Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Release Date: August 2nd 2016
Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Contemporary, Thriller
Synopsis:
Lana used to know what was real.
That was before when her life was small and quiet.
Her golden step-brother, Ben, was alive, she could only dream about bonfiring with the populars, their wooded island home was idyllic, she could tell the truth from lies, and Ben’s childhood stories were firmly in her imagination.
Then came after.
After has Lana boldly kissing her crush, jumping into the water from too high up, and living with nerve and mischief. But after also has horrors, deaths that only make sense in fairy tales, and terrors from a past Lana thought long forgotten: Love, blood, and murder.
My Review
(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
I’d ideally give this book 3.5 stars out of 5. Although I found it entertaining and easy to read, I found the majority of the flashbacks to be quite jarring and disjointing to read, due to abrupt changes in tense.
I did find it fairly easy to relate to Lana. While I wasn’t sure what to think of her for a lot of the book, it was interesting to see how she related to the other characters around her. While I wasn’t keen on Becca as a character even from the start, I found Carolynn much more likable… even if she did come across as the stereotypical mean girl at first.
I did find the individual members of the ‘core’ a bit hard to differentiate between, at least at first, with the guys. Josh, Duncan and Rusty seemed to merge together at times in my head and although, by the end of the book, they had more depth to them, I felt that Rusty especially seemed to be a mix of Duncan and Josh.
It was good to be able to learn about the history between Ben and Lana as the book went on. While I didn’t get to properly meet Ben, he left such a presence behind him that it felt like I knew him as well as Lana… at least in theory.
I did feel that some of the characters came across as a bit one-dimensional, in particular when it came to the police officers. I found it quite hard to believe that they were able to get away with outright accusing the group of murder… or that not one of the parents considered contacting a lawyer.
It was hard to get a clear picture of the island and the apparent divide there was. I felt there was a lack of foreshadowing and although the stories Ben told Lana added an interesting dimension, they weren’t really utilised in the same way the blurb had seemed to indicate.
I felt like this book could have benefited from being a bit longer and perhaps with a smaller cast of characters. Although there were some small elements of tension, those kept being lost in the amount of flashbacks that kept cropping up.
I don’t think I’d read this book again, but I wouldn’t mind reading more books by this author in the future.
Stalking Jack the Ripper (Untitled Trilogy #1)
by Kerri Maniscalco
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson
Release Date: September 20th 2016
Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Mystery
Synopsis
Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord’s daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege stretched out before her. But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life.
Against her stern father’s wishes and society’s expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle’s laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world.
My Review
(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
Jack the Ripper has always been a horrible part of history, but I was intrigued by the blurb and I found Audrey to be a really intriguing character. It was interesting to see her as a progressive female character in a time when women were still considered unequal to men.
It was good to see the tensions between Audrey’s father and uncle and I liked being able to learn more about their history, though there were times I felt there were some contradictions… particularly in regards to her uncle’s behaviour. And I found it very hard to understand her father’s real motivations.
I thought the illustrations used in this book added a good aspect, but I did feel there were times they detracted from the story a bit.
It was good to see how there were some connections to Audrey’s household, though I felt there was a bit too much summarising of events. I would have liked to see this book expanded upon a bit more.
While I did find Thomas to be an interesting character, I thought that his deductions could have been shown a bit better, though, as none of those were things I could see as a reader.
It was good to see bits and pieces of the murders, but I did feel there was less shown than there really should have been. I did like seeing Audrey’s relationship with her cousin, but I would have liked to see those interactions a bit more, rather than them being glossed over. And I would have liked to see a bit more depth to her aunt’s character.
While a lot of the book did have the feel of the time period the book was set in… I was a bit disappointed to see there was quite a bit of modern day language used, that did detract from the story at times.
I did like seeing Audrey’s relationship with Nathaniel and it was good to get some ideas of the differences between the siblings. There was one thing in particular I did see coming, but only just before it became relevant.
Despite the issues mentioned earlier, I did find this book entertaining to read and I would be interested in reading more books by this author in the future, as well as the next book/s in this series.
Kerri Maniscalco grew up in a semi-haunted house outside NYC where her fascination with gothic settings began. In her spare time she reads everything she can get her hands on, cooks all kinds of food with her family and friends, and drinks entirely too much tea while discussing life’s finer points with her cats. Stalking Jack the Ripper is her debut novel. It incorporates her love of forensic science and unsolved history, and is the first in a new series of gothic thrillers.
It will be available everywhere September 20, 2016.
Fear the Drowning Deep
by Sarah Glenn Marsh
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Release Date: October 4th 2016
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Historical Fiction
Synopsis:
Witch’s apprentice Bridey Corkill has hated the ocean ever since she watched her granddad dive in and drown with a smile on his face. So when a dead girl rolls in with the tide in the summer of 1913, sixteen-year-old Bridey suspects that whatever compelled her granddad to leap into the sea has made its return to the Isle of Man.
Soon, villagers are vanishing in the night, but no one shares Bridey’s suspicions about the sea. No one but the island’s witch, who isn’t as frightening as she first appears, and the handsome dark-haired lad Bridey rescues from a grim and watery fate. The cause of the deep gashes in Fynn’s stomach and his lost memories are, like the recent disappearances, a mystery well-guarded by the sea. In exchange for saving his life, Fynn teaches Bridey to master her fear of the water — stealing her heart in the process.
Now, Bridey must work with the Isle’s eccentric witch and the boy she isn’t sure she can trust — because if she can’t uncover the truth about the ancient evil in the water, everyone she loves will walk into the sea, never to return.
My Review
(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
This was another book I was really interested in reading after seeing the blurb. I thought it was interesting to see the kind of setting Bridey lived in. It was nice to see her interacting with her family and her friends, Lugh and Cat. While I did think there was a little bit of information dumping in regards to the history between Bridey and her two friends, I did think both of them came across as well-rounded characters with a lot of depth to them.
I really liked seeing Bridey interacting with her family… but I had a lot of sympathy for her as a child, given everything I learned about her and her grandfather. It was good to see the elements of supernatural were a part of the story, but didn’t seem to take over completely.
I didn’t like a lot of the villagers by the end of the book, I have to say. I did feel like a lot of them were lumped together into the same kind of characters and there wasn’t a lot to differentiate between the stereotypical nosy women.
