Faerie Prince Book Tour: A Guest Post By Rachel Morgan On Writing For An International Audience

Hello, everyone! Today I have the honor of hosting author Rachel Morgan, who is here to talk about writing for people in the connected world of the web. Take it away, Rachel!


Writing for an International Audience

I'm a South African living in South Africa, which means I write and speak British English (we like to add extra letters to our words and use "s" instead of "z". Like neighbour instead of neighbor, and realise instead of realize). I wrote my first novel using British spelling, because that's the way I'd always written words. But when I started writing books that I knew I was going to epublish through Amazon, I figured the majority of my audience would be US readers. (There are people in South Africa who read ebooks, but we're way behind the US in that regard.) So ... I decided to switch to US spelling.

The thing is, the difference doesn't stop at spelling. We use different words as well, and I didn't always realis/ze that while I was writing! Fortunately, my critique partner lives in the US and she pointed out the differences as she went through my manuscript. I remember a particularly confusing email exchange about a plug in a bathroom, because she thought I was referring to an electrical plug (what is your character plugging in?) while I was referring to the plug you put in the bath to stop the water running out (oh, you mean a stopper, she said).

Here are some other examples of words I changed after the first draft:

post = mail
zip = zipper
bath = bathtub (I even asked for suggestions on Facebook about what word to use for the noun bath! People were very helpful.)
icing = frosting (although it seemed to me from my Googling that US writers use both icing and frosting, so I stuck with icing in the end)
sweet = candy

And there are a whole lot of other word differences that I didn't use in this novel but that I have to remember in future writing (like bonnet = hood and chips = fries).

If you're a writer, have you had to consider these spelling/word differences before when thinking about your intended audience? If you're a reader, do you notice whether the book you're reading has US or UK spelling, or do you just read the book?

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Rachel Morgan is the author of the newly released YA paranormal fantasy The Faerie Prince, second novel in the Creepy Hollow series. You can find it at the following online retailers (and if you haven't yet read the first book, The Faerie Guardian, you can find out where to get it on this page):

Amazon US | Amazon UK

Barnes & Noble

Apple iBookstore

CreateSpace (print)

~  ~  ~

Rachel Morgan was born in South Africa and spent a large portion of her childhood living in a fantasy land of her own making. After completing a degree in genetics, she decided science wasn’t for her—after all, they didn’t approve of made-up facts. These days she spends much of her time immersed in fantasy land once more, writing fiction for young adults.

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Creepy Hollow Blog Tour: Book Review of Guardian by Rachel Morgan

Title: Creepy Hollow Series: Book One: Guardian

Author: Rachel Morgan

Publisher: Self-published

Genre: Paranormal/Young Adult

Page Count (e-book): 64

Rating: 4.2 out of 5

Cover Rating: 4.5 out of 5. I love the design, since it's simple and the purple is great contrast. Also, the girl's face seems perfect for the main character.

Blurb:

1. Receive assignment.
2. Save a life.
3. Sleep.
4. Repeat. 

Protecting humans from dangerous magical creatures is all in a day’s work for a faerie training to be a guardian. Seventeen-year-old Violet Fairdale knows this better than anyone—she’s about to become the best guardian the Guild has seen in years. That is, until one of her assignments—a human boy who shouldn’t even be able to see her—follows her into the fae realm. Now she’s broken Guild Law, a crime that could lead to her expulsion.  

The last thing Vi wants to do is spend any more time with the boy who got her into this mess, but the Guild requires that she return Nate to his home and make him forget everything he’s discovered of the fae realm. Easy, right? But Nate and Vi are about to land themselves in even bigger trouble—and it’ll take all Vi’s training to get them out alive.

My expectations: I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this story. I love reading Rachel Morgan's blog, but blogs and novels/novelettes are different things, and while there are many high-quality self-published books, I had to wonder if this would be one of them. 

Whatever my expectations were, however, Guardian definitely exceeded them.

About the book: Just to demonstrate what I thought of this novelette, one day (soon after I got the ARC) I resolved to read a few pages, as I didn't want to spend long on the computer. I ended up powering through it during that and another sitting.

• Writing:

Short and to the point. There wasn't much in the way of embellishment to the style (such as vivid description), but that seems to be the usual for the Paranormal genre and I think it fit the overall story, especially because novelettes have to be short. I can't recall finding any typos, either, a rare thing for any book--and an excellent one.

• Plot:

With some books it can take 50 pages to reach what Guardian put in on page 5, i.e. this novelette moves fast. There are a good number of twists to the story as well, which I loved.

