The Summer My Life Began by Shannon Greenland

Elizabeth Margaret—better known as Em—has always known what life would contain: an internship at her father’s firm, a degree from Harvard and a career as a lawyer. The only problem is that it’s not what she wants. When she gets the opportunity to get away from it all and spend a month with the aunt she never knew, she jumps at the chance. While there, Em pursues her secret dream of being a chef, and she also learns that her family has kept some significant secrets from her, too. And then there’s Cade, the laid-back local surfer boy who seems to be everything Em isn't. Naturally, she can’t resist him, and as their romance blossoms, Em feels she is living on her own terms for the first time.


This book was all it promised, cute, cliche and a quick read.
It was entirely predictable (apart from at one point for me).

Elizabeth Margaret. Not Elizabeth, not Margaret, Elizabeth Margaret. I know her parents were posh and all, but seriously: two long first names? I thought people only had mulitple middle names or first names that were hyphenated. And not that long.

Em wasn't my favourite of characters... I found her quite annoying. I wouldn't mind if she made me a meal though; she was a great cook.

When it came to the Cade/Em relationship I got very confused. At one point I was sure that Shannon Greenland had made it out that Cade was in a relationship with Beth, but either it was a joke or it was a different person.

Tilly's scandalous  misendeavor wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Having recently read Pretty Amy by Lisa Burstein, I was expecting her to have acted like that, you know trouble with the police and all. What she did was bad and not something I would do, but yeah, I expected worse.

About five seconds after Sid was introduced I knew who he was. That was so poorly disguised that Inspector Clouseau could have figured it out.

The book didn't really have anything that original, just a stringful of cliches tied together. It was a quick, light read that was cute and fluffy.

I'm going to give this book two out of five stars.



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The Invitation by Diane Hoh

For the high schoolers of Greenhaven, Cass Rockham’s fall party is the social event of the year. Each October, students wait by their mailboxes, praying for the gilt-edged invitation that grants entry into the inner circle of the most popular crowd. And now Cass has planned her finest party yet, with a new sauna, a hot band, and no parents for miles. But to make this party really killer, Cass tops it all off with a sinister twist.
 
Nerdy Sarah Drew is shocked when she and her friends receive invitations to Cass’s affair. For years she’s steered clear of the popular kids, and now they want her to come to their party? Sarah is wary, but her friends talk her into coming with them. But she regrets it quickly, for at Cass Rockham’s mansion, the only party favour is death.




I got this book from NetGalley in the form of an uncorrected proof. There were so many mistakes. Ellie was frequently misspelled as 'Elbe' and there was a lack of spaces between the words.


Despite the amount of technical errors, I still enjoyed the book. It was no where near as much of a horror book as I expected which was disappointing. It was obvious exactly who wasn't the culprit behind what is happening to Sarah and her friends, but I never would have guessed who was. Well I guessed who it was when they were first introduced, just not who it was. Long story.


The book was choppy in places and I'm not sure if that was because I read an uncorrected proof or just because the book was written like that in the first place. The book would switch to another scene with no indication. I got confused at one point, because people were looking for a certain character (let's call them Bob) and then on the next line of the conversation would be Bob talking. They hadn't found Bob, but Bob had been talking to someone else, it just wasn't shown very well with the layout.


All that was off-putting but the story had quite a good plot-line. I think the reason the person trying to hurt Sarah and her friends for wasn't that big of a deal. Seriously, yeah it was annoying what happened, but they had lied and warped the truth so much they were believing a lie. They deserved it and had no good reason to even want to hurt them. Well most of them.


I liked Sarah as a main character, though I think it's crazy just how much she practises her violin. Three hours every day. That's crazy. I play an instrument and practise nothing close to that time; my friend that plays violin probably practises close to that. She was the only one who seemed wary of the fact that Cass Rockham had invited her and her friends to her party. To be fair to Cass, what she planned for the night was slightly different from what actually down.


Shane's secret was disappointing. I was expecting it to be something huge, and while yes, it was totally wrong what she did, it just wasn't wrong in my books.


As far as this culprit I keep mentioning goes, there's some other characters in the book I would much have preferred to be. Someone so shocking it just wouldn't have even crossed the brain that they might be responsible.


It was a huge disappointment but I have a feeling quite a lot of the annoyance I felt towards the book was the fact of the mistakes. If I had read a proof-read copy I think I'd have enjoyed it a whole more.


I'm going to give it three stars because that's what I think it deserves if it didn't have all the mistakes.

