Book Review #34: Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith

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Apparently the end of the world will happen in the Midwest. More specifically the end of the world will happen in Iowa. Andrew Smith's novel, Grasshopper Jungle, is set in a fictional town in Iowa and is told from the point of view of a teenage boy, Austin, who only really thinks about two things...food and sex. So if you are easily offended, you may want to avoid this book because there is an awful lot about sex that some people might find offensive. "You know what I mean."

I liked Grasshopper Jungle. More specifically, I liked Austin Szerba, the historian. I admired Austin's observations about history and how he is connected to it. Austin shares a lot of his family history and the history of the inhabitants of his hometown in an effort to show how everything in the universe is connected.

"...I knew my accounts were ultimately nothing more than an abbreviation. ... But no historian could ever put everything that happened in a book. The book would be as big as the universe, and it would take multiple countless lifetimes to read. History necessarily had to be an abbreviation." page 67

I wasn't so much a fan of Austin Szerba, the sexually confused teen. After a while, I became annoyed with Austin's and Robby's, his best friend, constant smoking, fowl language and bad attitudes. Perhaps that is a sign I am old. I just wanted Austin "to figure it out." However, I have never questioned my sexual orientation so I recognize that it is a little unreasonable for me to be asking a fictional teenager to just figure it out and get on with it.

Grasshopper Jungle is an apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic science fiction novel that doesn't take itself too seriously. There were many laugh out loud moments for me. While the future may look bleak and may involve Unstoppable Giant Praying Mantises that are very hungry and very horny, it reminded me that even in the bleakest and most confusing situations laughter can be the best medicine. Grasshopper Jungle receives a thumbs up.

Book Review #33 + Book Tour with Giveaway: The Ærenden Series by Kristen Taber

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The Ærenden Series by Kristen Taber starts out as a slow burn and then quickly takes off into a raging wild fire. I was happy to be given the chance to read the first three books in this series back-to-back. I think if I had reviewed only book one, I would not have given it a very favorable review.

The first book, The Child Returns, moved a little slow for my taste. When the book starts, the characters clearly have a history that started before page one of the book and Meaghan has these mysterious dreams. Those elements are tantalizing, but little is revealed as Meaghan and Nick make their way from Earth to and through Ærenden and the end of book one. This left me feeling frustrated and a bit disappointed as I felt I didn't learn a lot about the characters, the World and what role everyone was supposed to be playing. Thankfully, book two was waiting in the wings.

Book two, The Gildonae Alliance, picks up the pace. More is revealed about Ærenden, Nick's and Meaghan's role in the politics and lots of prophesies. The role of Seers and Dreamers in Ærenden was intriguing to me. They dole out the prophesies and dreams that tell the future of the realm and the people in it. The characters in the stories react to these differently. Some characters choose to let them rule their lives and other seek to change them. The dreams and prophesies drive the action in the story forward. Book two ended in a bit of a cliffhanger and once again, the next book in the series was waiting for me on my Nook.

Book one was a slow burn, book two the flames were starting to get fanned by the wind and then in book three, The Zeiihbu Master, everything comes to head and the wild fire takes off. When you reach the last page, the flames are out of control and if you are anything like me you'll tweet your frustration as Taber leaves the storyline wide open, your mind and heart reeling.

I am giving The Ærenden Series by Kristen Taber a thumbs up. While the pacing in the first book is slow, keep with it as the pace picks up in books two and three as more is revealed about the characters, the World they live in and how the prophesies and dreams lead them down dangerous paths in hopes of creating peace. I am very much looking forward to book 4!

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About the Author
Born in Bangor, Maine, author Kristen Taber spent her childhood at the feet of an Irish storytelling grandfather, learning to blend fact with fiction and imagination with reality. She lived within the realm of the tales that captivated her, breathing life into characters and crafting stories even before she could read. Those stories have since turned into over a hundred poems, several short tales, and five manuscripts in both the Young Adult and Adult genres. Currently, Ms. Taber is completing the five-part Ærenden series from her home office in the suburbs of Washington D.C.
Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

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Giveaway:
$20 Amazon Gift Card (INT)
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I received Advanced Reader Copies in exchange for a honest review.

Book Review #32: The Luthier's Apprentice by Mayra Calvani

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I was so excited about The Luthier's Apprentice by Mayra Calvani. The blurb for the book and the cover really caught my eye. I know about Beethoven and Mozart because I played piano when I was younger. So I ventured over to Wikipedia to learn a little about Niccolò Paganini on Wikipedia. And this bit of information caught my eye.

