-->

Monday, May 28, 2012

Quickie Reviews: Vampire Academy and Frostbite by Richelle Mead

Publication Date: August 16th, 2007
Finished Date: May 19th, 2012
Publisher: Razorbill
Format: Paperback
Pages: 332
Series: Vampire Academy #1
My Rating: 3/5

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Author's Website

Blurb from Goodreads:
St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger...

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever.

My Review

Not bad! There was plenty of obstacles and trials for our two heroines, both in the form of mortal peril and high-school drama. However, one thing that derailed me from giving VA a higher rating is the heroine's, Rose's, for lack of a better word, bitchy attitude! She flirts and makes out with guys just for the fun of it, and she's too into revenges for her own good. But she did mature as the story progressed, and what she did for her friends, Lissa and Christian, at the end was really respectable.

Strangely addictive and exciting, though a little cliched! It has a certain similarity to Half-blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout, or rather, Half-blood has a certain similarity to Vampire Academy. The same running away and after that being hunted down and brought back to a school by a hot love interest, then being forced to be trained by said love interest because of how much schooling and training having missed and then having a final epic showdown.

My Rating




Publication Date: April 10th 2008
Finished Date: May 20th, 2012
Publisher: Razorbill
Format: Paperback
Pages: 327
Series: Vampire Academy #2
My Rating: 3.5/5

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Author's Website

Blurb from Goodreads: Rose loves Dimitri, Dimitri might love Tasha, and Mason would die to be with Rose...

It’s winter break at St. Vladimir’s, but Rose is feeling anything but festive. A massive Strigoi attack has put the school on high alert, and now the Academy’s crawling with Guardians—including Rose’s hard-hitting mother, Janine Hathaway. And if hand-to-hand combat with her mom wasn’t bad enough, Rose’s tutor Dimitri has his eye on someone else, her friend Mason’s got a huge crush on her, and Rose keeps getting stuck in Lissa’s head while she’s making out with her boyfriend, Christian! The Strigoi are closing in, and the Academy’s not taking any risks... This year, St. Vlad’s annual holiday ski trip is mandatory.

But the glittering winter landscape and the posh Idaho resort only create the illusion of safety. When three friends run away in an offensive move against the deadly Strigoi, Rose must join forces with Christian to rescue them. But heroism rarely comes without a price...

My Review

Frostbite didn't fail to deliver! Vampire Academy was quite a good start to a series, and Frostbite had the same amount of danger and action that VA had, more intense emotions, heartbreaks and heartaches, more secondary characters and love rivals and interests come into play! I won't peg this as one of my favourite series, but there's just this something that makes it so addictive. I'm literally gobbling this series up one book per day! Which is seriously jeopardizing my exams tomorrow, but that's just it! It's too, goddamned addictive. (Sorry for the language.)

Might be Dmitri, might be the new hot guy in town, Adrian, might be how Rose knows how to kick some serious ass, might be how Rose's mom is THE coolest female dhamphir guardian in this era and she's now in the picture, might be...... As you can see, this book is packed with SO MANY awesome factors, so yes, it was a thrilling and gripping novel. In this cliched, vampire-novel kind of way. You might think this is a good thing, or bad, depends on how you see it. But now, there's no time to lose; I'm off to reading the next book, Shadow Kiss! ;)

P.S. For those who read my reviews regularly, I'm not going to be writing any full length reviews for quite some time cause Junior College life in Singapore is hardcore to the max. No time to do anything but MUG. Means studying and cramming over here, by the way.

My Rating
      

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Author Interview + Excerpt + Giveaway: Shadow Eyes by Dusty Crabtree

Introducing...

Dusty Crabtree!
About Dusty

I am a 9th grade English teacher at Yukon High School in Yukon, Oklahoma. I am also the author of the young adult, urban fantasy, Shadow Eyes, scheduled to be published by Euterpe – Musa Publishing on February 3rd, 2012. When I’m not teaching, writing, or reading, I’m doing my best to be a good wife to my wonderful husband of 8 years and a loving foster mother to two precious children.
--Cited from Dusty's Website

Connect with the author: Author's Website | Goodreads | Facebook

And her debut novel...



