Guest Review: Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Truthwitch 

Author: Susan Dennard

Published On: 01/05/16

Page Count:416

Synopsis:

In a continent on the edge of war, two witches hold its fate in their hands.

Young witches Safiya and Iseult have a habit of finding trouble. After clashing with a powerful Guildmaster and his ruthless Bloodwitch bodyguard, the friends are forced to flee their home.

Safi must avoid capture at all costs as she's a rare Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lies. Many would kill for her magic, so Safi must keep it hidden - lest she be used in the struggle between empires. And Iseult's true powers are hidden even from herself.

In a chance encounter at Court, Safi meets Prince Merik and makes him a reluctant ally. However, his help may not slow down the Bloodwitch now hot on the girls' heels. All Safi and Iseult want is their freedom, but danger lies ahead. With war coming, treaties breaking and a magical contagion sweeping the land, the friends will have to fight emperors and mercenaries alike. For some will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.

Overall Rating: 3.5 / 5

I found this book to be pretty interesting most of the way through, though a bit repetitive at times. It had good character development and a plot that moved along well but it still ended up taking me awhile to finish.

Cover: 3/5

The cover is very pretty and the art is well done, but it has 2 things that I strongly dislike for book covers; Quotes, and a character’s face. I really don’t like quotes from reviewers or anywhere else on book covers, and I also very much prefer to have the main characters left mostly to the imagination of the reader. Both of these things vary in importance to each reader, but I couldn’t grade the cover any higher than a 3 because of these things.

Characters: 4.5 / 5

The character development was the strongest part of this book for me. I found them to be interesting and enjoyable the whole way, with lots of depth.

Safiya: A truthwitch and one of the two main characters of the story, Safi is headstrong and confident. She complements her sister in many ways, and controls one of the most potent and rare magics / witcheries in the world.

Iseult: She is a threadwitch, and close friend / sister to Safi. She is much more timid and sort of the opposite side of the coin to Safi. I found her past very interesting and as the story develops and you learn more about her family, her character gets a lot more depth. She can see the ties that bind people to each other, and so gets to make a lot of discoveries about other characters.

Aeduan: The Bloodwitch who is chasing down the two sisters. This guy is an extremely dangerous individual who is hired to hunt down Safi and Iseult. He too has an intriguing back story, and reasons behind his actions. He starts as an obviously antagonistic character but starts to change as the story moves on.

Plot: 3.5 / 5

The plot is action packed and always has something new going on. I enjoyed the story and the world the author built around these characters. The main gripe I had with the story was what I felt was overuse of the ‘witch’ powers that seemed to govern everything in the story. If there is an element, a metal, even an idea, there is probably a ‘witchery’ for it in the story. I felt that if there was ever any need for a device to move the plot forward, a random new witch power would surface. Everything from water, wind, earth, steel, truth, thread, blood, and fire, there was someone with witch control over it. I think that limiting the use of this magic would make the story a bit more believable and relatable, and it got to be frustrating for me when a new witch was around every corner.

~Brian

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Will`s First Signing in Seattle,WA

A little more than a month ago Ashley, Walt and I drove to Seattle for the final stop of the Fierce Reads Tour. We left a little before 3:30am, which I thought was overkill at the time. Ash drove until 5 or 6ish. Then Walt took over and we continued until breakfast at 7. The two of them switched off every so often for the drive. I wasn’t allowed to drive Walt’s car so I spent most of the drive sleeping. We arrived at the Hotel a bit before 5 and got some R&R before leaving for the signing at 6.

This was my first book signing, so I wasn’t sure what to expect going in. There was an unfamiliar energy in the bookstore. A mix of calm excitement and combustible excitement, the kind that threatens to overwhelm you at any moment and burst forth. However any calm would soon be gone, replaced with an outpour of vocalized joy, glee and love of the authors when they came onto the stage.

Once the authors were introduced, Ashley got called out by the moderator. Apparently she had mentioned that she drove over 10 hours and, as a reward for her dedication, was presented with some gift items. Naturally this blew any chance she had of stealthily stalking Leigh Bardugo as the moderator was standing right next to The Queen (that’s what Ashley calls Ms. Bardugo).

The event began with a series of questions the moderator had prepared. One of my favorites was centered around how the authors wrote their books. The Queen started off by saying that she skips around. She then elaborated on how and why that process works for her. The next author to answer was Ms. Garcia. She stated that while she has an outline, she skips around in the writing process. While these two were answering, I swear Mr. Roehrig’s face was becoming more baffled. When it was his turn to answer he questioned how the other two could possibly skip around while writing; stating something along the lines of “what happens in chapter 1 directly leads to what happens in chapter 2 which leads to what happens in chapter 3.” This sparked a brilliant volley between The Queen and Ms. Garcia, and Mr. Roehrig. I wish I had the whole debate on video so that you could all see that fantastic back and forth. When the mic finally passed to the fourth and final author, Ms. Mills stated that she does a variation of skipping around. She prefers to write the “good parts first” and then “thread them together.” This sparked another round of back and forth which left Mr. Roehrig hopelessly outnumbered. It was great fun watching this series of exchanges.

