of having no ability to mind read, she has a different special ability, her life will change forever. She isn’t the only one out there who isn’t a zero and isn’t a mind reader. The first person like her that she meets will steer her into a hidden world that is not a great influence and gives regular people good reasons to fear and hate them. What can Kira do now that she knows she’s different? But if nobody else knows that she’s a mindjacker, can she still live a normal life?

Keywords:

Abilities, Skill, Mindjacking, Future, Telepathy, Technology, School, Love, Friendship, Clan, Power, Special, Female Main Character, Mind Reader, Mind Control, Mind Powers, Paranormal Abilities, Hard Choices, Danger, Fighting

My Review:

Susan Kay Quinn’s futuristic societies are entirely fascinating and the Mindjack Saga Books are no exception. Reading thoughts is not a new idea but Quinn’s spin is interesting.

Though Quinn uses the stereotypical trope of the ‘different’ protagonist who can’t ‘do’ what others can do and then magically has the greatest ability of them all, Kira is not the most powerful. There are others like her, but in the beginning, she thinks she is alone in her powers. In a world where everyone is special, Kira doesn’t fit in and this is where most of the interesting story comes along. How different can you be before you are persecuted?

Throughout this book I wanted more from Raf and I wanted more from the love triangle that wasn’t much of a love triangle. The romance took a bit of a backseat to the action that overtook everything towards the middle of the book.

This novel was published through Createspace Independent Publishing Platform on December 20th, 2013 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.50

Links for more information:

Susan Kaye Quinn’s Website

Goodreads

Wildlife Wednesdays: Support for my favorite GOAT rescue – Maple Valley

by in Wildlife Wednesdays and tagged

20151205_PSGR_HolidayBazaar (1)

I love the PGSR!

Here is a link to their website, “Puget Sound Goat Rescue is a volunteer run, 501 (c)(3) registered charity dedicated to goats in need in beautiful Washington state. Each year, we rescue goats from a variety of situations where goats are unwanted or no longer able to be properly cared for and care for each until we find them a new loving home. Since 2001, we have saved and re-homed over 100 goats each year.”

Also, check out their facebook page here

 

Book Review: Living in Suspension by Winifred Morris

by in Book Review and tagged , ,

 Living in Suspension by Winifred Morris

A YA novel published by Eastside Gal (11/17/15)

Summary:

“All of a sudden I can see why the trees bend upward. They’re just trying to keep their balance while the earth keeps moving out from under them.” (Kindle Locations 712-713).

Not every kid with problems can be diagnosed. Not every kid can be neatly labeled. Sky doesn’t even know why he is the way he is. The only thing he knows for certain is that he likes words. He likes the story that he’s writing. He likes his creative writing class. But there must be something wrong with him. Everyone tells him he should be doing better. That he could do better. Sky knows he is doing his best so there must be something wrong with him.

 

Keywords:

School, Skipping, Home, Suspension, Dropout, High School, Drugs, Problems, Words, Writing, Fantasy, Stories, Distraction, Losers, Friendship, Family, Struggles, Unknown Future

My Review:

Morris paints a bleak view of school and the system in regards to Sky. If this is what school is like for some kids, I weep for the future and that 30% that drop out. Sky is the kid everybody knows. He is the kid that falls through the cracks. He isn’t at the bottom and he is certainly not at the top. What is wrong with him? His parents can’t figure that out. His teachers can’t figure it out. The principal doesn’t want to bother figuring it out. The other kids don’t care. Even Sky doesn’t know what’s wrong with himself. He doesn’t want to be a loser. He wants to have a future. Morris paints this beautiful mosaic of something hazy that you can’t quite put your finger on that keeps Sky from succeeding in the conventional school system. Even I can’t quite figure out what is wrong with Sky because he is more complicated than a simple label of “ADD” or “lack of motivation” or “delinquent.”

Sky just doesn’t like school and Morris shows me why. For kids who always loved learning, seeing school through Sky’s eyes shows a very different world. Sky isn’t lacking in parental support. He goes to a good school. Sometimes, that just isn’t enough.