Shadow Eyes
The Blurb

Iris Kohl lives in a world populated by murky shadows that surround, harass, and entice unsuspecting individuals toward evil. But she is the only one who can see them. She’s had this ability to see the shadows, as well as brilliantly glowing light figures, ever since an obscure, tragic incident on her fourteenth birthday three years earlier.

Although she’s learned to cope, the view of her world begins to shift upon the arrival of three mysterious characters. First, a handsome new teacher whose presence scares away shadows; second, a new friend with an awe-inspiring aura; and third, a mysterious and alluring new student whom Iris has a hard time resisting despite already having a boyfriend.

As the shadows invade and terrorize her own life and family, she must ultimately revisit the most horrific event of her life in order to learn her true identity and become the hero she was meant to be.

Musa Publishing | Barnes and Noble | Smashwords | Goodreads


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An Interview with Dusty Crabtree



CYP: Hi, Dusty! Thanks for coming to the blog today! For starters, can you tell me about yourself, say, in 1 sentence?

Dusty: Hmmm…let’s just list my many titles, shall we? English teacher, wife, foster parent, author, worship team member, drama team member, and youth sponsor…not necessarily in that order.

CYP: Wow, lol, you're really active in the community, aren't you? What do you like to do when you're not being an author?



Dusty: Besides reading, I LOVE movies, probably because they are so similar to books. You can fall in love with them, analyze them, appreciate their artistic qualities, or all of the above. I also love to go out to dinner with my husband, and I play Dance Central on the Kinnect when I have time to exercise. Yes, a teacher dancing… I know.

CYP: I used to love movies too! But now I only watch the occasional action movies or drama serials that my friends recommend. Books are much more enticing, if you know what I mean. :P Haha, has your dream always been to be an author?

Dusty: Surprisingly, no. I never thought I would be an author. I wrote a few things when I was younger, but nothing from high school on until I got the idea for Shadow Eyes. I must have had the writer gene lurking around inside me for a while, though, because it didn’t take long for me to realize my passion for writing.

CYP: What were your previous dreams, then? Which ones came first?

Dusty: At one point I wanted to be an astronaut, then an interior designer, then something in advertising, and then a drama/debate coach. I even toyed with majoring in business communications but soon realized that I was way to nice and non-confrontational to survive (or at least live happily) in the cut-throat business world.

CYP: Lol, talk about diversity! I can see how your aspirations start to be more and more of the practical world as you grew older. But anyway, what was the hardest part in your path to becoming an author?

Dusty: I’d say writing too much was the hardest part. I was always the one who would write 15 pages for a 13-15 page paper or even seven pages for a three-five page paper. I think I’m just naturally wordy. I had to cut quite a bit form the original manuscript before sending it to publishers.
To help me do this, I had friends read it and help me decide what was essential and non-essential, because an outsider’s view is critical for determining that. As the author who knows everything already, I had no idea what was necessary or what could be left out. I also reread it several times and asked myself over and over, “Is this phrase, sentence, paragraph, or even scene, absolutely essential to keep the plot going?”


CYP: I'm naturally wordy too!! My narrative essays in school would usually be approximately 1300 words when the word limit was 500-750! Haha. What did you have to research on to write Shadow Eyes? Is this your area of expertise? Or your interest?

Dusty: I didn’t have to do a whole lot of research for Shadow Eyes because the setting is a typical high school. Since I work in a high school and since teenagers are truly my passion, I already had plenty of experience to draw from for the setting and much of the plot. It was really fun writing from the perspective of a 17-year old girl! The fantastical elements of Shadow Eyes mostly just came from my head, along with some general spiritual elements I was already familiar with.

CYP: What was the inspiration behind Shadow Eyes?

