Review: Being Henry David

Title: Being Henry David
Author: Cal Armistead
Publisher: Albert Whitman Teen
Released: 1st March 2013
Rating: 3 of 5 stars

'Hank' wakes up at Penn Station in New York with no memory of how he got there, why he's there or who he is.  He possesses nothing but the clothes on his back, a $10 bill and a copy of Henry David Thoreau's Walden.  He spends his first night after waking up on the streets with Jack and Nessa, two runaways, but after some trouble he escapes to Concord, where Thoreau and some of his contemporaries are much revered.  Gradually he pieces back his memory, but with this comes guilt, grief and pain, and Hank needs to figure out how he's going to move on.

I think the first thing that caught my eye about this, and one of the things that I really liked, was that this is from a male perspective.  I read so many books where the protag is female, so this was a nice change.  For some reason I find it appealing to read from a guy's POV, at least if it's done well, and Armistead has managed to do that here.  Having said that, though, Hank isn't a particularly memorable character.  Right now I'm struggling to think of anything that distinguishes him from the sea of YA protagonists that are out there.  I might attribute it to my awful memory, but just before this I wrote a review for a book I read even before Being Henry David, and I was able to recall the heroine just fine - which means at least some of the problem lies with Hank.  I thought characters like Thomas had much more personality.

The other thing that interested me slightly was using Walden and Thoreau as part of the basis for this book.  Don't worry if you haven't read it or come across Thoreau before, because it gets explained - really, Thoreau pretty much permeates the novel.  In a way I liked the idea of Hank following Walden, looking for answers to his past.  I liked the quotes that were used and getting to know another classic author this way.  But I felt it was also taken a little too far, because there seemed to be an element to it almost supernatural.  Therefore I found myself a little confused when I remembered that this is a contemporary novel; the two points at which it seemed to slide just outside of contemporary felt out of place and bizarre.

The writing itself was not bad, but something about it just fell flat for me.  I wasn't able to connect with it as much as I would have liked, and this was something that stayed with me right from the beginning.  Parts of it really did hold my interest, did have me reading in curiosity, especially when it came to Hank really trying to remember how he had ended up at Penn Station.  But when I found out the reason, I couldn't say if it was really all that believable.  Tragic, yes, but it seemed to me just a little much.   The romantic element, too, was somewhat irritating.  There's an emphasis on how Concord is a close and safe town, where people do, for the most part, trust each other.  Yet you have to wonder at the naivety of a girl who would give a guy her number after meeting him only minutes before.  Nor did I really appreciate the whole 'high school experience' side that worked its way in.  The second half of the book, it seems, was not particularly impressive.

Despite genuinely enjoying parts of Being Henry David, I am left, on the whole, feeling dissatisfied.  Perhaps some of these things could have been overlooked, or at least tolerated, had the ending helped to compensate.  Instead it was too open, and I am left with more questions than I am comfortable with.  This was a decent read, but nowhere near as powerful as it could have been.

Cover Reveal: Broken Gates

(P.J. Stone Gates Trilogy #2)

Expected publication: May 24th 2013 by Dragonfairy Press 

 Genre - New Adult Paranormal Romance

P.J. Stone is a Seer who saw too little, too late.

In the past, her biggest worries were boys and school—but war has a way of changing things. Now, the alien Riders are trying to overrun the world. As the last of their kind, P.J. and her friends must find a way to save humanity before there’s nothing left to save.

After choosing a mate, P.J. hoped she'd have time to enjoy her love life. But with everything changing so quickly and major secrets revealed, who knows what the future will bring?--Goodreads

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First book in this series

 

 

Click on the cover for book information.

Blog Tour: Review: Altered Souls

Hey guys!  Today I'm part of the tour for The Witch Avenue series.  Be sure to drop by some of the other blogs; you can find the tour schedule here.  Also, please note that Lonely Souls, the first book in the series, is FREE on Amazon during the tour.

Title: Altered Souls (The Witch Avenue #2)
Author: Karice Bolton
Publisher: Bulldog Press
Released: 28th October 2012
Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Altered Souls picks up right where Lonely Souls left off. Triss is determined to get her mother back and do whatever she needs to do to achieve that goal.  But this journey brings with it discoveries about her ancestry, and she herself will need to learn to confront the concept of dark magic, battling her own demons and learning about the power within herself.  With Logan at her side, she enters a world of Altered Souls and knows that not only do they have to save them, they need to prevent anyone else from suffering the same fate.