I thought Morag was an interesting character, although I was disappointed not to see much of her actually interacting with Bridey. While I could understand why, it seemed like she spent most of the book hiding away from everyone… including her apprentice.
I did like seeing Bridey’s sisters and how different they were. It was also good to see her relationship with her parents… and I liked that they had different nicknames for each of their daughters. It was interesting to see Bridey’s mother’s paintings and how they related to what was going on with the villagers disappearing.
I liked Fynn’s character, although I did think that his feelings for Bridey and hers for him moved a bit too quickly. I didn’t find much mystery surrounding his presence, as I figured things out fairly quickly. It was, however, interesting to see the different kinds of creatures from the ocean.
I found this book a really entertaining read and I would definitely be interested in reading a sequel to this.
Sarah Glenn Marsh writes young adult novels and children’s picture books. An avid fantasy reader from the day her dad handed her a copy of The Hobbit and promised it would change her life, she’s been making up words and worlds ever since.
When she’s not writing, Sarah enjoys watercolor painting, ghost hunting, and pursuits of the nerd variety, from video games to tabletop adventures. She’s never met an animal or a doughnut she didn’t like.
Sarah lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband and their tiny zoo of four rescued greyhounds, a bird, and many fish. She is the author of Fear the Drowning Deep, the Reign of the Fallen duology, and several picture books.
A Mortal Song
by Megan Crewe
Publisher: Another World Press
Release Date: September 13th 2016
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Fantasy
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Synopsis:
Sora’s life was full of magic—until she discovered it was all a lie.
Heir to Mt. Fuji’s spirit kingdom, Sora yearns to finally take on the sacred kami duties. But just as she confronts her parents to make a plea, a ghostly army invades the mountain. Barely escaping with her life, Sora follows her mother’s last instructions to a heart-wrenching discovery: she is a human changeling, raised as a decoy while her parents’ true daughter remained safe but unaware in modern-day Tokyo. Her powers were only borrowed, never her own. Now, with the world’s natural cycles falling into chaos and the ghosts plotting an even more deadly assault, it falls on her to train the unprepared kami princess.
As Sora struggles with her emerging human weaknesses and the draw of an unanticipated ally with secrets of his own, she vows to keep fighting for her loved ones and the world they once protected. But for one mortal girl to make a difference in this desperate war between the spirits, she may have to give up the only home she’s ever known.
“Megan Crewe’s A Mortal Song is engrossing from the first chapter. The world of the kami is beautifully fantastic and delicately drawn, and the switched-at-birth scenario made me instantly feel for both of these resilient, brave girls. A Mortal Song has lots of magic, lots of heart, and lots to love.” -Kendare Blake, author of Three Dark Crowns.
My Review
(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
Having been a long-time fan of manga and anime, I was particularly intrigued to see more about the Japanese paranormal culture when I was given the opportunity to read this book.
I really liked Sora’s character. She was easy to engage with and I found myself aching with her as she learned she wasn’t who she thought she was.
I was particularly interested in learning about the kami. I thought the different kinds of kami were good to see, although I would have liked a bit more detail of things like how they could have children and what kind of relationship they had with the world they took care of.
I especially liked being able to see how Sora related to the environment around her and her relationships with the other kami, especially Midora. I really didn’t like Ayame, though. I thought she was fickle and didn’t really care about Sora as a person… only about the position.
I really didn’t like the love triangle. Even though it didn’t irritate me quite as much as most love triangles do, it was one of the worst cliches I’ve seen in love triangles. If it wasn’t for that, I would have easily given this book five stars.
I did like both Keiji and Takeo, even though there were some problems involving both of them. However, I felt both of them had a lot of depth… although there were times I felt Takeo was a bit one-dimensional.
While I did feel there were times Chiyo crossed too far into the over-powered territory, it was good to see that she did have to have training and that she wasn’t perfectly good at using her power. I did also find her boyfriend to be a really interesting character. It was good to see the humans battling along with the kami to save the world… and it was also good to see that it wasn’t just one person who could do everything.
I felt this book was good at drawing me in and making me care about the world and the characters. I even thought it was good to see that the villain had a lot of depth and wasn’t just a one-dimensional character. I would definitely be interested in reading more books by this author in the future.
Like many authors, Megan Crewe finds writing about herself much more difficult than making things up. A few definite facts: she lives in Toronto, Canada with her husband and son (and does on occasion say “eh”), she tutors children and teens with special needs, and she’s spent the last six years studying kung fu, so you should probably be nice to her. She has been making up stories about magic and spirits and other what ifs since before she knew how to write words on paper. These days the stories are just a lot longer.
Megan’s first novel, GIVE UP THE GHOST, was shortlisted for the Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic. Her second, THE WAY WE FALL, was nominated for the White Pine Award and made the International Reading Association Young Adults’ Choices List. Her Fallen World trilogy (THE WAY WE FALL, THE LIVES WE LOST, THE WORLDS WE MAKE) is now complete and she has a new trilogy forthcoming in October 2014, beginning with EARTH & SKY. Her books have been published in translation in several countries around the world. She has also published short stories in magazines such as On Spec and Brutarian Quarterly.
On the afternoon of my seventeenth birthday, I came down the mountain to visit a dying man.
The affliction had revealed itself slowly. I’d first noticed the tremor of discord in Mr. Nagamoto’s ki—the life energy that glowed inside him—three months ago. Over the weeks, that tremor had swollen into a cloud, dimming the ki at the side of his abdomen. Today I arrived to find the cloud twisting and churning while he typed at his computer in the living room. It was draining his already inconceivably short human life away, but neither he nor his wife knew it was there.
They didn’t know I was there either. I kept myself invisible as I watched from beside the narrow sofa, as I always did when I visited the households in the town at Mt. Fuji’s foot. The people living in those homes looked much like myself and many of the other kami, but it was their differences that fascinated me. They shifted from one mood to another in patterns too complex to predict, and their bodies changed quickly too, for better or for ill. As I’d drifted through the beige walls of this house over the years, Mr. and Mrs. Nagamoto had grown plumper and their hair grayer. I’d joined their children’s games unseen and silently shared their laughter before the son and then the daughter had transformed into adults leaving for college. And now this sickness had come.
I stepped closer to Mr. Nagamoto. Seeing how his disease had spread made me feel sick myself, but that was why I’d come. My resolve solidified inside me, overshadowing the worries that had driven me from the palace. If I really wanted to consider myself a part of this family’s lives, I should help them—help him.