Dusty: The inspiration actually came from a screenplay idea I had a few years prior. The movie would have been about a cast of intertwined characters going about their lives and making mistakes with dark, creepy shadows (demons) hovering around them, whispering to them and influencing them to do evil things. Only the audience would see the shadows, though. The characters would be completely oblivious. It would have been like a Christian horror movie, if there ever was such a genre! However, my friend was really the one who inspired me to write the book as it was her suggestion and encouragement that made me even consider the mammoth task.

CYP: Now that you say it, it really does play out like a screenplay! Haha, I can imagine the lightings and everything! Did you base any of your characters on real life people/experiences? Which ones?

Dusty: The main character, Iris, has a little of my personality, in that she’s a perfectionist, overly organized, and sarcastic. However, I don’t have anxiety issues like her and haven’t been through most of what she goes through in the story. The science teacher Mr. Keller was actually based off of one of my science teachers in high school. He was hilarious! The spelunking scene with him is mostly a true story as well. Not so funny then, but really funny now! A few other small things from my life are thrown in as well. Sometimes it’s just easy to write about what you know. ☺

CYP: Haha, I like sarcasm. That's probably how my friends would describe me as. :P Which was your favourite scene or quote in Shadow Eyes?

Dusty: Oh, goodness, there are so many! Most of which I can’t share because it would give away too much (there’s a lot of mystery in Shadow Eyes). Besides the big reveal near the end with the mirror, one of my other favorite parts would have to be when Iris’s friend Kyra and Patrick meet for the first time in the cafeteria and get into a heated argument. It was so fun to write! I just loved the tension and mystery that was created at the same time. Let me also throw in a couple of my favorite quotes…mostly about Patrick:

It was as if his green eyes were my kryptonite, making all my defensive powers of wit and sarcasm useless. I was exposed and vulnerable. But for some reason, with Patrick…I liked it.

“Well, yeah. Since you have a boyfriend, nothing I say or do to you is meant to have any deeper meaning than harmless flirting.” He softened his voice as he leaned in closer to me and began tracing his finger from my hand up my arm to my shoulder. “Now, if you didn’t have a boyfriend…well, let’s just say, you could read as deeply into my actions as you wanted to.”

…a devious grin played on his face as if he knew I was nothing but a mere marionette easily manipulated by the slightest twitch of his master fingertips and that I was his favorite puppet to play with.

…the second shadow tilted its head back and opened the dark abyss of its mouth. What came out was the most horrible noise I had ever heard. It sounded like the echoing cackle of a demon drowning in a deep well. As piercing as nails on a chalkboard yet as murky and surreal as a nightmare.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Indie Authors Spotlight (7) + Giveaway - Featuring Lily: The Story of a Life


Indie Authors Spotlight is a BRAND NEW weekly meme that will be held every SATURDAY. It is hosted by Beckie @ Bittersweet Enchantment & CYP @ A Bookalicious Story. The idea of this meme is to promote indie authors and to help them and their books get recognized. This will be a great way for book bloggers to take part in helping these authors be spotlighted for their hard work.


Introducing...

Lili, The Story of Life
The Blurb

Stephen Flashman loves sex. As a womanizer, he’s been using women for sex all his life. Flashman is what we would call in these latter days an amoral creature, a free and independent operator looking for nothing more than the next score. As far as the ugly side of casual hookups is concerned, Flashman is ruthless and unmoved: he experiences none of the emotional fallout from casual sex, for he has detached his heart from the all-important business of satisfying the libido, which as he sees it, is simply the calculus of getting one’s needs met in an increasingly individualistic society—it is what every mature person seeking fortune and pleasure must inevitably do.