This middle installment is in ways definitely better than the first book.  For one thing, it brings in a lot more of the witchy action I had kind of expected to see at the start of the series.  Witch books tend to be a bit hit and miss for me, but with this I really enjoyed encountering all the different spells and potions; I find myself quite fascinated with things like the symbolism of colours and flowers and herbs, and this is something that both books have fulfilled for me, at least in terms of learning more about plants.  I was especially impressed with the ending.  The ending brought with it tension, pace, anticipation, and the true personalities of some of the secondary characters really become clear.  I found myself questioning the true intents of a couple of people, uncertain whether they were really on the right side, whether their viewpoints would change, and I liked that suspense.  The ending was then a reflection of the growth of those characters.

Triss is also much stronger in this.  As in the first book, she does question herself a lot, unsure of her own self-worth and what she could possibly do to make this new world she's in any better.  But at the same time, she is also very ready to do what she thinks needs to be done.  She is much more decisive, and much more prepared to fight for her loved ones.  I found myself admiring of the lengths she went to to get her mother back, knowing full well the risks she was taking.  Logan, too, remains as supportive in this installment as he was in the first.  I loved how he was both prepared to help her no matter what and how he also accepted her as her own person.  The romance in this series so far has proved to be wonderfully sweet and endearing.  There is a lot of light banter between them, interspersed with much more serious moments.  Both work at getting the other to open up more and let people in; it is very much a give-and-take relationship.

I'm so glad that after reading Lonely Souls, I was able to read this immediately after.  As much as I liked Triss and Logan before, they have come a long way, and I really appreciated seeing this growth.  Added to that is the much greater presence of the fantasy elements.  The combination of these has made for what I feel is a stronger sequel, leaving me very hopeful for the conclusion to this series.

Review: What's Left of Me

Title: What's Left of Me (The Hybrid Chronicles #1)
Author: Kat Zhang
Publisher: HarperCollins
Released: 18th September 2012
Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

I kept meaning to read this book for so long. The reviews trickled in, my reading pile grew, my workload climbed ever higher...and as time went on this book was pushed to the back of my mind, in the farthest corner, and left there to gather dust, until finally.  Finally, I read it.  And it surpassed any expectations I ever had.

In Eva and Addie's world, each person born into the world is actually two people, where one body is home to two souls.  Of those two souls, one is dominant and one recessive, and it is the latter that is supposed to eventually fade in childhood.  In this case, Eva is the recessive soul - but she didn't fade.  Tests were run, theories were made, until finally Addie was pronounced healthy.  All this time, Addie has had to pretend that she's normal like any other person, because hybrids are the biggest thing that people have been taught to fear. This goes on until Eva and Addie discover that there may be a cure, a way for Eva to have her own control.  But this propels them into circumstances that they've been trying to avoid all their lives, and now the matter of survival is greater than it ever was before.

What's Left of Me swallowed me whole right from the start.  Zhang brings to us an original and intriguing concept, and with an excellect idea came excellent execution.  The idea of two souls in one body is a frightening one.  In the first instance, I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to have another soul inside of me.  My own head is chaotic enough without someone else adding their own contributions, and I know I wouldn't be able to stand anyone's voice in my head for any amount of time, let alone my whole life.  Even more than that, imagine having no control?  As a recessive soul, there'd be no way for you have your voice heard, for you to move where you want, do what you want.  I think that kind of life would honestly drive me insane.  And for the disappearance of this soul, the effective death, to be an accepted thing?  Truly horrible. Zhang managed to underline perfectly everything that comes along with this concept of two souls, exploring it to its full potential.  Her writing is beautiful and captured everything, from emotions, to voices, to personalities.

The relationship between Addie and Eva is a fabulous example of this. Eva's frustration, and her desire to be acknowledged, accepted, loved, came across so clearly.  There were times I disliked Addie for her selfishness, willing her to at least understand that Eva had a right to life just as much of her.  But at the same time, it was obvious that she did understand.  Despite their occasional disagreements, it's clear that they love each other and that neither can really do without the other. Both have their own distinctive voice, and I was very admiring of the fact that the author never confused her pronouns, separating Addie's actions and experiences from Eva's. I imagine it must have been hard to try and keep up with it, yet there were no mistakes.  In fact, every secondary character was fleshed out; every soul met has their own personality.  Even the romance worked.  There was little of it, but what there was was laced expertly in the plot and proved to be very enjoyable.