The writing style was so captivating. Sky’s voice came through loud and clear. His perspective was fascinating and there was a good balance between how he saw the world and his thoughts about what he was experiencing.

This novel was published by Eastside Gal November 17th, 2015 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating:4.50

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Winifred Morris’s Website

Nano November: Final Thoughts and Words – Word count: 101,522 +52k

by in For the Love of Donuts, Local Authors, Local Events, NaNoWriMo, Rachel Barnard | 1 Comment

Donutauthor photocrest-05e1a637392425b4d5225780797e5a76

Day 30: 11/30/15, Monday – THE FINAL PUSH at North Bend Bar and Grill with my Snoqualmie Region Peeps from 7PM-9:30PM for 7,483 words

The after party in Snoqualmie was a lot of fun and the cake was delicious! The following photo was from Sheri J. Kennedy’s collection.

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The Stats You’ve All Been Waiting For:

WIP Word Count Progress Reports:

The Optimist Sees the Donut – 51,505 words

The Pessimist Sees the Hole – 50,017 words

Café Connections (Aster & Tilde Book 1) – 64,136

Total Time spent on For the Love of Donuts Nano Novels 2015: 48.75 hours or 2925 minutes
Final Word Count for both Donuts Books from November 2015: 101,522
Total Money Spent: $177.69
Average WPM all month: 42.15
Average Word Count Per Session: 1,671.9

20151120_Nano2015_WinnerCertificate

Stay Tuned for a Post on My Interesting Rewards System for Finishing Both Books This Month (at least a skeletal draft of both and 50k in each)

  1. Bask in a bath of donuts
  2. Everything on the menu from my favorite donut vendor

And more statistics!

Time Spent on The Optimist Sees the Donut – 1200 minutes (20 hours)
Time Spent on The Pessimist Sees the Hole – 1725 minutes (28.75 hours)

Average WPM on The Optimist Sees the Donut – 41.7 (Max=69.8 and min=15.8)
Average WPM on The Pessimist Sees the Hole – 42.7 (Max=85.5 and min=5.7)

Trends Noticed: The more money I spent, the slower my words per minute (presumably I was busy eating), My words per minute were slower at night (I wrote faster in the morning), The longer I wrote for the fewer words I wrote overall (slower WPM)

And now a few charts:

nano chart 1 nano chart 2 nano chart 3

Though I spent the most time writing on Sundays, this was not my most productive day.

**Fun facts on location: I went to 22 different locations to write, not including work or home. I went to the Neverending Bookstore 5 times, St. James 3 times, Verne & Wells 2 times, Issaquah Panera once, the Fall City Roadhouse 2 times, the AFK in Renton once, Bellevue Top Pot once, Costco once, CountrySide Donut House once, Daddy’s Donuts once, Factory Donuts once, North Bend Bar and Grill once, Spinderella once, and the Spotted Cow Once.

nano chart 4 nano chart 5 nano chart 6

Writing at work was most productive for me, though I spent the most time and wrote the most words on my itty bitty Surface Tablet

How about a little about my book?

nano pic

The Optimist Sees the Donut (For the Love of Donuts Book 2) & The Pessimist Sees the Hole (For the Love of Donuts Book 2)

Author: Rachel Barnard
Genre: Young Adult

Synopsis

Their friendship has been the one unbreakable thing, the one certainty in their lives, but Nichole Adams and Vanessa Smith are developing into their own persons and their individual life dramas distract them from each other.

Vanessa has never had many friends in her life and even though she wanted to stay friends with Nichole, she met new people in college and is moving on. She has school, she has social activities, and a new group of friends even though she can’t seem to find the right guy.

Nichole is jealous of Vanessa’s ease of everything in the real world. Nessa has no trouble with jobs, money, school, or getting and going places. Nichole, on the other hand was preemptively kicked out of her mom’s house after graduating high school and has been floundering ever since. The only thing she has easy in her life is flirting and getting dates, or at least a guy that will let her crash at his house. Nichole doesn’t always have the best of luck with men.