...his widely rumored association with the devil, the Church denied his body a Catholic burial in Genoa.

Ooo, this is gonna be a good one, I thought. Unfortunately, I'm sad to report that The Luthier's Apprentice is not a good one. I don't want to go into too much detail as I don't want to spoil the book for anyone who may want to read it.



Here's a short list of the reasons I did not like The Luthier's Apprentice.

1. The chapter breaks come at the most awkward moments. I think the author wanted to create tension a la Dan Brown, but failed to do anything except make me ask, Why is the chapter ending here?
2. The villain's motivations are not clearly explained and neither is the family curse.
• The characters all seemed to get it, but as a reader, I felt left out in the cold because the reveals happened in such a haphazard fashion, and I had to go hunting for the crumbs.
3. Too many complicated backstories.
• Every character had a complicated backstory which lead to awkward conversations and awkward situations. Every action and reaction needed an explanation and as a result, the true motivations of the characters got muddied and muddled leading to confusion and a lack of strength in the plot. Heck, maybe there were just too many characters when all is said and done.
• In turn, because every thing about every character had been shared, the characters did exactly what you expected them to do. There is no mystery to their actions. You could see it happen before they acted/reacted.

Unfortunately, The Luthier's Apprentice by Mayra Calvani receives a thumbs down despite my initial excitement about the cover and its blurb. The idea had a lot of potential, but, for me, the author was unable to follow through. The result was a clunky mystery novel that left me feeling flat and disappointed.

Book Review #30: Shattered Veil (The Diatous Wars #1) by Tracy E. Banghart

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I was very excited to receive an Advanced Readers Copy of Shattered Veil by Tracy E. Banghart. The story really sucked me in once I started reading it and I didn't want to put it down. I enjoyed the story of Aris from start to finish and I think there is a little bit of Aris in all of us young and old.

While Shattered Veil on the surface may seem very superficial--a young girl bucks the system to follow her true love--Aris doesn't necessarily take the path one might suspect or that might seem predictable based on other young adult novels out there. My favorite thing about Aris is that she was willing to examine herself at almost every step of her journey and recognize that things needed to change--either herself or the world around her. She challenged my own thoughts about how one goes about affecting change in the world.

While this is just an introductory book in the series, it doesn't get bogged down in the details. You learn a bit about the world, Atalanta, and its villages and how the war is affecting them. There are few key players that are involved in the plot and just enough is shared with the reader to keep the plot moving forward with a whisper of a history that existed before one opened the pages of Shattered Veil. I particularly wanted to know more about Dianthe and Nyx. There is something there and just for a moment you think you'll learn more and then the story moves on.

“Allow? Shouldn't women decide what they'll allow for their own bodies, not a government acting out an antiquated, unnecessary law?”

On a deeper level, I wonder if Banghart has some strong opinions on women's rights. There are a few quotes, like the one above, that seem very pointed toward the government and their roles in directing how a woman should/should not use her body. It made me think about recent stories in the news about birth control as well as a woman's role in the military. The statements are bold, they fit within the scope of the story, but if you are up on current events, it is easy to see a correlation between the story and the real world.

I give Shattered Veil by Tracy E. Banghart a thumbs up. I love Aris and the world of Atalanta. The book takes you on a wild, unexpected journey that keeps you moving forward until you get to the very end. I look forward to the next book in the series and hope to learn more about where Aris goes next AND a bit more about Dianthe and Nyx.

Rewind Review #03: Paper Valentine by Brenna Yavanoff

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Original Review posted to GoodReads.
Read from June 15 to June 18, 2013.

I'm a bit torn about this novel. The writing is the superb and the main plot about a young girl trying to find herself after the death of her best friend is engaging. It's the secondary plot about the child murdered that leaves a bit to be desired. As Brenna Yovanoff allows Hannah to learn the true personalities of her friends and create a new definition of who she is as person, the serial killer plot fades into the distance. When it comes time to end the book, the resolution of the who-done-it plot leaves a bit to be desired and the revelation of the murder seems forced as not enough is known about that person and their involvement in the rest of the story.

Yovanoff is solid writer. There is just too much going on with the main character that left me with disappointed with the reveal.

Book Tour Interview: Keeper (The Morphid Chronicles #1) by Ingrid Seymour

For them, free will is a luxury . . .
Keeper by Ingrid Seymour
400 pages

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It's just 99 cents!

