tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36094836826203689532024-03-13T22:22:25.919-07:00Only God Writes Trees♥ Things are made and reviewed by fools like me, but only God can write a tree. ♥Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945796233161285793noreply@blogger.comBlogger139125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609483682620368953.post-58929821727398415802019-05-17T10:34:00.000-07:002019-05-17T10:37:25.082-07:00REVIEW: "Bonjour Girl" - by Isabelle La Fleche (Kama Timbrell)<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="background-color: black;">"</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: black;">When Clementine Liu arrives in New York City to study at the Parsons School of Design, she knows that she’s found her place.</span><span style="background-color: black;"> It isn’t long before she meets her fashionista soulmate, the</span><span style="background-color: black;"> loud and charismatic Jake, and Jonathan, a dreamy fashion photographer who turns her world upside down.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Between schoolwork and glitzy fashion shows, Clementine launches a blog, </span><i style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Bonjour Girl</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">, and her wit, originality, and flair quickly catapult the site to cult status. Unfortunately, this comes with a price: Clementine is faced with online abuse and public humiliation. In the midst of all the drama, she finds out that a classmate is not what she seems, and Clementine has to find a way to save both her reputation and Jake’s fashion collection."</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bonjour-Girl-Isabelle-Lafl%C3%A8che/dp/1459742001/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=bonjour+girl&qid=1558112575&s=gateway&sr=8-1">AMAZON</a> * <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36323486-bonjour-girl">GOODREADS</a></b></span></span></span><br />
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</span></span><a href="https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1531434167p8/3414766.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1531434167p8/3414766.jpg" width="213" /></span></span></a><b style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><i><u><span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-size: large;">ABOUT THE AUTHOR (from her!): Isabelle La Fleche</span></u></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">"</span><span style="font-family: "lato" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">In addition to being a writer, I'm a tarot reader, yogi, and fashion lover. All of my books talk about fashion because it's been one of my passions since childhood.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: "lato" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Previously, I worked for over ten years as a lawyer before giving up my career to write. In 2005, I was responsible for the business affairs of a fashion designer where I developed a penchant for couture. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: "lato" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">My first novel, J'adore New York, became an international bestseller. The sequel, J'ADORE PARIS, was published in 2013. I am currently working on the next J'Adore novel. Stay tuned for details!"</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">DISCLAIMER: A copy of the book was given to me in return for a fair and honest review, which follows!</span></span><br />
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<b><u><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-size: large;">REVIEW</span></i></u></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">Take a girl fascinated, enthralled, totally enraptured by fashion and put her in New York at one of the most prestigious fashion school around...and add social media. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;"> Clementine is a promising young woman in the world of fashion. After all, as the grand daughter of a famous fashionista of her own time, it runs in her blood. Following some disaster in her personal life back home in France, young Clementine sees her enrollment and attendance at Parsons as a fresh start, one that comes with the launch of her fashion career. Throwing herself into her studies and meeting people, Clementine soon discovers that social media bites, allies are not always who they seem, and there is more to the fashion industry than linen and lace. </span></span><br />
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<i><b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">On an ascending scale of 1 to 5, I give this work a 3.</span></b></i></div>
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<b><i style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">The Good </span></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;"> Ah, young energy! As already mentioned, Clementine is a young lady who has been just given the opportunity of a lifetime - attendance at the prestigious Parsons fashion school in New York! Add on a scholarship, new best friend, and new boyfriend, and things are looking up for the diva who faced some personal turmoil back home in France (oh c'mon - you didn't think I'd tell ya, didja? Gotta read :)). That is, until her phone buzzes with the latest from a rival student who seems hell bent on undermining Clementine. Twitter. A nasty one. What to do?</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;"> Isabelle has here created an interesting story that incorporates many aspects of modern life and attempts to view those aspects from the lens of a teenage girl. The characters are unique and have their own voice (especially her friend Jake...think Damian from "Mean Girls"). The scenes are charming and lilty. The plot moves along at a pretty quick pace and offers a very direct lens into Clementine's thoughts, as the entire work is written in first-person with Clementine directing the action. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;"> There is mystery, <i>PUH</i>-lenty of drama, and a moral lesson all wrapped up in a fashionable little bow here. It is a cute read. Not a huge "omgmakethiscanonrightnow", but a cute read. :)</span></span><br />
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<b><i style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">The Bugly (bad/ugly).</span></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;"> Yep, I found a typo. :P Yeah yeah....I'm picky, but still - editors should weed those things out before a book like this hits print. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;"> My biggest complaint with this book is akin to that of a non-teenager anymore trying to act like a teenager so much that it feels forced. Such is the case here. For example: yeah, social media is a big freaking deal and people bully one another on various platforms all of the freaking time. But I found it a little unbelievable how characters would respond in this book to a single Twitter post. Sure, the post was a bit nasty...but seriously? Lose your minds over a few characters in a line? Nah. I don't buy it. But maybe the part of my mind that doesn't buy it is the same part that hears teenagers going on about trivial things and thinks "really, are you kidding me?"</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;"> Though the plot clips right along, it is very predictable and pretty thin. I saw where the story was headed pretty quickly (fairly used trope), and was mildly bored partly through the story. I wanted *MORE*. More plot, more action, more character depth (their development was also very thin), more interesting things to happen. I left this feeling like I just ate a snack's worth when I was ready for a buffet.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;"> It was a very okay book, but just that - okay.</span></span><br />
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Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945796233161285793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609483682620368953.post-59228541187114438892019-04-17T09:57:00.000-07:002019-04-17T09:57:07.399-07:00BOOK SPOTLIGHT: "Ginseng Tango" by Cheryl Pallant (Kama Timbrell Communications)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Cheryl Pallant is the author of <i>Ginseng Tango,</i> a memoir that recounts her transformative year as a Professor at Keimyung University navigating everyday life in Daegu, South Korea.</div>
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Mourning the end of her 15-year marriage to betrayal and infidelity, Pallant seized on an opportunity to get away -- 7,000 miles away. She accepted a job teaching English and American culture at a university she had never heard of in an unfamiliar city in a country she associated with Hyundai, Samsung, and the TV show M*A*S*H.</div>
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Pallant shares the challenges of figuring out how to operate a washing machine, shop for groceries, and communicate with gestures without offending anyone—and what to order in a restaurant (besides kimchi—a breakfast, lunch, and dinner staple. She shares her adventures in public bathing, her involvement in a tango community, shamanism,and her introductions to Korean protocols and customs. Through her experiences, both thrilling and frightening, she came to grasp South Korea’s contradictions and struggles, and grow in admiration and affection for its people. </div>
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Opening a window into a country caught between traditions and ideologies, GINSENG TANGO reveals:</div>
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<li>The patriarchies and hierarchies that dominate South Korea—socially and professionally. </li>
<li>South Korea’s impoverished past and ongoing industrial revolution—and why the ability to speak and write English is an extremely valuable business asset.</li>
<li>The tense relationship between the two Koreas—and why many South Koreans fear and loath North Korea. </li>
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As U.S. relations with North Korea remain headline news, Cheryl Pallant offers a timely, personal guide to understanding Korea’s challenges, complexities, and resilience. </div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ginseng-Tango-Cheryl-Pallant-ebook/dp/B075NPBXFJ">AMAZON </a>* <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36245536-ginseng-tango">GOODREADS</a> </div>
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Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945796233161285793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609483682620368953.post-43698386257732724632015-08-17T17:36:00.000-07:002015-08-17T17:36:29.714-07:00REVIEW: "A Wolf at the Gate" - by Mark Van Steenwyk (author request)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #ea9999; font-family: inherit;">"<span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">A Wolf at the Gate is an imaginative retelling of the legend of St. Francis and the wolf. The Red Wolf hates humankind for destroying the forest, but an encounter with a humble beggar teaches her a better way to confront injustice. A Wolf at the Gate is a great way to teach grade-school children about active nonviolence."</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #ea9999; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">"</span><span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">The Blood Wolf prowls near the village of Stonebriar at night. She devours chickens and goats and cows and cats. Some say children are missing. But this murderous wolf isn't the villain of our story; she's the hero! The Blood Wolf hates humankind for destroying the forest, but an encounter with a beggar teaches her a better way to confront injustice. How will she react when those she loves are threatened?"</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23626743-a-wolf-at-the-gate?from_search=true&search_version=service">GOODREADS </a>* <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wolf-Gate-Mark-Van-Steenwyk/dp/098623334X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1439856682&sr=8-1&keywords=a+wolf+at+the+gate">AMAZON</a></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="background-color: black; color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mark Van Steenwyk </span></u></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnCAWdsNl1UA83S_KGFsQ2e32d7z0wsKa53ieG0AuaWKbuDUloSp-heWwggZ0HDVz-3bW48Fz_dWKykTMFVer-1NIcR5RclAeE9veNI1Ixk_gWavt8ptMYDWp6Mrcp8NJXUGql9WLmSS-g/s1600/1681053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnCAWdsNl1UA83S_KGFsQ2e32d7z0wsKa53ieG0AuaWKbuDUloSp-heWwggZ0HDVz-3bW48Fz_dWKykTMFVer-1NIcR5RclAeE9veNI1Ixk_gWavt8ptMYDWp6Mrcp8NJXUGql9WLmSS-g/s200/1681053.jpg" width="196" /></span></a><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit;">Mark Van Steenwyk lives in a big old house in Minneapolis with his wife Amy, his son Jonas, and an assortment of friends. Their home is one of two houses of hospitality of the Mennonite Worker. An author of both fiction and nonfiction, he writes to provoke the political and spiritual imaginations of his readers.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mark-Van-Steenwyk/e/B002BMN6IS/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1">AMAZON</a> * <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1681053.Mark_Van_Steenwyk">GOODREADS</a></span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #fff2cc; line-height: 20.7900009155273px;"><i><span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">DISCLAIMER: A copy of the book was given to me in exchange for a fair and honest review, which follows.</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #f9cb9c; font-family: inherit;"> So, I just read this book called <i>A Wolf at the Gate.</i> Someone I know wrote it and I was eager to get the chance to read it once I knew Mark had finished this masterpiece. I finally got the chance to read it yesterday, and now I fully intend to make the paperback copy a part of my children's book shelf.</span><br />
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This book starts with the birth of a wolf, so it says in the beginning of the book. This was not an ordinary wolf but a wolf born with a very red fur; a wolf her parents knew was destined for greatness. They were the leaders of their pack and as such carried the knowledge of their pack...including the burdensome and infuriating knowledge of how wolf-kind had been badly abused by humankind. Though angered by the humans' actions towards the wolves, the Red Wolf's parents knew there was a better way and worked very hard to share their knowledge and wisdom with her so that she might be a great leader when they passed. Pass they did and she was the uncontested leader of the pack... But not for long. She lost her pack and began to behave in a manner that would have made her parents very sad. Then she meets a man who changed her life forever and enables her to change the lives of others forever. I can't say too much more without spoiling the entire book, so I'm going to stop here.
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A Wolf at the Gate </i>is a children's book and is written, therefore, as a children's book. It is put together simply (much like the "beggar" who features prominently in the work). Simply written, simply constructed, and simply profound. It is not a long read; it took me all of about half an hour to get through (though it would have been a shorter time had I not stopped so frequently to admire the absolutely beautiful artwork that compliments the book perfectly - a friend of mine even had one of the illustrations tattooed on his arm), and yet there is more profundity packed into that short work then in many I have yet read! As far as characters, settings, plot, etc are concerned, this is a fairly simple work...but remember it is intended as a children's book (this is important, as I know from both personal and professional work that affecting change in one's attitude towards the world is more permanently accomplished when you attempt to affect that change with children). </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">It is not so complex that it's message of fiercely passive resistance and kindness is lost and yet it is complex enough to hold an adult's attention even though it is a children's book. It focuses on a couple main characters and thoroughly develops one of them - the Red Wolf. </span></span></div>
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I absolutely love this book! As I said, it is incredibly profound in an exceptionally nuanced sort of way and contains a powerful moral lesson. Written in a style that is slightly reminiscent of Aesop's fables, it also contained elements that were slightly nostalgic for me as I remember fondly reading Aesop's fables with my parents when I was but a tiny tot. I love this book I love this book I love this book....please buy it and show it to your children, and grand children, and their children...</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #f9cb9c;">I promise you won't regret the time it takes to flip the pages.</span><div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #f9cb9c;">Shortly after this book was published it was picked up on one of Amazon's best-sellers list. Currently I know that a publisher has approached Mark to publish it themselves as currently it is a self-published work. Frankly I think it deserves these accolades, and I would actually love to see it made into something for the screen; whether that be an animation in the same style as the illustrations or a movie adaptation or something like that.<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><div>
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<b style="font-family: inherit;"><i><u>Overall on an ascending scale of 1 to 5, </u></i></b></div>
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<b style="font-family: inherit;"><i><u>I give this book a huge 5!!</u></i></b></div>
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<b style="font-family: inherit;"><i><u>(and any of you loyal readers of my reviews know I don't hand those out easily!)</u></i></b></div>
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<br />Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945796233161285793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609483682620368953.post-66311245187802934152015-04-17T08:29:00.000-07:002015-04-17T08:29:00.939-07:00COVER REVEAL: "Rising From the Darkness" (D.A. Bale)<span style="color: #ead1dc;">So, I've read the first two books in this series (check out the reviews <a href="http://onlygodwritestrees.blogspot.com/2013/06/running-into-darkness-da-bale-tribute.html">here</a> and <a href="http://onlygodwritestrees.blogspot.com/2013/12/review-piercing-darkness-by-da-bale.html">here</a>)...and I'm super excited to announce that D.A. Bale has finished the third book (yay!) and invited me to participate in this, here her cover reveal! </span><br />
<span style="color: #ead1dc;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="color: #ead1dc;">I love this series. SCROLL DOWN FOR THE REVEAL!!</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #ead1dc;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #ead1dc;">Oh - and it will be available for pre-order on May 1 with the release date being July 1!</span><br />
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<b><u><span style="color: #fff2cc;">BLURB - <i>Rising From the Darkness</i></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="color: #fff2cc;">It’s finally here – the explosive finale of the Deepest
Darkness series.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #fff2cc;">Samantha Bartlett has a new mission – and this time it’s one
of her own choosing. Armed with information
worth killing for, Samantha pieces together secrets spanning generations and
uncovers the key to Debrille’s plans, including the horror of his true
identity. But will it be enough for
redemption? Especially when facing the bridges
she’s burned?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #fff2cc;">Life was once clearly black or white, but now Joe Roberts
has a target on his back – and it’s sighted by his boss at the FBI. It’s not just from running off with their
primary suspect in President Warner’s murder and then allowing her to escape. No. He’s
the Elite’s latest scapegoat. That alone
begs the question. Is Sam a cold-blooded
killer or a mere pawn used in a global chess game?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #fff2cc;">World War III looms on the horizon as the <st1:place w:st="on">Middle
East</st1:place> threatens to implode, world alliances are scrapped, and a
once tenuous truce with a former enemy collapses – all under President
Durksen’s watch. Shadowed by the Elite’s
constant and vigilant guard, Durksen must find a way out of the hole he dug for
himself long ago. But can he accomplish
it in time, or will the <st1:country-region w:st="on">United
States</st1:country-region> die like so many nations before it?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #fff2cc;">Explosions light up the night. Friend becomes foe. Sister against sister. Lives are lost. Sacrifices made. But in order to realize true freedom, evil
must be defeated.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #fff2cc;">No matter the cost.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgErtkaeQbbct2nMflIhZK1wBt5s1vGnGI3xyad-wOIPwhKKNcIfHkIYOunF8QcaYXnLCA-E0v4qLMjvVvB5nVD3IRJw-fUR6ai0v4yO3F_LWrcUUtYCbXE3LOBssGCmwmEHP4m-E501CQ9/s1600/Author+Headshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: black; clear: right; color: #6a00ca; float: right; font-family: Molengo; font-size: 14.8500003814697px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgErtkaeQbbct2nMflIhZK1wBt5s1vGnGI3xyad-wOIPwhKKNcIfHkIYOunF8QcaYXnLCA-E0v4qLMjvVvB5nVD3IRJw-fUR6ai0v4yO3F_LWrcUUtYCbXE3LOBssGCmwmEHP4m-E501CQ9/s320/Author+Headshot.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="277" /></a><span style="background-color: black; color: #c9c9c9; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14.8500003814697px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px;"><b style="line-height: 20px;"><i><span style="color: #b6d7a8;"><span style="font-size: medium;">ABOUT THE AUTHOR</span></span></i></b><br style="line-height: 20px;" /><span style="color: #b6d7a8; line-height: 20px;">Sometimes life emulates fiction.<br /><br />Life is filled with tragedy and Ms. Bale's writing reflects this reality. However, there is always a silver lining...even if one must spend their entire life searching for it.<br /><br />In her previous career, Ms. Bale traveled the United States as a Government Relations Liaison, working closely with Congressional offices and various government agencies. This experience afforded her a glimpse into the sometimes "not so pretty" reality of the political sphere. Much of this reality and various locations throughout her travels make it into her writing.<br /><br />She dreams of the day she can return to visit Alaska.</span><br style="line-height: 20px;" /><span style="color: #b6d7a8; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 20px;"></span><span style="color: #b6d7a8; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://dabalepublishing.blogspot.com/" style="color: #6a00ca; text-decoration: none;">Website</a> - <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/D-A-Bale/181244371959801" style="color: #6a00ca; text-decoration: none;">Facebook</a> - <a href="https://twitter.com/DABale1" style="color: #6a00ca; text-decoration: none;">Twitter</a> - <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5315256.D_A_Bale" style="color: #6a00ca; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads</a></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #c9c9c9; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14.8500003814697px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px;"><span style="color: #b6d7a8; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: #c9c9c9; font-family: inherit; line-height: 20.7900009155273px;"><span style="color: #b6d7a8; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #d9d2e9; font-size: large;">HERE IT IS!!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEher7bU_ExIRPLw1dHgEJDAGq79vc3ypMroaGhFa1MIu-F4-DUGc-p_QksvsypoWk0rLDr3IElPXeeTpOYeiOWIBmjQvXI5OhidWGphwRjzhvtpzVR0rLJ_JoxW6Ca72G0YNA2fpOHeJEX5/s1600/RFTD+Front+Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEher7bU_ExIRPLw1dHgEJDAGq79vc3ypMroaGhFa1MIu-F4-DUGc-p_QksvsypoWk0rLDr3IElPXeeTpOYeiOWIBmjQvXI5OhidWGphwRjzhvtpzVR0rLJ_JoxW6Ca72G0YNA2fpOHeJEX5/s1600/RFTD+Front+Cover.jpg" height="640" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945796233161285793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609483682620368953.post-23576623612362312992015-01-07T19:56:00.001-08:002015-01-07T19:56:57.862-08:00REVIEW: "Stranger at Sunset" - by Eden Baylee (author request)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggghV80kXhMBwk5BXRxy8LK-qnEuV4Vf5w06uUl3rY5AlA9c4qSY84vtl6rBc3oFqcu8NNU6gxHT9wfF6oybsxMD3n8CqrVfSzXwYnhg7VoXctwK8smKzzsbPwjDw0LSNfGU8sTBWaq-_n/s1600/23276290.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggghV80kXhMBwk5BXRxy8LK-qnEuV4Vf5w06uUl3rY5AlA9c4qSY84vtl6rBc3oFqcu8NNU6gxHT9wfF6oybsxMD3n8CqrVfSzXwYnhg7VoXctwK8smKzzsbPwjDw0LSNfGU8sTBWaq-_n/s1600/23276290.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></span></a></div>