Forever hopeful that things will change, Nichole still clings to the hope that Vanessa will come back to their friendship and be the best friend from high school that Nichole misses. When guy after guy doesn’t work out for her, Vanessa changes more and more of her personality to attract the right guy, drifting farther and farther from who she really is. Something’s gotta give and this story of how friendships get off track, lies become reality, and bad luck tails bad choices will bring you in and around the little town of Sarasota, Florida that you grew to love in book one of the series – Donuts in an Empty Field.

And in case you haven’t gotten enough info – here’s my spreadsheet:

Location—

Home=H,

Work=W,

St. James=J,

Neverending Bookstore=B,

Verne & Wells=V,

Panera Issy=P,

Fall City Roadhouse=F

Machine—

H=HP,

S=Surface,

D=Dell

Region—

S=Seattle,

N=North Bend/Snoqualmie,

E=Everett/Snohomish

Book—

P=The Pessimist Sees the Hole,

O= The Optimist Sees the Donut

Date Start Time End Time Total Time Location Machine Money Spent Region Total Words Day Novel WPM
1-Nov 8:30 10:00 90 H H 0 S 2773 Sunday P 30.8
1-Nov 11:30 13:00 90 F S 18.44 N 1520 Sunday P 16.9
1-Nov 14:30 15:30 60 V S 0 S 1441 Sunday P 24
1-Nov 17:30 20:00 150 H H 0 S 4271 Sunday P 28.5
2-Nov 7:30 8:00 30 W D 0 S 1000 Monday O 30.3
2-Nov 20:00 20:45 45 H H 0 S 1004 Monday O 22.3
3-Nov 7:20 7:50 30 W D 0 S 1546 Tuesday O 51.5
3-Nov 11:45 12:15 30 W D 0 S 983 Tuesday O 32.7
3-Nov 19:00 19:45 45 Costco S 0 S 1425 Tuesday O 31.7
4-Nov 7:30 8:00 30 W D 0 S 1391 Wednesday O 46.4
4-Nov 17:00 17:40 40 B S 0 S 1500 Wednesday O 37.5
5-Nov 7:20 7:50 30 W D 0 S 1148 Thursday O 38.3
5-Nov 18:15 19:45 30 Spotted Cow S 3.5 E 1683 Thursday O 56.1
6-Nov 7:50 8:00 10 W D 0 S 698 Friday O 69.8
6-Nov 19:40 20:30 50 H H 0 S 2507 Friday O 50.1
7-Nov 13:00 15:00 120 B S 3.56 S 3264 Saturday O 27.2
7-Nov 18:30 19:30 60 J S 4.25 S 1998 Saturday O 33.3
8-Nov 10:00 10:45 45 H H 0 S 2097 Sunday O 46.6
8-Nov 12:00 13:00 60 V S 0 S 1550 Sunday O 25.8
8-Nov 16:00 16:20 20 H H 0 S 1200 Sunday O 60
9-Nov 7:25 8:00 35 W D 0 S 1650 Monday O 47.1
9-Nov 20:00 21:45 105 H H 0 S 3400 Monday O 32.4
10-Nov 7:30 8:00 30 W D 0 S 1250 Tuesday O 41.7
10-Nov 18:00 19:00 60 P S 11.25 N 945 Tuesday O 15.8
11-Nov 8:55 9:30 35 H H 0 S 1787 Wednesday O 51.1
11-Nov 13:50 15:30 100 J S 11.89 S 2804 Wednesday O 28
11-Nov 16:00 17:15 75 B S 0 S 2069 Wednesday O 27.6
12-Nov 7:15 8:00 45 W D 0 S 2145 Thursday O 47.7
12-Nov 12:00 12:10 10 W D 0 S 548 Thursday O 54.8
12-Nov 17:10 17:25 15 W D 0 S 949 Thursday O 63.3
13-Nov 7:45 8:00 15 W D 0 S 840 Friday O 56
13-Nov 17:50 21:00 210 F S 45 P 1186 Friday P 5.7
15-Nov 8:20 9:10 50 Daddy’s Donuts S 10.96 S 1762 Sunday P 35.2
15-Nov 9:30 10:45 75 CountrySide Donut House S 2.2 S 2547 Sunday P 34
15-Nov 11:00 12:15 75 Factory Donuts S 4.11 S 1672 Sunday P 22.3
15-Nov 13:15 15:00 105 B S 0 S 2181 Sunday P 20.8
15-Nov 15:30 16:30 60 Bellevue Top Pot S 6 S 2160 Sunday P 36
16-Nov 7:35 7:55 20 W D 0 S 1066 Monday P 53.3
16-Nov 12:40 12:50 10 W D 0 S 530 Monday P 53
16-Nov 17:45 7:55 10 Spinderella S 0 S 643 Monday P 64.3
17-Nov 7:35 8:15 40 W D 0 S 2484 Tuesday P 62.1
17-Nov 12:20 12:35 15 W D 0 S 1098 Tuesday P 73.2
18-Nov na na na na na na na 0 Wednesday na na
19-Nov na na na na na na na 0 Thursday na na
20-Nov na na na na na na na 0 Friday na na
21-Nov na na na na na na na 0 Saturday na na
22-Nov na na na na na na na 0 Sunday na na
23-Nov na na na na na na na 0 Monday na na
24-Nov na na na na na na na 0 Tuesday na na
25-Nov 7:30 8:00 30 W D 0 S 2063 Wednesday P 68.8
25-Nov 17:00 17:20 20 W D 0 S 1195 Wednesday P 59.8
25-Nov 18:00 19:30 90 AFK Renton S 16.14 S 4810 Wednesday P 53.4
26-Nov 10:15 12:00 105 H S 0 S 4133 Thursday P 39.4
27-Nov 21:45 22:00 15 H S 0 S 600 Friday P 40
28-Nov 10:00 10:15 15 H S 0 S 600 Saturday P 40
28-Nov 12:15 15:00 165 B S 3.23 S 3600 Saturday P 21.8
28-Nov 16:20 16:50 30 H S 0 S 2566 Saturday P 85.5
28-Nov 18:40 19:40 60 J S 3 S 2548 Saturday P 42.5
29-Nov na na na na na na na 0 Sunday na na
30-Nov 19:00 21:15 135 North Bend Bar and Grill S 34.16 N 7483 Monday P 55.4