• Characters:

Vi was determined, capable, and she had a great voice. Nate was sweet, and since the reader knows almost a little about Vi's world as the reader, the dialogue between him and Vi divulged information about the world without being an info dump and helped flesh the two out.

• Setting/Elements:

The world is a fascinating one. It plays on the usual faerie surroundings such as the Seelie and Unseelie Court (the Unseelie being evil), but there are unique details as well that help set it apart.

Content: Some violence, kissing. Nothing I'd really raise a flag over.

Other: I'll admit, I haven't read too many novelettes, and those were in a Science Fiction anthology. But the length works in Guardian's favor here, and since so many people are migrating over to e-readers and the like, shorter stories will probably find a much larger audience than they could have before.

Do I recommend this book? If you want a quick and entertaining Paranormal read, I highly recommend this book. The characters, plot, and efficient writing style make Guardian a great choice for those in the mood for a well-told adventure (with a bit of romance, too).

**********

Thanks to Rachel for providing me an ARC to review!

**********

~  ~  ~

Rachel Morgan is the author of Guardian, the first novelette in the Creepy Hollow series. She was born in South Africa and spent a large portion of her childhood living in a fantasy land of her own making. These days, in between teaching mathematics to high school children, she writes fiction for young adults.

Buy Guardian from

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Smashwords

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And before you go, Rachel is also hosting a giveaway of a copy of Guardian. Enter below:

Book Review: Hunger

Title: Hunger

Author: Jakie Morse Kessler

Publisher: Graphia

Genre: Paranormal/Contemporary/YA

Page Count: 174 (paperback)

Rating: 4.2 out of 5

Cover Rating: 4.7 out of 5. I really like this cover--the scales, the font, and the swirly black/blue.

Back Cover:

"Thou art the Black Rider. Go thee out unto the world."

Lisabeth Lewis has a black steed, a set of scales, and a new job: she's been appointed Famine. How will an anorexic seventeen-year-old girl from the suburbs fare as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

   Traveling the world on her steed gives Lisa freedom from her troubles at home--her constant battle with hunger and the struggle to hide it from the people who care about her. But being Famine forces her to go places where hunger is a painful part of everyday life and to face the horrifying effects of her awesome new power. Can Lisa find a way to harness that power--and the courage to fight her own inner demons?

My expectations: High. I loved the idea, and I'd read a lot of positive review about the book.


It was better than I expected.

About the book: This is a very interesting take on eating disorders. Imagine--a teenage girl becoming one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Death, War, Famine, and Pestilence) while at the same time battling her own inner voices that tell her she's fat and ugly and will never be successful.


I really like Kessler's writing style. It's to the point, and Hunger being a short book, there really wasn't anything that got more attention that it should. I sped through the book--which kind of disappointed me because I wanted more of it! And despite the fact that it deals with such a heavy subject, this book was actually rather funny at times.

• Plot:

It's a strong plot, with little twists that keep things moving (it's only 174 pages long, remember!) and I love the ending--it's excellent.

• Characters:

Lisa is mess at the beginning. She's anorexic--which you don't find often in books--and desperate to find people who understand what she's going through. She's dealing with strained relationships between people she used to be really close to, such as her best friend, her father, and her boyfriend, who all believe that she needs help--only she doesn't think so, and concludes that they're jealous about her skin-and-bones body. But I had to like her determination and spunk, and I grew fond her as time went on.

I hadn't really pictured Death as Kurt Cobain, but that's the way he appears to Lisa in the book; he's surprisingly funny for someone who has the job of taking lives, and I had to laugh at the exchanges.


War was just as you'd picture War: angry, powerful, and easy to provoke. Only female, too. Pestilence was interesting--I found what he had to say intriguing, although he doesn't make much of an appearance next to the other Horsemen.

• Setting/Elements:

I love the idea in Hunger. It's not your average Young Adult Paranormal/Fantasy, and I enjoyed the freshness of it all.

Other: Some language, references, and some violence.

Do I recommend this book? Yes! If you're looking for something unique, interesting, and funny, and don't mind a novel with a darker side.

-----The Golden Eagle

Book Review: Sisters Red

Title: Sisters Red

Author: Jackson Pearce

Publisher: Little, Brown And Company

Genre: Paranormal

Page Count: 324

Rating: 3.7 out of 5

Cover Rating: 4 out of 5. I like it, especially the way the red girl's hair/hat sweeps down over her eye. It fits Scarlett well, and the flipped imaged of Rosie against the wolf works all right, although it could, (possibly, but somewhat unlikely) act as a spoiler.

Inside flap:

The wolf opened its long jaws, rows of teeth stretching for her. A thought locked itself in Scarlett's mind: I am the one left to fight, so now I must kill you.