<h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><u><i style="background-color: black;">BLURB</i></u></span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">Vacation can be a killer.</span></span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">Dr. Kate Hampton, a respected psychiatrist, gathers with a group of strangers at her favorite travel spot, Sunset Villa in Jamaica. Included in the mix are friends of the owners, a businessman with dubious credentials, and a couple who won the trip from a TV game show.<br /><br />It is January 2013, following the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The luxury resort is struggling, not from the storm, but due to a scathing review from caustic travel writer, Matthew Kane. The owners have invited him back with hopes he will pen a more favorable review to restore their reputation.<br /><br />Even though she is haunted by her own demons, Kate feels compelled to help. She sets out to discover the motivation behind Kane’s vitriol. Used to getting what he wants, has the reviewer met his match in Kate? Or has she met hers?<br /><br />Stranger at Sunset is a slow-burning mystery/thriller as seen through the eyes of different narrators, each with their own murky sense of justice. As Kate's own psychological past begins to unravel, a mysterious stranger at Sunset may be the only one who can save her.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Stranger-at-Sunset-Eden-Baylee-ebook/dp/B00L7BVDFM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420684124&sr=8-1&keywords=stranger+at+sunset+eden">AMAZON</a> * <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23276290-stranger-at-sunset?from_search=true">GOODREADS</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><i><u style="background-color: black;">ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Eden Baylee</u></i></b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1JLz4DQUP4vAVcLO-Ua74y0sRNdw6XXGA24EC7H6ClMrYO-XzKfUhWVlOKZfnpegLHFcjOtNG9vPx3O8BMgie8eCviaD8ObZIH4Fl9_sA3QGsa0f4GT-_LJwoJn1mC8H5DKVVEEs8uHJG/s1600/4563150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1JLz4DQUP4vAVcLO-Ua74y0sRNdw6XXGA24EC7H6ClMrYO-XzKfUhWVlOKZfnpegLHFcjOtNG9vPx3O8BMgie8eCviaD8ObZIH4Fl9_sA3QGsa0f4GT-_LJwoJn1mC8H5DKVVEEs8uHJG/s1600/4563150.jpg" height="258" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 18px;">Eden Baylee left a twenty-year banking career to write. Incorporating some of her favorite things such as travel, culture, and a deep curiosity for what turns people on, her brand of writing is sensual and literary.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit;"><br style="line-height: 18px;" /><span style="line-height: 18px;">She has written three collections of erotic novellas and flash fiction ~ SPRING INTO SUMMER, FALL INTO WINTER, and HOT FLASH.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit;"><br style="line-height: 18px;" /><span style="line-height: 18px;">On June 30, 2014, she released her first novel--a psychological mystery/thriller set in Jamaica called STRANGER AT SUNSET.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://edenbayleebooks.com/" target="_blank">Website</a> * <span style="text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://www.twitter.com/edenbaylee" target="_blank">Twitter</a> </span> * <span style="text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/edenbaylee" target="_blank">Facebook</a> </span> * <a href="http://bit.ly/ebgoodreads" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Goodreads</span></a> * <a href="http://bit.ly/eblinkedin" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Linkedin</span></a> * <a href="http://pinterest.com/edenbaylee/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Pinter<wbr></wbr>est</span></a> </span><br />
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<span style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;"><b><i style="background-color: black;">DISCLAIMER: A copy of the book was given to me in exchange for a fair and honest review, which follows. </i></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><i><u style="background-color: black;">REVIEW</u></i></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">A bunch of people thrown together under odd circumstances can often cause high-stress situations with unusual results. Add in a tropical paradise, burning attraction, and fiercely competing agendas, and you are left with a book worthy of the cast of "Lost". </span><br />
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">LONG STORY SHORT</span></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">It is 2013, shortly after Hurricane Sandy. A small, intimate resort tucked into the beaches of Jamaica is struggling thanks to a scathing travel review penned by an extremely demanding critic. It just so happens that a highly successful psychiatrist - Dr. Kate Hampton - is called upon to help the resort's owners address that demanding critic in a way that might help their now-floundering business. The solution? Re-invite the critic to experience the resort while the owners are present. What the critic - Matthew Kane - knows is that he is hard to please and he doesn't hold high expectations for this trip. What he doesn't know is that the owners have also invited several of their closest friends and allies, as well as some random bookings, to surround them while he is present. Told from multiple viewpoints, this extremely well-written thriller managed to genuinely surprise me. Passion, lust, eccentric characters, beautiful settings, a plot that unfolds at the perfect pace - this book is a little treasure. I've read a lot of mystery/murder books, and this one genuinely shocked me. That said, I kept finding myself wanting <i>more</i> - more backstory to the characters, more explanations of motivations, etc. Despite this....</span><br />
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-size: large;">On an ascending scale of 1 to 5, I give this work a 5.</span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">LONG STORY</span></i></b><br />
<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">The Good</span></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">Well, Baylee certainly knows how to hook readers and tantalize them with every suspenseful, engaging page!! I was positively glued to this book for awhile!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">Kate is a high-achieving psychiatrist with demons in her closet that threaten to break through if she lets her guard down for even a second. Matthew is an insecure travel reviewer who finds security in writing harsh reviews if his incredibly picky demands are not met. Adam is a man who runs a business for which many women would slug him. Jessica is a southern belle who wants to prove she is not just a belle. Rob is Jessica's slovenly, selfish boyfriend. Greg and Tom, as well as Nadine and Ben, are long-time friends of Anna and Nolan, the owners of a charming resort in Jamaica. And they are all sharing the resort for the week.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">The resort is in trouble. When Matthew Kane last visited, he wrote a scathing review in an influential travel magazine when the resort "failed" to meet up to his incredibly picky demands (wash his clothes separately because he's sensitive to soaps/fragrances, make him separate food because many foods make him sick, etc). Anna reached out to Kate for advice, who said to invite him back but not to go "above and beyond" for him as that would stroke his fragile ego a tad too much. Anna and Nolan did so, but they invited their aforementioned friends, as well as scheduled several random bookings (Adam, Rob, Jessica). </span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">It turned out to be a rather interesting week as personalities and personal agendas clashed on the beach, in the bedroom, and elsewhere. A rather interesting week full of, um.....steam and murder.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">I have to give Baylee credit where credit is most certainly due - this incredibly engaging book surprised me. Now, I'm not saying I'm the most well-read person on the planet. Certainly not. But I have read <i>a lot</i> and a LOT of that reading has included murder/mystery because I like to try and figure out whodunitandhow by the middle of the book. Let's just say that by the middle of this book we don't yet know who even dies or how it happens, much less whodunit. Once that information was revealed, I'm sure someone several states over heard my jaw clunk to the floor. :) The murder happens in a way that is positively chilling, extremely surprising, certainly entertaining, and oddly gratifying.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">Let's start at the beginning. This book opens with a voyeur spying on a naked woman standing on a balcony. He marvels at her beauty, but cannot believe what he just saw her do: dump a body into the unforgiving ocean waves below. Then the story immediately leaves this scene and travels back in time, visiting characters who are descending on the charming resort mentioned above for a week of relaxation and supporting Anna and Nolan, a loveable couple who are struggling to keep their resort open after Matthew's scathing review scared off travelers. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">The story itself is told from multiple viewpoints as Baylee uses different chapters to switch between characters having a turn at being the center of attention. In this way we are able to figuratively (of course) crawl inside the inner minds of most of the major characters. Several character's viewpoints dominate the book (Kate, for example) and not every chapter focuses on any one character. I realize this sounds confusing, but Baylee writes it so incredibly well that it is easy to track who is speaking, why they are the focus at that particular point, and what is going on. I don't think I've honestly read many books where this is done quite so well. I was never confused about who was speaking. It helps that everyone's voice is distinct and makes sense given their backstory. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">The plot unfolds at a pace not unlike that of a relaxing place on a tropical island - leisurely. It doesn't clip along super quickly, nor does it dwell on any one scene for far too long. Rather, it unfolds rather delicately and in manner that keeps the pages turning. Baylee plants enough foreshadowing and "but they didn't know....." kinds of lines to keep readers engaged without becoming bored in any way. Chapters/sentences/dialogues are extremely well constructed. Rarely did I have to back up and re-read anything to figure anything out; it just flows so extremely well. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">Characters are done amazingly well also. There are the loveable people, the ones you want to slap, the ones impossible to please. And the psychiatrist. I felt a particular kinship with her as I also work in psychology (though she is infinitely further along in her career than I) and can relate to someone who is always observing others' behavior and trying to figure it out. She's got quirks and dings in her armor, but they just make her more relateable. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">Then comes the murder. A murder done in a meticulously thought out manner that would send chills down a seasoned investigator's spine. But will the murderer get away with it? Why did it happen? And is anyone sorry? I better quit asking leading questions or I'm going to give away too much. :P</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">Anyways, this is a very well-written, very thought out, extremely surprising thriller. It kind of feels as though Agatha Christie and Alfred Hitchcock got together with the writers of the television shows "Castle" and "Lost". Not sure how that combination really makes sense, but somehow it works. Oh, and let's throw in elements of the movies "Hitch" and "Hannibal" in for good measure, because they are for sure at play. Want to know what I mean? Read the book. :)</span><br />
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">The Bugly (bad/ugly)</span></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">I really didn't have a lot to complain about here. There were a couple of typos, but I identified no more than 5 in the entire book. My biggest issue is this: BACKGROUND!!! I kept wanting more to explain why characters acted the way they did. WHY was Matthew so difficult to please? WHAT was Kate running from (well, this is kind of explained near the end....but not really)? <i>WHAT DROVE PEOPLE</i>? Of course, I'm always interested in explanations of why/how/what, so I'm always a tad chagrined when these explanations come up short. I just felt like there was a ton of material to work with and this book could have easily been much longer. The only character who is really explained thoroughly is Kate....but I guess that kind of makes some sense: she seems to be the character that Baylee is developing further in subsequent works. But that means there are going to be subsequent works in what may turn out to be a series. Yay!!</span>Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945796233161285793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609483682620368953.post-50001750767571229012014-12-22T20:30:00.000-08:002014-12-22T20:30:01.630-08:00REVIEW: "Once Upon a Time in America" by Michael J. Bowler (Tribute Books)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit;">I beg everyone's pardon that this post is 10ish days late. Normally I'm not behind my schedule at all - life has been chaos lately and I got behind (moving, changing jobs, my boy being in chemotherapy for leukemia). No excuses, but reasons. To all of those waiting on a review from me - I promise that I haven't forgotten...it's just taking me awhile right now.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit;">ANYWAYS.....</span></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">With Lance leading the way, the Knights of the Round Table have set out to convince the American people that amending the Constitution to protect children is right and just and long overdue. As the team travels from state to state, they are met with acceptance, indifference, and even hostility. But Lance’s popularity and mystique as The Boy Who Came Back, coupled with his innate charm, gradually sway more and more of the populace, not to mention state legislators, to their cause.<br /><br />The journey becomes a rite of passage that propels the young people into adulthood, and solidifies Lance’s status as an iconic and influential figure.<br /><br />But he’s uneasy. He knows Arthur is hiding something from him, something that will bring him great sadness. After "The Excalibur Incident" in Las Vegas, Lance becomes more and more certain that the future is one he won’t like, despite his stunning success at winning over some of the most intractable states.<br /><br />Then comes the attack, sudden and brutal.<br /><br />Now the Round Table is in disarray, and Lance must confront a cold-blooded killer who’s luring him into an obvious trap. But if he refuses the challenge, more loved ones will die, and everything he’s fought for will die with them. Surrounded by the diverse young knights who have become his family, Lance sets out to battle his enemy with the knowledge deep in his heart that only one of them will survive. Is this the end of the Round Table?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Michael-J.-Bowler/e/B0075ML4M4/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1">AMAZON</a> * <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23526768-once-upon-a-time-in-america?from_search=true">GOODREADS</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyvlr2YR7sH7p1bDrGVeI8GxUU2DmEAfQcU9NgpGlAIhIEdsjMA-WfGjiiSKHuCfO-uOUFGSJX3IXPNqMHU7GPzI5eS9Y1aMMFD2aJqZOrEEbEcxo9ICTQPKPS_Zms4eSzrzj4Qth0CLki/s1600/Michael+J+Bowler.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black; color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyvlr2YR7sH7p1bDrGVeI8GxUU2DmEAfQcU9NgpGlAIhIEdsjMA-WfGjiiSKHuCfO-uOUFGSJX3IXPNqMHU7GPzI5eS9Y1aMMFD2aJqZOrEEbEcxo9ICTQPKPS_Zms4eSzrzj4Qth0CLki/s1600/Michael+J+Bowler.png" height="320" width="250" /></span></a><span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><i><u style="background-color: black;">ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Michael J. Bowler</u></i></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #b4a7d6; font-family: inherit;">Michael J. Bowler is an award-winning author of seven novels––<i>A Boy and His Dragon, A Matter of Time</i> (Silver Medalist from Reader’s Favorite), and The Knight Cycle, comprised of five books: <i>Children of the Knight</i> (Gold Award Winner in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards),<i>Running Through A Dark Place, There Is No Fear, And The Children Shall Lead</i>, and <i>Once Upon A Time In America.</i><br /><br />His horror screenplay, “Healer,” was a Semi-Finalist, and his urban fantasy script, “Like A Hero,” was a Finalist in the Shriekfest Film Festival and Screenplay Competition.<br /><br />He grew up in San Rafael, California, and majored in English and Theatre at Santa Clara University. He went on to earn a master’s in film production from Loyola Marymount University, a teaching credential in English from LMU, and another master's in Special Education from Cal State University Dominguez Hills.<br /><br />He partnered with two friends as producer, writer, and/or director on several ultra-low-budget horror films, including “Fatal Images,” “Club Dead,” and “Things II,” the reviews of which are much more fun than the actual movies.<br /><br />He taught high school in Hawthorne, California for twenty-five years, both in general education and to students with learning disabilities, in subjects ranging from English and Strength Training to Algebra, Biology, and Yearbook.<br /><br />He has also been a volunteer Big Brother to eight different boys with the Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters program and a thirty-year volunteer within the juvenile justice system in Los Angeles. He is a passionate advocate for the fair treatment of children and teens in California, something that is sorely lacking in this state.<br /><br />He has been honored as Probation Volunteer of the Year, YMCA Volunteer of the Year, California Big Brother of the Year, and 2000 National Big Brother of the Year. The “National” honor allowed he and three of his Little Brothers to visit the White House and meet the president in the Oval Office.<br /><br />He is currently at work on a horror/suspense novel based on his screenplay, “Healer.”</span><br />
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<b><span style="background-color: black; color: #b4a7d6; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.michaeljbowler.com/">WEBSITE</a> * <a href="http://www.facebook.com/michaeljbowlerauthor">FACEBOOK</a> * <a href="https://twitter.com/BradleyWallaceM">TWITTER</a> * <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6938109.Michael_J_Bowler">GOODREADS</a> * <a href="http://sirlancesays.wordpress.com/">BLOG </a>* <a href="http://michaeljbowler.tumblr.com/">TUMBLR </a>* <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/michaelbowler/pins/">PINTEREST</a> * <a href="http://instagram.com/stuntshark">INSTAGRAM</a></span></b><br />
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<b><i><u><span style="background-color: black; color: #b6d7a8; font-size: large;">REVIEW</span></u></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #b6d7a8;">I've heard several adults within the past year declare that the youth of America are spoiling for a fight, a revolution within their own generation. We are seeing glimpses of this desire and passion for a revolution in the news as of late (#blacklivesmatter), but what will it take to ignite youth to pursue their cause? What will it take to get adults to pay attention?</span><br />
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<b><span style="background-color: black; color: #b6d7a8;">LONG STORY SHORT</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #b6d7a8;">There are few authors whom I'm a fan of that I could list by name. Michael Bowler has made that list. <i>Once Upon a Time in America</i> is the perfect conclusion to a riveting, heart-pounding adventure that brought one street kid on the ride of his life. Lance here has made it - he's overcome momentous obstacles and is bringing the Children's Bill of Rights to the public and government, making it clear that he won't take no for an answer so long as there are children being treated like property by the very government that claims to tend them. But will the CBOR be his undoing....and the undoing of the Round Table that he and King Arthur have worked so hard to establish? Bowler has here created a masterpiece of literature that will thrill, humble, and motivate any reader to work for justice for those least of these in our society - the nation's "optional" children. One cannot help but be grabbed by the superb, approachable style in which Bowler has crafted this work...nor can one help but keep reading long after the lights should have been turned off. Minus a few issues with repetitiveness that made me shake my head a tad, this book is absolutely wonderful. </span><br />
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #b6d7a8; font-size: large;">On an ascending scale of 1 to 5, I give this book a 5.</span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #b6d7a8;">The Good</span></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #b6d7a8;">Every so often a book comes along that grabs my attention and holds it long after the pages have finished turning. A story is so compelling that I mull over it for a long time, examining implications and applications to life. Isn't that what literature is about? Okay, so that question could spark volumes of debate, but this fact remains - <i>Once Upon a Time in America</i> is such a book/story and is the perfect conclusion to the saga following Lance and King Arthur as they work for equality and justice for America's children.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #b6d7a8;">As I've stated in previous reviews of the prequels to this work (<a href="http://onlygodwritestrees.blogspot.com/p/book-reviews.html">"Children of the Knight" series</a>), there is not much more that I could say about this book to paint it in a more positive light. That is not to say that there is nothing positive to say - it is to say that I think I've said most of it already. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #b6d7a8;">The writing is phenomenally well done. It is approachable, flows extremely well, is entirely too engaging (I lost hours of sleep over this book), gripping, and absolutely appropriate to whatever scene is being portrayed. Bowler includes just the right amount of detail to prevent readers from being confused about what is going on, but not so much detail as to cause readers' heads to swim and be bogged down. It is funny, serious, melancholy, and jovial in all the right places. Simply a delight to read. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #b6d7a8;">Not much character development occurs, but this book kind of assumes that you've read the previous four in the series. C'mon....it's the 5th installment of a five book series - it kind of has the right to assume that you've read the prequels. That said, characters' actions make sense for who Bowler has already established each person to be (well, except for a couple....but to explain would be a major spoiler and I'm not that mean). </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #b6d7a8;">Settings, plot, timeline progression....everything makes sense and is done incredibly well. Seriously - Bowler is a fantastic author!!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #b6d7a8;">Anyone who reads these books and is not stirred in some way to stand up for this nation's children (or children anywhere, for that matter) simply does not have a heart. I'd love to believe that many of the sad stories contained within these pages regarding the exploitation of children in various forms were purely the work of Bowler's imagination, but I know better. I know better because Bowler's biography above contains ample evidence that he has seen some of these kinds of stories first-hand. I know better because I've worked with those "optional" children in multiple capacities in my life, and have heard many similar stories show up in the lives of children I know. I know better because I know how quickly adults forget what it is to be a child.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #b6d7a8;">We need a revolution such as this. Now, I don't think it would take on the kind of popularity that Lance and his crusade experience, but who knows. Maybe with enough people backing the process, we could put forward amendments to the Constitution such as those Lance proposes. Maybe the world could change. Maybe, I don't know. What I do know is that far too many people hear the kinds of horror stories that shape the lives of many of our children, shake their heads with a "that's too bad" or "those poor kids", and then go about their daily lives as if they could not change anything. Bull****. Apathy allows children to starve (emotionally, physically, etc) and be abused/exploited at a much higher rate than should be possible in our so-called developed nation. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #b6d7a8;">I better stop. I share much of Bowler's passion to see justice for our kids, and I wish that we would see the kind of revolution described in these books. Our kids need one.</span><br />
