What if with one touch you could see inside the soul? Rowen Mar finds a strange mark on her hand, and she is banished from her village as a witch. She covers the mark with a leather glove and seeks sanctuary in the White City. She lives in fear that if she touches another person, the power inside her will trigger again, a terrifying power that allows her to see the darkness inside the human heart . . . But the mark is a summons, and those called cannot hide forever. For the salvation of her people lies within her hand.
Morgan L. Busse writes speculative fiction for the adult market. She is the author of Daughter of Light and Son of Truth, the first two books in a series from Marcher Lord Press. Morgan lives in the Midwest with her husband and four children.
I've been thinking of my review all day... I haven't finished the book, yet, but my opinion is spilling out already, anyway. So this is my early opinion... PRE-review:
First thoughts:
The writing style - WOW! I love the way Morgan thinks. Fast-paced, precise, urgent, logical, fluid. I really enjoy her writing.
Content: First half is fantasy for anyone and everyone. Mid-way took a dive into a very Christian perspective with Word appearing to Rowan. Borderline edgy-uncomfy-strong. The story then picks up again with the great fantasy, making me wish that encounter could've been adapted to the storyline smoother. I'm left with lots thoughts, anyway!
Characters: I love Rowan. She makes sense. The side characters are deep, motivated, varied. Amazing. I can't help like Caleb, oddly enough, and Lore, absolutely, and even the tangled red head. What's her name? She's cool.
World-building: OMG. Ok, this is where this book totally soars off the planet. There are so many things going on and they all flow so beautifully. People from the sea city have color-changing eyes depending on the moods of the ocean?! YES PLEASE!!! Seriously creepy bad guys - multiple kinds, mysterious like Lord of the Rings mysterious. Landscape I can see from the text without consulting the map. The desert scene from the balcony is achingly beautiful. I love this world
Rating and more thoughts to follow... what a unique book!!!
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The Escape of Princess Madeline by Kirstin Pulioff ebook, 66 pages Published November 5th 2012 by Malachite Quills Publishing
Premise:
The Kingdom of Soron is known for many things, its rolling landscape, haunting history, fiery sunsets, and its beautiful princess. Princess Madeline woke on her sixteenth birthday to realize that her future had been planned out, a life full of privilege, royalty, and boredom... a life with a husband and knight champion that she did not choose. Using her charm, strength and stubbornness, she defies the King at every turn, determined to keep her freedom on her terms.
Freedom quickly turns to disaster as she finds herself seized by a group of wandering bandits. With the kingdom in turmoil over her capture- her Knight Champion eager to prove himself, a group of dedicated suitors determined to win her hand, and a group of exiled wizards join forces in the hunt to rescue her. Follow Princess Madeline in this adventure to find freedom and love.
My Review:
What a fun story! Ever wonder what it would be like to have a dream room in a castle filled with pink-pink-pink?! Lol. And dances and princes and beautiful dresses... and brave knights and stern fathers who have more heart than they want to admit. This story is full of all the delightful dreams that would make a beautiful wallpaper.
Even the danger didn't feel dangerous to me. Rather it was exciting and different. Madeline might have been uncomfortable, maybe hungry, but she was discovering life in the woods full of bandits. Danger involves some uncomfy moments. Maybe a rolling-down-the-hill-helplessly moment, too. For good measure.
The romance is cute. Reminded me of a Disney movie with all the heart-swelling moments anyone could wish for. The mysterious monks... and the mysterious dreams... remain mysterious to me. The father is wonderful despite his gruff beginning. Madeline learns and grows a lot.
This is a very fun story for young girls who think they are ready for a little more adventure, but still sleep with their special pillows. (I have a special pillow, so I can say that.) I think this would be a fun story to read aloud, mother and daughter, too. Pretty much anyone who likes Disney movies and maybe even watches 'em over and over 'cause there's just not enough of 'em... anyone like that should definitely pick up this book!!