Scarlett march lives to hunt the Fenris--the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister, Rosie, from a brutal attack. Armed with a razor-sharp hatchet and a blood-red cloak, Scarlett is an expert at luring and slaying the wolves. She's determined to protect other young girls from a grisly death, and her raging heart will not rest until every single wolf is dead.

Rosie March once felt that her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Owing Scarlett her life, Rose hunts ferociously alongside her. But even as more girls' bodies pile up in the city and the Fenris seem to be gaining power, Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves. She finds herself drawn to Scarlett's only friend, Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an ax. But does loving him mean betraying her sister and all that they've worked for?

My expectations: Low. I read it because I wanted to see if Pearce followed the usual stereotypical werewolf concept, or made something a tad more original out of it. Also, I liked the idea of Scarlett's personality.


It was better than I expected. A lot better, actually.

About the book: First off, the romance in the book isn't as prominent, nor as stereotypical, as the book presents it to be. I was relieved when I found that out. The action is good, and the overall writing isn't bad at all. I enjoyed much of this book, although werewolves are a bit overused and the violence/gore sometimes outweighed the writing.

• Plot:

A little predictable, but generally it was fine. The beginning was a tad slow, but it picked up. There weren't any gaping holes, and the end, instead of being some open-ended cliff-hanger ending, tied up what had happened before. I was glad that the author hadn't made it into another one of the ubiquitous romance series that seem to go on forever.

• Characters:

I felt that Rosie and Scarlett March were believable characters. I loved Scarlett's ferocity, her need to hunt the Fenris. Rosie wasn't my favorite character, but she was a good foil for her sister with her quieter ways and gentler disposition.


Silas was all right. Not my favorite love interest, but he was rather good as male YA characters go.

• Setting/Elements:

Werewolves are very common in YA literature these days. Nevertheless, in this book, they're downright evil, and ruled by their desires instead of being the controllable, good-hearted creatures you see in some books. It was an interesting change.

Other: Violence when they're hunting/killing the Fenris wolves, language that is sort of sudden (and that occasionally felt unnecessary--I hate it when they do this), some making out.

Do I recommend this book? Not particularly, but it isn't bad. I say, if you see it in the library, take it out. It won't be spectacular, but Sisters Red might be a good read when you're bored.

-----The Golden Eagle

Book Review: Beautiful Creatures

Title: Beautiful Creatures

Author(s): Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Publisher: Little, Brown & Company

Genre: Paranormal

Page Count: 563

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Cover Rating: 3.5 out of 5. Not bad . . . just a little too dark. I love the font (who wouldn't?) and I like the trees, but the background is black. I don't tend to like solid black backgrounds, and it's actually sort of plain.

Inside flap:

There were no surprises

in Gatlin County.

At least, that's what I thought.

Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.

There was a curse.

There was a girl.

And in the end,

there was a grave.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small town Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps, and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

   Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

   In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

My expectations: I read somewhere that this book was like Twilight. I hate Twilight. But I'd also heard some things that were contradictory to that opinion, so I was mixed-close-to-pessimistic.


It was better than I had anticipated.

About the book: It isn't really like Twilight. Sure, there are similarities, but not really significant ones. It was a bit slow for me, and I found there was a lack of description that made everything feel a little truncated despite the length.


Another thing I found was that when Lena told Ethan she was basically a witch, (literally) I ran into the same problem that a lot of books have--Ethan's reaction felt fake and he accepted Lena's statements too easily. If someone told me they had powers that were out-of-this-world, I'd stare at them, nod calmly, steer them toward the door and politely smile and say it was nice to talk to them, then hope they say "Gotcha!" the next day, or call the mental health specialists. I mean, it's like everyone's having a gullibility crisis these days. They're don't seem to have a really strong connection with . . . reality. I know, I'm probably sounding weird talking about reality when this is paranormal, but really--would someone who was actually confronted with these things act like that?

• Plot:

I expected it to turn out differently than it did. I found it slow, as I said before, but it wasn't terrible. I found the flashbacks to the Civil War times interesting, and some of the twists were a surprise.

• Characters:

Ethan is not a bad protagonist. He reads, he plays basketball, he wants to get out of the small-town life and strike it somewhere else. Living in a (fairly) small town myself at the moment, I empathized with needing to get away from the gossip-channel-no-one-conceals-anything hype.


Lena I didn't get attracted to at all. It's like "Doom and gloom and I'm going to just DIE!" throughout the whole darn book. I was like, "C'mon, girl! Get a SPINE!" while I read more of her tirades on how things were just horrible. *sighs* Not every MC can be perfect, I know, but she just seemed like such a whiner and somewhat weak.


