Book Review and Giveaway: Earth by Shauna Granger

Title: Earth (Elemental #1)
Author: Shauna Granger
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: 1st May 2011
Read In: October 2012

Goodreads - Amazon.co.uk/.com

*I received this book from the author in exchange for this review*

Shayna and her two best friends have the abilities to manipulate and control the four elements, earth, air, water and fire. While learning to hone their growing powers, they discover a new and malicious presence in their sleepy beach town. Someone is performing blood magic and threatens to expose their small magical community. So far only small animals have been slaughtered, but then the nightmares start.
Shayna suffers nightmares of being chased and sacrificed only to wake up bloodied and bruised. She thinks her magical blood is the ultimate target for the final blood rite. When an innocent girl, Tracy, is kidnapped Shayna knows it's only a ploy to draw her out; she can't let someone die because of her.

*This review is part of the Elemental series blog tour hosted by YA Bound. Check out the other blogs on the tour: http://yabound.blogspot.com/2012/09/blog-tour-elemental-series-by-shauna.html *

If you are looking for a light hearted quick read with a decent story line why don’t you give the Elemental series a try? 

‘I am an Earth Elemental; my magic speaks to the dirt, plants and animals.’

The best thing about this book was the plot. There was a mystery. I wanted to know what was going on. Even though it was a little bit shallow I was still gripped. There were many questions running through my head from the slaughtered animals to Shayna’s nightmares to the two mysterious twins that have arrived at the school. The relationship between Jensen and Ian definitely intrigued me. I just had to read through to find out what it all means.

This is a quick read. Not just due to number of pages but also just the style of the writing. There are some books where if you read too quickly you keep missing details. I found myself being able to breeze through Earth and still understand what was going on. This was a good thing and also a bit of a bad thing. The writing at first was very direct. The narrator, Shayna, was telling us stuff; about the magic, about her friends nicknames, about their abilities. I prefer it when I find out for myself. Just do what you do and I will work it out. That is just what I personally enjoy. The book was easy to read because I didn’t have to work things out. For me it doesn’t make it more enjoyable. 

Unfortunately the style of writing was making it difficult for me to connect with any of the characters. While I was interested to find out what was going on, the way the story was presented was very ‘I did this and they did that’. I didn’t understand their reasoning or get a sense of their emotions. There were a couple of scenes where we were taken away from the story, moments where Shayna sat down to think. Unfortunately these scenes were rushed through with no depth to them. Personally I didn’t see their purpose. 

The magic system wasn’t obvious. Even though I was being told things direct I still wasn’t so sure what restrictions there were or what type of magic it was. It is a bit more than just controlling the elements. There were amulets, circles, empathy. It was complex and that could have been a good thing if it was explained a bit more clearly.

Jeez, I know. I sound like an editor. I did like this book. It was a breeze to read and it didn’t take me long to get through. I liked the plot and I constantly wanted to know what was going to happen next and how everything was connected. It was just the other aspects, such as writing and characters, I had a few niggles with. If you have some time on your hands I would say dive into the story but this book has the potential to be better. 

 Author Info

I don't do well talking about myself. So as basics go, I have recently self-published the first two books in my Elemental Series, Earth and Air, Young Adult Urban Fantasy novels. Look for the third installment, Water, coming in 2012!
I have been working on the Elemental Series for the last four years and plan for it to be a 5 book series. It was a hard decision to self-publish but it's been an exciting and terrifying ride.
You can find me on Facebook
And to my readers (or fans of my covers), I have beautiful bookmarks that I would love to share with you. If you'd like one, drop me a note with your contact info and I'd be happy to send you one.

Blog: http://shaunasspot.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dyingechoes
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4828875.Shauna_Granger
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shauna-Granger/268859386472141

Giveaway

Are you interested in the chance of checking out the story for yourself? Well here is a chance to win all three books in the series along with some extra goodies.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Becky

Book Review: More by T.M. Franklin

Title: More (More #1)
Author: T.M. Franklin
Publisher: The Writer's Coffee Shop
Release Date: 4th October 2012
Read In: September 2012

Goodreads - Amazon.co.uk/.com


*I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review*

Ava Michaels used to think she was special.
As a child, she fantasized about having magical powers . . . making things happen. But Ava grew up and eventually accepted the fact that her childish dreams were just that, and maybe a normal life wasn't so bad after all.
Now a young college student, Ava meets Caleb Foster, a brilliant and mysterious man who’s supposed to help her pass Physics, but in reality has another mission in mind. What he shows Ava challenges her view of the world, shaking it to its very core.
Because Caleb isn't quite what he seems. In fact, he's not entirely human, and he's not the only one.
Together, the duo faces a threat from an ancient race bound to protect humans, but only after protecting their own secrets—secrets they fear Ava may expose. Fighting to survive, Ava soon learns she's not actually normal . . . she's not even just special.
She's a little bit more.