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #b6d7a8;">The Bugly (bad/ugly)</span></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #b6d7a8;">Despite my perfect rating of this book (and of practically the entire series), I do have a couple nitpicks:</span><br />
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<li><span style="background-color: black; color: #b6d7a8;">There is so much contained here that this work itself could have easily been two entire books. While everything here is part of the same story, there is just <i>so much </i>that it was hard for me to wrap my head around everything that was going on...and I kept waiting for <i>something else</i> major to happen during the last quarter of the book, after most of the stuff had reached a resolution. It was kind of like when you watch a show and it seems like the story has reached its conclusion, but you know "that just can't be it" because there are ten minutes left and everyone knows that a lot can happen in ten minutes (especially "Walking Dead" fans).</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: black; color: #b6d7a8;">Everyone being so lovey-dovey all of the time made even me, a die-hard romantic, cringe. There are only so many "this person melted into a puddle of goo" moments I can take before reaching goo overload, and I reached it about half-way through here. I get that the characters have intense feelings for one another, but fact was repeated in similar words far too often for my tastes.</span></li>
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<b><i style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #b6d7a8;">Just go and read this series. You won't walk away from it unchanged.</span> </i></b></div>
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Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945796233161285793noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609483682620368953.post-17349296009893415102014-11-03T20:20:00.001-08:002014-11-03T20:22:03.837-08:00REVIEW: "And the Children Shall Lead" by Michael J. Bowler (Tribute Books)<div style="color: #222222; font-size: 13px;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJMAx84x09h7ul-RZJ7TytsY7CZ6zGHDjD5nOF7x72l7WCBCdUKBO3-SpGnMiW6GUtZOycTbsw5eIqQ7XO-2PyVLEjhTKlDv-S7E99o8sOgbmqk2-u0VESPCoyPytKZyi8Sz5QZqual9hM/s1600/And+the+Children+Shall+Lead+600x900.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJMAx84x09h7ul-RZJ7TytsY7CZ6zGHDjD5nOF7x72l7WCBCdUKBO3-SpGnMiW6GUtZOycTbsw5eIqQ7XO-2PyVLEjhTKlDv-S7E99o8sOgbmqk2-u0VESPCoyPytKZyi8Sz5QZqual9hM/s1600/And+the+Children+Shall+Lead+600x900.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></span></a><span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Michael-J.-Bowler/e/B0075ML4M4/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;">The campaign to save California’s children was only the beginning. Now King Arthur and his Round Table of teenaged knights set their sights on fixing something even bigger – the entire country. How? By targeting America’s most sacred document – The Constitution.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;"><br />Native American teens Kai and Dakota, despite harboring secrets of their own, join the team, and swear undying loyalty to Lance. They carry the hope of their people that the crusade will better the lives of Indian children, who are the most neglected by government. This new campaign will take the young people to The White House, the halls of Congress, and beyond in their quest to change the prevailing opinion that children are property, rather than human beings in their own right.<br /><br />But an unseen nemesis stalks Lance and Arthur, and ratchets up the attacks on New Camelot, promising to kill them and destroy all that the king has put in place. Lance, Ricky, Kai, and Dakota become the enemy’s favorite targets, and barely escape with their lives on more than one occasion. Who is this mysterious stalker, and what is the motive for these attacks? Lance has no idea, especially since he’s never intentionally hurt anyone.<br /><br />“You were right, little boy, death is coming for you, but slowly, and only after it takes out the people you love.” That chilling promise haunts Lance, but also strengthens his determination to protect the people he loves at all costs. Or die trying.<br /><br />The Knight Cycle continues…</span><br /><span style="color: #222222;"> </span></span></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Michael-J.-Bowler/e/B0075ML4M4/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1">AMAZON</a> * <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23205951-and-the-children-shall-lead">GOODREADS</a> * <a href="http://andthechildrenshalllead.blogspot.com/">BLOG TOUR</a></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><b><br /><span style="color: #fff2cc; font-size: large;"><u><i>ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Michael J. Bowler</i></u></span></b><span style="color: #fff2cc; font-size: x-small;"><b></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Michael-J.-Bowler/e/B0075ML4M4/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1" target="_blank"></a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi16wiJChoPLRowQDr5s928vxx6EcE3jKnQ7C8qb-jBiV8gRCTs4xXWahEET2Kgf81elfZ-ZwwH18YWCtlZd7mUpi4ZlK9iIGVuBySfroq5Di73ekmcDQTFq_DXtz8QnPlCGhjjXH6mYFGu/s1600/Michael+J+Bowler.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi16wiJChoPLRowQDr5s928vxx6EcE3jKnQ7C8qb-jBiV8gRCTs4xXWahEET2Kgf81elfZ-ZwwH18YWCtlZd7mUpi4ZlK9iIGVuBySfroq5Di73ekmcDQTFq_DXtz8QnPlCGhjjXH6mYFGu/s1600/Michael+J+Bowler.png" height="320" width="251" /></span></a><span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">Michael J. Bowler is an award-winning author of seven novels––<i>A Boy and His Dragon, A Matter of Time</i> (Silver Medalist from Reader’s Favorite), and The Knight Cycle, comprised of five books: <i>Children of the Knight</i> (Gold Award Winner in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards),<i>Running Through A Dark Place, There Is No Fear, And The Children Shall Lead</i>, and <i>Once Upon A Time In America.</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;"><br />His horror screenplay, “Healer,” was a Semi-Finalist, and his urban fantasy script, “Like A Hero,” was a Finalist in the Shriekfest Film Festival and Screenplay Competition.<br /><br />He grew up in San Rafael, California, and majored in English and Theatre at Santa Clara University. He went on to earn a master’s in film production from Loyola Marymount University, a teaching credential in English from LMU, and another master's in Special Education from Cal State University Dominguez Hills.<br /><br />He partnered with two friends as producer, writer, and/or director on several ultra-low-budget horror films, including “Fatal Images,” “Club Dead,” and “Things II,” the reviews of which are much more fun than the actual movies.<br /><br />He taught high school in Hawthorne, California for twenty-five years, both in general education and to students with learning disabilities, in subjects ranging from English and Strength Training to Algebra, Biology, and Yearbook.<br /><br />He has also been a volunteer Big Brother to eight different boys with the Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters program and a thirty-year volunteer within the juvenile justice system in Los Angeles. He is a passionate advocate for the fair treatment of children and teens in California, something that is sorely lacking in this state.<br /><br />He has been honored as Probation Volunteer of the Year, YMCA Volunteer of the Year, California Big Brother of the Year, and 2000 National Big Brother of the Year. The “National” honor allowed he and three of his Little Brothers to visit the White House and meet the president in the Oval Office.<br /><br />He is currently at work on a horror/suspense novel based on his screenplay, “Healer.”</span></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.michaeljbowler.com/">WEBSITE</a> * <a href="http://www.facebook.com/michaeljbowlerauthor">FACEBOOK</a> * <a href="https://twitter.com/BradleyWallaceM">TWITTER</a> * <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6938109.Michael_J_Bowler">GOODREADS</a> * <a href="http://sirlancesays.wordpress.com/">BLOG </a>* <a href="http://michaeljbowler.tumblr.com/">TUMBLR </a>* <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/michaelbowler/pins/">PINTEREST</a> * <a href="http://instagram.com/stuntshark">INSTAGRAM</a></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9d2e9; font-family: inherit;">Tomorrow is election day across the U.S. Various parties are vying for political majorities that equal more clout for their respective agendas in Congress. Cut-throat advertisements fill bulletin boards and the airwaves. And yet few of the politicians I've noted have mentioned children as more than statistics, unless speaking about their own children of course. Few have noted how their efforts will make the country better for the <i>children</i>, other than to note a few overuse statistics about poverty, health care, and hunger. What if politicians were called on their own navel-gazing <i>by a child</i>?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #d9d2e9; font-family: inherit;"><b><i style="background-color: black;">LONG STORY SHORT</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9d2e9;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lance has been through hell and back. A youth who grew up seeing the worst of how the "system" operates when it comes to foster children and "expendable youth", he has had to face many demons in his life and most of them have worn political masks. In this fourth installation in this series, </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">And the Children Shall Lead</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> continues Lance's story of challenging everyone's expectations. His experience with the juvenile justice system in Book 3 coupled with his experience of being an "expendable youth" as a ward of the state has pushed him to make changes on the scale that matters most - nationally. He and his beloved Ricky have drafted a Children's Bill of Rights to be amended to the Constitution of the U.S., but will the implications of the bill stop it in its tracks? And what about the technological genius who seems bent on </span>annihilating Lance psychologically before stealing his life? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9d2e9; font-family: inherit;">This superb continuation of Lance's story had me riveted as more than a few hours of sleep were lost as I had to continue reading to figure out what happens next. Wonderful writing, amazing characters who are distinct, unique individuals, well-laid out settings, heart-pounding action that makes sense, and a call out to society to stop fu**ing up in how children are "handled"....this book has it all! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9d2e9; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"> <b><i>ON AN ASCENDING SCALE OF 1 TO 5, I GIVE THIS BOOK A 5.</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9d2e9;">Maybe it is because the author and I obviously share a passion for seeing true justice served for the nation's children, particularly those who are part of the social services system...but I love this book. Maybe it is because I wish we actually had a movement happening akin to that in these pages...but I love this book. Maybe it is simply because this book shows a reality of what can happen when youth are taken seriously, when their passions are taken seriously and not squashed by adults who "know better", when they are unleashed upon the world....but I love this book. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9d2e9;">Lance has escaped death more narrowly than he will ever know (and so resolves the cliffhanger from the previous book) and is working the country to get his "Children's Bill of Rights" passed as an amendment to the Constitution. This amendment would require certain protections for children that are immediately necessary. It would also reinvent not only the current parent/child power structure, but also that which currently exists between the U.S. Government and Native Americans. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9d2e9;">The problem (because of course there always is <i>something</i>) is that someone has made it clear that they are a cat and he is the mouse....and the cat's butt is twitching as it waits to pounce on the mouse and end its squeaky young life before its squeaking reminds other mice, and certain hinges (squeaky hinge gets the oil...) that there are ears willing to truly listen. This "cat" has money, lots of it, and spares no expense in psychologically torturing Lance as he works for the good of so many. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9d2e9;">As I said in the review of <a href="http://onlygodwritestrees.blogspot.com/2014/09/review-there-is-no-fear-by-michael.html">the previous book</a>, I'm not sure how many more glowing words I can write about the book series itself. Bowler is an amazing writer whose talent shines through in a superbly crafted work that contains well crafted settings, characters who are painfully raw and simultaneously incredibly relateable and distinct from one another, thrilling action scenes held perfectly alongside tender moments, etc etc etc. I love Bowler's writing style and how he shines a glaring light on something that we as a nation have become incredibly good at politely sweeping under the run - the plight of our "optional" children, the ones never expected to amount to anything, or those whom adults simply can't be bothered with. I should note here that I really appreciate that Bowler takes time in this installation of the series to deal with issues that Native American's have faced in this area. The U.S. government has traditionally sucked in relations to First Nation's individuals, and they continue to suck. Thank you for addressing this here. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9d2e9;">Seriously - read these books. I wish this movement were real and this were a non-fiction rather than a fictional book. I wish it wouldn't take something as big as King Arthur himself showing up to start something like this. Enough of the need exists in a very non-fictional way....what do we need to do to set off the initial spark?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9d2e9;">There are a few minor typos - nothing too major but surely something an editor should have caught. Again, I'd gripe at the major cliffhanger at the end...but that is Bowler's style and I can't fault him for a stylistic choice that I can't honestly say I wouldn't employ if in his shoes. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9d2e9;">Everyone just needs to read this book, acknowledge their place in being complicit in the real-world issues this series tackles, and take action. Our nation's children need us to get off our butts and <i>do something</i>. Heck, let's amend the Constitution!! It's been done before!</span></div>
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Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945796233161285793noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609483682620368953.post-1148850520599637552014-10-21T09:23:00.002-07:002014-10-21T09:23:51.747-07:00REVIEW: "Shadowcursed" by Gelo Fleisher <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDJSCuIrlS1cQszOUr20j9TTjnCClRhKRKsDZfVRGXdAhbJWVNIcKaqx50FF951Mvxh4MFy2xSoWZWxmxxAhG6aK2RyZ7Erv-rc6auEWkNCP_XHKvqCStvX3K0YRVNtMVnB0GKPKGQ0Rw5/s1600/17925104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDJSCuIrlS1cQszOUr20j9TTjnCClRhKRKsDZfVRGXdAhbJWVNIcKaqx50FF951Mvxh4MFy2xSoWZWxmxxAhG6aK2RyZ7Erv-rc6auEWkNCP_XHKvqCStvX3K0YRVNtMVnB0GKPKGQ0Rw5/s1600/17925104.jpg" height="320" width="226" /></span></a><br />
<b><i><u><span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">BLURB</span></u></i></b><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit;">Bolen is a thief, plying his trade under the spires of an ancient and sprawling city. Worried that he's growing too old, Bolen has lined up a risky job, just to prove that he can still pull one off.<br /><br />Tonight, he's going to break into a nobleman's vault and help himself to its contents. What he doesn't know is that inside is the key to a secret as old as the city itself.<br /><br />Kings have killed for it, demons have coveted it, priests have prayed for it, and in a few moments it will be in his hands. And when it is, the adventure of his life will begin.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shadowcursed-Gelo-Fleisher-ebook/dp/B00BYEW02M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413762647&sr=8-1&keywords=shadowcursed+gelo+fleisher">AMAZON</a> * <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17925104-shadowcursed?from_search=true">GOODREADS</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #d9ead3; font-size: large;">ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Gelo Fleisher</span></span></u></i></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;">Gelo R. Fleisher is an author and game developer. He lives in the East Coast, with his wife and daughter.<br /><br />Some interesting facts about Gelo: He's lived in America, Korea, Japan, and Mongolia. He's a Certified Public Accountant and graduated first in his class from the Wharton school of business. His writing has won several literary contests and has been nominated for a Reader's Choice Award. His indie game development work has also won several awards and has been showcased in PC Gamer magazine. He loves hearing from people so feel free to email him!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">We are getting into the time of year when spooky things rule the day. Shape-changers of various forms, many - of course - bent on gaining as much power as possible, are said to prowl the shadows, making us afraid of turning off the lights. Of course, we know that these creatures are the stuff of legend and television....but what if they were a part of every day life? What if mages and priests with strange healing abilities were commonplace?</span></div>
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">LONG STORY SHORT</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">In a work that feels like it could be lore for several different video games, Fleisher uses a medieval setting to explore a misty intersection between the magical and the mundane. A thief is tasked with breaking into the one place in the city that he should avoid at all costs - the treasure room of the "mad" ruler, a man who would just as soon gut people rather than even bother looking at them. This thief, who may be aging out of his game, steals an item that is infinitely more precious than he knows and in doing so becomes embroiled in a centuries-long power struggle of which he would have rather remained unaware. But will he find redemption? In this novella length work, Fleisher explores what redemption may look like in a world shrouded in magic, shape-shifters, and nothing being as it seems. Exceptionally descriptive language captivated my imagination - I could practically smell the reeking fish at the dock and hear rusty hinges complaining loudly about moving for the first time in decades. Powerfully portrayed characters made me remember why I love fiction so much in the first place as I got to know a broken man who is seeking a little peace. I wanted more backstory, and the language was a bit too descriptive at times, but overall this is a very good piece of fiction sure to please any with a gamer-type brain. =)</span></div>
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">On an ascending scale of 1 to 5, I give this work a 4. </span> </span></i></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">I'm a bit of a gamer with an awareness of medieval history (thanks to my history nerd husband), and so enjoyed this work on a level that I wasn't expecting. I've played World of Warcraft extensively and dabbled a bit in Dragon Age and some other RPGs, so am familiar with worlds where magic, mages, and shape-shifters are part of the norm. I love stories that feel like game lore, and so really enjoyed "Shawdowcursed". </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">Bolen is 40-something year old thief who is living in a medieval setting where magic, mages, priests with healing powers (in MMORPG games you need a priest or two on your side - they are often the best healers (them or paladins)), and things creeping about in the shadows is the norm. Oh, and so is living in fear of the "mad ruler" who has developed a rather gory reputation for killing anyone who stands in his mad way. Bolen is tasked with stealing items from this ruler's vault and goes ahead with doing so in order to prove to himself that he is still the thief that he was in his younger days. The problem is that he steals an item that holds a value different from any he has ever known. This particular theft will rattle Bolen to his core and tear apart his understanding of reality in the city whose shadows he has frequented his entire life. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">I would like to say that Fleisher is an exceptionally talented writer, but this is the only work I've yet read by him and have become rather hesitant to make such major comments based on a single work. What I can say is that "Shadowcursed" is incredibly well written. The fog winding its way through the city will feel as though it is winding its way around you as you are reading, the descriptive imagery in this book is so well written. Sentences flow together in a way that makes it clear this author has read and re-read his work for clarity's sake. Pronouns are rarely confused (confused pronouns have become a pet peeve of mine). People move about in a way that makes sense for the story (i.e. no people standing up in one side of the room when you didn't read them going to that side of the room). Characters are distinct from one another and are developed exactly as much as they need to be in order for this story to make sense (well, most of them at least....but I'll cover that in a minutes). It contains just the right amount of unpredictability. Elements of magic are entwined with what we know as medieval real-world in a way that <i>makes sense</i>, flows well, and is enjoyable to read.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">I really, really liked this book. It is a quick read that brings up very interesting moral questions. What is right when everything is in shadow? Of course, these are questions that often come up in games. If we are honest with ourselves, however, we will admit they often come up in our lives as well. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">A few quibbles, minor though they are: </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">1) The major antagonists could be explained a bit more. There are clear lines drawn between good (or at least semi-good in search of redemption) and evil....but the evil of the motivation is barely explained. Power. Conquest. Okay, sure....but what explains the relationship between the two major evil characters? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">2) Bolen is the only thing in the story that we really get any back story on. I wanted to know more about the city, the antagonists, the faith system (which is clearly specific to the story), etc. But that leads to my next quibble....</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">3) Longer. This story needs to be longer. There is enough good material to work with here to bring this novella length work into a novel. This would solve some of the problems with not enough back story, and spending more time on the relationships between specific characters. Perhaps it is my extremely relational brain that just wants to know more about the relationships between different elements of the story, but honestly - this felt like a teaser to a much bigger story.</span></div>
