Book Reviews: GUARDIAN and STARCROSSED

I know I've been totally MIA lately, but there are reasons! And I promise to update you all soon :) In the meantime, I thought I'd share my thoughts on two books (well, one is technically a Novelette) I recently finished reading.

Guardian by Rachel Morgan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I downloaded this for free and read it without knowing exactly what to expect. I follow Rachel Morgan's blog so I knew she was a talented writer, but didn't know much about Creepy Hollow. And I have to say - I loved it!

The writing was clean, the plot was fun and engaging, the dialogue witty and real, and I completely connected to her characters. The world-building was seamlessly natural and a unique take on the land of fairies. The only negative thing that can be said about this was that it was too short and I was sorry I didn't already have the next installment downloaded when I came to the end of GUARDIAN - I'll definitely be continuing on with this series and can only recommend it.


Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is a tough review to write because there was a point in the book where I nearly stopped reading and had to push my way through. The entire middle really dragged for me and felt drawn out - it was obvious where things were going and it felt like the author was delaying to up the word count, imo. I also had a hard time connecting to the style of writing and was bothered by the narrative distance and telling going on. I think this is probably a direct result of not being drawn into the story because if I had been, I wouldn't have been noticing all the smaller, nit-picky things I did notice.

After I pulled through that rocky middle though, the story really took off! The plot had me completely engaged and I either stopped noticing the aspects of the writing style which had previously bothered me, or they disappeared as the author found her groove - I'd have to re-read to be sure. And now, I have a dilemma. You see, I read a version with extended material, and the excerpt from the second book really hooked me. BUT, if I had known about the huge middle portion of the first book, I wouldn't have chosen to read it. I actually wish I'd just read the end of the first book and started right into the second.

View all my reviews

Moa Blog Tour and Excerpt

I'm participating in the blog tour for Moa, a paranormal YA with a literary bent, and get to share an excerpt with you! :)

First, a little about the book, its sequel, and the author:

About Moa: Eighteen-year-old, Hillary, anticipates adventure as she embarks for trip to Honolulu, but gets more than she bargained for when Moa, an ancient Hawaiian spirit, pays her an unexpected visit. Get it on Amazon.

About Statue of Ku:  The second book in the Moa Book Series, “The Statue of Ku” follows Hillary and Moa as they jet to Egypt on the Prince’s private plane to reclaim Moa’s family heirloom, the inimitable statue of Ku. Get it on Amazon.

About the author: Tricia Stewart Shiu combines her addiction to the written word with her avid interest in the healing arts and all things metaphysical in her novels Moa and Statue of Ku and looks forward to finding new ways to unite her two loves. Visit Tricia on her website, Twitter, Facebook, or GoodReads.

And now, the excerpt (let me know what you think in the comments - are you hooked?):

Eighteen-year-old, Hillary Hause’s left thumb searches frantically to turn on the “I’m Okay to Fly” hypnotherapy recording. Her nerves on edge, fuchsia fingernails press into the blue pleather armrests of her airplane seat.

“No spells can help you now,” she whispers to herself under her breath—then checks to see if anyone notices. Nope, they don’t.

The plane lifts through the early morning, gray fog of California, “June Gloom” giving way to the azure sky, and Hillary covers her curly brown head and retreats beneath the questionably clean plane blanket cranking the volume to drown out the drone of the engines.

“Outer shell close to breaking.” This time she doesn’t care if anyone hears.

I hover just beyond her “outer shell”—a movement in the periphery, a faintly familiar scent, a fond memory just beyond recognition, a non-human observer. Before the week is up, Hillary will save my life, as I will hers. But, for now, more about Hillary.

The drink cart rolls past the blanket, which has, by now become a moist steamy cave.

“Hey, freak. I hope your plane crashes.” The memory reverberates through her brain despite her attempts to distract herself with the hypnotherapy recording. She increases the volume, but the ugly conversation, which occurred just before school ended, still haunts her mind.

“I guess the only people they check on those flights are the suspicious ones,” Krystal Sykes, a bully from her home room, leans in as Hillary hastens to grab books for her next class. Krystal, also a senior, has hounded Hillary since the first day of freshman year and this is the final day during the final hour at this tiny high school of 376 students —where everyone knows everyone else’s business.

“Look, Krystal.” Hillary turns her eyes toward the sneering blonde. “It’s the last day of school, we’ll never see each other again. Can you give it a rest?” These are the most words the two young women have exchanged in the entire four years of high school.