Macon Ravenwood was intriguing. He wasn't what I expected, I later found out, but he was more 3-dimensional than a lot of them--go, Macon!

• Setting/Elements:

I enjoyed the references to To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, although if you haven't read the book or know the basics, you'll probably get confused during parts. There are a lot of names, comments, and other sorts of back-and-forth between the characters that have to do with To Kill A Mockingbird.


I also found the small-Southern-town attitude a plus. I'm not saying I agree with the Daughters of the Revolution, the NRA, or sympathize with the Confederacy, but I found the added aspect to the environment something you don't see much in YA Fiction, which is always good in my book.

Other: Language: b- possible s- (don't remember everything) words every once in a while, kissing, and I hope you know what an incubus is.


Took me a while to figure out what they meant by the title--there are no werewolves, vampires, or other paranormal creatures. Just (human) witches. I think they could have titled this something else just as easily, but I suppose it fits well enough.

Do I recommend this book? This is probably getting a lot of a attention because of the recent release of Beautiful Darkness, so if you want to know what it's all about, then go ahead and read it. But it also depends on what you like. I say, read if it's available at the library and/or you think it's something that will appeal to your tastes. :)

-----The Golden Eagle

Book Review: Going Bovine

Title: Going Bovine

Author: Libba Bray

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Genre: ?? I've seen it called Fantasy, YA Speculative, Adventure, Surrealdark Comedy, it could probably be called Paranormal, the NYT said she smashes the genre and grinds the tiny pieces into the sidewalk. So. You decide.

Page Count: 480

Rating: 5 out of 5

Cover Rating: 4 out of 5. Cow+gnome=perfect. I like the black too. The font's a little big, but they did get the author's name right. Bold, small, and at the top. It's visible, but it's not dominating the picture.

Inside flap:

All sixteen-year-old Cameron wants is to get though high school--and life in general--with a minimum of effort. It's not a lot to ask. But that's before h's given some bad news: he's sick and he's going to die. Which totally sucks.

    Hope arrives in the winged form of Dulcie, a loopy punk angel/possible hallucination with a bad sugar habit. She tells Cam there is a cure--if he's willing to do in search of it. With the help of Gonzo, a death-obsessed video-gaming dwarf, and a yard gnome who just might be the Viking god Balder, Cam sets off on the mother of all road trips through a twisted America of smoothie-drinking happiness cults, parallel-universe hopping physicists, mythic New Orleans jazz musicians, whacked-out television game shows, snow-globe vigilantes, and disenfranchised, fame-hungry teens into the heart of what matters more.

My expectations: High. I really, really liked The Gemma Doyle Trilogy, and Going Bovine did win the Michael L. Printz Award.

Despite that, it still managed to exceed my expectations.

About the book: It is EPIC. Everything is covered Going Bovine, it seems like. Death, life, love. How to live, why we're here, what's actually real. Plus, this book is funny and the characters are some of the best in a single book. It's very, very satisfying overall and I'm struggling here to think of a really weak spot.

The reason for the title? Cameron Smith has Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, also known as mad cow disease, only it's the human version. It's incurable. He starts hallucinating--or so he thinks. Fire giants, angels, flames, all caused by what the doctor tells him are prions.

When I finished this book I had to meditate on it for a while. I do that for books that have really, strongly struck a chord with me, and believe me, this book did that. It was excellent.

• Plot:

Hallucinations allow for some pretty amazing events to happen. This is one wild ride, from start to finish, and the situations they get themselves into are crazy. In the good way. It's a bit like The Hitchhiker's Quartet, only this time, Cam's set to die from the disease.

The ending is great. For a second I was thrown, and then the book just ended. It was abrupt, but I loved it.

• Characters:

Cameron Smith is a jerk. But he's a lovable, dying jerk who's trying to figure out the insane situation around him and gets a little less-jerky as time goes on (I said a little). He wasn't one of my favorite characters, but he was perfect for the story. Stubborn, fiesty, and just willing to believe the crazy things Dulcie tells him.

I loved Dulcie. Go, punk rock angels! Her spunk, her attitude, her attire. Fabulous. She's strong, too.

Gonzo is, as it says in the synopsis, death-obsessed. If not death, health-obsessed. Fish? Poisons! Hotel room? Germs! Spot on his lung? Tumor! He takes everything to the extremes, but he was a good character.

Balder. Poor Balder, forced into clothes as a garden gnome and made to pose with passing tourists. He was a funny little gnome; I liked him.

There are plenty of other characters thrown in, and at a variety of places; they were all well-written.