Moonstone by Marilee Brothers

A sickly mom. A tiny house trailer. High school bullies and snarky drama queens. Bad-guy dudes with charming smiles. Allie has problems. And then there's that whole thing about fulfilling a magical prophecy and saving the world from evil. Geez. Welcome to the sad, funny, sometimes-scary world of fifteen-year-old Allie Emerson, who's struggling to keep her and her mom's act together in the small-town world of Peacock Flats, Washington. An electrical zap from a TV antenna sets off Allie's weird psychic powers. The next thing she knows she's being visited by a hippy-dippy guardian angel, and then her mysterious neighbor, the town "witch," gives her an incredible moonstone pendant that has powers only a good-hearted "Star Seeker" is meant to command. "Who, me?" is Allie's first reaction. But as sinister events begin to unfold, Allie realizes she's got a destiny to live up to. If she can just survive everyday life, in the meantime.



I got given the series to review. I read the first book.

I got a couple of pages in before I realised this wasn't the book for me but I kept on going.
Kept on going to the very end.

The reason I didn't enjoy the book so much wasn't so much the plot-line but the writing style and characters. The main character, Allie, really annoyed me; like really, really annoyed me. It is always frustrating when you don't like the main character of a book in first person but to be honest, I didn't really like any of the characters to much. Cory was a wimp, Manny and Mercedes were plain and Junior was predictable. Bad-guy-is-actually-good-but-got-mixed-up-with-bad-people? An overplayed cliché in half of the YA books you pick up. Faye, Allie's mum, was a terrible mum. You don't just decide you don't want to do anything any more so fake an illness to get benefits. It's wrong.

The author used caps lock - a pet peeve of mine - and Allie's thoughts were generally... annoying. This book didn't quite get into my good books. It was a quite a quick read - a fact I'm glad about - and left a lot of strings hanging. I could go onto read the rest of the books, but I read the first couple of chapters of the second and the first few pages of the fourth and the writing style is still much the same.

Though it was quite a predictable book, the plot was fine in my books. Kind of. Maybe. I don't know. I don't know how much I can say without going all spoiler alert. Maybe I should just give one.

Spoiler Alert!


When she thought Junior was a Trimark (basically somebody who has lines the shape of a triangle on the palm of their hands), I think he should have turned out to be the bad guy. Well maybe not him, but one Cory Philpott should have. Actually it would have best if it was Manny or Mercedes - now that would have been an awesome plot twist.

End Spoiler Alert!

I'm not saying this book is bad, just not in my favourites pile. I'd definitely recommend this book for fantasy lovers (or anybody who doesn't hate fantasy) as long as you're not as fussy as me.
Which is quite hard to be. I am very fussy.

I'd give this book two out of five stars.

Giving books two and three stars is common for me. Though the book I'm currently reading will most definitely not get that. I can't post the review for a while because it doesn't come out until my birthday.

Avery Olive: Guest Post and A STIFF KISS Giveaway

 Today I am happy to say I have a guest post from Avery Olive and a giveaway of A Stiff Kiss prize pack!
My review of A Stiff Kiss: http://rowanknight.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/stiff-kiss-by-avery-olive.html

GUEST POST

 

Favourite things are hard to think about. I find that I really don’t have them, or I have to think and think just to come up with something. And then I am a mind changer, indecisive at its best. I’ll take that list of favourites and find reason to scratch them off. I’m the same with presents. I’ll make a list of things I want, and the longer I have to think about it, the more chance I will undoubtedly talk myself out of wanting it.  

But when it comes to favourites, and writing, well things are more easy going.  

I have a nearly full iPod of songs, all of which I love. They inspire me to write, or at least help with the process. I have my favourite songs broken down into playlists. Each playlist, when listened to can force my emotions into a certain direction. If I have a sad scene coming up, to get myself into the emotional, teary eyed zone I click the “Tears” playlist and find myself over taken by all the sad songs that remind me of certain events in my life and bam! I’m where I need to be. The same goes for needing an upbeat set to charge me full of fun. I click the “Dance” list and find that when I close my eyes I’m taken to a club, my body moving to the beat, I’ve let go and I can channel that into a fun scene. Of course, I also have my classics, the go to songs that I listen to just to have something in the background. A Stiff Kiss had a few sad scenes that I needed to find that emotion and let it take hold so I could pour it into the writing. It also had some fun moments, some tense, nail biting scenes where a little instrumental helps. I think music influences and inspires any writer.  

I have one favourite brand of spiral bound notebook. It’s all I can buy and all I can write in. If I find I need paper, and I don’t have my notebook (The Hot Chocolate Line from Wal-mart) it just doesn’t feel right. They have two hard covers, a million pages, and for easy tearing, they have a perforated line. Many notebooks you find have soft covers, making for a flimsy pad of paper, and when you are writer on the go like I am—not always having access to my computer, flimsy just won’t do. Also, eventually the book get’s thick, or at least it get’s that thick feeling to it. You know, how after 20 or so pages of notes, doodles, coffee rings and water splatters, the pages begin to expand, curling at the edges, maybe the perforated edge has begun to work its way free... That’s why these notebooks have the handy elastic that secures the notebook tightly together. Over a dozen drafts of the A Stiff Kiss query letter was written in one of these notebooks, character descriptions, notes, and scribbles—If I couldn’t have carried one of these books around with me, who knows if A Stiff Kiss would have ever been written.  