While I enjoyed the story there wasn’t much that was original. This genre is cluttered and I am afraid the thing that makes this one somewhat stand out from the crowd is the paranormal side the creatures we are dealing with.

“Your propose of course. Your destiny. You always said you felt different, like you were special somehow. Well, you are. More than you know.”

This book I am afraid to say was a little mediocre. It didn’t really have anything different; anything that makes it stand out from the YA paranormal scene. It had a typical YA paranormal outline: girl meets new boy; boy is mysterious; odd stuff goes on; girl finds out the truth; stuff goes on: it doesn’t sway much from there. Maybe it is just me, but I have read so many books of this nature now that I just want something different, something new. Yes there is gradual discovery that I love but I wanted more depth, more complications. It was too simple. 

Why haven’t I given this book a really bad rating you may say? Well … while it may not stand out from the crowd, it wasn’t rubbish either.

The paranormal element was what kept me reading. It was there where the originality of the story took place. However I cannot tell you much about the paranormal elements of this book as that is the main mystery. ‘What is Caleb?’ is the main question that drove the book forward in the beginning. I wouldn’t want it to be spoiled for you. It is different and my curiosity drove me through the remainder of the story.

The cover is gorgeous. Just had to throw that out there. 

I am sorry to say that this book is another member of the crowded genre that is paranormal in teen fiction and, for me; there was nothing that made it stand out from the crowd. It had good characters, good pace and a great paranormal setting. It isn’t bad but it isn’t amazing either. It was good. The 3.5 stars say it all. I know that this review is a little short and I apologise, but there is nothing more I can say than that. If you are just looking for an average read, look no further.

Becky

Book Review: Keep Holding On by Susane Colasanti

Title: Keep Holding On
Author: Susane Colasanti
Publisher: Viking Juvenille
Pages: 202
Release Date: 31st May 2012
Read In: July 2012

Goodreads - Amazon.co.uk/.com - Book Depository

A romantic and empowering book about bullying
Noelle's life is all about survival. Even her best friend doesn't know how much she gets bullied, or the ways her mom neglects her. Noelle's kept so much about her life a secret for so long that when her longtime crush Julian Porter starts paying attention to her, she's terrified. Surely it's safer to stay hidden than to risk the pain of a broken heart. But when the antagonism of her classmates takes a dramatic turn, Noelle realizes it's time to stand up for herself--and for the love that keeps her holding on.

I know what it is like to be on your own. I had a spell when I was at school. Fortunately things do get better and now I am happy. I could relate to Noelle and some of what she was going through. It is what drew me to the book in the first place. 

‘I want to help make the world a better place when I am far away from here. Because if we’re not improving the world in some way then what’s the point? Things will get better after this. They have to.’

Sherae and Simon are the heroes of this little tale. They discover Noelle’s situation and move to put a stop to it. Sherae is always there for Noelle; she doesn’t give up when she discovers the truth, she does everything she can to improve Noelle’s life. She is just the sort of friend Noelle needs. Simon is also there for her; giving her companionship at lunch as well as food. He makes her feel important. He doesn’t give a dog’s bucket what anyone else thinks and teaches that to Noelle. He wants to actively help people and he succeeds. These two are the best characters in the book and we need more people like that in the real world, I think. 

Julian on the other hand, he just wasn’t there. Going in I assumed that Julian is going to be the hero of the story. He isn’t. I barely know him at all. He plays a small part but doesn’t seem to make a whole load of difference.  He was just another thing that turned out good in Noelle’s life. He says he wanted to protect her from the bullies but doesn’t do a lot to actively stop them. We also see very little of him and he turns up at random times. This was disappointing as far as the romance goes. I think Noelle should have gone out with Simon. But he is probably gay. Typical. 

Not only has Noelle got to deal with all the problems at school but her home life is also being affected by a neglecting mother. Noelle has had to grow up to take care of herself where her mother has not. In essence, Noelle never asked for anything that happened to her. Nobody asks for someone to bully them but Noelle didn’t do anything to provoke them either. I didn’t entirely believe the bullies motives but then again we didn’t really get to know them as people.

 I would have liked to have seen more of a change in Noelle’s character as the book progressed. I was enjoying the book up until half way but, when nothing seemed to develop or change, it slipped a half star. Things only started to change near the end. 

The first part of the book and the characters of Sherae and Simon were what I enjoyed the most. I really connected with Noelle as well. Even though this is a short book, I felt it took to long for the story to start making progress. I would have liked a bit more of a journey. 

Becky