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">SCHISM: The Battle for Darracia - Book 1</span></i></b><br />
<b><i><u><span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">BLURB</span></u></i></b><br />
<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit;">On the planet Darracia, an ever-widening social gap between its inhabitants is causing turmoil that is fracturing a once peaceful world. Struggling with his identity, nineteen year old Prince V'sair must harness the power of the elusive Fireblade, the secret to a warrior's heart, in order to overcome his uncle Staf Nuen's lust for supremacy. Will the energy of the Elements guide the young prince to his true destiny or will Staf Nuen conquer Darracia? After the success of his first three books (Brood X, Stillwell, and The Hanging Tree) Michael is fulfilling a dream and creating his own epic fantasy world. Schism: The Battle for Darracia is the first book in a planned series.</span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Schism-Battle-Darracia-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00H3OHTM8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410706410&sr=8-1&keywords=the+battle+for+darracia">AMAZON</a> * <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19357385-schism?from_search=true">GOODREADS</a></span></span></span></span><br />
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">COLLISION: The Battle for Darracia - Book #2</span></i></b><br />
<b><i><u><span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">BLURB</span></u></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit;">The Darracia saga continues with all the key players spread out and searching for answers throughout the solar system. Prince V'sair struggles to hold his fractured kingdom together without help from his family. His stepbrother Zayden is on a vengeful hunt for his evil uncle Staf Nuen. Tulani navigates her two worlds trying to bring them together. Staf Nuen, the orchestrator of the original coup, is making unholy alliances with nefarious new allies. Like the comet zipping across the horizon, all the different factions are heading for a collision course that will test both their faith and power.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Collision-Battle-Darracia-Book-Saga-ebook/dp/B00K1NQS5M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1410707324&sr=8-2&keywords=battle+for+darracia">AMAZON</a> * <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21407634-collision?from_search=true">GOODREADS</a></span></span></span><br />
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<b><i><u><span style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Michael Cash</span></u></i></b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSFfFDgUd6QOcAmTRDNcukzt-SL-LECMn7tpa1utzZuSC2xXRDbATQvrOtLawAibE70jnk4QEobxIPycGun-youkNwiGfdWFzTFrdZh2Xhb2wCygD-QxQsvfufDogFZS-N-Dl4ELqj-7Mm/s1600/7060225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSFfFDgUd6QOcAmTRDNcukzt-SL-LECMn7tpa1utzZuSC2xXRDbATQvrOtLawAibE70jnk4QEobxIPycGun-youkNwiGfdWFzTFrdZh2Xhb2wCygD-QxQsvfufDogFZS-N-Dl4ELqj-7Mm/s1600/7060225.jpg" height="200" width="193" /></span></a></div>
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">Born and raised on Long Island, Michael has always had a fascination with horror writing and found footage films. He wanted to incorporate both with his debut novel, Brood X. Earning a degree in English and an MBA, he has worked various jobs before settling into being a full-time author. He currently resides on Long Island with his wife and children.</span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7060225.Michael_Phillip_Cash">GOODREADS</a> * <a href="http://www.michaelphillipcash.com/">WEBSITE</a> * <a href="https://twitter.com/michaelpcash">TWITTER</a> </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><i><u>REVIEW</u></i></b></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #fce5cd; font-family: inherit;"><i><b style="background-color: black;">NOTE: I'm reviewing the first two books of this series together as I read them one right after the other. Typically, I would not do this, but for the sake of time and effort I'm combining my review of these two books. They are, after all, two parts of the same story.</b></i></span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd; font-family: inherit;">One need not go far in order to hear tales of a people who are not getting along with another people. Nor does it take much effort to hear of one group of people, or one person, trying to usurp power and gain control over a land which may not be rightfully theirs...whether that is good for the land or not. Power has this corrupting quality. But what about when those rightfully in power are trying to do things for the good of the people that might unite fronts that have been divided, upending very old societal structures?</span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #fce5cd; font-family: inherit;"><b><i style="background-color: black;">LONG STORY SHORT</i></b></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">A prince born from the love between royalty from different peoples (different planets, even) must face his destiny sooner than anyone expected when an uncle on one side leads a revolt against his own brother - a king who is determined to make his kingdom a fair and equal place for both people of the planet to live, Darracians and Quyroos alike. Good vs. evil. Tradition vs. a new way of thinking. Love? In some ways this is an age-old story told in a new way with new characters and settings that are put together rather well. While characters are unique individuals, the settings are interesting, and there are elements of science fiction and the mystic that would please even the most die-hard SciFi fan, the plot and writing styles themselves leave something to be desired. The story itself unfolds rather slowly at first, almost laboriously. It is like a movie that starts slowly and takes awhile to get to the action. Once the action is reached, however, there are issues with how it is presented. For example, scenes full of action fly by so quickly that it is hard to know what exactly is going on. I found myself confused during about half of these books....which isn't conducive to an enjoyable/productive reading experience. The writing style itself is also very clipped and efficient in places, while being descriptive in other places - there is a lack of consistency. Typos are also found throughout the work. I'd gripe about how the book itself is formatted (double-spaced), but have been told there is a plan in place to address some formatting issues. A good story with some presentation issues.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; line-height: 18px;"><b><i><span style="color: #fce5cd; font-size: large;">On an ascending scale of 1 to 5, I give this book a 3.</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">Here we find a classic story: child born of a union between two unlikely individuals whose destiny will not only shape his world, but possibly that of others as well. Add a social stratification on his home planet reminiscent of the stratification found in India (albeit with only two factions), floating cities, love, and a traitorous uncle and you have this book. It is something akin to if <i>Macbeth </i>met "Avatar"....just add a few extra planets.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">V'sair is a prince sired by a Darracian king and a princess from a water planet. He looks different than literally every other individual on Darracia, the planet where he lives. He has a different destiny - against all odds, unite the two deeply divided peoples who populate Darracia: the Darracians and the Quyroos. One problem: he has never gone through the Fireblade challenge. But is the Fireblade what it seems to be? Only time (and, well, the end of the first book) will tell. He falls in love with a girl he has known for years as his mother's servant...but she is more, so much more. About the same time, his uncle stages an uprising that leads to the death of several key figures, physical disfigurement of others, and pushes V'sair to seek out the truth behind the Elements....a truth which reveals more truths which threaten to undermine the planet's societal structures. And so ends the first book. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">The second book picks up months after the carnage. V'sair is struggling to figure out how to live into his new role with the people when he was pushed into it before his training was even nearing completion. Not to mention the other half of his being has been AWOL for awhile, trying to lead her people....but will they trust someone who is of them but not of them? V'sair's brother is off seeking out the uncle who destroyed everything he once held dear, but perhaps he will lose his life in the process. There is a pair of sisters who present an interesting question (sorry, you're gonna have to read to figure out what I'm talking about). The stage is set for a rather epic battle. Seriously, this book seems to be almost purely stage-setting for the next book....which I find rather intriguing. Yes, it carries the story forward a bit, but it provides much more background than in the first book. Frankly, some of this background would have been helpful in understanding what was going on in the first book, but so is.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">I'm going to applaud Cash for something that I usually nit-pick authors about: the characters are unique. Even in long, complicated conversation scenes I could generally figure out who was talking even without the "he said this, she said that" indicators. I deeply appreciate characters who have their own personalities that are clearly distinct from one another and that of the author. Yay!! I also really like these characters - especially Bobbien (I think she's my favorite of the entire series - kind of reminds me of the baboon in "Lion King"). They are images of flawed beauty in a way that means they are relateable. Good deal.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">This is a good story. Sure, some tropes are used that have been done and done to death, but they have actually been combined here in a way that I find rather intriguing. I'd love to see this story done on screen....after the following has been addressed.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; line-height: 18px;"><b><i><span style="color: #fce5cd;">The Bugly (bad/ugly)</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">Good story. Less than stellar presentation. I'm going to rip on this book a little bit because there were enough things that bothered me that, frankly, my reading of these books was a little more stalled than it could have been. I just couldn't get into it the same way it seems other reviewers were able to. To each his own - no book is going to please every single reader, this is why we have multiple genres and millions of works within genres. :)</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">Anyways, let us first look at style. I can't fault Cash too much for stylistic choices that I would not make, but I can nit pick on a lack of consistency. My fiction writing style is one that is very descriptive, full of "flowerly" adjectives and such. It is not very efficient. Cash's style is remarkably efficient...in most places. In other places it is much more descriptive. The lack of consistency made my head keep changing gears in a way that bugged me. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">Second, the plot itself. While the story is pretty good, the way it unfolded left a few things to be desired. It took awhile for the story to get going. So much work was done in the beginning setting the scene that it was like a movie that starts off slow, with all of the action happening in the last 30 minutes. Now, this can make some sense given that there is a new world to explore with a new societal structure, entirely new characters, etc. I get that. I just had an exceptionally hard time following what in Darracia was going on and keeping track of who was what. <i>Wait, how'd that person get across the room? How'd his eyes gum shut with blood in all of 20 seconds?</i> Oh yeah, and there were enough moments where I thought "that's not how science works" that my brain hurt. Blood drying too quickly, people not falling right according to how they were just hit, etc.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">Third, there were typos all. over. the. place. Not just the kind of typo where a few letters are out of order, though these were certainly present, but the kind of typo where a sentence had clearly been written one way, then written a different way, and the first way wasn't completely cleared out of the way (confused yet?). Pronoun confusion reigned supreme, as did sentence constructions that didn't make a lot of sense in my head. Keep in mind that I'm hard on grammar - while I can't diagram a sentence to save my life, I know when something sounds wrong. Unfortunately, a lot sounded wrong here.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">Finally, I just wasn't that into these books. I read them because I had agreed to, but after the first book I didn't feel much like reading the second one....and now I really don't feel like continuing to the third. I really feel as though this is a good story wrapped in less than stellar presentation. It just was not my cup of tea. It happens. </span></span></div>
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Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945796233161285793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609483682620368953.post-64294810685754593892014-09-08T01:00:00.000-07:002014-09-08T01:00:00.337-07:00REVIEW: "There is No Fear" by Michael Bowler (Tribute Books Blog Tour)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDF8lsOWxgZJwsYPkyxHZCo-vkwmF3mVbjwUjabmmG3tiZuFzJecKWMDeWTUGS136G_CV1CXHxXu9rUWgqYoS0zEqVq3OT-VIeR-Hu02CJPKhEE23FzasczAmiF5hxfHtT5QabpxKcZZme/s1600/There+is+No+Fear-600x900.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDF8lsOWxgZJwsYPkyxHZCo-vkwmF3mVbjwUjabmmG3tiZuFzJecKWMDeWTUGS136G_CV1CXHxXu9rUWgqYoS0zEqVq3OT-VIeR-Hu02CJPKhEE23FzasczAmiF5hxfHtT5QabpxKcZZme/s1600/There+is+No+Fear-600x900.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></span></a></div>
<b><i><u><span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">BLURB</span></u></i></b><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;">The most famous boy in the world is a prisoner. He’s been charged with a crime he didn’t commit, a crime that could send him to prison for the rest of his life. Languishing within The Compound, the most secure juvenile facility in California, while the district attorney vows to make an example of him because of his celebrity status, Lance must endure the daily indignities of the incarcerated.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;">New Camelot is fractured without him. Ricky and Chris are bereft, living for the weekly phone call that becomes their only lifeline to the brother they so desperately love, while Arthur and Jenny feel the loss of their son with a sadness that can’t be quelled. And what about Michael, the highly volatile teen who helped write the proposition that will change California forever? Could he really be the monster he says he is? His hatred of Ricky is palpable, and his instability may well threaten the lives of everyone at New Camelot.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;">As the election looms closer, Proposition 51 takes on an even greater significance in light of the pending trial of the century. The more harshly fifteen-year-old Lance is treated within the broken justice system, the more he contemplates the wisdom of his idea that children need more adult rights. If The Child Voter Act becomes law, won’t it simply allow adults to throw more kids into prison with impunity?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;">Whichever way the voters decide, his greatest fear remains the same: will he ever again be with the people he loves?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;">The Knight Cycle Continues…</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;"><b>Pages: </b>284<b><br />Release: </b>July 17, 2014<b><br />ISBN: </b>9780990306337<b><br /></b></span><b><span style="color: #d9ead3;"><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Michael-J.-Bowler/e/B0075ML4M4/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1">AMAZON</a> * <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22724085-there-is-no-fear">GOODREADS</a> </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #ea9999; font-family: inherit;"><i><u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Michael Bowler</b></span></u></i><span style="font-size: 13px;"></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5n3Vc66mf_iSvYMtlzYIl1-tbwS-Opv78aND1nuLHQSzYBi8UbjtiiVQMZvuLQ9nHrr7rxYS-m2Fwfylwbljq0n8n-tc7-MuvPZt0919X0_ZicH-c6YiOphGN813OiUS54MXjOELNKrly/s1600/Michael+J+Bowler.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #ea9999; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5n3Vc66mf_iSvYMtlzYIl1-tbwS-Opv78aND1nuLHQSzYBi8UbjtiiVQMZvuLQ9nHrr7rxYS-m2Fwfylwbljq0n8n-tc7-MuvPZt0919X0_ZicH-c6YiOphGN813OiUS54MXjOELNKrly/s1600/Michael+J+Bowler.png" height="320" width="251" /></span></a><span style="background-color: black; color: #ea9999; font-family: inherit;">Michael J. Bowler is an award-winning author of three novels - <i>A Boy and His Dragon, A Matter of Time</i>, and <i>Children of the Knight</i> - who grew up in San Rafael, California.<br /><br />He majored in English and Theatre at Santa Clara University and earned a master’s in film production from Loyola Marymount University, a teaching credential in English from LMU, and another master's in Special Education from Cal State University Dominguez Hills.<br /><br />He partnered with two friends as producer, writer, and/or director on several ultra-low-budget horror films, including “Fatal Images,” “Club Dead,” and “Things II,” the reviews of which are much more fun than the actual movies.<br /><br />He taught high school in Hawthorne, California for twenty-five years, both in general education and to students with learning disabilities, in subjects ranging from English and Strength Training to Algebra, Biology, and Yearbook.<br /><br />He has also been a volunteer Big Brother to seven different boys with the Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters program and a thirty-year volunteer within the juvenile justice system in Los Angeles. He is a passionate advocate for the fair treatment of children and teens in California, something that is sorely lacking in this state. He has been honored as Probation Volunteer of the Year, YMCA Volunteer of the Year, California Big Brother of the Year, and 2000 National Big Brother of the Year. The “National” honor allowed he and three of his Little Brothers to visit the White House and meet the president in the Oval Office.<br /><br />He has already written the four continuations of <em>Children of the Knight</em> that complete <em>The Knight Cycle</em> and all will be released in 2014.<br /><br />He is currently at work on a new novel.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><b><b><i><b><b><i><span style="color: #ea9999;"><br /></span></i></b></b></i></b></b><b style="line-height: 20.7900009155273px;"><b><span style="color: #ea9999;"><a href="http://www.michaeljbowler.com/" style="text-decoration: none;">WEBSITE</a> * <a href="http://www.facebook.com/michaeljbowlerauthor" style="text-decoration: none;">FACEBOOK</a> * <a href="https://twitter.com/BradleyWallaceM" style="text-decoration: none;">TWITTER</a> * <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6938109.Michael_J_Bowler" style="text-decoration: none;">GOODREADS</a> * <a href="http://sirlancesays.wordpress.com/" style="text-decoration: none;">BLOG</a> * <a href="http://www.tumblr.com/blog/michaeljbowler" style="text-decoration: none;">TUMBLR</a> * <a href="http://www.freado.com/book/16160/children-of-the-knight" style="text-decoration: none;">FREADO</a></span></b></b></span></div>
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<b><i><u><span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">REVIEW</span></u></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd; font-family: inherit;">This country is spoiling for a youth-led revolution, if psychologists examining the popularity of shows "Hunger Games" are to be believed. Something is wrong, youth know it, youth are affected by it, and youth seem to be the only ones who aren't too tired to do anything about it. At the same time, people are jailed unjustly all. the. time. But what do we do when someone who is jailed unjustly is a kid?</span><br />
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd; font-family: inherit;">LONG STORY SHORT</span></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd; font-family: inherit;">The first two books in this series (<i><a href="http://onlygodwritestrees.blogspot.com/2014/01/review-children-of-knight-by-michael.html">Children of the Knight</a> & <a href="http://onlygodwritestrees.blogspot.com/2014/06/review-running-through-dark-place-by.html">Running Through a Dark Place</a>)</i> were absolutely superb, and this third installment fits nicely in this well-established reputation. The story neatly picks up at the cliffhanger from the end of the previous book, in the middle of heart-pumping drama where the hero of the day has been arrested for attempted murder. He's innocent, but can he prove this in the face of a public who craves nothing more than fallen heros, DA's bent on reelection, and a corrupt system which stomps upon the rights of youth...all the while figuring out who actually guards his heart?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd; font-family: inherit;">Search no further for a book that will ignite your passion to work for the good of those whom society has deemed "the least of these", a passion for justice served as well as rights protected and accountability realized. This amazingly well written book drew me into its action, into the very lives of these characters, in a way that made me want to assign this series as mandatory reading for every high school graduate. It made me <i>feel</i>.</span><br />
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd; font-family: inherit;">On an ascending scale of 1 to 5, I give this book a 5.</span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;">LONG STORY</span></i></b><br />