I’d have healed him if I could, but the cloud of decay was so large and fierce I doubted even the most practiced healers of my kind would have been able to defeat it. We kami had other skills, though. I knew a few in the palace whose focus was tending to the dying. When a worthy person or creature passed away, they let it hold on to life a little longer by transferring its spirit into something it had loved. I thought Mr. Nagamoto might like to linger in the cypress tree in the yard or one of the koi in the pond beneath it, where he could continue watching over his family.
Any kami was capable of doing that. Any kami but me. Mother and Father hadn’t let me learn the sacred practices yet.
I had so much more power than anyone in this town—more ki in my little toe than Mr. Nagamoto had in his whole fragile human body. It wasn’t right for me to stand by and let his life slip away unrecognized. My parents would just have to accept that it was time I started serving the purpose I was meant to.
I bowed my farewell to Mr. Nagamoto and slipped outside. The summer sun was dipping low in the stark blue sky. Midori, my dragonfly kami friend who always accompanied me on my ventures off the mountain, flitted around me with a mischievous tickle of ki that dared me to try to reach the palace faster than her.
I took off down the street. Midori darted past me, but in a moment I’d matched her pace, sending ki to my feet to speed them on. The houses streaked by, clay walls and red-and-gray tiled roofs standing behind low fences of concrete or metal. It was strange to think most of these people barely believed my kind existed, spoke and prayed to us only out of habit, with no more faith than they had in the characters they watched on their TVs. But as long as kami lived on Mt. Fuji and elsewhere, we’d continue to act as guardians of the natural world, doing all we could to keep the crops growing, to fend off the worst storms, and to calm the fire that lurked deep inside the mountain.
Or, at least, the others did, and I hoped soon I’d find my focus too.
Midori pulled a little ahead of me, and I pushed my feet faster. I was the only one to have been born in the palace in as long as my honorary auntie Ayame could remember. She loved sharing tales of my birth even more than she did those of heroes and sages. “It was a blessing for our chosen rulers,” she’d told me. “When your mother and father announced they were expecting, the celebrations lasted for weeks.” The parties commemorating my birthday weren’t anywhere near as extensive, but kami still traveled from far abroad to pay their respects. Surely while my parents were thinking of how much I meant to them, they’d recognize how much this request meant to me?
In a few minutes, Midori and I had left the town behind and started up the forested slope. An odd quiet filled the pine woods we dashed through. No animals stirred, except for a couple of squirrels that rushed this way and that as if in alarm before scurrying away. I slowed, forgetting the race as I peered amid the branches for the owl kami who normally maintained the harmony in this part of the forest. “Daichi?” I called. There was no sign of him.
He must have already headed up to join the party. I’d mention my observations when I saw him in the palace.
I directed a fresh rush of ki through my legs. As I ran on, my feet hardly touched the ground. Farther up the mountain, the rustling of moving bodies and the lilt of birdsong reached my ears. Nothing was terribly wrong, then.
“Sora!”
The voice brought me to a halt. Midori settled on my hair. A tall figure was striding toward us through the trees. My heart skipped a beat.
“Takeo,” I said, trying not to sound as breathless as I felt after that run.
Takeo stopped a few paces away and dipped into a low bow. He was wearing his fancier uniform with the silver embroidery along the jacket’s billowing sleeves. In contrast with the deep green of the fabric, his mahogany-brown eyes gleamed as brightly as if they were made of polished wood. With his shoulder-length hair pulled back in a formal knot, the lacquered sheath of his sword at his hip, and the arc of his bow at his shoulder, he looked every inch the palace guard. But he smiled at me, warm and open, as a friend.
If I’d had a camera like the ones the tourists carried, I’d have captured the look he was giving me for keeps. Although then I’d have to explain why I wanted to, and I hadn’t worked up enough courage to confess these new feelings yet. He might see me as a friend, but before that I was the daughter of his rulers, a child he’d been assigned to watch over and teach since I was seven years old, when he’d arrived at the mountain barely out of childhood himself, seeking to serve.
What if he couldn’t think of me as more? Just imagining him telling me as much, struggling to let me down gently, made my stomach tie itself into knots.
I pushed those thoughts aside. I had another goal tonight. Takeo was the only kami close to my age I knew, and he had been training in all the skills of the kami since he was much younger than me.
“I was a little worried when I couldn’t find you in the palace,” Takeo said. “But then I remembered your favorite place to visit. You were in town?”
“Yes,” I said. “Is something wrong?”
“Only that Ayame is looking for you. She’s fretting that she won’t have enough time to get you ready. You know how she is.”
With a wisp of amusement, Midori cast an image into my head of Ayame calling in her usual frantic voice, “Where is that girl?” I wasn’t late, but unlike humans, who might be panicking one moment and easygoing a few minutes later, kami were much more strict in their natures. It was Ayame’s nature to fret over absolutely everything.
“Hush,” I said to the dragonfly with a suppressed groan. She wasn’t the one Ayame would be fussing over when we got back. “I’m sorry,” I added to Takeo.
“It’s no problem at all,” he said, his smile widening. “I’m pleased to escort you home.“Is everything all right with you?” he asked as we continued up the mountain. “On your birthday, I’d have thought you’d be too busy to leave the palace.”
The question reminded me of the niggle of doubt that had drawn me to the Nagamotos’ house so I could steel myself to challenge Mother and Father’s judgment tonight. “I just needed to get away from the busy-ness for a bit,” I said, and bit my lip. “Takeo, do you think if I ask my parents to let me start learning the sacred practices, they’ll say yes?”
“Of course,” he said. “Why wouldn’t they?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “They’ve avoided giving me any responsibility—haven’t you noticed? Last year Kaito offered to teach me the way of the rain, and the year before that Manami suggested I accompany her to her shrine, and both times Mother and Father said that I shouldn’t have that sort of pressure on me before I’m fully of age. But I’ve been able to best you with ki since I was twelve—I nearly beat you with a sword last week. I know every inch of this mountain. Isn’t it time I learned our actual duties?”
“You should tell them that’s what you want,” Takeo said, ducking under a branch. “I’ve never known your parents to be anything less than understanding. They’ll find the right answer.”
The worries I’d squashed down in Mr. Nagamoto’s house surged back up. What if the answer was that they had good reason not to trust me with responsibility? Grandfather always said, “The one truth I know is, we can’t help but be the way we are.” Which meant if I were capable, it should be as clear as Ayame’s fretting, as Mother’s cool collectedness, as Father’s indomitable compassion.