• Setting/Elements:

I LOVED the science aspect. 'Cause how many YA fiction books have physics in them? The Copenhagen Interpretation? Shrodinger's Cat? Parallel universes? Accelerators? Awesomeness, people. The scientists were depicted as being a little weird and maybe just a tad insane, but it wasn't a total stereotype.

The whole Cretzfeldt-Jakob disease thing is interesting; I hadn't known there was such a thing before, but I guess there is. I liked the way she put it into the story; is just the disease, a hallucination, or is it real?

Other: Language, drugs. There are a lot of drug references, and it mentions several times that Cameron has been "stoned" in the past. With the language, it's put in like it would be in a teenager's mind; seekers of really clean literature beware. There's also drinking/smoking, and some sex.

Do I recommend this book? Yes! Absolutely, and to people who read a wide range of genres.

(You have GOT to check out the site for the book, watch the interview, read about Putopia, and all that other good stuff: Going Bovine Website)

-----The Golden Eagle

Book Review: Prophecy of the Sisters

Title: Prophecy of the Sisters
Author: Michelle Zink
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Genre: Paranormal/Fantasy
Page Count: 343
Rating: 4.1 out of 5
Cover Rating: 3 out of 5. The statues are okay, but not terrific. But I do like the way vines are creeping over one girl and not the other--very symbolic, and it fits in with the plot.


Inside flap:

And ancient prophecy

Divides two sisters--

Once good . . .

Once evil . . .

Who will prevail?

Twin sisters Lia and Alice Milthorpe have just become orphans. They have also become enemies. As they discover their roles in a prophecy that has turned generations of sisters against each other, the girls find themselves entangles in a mystery that involves a tattoo-like mark, their parents' deaths, a boy, a book, and a lifetime of secrets.

Lia and Alice don't know whom they can trust.

They just know they can't trust each other.

My expectations: I'd heard a lot about this book, and now that the sequel is out, even more. Most of what I saw was positive, although I was never really certain I'd like it and thought it might just be another book with the same plot and bad characters as every other YA book seems to have. Which is why I turned down the opportunity to own it and recently took it out of a library.

It exceeded what I'd expected.


About the book: Lia and Alice Milthorpe are orphans. Their father recently passed away, and they live with their Aunt Virginia in their estate. Their mother passed away years ago, after having seemingly fallen accidentally off a cliff into the water below. (Ahem. Why is everyone throwing themselves off cliffs these days?) But after her father dies, Lia--the firstborn daughter--finds a strange mark forming on the inside of her wrist. A mark that grows darker and clearer as time passes, eventually forming a Jorgamund--a snake eating its tail.

Alice also begins to turn away from here, even more than usual. Lia discovers disturbing things about her sister, and when James hands her a book found in her father's library with a prophecy written in Latin, she realizes that the words have to do with her.

Well, all right, this is a a fairly good piece of Paranormal and/or Fantasy. (Depends on what sort of parameters you have.) I was a irritated at the cliff aspect (Please. These days, it's not very likely that it was an accident) but I have to say that the plot and the characters were overall satisfactory.

I read somewhere that it has parallels to The Gemma Doyle Trilogy by Libba Bray, and while I was reading Prophecy of the Sisters, I was a little surprised by how many similarities there are. A group of girls, a magical, dangerous realm-like place, a wise, older woman who helps them, the fretting adults, the backstabbers at school, the sneaking off, etc. It's not a direct copy, but I can definitely see why that statement would be true. (I like The Gemma Doyle Trilogy, by the way.)

One thing that bothered me though, was the fact that Lia seemed to accept the prophecy all too easily. She was like "A Jorgamund! A strange piece of writing! My sister's reclusivity! I must be part of a huge prophecy where everyone wants to kill each other!"

Well, okay, not exactly like that. But she came across as gullible and naive in that way, and it irked me. That's one thing I've noticed about a lot of YA literature--they seem to have characters who accept things without a lot of proof. It's like suddenly, after years of nothing happening, "THINGS ARE HAPPENING!" instead of a procession of odd events throughout their lifetime which might lead up to something more momentous. Harry Potter does the latter, and I appreciate that a lot since many other books do not. (Have you ever noticed this? Really? Have you?)

• Plot:

Good. It kept me wanting to know what happens, and I thought the ending was satisfactory. I (again) thought the cliff-falling incident irritating, but the whole thing with her father, Aunt Virginia, her sister, Henry, and her friends was intriguing and kept my interest. Another thing I found a good aspect of the plot is that Lia is actually the bad person. You know, it's usually the MC is the "keeping the good as it is" sort of person, but this time, it's the MC who has the power to do the most evil. I love this deviation from the norm. The ending is rather cliff-hanger-y, but I think it ended appropriately.