Some questions later Ms. Mills stated that the new book she is working on, which is a Young Adult Contemporary, involves role playing games (RPGs). I was caught a bit off guard by her statement, as I had not expected a video game, or the world of gamers, to come up at a book signing. As a gamer, I was very pleased to hear that an RPG was going to be referenced in a book. She said that she was shown a RPG by a friend and that “it was surprising to [her], [she] did not expect to get into that.”

After the moderator had finished her questions she turned it over for some audience questions. While doing so she offered some prizes to the best questions as chosen by the authors. Admittedly I was only half listening to the questions as I was attempting to think of a really good question. I eventually thought of a question but we were at dinner by then. It was “If you could switch places with any book character and live their life, before, during and after the story, while retaining your personality, who would you switch with and why?” incase you were curious.

After the signing both Ashley and myself went through the line to have The Queen sign our books (they were actually both Ashley’s so I was her stealthy stalking agent) and to try at pulling the Inej card. Sadly neither of us pulled Inej. With the event wrapping up we went across the street to get some dinner before returning to the hotel.

Once at the hotel we proceeded to crash so that we could make the 13 hour (I don’t know why it was so much longer going back than getting there) drive home. We stopped on the way for Voodoo Doughnuts and they were fantastic. I specifically appreciated how they named some of their menu items. If you are ever near one I would highly recommend getting something.

Overall the trip was great. I’m not sure I could’ve asked for a better group of authors for my first book signing. I am looking forward to reading some of these author’s works, especially now that I have had a taste of their unique personalities and learned a bit about their writing processes. I hope to have the opportunity to attend more signings in the future as I definitely enjoyed this experience.

Rating:

A couple of quotes from the night I liked:

“A first draft is like an awkward first date. You’re still getting to know your characters.” - Leigh Bardugo

“No means no!” - Mikaleb Roehrig on nonlinear writing

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Guest Review: We Are Still Tornadoes by Michael Kun

We Are Still Tornadoes

Co-Authors: Michael Kun and Susan Mullen

Release Date:11/1/16
Page Count: 304 Pages
Synopsis: (Found on Goodreads)

Growing up across the street from each other, Scott and Cath have been best friends their entire lives. Cath would help Scott with his English homework, he would make her mix tapes (it's the 80's after all), and any fight they had would be forgotten over TV and cookies. But now they've graduated high school and Cath is off to college while Scott is at home pursuing his musical dreams.

Cover:4.5/5

I honestly feel the cover fit the book nicely.  Even though you will find the true meaning of tornadoes when you read the book I felt that the tornado on the cover more symbolizes the swirling of emotions between the two main characters.  Plus what I can only assume are the two main characters holding hands is a nice touch.

Characters: 5/5

Considering this entire book is Character focussed I would have to say the authors put a lot of time and thought into them.  They made the book exciting and kept me rushing back to read more.  Since there are really only two main characters their lives are essentially the entire plot of the book.

Scott seems to act just as any young adult male would under the circumstances of the story.  He seemed extremely realistic, funny and often would rush to judgement.  Overall a well rounded character.  There were moments I was yelling at the book trying to tell Scott what he should have said to Cath.  In some ways I think that was the point.

Cath felt just as deep of a character to me as Scott did if not more.  I could almost feel what she felt while reading some of her letters in the book.  She is highly intelligent and extremely caring.  It is very cute to realize how closely she cares for her friend Scott right from the start of the book.  I did feel as though some of her reactions were a little over-the-top but they are supposed to be eighteen at the beginning of the story.

Plot: 4/5

The plot was a very predictable yet satisfying one.  You know what will likely happen in the end but the journey of how it happens keeps you going.  I especially enjoyed the way plot would jump from one letter to the next.  This kept things fresh and constantly moving forward.  Unlike some books that can leave you feeling stuck trying to complete a chapter.

Overall Thoughts: 4.5/5

I really enjoyed the style this book was written in.  The entire book is of both Scott and Cath writing letters  back and forth to each other.  For some reason this made the story seem more real and I often had to remind myself I was reading a book.  Personally I would consider this to be a YA book despite the fact it is set in the 1980’s.  This isn’t really a book focussed on a nostalgia trip but on a relationship between two young adults.  Besides the fact that there aren’t any cell phones it felt extremely similar to most modern relationships.  Most likely I will pick up this book for a second read because I enjoyed it so much.  I can only hope that this book is given the chance it deserves.  While it may not be in my top ten favorite books it is definitely a great read.