But there are two women who leave an indelible mark upon Flashman’s life, two women whose memory he somehow cannot lay to rest in a sea of forgettable conquests. Diane Densher is one of those women: she is incredibly smart, savvy and ambitious, possessing in abundance all the traits Flashman has sought so arduously to develop in himself; she is an Ivy League graduate and a successful executive with a budding career on Wall Street—in short, she is everything Flashman had always aspired to be. No matter how many times Flashman sleeps with her, he never manages to possess her, to gain the upper hand as it were; there is something about her which tells Flashman that she secretly despises him, a subtly veiled conceit which regards him as not quite her equal, as someone she will eventually detach from and discard as she moves onward and upward, just as Flashman himself has done to so many women in his past. Diane does in fact break up with Flashman, suddenly and without warning: Flashman treats it like just another breakup, but deep down her rejection of him conjures forth insecurities from his past he had long kept repressed, along with a terrible nagging feeling which haunts him incessantly, that he could not keep her because she recognized him as a failure and unworthy to be her mate—to Flashman their parting is not a matter of simple disconnect between lovers but a judgment, a verdict upon his whole life and self-worth, and he is tormented ceaselessly by the need to somehow win her back. Noelle Cummings is just the opposite of her ambitious and serious-minded predecessor: she is a free spirit from her head to her toes, carried along by a simple and insatiable zest for life itself, to live each day as if it were her last. Where Flashman is cerebral and cynical, Noelle is tactile and sanguine and eternally hopeful; for her life is not a matter of acquiring or achieving but experiencing, of living from moment to moment with contagious cheer and joyful expectancy, and she casts a wistful light into Flashman’s bleak inner world. After breaking up with Noelle, Flashman is torn between his affections for both women when a sudden development turns his life upside down: Noelle reveals to him that she is pregnant with his child, but is anxious and fearful about raising a child on her own; she tells Flashman that she is thinking of terminating the pregnancy.

For Flashman it is the moment which sears his heart, which tears at the very core of his being: with Diane showing signs of renewed interest, should Flashman continue to give chase to her, or should he devote his energies to Noelle and do all he can to ensure the birth of his child, while knowing his life will never be the same again?

Goodreads | Amazon

About the author: I approach writing principally as I have come to approach life, as a communal experience, a journey in which I evolve by sharing the insights life has taught me and by absorbing and assimilating the insights of others. I am somewhat saddened when I witnessed our country so polarized, so hardened and trenchantly shackled by our ideology that we cannot even bring ourselves to talk to one another; it is as if America has come apart at the seams into little camps, walled cities who have nothing but contempt for one another. As regards myself I do not believe that I am a kind of sage who can bring the masses to the light, so to speak; although many weighty, serious matters get treated in this novel, I never seek to express that treatment in the form of some kind of dogmatic pronouncement, as if to say, "this is how things are; this is what truth is; and there is no other view than my own". For that matter I would not claim to have captured reality, but rather to have simply shared a perception of it--it is my hope that the novel itself would then become a communal enterprise, in that the shared reflections and feedback of readers would cast a light upon the experiences I have shared; and in this way we might grow together. The character of Lily is haltingly, even unconsciously attempting to make his way out of a spiritual darkness, to actualize his humanity in some way; and I think the struggle will find resonance with readers because it is the principle struggle of human life itself, the thread of commonality which all people share and contend with. Some of the content of this novel might come across as controversial, or even repugnant; but I am merely interested in presenting a particular snapshot of reality, a certain depiction of the human condition, in the hope that I might facilitate a discussion amongst readers, or bring them to a place in which they might perceive things differently. And this is because at the juncture in life in which I find presently myself--I am now somewhat older--I do not think that the years have brought me wisdom per se, but perhaps only the wisdom that I need to open myself, to see gray areas and tear down barriers in order to actualize my own humanity. It is my wish that the novel Lily might serve as a catalyst for that exchange, that process through which growth takes place.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A Commentary by Samuel

To A Bookalicious  Story Readers: this is Samuel Bagby, the author of Lily, and I would like to take the opportunity to shed some light upon the themes which lay at the heart of the novel, as well as to give you a needed bit of context to interpret attitudes and personalities in the story that might seem offensive at first glance. To begin with it is obvious that the character of the novel, Flashman, is a chauvinist who is looking to use women. He is not a likable, attractive character; one might have pity for him, because in many ways he has had a hard life, but nevertheless it is a challenge to have much affection for him. Flashman is someone who would offend any morally sensible woman or man: but he does not even have the moral compass to recognize that he has so woefully lost his way.