Today's I'm happy to host Ingrid Seymour, author of the Morphid Chronicles, here at Second Run Reviews. Ingrid loves, loves, loves to write. She’s a young and new adult author. She writes in a variety of genres including romance, urban fantasy, paranormal and horror. She loves pizza and sushi, Sunkist and gum. She believes in vampires, witches, but not zombies (uh-uh, never!) She writes to loud music, daydreams constantly and spends too much time on Twitter!! Ingrid has incredible fun doing what she does, but more than anything she enjoys hearing from her readers. It’s a dream come true.

For more information about Ingrid, please visit:
Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Google Plus | Twitter | Pinterest |

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Second Run Review's Question: When I read Keeper I was enthralled with the Morphids. A secret species that develops special skills during their teenage years. The story is focused around 3 Morphids who are coming of age. What inspired you to create Morphids?

Ingrid's Answer: Well, I was thinking about Monarch butterflies one day and how they go from ugly caterpillars to such beautiful creatures. Then the thought crossed my mind: “what if we could go through a metamorphosis, too?” And voilà, that was all it took. All my book ideas seem to come from random thoughts like this. My mind is a very weird place. LOL!

Second Run Review's Question: I know there's you must do other things than come up with cool ideas like Morphids and write about them so other than writing, what do you like to do in your spare time?

Ingrid's Answer: I like to read (no surprise there :) I also enjoy cooking, working out and especially spending time with my family. I have 2 amazing kids and an equally amazing husband. #SoLucky

Second Run Review's Question: Ah, of course, you are a reader as well as a writer! What would you say are your top 3 reads or favorite authors if it is too hard to pick JUST 3 books?

Ingrid's Answer: Lately, I’ve been in love with Laini Taylor and her Daughter of Smoke and Bone series. She is very talented and a huge inspiration. I also admire Stephen King and Neil Sushterman.

Second Run Review's Question: Reading has played a big role in my life. I remember key moments when a book touched me and changed my life. What is your best writing or reading memory?

Ingrid's Answer: Definitely the day I received an email from an editor at Harper Voyager letting me know that they wanted to publish my novel, Ignite The Shadows (August 2015), I blinked at the monitor several times before I screamed and startled everyone. Dreams don’t come true every day. That day, for me, one huge one did.

Second Run Review's Question: Oh, new book next year?! Exciting! And congratulations! Everyone should add that to their to-read list now. While we are eagerly awaiting Ignite the Shadows, perhaps you have some advice for aspiring authors and your fans?

Ingrid's Answer: Whatever dream you have, believe that it is possible. Before attaining anything, we have be able to believe we can accomplish it. If we don’t think we can reach our hearts desire, how would we ever take the first step?

Second Run Review's Closing: Excellent advice, Ingrid. I appreciate you granting me an interview here at Second Run Reviews. I look forward to promoting Keeper and maybe even your next novel Ignite the Shadows. Good luck with this book tour and I wish you all the best with your new book and in future endeavors.

Keeper Volume 1 is available on Amazon.com for 99 cents. You also purchase Volumes 2, 3 and 4! Grab them today and let me know your thoughts in comments.

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Giveaway
$25 Amazon Gift Card (INT)
signed paperback of Keeper & Bracelet (US)
Prizing provided by the author
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Book Review #29: Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

I'll admit I had pretty high expectations for Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige. You see, I'm a HUGE fan of The Wizard of Oz. It's one of those movies I've been obsessed with since I was a kid. And when I worked at The Warner Brothers Studio Store back in the summer of 1997 in the Twin Cities, my obsession was heightened because at the time it was a Warner Brothers property. There were key chains and watches and fancy pens! OH MY! Somewhere in a box, I have the 2-disc soundtrack stashed away with the liner notes I poured over to know that Shirley Temple was considered for the role of Dorothy and at one point Judy's hair was blonde. Needless to say I'm a bit of an Ozian nut.

I really struggled with Dorothy Must Die and perhaps I should have abandoned the novel. But, I kept reading hoping to connect with Amy or Dorothy or anyone really and by the time I reached the end of the book, I came up empty handed and confused. Amy Gumm, the main character, was the whiniest character I've ever encountered in quite a while. It seemed like every time something went wrong or she didn't know the answer it was all "WOE IS ME!" Perhaps after a couple years of encountering characters like Katniss and Tris, I am starting to expect more from my heroines and expect them to be more resourceful in the face of adversity.

It appears there are a lot of political factions at play in Oz. Each faction thinks they have the right solution to the problem. However, no one takes the time to fill Amy in on why they are fighting, what they have at stake and why their solution is the best solution. No wonder poor Amy doesn't know who to trust or who to side with! And the biggest question for me, as a reader, how did Dorothy get so powerful in the first place? Did she just waltz into the Emerald City one day and say, "Hey! I'm in charge."? What triggered her obsession with magic? Why is she addicted? Amy tries to match the magic addiction back to her mother's drug addiction. However, since the cause of Amy's mother's addiction is never fully explained, the connection fails.