And finally the stats you’ve been waiting for! Cafe Connections (Aster & Tilde Book 1) was the novel that had me deserting For the Love of Donuts for 8 days in November. But I was still writing! See…

Date

Total Word Count

Day

New Words

9-Oct to 22-Oct

5,752

Thursday

5752

23-Oct

6,155

Friday

403

26-Oct

6,903

Monday

748

27-Oct

7,355

Tuesday

452

28-Oct

8,607

Wednesday

1,252

29-Oct

9,487

Thursday

880

30-Oct

10,348

Friday

861

31-Oct

12,291

Saturday

1,943

1-Nov

12,847

Sunday

556

2-Nov

14,111

Monday

1,264

3-Nov

15,077

Tuesday

966

4-Nov

15,729

Wednesday

652

5-Nov

17,666

Thursday

1,937

6-Nov

18,610

Friday

944

7-Nov

20,640

Saturday

2,030

9-Nov

22,032

Monday

1,392

12-Nov

22,064

Thursday

32

13-Nov

26,003

Friday

3,939

14-Nov

35,112

Saturday

9,109

17-Nov

 37,226

Tuesday

 2,114

 18-Nov

 41,668

Wednesday

 4,442

 19-Nov

44,470

Thursday

2,802

 20-Nov

 50,016

Friday

 5,546

21-Nov

56,031

Saturday

6,015

22-Nov

58,312

Sunday

2,281

23-Nov

59,438

Monday

1,126

24-Nov

64,136

Tuesday

4,698

 

Gifts for Geeks – Saturday the 12th (Renton, WA at the AFK) – Books! Authors!

by in At One's Beast, Ataxia and the Ravine of Lost Dreams, author platform, Free Valley Publishing, Local Authors, Local Eats, Local Events, Rachel Barnard

Banner Simple 1

I had such a fun time last year!

I’m doing it again this year, with 7 other local authors.