So much of the time, nothing inside me felt clear at all. I could believe with every fiber of my being that I was ready, and a moment later be completely uncertain again. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe my parents had seen that strangeness in me and decided I was… inadequate. I’d never heard anyone else in the palace mention feeling so jumbled up, so I’d tried not to show it, but it had only gotten worse in the last few years.
I glanced sideways at Takeo. “Did you ever…” I said, and hesitated. “Have you ever felt you needed to do something, but at the same time you weren’t sure you could do it, and—”
My voice broke when he turned his head toward me. His handsome face was puzzled.
“If there’s something I can’t do, I leave it to those who can,” he said. “None of us can do everything.” His smile returned, softer this time. “But I think you’re strong enough to accomplish just about anything you decide to attempt, Sora.”
Even though he hadn’t understood what I’d been getting at, his smile steadied me. Was it really so unexpected that Mother and Father might want their only child to relish her youthful years before turning toward duty? “If you give enough to the Earth, it gives you joy in return,” Ayame liked to say. “You are the joy it gave your parents.” Every time my parents called me their “gift,” every time the other kami bowed to me, every time I stood on the mountainside with its power echoing through me, I remembered those words. The Earth itself had brought me into being to do its work. I was meant to be here, to fulfill that promise. I needed to keep my mind on that and not these ridiculous fears.
For a few dazzling seconds, I let the full force of my ki rush through me in a hum of light. The landscape blurred around me. Midori’s grip on my hair tightened as she sent me a glimmering thrill of exhilaration.
Then I reined myself back. At my fastest, I’d leave Takeo behind. I dodged the pale trunk of a birch—and nearly darted right through a ghost.
“Oh!” I said, jerking to a halt. “Excuse me, Miss Sakai. I didn’t see you.”
The filmy young woman bobbed her head to me. Wan and wide-eyed, Miss Sakai had been floating around this part of the mountain for several months. I’d gotten it out of a maple kami that her boyfriend had been walking with her along the paths and pushed her over one of the sharper inclines. She’d broken her neck. “I imagine she’s stuck around to give him a piece of her mind,” the maple had added, but Miss Sakai always seemed calm when I saw her.
Not today, though. I schooled my gaze away from the space partway down her legs where, as with all ghosts, her translucent body dissolved completely, leaving no knees, calves, or feet beneath her. Her ki was jittering. She stretched her mouth into an over-wide grin.
“I wasn’t watching either,” she said, too brightly. “So sorry.” Her eyes darted from me to Takeo and back. “I should be wishing you a happy birthday, shouldn’t I! The big party is about to start?”
“Thank you,” I said. “Yes.”
I wondered if I should invite her to join us, but she spun around before I could say anything else. “Have a wonderful time!” she said, and shot off down the slope. In a few seconds, she’d disappeared amid the trees.
“That was strange,” I said.
“It’s unusual for the spirits of the dead to cling to this world at all,” Takeo pointed out. “I suppose that can’t help but affect their minds.”
We crossed the spring that babbled just below the palace’s entrance and stepped through the grove of cherry trees to the shallow cave on the far side. Any human who happened upon this spot would see nothing more than a small hollow. But when we walked through the cool stone, which tingled over my skin as if I’d passed under a waterfall, we emerged into the main hall of the great palace that housed most of Mt. Fuji’s kami.
Inside, I released the energy that had held me invisible and settled back into my more comfortable corporeal form. At once, my surroundings felt more solid too: the wooden floor smooth beneath my feet, the muted sunlight that gleamed through the ceiling panels warming my long black hair. On either side of us, sliding doors painted with images of flowers and sweeping branches broke the dark wood of the walls. The thrum of the mountain’s ki washed over me in welcome.
Farther down the main hall, two palace attendants were leading a group of guests toward the large public rooms. The smell of the grand dinner being prepared filled the air—kami could take all our nourishment directly from the Earth when we needed to, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying good food. Frolicking music filtered through the walls. My mouth watered and my feet itched to dance, but as Midori flitted over to join the early merrymaking, I turned in the other direction, where the private apartments lay.
I’d only taken one step around the corner toward my parents’ chambers when a high, nasal voice stopped me in my tracks.
“Sora!” Ayame cried, tearing across the hall with her spindly arms waving and her hair billowing around her petite frame. “Look at you, child. Bare-faced, dirt on your clothes… Augh, I can’t have you seen like this, not on your birthday.”
“I need to speak to Mother and Father first,” I said as she tugged me toward my rooms.
“You can go when you’re properly prepared.”
Well, it might be wise to look my best when I made my appeal. I relented.When we reached my inner rooms, Takeo hung back. “Wait for me?” I said. Takeo’s protection was merely a formality at my age, but I’d feel more confident approaching my parents with his steady presence at my side.
“Of course,” he said.
Ayame shoved the sliding door shut between us. Her assistants—one human-shaped like Ayame and me and the other three kami in the forms of a robin, a crane, and a monkey—were waiting in the bathing room. I was scrubbed and rinsed with water scented with cherry blossoms, then powdered and combed and lotioned and powdered again. Finally I was allowed to get dressed, in a silky robe more flowing than any humans ever wore. The pale blue fabric danced with golden butterflies.
“Ah!” Ayame said, clapping her hands together. “Magnificent.”
“Am I done, then?” I asked as the monkey tied the sash around my waist.
Ayame made a dismissive sound and launched into a tirade about my hair. I stared longingly at the door. If I didn’t distract myself, I was going to burst.
As the robin started coiling my hair and Ayame brought out her make-up palette, I exhaled, sending out a stream of ki shaped into a kite. At my mental nudge, it drifted through the door. Takeo and I had played this game since I was first learning how to use the energy inside me, but these days I offered it as a challenge.
The kite was caught by an impression that was purely Takeo, gallant as one of the mountain’s young pines. I drew it back. His ki resisted, dragging the kite toward him, and the corners of my mouth twitched upward.
“Hold still!” Ayame said.
Quieting my expression, I reeled the kite in against Takeo’s pull. At the last instant, Takeo whipped it away. It took all my self control not to lunge after it physically. I clung on with sharpened focus and yanked. The kite shot straight to me, Takeo’s connection snapping. In the room outside, he laughed at his defeat. Ayame shook her head.