Interview:
1. How did the book begin for me? What was the idea that sparked it all?
“The Escape of Princess Madeline” began as an escape for me. I actually wrote this book several years ago, while working at an office. That position didn’t fulfill my creative need to express, so on my lunch breaks, I began writing. One day, over my tomato and cucumber salad, as I was doodling in my notebook, a light bulb went off in my head. Suddenly, this story began unfolding in my mind … every day during lunch, I picked up where I had left off, and a month and a half later, the first draft was finished.
I have always gravitated towards the fantasy genre. Growing up, as an elementary youth, I wanted to be whisked away to a far off land with princesses and castles and knights, but what I found was that most fantasy novels were a struggle to read due to them being above my reading level. So when I began writing and as ideas began to flow through my mind, I really wanted to capture something that both a younger reader, a teen, and even an adult would enjoy. A story with aspects of magic, fantasy, and romance, with a positive tone and a quick pace.
2.Do you have a favorite scene? Or character?
How to pick just one… ha J. One of my favorites would be the Royal Ball. This is the first moment where Princess Madeline defies her father, and makes a stand towards her independence. I love the duplicity of the scene- the battle of wills between Princess Madeline and King Theodore, the conflicting emotions as suitors are presented, all this tension portrayed in such a beautiful setting.
Princess Madeline was fun to create. It was very important to me to make sure she was relatable and real. Yes, she is a princess, but above all, she is a sixteen year old girl. A girl growing up on the verge of her own life and her own choices. It was important to balance the hard and soft qualities of her – her rashness with intelligence, her stubbornness with strength, and her defiance with vulnerability.
3.Share something personal…
Besides loving fantasy, I have to say, I love Disney movies. They are full of enchantment, magic and positive messages. As a stay at home mom, every day I am challenged with teaching my children and reinforcing positive life lessons. It was after watching “Tangled” for about the 20th time, that I had my own epiphany. Somewhere along the line, growing up, I forgot about following my dreams and just focused on the responsibilities of being an adult. So now, when I watch a Disney movie, I make sure that I remember those lessons are also for me. We make a point to teach our kids they can do anything, accomplish anything, try anything, but it is also important to make sure we have not forgotten that lesson as well.
Besides that, I also have to mention this incredible thing about where I live. Living in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest, I am blessed with beautiful forests, and natural wonders, but one of my favorites is Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach. I am a huge “Goonie’s” fan, and I absolutely love going to the beach and playing right beside the big Goonie’s rock. I still look at it and wait for One-eyed Willy and the pirate ship to sail away. J Some childhood memories never fade.
How fun!! I love the Oregon beaches. They seem so ready for magic and fairytales. It's so great how open you are to fantasy and "what if". Thank you for the interview!! And for writing such a whimsical story!! About the Author:
Kirstin Pulioff is a storyteller at heart. Born and raised in Southern California, she moved to the Pacific Northwest to follow her dreams and graduated from Oregon State University with a degree in Forest Management. Happily married and a mother of two, she lives in North Plains, Oregon, and enjoys being a stay at home mom. When she’s not writing, she is busy with her kids, church and the family business.
I rec'd this book to review via this awesome Northwest Neighbors community... celebrating authors from the Northwest and authors visiting the Northwest.
I am relatively new to the concept of connecting with bloggers and authors that live near me. Lol. I'm not sure I even want to know how many authors have come my way and I didn't know it. Yikes!! Maybe I'll miss less of 'em with community help, hey?
Published November 15th 2011 by Harper/HarperCollins
Premise:
Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days.
The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.
The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war-- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.
Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.
My Review:
Ah… the beauty!!!
There are 3 major things I love about this book.
The first is the balance on the edge of sanity. Juliette
begins with a roll of a mini-book and a tiny pen where she scratches her
thoughts. She has no one to talk to, so her thoughts begin as written and even
when she is no longer living precariously out of that mini-book, her thoughts
follow the pattern of writing to herself in it. She is forever catching her
thoughts and correcting them.
Sometimes, she is forcing her will over
her emotions... sometimes it is her initial reaction that is virtually
insane, but at other times it’s her will-power insisting on an imagined reality that is even more insane. Either way, Mafi has captured a level of emotion and
imbalance that is exquisite.
As the story progresses and Juliette’s confidence
grows, these cross-outs lessen. She doesn’t have to correct herself as often.