A look of shock replaces Krystal’s smug snick, “Oh, so now you talk.” She leans in, so close that her spray tan becomes a patchy Impressionist painting. Her pores are blotched with cakey, two shades too dark powder, her unblended cream eyeshadow creases across the center of her lid and her tropical breeze flavored breath threatens to strangle the words right out of Hillary.

“I know all about your witchcraft practices and have made a few spells of my own. Trust me. You’ll never make it to your sister’s house in Hawaii.” Krystal’s backpack jingles and Hillary watches her spin around and skip down the hall.

Hillary is not a witch. She has, however, carefully crafted a “shell” to protect herself from bullies like Krystal—who, as far as Hillary can tell—is not a witch either. She has watched Krystal throughout elementary, middle and high school and has not been able to discern whether or not she practices witchcraft. No matter what Krystal’s background, her intent is to harm. And there is nothing worse than a spell with an aim to hurt. Hillary has had no choice but to remain in a constant state of defensiveness.

The twenty-minute recording ends and Hillary falls into a troubled sleep—feeling every bump and hearing every creak of the plane.

With about an hour left in the flight, Hillary awakens with a “turtle headache.” Hillary’s older sister Molly taught her this term which means a headache caused by sleeping too long underneath the covers of one’s bed.

Sadly, Molly lost her husband, Steve, last year in an unfortunate surfing accident. The throbbing pain in Hillary’s left temple could be the result of remaining submerged beneath an airplane blanket and wedged between the window and armrest, or it could be from worry about how Molly and her niece, Heidi are dealing with their devastating loss.

Disoriented, Hillary pokes her head out just in time to glimpse puffy clouds and sparkling sea below. A flood of excitement and sheer wonder flows through Hillary in the form of a tingle from her head to her toes. And then, a lovely thought:  “…And for an Everlasting Roof, The Gambrels of the Sky…” She will enjoy this plane ride, thanks in part to Emily Dickinson.

As part of this special promotional extravaganza sponsored by Novel Publicity, the price of the Moa and Statue of Ku eBook editions have both been dropped to just 99 cents this week. What’s more, by purchasing either of these fantastic books at an incredibly low price, you can enter to win many awesome prizes. The prizes include $600 in Amazon gift cards, a Kindle Fire, and 5 autographed copies of each book.

All the info you need to win one of these amazing prizes is RIGHT HERE. Remember, winning is as easy as clicking a button or leaving a blog comment–easy to enter; easy to win!

To win the prizes:

1. Purchase your copies of Moa and Statue of Ku for just 99 cents
2. Enter the Rafflecopter contest on Novel Publicity
3. Visit today’s featured social media event

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Road Trip Wednesday

This Week's Topic: What was the best book you read in May?
Road Trip Song of the Week: "Paradise City" by Guns N' Roses

I only read two books in May, Insurgent and Evermore, and I gave them both 4 out of 5 stars. And since they were both so different but equally enjoyable, I'm  going to cheat and pick them both! Here are the reviews I wrote for Goodreads:

Insurgent by Veronica Roth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book and it was a quick read! The writing was smooth and polished and not a word was wasted, allowing me to completely immerse myself in the story and never reminding me that I was actually reading. Veronica Roth is a very talented writer!

But...maybe that also means that I hold her stories to higher standards than I would hold other stories. And I have to say, there were some things about Insurgent that I didn't like. The pacing was too intense, imo. I felt slammed with plot point after plot point and didn't have a moment to catch my breath and really think about what had just happened and what it meant before the next bit of action was thrown at me. This might actually be a point of praise for other readers, but for me, Divergent set up this amazing world full of possibilities and I was looking forward to really digging deeper into the world in Insurgent. We did get a look at the other factions in Insurgent, but the surface was just scratched before moving on to the next faction of society and the depth we got with Dauntless in Divergent was missing.

That being said, I still honestly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the next in the series!


Evermore by Alyson Noel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. At first, I wasn't sure where exactly things were heading and was worried that this was going to be a Twilight rehash - but it wasn't! And I was so relieved (don't get me wrong, I love Twilight. But it can never be redone, imo). The unique take on the immortal + mortal love story was a lot of fun, the pacing was perfect (nice and quick), and the writing was smooth and never pulled me out of the story. Still though, the overall story structure and plot seemed familiar and that held be back from giving this all 5 stars.

View all my reviews

What about you? What was the best book(s) you read in May?