“So strong, my Sora,” she murmured. “All right, you’ll do. Walk carefully—and keep your hands away from your face!”
I hurried with Takeo down the narrow hall that separated my rooms from my parents’. The lamps along the wall were starting to flare on with the fading of the sun. Around us, an anxious tremor rippled through the mountain’s ki. I glanced at Takeo, startled, but he showed no sign of concern. That must have been my anxiety, trembling out of me.
My pulse beat faster as we came to a stop at the door to my parents’ private chambers. Takeo tapped on the frame and announced our presence, and Mother’s voice answered.
“Come in.”
She and Father were sitting on crimson cushions by their low ebony table. A light sandalwood scent wafted from the incense burner set in an alcove. Takeo eased the door shut, staying on the other side. I padded across the finely woven rush of the tatami mats to the other side of the table.
Because kami age so slowly once they reach adulthood, Mother and Father both looked as young as humans of about twenty, but otherwise they were each other’s opposites. Mother was thin and lithe with ivory skin, while Father was broad and bulky and ruddy complexioned. The way they smiled at me matched their temperaments perfectly: Mother soft and bright, Father wide and warm.
“We were about to send for you,” Mother said. “You look beautiful, Sora.”
I blushed, lowering my eyes. Strong, I reminded myself. Strong and capable.
“I can’t believe you’re already seventeen,” Father said in his rumbling voice. “Three more years and you’ll be all grown up.” He sounded strangely sad.
“It isn’t so short a time,” Mother said gently, as if I might someday leave for college or other far away places like the Nagamotos’ children.
A distant shout reached my ears. Mother frowned, glancing toward the hall. Kami usually got along, but occasionally there were disputes between the guests.
The faint silhouette of Takeo’s form moved away from the door’s translucent panel. He must have gone to see what was the matter. I drew my mind back to my goal.
“I’ve been doing everything I can to prepare,” I said.
“Let’s not worry about that,” Mother said before I could go on. “Tonight is one of the few occasions we can think of celebration instead of duty. Your father and I wanted to give you your birthday present.”
She nodded to Father, who lifted a long rectangular object from the floor behind him and set it on the table. It was a lacquered case with a leather strap and a gold clasp. “Open it,” he said, grinning.
I leaned forward and pushed up the clasp. As I raised the lid, my breath caught. “Thank you!” I said, staring at the instrument inside. “It’s wonderful.”
It was a flute made of polished bamboo, so carefully crafted I could feel how pure its sounds would be just by running my fingertips over the wood. I picked it up and brought it to my lips. The scale hummed through me as if I were as much an instrument as the flute. Each note expanded into the quiet like a flower bud unfurling. It was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever heard—and it was mine.
I set the flute back in its case, closed the lid, and hugged it to me. “Thank you,” I said again. “I’ll play it tonight.” I’d meant to use my old flute, the one they’d given me when I’d started lessons years ago. But this was a true musician’s instrument. One for a woman, not a girl. Maybe they knew I was ready to finally find my place among the kami.
I slid the case’s strap over my shoulder. As I opened my mouth, another shout carried through the wall, followed by a heavy crash that shocked the words from my throat. Footsteps thumped down the hall outside. Takeo pulled open the door, and one of his fellow guards stumbled to a halt on the threshold, his breath rasping.
“Your Highnesses,” he said, “forgive my intrusion. We’re under attack.”
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Dystopia
Rate: 4 out of 5 stars
Synopsis:
The planet is dying. Centuries of abuse have damaged the earth beyond repair, and now all the authorities can do is polish the surface, make the landscape look pretty to hide the disease within. Two prominent yet mysterious businessmen couldn’t fix it, either, but they did something even better. Together, they invented Chimera, the most complex and immersive virtual reality video game the world has ever known. The Cubes in which Chimera is played quickly became a fixture of this landscape: part distraction, part hospital, and almost wholly responsible for holding up the failing world economy.
Miguel Anderson is also dying. He isn’t the only one who plays the game–everybody does–but Miguel has more reason than most: When players leave their Cubes for the day, the upgrades and enhancements they’ve earned for their virtual characters leave with them. New lungs to breathe poisoned air, skin that won’t burn under the sun are great and everything… but Miguel, born as broken as the earth, needs a new heart–and soon–if he wants any hope of surviving just a little longer.
Then the two Gamerunners announce a competition, with greater rewards and faster progression than ever before, and Miguel thinks his prayers have been answered. All he needs to do is get picked to lead a team, play the game he’s spent years getting good at, and ask for his prize when he wins. Simple, really.
At first, things seem to go according to plan. Mostly, anyway. Inside his Cube, with his new team–including his best friend–at his back, Miguel begins his quest. He plays recklessly, even dangerously, for someone whose most vital organ could give up at any moment, but his desperation makes him play better than ever. The eyes of the world are on him, watching through status updates and live feeds, betting on his chances. With greater rewards, though, come greater risks, and the Gamerunners seem to delight at surprising the competitors at every turn. As he ventures deeper into a world that blends the virtual and the real to an unsettling degree, Miguel begins to wonder just why the game was invented at all, and whether its stakes could be even higher than life and death.
(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
I really liked the plot of this book. It was interesting to see a world that actually could exist in the future… not only with a video game being the obsession of everyone, but also with the world dying. I found it really intriguing to see that things like libraries, so common in the world now, were virtually non-existent by the time it got to Miguel’s time.
Speaking of Miguel… I found him a likable character, even though I did feel he made some bad choices at times… and I wasn’t sure I really trusted him by the end of the book, even though I could understand a lot of his actions. There was one particular act that I felt was really unforgivable.
I really liked the idea of humanity gradually changing to become more machine-like, although I would have liked to see a bit more in the way of the upgrades people got and how exactly they worked. They were more obvious in the new version of Chimera… though I did think that the name of the game was a really clever one.
It was interesting to see Miguel having to get used to working with real people and not computer-generated helpers, but I found the whole balance thing to be a bit confusing. It seemed a bit like the secondary characters (with the exception of Nick) didn’t really have a lot of depth to them. I would have liked more detail about what they were all hoping to get out of the game. The balance thing could have come into play a better way, I felt.
I really liked the fact that Miguel had his own goal to work towards and it it was interesting to get something of an insight into the way the Gamemakers worked and thought. However, by the end of the book, I was left with a lot of questions… and there were events that impacted the world that didn’t really seem described too well, giving it a very surreal feeling.