<b><span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;">The Good</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;">Honestly, I'm not sure anything good I have to say about this wonderful book has not already been covered in my reviews of the <a href="http://onlygodwritestrees.blogspot.com/2014/01/review-children-of-knight-by-michael.html">first</a> and <a href="http://onlygodwritestrees.blogspot.com/2014/06/review-running-through-dark-place-by.html">second </a>installments in the series. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;">We start where the last book left off: Lance being handcuffed and roughly dropped in the back of a police car without even knowing the nature of the charges leveled against him. Upon reaching the detainment facility, Lance learns that he is being accused of attempted murder against a man he had seen recently, a man who has caused much turmoil and pain in Lance's life. A man whose genitalia had been removed from his body in a brutal attack. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;">There is just one problem. Lance is innocent. But can he prove so when the district attorney is running for election and wants to nail Lance to the wall in order to further his own campaign...despite rather shaky "evidence"? SPOILER ALERT: Lance does get out of jail. But what happens next will keep you pinned to your seat. Seriously, somehow I thought I'd get to bed on time. Nope. I found myself awake well into the night as I read about Lance's struggle to come to peace with his identity, his relationships (just what is he supposed to do with Michael, Ricky, and Bridgett?), and the legal proposition that his efforts helped put before voters. What will happen?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;"> Seriously, that question kept me up for two evenings as I read through this work - what is going to happen next? What next bit of drama will be revealed? What will Lance uncover about himself and those around him? Will he be able to handle the things he finds on his quest for truth?</span><br />
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<i><span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;">AND WHAT ABOUT THAT CLIFFHANGER? WHAT THE WHAT??</span></i><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;">Not a lot of time is spent on character development, as much of this happens in the first two books. The same is true about settings: new locations are set up very well while settings from previous books are mentioned but not described much. It is kind of expected that readers have read the first installments in this series as these books are meant to build upon one another. They do so very well. On the one hand, I was glad to see there are at least two more books in the series because it means two more awesome books are coming....and yet on the other hand there is a cliffhanger ending (which is seriously put together in the span of the last 2-3 pages....just when you think it is over, you find that not only is it not over yet, but the story may have just begun) that just makes me desperate to read the next book. Ugh. Not a patient person over here! :P</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;">Anyways, I loved this book - as you can see by the perfect score (I don't give perfect scores easily). Now, to wait for the next "season" to come out........ </span><br />
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<b><span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;">The Bugly (bad/ugly)</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;">A few minor typos here and there, but nothing to major. However, CLIFFHANGER. /grumble. Again, this is a stylistic choice that I cannot fault Bowler for, but seriously annoying (in honesty, I'd do the same thing). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><i><u style="background-color: black;">GIVEAWAY</u></i></b></span><br />
<a class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/2bf067120/" id="rc-2bf067120" rel="nofollow"><span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;">a Rafflecopter giveaway</span></a><script src="//widget.rafflecopter.com/load.js"></script>Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945796233161285793noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609483682620368953.post-17044202186061643392014-06-20T03:00:00.000-07:002014-06-20T03:00:06.392-07:00REVIEW: "Running Through A Dark Place" by Michael Bowler (Tribute Books Blog Tours)<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrwQ4v0n2mWufoiT1IO1Bn9vqNN4NHztDuEVxHAIlASxBzEQysjC4EVeIYcW_tbsXBKhUcQsZb-xcK2UzATUBtskJBDo6KwI_jL5PZRL1Ao8VAdIVZ16WpLuyu_7LtXlua3sthFXkpCDUK/s1600/Running+Through+a+Dark+Place400x600+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; color: #222222; float: left; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrwQ4v0n2mWufoiT1IO1Bn9vqNN4NHztDuEVxHAIlASxBzEQysjC4EVeIYcW_tbsXBKhUcQsZb-xcK2UzATUBtskJBDo6KwI_jL5PZRL1Ao8VAdIVZ16WpLuyu_7LtXlua3sthFXkpCDUK/s1600/Running+Through+a+Dark+Place400x600+(1).jpg" height="400" width="266" /></span></span></a><b><i><u><span style="background-color: black; color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">BLURB</span></u></i></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit;">King Arthur and his extraordinary young Knights used ‘might’ for ‘right’ to create a new Camelot in the City of Angels. They rallied the populace around their cause, while simultaneously putting the detached politicians in check. But now they must move forward to even greater heights, despite what appears to be an insurmountable tragedy.<br /><br />Their new goal is lofty: give equality to kids fourteen and older who are presently considered adults only when they break the law. Arthur’s crusade seeks to give them real rights such as voting, driving, trading high school for work, and sitting as jurors for their peers charged with criminal behavior.<br /><br />Understanding that the adults of California will likely be against them, Arthur and his Knights must determine how best to win them over. <br /><br />However, before the king can even contemplate these matters, he finds himself face to face with an ally from the past, one who proves that everything isn’t always what it seems – even life and death.<br /><br />The Knight Cycle Continues…</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit;"><br />Pages: 447<br />Release: May 2014<b><br /></b><b><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Michael-J.-Bowler/e/B0075ML4M4/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1">AMAZON</a> * <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21873271-running-through-a-dark-">GOODREADS </a>* <a href="http://runningthroughadarkplace.blogspot.com/">BLOG TOUR</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ea9999;"><i><u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Michael Bowler</b></span></u></i><span style="font-size: 13px;"></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5n3Vc66mf_iSvYMtlzYIl1-tbwS-Opv78aND1nuLHQSzYBi8UbjtiiVQMZvuLQ9nHrr7rxYS-m2Fwfylwbljq0n8n-tc7-MuvPZt0919X0_ZicH-c6YiOphGN813OiUS54MXjOELNKrly/s1600/Michael+J+Bowler.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #ea9999; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5n3Vc66mf_iSvYMtlzYIl1-tbwS-Opv78aND1nuLHQSzYBi8UbjtiiVQMZvuLQ9nHrr7rxYS-m2Fwfylwbljq0n8n-tc7-MuvPZt0919X0_ZicH-c6YiOphGN813OiUS54MXjOELNKrly/s1600/Michael+J+Bowler.png" height="320" width="251" /></span></a><span style="background-color: black; color: #ea9999; font-family: inherit;">Michael J. Bowler is an award-winning author of three novels - <i>A Boy and His Dragon, A Matter of Time</i>, and <i>Children of the Knight</i> - who grew up in San Rafael, California.<br /><br />He majored in English and Theatre at Santa Clara University and earned a master’s in film production from Loyola Marymount University, a teaching credential in English from LMU, and another master's in Special Education from Cal State University Dominguez Hills.<br /><br />He partnered with two friends as producer, writer, and/or director on several ultra-low-budget horror films, including “Fatal Images,” “Club Dead,” and “Things II,” the reviews of which are much more fun than the actual movies.<br /><br />He taught high school in Hawthorne, California for twenty-five years, both in general education and to students with learning disabilities, in subjects ranging from English and Strength Training to Algebra, Biology, and Yearbook.<br /><br />He has also been a volunteer Big Brother to seven different boys with the Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters program and a thirty-year volunteer within the juvenile justice system in Los Angeles. He is a passionate advocate for the fair treatment of children and teens in California, something that is sorely lacking in this state. He has been honored as Probation Volunteer of the Year, YMCA Volunteer of the Year, California Big Brother of the Year, and 2000 National Big Brother of the Year. The “National” honor allowed he and three of his Little Brothers to visit the White House and meet the president in the Oval Office.<br /><br />He has already written the four continuations of <em>Children of the Knight</em> that complete <em>The Knight Cycle</em> and all will be released in 2014.<br /><br />He is currently at work on a new novel.</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Molengo; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><b><span style="color: #ea9999;"><a href="http://www.michaeljbowler.com/" style="text-decoration: none;">WEBSITE</a> * <a href="http://www.facebook.com/michaeljbowlerauthor" style="text-decoration: none;">FACEBOOK</a> * <a href="https://twitter.com/BradleyWallaceM" style="text-decoration: none;">TWITTER</a> * <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6938109.Michael_J_Bowler" style="text-decoration: none;">GOODREADS</a> * <a href="http://sirlancesays.wordpress.com/" style="text-decoration: none;">BLOG</a> * <a href="http://www.tumblr.com/blog/michaeljbowler" style="text-decoration: none;">TUMBLR</a> * <a href="http://www.freado.com/book/16160/children-of-the-knight" style="text-decoration: none;">FREADO</a></span></b></b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsi9CRCT8zKPb7Rg7uLFAYGz0nnZjGbfGq923DBFXTlpOix00Z7pKdqlYsNAzJLBgt8oN4kZ8_tVFLv7_RrJwe8h0EBtRsC4ZBX7QXWVE-x6X2v-Ks7y6-2WjjMtMxaYdDpY8r8932_vt7/s1600/banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: black; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsi9CRCT8zKPb7Rg7uLFAYGz0nnZjGbfGq923DBFXTlpOix00Z7pKdqlYsNAzJLBgt8oN4kZ8_tVFLv7_RrJwe8h0EBtRsC4ZBX7QXWVE-x6X2v-Ks7y6-2WjjMtMxaYdDpY8r8932_vt7/s1600/banner.jpg" height="166" width="640" /></a><br />
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<b><i><u><span style="background-color: black; color: #d0e0e3; font-size: large;">REVIEW</span></u></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d0e0e3;">We tend to forget that famous people are still just people...especially when those famous people are youth/kids. I read an article recently about Jennifer Lawrence (a young lady who is quickly becoming one of my favorite actresses) of "Hunger Games" fame. Her father said her fame hasn't changed her in their family much, that she is still going to go through all of the same processes of identity formation and such that other young people go through. She will just do so under a microscope since she is so famous. But when a young person is famous because of a crusade to make the world better for children, can fame actually be a problem??</span></span><br />
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<b><i style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d0e0e3;">LONG STORY SHORT</span></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d0e0e3;">Awhile ago I reviewed the first book in this series, <i><a href="http://onlygodwritestrees.blogspot.com/2014/01/review-children-of-knight-by-michael.html">Children of the Knight</a>, </i>and absolutely loved it. This continuation of the story did not disappoint. We rejoin the characters right in the middle of the scene which closed the first book - Lance has just died while television audiences watched in horror. An act of love designed to save King Arthur's life. An act of love that cost Lance his life. Or did it? An unexpected character from Arthur's past shows up and changes the game in a way that Lance becomes "the boy who came back". </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d0e0e3;">A superbly written tale, this book kept me on the edge of my seat as I lost more than a few hours sleep from needing to know what happened next. <i>How was character XYZ's behavior going to be explained? What exactly was Operation Silent Treatement?</i> A difficult past haunts main characters, a mysterious figure becomes a part of daily life in a way that is difficult to figure out, and a wonderfully rich story unfolds in a way that gives me hope that a spark can move mountains. Can children change the world? Watch them.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d0e0e3;"><i><b><span style="font-size: large;">On an ascending scale of 1 to 5, I give this book a 5. </span></b></i> </span></span></div>
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<b><i style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d0e0e3;">LONG STORY</span></i></b><br />
<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d0e0e3;">The Good</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d0e0e3;">Much of what I said about <a href="http://onlygodwritestrees.blogspot.com/2014/01/review-children-of-knight-by-michael.html">the first book in this series</a> is true here as well: Bowler here utilizes a writing style that dragged me into the scenes in a way that made me forget for a little while that while reading I was laying beside my son in his hospital bed for a week after he was diagnosed with leukemia. This was a welcome relief and one that I appreciated deeply. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d0e0e3;">Anyways, Bowler's writing style is approachable, likeable, snarky in all the right places, and engaging. Settings are created in an extremely realistic fashion, we always know how people are moving around in space (it bugs me when books have characters all over a room and don't explain how that is happening), the story progresses naturally from the first book, and just the right amount of new characters to figure out are introduced. Oh, and a nitpicky thing: characters communicate via looks and body language just as much as they do through words. Why am I pointing this out? I tend to find that many fiction books tend towards being dialog heavy as they attempt to work out the vast amounts of silent communication that happens between individuals. Not so here. Here we get "the looks", body gestures, and such laid out in such a way that makes perfect sense and is true to life.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d0e0e3;">But let's get to the story for a moment: King Arthur is still in modern-day L.A. championing the rights of children in a society where adults look upon children as something to be disregarded...at least until they screw up. He has gathered together a rag-tag group of people to help him in this crusade, people who have names that are remarkably similar to individuals from Arthurian legend (I see what you did there, Bowler). This rag-tag group includes Sir Lance, a young man who lost his life at the end of the first book in a successful attempt to save King Arthur from being shot by a sniper. A young man who becomes "the boy who came back" after a mysterious figure from Arthur's distant past shows up and resets a wrong: Lance was not supposed to die. Unfortunately, the manner in which he was saved cost a life that was very dear to everyone, and Lance spends the rest of the book struggling with this sacrifice, as well as with the feeling that death just might want him back. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d0e0e3;">Well, in becoming "the boy who came back", Lance becomes the most famous person in the world. People either love him or hate him. Adults tend to be suspicious, especially when he proves so successful at wielding words that his oration skills are likened to those of President Lincoln, because he shines a light on how they have failed children (apparently conveniently forgetting how they were failed as children). Yet just because he is famous and engaged in a noble crusade does not mean he is perfect. Sir Lance is still just fourteen and learning what living means (especially after having died). A teenager struggling through identity formation, he makes some rather public glaring errors in judgment that threaten to derail the crusade entirely. And what should he do with the enigmatic Michael, a boy whom everyone else seems to want to have nothing to do with but to whom Lance somehow feels a connection and the sense that there is some good in Michael to be unleashed?</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d0e0e3;">Never underestimate what children and youth are capable of when their energies are harnessed for good.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d0e0e3;">This is yet another work which exposes how poorly children are treated in our society. They are considered children and incapable of making informed decisions until they are 18, but they can be tried as an adult in court and - in some rare cases - executed as such. They cannot vote, but must abide by laws which affect nearly every aspect of their lives. Seriously, I think the political world would look a bit different if youth were able to hold politicians to task in the same way they do so here. Now, I understand why kids are not allowed to vote....truly I do. But what if politicians were actually held accountable to the children they are making laws for? For example, what if politicians had to answer to all of the children whom their recent actions towards food stamps affected? </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d0e0e3;">Anyways, to get back to the book. As I said about the first one, it is superbly written, deeply engaging, and made me want to see about getting a crusade such as this organized. The plot moves along very well and flows very naturally. People engage with one another in ways that make perfect sense. Characters' emotions are explored in a way that actually helps readers get to know the characters as more than just a name on a page - they are someone you could meet when going about your daily life.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d0e0e3;">On another note, this book is more "real" than I would like it to be. I've met these optional, disenfranchised, violent, and "difficult" children <i>everywhere</i>. On the whole, adults don't tend to give them much of a chance. This is a crime to our children. I've witnessed first-hand how much these "optional" children are capable of when taken seriously and given a chance, and it is incredible. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d0e0e3;">Read this book. May it ignite a fire in you to pursue justice for the youngest "least of these" in our society.</span></span><br />
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<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d0e0e3;">The Bugly (bad/ugly)</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d0e0e3;">I've only got two big nitpicks here, and they weren't really enough to derail my giving this book a perfect score. First, there are minor typos scattered throughout the book. Not enough to completely derail me as I read, but enough that I noticed it did not seem as thoroughly edited as the first book. Second, CLIFFHANGER. BLAHGASDFIAQWESFNAS!! I HATE cliffhangers!! I'm not going to knock part of a score down from this, as this is a stylistic choice that makes sense for a book that is part of a series. Just be prepared that there is a MAJOR freaking cliffhanger at the end. </span></span><br />
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<b><i><u><span style="background-color: black; color: #d0e0e3; font-size: large;">GIVEAWAY</span></u></i></b><br />
<a class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/2bf067114/" id="rc-2bf067114" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d0e0e3;">a Rafflecopter giveaway</span></a><script src="//d12vno17mo87cx.cloudfront.net/embed/rafl/cptr.js"></script>Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945796233161285793noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609483682620368953.post-88107299214610944412014-06-09T19:51:00.003-07:002014-06-09T19:51:48.418-07:00Quick update - those expecting a review from me soon will want to read thisSo, this past week my two-year-old son was diagnosed with leukemia. He was hospitalized for a week, and is undergoing a rather intensive chemo schedule now in order to knock to cancer into remission.<br />
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What this means for this blog is this: if you are expecting a review from me, it may be late. My priority is my son, and he needs his Momma more than your book needs my review.<br />
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You will get your review, and I'll notify you when it is up....but just know it may be later than expected.<br />
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Prayers for my boy - Drexel - appreciated.Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945796233161285793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609483682620368953.post-53997242885628706232014-05-24T20:37:00.001-07:002014-05-24T20:38:31.588-07:00REVIEW: "Anti-Theist: And This is Why" by Christopher Mallard - (Virtual Book Tour Cafe)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW9tl-dDRSdWa0Wcx1ErFTnkhVDMAWPaAN__6g27VFxZwFECpgkkKTlGZhLfYzhCAQ4l8uD57agG4JCOlrFzZFl9g8GatjwkxsFpgDpuKtF8BPQtMFmDvHmxrzMTRgOXsgEkV-cDjI3Ntl/s1600/18893963.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW9tl-dDRSdWa0Wcx1ErFTnkhVDMAWPaAN__6g27VFxZwFECpgkkKTlGZhLfYzhCAQ4l8uD57agG4JCOlrFzZFl9g8GatjwkxsFpgDpuKtF8BPQtMFmDvHmxrzMTRgOXsgEkV-cDjI3Ntl/s1600/18893963.jpg" height="400" width="250" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #fce5cd; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><i><u style="background-color: black;">BLURB</u></i></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd; font-family: inherit;">"Anti-Theist: And This Is Why is an introductory look into atheism/anti-theism and uses quotes, scriptures and a dash of humor to help the nonbeliever and believer alike understand what it is to be a person who is against religion. I give the reader a clear understanding of the differences between a theist, deist, atheist, agnostic, and an anti-theist then I discuss numerous topics including the treatment of women in religion, the sheer ridiculousness of the ancient text these belief systems are based on and the charlatans who use it as a weapon to prey on the weak and helpless. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd; font-family: inherit;"><br />I realize the term 'Anti-Theist' and the idea of forbidding someone from practicing and teaching a religion sounds so very horrible but you've got to ask yourself the question why. Why would all of us atheist nutbags, and our numbers are growing, want to take God out of your courthouses, off your money, ban it from public practice or display and, heaven forbid, ban you from teaching it to your children? Why would someone want to do that? Read the book and find out. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd; font-family: inherit;"><br />If you're a religious person you could see this as a 'Know thy enemy' moment. Study up on us devil worshiping, baby eating anti-theists and see why we think you're the crazy ones. Mmmm baby.<br />Thank you and enjoy. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd; font-family: inherit;"><br />Caution: Grown up concepts and there is a bit of adult language."</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Anti-Theist-Christopher-Mallard-ebook/dp/B00CSJZ3FI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400958584&sr=8-1&keywords=antitheist+christopher+mallard">AMAZON</a> * <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18893963-anti-theist?from_search=true">GOODREADS</a></span><br />
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<b><i><u><span style="background-color: black; color: #eeeeee; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Christopher Mallard</span></u></i></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDkXyTQgBRYbfxzKrbgrKRc88Qa_Pbd1WVyAkAC6RQLuFSjsbL9ugOTnmn-ws3jtHx7MWNLB5soOo9Y-jJWc-ZWohQexWDyyL1dr21YDI5D6SEtELMNJ4xuk2OSJuql6HWvlnejCq9szsm/s1600/8808247.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #eeeeee; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDkXyTQgBRYbfxzKrbgrKRc88Qa_Pbd1WVyAkAC6RQLuFSjsbL9ugOTnmn-ws3jtHx7MWNLB5soOo9Y-jJWc-ZWohQexWDyyL1dr21YDI5D6SEtELMNJ4xuk2OSJuql6HWvlnejCq9szsm/s1600/8808247.jpg" /></span></a><span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><span style="line-height: 19.5px;">The majority of my adult life was spent working in the oilfields of west Texas. In my spare time I taught myself how to work on computers and eventually turned it into a small business which I work from home. What does any of this have to do with religion? Nothing. Where are my degrees in theology, biology, astronomy and philosophy? I don’t have any. I am your common average Joe and that’s exactly the type of reader I’m trying to reach. Does it take a degree in theology to open the bible and see the stories told within as being immoral and violent? Can the common man not see how the religions of the world have done and are still doing immeasurable harm to society?</span><br style="line-height: 19.5px;" /><span style="line-height: 19.5px;"></span><br style="line-height: 19.5px;" /><span style="line-height: 19.5px;"></span></span><span style="line-height: 19.5px;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/christopher101/"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">FACEBOOK</span></a><span style="color: #464760;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><u><i style="background-color: black;">REVIEW</i></u></b></span><br />