• Characters:

Lia was a nice protagonist. I expected someone ridiculous, but instead she showed a surprising amount of pragmatism. She wasn't afraid of going against her sister when she got nasty--I was glad she wasn't weak in that way.

Alice, the other twin, is an interesting antagonist. I appreciated the way she sort of descended deeper into the prophecy.

Sonia. I loved Sonia. I don't know why, but I really like this girl. She's strong and realistic, and knows what she's doing.

Luisa sort of got on my nerves. She's unwilling to face the truth and wants to run a lot of the time, but she was a good foil.

James is a good friend to Lia. I thought there might be some love-triangle drama or something with her sister, but there was not, and I am glad of that. James is a good person, willing to help Lia and I love the fact his father's a bookkeeper.

• Setting/Other Factors:

The Gothic element is strong, and while this isn't usually my cup of tea, it was presented in a good fashion. It wasn't boring or dull, and Zink wrote about this world well, I think.


Other: Nothing much. There's some kissing, but that's it. Not much violence, although there are the ghosts and Gothic elements.


Do I recommend this book? Yes! While there are similarities between The Gemma Doyle Trilogy and this series, I think it is original enough to be a worthwhile read, and I want to read Guardian of the Gate now!

-----The Golden Eagle

Book Review: Wondrous Strange

Title: Wondrous Strange

Author: Lesley Livingston

Publisher: HarperTeen

Genre: Paranormal

Page Count: 327

Rating: 2.2 out of 5

Cover Rating: 3 out of 5. Pretty, in a dark-and-mysterious sort of way, although I think that the girl on the front is a little . . . too much girl and not enough other. (I would have preferred something with more of a background based on the Faerie kingdom i.e. trees, pavilion, Faeries themselves, etc.) 

Back Cover:

Seventeen-year-old actress Kelley Winslow always thought faeries were just something from childhood stories. Then she meets Sonny Flannery. He's a changeling--a mortal taken as an infant and raised among Faerie--and within short order he's turned Kelley's heart inside out and her world upside down.

   For Kelley's beloved Central Park isn't just a park--it's a gateway between her ordinary city and the Faerie's dangerous, bewitching Otherworld. Now Kelley's eyes are opening not just to the Faerie that surround her, but to the heritage that awaits her . . . a destiny both wondrous and strange.

My expectations: So-so. Paranormal's not my top favorite sort of book . . . but I have to say, I wanted to read more about faeries, since they seem to be big in YA literature right now.

I got a so-so book, which really isn't helping my opinion of paranormal.

About the book: First, I'm going to talk about the back cover, because I have several issues with it. (Just skip down to "The rest of the plot . . . " phrase if you want to read about the book, not something I have issues with.)

So, the back cover/inside flap is always what you read first, isn't it? To see what the plot's about, the characters, the setting, etc. Well, this back cover gives practically everything away. The romance has to be mentioned to hook readers of course, but in this one it's " . . . turned her heart inside out and her world upside down . . . " which is basically: she falls in love with him and what else is he supposed to do but fall in love with her? And from that much it seems like the falling-in-love part happens pretty fast, since that particular line is in the first paragraph.

CODE RED. I REPEAT, CODE RED. Bad plan, folks. Make it interesting! I want to see the challenges! The difficulty! It's better than just BAM! They're in true love. Because seriously? In life that doesn't happen.

Another issue with that back flap is the " . . . heritage that awaits her . . . a destiny . . ." part. Now, you see, fairly in the beginning of the book Sonny Flannery (I'll get to the characters in a moment) talks about the stolen daughter of the king--Auberon--who was taken into the mortal world. And then he runs into Kelly who, surprise surprise, astonishes him with Faerie powers.

CODE RED. I REPEAT, CODE RED. Another problem with that darned back cover! I mean, leave the reader some guessing to do! Don't just tell them everything! What's the point in reading a book if you know what's going to happen--and you can anticipate every move?

*sighs* So my conclusion is: I can tell you that Kelley's the Faerie princess and that she and Sonny fall in love with each other without feeling guilty because you'd probably figure that out for yourselves rather quickly.

The rest of the plot is . . . mixed. There's just too much telling and not enough showing here, since the author tells you about events that are occurring but she doesn't describe and show you that they are occurring. I hate it when that happens. I can't feel Sonny Flannery wielding that weapon because it's just "he fought" instead of "he fought, whipping his deadly blade left and right, slicing through the creatures that bombarded him from all directions".

I already told you about the romance part (or more correctly the back cover did) and I already told you about the Faerie princess part (same deal) but there's another, more ACTION-ish part which I liked the idea of. 