I did find the book interesting to read and it did engage me throughout. I was also intrigued enough to want to read the next book/s in the series.
Character Interview
1) What is your main goal? To make it to the end of Level Twenty-Five, get a new heart, and stop worrying that the one I have is going to crap out at any second.
2) What do you like to do for fun? Play Chimera! The heart’s not the only reason I go into those Cubes. The game is better than the real world, that’s for sure. But I can’t play all the time and other people want their turns in the gaming rooms. When I have to stop, I hang out with Nick and Anna at the park, or alone down by the river. At night, when I can’t sleep, I work on something on my computer. Nobody can know about what I’m doing then, though.
3) Who are the people you feel closest to? Nick and Anna, for sure. Anna and I aren’t really together anymore, but she still knows me better than most people. Nick’s been my best friend forever. He gets me more than anyone else does, even Anna. He knows why I do everything I do.
4) What would you consider your greatest strength? I don’t give up. I’m not sure if that’s a strength when giving up would mean I’d die. I think it’s all I’ve got. Oh, and I’m really good at Chimera. I’m good at figuring out the puzzles, working out what the game wants me to do next.
5) What makes you angry? Zack bragging that he’s better than me at the game. He isn’t.
6) What makes you happy? Thinking of what’ll happen once I pass Twenty-Five. Or what will happen after the thing that’ll happen. Once I have my new heart, I’ll be able to do anything. People will stop telling me not to overexert myself, or that I should go and rest. It’s going to be amazing.
YA sci-fi/cyberpunk writer. Fan of words and music and chocolate. Represented by Brooks Sherman of FinePrint Literary Management. My first novel, CODA, will be out Spring 2013 from Running Press Kids, and its sequel, CHORUS, will be released the following year.
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Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller, Horror, Contemporary, Fiction
Rate: 3.5 stars out of 5
Synopsis:
Hasn’t he lived long enough? Why not? I could take him like a thief in the night.
This is how the Thief thinks. He serves death, the vacuum, the unknown. He’s always waiting. Always there.
Seventeen-year-old Nina Barrows knows all about the Thief. She’s intimately familiar with his hunting methods: how he stalks and kills at random, how he disposes of his victims’ bodies in an abandoned mine in the deepest, most desolate part of a desert.
Now, for the first time, Nina has the chance to do something about the serial killer that no one else knows exists. With the help of her former best friend, Warren, she tracks the Thief two thousand miles, to his home turf—the deserts of New Mexico.
But the man she meets there seems nothing like the brutal sociopath with whom she’s had a disturbing connection her whole life. To anyone else, Dylan Shadwell is exactly what he appears to be: a young veteran committed to his girlfriend and her young daughter. As Nina spends more time with him, she begins to doubt the truth she once held as certain: Dylan Shadwell is the Thief. She even starts to wonder . . . what if there is no Thief?
(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
I think I’d give this book more like 3.5 stars out of 5. I didn’t feel it was necessary for the narration to keep switching between two different first person POVs and it was actually quite distracting… not to mention, there were a lot of ill-timed flashbacks that threw me out of the story while I tried to figure out exactly whereabouts in time I was.
I actually really liked the concept of this book and I thought Nina was an interesting character. I liked the fact that the book went straight into the action… and I felt that there was a lot of tension generated by the fact that Nina didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t.
I actually wasn’t that keen on Warren as a character, separate from the switching to his perspective. Some of what he came out with, particularly towards the end, was especially creepy and I couldn’t really get behind the romance that developed between them, as although he was interested in Nina, there was nothing to indicate she was interested in him.
I was also a bit disappointed that some things didn’t pan out. I thought there was a lot of potential for twists that didn’t really go anywhere.
I really liked the fact that Nina was struggling with sleeping, but I would have liked to see some more of her struggling with something like addiction. It was implied in the narration that she wasn’t and I felt that she could have been easier to empathise with if she had been. It was also disappointing not to see more of her interactions with Kirby, as I felt she didn’t really spend much time with someone who was supposed to be her friend.
I think this book could have been expanded upon and while it was really good to be able to see Nina’s confusion and how what she’d seen had affected her for so long, a lot of the narration was a bit jarring in that there were random flashbacks/summaries of past events. This book had a lot of potential and I felt that there was only one way it could have ended… but I was left with very few answers and still a lot of confusion by the end.
I was raised in the wilds of New York by lovely, nonviolent parents who somehow never managed to prevent me from staying up late to read scary books. I now work at an alt-weekly newspaper in Vermont, where my favorite part of the job is, of course, reviewing scary books and movies. The Killer in Me is my first novel.
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Romance, Espionage
Rate: 4 out of 5 stars
Synopsis:
After seven years living as Alexandra Gastone, Milena Rokva is now free to be her true self, if only she knew who that was or had time to find out. Milena is in a race against time to bring down Perun, the very organization that trained her as a spy. Perun is no longer content to use their network of sleeper agents to protect her homeland and is maneuvered to take control of the world’s energy markets, sending the globe into chaos.
Working with her surrogate grandfather, Albert Gastone, his CIA friend Brad and her old handler, Varos, Milena finds herself embroiled in an epic spy game teamed with friends whose endgames do not necessarily align with her own. The only person Milena can truly trust is herself.
Can Milena take down Perun, protect her fellow cadets and make a life for herself with her boyfriend, Grant, as well as the friends and family she’s come to love as Alexandra Gastone? Buckle in for a wild ride as the Alexandra Gastone duology comes to a close.
(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
Having read and enjoyed the previous book, I was quite happy to have the chance to read the sequel.
I was able to empathise with Milena really easily. I especially ached for her after everything that happened with her grandmother. I really didn’t think much of the latter by the end of the book.
I liked that there was a lot of tension in this book, both with what Milena and Albert were doing in trying to get immunity, but also in Milena’s interactions with Grant. While I could understand why Grant reacted the way he did, I felt it was very over-the-top… but it was nice to see how the two of them tried to talk and Grant tried to get to know the real Milena.
I really liked seeing Milena’s relationship with Albert. It was quite sweet to see how close they were, in spite of the deception that was prevalent through most of their relationship. I also liked seeing Milena interacting with the other characters… though I really didn’t like the tensions between her and Valos; even though it was kind of amusing to see how self-aware she was about the love triangle.
I would have liked to see more interactions between Milena and Brad, especially given what happened towards the end. I actually did feel that this book ended a bit abruptly, given everything that was happening earlier on in the book.