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My books for sale:

Atonesbeast Ataxia cover rbarnard-300dpi-3125x4167_print 

In Ataxia and the Ravine of Lost Dreams A young girl takes on the mighty powers of the government but is sidetracked by challenges of the academy she attends, the new boy, and keeping her secrets safe.

She will do anything – forfeit her identity, friendships, even love – to be humanity’s champion.

As the U.S. government prepares to take over the world, MC infiltrates one of their elite academies that trains future leaders.  MC must rise to the top in the Cube training grounds in order to be placed high up within the government so she can stop them in their takeover.

MC is a character who can easily see faults in everyone but herself.

It is not until her fourth and final year at the academy that her top-student status is threatened by the sudden arrival of Li, the new transfer student. MC is completely focused on her self-created mission until she gets sidetracked by Li, who might be bad news in more ways than which she bargained.

A Young Adult, Dystopian, Not-So-Distant-Future Adventure Novel with a hint of sci-fi and a bit of romance.

Only $0.99 ebook, purchase below

http://bit.ly/1WUkFA3

From once upon a time to happily ever after, At One’s Beast highlights the struggles of two young adolescents who have fallen prey to chance evil circumstances. When it took the entire village to create the monster, what will it take to break the spell?

Available in print, ebook, and as an audiobook, At One’s Beast is a new look at an old fairy tale.

http://a-fwd.com/asin=B00MH8DFC8

December 12th-December 19th, At One’s Beast will be 67% off as an ebook.

Foodie Fridays: Nano Win Reward – Daddy’s Donuts Kenmore “one of everything”

by in Foodie Fridays, For the Love of Donuts, Local Eats, NaNoWriMo, Rachel Barnard and tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Nano Stats coming Monday – but I decided to reward myself with an immediate donut foray for accomplishing all my goals in November for NaNoWriMo and a challenge/reward to come in 2016 (stay tuned for what it is on Monday).

20151204 Daddys Donuts Nano reward_one of everything (2)

My first reward for finishing both first drafts of my For the Love of Donuts Book 2’s was to buy “one of everything” from my new favorite donut vendor and local business Daddy’s Donuts in Kenmore.

20151204 Daddys Donuts Nano reward_one of everything (1)

I chose today as the big day and headed over when they open (8AM) but had to wait for their new machine to be setup, and Daddy himself (Eduardo) gave me a complementary mocha (how nice!) to enjoy while I waited.

20151204 Daddys Donuts Nano reward_one of everything (5)

See how excited I am as I wait to ask for “one of everything.”

20151204 Daddys Donuts Nano reward_one of everything (3)

Check out the ‘tip’ jar.

20151204 Daddys Donuts Nano reward_one of everything (4)

And the donuts start coming out!

20151204 Daddys Donuts Nano reward_one of everything (8)

Thanks Daddy’s!

20151204 Daddys Donuts Nano reward_one of everything (7)

The guys at the office loved ’em!

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About my series, For the Love of Donuts, and the two books I wrote first drafts of this November:

The Optimist Sees the Donut (For the Love of Donuts Book 2) & The Pessimist Sees the Hole (For the Love of Donuts Book 2)

Author: Rachel Barnard
Genre: Young Adult

Synopsis

Their friendship has been the one unbreakable thing, the one certainty in their lives, but Nichole Adams and Vanessa Smith are developing into their own persons and their individual life dramas distract them from each other.

Vanessa has never had many friends in her life and even though she wanted to stay friends with Nichole, she met new people in college and is moving on. She has school, she has social activities, and a new group of friends even though she can’t seem to find the right guy.

Nichole is jealous of Vanessa’s ease of everything in the real world. Nessa has no trouble with jobs, money, school, or getting and going places. Nichole, on the other hand was preemptively kicked out of her mom’s house after graduating high school and has been floundering ever since. The only thing she has easy in her life is flirting and getting dates, or at least a guy that will let her crash at his house. Nichole doesn’t always have the best of luck with men.

Forever hopeful that things will change, Nichole still clings to the hope that Vanessa will come back to their friendship and be the best friend from high school that Nichole misses. When guy after guy doesn’t work out for her, Vanessa changes more and more of her personality to attract the right guy, drifting farther and farther from who she really is. Something’s gotta give and this story of how friendships get off track, lies become reality, and bad luck tails bad choices will bring you in and around the little town of Sarasota, Florida that you grew to love in book one of the series – Donuts in an Empty Field.