<i><span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">*I received a copy of this book in return for a fair and honest review, which follows.*</span></i><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">Flip through the channels of every-day television, and you are bound to come across a few things: a televangelist, news reports about what someone has done in the name of their "god", reports about the division between church and state, etc. Religion divides humanity like nothing else on this planet...sadly. Atheists and anti-theists are at the throats of those who claim a faith in God, and vice versa. But why? Do both sides of the argument really understand each other? <i>Do they want to?</i></span><br />
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">LONG STORY SHORT</span></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">This nonfiction book is an interesting historical, sociological, theological, and comedic-al (yes, I just made up a word) look into the belief structure, implications, and impact of religion and its followers. Mallard brings readers on a rather funny journey of examining this thing called religion that raises incredibly valid and valuable points, shines a glaring spotlight on atrocities committed (and apparently sanctioned???) in the name of the Abrahamic god, and is something that every Christian/Muslim/Jew should read. It is challenging, forthright, and honest in its critiques of religion, holding followers - and God, for that matter - to task for those things that happen that are contradictory to the image of a benevolent God. Among other things, Mallard explores women's issues, social events as influenced by religion, social issues, etc. Interspersed throughout the work are quotes from the religious texts with which Mallard is wrassling, as well as valuable insights from such individuals as US founding fathers, authors, scientists, etc. There are some major issues with it, however, that do not stem from the argument itself but rather with style, fact checking, and editing. </span><br />
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;">Overall, I give this book a </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">3 </span><span style="font-size: large;">on a 5-point ascending scale.</span></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">LONG STORY</span></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">In the interest of being completely forthright, let me say this upfront - my job title right now is "Qualified Lay Minister". In my context right now, this means that I'm serving as a pastor at a church in Minnesota. There, now that this is out of the way, let's get to this book. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">When the email reached my inbox asking me to review this book, it came at a time that I was already swamped with other reviews. I asked the person in charge if I could have it, and that I would post a review at a later date. This person graciously agreed, and I just finally read it. I could not wait to write this review. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">You see, it is a book written by not only an atheist, but an "anti-theist". In honesty, I'd never heard the term before, but Mallard explains that as an anti-theist, he is someone who doesn't believe in a god and is vehemently opposed to anyone else believing in god/religion either. Oh boy, I was chomping at the bit to read this! Why? Why, as a pastor, would I want to read this book? Because so many atheists I know (and those I'd probably plunk into the anti-theist category) are so careful around me when I try to engage them in conversations about religion that I never get to the meat of why they do not think God is real. There is this nervousness around offending a <i>pastor</i> (*gasp!*ohemgee) that has quelched many conversations that I've tried to have. Not conversations where I was trying to convert anyone, mind you, but conversations trying to <i>understand. </i></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">The blurb of this book assured me that Mallard wasn't going to pull any punches - he'd be completely upfront about what he thinks/believes and why....and I couldn't wait. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">This is a nonfiction book. In it, Mallard explores such things as miracles, prophets, women's issues, slavery, sex and God, evolution....and much, much more. He defines many terms that he uses so that little room is left for misunderstanding how he is using politically and socially charged words (which is helpful), and he writes in a way that is approachable by practically anyone (unless, of course, you can't read....but then you wouldn't be reading this post either....unless someone is reading to you). He pokes fun at religion, and downright shreds the Bible & Quran while showing how the followers of religion have used their god to justify terrible deeds committed against other human beings. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">One of the things I really appreciated about this book is that it is incredibly clear that Mallard has spent time on this. He isn't just tossing together a hastily drawn document based on snap judgments that are not thought through. It is exquisitely clear that he has done his research, compiled everything in his head based on what he has read, heard, and experienced, and has come to the conclusion that he thinks is the most true given the evidence presented to him: religion is itself an atrocity against humanity. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">To support this, Mallard looks at how religion has been used against women, slaves, people of other nationalities, neighbors, family members, etc. He critiques how those who report to be part of a religion treat those around them in their every-day lives. <i>Did that guy really just screw over that other person like that? But he says he's a Christian...</i> He also dares to rip into sacred texts and expose contradictions and things that just don't make sense or reconcile well with a god of peace/love.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">I'm glad he did. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">Frankly, I wish that more people who believe in God would read this book. I really, really do. What Mallard has to say here is hard, but it is not untrue. Well, most of it. Of course, what I have read, heard, and experienced tells me that God is real, loving, and just as sick over how people act towards one another in his name as I am every time I watch the news (sorry, Westborough, but you're doing it wrong). So I disagree with Mallard about that. What I cannot disagree with him about is how religion has been used as a tool of oppression throughout history. I cannot disagree with him that the Bible (I'm not familiar with the Quran at all) has gruesome, bloody stories in it that don't make sense, or that the Bible contradicts itself in places (in one Gospel, Jesus heals 1 leper. In another he heals 10 in apparently the same instance based on timing, geography, who was with him, etc. <b><i>WHAT</i></b>?!). I cannot disagree with him about how certain stories seem remarkably similar to stories found within the cultures surrounding the Israelites at the time certain texts were written (Enuma Elish, anyone?....seriously - Google the creation story found in the Enuma Elish (a Babylonian document).). I cannot disagree with him that God and his followers need to be held to task about what has happened in God's name. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj9AvnwTxAgr48FJwztrpBVxF9qiO7xEyqYTKrFmXX3DqkyocIRa4iR6tJTN0S5CLE5mNd15NtQ0ZhQV1f4gkUFr5Q1FgAdzUQ_LRQJDXTE-A1gkrL6RWTjj_0S0XHq4Yj1TdojDv9svHq/s1600/941802_739370826092324_1867030738_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj9AvnwTxAgr48FJwztrpBVxF9qiO7xEyqYTKrFmXX3DqkyocIRa4iR6tJTN0S5CLE5mNd15NtQ0ZhQV1f4gkUFr5Q1FgAdzUQ_LRQJDXTE-A1gkrL6RWTjj_0S0XHq4Yj1TdojDv9svHq/s1600/941802_739370826092324_1867030738_n.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></span></a><span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">I am not one who supports blind faith. Mallard isn't either - but he doesn't support faith in God at all. In fact, he says many times that it should be eradicated, likening such to a disease. I definitely do not agree with this, but can understand where Mallard is coming from. I do agree with Mallard, however, that blind faith is often detrimental to not only the one holding it, but also those around that person. Frankly, I have more respect for an atheist who clearly understands why he or she is an atheist in a way that can be explained logically than for someone who blindly recites words that have little meaning to them other than they learned those words in Sunday School. I wish more people who adhere to an Abrahamic religion understood their faith as well as Mallard understands his anti-theism. He knows exactly why he is an anti-theist, and he is passionate about being so. I may disagree with him completely, but I respect his passion and knowledge about the topic. And quite frankly, he is right - religion has been use to bully entire peoples into submission and wielded as a power tool since before Christ was born. I think there is a reason that Jesus railed against the "religious authorities" of his time more so than almost anyone else. Jesus despises fake, pompous religion as much as Mallard does. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;"> Ask questions. Lots and lots of questions. Challenge church leaders when their "god" looks an awful lot like <i>them</i> in prejudices and attitudes. Ask. Ask. Ask. I believe there is a Biblical model for this, but that's a topic for a different post. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">Anyways, Mallard is hard, challenging, and calls people in religions to task for the reality of how religion has been misused. More people need to hear this and be challenged to be different.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">And for the record - the divorce between science and religion irritates the living daylights out of me as well, Mr. Mallard. That religion has been, and continues to be in places, used to halt scientific advancement is an atrocity. But I do not think that science negates God. I'd argue that point, but that would be for a different blog post. I could write an entire book responding to this one, and just may if enough people ask me to do so.</span><br />
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">The Bugly (bad/ugly)</span></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">You may have noticed that I've been raving about the book, but I only gave it a 3 of 5. There are three major reasons for this:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;"><b>1. Tone:</b> Mallard raises really good questions and such, but does so in a tone that is so confrontational that I fear those who need to read it the most won't give it the time of day. I'm afraid he'll end up "preaching to the choir" - most of those who aren't so damn offended by the first 10 pages that they actually continue reading are likely to be anti-theists/atheists as well. I'll be honest, after I read the first 10-20 pages, I was so infuriated and offended at being called a "nutbag" (among many other things) that I told my husband "I'm not finishing that fu***** book. He is so damn angry that I can't take it." Hubby asked if the anger was totally unjustified. After a huge sigh, my response had to be "No, but he doesn't have to be so flibberting insulting about it." Now, let's remember that those who are in a faith don't tend to care much if they offend an atheist, so I suppose in a way the confrontational tone is eye-for-an-eye, so to speak. I just worry that it will prevent people from reading this and taking Mallard seriously.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;"><b>2. Fact-checking:</b> While it is clear that Mallard is well-read, and well-researched, there is still a disturbing lack of facts throughout the book. <i>Example</i>: he says that Jesus goes on and on about slaves in Ephesians. The problem is that the authorship of Ephesians, including the portion that Mallard references, is usually attributed to Paul (that said, it is one of the contested books that may or may not have been written by Paul). Jesus didn't say anything about slavery in Ephesians...Paul, or someone writing in Paul's name, did. <i>Example:</i> Mallard says that no religious texts talk about angels having wings. The Bible does. At least twice that I can think of off the top of my head (Isaiah 6, Exodus 25). /grumblegrumble For someone so interested in truth, I'd think all facts would have been double-checked here, especially since Mallard shows such a good knowledge of the Bible elsewhere. Also, this entire book needs citations, if for no other reason than Mallard's readers should be able to look at the same source documents that inform's Mallard's work. If this is going to be taken seriously as credible, it needs a references list. Perhaps my desire to see this here is an indication of the fact that I'm a bit of a perpetual scholar, but I wanted to look at his sources....and none were listed. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;"><b>3. Editing & Organization:</b> These might seem like two problems, but they are related. First, I truly hope that the fact I have a PDF of this book means I got a copy that wasn't fully edited. There are typos, missing words, run-on sentences, etc peppering this book. Now, I'm obviously not a grammatical expert (they're found in my work too), but this is a blog. In a book, these errors need to be weeded out no matter the type of book. Second, this book is repetitive. repetitive. repetitive. The same ideas are rehashed in one chapter, and then again in another chapter, then again in another chapter. It needs to be reorganized in a way that is well-edited and not quite so full of grammatical issues. I'm not saying it should be any less humorous - I love the humor present - but it should be well-crafted. </span> </span>Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945796233161285793noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609483682620368953.post-85824885564355789742014-05-13T02:00:00.000-07:002014-05-13T02:00:05.977-07:00REVIEW: "A Foolish Plucking" by Dee Wilbur<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx41_0hMOO3qY6HaD2YkJ9qcn2ZKqSBjwzqsNgERPT3109Fk5XKanRBhKq5STnbLjE_xx7dp-KomiVXJe47Na0f-_uDwLyR6IfUrT-8ly3eV3ergX40Isi8vgE9Fxwuva_yirrYcepItW_/s1600/10457270.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx41_0hMOO3qY6HaD2YkJ9qcn2ZKqSBjwzqsNgERPT3109Fk5XKanRBhKq5STnbLjE_xx7dp-KomiVXJe47Na0f-_uDwLyR6IfUrT-8ly3eV3ergX40Isi8vgE9Fxwuva_yirrYcepItW_/s1600/10457270.jpg" height="320" width="210" /></span></a></div>
<b><i><span style="color: #f4cccc; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><u style="background-color: black;">BLURB</u></span></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #f4cccc; font-family: inherit;">Yeah, Gary is a womanizer and a boozer, but is he a murderer, too? The police sure think so. True, they don’t have a body, but they do have the big fight between Gary and Alice, his wife, at the country club. And they do have Alice’s blood on the wall behind the bed. And in the shower drain. And in the back of Alice’s Escalade. Unfortunately for Gary, the jury sides with the police and gives him life without parole.<br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #f4cccc; font-family: inherit;">Melissa, Gary’s mistress, brings him another surprise; she is pregnant. She and their daughter move to Richmond, hoping to leave the Scarlet A behind them in Dayton, trading one small Texas town for another. Melissa enlists Jon Miller as attorney to get Gary a new hearing.<br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #f4cccc; font-family: inherit;">Sandy had married Jon without meeting his family. She doesn’t realize that while Jon solves Gary’s problem, she and Jon will struggle with a family crisis involving their sister-in-law.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #f4cccc; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Foolish-Plucking-Richmond-Dee-Wilbur-ebook/dp/B00EOV352Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399500186&sr=8-1&keywords=a+foolish+plucking">AMAZON</a> * <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10457270-a-foolish-plucking?from_search=true">GOODREADS</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><i><u style="background-color: black;">ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dee Wilbur</u></i></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit;">Beatrice Dee Pipes and Charles Wilbur Yates, Jr. write under the pen name Dee Wilbur, a combination of their middle names. This is their second work of fiction. A Texas native, Dee Pipes grew up in a small Texas town. Her degree from Rice University is a B.A. in English. She currently runs a company that helps other companies with marketing, project management, and other tasks. She has been married to her husband Bryan for thirty years. Also a native Texan, Charles Yates, Jr., was also reared in a small Texas town. He graduated from Rice University in Houston with a B.A. and Ph.D. in Biology. He received the M.D. degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. He has been married to his wife Sally for forty-five years. They have four adult sons and six grandchildren. He now tends his garden in Richmond, Texas.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;"><br /></span><span style="color: #cfe2f3;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dee-Wilbur/e/B002G02UUA/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_3">AUTHOR PAGE</a> * <a href="http://www.deewilbur.com/">WEBSITE </a> </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><u style="background-color: black;"><i>REVIEW</i></u></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;"><b><i style="background-color: black;">I received a copy of this book in return for a fair and honest review, which follows.</i></b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">Prosecuting a murder should be a relatively straight-forward operation: figure out how and when the person was killed, the murder weapon, who was present, etc. As anyone who watches crime dramas regularly can attest, however, prosecuting a murder is rarely "relatively straight-forward." But what do you do when the one thing you need to examine for sure is missing....<i>the body?</i></span></span><br />
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<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">LONG STORY SHORT</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">A fairly quick read, this little book with a plot worthy of <i>Matlock</i> is another installation into the crime series by Dee Wilbur. Riveting plot, quirky characters, drama drama drama... A man fights with his wife, passes out drunk on their front porch, and wakes to find himself in the middle of a murder investigation seeking to pin him for the death of his wife. There's just two major problems - he knows he didn't do it and the body is missing. Can the legal system really put him in jail for a murder it can only prove on the basis of circumstantial evidence? Well, read the book and you'll see! There isn't much for character development when it comes to the main characters, but this is the 3rd book in a series - you can read the first two books for that. What you will find is an attorney entangled in an interesting legal battle where his womanizer, boozer client may not have actually "dunit" while he and his wife are simultaneously entangled in a difficult familial situation where one woman's extreme mental illness may spell disaster for her husband and children in more ways than one. There are some editing issues, as well as extremely long dialogue scenes that made my head spin a bit (a stylistic choice that isn't my favorite, but there ya go), but all in all this is a really good book. Warning: the ending will make you want more!</span></span><br />
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<b><i style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">On an ascending scale of 1 to 5, I rate this book a 3. </span></i></b><br />
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<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">LONG STORY</span></b><br />
<b><i style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">The Good</span></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">I love good mystery books, particularly when they leave me lifting my lower mandible up off the floor like this one did. :P Seriously, my jaw dropped at something near the end. Not the major "whodunit" (I kind of figured that was going to be the conclusion), but something else....something that also made me go "Darn you, Dee Wilbur!" Let's just say there's a smidgeon of a cliff hanger. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">What do we have here? Well, a guy gets into a major blow-up argument with his wife in front of the social elite in their Texan town during a Valentine's Day get-together at a local country club. After passing out on the floor of the club, the guy gets a cabbie home and proceeds to pass out on the porch of his house (couldn't do that in MN in Feb - he'd wake up with frosty appendages). When he wakes up, he finds himself embroiled in a battle with local police and prosecutors as they attempt to put him behind bars for the murder of his wife. There is one thing the prosecution lacks - a body. Does this stop them? Nope. Oh, and to make things infinitely more complicated, the man's mistress announces that she's carrying his child. Oh boy. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><i>Can Jon get to the bottom of what is going on with this murder case? </i>Maybe, but what about when you throw in the fact that he and Sandy are dealing with some family drama of their own? You see, Jon's brother has a wife who is having difficulty that is negatively impacting her relationship with her husband, their children, and her husband's campaign to keep his judge seat. Just small things like that. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">Nothing about this book is small, except maybe it's physical size. Big issues, big problems, big solutions, etc. I'd make a Texas joke but I'm from Alaska, where everything is bigger. :P</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">As in the previous books, the writing is very efficient and straightforward. Few superfluous words exist. This is part of why a huge and complicated story fits into a relatively small book. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">Character development progresses fairly well. I enjoyed picking up Jon and Sandy's story again, particularly as we get to see them grow together a bit since their marriage in the previous book. It was also good to see how some of the other character progressed (particularly Diego....let's just say he gets himself into a bit of a hilarious pickle). The new characters are developed just right considering their short stints in the overall story line. I do wish there was a bit more about the legal secretaries' lives considering how much time was spent on them in the previous book, but there is plenty of time for that. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">The plot itself is fantastic. I won't lie - I figured out the whodunit fairly early on (I've spent much time with my nose buried in mystery books, there isn't a lot that will surprise me when it comes to whodunit....this is part of the reason I refuse to write such a book), but I thoroughly enjoyed how the story unfolded. While the ending itself didn't surprise me a whole lot (there are some foreshadowing bits tossed in here and there early on that clued me in to what was going to happen), the journey to get there was full of lots of surprises that kept me riveted. :)</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">All in all this is a very "real" book - I could actually see each and every thing here happening (maybe certain characters are a little strong-handed in getting other characters to do something), including all of the things with the legal system. It is intriguing, riveting, and develops characters well - all in all a pretty good book.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">Oh...and just a random note - this book is fairly stand-alone, but less so than the previous two in the series. It would help to have read the previous two books - at least <i>Justice Perverted</i>. </span></span><br />