I liked seeing Martine in this book and it was good to see that Milena kept her wits about her. There were a few surprises in the book and I liked being able to learn a bit more about her past. I really didn’t like her father, although it was interesting to see their interactions. However, he just seemed to be a one-dimensional villain and I couldn’t really see what his motivations were, or what drove him.
I did like seeing Milena worry about the situation with the real Alexander and I liked that it added more dimension to Milena’s character. In the future, I would like to read more books by this author.
T.A. Maclagan is a Kansas girl by birth but now lives in the bush-clad hills of Wellington, New Zealand with her Kiwi husband, son and four pampered cats. With a bachelor’s degree in biology and a Ph.D. in anthropology, she’s studied poison dart frogs in the rainforests of Costa Rica, howler monkeys in Panama and the very exotic and always elusive American farmer. It was as she was writing her ‘just the facts’ dissertation that T.A. felt the call to pursue something more imaginative and discovered a passion for creative writing. They Call Me Alexandra Gastone is her first novel.
Ever since she was a baby, the words people use to describe Elyse have instantly appeared on her arms and legs. At first it was just “cute” and “adorable,” but as she’s gotten older and kids have gotten meaner, words like “loser” and “pathetic” appear, and those words bubble up and itch. And then there are words like “interesting,” which she’s not really sure how to feel about. Now, at age twelve, she’s starting middle school, and just when her friends who used to accept and protect her are drifting away, she receives an anonymous note saying “I know who you are, and I know what you’re dealing with. I want to help.” As Elyse works to solve the mystery of who is sending her these notes, she also finds new ways to accept who she is and to become her best self.
(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
Having experienced bullying, I was immediately intrigued by the concept of this book. It was interesting to see the idea of someone who had names she was called appear on her body… and it was easy to care about Elyse. I saw a lot of how I felt when I was younger and it was hard to pull back emotionally from her at times.
It was good to see Elyse interacting with other students and I thought it was an interesting touch to have her and the other members of her class writing letters to their future selves. It was good to see the sort of things that were important to her and how she grew and evolved during the course of the book. I was a bit confused by how old she was, though, since I’d assumed she was an older teenager and then the narration seemed to imply she was younger.
I didn’t especially like Jeg and my estimation of her went down the more I read of the book. In a way, she was worse than Ami – who didn’t change who she was, even though she wasn’t a very nice person.
While I could understand why Elyse’s parents were so over-protective of her, it seemed like her mother in particular really struggled to let go. While I did think her father was quite emotionally distant, his responses did make sense as he opened up to and talked to Elyse later on in the book.
I thought there was a nice bit of mystery involved in the letters Elyse received and it was good to see them encouraging her to do more and not be so afraid to act. There was a lot of nice buildup to the trip away and although there were some areas where the storyline was glossed over a little, for the most part, I could picture a lot of the events happening inside my head.
This book wasn’t as hard to read as some books I’ve picked up, but it did contain a lot of deeper emotion and I really cared about Elyse and her goals, to the point where I was getting angry on her behalf. I’d be interested in reading more books by this author in the near future.
WORDS
Some people don’t think that one word can make a difference.
They’re wrong.
Sure, some words need to be around other words to make sense. They need to hang out together in a book or a song or a text message, or else you’re stuck wrinkling your nose like HUH? That doesn’t make any sense.
But some words don’t need others. They have big-time serious meaning all by themselves.
I knew that better than anyone.
Like when it came to talking about me going to middle school this year. Mom said it would be different. Dr. Patel said it would be challenging. Dad said it would befine.
They just needed one word each to sum up what they thought a whole year would be like … and, so far, they were right.
One word nobody used, though? Mysterious.
And right now, that was the most important word of all.
I reached into my pocket and dug around until I found the folded blue paper again. Maybe it was a letter from a secret admirer or a gift certificate to Soup Palace, otherwise known as the Best Place on Earth.
Maybe it was nothing at all.
But it had to be something. It had my name on the front, after all, and was taped to my locker. I was dying to open it, but even if I found a way to read it sneakily, Ms. Sigafiss would probably see me and read it to everyone or rip it up or something. And that was if she was in a good mood.
I looked around the room, thinking about words.
Different.
Challenging.
Fine.
Mysterious.
They were just words, but they could change my whole life.
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Abby Cooper lives in Minnesota with her miniature poodle, Louis, and a whole bunch of books. A former teacher and school librarian, her favorite things in the world (besides writing) are getting and giving book recommendations and sharing her love of reading with others. In her spare time, she likes eating cupcakes, running along the Mississippi River, and watching a lot of bad reality TV.
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Romance, intrigue, and action collide in this psychic twist on the classic spy novel.
Callie Sinclair is literally out of her mind; as the government’s youngest psychic spy, she finds valuable information for top-secret missions. Her work keeps her headaches at bay, but it means she must lie to everyone she loves, including her longtime boyfriend, Charlie.
When a new psychic arrives at the office, Callie can’t help but flirt; Jasper already knows her in a way Charlie never will.
But as her love life gets more complicated, so do her visions. People halfway around the world seem to be in danger…and people in her own backyard, too. If Callie can’t find a way to alter future events, she could lose the people she loves—and her mind. Literally.
Lauren Sabel’s enthralling, romantic novel captures the thrill of exploring a unique power in a dangerous world.
(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
The cover was what originally drew me to this book. I thought it looked unique and when I saw the title and read the blurb, I was immediately interested… although, I have to say, reaching the end of the book, I felt it could have been expanded to be a bit longer, with less background dumped in the narration.
It was really intriguing to see a teenager struggling with having to deal with her psychic abilities, but also trying to juggle a family life… along with a boyfriend, all without telling any of them what she was really doing. I thought it was interesting to see that she chose to lie to her mother and boyfriend, even though she didn’t actually have to… but I felt her reasons for telling those lies (which fit in really well with the title) made a lot of sense.
I liked the fact that Callie wasn’t all-powerful all the time… but I really didn’t like her attraction to Jasper. I think it would have been more realistic to have her get to know him first, rather than be attracted to him so fast, to the point of having to remind herself she had a boyfriend. I had a lot of sympathy for Charlie, as I felt he got shafted quite a bit.
I thought it was good to see how the visions worked and I liked the implications that different members had different ways of triggering those. I thought it was a unique idea to have Callie consider it as sinking down into the ocean.