Road Trip Wednesday

This Week's Topic: What Faction Are You?
In honor of our Bookmobile Book of the Month, Veronica Roth's INSURGENT, we want to know which of the five factions in the DIVERGENT series would you choose? Here's a great breakdown of the five factions, and if you're on the fence, you can even take the quiz for a hint!
And don't forget that Veronica Roth will be answering your questions in a live chat on YA Highway next Tuesday, May 29!
Road Trip Song of the Week: "My Kind of People" by Cee-Lo Green  Next week’s topic: What writing conference(s) would you love to go to?  

This week's topic is just perfect since I'm in the middle of Insurgent right now! After finishing Divergent, I actually took the faction quiz and came up with Erudite. Since this topic is about which faction I would choose though, I'm going to have to say none.

I'd choose to be divergent. In my opinion, allowing any one personality trait or perspective to totally dominate the person you are isn't really natural and isn't beneficial to anyone. There are times to be selfless, but there are also times to put yourself first just as there are times to look at a problem scientifically and times to allow empathy and emotion to influence the way the problem is dealt with. Sometimes, keeping the truth to yourself to spare someone's feelings can be the right thing to do too. And I certainly don't feel brave or particularly peaceful all the time.

In my opinion, it all depends on the circumstance, and behaving in a certain way all the time, despite the circumstance, just doesn't make sense.

What do you think? Do you think a person really can be defined by a single faction? Do you think it makes sense to strive to be selfless (or intelligent, brave, peaceful, honest) all the time? Or is there a time and place for even the more peaceful person to protest and take up arms (for example)?

The Writer's Voice Entry: DAUGHTER OF THE MOON

The Writer’s Voice” is a multi-blog, multi-agent contest hosted by Cupid of Cupid's Literary Connection, Brenda Drake of Brenda Drake Writes, Monica B.W. of Love YA, and Krista Van Dolzer of Mother. Write. (Repeat.). It is based on NBC’s singing reality show The Voice, so the four hosts will serve as coaches and select projects for their teams based on queries and first pages.

I made it into the first submission period which was today at 9:00am EDT. There is another submission period tonight at 9:00pm EDT via the Linky on any of the four hosting blogs - so if you haven't entered already, get your clicking finger warmed up (you'll need the link to your blog and your name ready to enter the linky)!

Here's my entry (wish me luck and here's to hoping one of the judges will select DAUGHTER OF THE MOON for the next round):

Query:
Seventeen-year-old Selina Kane always knew she was different, but never imagined she was last-living-necromancer different. Not until she starts speaking the language of the Underworld and visiting Acherusian Lake in her dreams. And then Blake storms into her life, claiming to be her bonded protector and making her blush and stumble over her words. Blake warns Selina about Ciara, queen of the undead. Ciara has gained ground in the world of the living, and it isn’t a secret that she feels threatened by Selina’s return.

Before long, the undead attack and Selina watches helplessly through the only spell she can conjure – a protective shield – as Blake is dragged away in her place. Selina assumes the undead have murdered him and she turns to the necromantic powers she hardly knows how to use, risking her life to search for Blake in the Underworld. But Selina doesn’t find his soul resting peacefully in Acherusian Lake. Blake’s been transformed into one of the undead, and the guards of the Underworld expect her to find and destroy him.

Selina doesn’t care what the guards’ idea of her duty as a necromancer is; she’s determined to get Blake back in one piece. There is one spell, one that would save Blake’s soul, but she’d have to kill him to use it, and worse, transform him into a ferryman for the Underworld. There may be other ways to save him though, if she's willing to make dark alliances with the undead. Selina knows she shouldn’t, but with Blake’s life in jeopardy, the line between good and evil starts to blur.

DAUGHTER OF THE MOON: ACHERUSIAN BOUND is a YA Urban Fantasy complete at 53,000 words and will appeal to readers of both Garth Nix and Lauren Kate. It is a stand-alone novel with series potential.

First 250 Words:

Selina was probably the only seventeen-year-old with her own burial plot, and once a year, she looked forward to nothing as much as visiting her grave.

“I can give you a ride to school today, if you want. Since it’s your birthday,” Jess said, jingling the keys to the old Chrysler she’d inherited from Grandpa last summer.

“Thanks, Sis, but actually, I want to visit my mother on the way so I’ll just ride my bike.”

“We can stop at the cemetery on the way home,” Jess offered.

“I’d rather go now.” She would have already been at the cemetery a minute past midnight, if she’d dared.