But let’s be honest, every writer out there has their favourite music, books, pens, writing space or even program they use to come up with their beautiful prose and catchy one-liners. So let’s break things down a little more, try and find what really inspired me to write A Stiff Kiss... 

Fairytales—they are the classics, no matter how young, or old, I’m sure everyone can close their eyes and picture a favourite tale. Maybe it was something they read as a child, with a mother or father, and each time they hear it, it sends them into a flurry of memories that warms the heart. Perhaps it’s something you read as a teenager. Desperately you wished to find your prince charming, and of course curse the fact that in real life nothing ever works out like it does in those fables. But you hope, you cling to the idea because it’s what gets you through the heartbreak, and upset—knowing the one day, your fairytale might just come true. So when it came to A Stiff Kiss, I imagined a fairytale that I loved, but also one that I could give a new spin on. Why is it always the male coming to the rescue? Well, my fairytales are reversed because it gives a new element of surprise, a modern day twist on the most loved stories known to man. But the funny thing about this is... I didn’t even realize I had channeled a famous fairytale until someone pointed it out to me. It’s true, the inspiration of using a fairytale wasn’t at the forefront, but of course, it came through anyways because that’s just how epic these tales are—they stick with you, creeping into your subconscious even when you don’t think they are.  

I very much have a fear of death. I know, it seems silly, and I’m sure I’ve got tons of years left before my time is up. But when I think about it—The End, it causes my heart to race, my palms to grow sweaty—my mind becomes anxious. A million scenarios flash before my eyes, tightening my chest, forcing me to gasp for air. So why not write a story that centers around one of my biggest fears? And not just one story, I have 5 novels under my belt (some I hope to soon be published) and they all have one main theme—so far—Death. That very word sticks in my throat, but when I’m writing about it, creating my own versions of the afterlife, focusing on how to overcome that fear, or allowing my characters to run right into it, I’m able to see it’s not so bad. Sure it’s a morbid subject, one that makes others squirm in their seats, but it gives me the very inspiration I need to create my novels.  

I’ve also just taken bits and pieces of my own life and strewn them through my novels. I have some fond memories of High School, so I’ve included the team colours and mascot into A Stiff Kiss. Some of my quirks have ended up being a part of my characters, something that makes them closer to me. They look like people I know, or are named after some very important people in my life, which is something that inspired me as well. Though one character isn’t necessarily one specific person, but rather a bunch of my favourite traits rolled all together. I would be here if it wasn’t for those people, their lives and their inspiration.  

So when I look at my life, and try to pick out the perfect, the favourite, it’s really hard. But what I can do is pick out the things that when I focus on them, realize they are what helped me create A Stiff Kiss. And the above are just a few of the inspirations—quite frankly I could go on and on, but I doubt anyone really wants me to.   

Important Links:

Avery Olive’s Blog : www.averyolive.blogspot.com  

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002656782468  

A Stiff Kiss Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Stiff-Kiss/255522414458899 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/averyolive  

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13411964-a-stiff-kiss  

Crescent Moon Press: http://crescentmoonpress.com/index.html  

A Stiff Kiss Buy Links 

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Kiss-Avery-Olive/dp/193725433X/  

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/stiff-kiss-avery-olive/1108801919?ean=9781937254339&itm=1&usri=a+stiff+kiss  

The Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.com/Stiff-Kiss-Avery-Olive/9781937254339  

KOBO: Keep an eye out! Coming Soon! 

Giveaway

 

Who knew kissing a corpse would change everything?

 Death always hits Xylia Morana too close to home, but she likes it that way. She hangs out with the terminally ill, attends random funerals, and every so often, when the weather is right, she sleeps in open graves. But after Landon Phoenix, the high school hottie, dies in Xylia's arms, she sneaks into the morgue to say goodbye. How could she know stealing a kiss from his corpse would wake him up?

With Landon returned to the living and suddenly interested in Xylia, life has new meaning. But what Xylia doesn't realize is that by kissing Landon back to life, she's thrown Life and Death off balance. The underworld demands a body, and it might just have to be Xylia's this time. 

Prize pack includes: An e-book copy of A Stiff Kiss

                                         A Stiff Kiss Bookmark 

                                         A Stiff Kis Keychain

                                         A Stiff Kiss Collectors Card

Giveaway is INTERNATIONAL.

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