For the moral and spiritual state of a human being does not happen by itself, or in a vacuum; Flashman’s mother had died early in his childhood, and he was left to his father, whose sexist and abusive ways subsequently shaped Flashman into the unsavory young man we meet in the narrative. Flashman was never taught to love and respect women because his father had never loved and respected them: but there is a part of him that desperately yearns to do so. Flashman looks to fill himself up, to fulfill himself with sex: but he is too damaged, to emotionally crippled, to open up and truly love a woman in the sexual act; he is too inhibited to articulate to a woman the deep spiritual soundings he can neither repress nor fully comprehend. Flashman seems chauvinist, and to some degree he is—but in his deepest heart he was fulfilled by women, first by his mother and then by his daughter later in the novel. He skulks about strip clubs and ravenously devours pornography at night, but in a pathetic way his inner self is only groping about in a kind of existential darkness to find somehow a wife and from her a child that would give him what he had lost so many years ago when his mother had left him.
Flashman himself is a type of the greater American culture around him, he is its sort of incarnation, a man who wishes to use women as casual objects for his pleasure, but who somehow, no matter how many partners and affairs he has, never seems content, never seems satisfied or fulfilled. Flashman dutifully follows the philosophy handed down to his generation from those before, doing all the things American society tells its young people to do in order to be happy, and yet remains somehow empty, at a loss; the novel seeks to apply no sort of moralistic assessment or formula to the state of things, but to ask respectfully whether the culture has perhaps gone off kilter somehow, to ask whether the present sexual mores honors women and men and honors sex itself—the greatest gift human beings can share with one another.

I would be remiss, very much so, if I didn’t relate that there is some amount of political commentary in the book—but then again it isn’t really political commentary per se, but a reflection upon American politics itself. That is to say there is no intent in the book to promote a certain ideology, to advance either liberal or conservative ideas, or even to criticize them—for it’s my own contention that America as a nation benefits from both liberal and conservative thinking, they are like the relatives of a common family who as much as they bicker and fight still need each other. Rather the book seeks to cast a light on this sort of rabid partisanship we see so often now, in which left and right alike seem interested only in lashing out at each other with a kind of unthinking cruelty that unhinges the public debate into an ugly slogging match which ultimately does no one any good. It cannot be a salutary state of affairs that American politicians and citizens alike are so consumed with partisan rancor that they cannot bring themselves to speak to one another openly and with respect; reputations are sullied, the insults fly and in the end we the American people are the victims, with our problems left to fester unsolved; and it is this sort of endless “gotcha” game that the political passages of the book seek to draw attention to.

I approach writing principally as I have come to approach life, as a communal experience, a journey in which I evolve by sharing the insights life has taught me and by absorbing and assimilating the insights of others. Although many weighty, serious matters get treated in this novel, I never seek to express that treatment in the form of some kind of dogmatic pronouncement, as if to say, "this is how things are; this is what truth is; and there is no other view than my own". For that matter I would not claim to have captured reality, but rather to have simply shared a perception of it--it is my hope that the novel itself would then become a communal enterprise, in that the shared reflections and feedback of readers would cast a light upon the experiences I have shared; and in this way we might grow together. The character of Lily is haltingly, even unconsciously attempting to make his way out of a spiritual darkness, to actualize his humanity in some way; deep in the abyss of himself he is seeking a greater love, for meaning and belonging, but he stumbles into all the various snares and traps that modern culture insinuates into the minds of young people—the mindset that objectifies and debases, the mindset that is popular and easy and makes a fat profit for cynical people, while burying over our fundamental identity as spiritual beings who love and need to be loved. I believe that the struggle of the character will find resonance with readers because it is the principle struggle of human life itself, the thread of commonality which all people share and contend with. As I mentioned before some of the content of this novel might come across as controversial, or even repugnant; but I am merely interested in presenting a particular snapshot of reality, a certain depiction of the human condition, in the hope that I might spark a discussion amongst readers, or bring them to a place in which they might perceive things more clearly, or meaningfully. And this is because at the juncture in life in which I find presently myself--I am now somewhat older--I do not think that the years have brought me wisdom per se, but perhaps only the wisdom that I need to open myself, to see gray areas and tear down barriers in order to actualize my own humanity. It is my wish that the novel Lily might serve as a kind of catalyst for that exchange, that process through which growth takes place.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Giveaway Time
Samuel is so kindly giving away 20 ecopies of Lily: The Story of a Life! Just fill in the Google Docs form below and you're good to go! No requirements to enter. Giveaway is international and ends in two weeks, on May 20th.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