“Yeah, sure. No problem. See you tonight,” Jess said. Her eyes were full of understanding and Selina turned away to hide the shame creeping into her face. Selina and Jess, like all of their brothers and sisters, had been adopted. But Jess had been thirteen when her parents died, Selina had been an infant. Using the loss of a mother she barely even remembered with someone like Jess was wrong, and Selina knew it. But she had to get to the cemetery before the wild roses covering her grave bloomed.

Her hands shook with excitement as she pulled her bike out of the side yard and closed the gate behind her. She jumped onto the saddle and pedaled down the driveway as fast as she could. Every moment spent on the road was one moment in which her roses might bloom without her.

Road Trip Wednesday

This Week's Topic: What IRL people can you talk to about YA?
The internet is a smiling sea of writers, editors, book bloggers and other people who spend blog post after tweet espousing YA knowledge. But who can you call in your family to recommend the newest Sara Zarr? Anyone around the watercooler psyched that Bitterblue is finally out? Who are your in-real-life YA buddies?
Road Trip Song of the Week: “You Understand me" by Sam Cooke 
Wow, it's been awhile since I've been able to participate in a RTW, but now that the A-Z challenge is over, I'm back :) And here's my answer to this week's topic:
I don't really have a real-life YA buddy. I do have friends who read a bit of YA, but none who are really as psyched about it as I am. And certainly none who are up-to-date or are psyched for what's coming out next. On the other hand, my friends do come to me for reading recommendations (and not just for YA) and I love being able to take their interests into consideration and really think about a book I know they'll love - and then (hopefully) be able to talk to them about it once they're done. In the end, I'm not sure I need a IRL YA conversation partner - there's such a huge online community and I love being able to interact with other readers and writers via Goodreads, blogs, and writer websites.
What about you? Do you have real-life YA buddies? And if not, do you feel like you're missing something? Or does the online community fill your need to talk YA?

Y is for Young Adult

There are so many writers trying their hand at young adult right now (just check the Absolute Write YA Forum) and since I'm one of them, it's not hard for me to see why. There's something special about YA, something magical. Whether I'm reading it or writing it, it's like I'm finally able to legitimately explore all of those intense feelings I had as a teenager without some adult dismissing me and telling me I'll get over it when I grow up. Because as a teenager, nothing seemed as important as everything. Nearly every decision was life-or-death, and it wasn't an exaggeration. It was simply the way it was. And sometimes, I kind of miss that. Don't get me wrong though, I certainly don't mind being able to jump into that mindset and then step away again when it's exhausted me and I've had enough (that's something I definitely couldn't do as a teenager).

Ilima Todd had a wonderful post today for Y (yearning) which sums up that feeling in YA that I love to remember and love to recreate.


Jenny Kaczorowski had an interesting post last week, asking writers to take a minute to consider who they write for and it really got me thinking about why I choose to write YA. To be honest, I didn't really choose - it chose me. If you primarily read or write YA, why did you make that choice?


Once the decision has been made to write YA, it's not enough to just sit down and write that teenage story that's been bouncing around your head for the past x number of years. YA has it's very own guidelines, some amazingly concrete, and they need to be followed. So which are the rules which can't be ignored? As far as I can tell:

1) age of the MC (14 - 17)
2) POV (first person or a super close third)
3) voice or perspective (it has to be the way a teen views/understands the world)
4) word count (50,000 to 90,000 - but of course, there are always exceptions. Just don't expect your MS to be one of them)

Other sources might argue that language and theme also come into play here, but I don't necessarily agree. To me, there's no topic that can't be covered in YA, it's just the approach (which comes down to voice and perspective) which needs to be adapted accordingly. Here are some additional viewpoints on what makes a manuscript/story YA:


Young Adult Novel Guidelines
Six Tips for Writing YA Novels
Top Ten Tips for Writing YA
Writing YA fiction for Dummies

And here are the opinions of some YA authors on YA and why they write it:


Writing YA versus Adult fiction - What's the Difference? by Susan Dennard (SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY)
10 Reasons Why I Write YA by Emlyn Chand (FARSIGHTED)
Challenges of Writing YA by Kait Nolan (RED)


So what do you think? Is there a pillar of YA, a golden rule, that I missed? What are the ultimate guidelines which can not be broken for you? And why do you write/read YA?

B is for Backstory

Backstory is a tricky thing - without it, the reader is lost and can't make sense of current events. Too much of it and the pacing stalls. The reader might even put the book down. So, where's the balance? I'm still figuring that out myself, but one thing I'm sure of (at least for Young Adult) is that backstory does not belong in the first chapter.