Basically, every nine years for nine nights before and up to Samhain a gate will open connecting the Otherworld to ours, and Otherworld creatures have the opportunity to escape--except for the Janus guards. I liked the part where they fight off the creatures and try to outsmart the creatures that are trying to outsmart them. I like action. However, the author did not emphasize the tension, the moves, the fighting techniques, which would have really piqued my interest in it. I was disappointed by that, because I wanted to read more of it.

Speaking of the characters, Sonny is a Janus guard. He's all right as a person, and all right as a love interest, but I didn't really find anything SPECTACULAR about him. I mean, he's smart, he's a good fighter, and he's relatively nice to Kelley, (I say this because of the stalking/following stuff at the beginning but it's not as bad as it sounds) but there's nothing outstanding.

For that matter, there's really not much outstanding about Kelley, either. She's an okay actress in NYC, she's not, you know, brilliant or anything, and the only reason she's all that interesting is because she's the daughter of the king, Auberon. Other than that . . . not much is really all that great about her.

The characters' reactions to events is another thing I have problems with. You see, they're not described enough, and they don't change enough as things head their way. It's more like single words of shock but no facial description, body language, etc. In fact, I was amazed that the author got away with so little emotion in the book, because if you count emotion alone this book is flat. Really flat. I think was one of my major problems with this book: I just wasn't feeling much for anyone or anything. (Except the kelpie in Kelley's bathroom. :P)

Other: Nothing language-wise that I can remember . . . so it's relatively clean, since the kissing's down and the action, as I mentioned before, is not described much at all.

Do I recommend this book? No. Actually, I'd advise you to pick up something a little more dynamic seeing as this book is not very interesting, and I think there's really nothing great about it. Not worth the time, unless you're pressed against something else--like sparkly, stalking vamps.

-----The Golden Eagle

The Vampire Diaries Synopsis

{With commentary}

Elena: OMG, did that boy just walk right past me and not even stare how could he I'm the most attractive girl in the world and everyone stares at me so how could he act like I'm some totally normal person??!! {Please. This really is her attitude.}

Stefan: *shock* OMG, that looks like my old girlfriend who turned me into a vampire and drove me to kill my brother who killed me afterwards! I'm going to have to ignore her. {Smart plan!}

Elena: I am so freaking mad that he ignored me and I'm going to dump my close friend Matt for him and then I'm going to make my friends swear a blood oath that I'm going to get that guy!

Matt: I see. You know, Elena, the only things you want in life are the things you don't have. {SO true. I like this guy! He's got a brain.}

Bonnie: I'm a psychic! Let me read your future . . . {I don't really believe in psychic powers, in case you didn't know. :P}

Stefan: Grr, that girl is driving me nuts. I'm not sure I'll be able to resist drinking her blood if I stay in town any longer, and do you know just how much she reminds me of my old girlfriend Katherine? Oh, hold it, I have a sad story to tell:

One day, my brother, oh-so-handsome-Damon was telling my father he was going to drop out of school and my dad had a fit. And then Katherine came in--the love of my life--and started smiling at my brother in that way, and I felt like I was going to explode since I realized she loved the both of us.

Elena: I HAVE COME UP WITH A PLAN TO GET STEFAN SALVATORE! {Oh, save me.}

Matt: WHO IS THIS JEAN-CLAUDE?!

Elena: He was a gardener in Paris; married with two kids but I'm using his photo to make Stefan jealous!

Meredith: *gives the look*

Stefan: Oh, god, she's coming my way with some speech.

Elena: Hi! I'm supposed to show you around the school--

Stefan: MATT! Can I try out for the football team? PLEASE? Just get me away from her!! {Smart, once again.}

Elena: *gapes* He . . . ignored me again! AAAGGH!

Matt: You're on the team!

Later . . . 

Elena: You ARE going to get him to go to the dance right Matt? Because I need to seduce him or I'll die!

Matt: Yes, yes, he'd said he'd come. -_-

Elena: *nearly swoons* Oh, oh, oh! There he is . . . would you like to dance?

Stefan: *reaches out* {Man, you made a mistake there.}

Caroline: Looky! It's my old best friend moving in on my date I'll have to go stop her and spite her!

Elena: *shock* Well then! I'll just have to act like a total jerk {*ahem* there are worse words for this . . .} and let Tyler Smallwood dance with me and hang out with the worst crowd at the dance and get drunk and go to the cemetery where a man was killed a few days ago! {Brilliant, Elena. Just brilliant.}

Tyler: Let's open a grave!