The plot itself was brilliant.  It started off slow and then gradually picked up, but the pacing was always exactly right.  But I can't begin to tell you how emotional I became reading this.  The revelations, twists and turns that made up the plot left me feeling angry, horrorstruck, full of sorrow.  I couldn't believe the lies that people were believing.  The ordeal that hybrids were put through.  The fact that they were on their own.  I sort of liked Eva and Addie's parents, I felt sorry for them, but there came a point where I was so disappointed in them, even though I had seen it coming.  Eva and Addie in comparison had so much strength.  Kat Zhang has truly created something amazing and heart-wrenching here, for me at least.

What's Left of Me has proven itself to be a tremendous story of hope, pain, courage.  It's a story that has more than lived up to its potential, and I for one can't wait to see what happens next in this journey with Addie and Eva.

Blog Tour: Reviews & Giveaway: Sometimes Never & Blackbird

Hey, guys!  I can't even tell you how super excited I am to be part of this tour; for the tour schedule click here, and don't forget to enter the giveaway at the bottom!

Title: Sometimes Never (Sometimes Never #1)
Author: Cheryl McIntyre
Publisher: Self-published
Released: 19th December 2012
Rating: 5 of 5 stars

This.  This was what I needed.  A compelling contemporary with a heart-stopping romance and beautiful friendships.  Granted, this was by no means a light read.  It was dark and intense, which admittedly is the kind of book I usually go for.  But aside from revelling in this side of the story, the pages of Sometimes Never are home to characters I fell head over heels in love with.  Cheryl McIntyre has, without a doubt, made it onto my list of favourite authors.

Hope's life has been far from easy.  She never knew her father, and her mother was uninterested in raising a daughter, instead either leaving the house unexpectedly or bringing home undesirable company.  Then she died.  For the past few years Hope's lived with a foster family, and while she's much better off than before, she still can't erase the pain and the scars that her past has inflicted on her.  And love?  Out of the question.  Mason is now at his eighth school in five years, a result of his mother's constant desire to move.  He's tired of not being able to stick around long enough to make proper friends, tired of having to leave places behind - especially his home of Illinois.  He lets his temper get the best of him and uses girls as a way of trying to forget and to lose himself, but doesn't really believe in love.

And then they meet.  And everything changes.

McIntyre deals with difficult issues in a very sensitive manner.  Looking at the cover, it does kind of give the impression that this is perhaps something of a heavier read, but there is no specific mention of the topics that get brought up, leaving me surprised when I started reading.  A lot of these stem from Hope's character.  Hope has had some truly traumatic experiences, and because of that is a character completely and utterly broken.  Both within the book and as a YA protagonist, she stands out from the crowd.  Strangely enough, I felt almost no frustration with her character.  I could see how much pain she was in, how she genuinely felt that she wasn't worthy of love and that she would destroy any kind of relationship she had, not realising that her friendships were relationships in themselves. Commitment is an absolute no-no for her, and that makes her almost oblivious to how differently other people might feel.  She's also one hell of a fighter.  She does struggle with herself quite a lot, and by the end of the book she's come a long way from where she was at the start.  Not completely healed, but I think almost as much as possible for someone who's been through her experiences.

Now, if anyone were to ask me to name all my book boyfriends, it's safe to say we'd be here for...well, for a long while, let's just say.  So what does it tell you when I say that Mason would be among the first names you hear?  And he would be.  Because he is honestly that amazing.  This guy does nothing but help Hope and be there for her.  He is just more sweet than I can describe.  He makes mistakes, and then does his utmost to rectify them.  The relationship he shares with his younger brother is also touching; these two don't fight and yell at each other.  Mason is the responsible older brother who takes the time to do things with him, and you can see clearly that Kellin respects him.  He gets along with his mother too - although this was a woman who had lost my respect by the end.  She pulled a move that I was so scared would happen, and when I was proved right, I couldn't believe she would do such a thing.  Yet somehow Mason has turned out to be a genuinely good guy, someone who stands up for what is right, makes his own choices, and refuses to go along with what others want him to do.

The secondary characters are brilliantly fleshed out as well.  I can't even begin to tell you how much I adored the friendships in this book - between Mason, Hope, Guy, Chase, even Kellin and Misty.  Guy is Hope's absolute best friend, and she's pretty tight with Chase as well; all three of them are part of a band, and Park is the fourth.  Out of the secondary characters, Guy was by far my favourite.  I loved him.  Completely.  He's been there for Hope ever since her mother died, and he understands her like no-one else does.  At the same time, he says his mind.  But even though he's my favourite, I love Chase too.  I'm a little mixed with Park.  On the one hand, I can see where he's coming from, but at the same time he does something that's pretty unforgiveable.