 

 

Book Review: The Soultakers (The Treemakers, #2) by Christina L. Rozelle

by in Book Review and tagged , , ,

The Soultakers (The Treemakers, #2) by Christina L. Rozelle

A Dystopian/Sci-Fi Adventure Novel published by A Spark in the Dark Press (12/03/14)

Summary:

Joy led the Treemaker children to the oasis, Zentao, in book one. They have settled in, but Joy is burdened with a terrible secret about the solace they thought they found and they must once again abandon this familiarity to find rest and freedom elsewhere.

 

Keywords:

Children, Orphans, Survival, Death, Exploration, Dystopian World, Polluted Air, Evil Intentions, AI, Motherliness, Help, Underground, Paradise, Fighting, Strength, Resilience, Spirit, Refuge, Power-Hungry, Keys, the Wall

My Review:

Joy is, once again, my favorite character. She is a hero and a mother to all the children. There is only one path for Joy in life, she must do or die trying and these are high stakes. Everything about Joy is exciting as she is solidly in the middle of a powerful adventure. Joy didn’t have to step up to be the hero, she already is everything a hero is, she is brave and willing to sacrifice to save those she loves. There are so many to save.

The villain in this book, book two of the series, is made more clear and given a visible personality and face. He is very evil. His depravity will make you cringe. He is stereotypical for a villain but made even more villainy and evil than your average bad guy who is power hungry and corrupt. The things he does in this book will make you shiver. Rozelle does a very good job of creating her villain and making him the most despicable person you’ve ever known.

The society in this book, Alzenei, is much like the Capitol in the Hunger Games, much like Lord Daumier the villain is like President Snow. There was a detail in the Treemakers that really made me cringe, almost as much as the despicable scenes with Joy and Daumier where he shows his true nature and how evil he is to the very core. I wish that beauty wasn’t the same in this future/dystopia as it is in present day, that there was a different possibility. Lord Daumier wants Joy to be blonde haired and blue eyed. For their ‘special night’ she must be beautified with no body hair, lots of makeup, plucked, primped, moisturized etc, dressed up. Why can’t beauty be something different in this society?

I thought the big ‘twist’ could have been layered in better as it was very abrupt and hard to handle reading such a different thing entirely in the middle of the book. You get entranced in the main story and continuation from book one, plunging down the rabbit hole of Joy’s life until suddenly, poof, you’re somewhere else entirely. This is not a twist, it’s a different book and almost different idea into the middle of the Soultakers and took some time to get used to.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review

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: 4.50

Links for more information:

Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/1HYTjRo
“The Rozelle Army” Mailing List: http://eepurl.com/68sS9
A Spark in the Dark Blog: http://bit.ly/1NmGJQl
A Spark in the Dark Facebook Page: http://on.fb.me/1JSEmWz
The Fansite of Christina L. Rozelle: http://christinalrozelle.com/
Twitter: Christina on Twitter (@CLRozelle)
Instagram: christina.l.rozelle

About the author:

Christina L. Rozelle

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/

Book Review: The Truth About Mud – A ‘Mangleblood Rose’ Story (A YA Fantasy Adventure Novelette) by Christina L. Rozelle

by in Book Review and tagged , ,

The Truth About Mud – A ‘Mangleblood Rose’ Story (A YA Fantasy Adventure Novelette) by Christina L. Rozelle

A Fantasy Novellette published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (01/19/15)

 

Summary:

“Oh crabapples, you’re the most atrocious troll I’ve ever seen in my life.” (Page 31).

Thistle has always wanted to cross the Mangleblood River, but as a troll and Mud she has been told not to. It isn’t until a crow steals her beloved nan’s medallion that she gathers the courage to defy her king and find a way across the river. Her friend Fane finds her as she searches for the way and joins her in the quest. Together they cross the river and find something so new that Thistle will lose herself temporarily in its shininess.