Except in moments of great emotion… and it’s precious. What she refuses to
admit carries more story than the words she allows to live. Not to mention, so
much more of Juliette’s character is revealed without any description!
The second thing I love is the use of Numbers.
“I’ve been locked up for 264 days… 1 window. 4 walls. 144
square feet of space. 26 letters in an alphabet I haven’t spoken in 264 days of
isolation… 6,336 hours since I’ve touched another human being.” Pg 1
Numbers are emphasized by using the numerical instead of
letter form… Juliette divides her life into counting
everything around her to keep her grasp on reality. She counts to wait. She counts
to make sense of things. She counts to keep her brain ready to think because
she also has moments of freezing, where she can’t move and can’t react and
those moments frighten her. I loved, LOVED this use of numbers through-out the
entire book.
The third thing I loved, but I also squirmed uncomfortably
with… there is an awful lot of sexual tension!! Consistent with the power of
the first two major themes, Juliette’s senses are so deprived that any TOUCH at
all is an exclamation point!!! Experiencing human contact through her deprived
point of view was… beyond words. My words, that is, so I’ll quote again:
“His fingertips are 10 points of electricity killing me with
something I’ve never known before. Something I’ve always wanted to feel.
‘Then why are you here?’ I whisper, broken, dying in his
arms. ‘Why…’ 1, 2 attempts at inhalation. ‘Why are you touching me?’
‘Because I can.’ He almost cracks a smile and I almost
sprout a pair of wings.” Pg 117
I loved this incredible dive into emotions, but, but… those
shower scenes are… OMG!!! No, there’s no sex, but only because they keep
getting interrupted!!
Here's my one tiny complaint: apparently Juliette is any-man’s idea of beautiful
‘cause every one of 'em ogles over her. Since this is opposite of her
childhood memories, it leapt out at me as beyond-believable. That EVERY man
would suddenly desire her beyond their physical control was a little excessive
for me. Adam makes complete sense… they have deep long-bonding connections that
ooze believability. Warner also makes sense in a sick, twisted way.
Warner, btw, is a
great hate-able, detestable character and that hint of attraction between him
and Juliette is extra creepy, but totally believable.
It’s just… every other
man that saw her flipped over in awe of her seemed far-fetched ‘cause… frankly…
if she was THAT hot, she couldn’t be THAT innocent at the same time. You know?
She’d have that cocky self-assurance that natural beauty slathers it’s bearers
with. So she’s either one or the other… but both? End of teensy-weensy complaint.
I’ve found one more thing I love about this book, now,
which makes four:
“He closes his eyes for half of a second and I marvel at the
drop drop drops of hot water caught in his eyelashes like pearls forged from
pain.” Pg 117
“Killing time isn’t as difficult as it sounds. I can shoot a
hundred numbers through the chest and watch them bleed decimal points in the
palm of my hand. I can rip the numbers off a clock and watch the hour hand tick
tick tick its final tock just before I fall asleep. I can suffocate seconds
just by holding my breath. I’ve been murdering minutes for hours and no one
seems to mind.” Pg 127
The writing behind everything… behind the numbers and the
edge of sanity and the sensual tension… is incredible. It’s picturesque,
unexpected and sharply graphic. I don’t know how many times my heart pounded
and I stopped reading and just soaked up an odd phrase here or there, reading
it over and over again wondering how Mafi ever thought to put those words
together in that combination? She took a
busy storyline filled with complicated characters and spilled it out her own
unique way.
You know when you love a book so much you have to read the
Acknowledgements section? This thank you to her editor made sense:
“It’s been such a privilege working with someone who so
absolutely understands my story. My characters are safe with you in a way they
wouldn’t have been anywhere else and I still can’t believe I got so lucky.”
Actually… I can’t believe we all got so lucky!! This book could have been edited to pieces,
stuffed full of punctuation and strict rules about how numbers are handled in
books, not to mention No Crossing Out when it’s Thoughts and not even Journal
Entries!! This book is a work of art from the writer all the way through the
publishing industry… and I really love it.