There was a lot of tension in this book, particularly in regards to the visions Callie had. I was also interested to see a character like Michael and see the very real danger presented in their job as psychics.
I also thought it was a really original idea for Callie to see the radiation and get visions that way and it was interesting to see the different types of abilities the characters had.
I’d give this book 3.5 stars out of 5, as I felt it could have done with being expanded upon quite a bit more. While I don’t think I’d read a sequel as it stands right now, I wouldn’t mind checking out more books by this author in the future.
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Originally from the Rocky Mountains, Lauren Sabel has returned to the cool mountain air of Boulder, Colorado after living in several wonderful cities that she will always love and continue to visit year after year.
Lauren loves her husband, her family, her friends, and stories that end happily. (Unfortunately, hers never do.) She also loves digging into her mind and revealing tiny gems she didn’t know were there.
Lauren learned to mind dig while getting her MFA in Creative Writing from Naropa, a Buddhist college in Boulder, Colorado. Before Naropa, Lauren studied film in Rome, where she developed her love of crypts and other beautiful creepy things. She also worked in the film industry in New York and San Francisco, focusing mainly on film festivals, as she can never pass up a good party. In San Francisco she worked for Chronicle Books, where she was inducted into the fascinating world of book publishing.
For the past eight years, Lauren has been teaching college students the joys of creative writing, whether they like it or not.
In 2008, Lauren was published in Undiscovered Voices, an anthology of the best new writers for children in the U.K., where she was living at the time. Then life got very exciting very quickly. She signed with Jodi Reamer Esq. at The Writer’s House Agency in New York, and they made magic happen, and that magic is named Katherine Tegen. (aka: Katherine Tegen Publishing, Harper Collins).
Lauren’s first book, Vivian Divine is Dead was published June 3 2014. She’s currently working on her next book, which she can’t wait to tell you about (but has to wait just a little while anyway).
Lauren believes that being a teenager is an act of courage, and is proud of anyone who manages to stick through it, despite the pain. 🙂
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And an elite boarding school where no one is who they say they are.
Kyle Bradford is the envy of Drayton College, but everything takes a turn when a dangerous shadow, hidden in the darkness, starts to stalk him. From then on, his life falls apart. Unjustly accused of being the main suspect behind the robberies terrifying high society, he is forced to prove his innocence. And to do so, he has to find the real culprit: Zero, an infallible criminal who keeps his identity hidden under a silver mask. What Kyle does not know is that his enemy is keeping a secret. A secret he would sacrifice everything for.
A dizzying, heart-stopping thriller you won’t be able to put down.
(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
I thought this book was a really entertaining read. I was surprised at how quickly I was drawn into the storyline… and it was good that the action started right from the beginning, though I was confused by the importance of the sphere… both right at the beginning and every time it cropped up through the course of the book.
I was a bit unsure about Kyle’s character at first. I wasn’t really sure I liked him, as he seemed to have real jerks for friends. I thought his interactions with Len were more interesting than with Mike and Neal.
There was a lot of good tension in this book… and I liked there were different types of tension. While the dreams were really confusing, I did feel like they made a lot of sense by the time I got to the end of the book.
I did like seeing Kyle interacting with the other characters and it was interesting to see his relationships with them. However, I did feel there was a little bit of information dumping when it came to some of the characters Kyle knew in the past.
I really didn’t like Dmitri very much, even though I did feel a bit of sympathy for him. I could completely understand why he was so desperate to capture Zero… but I couldn’t see much that was legal in the kind of surveillance he had Kyle under.
I liked that there was a lot of action in this book and I was taken by surprise by the ending… although one character in particular hadn’t stuck with me, so I was confused by their appearance… at least at first. But it was good to get a lot of answers by the end of the book… and I especially liked that there was something of a multi-genre feel to this book.
The ending of the book seemed to imply there was more of the story to be told and I would be interested in reading a sequel to this book, since I would like to see more of the characters and get some more answers about the spheres.
This book was really entertaining to read and if you enjoy young adult mysteries with hints of other genres, I would suggest reading this book.
1) What originally inspired you to get into writing?
When I was in grade school, I used to write short stories, print them out and sell them to my classmates. They were pretty popular… though I did almost get expelled from school a few times for them. Thanks to that experience, however, I discovered how much I liked writing. Ever since, I haven’t stopped inventing new worlds, thinking up new stories and new characters, and delighting readers with them.
2) Where did the idea for Zero come from?
A few years ago, my apartment was robbed. It was a very hard time for me until everything was back to normal. During this time, I thought a lot about the thief. What he might look like, why he had done it… And all this led me to Zero. I stopped writing the book I was working on and started with Zero. Curiously, when the novel had already published one of the rings that the thief stole me appeared in my house, inside a black envelope.
3) Was there any particular character that you liked or felt able to relate to?
Without doubt, Kyle. Mainly because he has faith and willpower and that is something that I like very much. When there is an obstacle in his way, he always moves forward. And, at the same time, he has his own weaknesses which make him a very complex character.
4) Was there any particular character that you disliked?
In reality, there isn’t a single character in Zero that I particularly dislike. Regardless of how evil or cruel they are, each one adds something different to the story, and I have a special fondness for each one.
5) Were there any scenes in particular that were particularly challenging or easy to write?
The biggest challenge I came up against was how to maintain the suspense. No chapter was harder to write than any other, but there were quite a few I had to make changes to so that certain secrets weren’t revealed too soon. I’d say the easiest part was the last chapter. It’s still exactly the same as the day I first wrote it.
6) Do you have any advice/pearls of wisdom for budding writers?
It’s not easy to be a writer. It’s an incredible job that I personally adore, but it can also be quite frustrating when you don’t get responses from publishers or when you get writers block. That’s why the best advice I can give anyone who’s starting out in the literary world is to always keep your eye on the horizon, don’t let difficulties get your down and, most importantly, to believe in yourself and your work above all else.
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Morgan Dark is one of the most original teenage literature writers. Always enveloped in suspense, as of yet no one knows her true identity. She began writing Zero after a hooded man robbed her in her New York apartment. Included amongst the stolen items was her favorite ring. Yet in exchange, she received a publishing contract for her new novel. After Zero became one of the most awaited teenage books in 2015, her ring showed up in her house again…in black envelope with no sender.
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The Telling
Stalking Jack the Ripper 
Ink of Blood 