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<i><b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">The Bugly (bad/ugly)</span></b></i><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">I'm a tough grader. I've made noises about teaching writing classes, and my husband's response has been, "those poor students". When pressed, he'll state that I'm really hard on writing. He's right! Keep that in mind as you read this section. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">The reason that I gave this book a 3 instead of a 4 is because several of the problems I point out in the first two books (<i><a href="http://onlygodwritestrees.blogspot.com/2013/11/review-jealous-god-by-dee-wilbur-fire.html">A Jealous God</a></i>, <i><a href="http://onlygodwritestrees.blogspot.com/2014/04/review-justice-perverted-by-dee-wilbur.html">Justice Perverted</a></i>) are present here as well, and are glaring enough that sometimes I found myself too distracted from the amazing plot:</span></span><br />
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<li><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">Again, there are not enough indicators of "he said BOO" and "she said EEEK". There are <i>more </i>than in past books in the series, so I didn't get as lost all of the time....but enough that it was distracting, especially because punctuation was not completely consistent and so I couldn't always rely on paragraph indentation to figure out who was talking. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">The characters all sound like each other. Very efficient, no wasted words. I wouldn't have an issue with this (my husband is one who has a very efficient speech pattern), except that EVERYONE talks that way. This is part of what made it a little difficult to figure out who was talking...everyone's speech pattern was exactly the same. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">Too much dialog, not enough other stuff. Same as the last book. This is purely a stylistic preference - I am not a huge fan of a HUGE majority of a fiction book being dialog. I liked the first few chapters of this book in particular a lot because dialog was well balanced with the rest of the text, but after the scene was set, it was mostly dialog. Very efficient, clipped dialog. Part of the reason this bugs me is because this style doesn't leave a lot of space for exploring what is happening <i>inside</i> of characters' heads....which is half of the reason why I read - I like knowing what characters are thinking (I am someone with a background in psychology, after all).</span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">Some of the forensic stuff just didn't mesh really well in my head - wouldn't the original forensic people have realized some of what the later forensic person realized? Wouldn't the same tests have been run? </span></span></li>
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<br />Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945796233161285793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609483682620368953.post-47994677709660524312014-05-07T03:00:00.000-07:002014-05-07T03:00:09.356-07:00REVIEW: "His Eye Is On The Sparrow" by Lisa Sparrow (Write Now Lit)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><i><u><span style="background-color: black; color: #f4cccc; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">BLURB</span></u></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #f4cccc; font-family: inherit;">"From the agony of multiple miscarriages to the pain of never feeling love from anyone, Lisa Y. Sparrow reveals the most intimate of details of her life in the hopes that someone is freed from their own prison of mental illness."</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/His-Eye-Sparrow-Lisa-ebook/dp/B00HBU530O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398125965&sr=8-1&keywords=his+eye+is+on+the+sparrow+lisa+sparrow">AMAZON</a> * <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21176880-his-eye-is-on-the-sparrow?from_search=true">GOODREADS</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><i><u style="background-color: black;">ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Lisa Sparrow</u></i></b></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5xtpKjwV_CdNLg_QdqKBuS5UM10V5waY6LBiTT7Fww_aS4l0LAdvUKje7F_h_uVdlyfuanLMqp9mUgo8FUdlGuVMC-_f8zga8HnyXDIKdQkBim6go0xEjl4vEfhNffq19-tlxJ9HG7s2J/s1600/Sparrow_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: black; clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5xtpKjwV_CdNLg_QdqKBuS5UM10V5waY6LBiTT7Fww_aS4l0LAdvUKje7F_h_uVdlyfuanLMqp9mUgo8FUdlGuVMC-_f8zga8HnyXDIKdQkBim6go0xEjl4vEfhNffq19-tlxJ9HG7s2J/s1600/Sparrow_1.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a><span style="background-color: black; color: #eeeeee; font-family: inherit;">Newcomer Lisa Sparrow has endured more pain and loss in her life than anyone should be expected to. With her first book, His Eye is on the Sparrow, she reveals the challenges she has faced in stunning detail. Lisa is a divorced mother of two wonderful children, Lauren and Leon, and currently lives in Columbus, Ohio. She currently works as clerical support for a local lighting company. She’s learned the hard way that if you stay where you are in life, you’ll never reach your full potential. Her journey to self love and acceptance has been a hard fought battle and one she is led by God to share with her readers. With her first autobiography, His Eye is on the Sparrow, Lisa hopes to shed some light on the subject of mental illness in this country and the process of healing. Although this is Lisa’s first project, it certainly will not be her last. She is currently working on a follow up to "His Eye is on the Sparrow", scheduled to be released in 2015.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><i><u style="background-color: black;">REVIEW</u></i></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>I received a copy of this book in return for a fair and honest review, which follows:</i></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Mental illness is the dirty little secret swept under the rug and ignored by the vast majority of the world. As someone who has family members with mental illness, who has done extensive research into the stigma of mental illness (specifically regarding how it affects children), who advocates for children with mental illness and their families, and as one called to stand in the intersection between individuals with mental illness and the Church, this is an issue that is near and dear to my heart. We like to pretend it doesn't exist, that "those people" are somewhere "over there". Bull sh**. Conservative estimates say that 1 in 4 people have a diagnosable condition. <i>What is it like to live with depression, extreme self-esteem issues, and a family and society that wants to </i></span><i>ostracize<span style="font-family: inherit;"> you for your mental difficulties you cannot control?</span></i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;"><b><i style="background-color: black;">LONG STORY SHORT...</i></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">Living with mental illness is hard enough. It is even harder when your family has mirrored the ostracization of society, institutionalization is a regular occurrence, and no one seems to accept you no matter what. Not even the church. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">Lisa Sparrow is a woman who has seen much hardship in her life. In this heart-breaking autobiography, she bares the bones of truth regarding how she has been treated for living with a difficult mental illness. She did not choose to be saddled with a life-long battle with depression. It happened to her, and it complicated everything. From an emotionally distanced and abusive mother, to other family members who blamed the difficulty of their lives on her mental instability, to multiple stints in mental institutions....Lisa talks about it all, and she talks about it as though she were talking to a best friend. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">Here we find a real-world story of how depression can affect an individual and his or her family. In language and a writing style that reflects the mental processes of someone who lives with mental illness, Sparrow talks about the hard things, but also where she has found redemption in the midst of the pain. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">This is a hard book. This is a worthwhile book. This is a book you should read. It will challenge you to open your eyes and see the person instead of just the diagnosis.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><i style="background-color: black;">On an ascending scale of 1 to 5, I give this book a 4.</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;"><b><i style="background-color: black;">LONG STORY</i></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;"><b style="background-color: black;">The Good</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">A long, long time ago (though more recently than I'd like), mental illness was blamed on poor parenting. Children developed autism because their mothers were emotionally distant. Attention problems happened because parents weren't strict enough. Blah blah blah. Enter the never-ending debate between nature vs. nurture. What truly causes mental illness - one's environment and parental influences while growing up, or one's DNA? Most experts agree we can't really pin mental illness purely to nature or nurture, that it is some kind of mixture of the two (genetic vulnerabilities influenced by environment).</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">Lisa Sparrow is a woman who has struggled with mental illness for most of her life. After hearing about the "hell" that was her home life as a child, one could be tempted to say her depression was caused mostly by nurture - or lack thereof - and they might not be far off. From an emotionally distant and abusive mother, to a family that did not protect her and a society that did not accept her, Lisa was not really given a fair shot at having a happy life. Unfortunately, this meant she attempted suicides multiple times, was committed to various institutions, found herself in unhealthy relationships while seeking unconditional positive regard from anyone, and has struggled mightily her entire life. But if I say too much, I'll give away too much and you really should read this book yourself.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">This book is a stark look at living with depression and a difficult family. Lisa is painfully honest about everything that she went through. She wants readers to feel the rejection she has dealt with her entire life from everywhere: her family, society, school, lovers, and even the church. The last on that list hurt my heart a lot, especially as I currently work as pastor at a church and feel especially called to be an advocate for those with mental illness within the church. Of all places, the church should be a place of sanctuary for those living with mental illness, but this is often not the case. I could pull out my little soap box here and wax long on how Church has participated in the societal violence of excluding those with a mental diagnosis, but Sparrow has a fabulous chapter talking about exactly that. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">This is a hard book to read. It is hard because it is real. This is a real woman who has been really ostracized by her real family, in the middle of the real society in which many of us live. <i>This is a story that is more common than we want to admit.</i></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;"> It is also hard to read because in honesty it is a bit disjointed, repetitive, and ruminative. I was initially tempted to lower my score of this book for its slightly all-over-the-place writing style, and if it were almost any other book I would have done so. The more I thought about it, however, the more I realized it is reflective of how I have heard individuals living with depression speak. Yes, it is hard to read and hard to keep track of in places, and there are even spots that are extremely repetitive. But this is how many people with depression think. I can't knock a book written by someone with depression for the fact that it sounds like it was written by someone with depression.</span><br />
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<b><span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">The Bugly (bad/ugly)</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">There are a few things to be critical about here, but I'm much more critical about Sparrow's family and a society that has put her on the fringe of living simply because she has a mental illness. Regardless, </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">1) Though Sparrow talks about having a mental illness, we don't know what the diagnosis is until nearly 2/3 of the way through the book. Perhaps she did reveal it earlier and I just missed it. I just know that I only suspected it was depression for a vast majority of the book and it was mighty relieving to eventually know that I was right. When a book revolves around one's mental illness to the degree that this book does, the diagnosis should come earlier and clearer - unless we are never going to get it at all.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">2) And editor needs to run through this book. If an editor has been through this book, they need someone else rechecking their work. A slightly disjointed and all-over-the-place writing style usually bugs me, but here I can deal, for the most part. It was slightly buggersome, however, how many run-on sentences existed, as well as awkward punctuation and such. Now, I'm not perfect at grammar and punctuation by any means, but I do know that a published work should be as error free as possible <i>unless it is intentional</i>. Many of the typos, however, did not feel intentional. Missing words are generally not intentional.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc;">3) I understand the need to talk about the difficult things in life, but everything here is so dang <i>raw</i>. Pastors are encouraged to use stories from our own lives in our sermons in order to illustrate what we are talking about. What we are not encouraged to do is "bleed on our congregation." What do I mean by that? I mean that typically we are not encouraged to use things that are still making our hearts weep blood. If we are trying to use our personal stories to help people heal from something, then we need to be healed up a bit and not seeking our healing by emotionally bleeding all over our congregation. That all being said, this book felt like Sparrow was still weeping blood upon her listeners. Yes, she is revealing the truth of her living situation and all of the crap that has befallen her, but it still feels a bit too raw. I am saying this, however, as someone who is not in the midst of the throes of depression. I can definitely see how this book could help those who are clawing their way out of the pit. There is hope near the end. A glimmer of hope, but hope. </span><br />
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Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945796233161285793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609483682620368953.post-54925219421980495832014-05-01T01:00:00.000-07:002014-05-01T01:00:05.821-07:00GUEST POST: "Into the Light" by Jennifer Burrow (Reading Addiction Virtual Book Tours)<br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #eeeeee; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Psychological conditions, stalkers, and love....oh my!!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: black; font-weight: normal;">After Laney is shot at point blank range, Josh works tirelessly to repair her life threatening internal injuries from the gunshot wounds. What’s worse is he is forced to inform Laney’s parents about the tragic accident. Having only just begun a relationship with the woman he knows in his heart he will spend the rest of his life with, he now has to reveal to her parents that a stalker has been tormenting their daughter. While his only mission is to save Laney’s life, her parents have other plans for their daughter, none of which include Josh. They are determined to find a new doctor for Laney, and if her parents have their way, she will be taken thousands of miles away from him.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: black; font-weight: normal;">Just when Josh thinks his entire world has been turned completely upside down, he finds his sister Jillian has stopped taking her psychiatric medications and has become a person unfamiliar to him. Dealing with her psychotic world becomes even more of a shock, leaving Josh in a horrible dilemma. He is torn between trying to save Laney’s life, keeping her parents from moving her away from him, and providing his sister the attention and help she desperately needs before she has a complete psychotic breakdown.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: black; font-weight: normal;">Will Josh be able to save the love of his life and prevent her parents from taking her away? Will he be able to help Jillian through her mental illness before it takes over her life? Will Laney’s relationship with her parents ever be salvaged? Will Josh and Laney have their happily ever after, or will the hurdles they have to jump through prove to be more than they can handle?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Into-Light-Dark-jennifer-Burrows-ebook/dp/B00I3S7UVI/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1395709819&sr=8-10&keywords=into+the+light"><b style="background-color: black;">AMAZON</b></a></span></div>
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<a href="https://sites.google.com/a/myaddictionisreading.com/2014-tours/_/rsrc/1392221244801/jen-burrows/jenburrows.jpg?height=200&width=155" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black;"><img border="0" src="https://sites.google.com/a/myaddictionisreading.com/2014-tours/_/rsrc/1392221244801/jen-burrows/jenburrows.jpg?height=200&width=155" /></span></a><span style="color: #a2c4c9; font-size: large; font-weight: normal;"><b><i><u style="background-color: black;">ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Jennifer Burrows</u></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: #a2c4c9;">Jennifer is a Registered Nurse, and she holds a Master’s degree in Nursing Administration. She has 15 years of experience working in the Emergency Room and the Intensive Care Unit of a major trauma center. While she is equally adept at all facets of patient care, Emergency room nursing is her passion, and is the inspiration for this story and <i>A Shot in the Dark</i>. Currently, she resides in Southern California with her husband and their three amazing boys. <i>A Shot in the Dark </i>was her debut novel with <i>Into the Light</i> following as the sequel.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.jenniferburrows.net/">WEBSITE</a> * <a href="http://www.facebook.com/jenniferburrowsbooks">FACEBOOK </a>* <a href="http://www.twitter.com/jenburrows234">TWITTER</a></div>
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<b><i><u><span style="background-color: black; color: #f9cb9c; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">GUEST POST- by Jennifer Burrows</span></u></i></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #f9cb9c; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">How Do You Keep Your Writing Different?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #f9cb9c; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">This is a really great topic. It’s easy to get stuck in a rut with the same writing style. I have few ways in which I mix it up. Many books I’ve read lately are in the first person. It’s usually one character all the way through. Then the author will come out with a sequel of the same story but from the other character’s perspective. It drives me nuts. I’ve already read the story once. I don’t need to read it again. In my latest books, I give perspectives from the main characters. The chapters will rotate back and for between the two or three characters. The flow remains constant and there isn’t a lot of review. I think my readers build a better connection to the characters and when the story is done, they feel satisfied.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #f9cb9c; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">I also tend to read books in between writing. I’ll pick out things from other authors I like and want to incorporate into my own writing. Lately, I’ve been working on my showing vs. telling. A great author for this is K.Bromberg. She provides so much detail; you can’t help but get a clear picture.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #f9cb9c; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Travel. I recently traveled to Italy. I learned some interesting facts which I incorporated into a new book entitled <i>Surrender </i>(release date TBD). The book is based in Italy but some of the characters are American. It is a huge change for<i> A Shot in the Dark</i> and <i>Into the Light</i>. It was fun traveling to a new country and then being able to write about it. Plus, it’s a tax write off once the book is published. Yay!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #f9cb9c; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Join a writing group. These people are amazing. You get together every so often and brainstorm ideas, talk about writing, share experiences. There is so much to learn and incorporate into your own style.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #f9cb9c; font-family: inherit;">Perhaps the most important thing is have fun. Don’t force the story to come to you. Think about it. Mull it around in your mind for a few days. That’s is when my best writing comes. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><i><u style="background-color: black;">EXCERPT</u></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Dr.
Josh Stone stood helpless as Laney, seemingly in slow motion, fell to
the floor. The thud as her body hit the tiles shot goose bumps
through his flesh. For a brief moment he was paralyzed. His
girlfriend, also a trauma nurse-had been shot by the patient they had
been taking care of. The sight of the man sitting up and grabbing
Officer Miller’s gun from his holster replayed in Josh’s brain.
The man pointed it at Laney and shot her several times before anyone
was able to subdue him. Now, Josh stood helplessly as she lay
motionless on the floor. How could this happen in his trauma room?
How could he let this happen to Laney? His knees seemed to buckle as
he sank to Laney’s side, stethoscope dangling from his neck.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Laney’s
curly blonde hair covered much of her face, but it was clear she was
unconscious. Josh gently shook her hoping for the slightest response.
There was none. She had been shot in the chest.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Someone
shrieked. One of the ER nurses, Dinah’s eyes were wide, both hands
covered her mouth. She pointed to the floor. A puddle of blood oozed
from under Laney. The metallic aroma wrinkled his nose.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Josh
fought the anger raging inside him. He wanted to make the
son-of-a-bitch who shot Laney pay for hurting her.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">For
now, let the cops handle it. Josh took a deep breath and struggled to
regain his composure, but failed miserably.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit;">“<span style="font-size: small;">My
God! Laney! How could this happen?” His face was hot. He swiped at
it with his blood soaked hands and realized he was crying.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit;">“<span style="font-size: small;">Dr.
Stone. Dr. Stone!”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Josh
looked up. Dinah’s lips were moving, but her words weren’t
computing. A couple of techs and nurses eased Laney from his arms.