There was one laugh out loud moment for me in the novel towards the end when Amy confronts Dorothy.

"There must be some mistake," I said as I rushed toward her, my shoulder lowered. "You're the bitch. I'm the witch."

I would like this quote on a t-shirt, please.

For me, I didn't learn enough about the characters and their reasons for fighting to care if Dorothy really must be killed to save Oz. Certainly the devastation in Oz was atrocious, but it was my imaginary Oz that was destroyed, not Paige's. There was little description of Oz, either the Hollywood version or the Baum version or Paige's own Oz. That coupled with no explanation of the players who have a stake in the revolution and the lack of character development left the book flat for me. Sadly, Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige gets a thumbs down.

Buy on from Amazon.com

Cover Reveal: The Summer Sacrifice by Holly Hinton

Today we are excited to share the cover process via images and the final cover for the middle grade fantasy The Summer Sacrifice by Holly Hinton.  The book is scheduled for release on June 21st, 2014.

The cover artist has provided us with the images to show the process of creating the cover.

 These three concept images were the first pictures David created for The Summer Sacrifice. Thumbnail A evoked the atmosphere of a mysterious fantasy, B gave the impression of a teenage classic, and C was more poetic in tone. Holly settled on a mixture of A and B as the basis for David to start constructing the final cover.

These drawings were 'speed-painted' by David. They are rough in nature as their purpose was to help decide the cover's general colour scheme.

David drew a detailed sketch of the friendship group. He used this as a guide for the final painting of the group on the cover. He kept the 'camera' low, almost on the floor, to make the characters look more heroic and the serpent bonfire bigger. He worked to get a sense of wind into the image to give it an outdoor feeling and to add dynamism, and also to break up the composition's symmetry.

David paid great attention to working out the many light sources in the painting, and particularly how they would interact with the faces and bodies of the five central characters. There is a strong backlight from the fire, a mix of bounced lights from the environment, and diffuse bluish light from the sky.

This version of the cover is close to the final one. The serpent and the title still required small changes, and David also did some other general polishing, including painting the moon's glow onto the vines and leaves framing the picture, and adding the stars.

This screenshot shows the front, back and spine of the cover from inside Krita, the open-source software David uses to create his work.

The final cover for the paperback.

The final cover for the ebook.

Book Description:

Three hundred years ago, the Great Goddess sent a storm to destroy mankind. She nearly succeeded.

One island survived.

These days, the Goddess stops the spread of evil by sacrificing the Island’s rotten teenage souls. Or so the story goes... . When Jamie Tuff survives her Taking, she thinks her worst nightmares are behind her. But then her soul starts wandering into other people’s bodies, and she discovers that the Island harbours a deadly secret.

Now, she must save her little world from a fate worse than—well, worse than what the Goddess has already done to it.

Join Jamie Tuff and friends on their adventures through land, sea and sky, in a world where stars walk and Halfhawks fly.

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About the Cover Designer:
David Revoy (nickname Deevad), is a french artist living in the south of France.  He has more than 10 years of experience working remotely as a freelancer. His skills and expertise includes illustration, art-direction, concept-art and teaching. In short: he's a 2D artist (he uses drawing, painting, digital painting techniques) and paints custom artworks for books, posters, board-games, video-games and movies. His clients are located all around the world.

Since 2009 he has painted using only free and open-source software. He uses Krita, Mypaint, and Gimp on Linux. This technical choice doesn't affect compatibility with his clients: he still provides industry standards and can work or open any regular files.

He can be followed on Google+, Twitter, Tumblr or deviantArt.

Visit him at: http://www.davidrevoy.com/

About the Author:

Holly grew up in a small, sleepy village in Suffolk. The acting bug hit her at age nine, when she was asked to play Baboushka in the school nativity. That same year she played the lead role of a naughty black poodle in a pet parlour themed ballet, and she thought she had made it. Years passed, but the acting bug didn’t. She went to Goldsmiths, University of London to study Drama, after which she completed her actor training at Arts Ed.

Writing a book was never part of the plan. But life’s full of swerves and surprises and ideas dropping into people’s heads. Holly had an idea drop into hers, and that idea became The Summer Sacrifice, and The Summer Sacrifice became the first book of the Master Game Series.

For more information please visit:  http://www.hollyhinton.com/
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This event was organized by CBB Book Promotions.