I adored this book.  Pure and simple.  It's so clear that Cheryl McIntyre knows every single one of her characters back to front, inside and out.  And every single relationship in here, whether it's familial, platonic, romantic, loving, indifferent, painful - every single one of them is deep, layered, expertly written.  Sometimes Never is all about the characters and their struggles to move on in their lives and, without fully realising it, this is what I needed to read.  And if this review has made even one of you add it to your TBR, I feel like I've accomplished something.  Because this is a book that deserves to be read.

Title: Blackbird (Sometimes Never #1.5)
Author: Cheryl McIntyre
Publisher: Self-published
Released: 19th February 2013
Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Blackbird tells the story of the years between the final chapter and the epilogue of Sometimes Never, in which Hope and Mason do their separate things while still trying to make their relationship work, and also learn to confront their own issues once and for all.

I loved this one because in Blackbird, Mason's problems become more obvious.  You can see just how messed up he is.  In the first book, his anger and the difficulty he has with his own past are visible, but in the novella, while Hope still struggles a great deal, there is also more emphasis on Mason's struggle.  He has to learn to address his temper, his quick impulses.  On top of that, his problems are worsened by the fact that his mother is being frustratingly stubborn.  In a way, I can understand where she's coming from and why she's acting the way she is; she has Kellin to think about too.  But then I also don't think that she should be acting that way.  In the first instance, it makes her a hypocrite, which I loved Hope for pointing out to her.  In the second, it shows a lack of understanding on her part.  It just emphasises her inability to deal with life and the readiness to give up. Despite her own pain and grief, she can't seem to comprehend that of someone else, and the pressure that she put on Mason because of this, the hurt she inflicted on him, really had me feeling for him.

As I said before, Hope is still struggling a lot here.  She thought she had things figured out, but going to college has made her realise that actually, she has no idea what she's going to do.  It feels like there are too many things happening, too many things to think about and decide, and they're suffocating her.  There were a couple of close calls, and she put Mason through a lot, but I was happy when she really made an effort to overcome her fears and impulses.  Even more so when Guy and Chase came along and speeded up the process.  I was glad to see that despite everything, she did want Mason to be happy, and she was offering to sacrifice a lot if it meant his mother would allow their family to go back to how they used to be.

The ending for this is adorable, as is the epilogue of Sometimes Never.  I'm so happy it ended that way.

I can't say any more.  Just know that I love Cheryl McIntyre, I love her books, her characters, and even if I had her companion novel, as yet untitled, in my hands right now, it still wouldn't be soon enough.  I'm going to go stalk her on Twitter now.

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Blog Tour: Review, Trailer & Giveaway: Shadow Eyes

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Title: Shadow Eyes

Author: Dusty Crabtree
Publisher: Musa Publishing
Released: 15th July 2012
Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Iris Kohl has the ability to see shadows.  They lurk around unsuspecting people, encouraging them to break the rules, pushing some of them to the point where they do things truly evil.  Iris struggles with it, but she does her best to be normal.  And it's kind of going OK until shadows start hanging around her crush and he becomes less like the sweet boy he was.  And that's just the beginning.  There's the new teacher who somehow brings light and scares the shadows. There's the new girl in school with a glowing aura.  And finally, the new guy in school whose mystery plus a conspicuous absence of shadows around him make him very appealing.  With their arrival comes an increase in the aggressiveness of the shadows, directed specifically towards Iris, and for her to find out what is going on and how to combat them, she needs to face up to the memory of her fourteenth birthday, the worst day of her life and the one where her ability to see the shadows started.

Iris was, for the most part, a likeable character.  She wasn't constantly moaning or whining; instead she actually tried to work past the shadows and have something of a normal life.  I loved that she had this good relationship with her sister too, one where they could be open with each other.  Her sister doesn't know about the shadows, but they still have an easygoing relationship where they can joke with each other and talk about things.  They both also watch out for their mother who, while not exactly helpless, is somewhat emotionally worn.  What I couldn't appreciate, however, was Iris' refusal to question anything.  She knew that Mr Daniels and Kyra were obviously aware of the shadows, and she could see that Kyra and Patrick have some sort of history between them - not through a relationship, but in the sense that they know each other already and there's something that's created a rift between them - and yet she said nothing. Just watched with wide-eyed confusion.  And her friendship with Kyra was somewhat questionable because she always felt like she shouldn't disappoint Kyra.  Again - why?