NOTE: At the book signing, Tahereh clarified that her agent loved the book in it's entirety, strike-through's and all, so there was never any scary looming publishing bullies to fight off. I was just letting my imagination go crazy in my own little world. Weird.
Cover Commentary: What's with the dress?! I'm just curious... it's not even the shimmery one with the pockets or the too-tight one that's hard to run in. I was (happily) caught off guard when the story inside did not match that cover. The blips are right-on... but based on the cover, I thought some super-human girl in formal wear was going to storm the town.
My Rating: 5 stars - Love it!! I love this book, I want to quote this book, reread this book... I want to follow the author around so I can listen to her quirky humor. Oh, I don't have to!! She makes vlogs!! Phew! That would be creepy!
This vlog is totally AWESOME!! (Thx for showin' me when it came up, Andrea!!) She describes the book comin' in the fall: Destroy Me, a "novella" (that's not a novella) in Warner's POV. But don't take my word for it... you'll start following Tareheh around on Twitter like me after you watch this!!
About the Author:
Tahereh Mafi is a girl. She’s 24. She writes books and reads books and drinks way too much coffee.
I was thinking of my readers when I went to the book signing... so this is a signed book just for YOU!! You totally want to read this... even buy a copy and win a copy, both. Maybe an extra on your e-reader. Can't have too many copies of this one!! If shipping exceeds $12, you'll have to help me out, but I don't think it will... not even to wherever you are. My giveaway rules are listed under About Me - mostly, you need to be old enough to win and no one's responsible for any hiccups in the process.
Interrupted: Life Beyond Words by Rachel Coker Harcover, 320 pages Published February 14th 2012 by Zondervan
Premise:
Can love really heal all things? If Sam Carroll hadn't shown up, she might have been able to get to her mother in time. Instead, Allie Everly finds herself at a funeral, mourning the loss of her beloved mother. She is dealt another blow when, a few hours later, she is sent from Tennessee to Maine to become the daughter of Miss Beatrice Lovell, a prim woman with a faith Allie cannot accept.
Poetry and letters written to her mother become the only things keeping Allie's heart from hardening completely. But then Sam arrives for the summer, and with him comes many confusing emotions, both toward him and the people around her. As World War II looms, Allie will be forced to decide whether hanging on to the past is worth losing her chance to be loved.
My Review:
Um... Wow!!
I think age disappears in writing, I really do. But I've never read a book where I felt so completely like I was 14 again. The incredible thing about Rachel Coker is not that she has such a good grasp on youth... she is a youth!! But that her writing is so seamlessly smooth!! She has skill and perspective that make this book very unique.
On my copy there's a quote from Publisher's Weekly: "Coker is one to watch" and I have to agree 100%.
Interrupted has a somber tone. The main character, Alcyone, faces some difficult circumstances and grows hard & bitter. Her friend, Sam, is a neat character. Both of them are complicated, multi-layered. I was pretty much in awe of all the supporting cast. They are alive and vibrant.
The setting is beautiful and completely 1930 - 1940's. I could picture the lake, the ocean, the beach, the local hang-out. There was old-time chivalry, parties with dancing, cute polka dot dresses. In fact, "cute" describes the main feel of reading, rather like a (somber) flitting butterfly dancing along Ally's inner conflict.
It feels weird to close the book and find myself in the present day. The pace of life and the values of the community were very refreshing. Ally's search for God and meaning was realistic, too. I would have liked more romance, maybe. And maybe a little less time-jumping, 'cause that pulled me out of the moment, away from my connection with Ally, and left me catching up. But that just brings me around full circle to the beginning - I was just transported over seventy years back in time, where I felt completely at home. So... Wow!
My Rating: 3.5 - Worth the Time, Cute and better-than-cute.
About the Author:
Rachel Coker resides in Virginia with her parents and two sisters. She has a passion for great books, and has been surrounded by them all her life. Her gift for writing became apparent at the age of eleven, at which time her parents signed her up for a year of lessons with a professional writing coach.
Rachel also has a deep love for classical music and old black-and-white movies. When she is not writing or playing the piano, Rachel enjoys spending time with her family and friends and serving her Lord and Savior.
Check out this GREAT author interview at wordslikesilver!!!!!