Book Review #23: A Horse Called Trouble by C.K. Volnek

I picked up A Horse Called Trouble by C.K. Volnek ages ago from Amazon.com. You see I can be sucker for horse novels and the title of the novel intrigued me. As an Arabian, my horse can be trouble some days for seemingly no reason at all.

A Horse Called Trouble is a middle grade novel. Reading it as an adult, the plot direction seemed obvious and characters are caricatures. But when I stepped back and thought about how I felt in middle school and high school, this book has quite a bit of depth. We have all been in situations where it feels like everyone has given up on us and then we find the one thing we connect with, be it horses, books, a T.V. show or movie, that really brings the life back. And then we connect with other people who share that same passion and the world comes even more alive. Ms. Volnek did a great job at showing Tara's progress from a shy girl who eventually finds strength in her passion and connection with horses.

My favorite part about the novel were the descriptions of the farm, the horses and the barn. Those descriptions really came alive for me and it felt like I was at out at my local barn. The names of the horses were top notch! The lesson horses had appropriately plain names--Rocky (we have a lesson horse named Rocky at our barn) and Homer. The pedigreed horses had dreamy names--Jupiter, Jupiter's Dream Girl and Jeopardy's Double Trouble. I wanted to meet these horses and ride off into the sunset on each one of them.

Overall, I really enjoyed A Horse Called Trouble when I stepped back and viewed it through younger eyes. The messages about standing up for yourself and finding your passion run strong throughout the book. The life depicted on the farm in the book was spot on and described with realistic detail. Ms. Volnek knows horses and barns. A Horse Called Trouble by C.K. Volnek gets a thumbs up!

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Book Review #22: Ashfall Series by Mike Mullin

About a year ago, my friend and author, Jade Eby, introduced me to the Ashfall series by Mike Mullin. The trilogy takes place in eastern Iowa and northern Illinois after the super volcano that sits under Yellowstone Park explodes burying the Midwest in ash and triggering an extreme winter. For me, this series is gut-wrenchingly realistic.

I live in eastern Iowa and travel frequently throughout eastern Iowa and northern Illinois. My in-laws live in Maquoketa and I've shopped at the Wal-Mart there. I drive over the Highway 13/Highway 20 overpass on the way to see my sister in Minnesota. And in late March, I drove by the Wal-Mart distribution center near Sterling, Illinois and I saw the turnoff on Highway 30 for Stockton.

Since I live in the area and have visited many of the towns Mullin features across all three books, this is the most realistic apocalyptic fiction book I have ever read. He shaped the post-volcano world in such a way that my imagination would start to run wild and I started to ask myself questions as I read each book. What would I do if the super volcano erupted tomorrow? Where would I go? What skills do I have for roughing it?

Another part of what made the series incredibly realistic are the characters. Even the secondary characters like Alex's family and the other people that become integral to moving the story forward are people you want to get to know on a more personal basis. Rita, Worthington's librarian, is strong and determined to keep the library running despite the devastation. She understands that knowledge of all kinds is vital even in a society that is disintegrating. Doc McCarthy, Warren's town doctor, shows tremendous staying power and strength as he watches his patients die from illnesses that had easy solutions in the pre-eruption world. I found my heart aching for Doc and I cheered for Rita.

And of course, the main characters Alex and Darla are A+ teens. They are not too whiny or full of themselves. Their complaints and struggles make sense. Mullin does a wonderful job at using the new world to shape Alex and Darla into people you grow to love and care about. They don't resist being molded in light of their new surroundings. Their experiences, in a world that is falling apart with every step they take, just as they start making headway at creating a new life, in the post eruption world is devastating, heartbreaking and in the end, full of hope. You want them to win. You become their cheerleaders.

Ashfall is a strong setup for the other two books; introducing the main cast of characters, the key locations and the major threats in the post-eruption world in a way that doesn't drag and keeps the action moving forward. Ashen Winter is a great bridge book that allows the characters to grow into their new roles in society and discover what really matters in the here and now when death can be just a heartbeat away. The most powerful moments in the series happen at the end of Ashen Winter, and throughout Sunrise. Near the start of Sunrise, there is a moment that had me crying in my Cheerios (yes, I was reading while eating breakfast). Sunrise is a tense, gut-wrenching series finale. There is more at stake in the final novel and Mullin keeps you guessing if there is any hope remaining for Alex, Darla and the town of Warren until the very end. The Ashfall series by Mike Mullin gets a thumbs up.

Ashfall:

Buy on from Amazon.com
Ashen Winter:

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Sunrise:

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