 

Keywords:

 Muds, Treasures, Kings, Journey, Magic, Fantasy, Gross, Breaking Orders, Independent, Friendship, Duty, Mascue, Femme, Different World

 

My Review:

There are a few themes touched upon in The Truth About Mud that are fascinating to read about in the context of a story about Trolls and Mud and a gross-out kind of environment that as humans we are entirely not used to. The world Rozelle builds is so unfamiliar to us that it is mesmerizing in its depth of uniqueness. The characters are Trolls and live a very different life than humans and Rozelle builds up their environment expertly to show how they live the way they do and what’s important to them in their world.

I found the ‘gender’ difference and the ‘species’ differences to be fascinating, especially as presented in a seemingly harmless fantasy world.

Mascues and Femmes I assume are similar to males and females as we would kind of know them in our human world. Mascues are masculine and tough, but also very gross and very troll-like. They train and are warriors. Femmes are feminine but also very gross and they have powers of enchantment. The author sticks with typical gender roles, but extends them beyond the norm for her world infested with boogers and mud and yucky things.

Treasures and Muds are two types of trolls that are separated by the Mangleblood river. The way Rozelle plays with stereotypes and prejudices of one species of troll with another almost mimics real world stereotyping.

This novel was published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform on January 19th, 2015 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.00

 

Links for more information:

Christina L. Rozelle’s Website

Twitter

Goodreads

Nano November: Week four in Review – Word count: 94,039

by in For the Love of Donuts, Local Authors, Local Events, NaNoWriMo, Rachel Barnard

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Total time spent: 8 hours and 50 minutes (530 minutes)

Total word count: 94,039 (30,262 in week 1 & 25,520 in week 2 &16,143 in week 3)

WIP Word Count Progress Reports:

The Optimist Sees the Donut – 43,591 words

The Pessimist Sees the Hole – 50,017 words

Café Connections (Aster & Tilde Book 1) – 64,136

Day 22: 11/22/15, Sunday

Location(s): NA

Noteworthy: I worked on Cafe Connections today. Will work on Donuts when I finish the first draft of this romance novel.

Money Spent: $0

Total time spent: 0 minutes

Total word count: 0 words

Day 23: 11/23/15, Monday

Location(s):

Noteworthy: I worked on Cafe Connections today. Will work on Donuts when I finish the first draft of this romance novel.

Money Spent: $0

Total time spent: 0 minutes

Total word count: 0 words

Day 24: 11/24/15, Tuesday

Location(s):

Noteworthy: I worked on Cafe Connections today. Will work on Donuts when I finish the first draft of this romance novel.

Money Spent: $0

Total time spent: 0 minutes

Total word count: 0 words

Day 25: 11/25/15, Wednesday

Location(s):

○ Early at work 7:30AM-8AM, 2063 words

○ After work 5PM-5:20PM, 1195 words

○ AFK in Renton 6:00PM-7:30PM. 4810 words

Noteworthy: Even though I’d spent a week off from writing this book, I was able to pick it right back up fresh in the morning

Money Spent: $16.14 on Sell Out Sliders and a wonderful artisan tea at the AFK

Total time spent: 2 hours and 20 minutes

Total word count: 8,068 words

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Day 26: 11/26/15, Thursday

Location(s):

○ At home 10:15AM-12:00PM, 4133 words

Total time spent: 1 hour and 45 minutes

Total word count: 4,133 words

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Day 27: 11/27/15, Friday

Location(s):

○ At home 9:45PM-10:00PM, 600 words

Total time spent: 15 minutes

Total word count: 600 words

Day 28: 11/28/15, Saturday

Location(s):

○ At home 10AM-10:15AM, 600 words

○ Neverending Bookstore 12:15PM-3PM, 3600 words

○ At home 4:20PM-4:50PM, 2566 words

○ St James Espresso 6:40PM-7:40PM, 2548 words

Noteworthy: I was pushing to finish the Pessimist Sees the Hole and worked hard to get to 50k in that book.

Money Spent: $3.23 for the special pumpkin white chocolate mocha from Brew in downtown Bothell and $3 ish for tea from St. James

Total time spent: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Total word count: 9,314 words

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