My biggest issue with this book is that for the longest time, nothing happens.  And I would say that Iris' lack of questioning helped contribute to that.  The writing itself is really good, so I spent a great deal of this reading contentedly. But I got to a point where I realised that really, something should be happening by now, and the writing wasn't enough to completely make up for that.  The revelations, when they came, were good, and I think these could have been paced more througohout the story.  Still, I did enjoy finally finding out what was going on and the revelation about Patrick in particular was pleasantly surprising.  He's a very conflicted character, and without even knowing why he was behaving in a certain way, I felt sorry for him because I could see he didn't want to be that way - although there was a point where his behaviour was taken a bit too far.

Despite the issues, this was, all in all, an enjoyable read.  Shadow Eyes could have done with more action and better pacing, but it was still good nevertheless.  The writing, while not completely redeeming, did still help, which was why it took me as long as it did to realise that little had actually happened in terms of plot movement.  The ending acts as a wonderful opening to the sequel, and I look forward to reading it.

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Cover Reveal & Giveaway: The Avery Shaw Experiment

Title: The Avery Shaw Experiment
Author: Kelly Oram
Publisher: Bluefields
Format: ebook
Genre: YA contemporary romance
Release Date: May 2013

Summary:

When Avery Shaw’s heart is shattered by her life-long best friend, she chooses to deal with it the only way she knows how—scientifically.

The state science fair is coming up and Avery decides to use her broken heart as the topic of her experiment. She’s going to find the cure. By forcing herself to experience the seven stages of grief through a series of social tests, she believes she will be able to get over Aiden Kennedy and make herself ready to love again. But she can’t do this experiment alone, and her partner (ex partner!) is the one who broke her heart.

Avery finds the solution to her troubles in the form of Aiden’s older brother Grayson. The gorgeous womanizer is about to be kicked off the school basketball team for failing physics. He’s in need of a good tutor and some serious extra credit. But when Avery recruits the lovable Grayson to be her “objective outside observer,” she gets a whole lot more than she bargained for, because Grayson has a theory of his own: Avery doesn’t need to grieve. She needs to live. And if there’s one thing Grayson Kennedy is good at, it’s living life to the fullest.

Teaser One - Avery

Grayson finally noticed Aiden and I on the couch. “What are you two dorks doing?”

“Learning about steroids,” I said cheerfully. “You should probably know that using them can cause acne, testicular atrophy, decreased sperm count, prostate enlargement and gynecomastia.”

Grayson looked rightfully appalled. “Gyneco-what-ia?”

“Enlarged breasts in men,” Aiden translated. “So you should lay off the juice before you have to start borrowing Avery’s bras.”

I gasped at the mention of my underwear and whacked Aiden’s shoulder hard.

Behind me, Grayson laughed. I knew he was about to deliver a comeback, but I refused to look at him. Seconds later his breath was warm on my neck. He whispered just low enough that his mother couldn’t hear what he said. “I like my bras colorful and lacey, Aves. Not sure your collection would do it for me.”

Total mortification. Grayson may be as close as family to me, but he was still one of the hottest, most popular guys in our whole school. Him discussing my bras in that low sexy voice that could stop a girl’s heart on the spot made my lungs constrict. Plus, he was right of course. My bras were all of the plain white cotton variety.

Teaser Two - Grayson

I started to leave the room but she stopped me at the door. “Grayson?” Her tone tugged at something inside me. “You really want to take me with you tonight?”

She sounded so small and unsure of herself. It was how she always sounded at school and around strangers, but never when she was at home with us. I think my brother had really broken her. I was seriously going to have to beat him sometime.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to. I know I really freaked out on you earlier, but I promise I’ll be fine. Aiden’s right.” She swallowed back a lump in her throat. “I’ll manage without him somehow.”

“Aiden’s a tool. You can learn how to manage tomorrow. Tonight’s New Years Eve and for once in your life you’re going to spend it without Aiden or The Discovery Channel.

I knew I was making progress when she cracked a smile and asked, “What about Whootylicious in 7 B?”

I thought of the luscious booty I’d originally planned on seeing tonight and sighed. “That will be an unfortunate loss, but, like you, I will just have to deal.”

I winked and then decided I’d give her ten minutes before I came back and physically dragged her out of bed.

Other books by Kelly Oram

About Kelly Oram...

Kelly Oram wrote her first novel at age fifteen–a fan fiction about her favorite music group, The Backstreet Boys, for which family and friends still tease her. She's obsessed with reading, talks way too much, and loves to eat frosting by the spoonful. She lives outside of Phoenix, Arizona with her husband and four children.

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