I'm the type of writer who thinks a lot about a new story, but doesn't start writing anything down (other than a general story arc) until chapter 1. And what I've learned about my technique, is that chapter 1 should pretty much be deleted from the manuscript. But that's okay. Writing that chapter wasn't a waste - I wrote it for myself, to get my bearings in a new world and to solidify the characters and the voice.

Once I've deleted chapter 1, I go through chapter 2 and highlight any backstory. I analyze each line to determine whether or not the reader would still understand what's going on if the backstory was removed and if so, it gets cut. Then, I create a new document to put that cut backstory in for possible future reintegration. In the end, there might be one or two lines of backstory in chapter 2 (which now becomes chapter 1), but there won't be any flashbacks, or summaries of past events.

Also, if I get feedback from CPs or Betas about a slow chapter, I use the same method of highlighting the backstory to see if that might be the problem - if I haven't made the reader care about the backstory, then it will slow everything down and it really doesn't belong in the MS.

Here is a super helpful blog post on How to Write Backstory without Putting the Reader to Sleep

How do you deal with backstory in your writing?

Road Trip Wednesday

This Week's Topic:

What was the best book you read in March? 

Road Trip Song of the Week:

(because I'm pure evil and if this song got stuck in my head I shall make sure it's in yours too!)

"I Like it Like That" by Hot Chelle Rae

I'm going to have to go with a book I haven't technically finished - but I'm one train ride to and from work away from "the end", and tomorrow is still March, so I'm going to count it. I won it on Larissa's blog and actually just started reading it yesterday, but it's a really fast read :) 

It's one of those books that isn't breaking any new territory, and doesn't make you think terribly hard to see where things are going, but it's still a great story and keeps me turning the pages. And it made me realize something - a book doesn't have to have a mind-boggling, never-been-seen-before concept or style or "something" to be a great book. I keep seeing really cool ideas get shot down because they aren't unique enough or they sound too familiar. But MATCHED proves that "uniqueness" isn't really as important as having a great story, one that people are drawn to and want to follow until the end. 

And you know, sometimes it's nice to pick up a book that doesn't seem so concerned with doing something "new" or "different". MATCHED (so far - but I'm alllmoostt done) is a dystopian romance with a typical love triangle and a very familiar future "feel" to it. Nothing new there. But the story itself belongs to the characters, and even if they might be a bit stereotypical, they're still unique. It's like settling down to watch a romantic comedy - you pretty much know what you're signing up for and if you like romcoms, then chances are you're going to like this one. 

What was the best book you read in March?

Bologna Recap

Yesterday was the last day of the Bologna Children's Book Fair in Italy. The book fair was a place where publishing professionals met up to buy and sell copyright and to discuss the latest trends.


The fair isn't a place for aspiring authors. It isn't even a place for published authors, unless they're invited. But that doesn't mean there isn't anything for us to learn from it! I followed the #Bologna12 twitter hashtag over the past few days and wanted to share the more exciting information revealed by agents and editors.

1) Trends in Young Adult ("melty" romance, fractured fairy tales, thrillers)

Sarah Davies ‏ @SarahGreenhouse

Wanted - 'melty' romance at heart of YA. Melty is our new go-to word. Make us melt! #Bologna12

Shelley Watters ‏ @Shelley_Watters

Hey, look at that! :D RT @Ginger_Clark #bologna12 tendwatch part 2: people want fairy tale retellings. And again, want more ya thrillers.

jennifer laughran ‏ @literaticat

My fave pitches of the day: "It's like Jason Bourne for teenagers. In the future. In space." and "Faeries...with benefits." #bologna12

2) Middle Grade is picking up steam, in a big way:

Sarah Davies ‏ @SarahGreenhouse

A LOT of folks seeking Middle Grade! Quality but great premise.#Bologna12

Ginger Clark ‏ @Ginger_Clark

#bologna12 trendwatch, part1: the uk wants middle grade more than in previous years. As do other markets.

Jennifer Weltz JVNLA ‏ @JVNLA

#Bologna12 was a great fair in a beautiful city. Many left our table w/a big reading list! Delighted to see the shift to Middle Grade books.

And then there was this (yikes!):

Ginger Clark ‏ @Ginger_Clark

To the authors who keep wandering the agents centre looking for representation--approaching agents at #bologna12 isn't the way to do it.

So if you are currently writing (or querying) a melty YA romance, YA thriller, YA fractured fairy tale, or anything MG - this is your time :)


The next big fair for publishing is the London Book Fair from April 16th - 18th. It will be interesting to see if the trends from the Bologna book fair are confirmed or if new ones emerge.