The Shapeshifter's Secret Blog Tour: Character Interview with Julia



Introducing...

Heather Ostler!
About Heather

The Official Biography

Heather Ostler grew up near the mountains with a rambunctiously entertaining family. She majored in English at Utah Valley University, and soon began composing stories about masquerades, water nymphs, and shapeshifters. She and her husband, Kellen, reside in Highland, Utah with two remarkably pleasant pugs.

The Fun Biography

I like fortune cookies, lucky pennies, shooting stars, and implausible coincidences. I’m always cold and have at least 5 different flavors of hot cocoa on hand at all times. I’m a sucker for happy endings and like to eat dessert first. I think Muppets Christmas Carol is one of the best movies ever, along with The Parent Trap. English accents, cloudy days, and family inside jokes make me smile. I am a writer, and I love finding inspiration in art, music, nature, seasons, and relationships.

---Cited from Heather's Website

Connect with Heather:


And Julia from:

The Shapeshifter's Secret
The Blurb

Julia is finally discovering what–not who–she is.

Like any sixteen-year-old, Julia's used to dealing with problems. From her overprotective father to her absent mother to a teacher who definitely has it in for her. But everything changes when Julia's reactions become oddly vicious and angry---more animal than human. This action-packed adventure has it all: humor, romance, and a plot that will keep you guessing to the very last page.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Book Depository




-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An Interview with Lead Cast, Julia

Julia enters with a big smile and gestures a small wave. She sits down and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.

CYP: Hi Julia, thanks for coming to the blog today!

“Thanks for having me. I’m sorry I can’t stay long, my dad said I have to get back to homework soon.” She rolls her eyes.

CYP: Haha, I'm seventeen, I get it. *rolls eyes too* Ok, for starters, tell me a little about yourself, say, in 5 words.

“Oh, that’s tough. Maybe shapeshifter, overprotected, in love.” Julia grins. “White tiger, and good friend. I guess that was a little more than 5 words.”

CYP: Ohhhhh!!! My favourite color's white!! That's so cool!!!! I've read a little about you from reviews by other reviewers. Tell me, how do you feel knowing that people around the world are reading about you and your inner thoughts?

“It’s really strange. My life has taken so many crazy turns lately. I’m sure readers find my family’s past a little twisted. Hopefully they understand the reasons behind my actions, like why I snuck into the haunted ballroom, or why I kept my relationship with Terrence secret.”

CYP: -.-? "Haunter ballroom"? Haha, I'm sure they would. (No sarcasm intended) What do you like to do in your spare time? (Besides being with Terrence :P)

“I like to practice shapeshifting whenever I get the chance. I’m getting pretty quick at it! And Sierra and I love exploring Lockham Castle too, it keeps us entertained.”

Cyp's Abbreviation Dictionary

DNF = Did Not Finish
HEA = Happily Ever After
PNR = Paranormal Romance
UF = Urban Fantasy
YA = Young Adult

Erotica Reference

BDSM = Bondage/Discipline, Dominant/Submissive, Sadism/Masochism
f/f = female/female
m/f = male/female
m/m = male/male

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...