Vickie: *stares*

Elena: THE HEADSTONE IS MOVING OMG I'M FAINTING AND FEEL LIKE I'M GOING TO DIE!

Tyler: I'll save you!

Stefan: GAAA get away from her! *throws Tyler and his goons* Come on, Elena. I'll drive you home from my place. {This is where it starts to go really, really bad.}

Elena in his apartment: I am so ANGRY! He acts like I'm unattractive! All I do is whine all day!

Stefan: *groans* Elena . . .

Elena: You do love me!

Stefan: *surrendering and kisses her* {One thing I have to say, there's a lot of sap in this book. This is the guy I want to be with forever and I can't believe how well we were made for each other and GAG ME. The romance is overboard.}

There is a lot of this. Then . . .

Bonnie: THIS GUY IS DEAD! *screams*

Tyler: Stefan did this!

Elena: Matt, warn him!

Stefan: *tears up room of apartment when he gets home out of frustration*

Elena: *chases after Stefan* Stefan! Why are you *gulp* eating those doves?

Stefan: Vamp, girl.

Elena: *collapses into his arms*

Stefan: I love you . . . *chomp*

Elena: Drink my blood, Stefan . . .

Stefan: *displays neck* Chomp on me  . . .

Damon: Elena! Get over here because I want my brother to be miserable and I need human blood!

Elena: *swoons* Damon . . . WAIT, Stefan!

Stefan: What's up with you today?

Elena: Nothing I'm perfectly fine and dandy and why don't you just ignore the new bite marks on my neck?

Damon: Caroline's got your diary and if you'll let me drink again I'll get it for you . . .

Elena: NO! STEFAN! HELP!

Stefan: *growls* I've got a plan!

Bonnie: I'm feeling psychic again . . .

Meredith: *gives the look*

{They get the diary but then Stefan disappears and Elena goes after him.}

Elena: OH NO I'm being followed and I've got to get over that rickety and Damon's after me!

Storm whips around her and the bridge collapses under her car.

Stefan: NOOOOO!

Damon: FIGHT ME, BROTHER! TO THE DEATH!

*general fighting*

Elena: I sense him . . . My sense are more powerful than before . . . {she has no idea she's a vampire}

Damon: He said you were dead!

Elena: *cuddles Damon* I'm not dead, silly. I love you!

Stefan: *gapes*

Damon: *gapes*

I've finally found a book worse than The Twilight Saga. Would you believe it? This story is ridiculous, the plot is unoriginal, and everything was predictable.

-----The Golden Eagle

Book Review: Elsewhere

Title: Elsewhere
Author: Gabrielle Zevin
Genre: Paranormal
Page Count: 275
Rating: 3 out of 4
Cover Rating: 4 out of 5. It's clean and attractive, and I love the colors!

Back cover:

Dear Dr. Fujiyama,

   By now you have probably heard that I'm dead. This means I won't be attending this year's regional science fair, which is a great disappointment to me as I'm sure it also is for oyu. At the time I died, I felt I was starting to make read progress with those earthworms.
   I really enjoyed your class and continue to follow along from the place where I'm now living I now find myself. Dissecting the pig looked pretty interesting, and I thought I might try it. Unfortunately, there aren't any dead pigs here for me to dissect.
   I was disappointed not to see you at the funeral as you were my favorite teacher, even including middle and elementary school. Not to give you a hard time or anything, Dr. F.
   Yours,

        Elizabeth Marie Hall, 5th Period Biology

How can fifteen-year-old Liz let go of the only life she has ever known and embrace a new one? Is ist possible that a life lived in reverse is no different from a life lived forward?

The good: The narrative was orginal, the plot was very different from what you normally see, and the setting was intriguing. The characters had their quirks and attitudes, which put in more depth to the story. I enjoyed reading about living life backwards, and the "getting younger as you live longer" idea, which I'd never read about before. Some parts were amusing, and others sad. Some were a bit startling, and others were just strange, but in a pretty good way. I loved the dog part of it. :)

The bad: Even though it was interesting, Elsewhere is a very strange place. The whole Owen thing was also a little strange, but I suppose it worked out alright in the end.

*Note: It's not really serious, but there is a dead heroin OD-ing singer who is a bit strange. And there is one case where one of the characters half-says a bad word, but if you don't know the rest of it, it's not too bad.*

Do I recommend this book? I'm kind of indifferent. There were parts I liked, and parts I didn't like, but I suppose I would suggest it if it's one of the few interesting-looking books at the library. (which is what happened in my case.)

Another note: Don't forget to follow ~With Love and Kisses~ and get awarded for it! See post for June 5th to get the rest of the story.

-----The Golden Eagle