Live Long and Prosper,

Josh

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Guest Post: Leigh Bardugo Book Signing in Los Altos,Ca

Leigh Bardugo Book Signing in Los Altos

Before Ashley had invited me to the book signing in Los Altos I had never even heard of Leigh Bardugo.  As a reader who tends to stay more to the Sci-fi side of Sci-fi/fantasy it may be understandable why.  I can assure you that after personally viewing her interview at the event I was completely convinced to read her work.  Leigh has a very intellectually witty personality filled with enthusiasm and an incredible devotion to her fans.  

I remember standing in line just to enter the event thinking how similar it was to line at most theme parks.  Which quickly made me realize how important of an author Leigh must be,  especially considering Los Altos was a small town.  My favorite part of her interview consisted of her being asked what would be her personal weapon of choosing since her characters each had a select weapon that related to their respective personalities.  She responded by telling a short tale about her hearing two girls screaming outside of her home in the night.  Fearing the worst she grabbed her baseball bat to see if she could save the day only to find the girls were drunk and upset after a night of partying .  She said that after that experience a baseball bat would be her personal weapon of choice and she would name the bat Gandalf.  Somehow picturing Leigh wielding Gandalf the Bat in an angry rage brings me utter joy. In all honestly Leigh quickly gained a warm part of my heart with all of her humor.  

Leigh seemed incredibly happy to show off her dark humor and that led me to believe that she was simply being herself.  It’s funny how everyone burst out laughing when she brought up a gruesome scene from her book Six of Crows.  It sounds awful I know but when she revealed her thought process while writing that section of the book it made everyone snicker and cheer.  Her bubbly personality kept me quite entranced and entertained the entire duration of her interview.  I’d say I only wish it had lasted longer so I could have heard more fun insights into her work such as this.

I could tell during the questioning period that Leigh Bardugo truly cared about each and every one of her fans.  Giving the best possible answer and supporting new writers in the crowd.  She took every moment of time she possibly could to give any details in her answers she could possibly think of.  One thing she insisted on is that she didn’t write her amazing stories in one go but simply wrote them out and revised them many times until they felt perfect.  Questions relating to how she wrote such incredible and unique work came up often so I heard this answer in various forms many times.  Leigh certainly was humble and even modest about her success as an author which in many ways only drew me to appreciate her success that much more.

Talking to Leigh Bardugo face to face while getting one of Ashley’s books signed felt like having a conversation with a long lost friend.  I was greeted with a warm smile and out of curiousity I questioned her about what movie trailers she had written for.  She happily responded and made me chuckle.  I greatly desired to know how she got her start in writing so it was interesting to hear.  Along with the book signing we selected a free card of a random Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom character.  Which only added to the fun and made for a pleasant surprise to see which characters everyone received.  

Overall I would give this book signing a 5/5 and it will be an experience I will remember for a long time.  Also on a side note Leigh gained a new fan and I’ve actually begun reading some of her books.  Hopefully she will release another work of fiction soon so I can get the opportunity to hear more of her wonderful insight into her work at one of her future book signings.  I would also like to personally thank Ashley for inviting me to this event because I wouldn’t have known what I was missing unless I had gone.

~Joshua

* Sidenote Ashley, Walt and Will are traveling to Seattle to the Fierce Reads Tour stop this Monday 10/10*

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Guest Post Boyfriend`s POV of Across the Universe

Across the Universe Sean`s POV Review

I started reading this book with my girlfriend about seven months ago, but don’t lose hope it didn’t take us that long to finish the book because it was no good, just because we have a limited amount of time to read together because our lives are so busy. Without further ado, now its time to begin the review of the incredible adventure with Amy and Elder aboard Godspeed.

From the beginning the adventure was set into our minds; a race across the universe to colonize a planet 300 years away from earth. Starting with a startling turn of events, Amy was release from her cryo prison before the landing of Godspeed. From that point on after the awakening of Amy started the awakening of all the secrets aboard Godspeed. Being chased by mindless workers across the field, or drugged up by the leader of the ship, and worrying for her parents every second hoping they aren’t the new victims of the cryo murders. New conspiracy after conspiracy was challenged by Amy and Elder to uncover the truth of the ship, and what a shocking discovery did they make.

Across the Universe kept my girlfriend and me totally drawn into this adventure of words. I am totally looking forward to reading the second book in the series with her and finding out how they are going to deal with the truth.

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