Not only did he feel the emptiness, it plagued his heart and his
soul.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Josh
helped lift Laney onto a gurney. Dinah placed her hand on his
shoulder. “You need to help her. She needs you now more than ever.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Dinah
put her cold hands on Josh’s flushed face. “Dr. Stone, I know
you’re in shock, but you need to focus. You’re the only one who
can save her.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Josh
turned his head, causing the frigid hands to fall from his face. He
rubbed his swollen eyes and surveyed the room. The devastation was
beyond words. Officer Miller had the man who shot Laney subdued in
handcuffs. He lay on the table with his disheveled hair covering his
face. Someone must have given him a sedative because he wasn’t
moving. Equipment had been knocked over, and supplies thrown
everywhere. Josh’s heart rate sped up as he cast his eyes down at
the pool of blood surrounding his feet.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit;">“<span style="font-size: small;">Where
is she?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit;">“<span style="font-size: small;">They’ve
taken her to the O.R to get her prepped. You need to get down there
right now. Dr. Nessler is coming in to finish up with this guy.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Josh
darted out of the room with an urgency he never felt before. Each
step he took, his pace quickened until he was in a full sprint to the
O.R.</span></div>
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<script src="//d12vno17mo87cx.cloudfront.net/embed/rafl/cptr.js"></script>Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945796233161285793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609483682620368953.post-89864738632559348112014-04-30T01:00:00.000-07:002014-04-30T12:00:36.238-07:00REVIEW: "Hold Me Tight" by Faith Sullivan<br />
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<b><u><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">BLURB</span></i></u></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc; font-family: inherit;"><em style="line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">He loves me. He loves me not.</em><br style="line-height: 19.31999969482422px;" /><br style="line-height: 19.31999969482422px;" /><span style="line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">Ivy's heart shatters upon hearing Eric's crushing ultimatum. Despite how much she cares for him, she won't give in to his demands. She has no choice but to leave, even if it's the hardest thing she's ever had to do. </span><br style="line-height: 19.31999969482422px;" /><br style="line-height: 19.31999969482422px;" /><em style="line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">She loves me. She loves me not.</em><br style="line-height: 19.31999969482422px;" /><br style="line-height: 19.31999969482422px;" /><span style="line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">When Ivy walks out, Eric can't help feeling betrayed. Unwilling to put her at risk, he values her safety above all else. By refusing to compromise, he's blindsided when she moves in with a man who's already stolen so much from him.</span><br style="line-height: 19.31999969482422px;" /><br style="line-height: 19.31999969482422px;" /><em style="line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">I love you. You love me not.</em><br style="line-height: 19.31999969482422px;" /><br style="line-height: 19.31999969482422px;" /><span style="line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">Lauren sees Eric and Ivy's split as an opportunity to end their relationship once and for all. When Ivy places herself at the mercy of Eric's rival, Lauren plots to destroy the fragile tie binding them together, even if she endangers Ivy's life in the process.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;"><span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18683376-hold-me-tight?from_search=true">GOODREADS</a> * <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hold-Me-Tight-Take-Now-ebook/dp/B00JX51BI8">AMAZON</a> * <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hold-me-tight-faith-sullivan/1119329552?ean=2940149318162">BARNES & NOBLE</a> * <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18683376">GOODREADS</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-o_8K3pI5sr6AP78UjGY9n3PhmloFCvEv7L9BdegL-6QvUg810_xG7le8GJolXQgl22SpBEaJO750PUvjkYxM0RtnddvSRPHqdI2dfZ5D-u-3c3pXnfitNZd0tA2G-ABZXWvMhmOgUoy9/s200/Photo_3.jpg" /></span></span><span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><b style="color: #c9c9c9; line-height: 20px;"><i><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">ABOUT THE AUTHOR - FAITH SULLIVAN</span></span></i></b><br style="color: #c9c9c9; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="color: #fff2cc; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">"I really hate talking about myself. My goal is to have the shortest author bio imaginable. I would much rather have a conversation with my readers. Are you able to escape within my pages? Does my writing make you feel something? Are there characters that you can't get out of your head? Let me know!" </span><br style="color: #c9c9c9; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="color: #fff2cc; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #c9c9c9; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"></span><b style="color: #c9c9c9; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><a href="mailto:faithsullivanwrites@hotmail.com" style="color: #6a00ca;">EMAIL</a> * <a href="http://twitter.com/FaithSullivan" style="color: #6a00ca; text-decoration: none;">TWITTER</a> * <a href="http://faithsullivanwrites.blogspot.com/" style="color: #6a00ca; text-decoration: none;">BLOG</a> </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #fce5cd; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><i><u style="background-color: black;">REVIEW</u></i></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd; font-family: inherit;"><b><i style="background-color: black;">I received an advanced copy of this book in return for a fair and honest review, which follows.</i></b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd; font-family: inherit;">Many mothers make hard decisions to tend and care for their little ones. Women make hard decisions as they work on tending and caring for their significant others. People in general make hard decisions in order to protect those they hold dear....especially if the one they hold dearest is them, themselves, and they. But what if protecting the life of a tiny tot could mean the end of everything? What if looming secrets are revealed that will spell disaster for all? What if...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #fce5cd; font-family: inherit;"><b><i style="background-color: black;">LONG STORY SHORT</i></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd; font-family: inherit;">Riveting characters. Intense action. Heart-pounding drama. Surprising plot twists up to the very end. Sullivan has crafted a thrilling finale to the trilogy following Eric and Ivy, and it kept me on pins and needles the whole time...and maybe just a bit glued to my Kindle screen (I could not put this book down)! Discovering what love really means is hard, especially if the life of an unborn child hangs in the balance, as well as the conflicting dreams and aspirations of several individuals. Sullivan's lovely writing style shines in this work, as it is super accessible, relateable, and down-right fun to read. Characters are just as endearing and maddening as ever, and events elicited real tears from this reader's eyes. Just a down-right good read. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd; font-family: inherit;">That being said, it is a down-right good read for 18+ people (again, too much steam!).</span><br />
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd; font-size: large;">On an ascending scale of 1 to 5, I give this book a 4!</span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;">LONG STORY</span></i></b><br />
<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;">The Good</span></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;">Oh. Em. Gee.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;">Just. Oh. Em. Gee.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;">Pregnancy is a difficult enough process when the man involved isn't being a hothead, the psycho woman who is obsessed with him isn't doing her d***dest to get him, friends aren't keeping lies, men with money and power aren't wielding their power over life and death, mortgages aren't due, and deadlines aren't looming. Geez. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;">Here we rejoin Eric and Ivy right after he has told her to do the impossible - give up her baby. Of course, we as readers can be majorly angry at him...but he has his reasons: he has already lost one woman who was trying to make it through an impossible pregnancy. Lost not just her, but the baby as well. He can't stand to lose another. Ivy can't stand to give up her baby. She leaves and lands right in Lauren's clutches, who deposits her with Tim - Eric's one time best friend, and potential father of Eric's dead fiancee's baby. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;">And Tim is a Chris Hemsworth worthy hottie. As if Ivy's life weren't complicated enough. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;">Will Eric see the err of his ways and win Ivy back? What lengths are Lauren willing to go to in order to secure the future she desires? What are the secrets that Ivy senses are still creeping along behind the scene, just waiting to jump out at the wrong time to stress her out badly enough to make her lose the baby she loves more than life?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;">I could barely put this book down during the entire time I was reading. Okay, so maybe I should rephase - I could barely put my phone down during the entire time I was reading this book on my Kindle app. Seriously, Sullivan's writing style is accessible, easy to read, majorly addicting, thorough, etc. We still (of course) have the point of view switching between major players in the plot (namely Eric, Ivy, and Lauren) and Sullivan writes this so well that it just <i>works</i>. Even without the name of the person at the top of a chapter, it is clear who is speaking. It feels like Sullivan crawled inside of each character's head and method acted the chapters! Gives me the shudders just to think about what it was like to be in Lauren's head. */shudder* <i>See!</i></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;">Anyways, it has been awhile since I've been so emotionally invested in a book. It helps that I've read the first two books (<i><a href="http://onlygodwritestrees.blogspot.com/2013/11/review-take-me-now-by-faith-sullivan.html">Take Me Now</a> and </i><i><a href="http://onlygodwritestrees.blogspot.com/2013/12/review-meant-for-me-by-faith-sullivan.html">Meant for Me</a>). </i>I'll be honest, I wasn't sure how Sullivan was going to pull off a plot that would match or beat these two books. I should never have ever worried my reading little brain. The exceptional plot that Sullivan worked through this book is more than worthy of its predecessors, and gave me a thudding heart more than a few times. <i>What is going to happen now?! I have to read the next chapter.....</i></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;">It was impossible to tear myself away from the drama, not just because of the war happening between individuals around Eric and Ivy's baby, but also because of the war happening within Ivy's body as she struggled to hold onto a baby who wanted to join the world too soon. You see - I had an at-risk pregnancy with my 2-year-old son. I know what it is like to see your body disagreeing with your every prayer that Baby stay right where it is until it is time. It sucks (to say the least). It is emotional. It is gut-wrenching. I just wanted to wrap Ivy up in a warm cozy blanket, and then go b****-slap all the jerks who were making her stress out. All of them. *huff*</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;">But let's get back to the book: Sullivan jumped right back into the action. After all, she didn't need to spend a lot of time setting the scene because hopefully readers had already read the first two books (if they haven't, they need to - they are super good books, and this one doesn't make a lot of sense without them). What she did do was spend a bit more time on the back story of other individuals playing into the story either directly or indirectly, and this informed some of the "<i>Oh em gee!" </i>plot twists that happened near the end. Let me just say this - I did <i>not</i> see that one...or <i>that one</i> coming! Well, kind of. I did figure out the biggest secret before it was revealed, but literally only a few paragraphs before it was revealed. You did great, Faith - usually I'm ahead of the reveals by a few pages!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;">This book was an absolutely terrific finale to an absolutely wonderful series. I loved seeing how the main characters grew and developed - and their growth trajectories made sense! Eric and Ivy grew not only as a couple, but also as individuals. Ivy grew some determination and more ability to positively stand up to those around her, while Eric learned how to not be an island. Will learned about caring for others. Other characters grew in other ways, but you're not going to squirrel all of it out of me....go read the books for yourself (unless, of course, you aren't 18 yet....then wait until you are old enough :P)!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;">(Side note: the fact that Faith dedicated this book to my son and I did not change my review of this book, just in case you noticed and were thinking my glowing review was a bit of schmooing.)<b><i><br /></i></b></span><br />
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;">The Bugly (bad/ugly)</span></i></b><br />
<i><span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;">le sigh</span></i><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;">So, unlike the second book in this series, I have a bugly. The progression of time along with the plot does not flow as well as it could in a few places. What do I mean by this? Well, at one point they are at Thanksgiving, and a few things were coming to a head. Then suddenly it was Christmas....and those things that had been coming to a head suddenly weren't happening as quickly as it would seem like they should. Something that seemed like it should have been a within-the-next-few-days thing suddenly turned into a wait-a-minute-it-is-going-to-take-weeks thing. Also, Lauren's insistence on the screenplay was apparently forgotten as the Price family's focus was moved to something else...but that "something else" was part of the motivation for the screenplay to go as it was supposed to go, so how Lauren's insistence on the screenplay going how it as "supposed to go" changed made my brain go "<i>huh</i>?"</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;">That said, I'm super picky. If you've read my other reviews then you already know this. Don't let my confusion over a couple of plot points stop you from reading this super good book. It isn't a highly intellectual, deeply philosophical kind of good book - it is a Lifetime movie kind of good book. I thoroughly enjoyed it (and its predecessors!)!! Now go read it...but only if you are old enough. :P</span>Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945796233161285793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609483682620368953.post-87155496201323434472014-04-20T03:00:00.000-07:002014-04-20T03:00:05.668-07:00REVIEW: "Summoned" by Rainy Kaye (Reading Addiction Blog Tours)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-jbtGCqKSuzxPgu1nzpdPrakYqwGZbZKxL612Sl5gdzOZPGeH-DjdB1PgjnUId8hSm349MCuuR-TDyy_Fhl4APf43YphOpAaPLcBqZlp5Tnriqa0sr_1_fUBRzVuoD45H4w1HyuCeY6JJ/s1600/91AAmvkkaBL._SL1500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-jbtGCqKSuzxPgu1nzpdPrakYqwGZbZKxL612Sl5gdzOZPGeH-DjdB1PgjnUId8hSm349MCuuR-TDyy_Fhl4APf43YphOpAaPLcBqZlp5Tnriqa0sr_1_fUBRzVuoD45H4w1HyuCeY6JJ/s1600/91AAmvkkaBL._SL1500_.jpg" height="320" width="200" /></span></a><span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;"><b><i><u><span style="font-size: large;">BLURB</span></u></i></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;">Twenty-three year old Dimitri has to do what he is told—literally. Controlled by a paranormal bond, he is forced to use his wits to fulfill unlimited deadly wishes made by multimillionaire Karl Walker.<br /><br />Dimitri has no idea how his family line became trapped in the genie bond. He just knows resisting has never ended well. When he meets Syd—assertive, sexy, intelligent Syd—he becomes determined to make her his own. Except Karl has ensured Dimitri can’t tell anyone about the bond, and Syd isn’t the type to tolerate secrets.<br /><br />Then Karl starts sending him away on back-to-back wishes. Unable to balance love and lies, Dimitri sets out to uncover Karl’s ultimate plan and put it to an end. But doing so forces him to confront the one wish he never saw coming—the wish that will destroy him.<br /><br />A dark twist on genie folklore, SUMMONED follows a reluctant criminal as he unravels the mystery of the paranormal bond controlling him.<br /><br />SUMMONED is represented by Rossano Trentin of TZLA.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Summoned-Rainy-Kaye-ebook/dp/B00JAZT88G" style="background-color: black;">AMAZON</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLQpfz7uMB9dbwYZAzKb0ME5jufPjBtxSW9xtbDqm-SZeChVM5Gk8iRnZSVdsIg4bXpvhjvRGiDaZZi2OYFqpf_mXoD8pTTIZ4CqVcc6kT9CG08u9HtgVzoD_nJd4VRIVOmfmBXkuwxNeh/s1600/852afbd062560a82390b17.L._V338830337_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLQpfz7uMB9dbwYZAzKb0ME5jufPjBtxSW9xtbDqm-SZeChVM5Gk8iRnZSVdsIg4bXpvhjvRGiDaZZi2OYFqpf_mXoD8pTTIZ4CqVcc6kT9CG08u9HtgVzoD_nJd4VRIVOmfmBXkuwxNeh/s1600/852afbd062560a82390b17.L._V338830337_.jpg" height="320" width="236" /></span></a><span style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><i><u style="background-color: black;">ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Rainy Kaye</u></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">Rainy Kaye is an aspiring overlord. In the mean time, she blogs at RainyoftheDark and writes paranormal novels from her lair somewhere in Phoenix, Arizona.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">She is represented by Rossano Trentin of TZLA.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLQpfz7uMB9dbwYZAzKb0ME5jufPjBtxSW9xtbDqm-SZeChVM5Gk8iRnZSVdsIg4bXpvhjvRGiDaZZi2OYFqpf_mXoD8pTTIZ4CqVcc6kT9CG08u9HtgVzoD_nJd4VRIVOmfmBXkuwxNeh/s1600/852afbd062560a82390b17.L._V338830337_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: black; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></a></div>
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<b><i><u><span style="background-color: black; color: #d0e0e3; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">REVIEW</span></u></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #d0e0e3; font-family: inherit;">My son recently was rather obsessed with a toddler show called "Abby's Flying Fairy School". Unfortunately, there are only a few episodes on YouTube. One of these episodes includes a genie....which brings up an interesting question? Is genie-hood a form of slavery? What if the genie does not want to complete the wishes for moral reasons? What if she or he has no choice.....</span><br />
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #d0e0e3; font-family: inherit;">LONG STORY SHORT</span></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #d0e0e3; font-family: inherit;">Dimitri is a man with a secret. This secret means that people are abducted or die, things are blown up or stolen, and all at the whim of someone else. Blackmail? No....something far more sinister.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d0e0e3; font-family: inherit;">Many of us have seen Aladdin, or some other similar story where a genie can be summoned to perform three wishes for the lucky master. How many of those stories are told from the genie's point of view? <i>Summoned </i>is a wonderfully written story told from the story of an unfortunate genie who is bound to a vicious master who has way more than three wishes. Oh, and he can summon his genie at any time. Dimitri, the genie, has one rule when it comes to relationships - wham bam thank you ma'am. Until Sydney comes along and rattles his world. Dim then finds himself longing for a "normal" life, one where he doesn't just disappear at the whim of someone else, one where he doesn't have to kill, abduct people, steal, lie, and otherwise obey the increasingly excruciating hum in his brain when a wish has been made and is unfulfilled. One where he and Sydney might live a long, happy life together.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d0e0e3; font-family: inherit;">This is a superb book written in a raw, sarcastic style that made me laugh. Think Sawyer from the television show "LOST" and you have an idea of the rough-around-the-edges-with-a-secret-snarky kind of person that Dimitri has turned into. A whirlwind of a plot throws together ancient stories of jinn, modern technology, moral questions, and quite possibly the most dysfunctional biological family in history in an easily accessible story written in a snarky, sarcastic style that is just plain endearing. This book was just plain fun to read.</span><br />
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<i><span style="background-color: black; color: #d0e0e3; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>On an ascending scale of 1 to 5, I give this book a 4.</b></span></i></div>
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<b><i>LONG STORY...</i></b></span><br />
<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #d0e0e3; font-family: inherit;">The Good</span></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #d0e0e3; font-family: inherit;">Genie stories abound in ancient literature, in many forms. Generally one being is bound to another to somehow carry out the other's wishes. Aladdin primed much of us to expect the genie to have to grant three wishes of his or her master. Aladdin touches a little bit on how unsettling this may be for the genie, but <i>Summoned </i>takes it a step further.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d0e0e3; font-family: inherit;"><i>Summoned</i> is the story of a modern genie who has inherited his unfortunate spot in life through bloodlines. His father was a genie, his grandfather was a genie, etc. They were all bound to successive members of the Walker family. Now, the Walker family just may be the most dysfunctional family in literary history, but I can't go into "why" too much without spoiling the plot. Suffice to say there's lot of people out for their own interests despite whatever might get in their way.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d0e0e3; font-family: inherit;">Well, Dimitri is this genie. Dimitri can be summoned to the wish chamber at any time....he just *poof* disappears. This makes normal relationships complicated. This makes anything complicated. Oh, and he cannot tell anyone what he is, he cannot harm his master, and he cannot harm himself. Well, he's just plain trapped, huh?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d0e0e3; font-family: inherit;">Too bad masters in this kind of situation tend to not be very nice. Dimitri's master is up to something, and Dimitri doesn't know what. All he knows is that he's been sent on a slew of back-to-back wishes that seem to have some sort of connection....but what is it? </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d0e0e3; font-family: inherit;">And then there's Sydney - the woman who has rocked Dimitri's world to the point where he is bound and determined to have a normal life...too bad he can't tell her what he is, or why he disappears for days or weeks at a time and comes back all beat up. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d0e0e3; font-family: inherit;">Intrigued yet? Good, you should be. : ) This is a superb book written in a style that flows very well. Settings are described from the eyes of someone who has either been in the Four Corners area or has studied pictures of such in detail. Movements of individuals make sense (i.e. there are no "wait, how'd he get across the room?" moments). There is an intricate web of deceit, murder, and mythology that just plain <i>works. </i></span><br />
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The characters? Oh - I liked them a lot. : ) Have you ever seen the television show "LOST"? Well, Dimitri is kind of like Sawyer: major chip on his shoulder, SNARKY and <i>sarcastic</i>, endearing in his own bad-boy kind of way. Sydney reminds me of her namesake from "Alias": strong, determined, kick-ass, not willing to back down from a fight, and very caring. These two are written in such a way that you cannot help but cheer for them....except near the end when......oh darn - I just about spoiled something!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d0e0e3; font-family: inherit;">Here's what I also appreciated about this book - it takes on an angle of the genie story that most stories I've read that include genies just gloss over entirely: genies are little more than magic slaves. In stories they are bound to their masters and <i>must</i> perform whatever wish that master requests (except, somehow, more wishes....always wondered why that was never anyone's first wish in any of the things that I've read). But what if that master is requesting something that the genie finds morally repulsive? As I've mentioned, the movie "Aladdin" talks about this a little bit, but not to the extent that it is covered here. And what are the repercussions if the genie doesn't obey? I loved how Kaye worked with this - very real, very shocking, very sad.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d0e0e3; font-family: inherit;">You should read this book. <i>This...I...wish.</i></span><br />
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<i><b><span style="background-color: black; color: #d0e0e3; font-family: inherit;">The Bugly (bad/ugly)</span></b></i><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #d0e0e3; font-family: inherit;">I don't have a lot to gripe about when it comes to writing style, or many of the other things I generally pick stories apart for. Rather, my complaints here revolve around the characters a bit, namely that Dimitri reads as a 40-year-old guy, not someone who is supposed to be in his 20s. He reads far too old for his chronological age. Maybe this is just me - but somehow this bugged me a bit. Then again, perhaps he sounds older because the stuff he's been through has aged him beyond his years - certainly I've run across this before. Still, somehow his apparently chronological age vs. his mental age/attitude bugged me a bit. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d0e0e3; font-family: inherit;">Another thing - there are sections of this book that are definitely NSFW. Now, this inherently isn't much a problem except for two major things that happened here: there are far too many of these scenes. I get it - the people involved can't keep their hands off one another. There were so many of these scenes, however, that I kept finding myself trying to skip pages in some of the later ones. That being said, when I did read them it felt like they fell apart a little bit by the end. The last few NSFW scenes were far less involved than the early ones. I get that the author didn't have to spend as much time on this as in the beginning because this kind of scene was already set, but I really like consistency. :P </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d0e0e3; font-family: inherit;">Oh, and there are typos. Not a huge amount, but definitely enough that I found myself wanting to have a red pen in my hand. Generally they were just the kind of typos that one becomes guilty of after viewing the same text for hours on end...I've done the same thing. These are just the kind of typos that should be edited out.</span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAk9syyHo3v35GpUYBL5XpHvJ0TUZbVzssgThYqdm2gpZRDHB-WeMHYAX_PEy36GhC-wVjM6W69nsMIkVFEmLxUzbSmdSfWmJHWxcNZFc1EFL9jN46fI7ahLWE7y-_kZMd6HfxJR-qVRoE/s1600/51eYMP6thJL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAk9syyHo3v35GpUYBL5XpHvJ0TUZbVzssgThYqdm2gpZRDHB-WeMHYAX_PEy36GhC-wVjM6W69nsMIkVFEmLxUzbSmdSfWmJHWxcNZFc1EFL9jN46fI7ahLWE7y-_kZMd6HfxJR-qVRoE/s1600/51eYMP6thJL.jpg" height="320" width="210"></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #f4cccc; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><i><u style="background-color: black;">BLURB</u></i></b></span><br>
<span style="background-color: black; color: #f4cccc; font-family: inherit;">Sandy dozed intermittently with her head on Jon's shoulder as they headed west on IH10. She thought about the changes that had just occurred in her life: her father's death, quitting her teaching job in New Orleans and packing all her belongings into the moving truck she was riding in. Her mind then raced to the changes that were to come: her marriage to Jon, moving to the town of Richmond, Texas, and the effect that the community would have on her—and she would have on the community. She could not have foreseen the arrest of Jon's partner for murder, the teenage marijuana ring or the complete perversion of justice about to take place.</span><br>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #f4cccc; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Justice-Perverted-Richmond-Saga-Wilbur-ebook/dp/B00E1RN5SC/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1397874616&sr=1-2&keywords=justice+perverted">AMAZON</a> * <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11604196-justice-perverted?from_search=true">GOODREADS</a> </span><br>
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<span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><i><u style="background-color: black;">ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dee Wilbur</u></i></b></span><br>
<span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit;">Beatrice Dee Pipes and Charles Wilbur Yates, Jr. write under the pen name Dee Wilbur, a combination of their middle names. This is their second work of fiction. A Texas native, Dee Pipes grew up in a small Texas town. Her degree from Rice University is a B.A. in English. She currently runs a company that helps other companies with marketing, project management, and other tasks. She has been married to her husband Bryan for thirty years. Also a native Texan, Charles Yates, Jr., was also reared in a small Texas town. He graduated from Rice University in Houston with a B.A. and Ph.D. in Biology. He received the M.D. degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. He has been married to his wife Sally for forty-five years. They have four adult sons and six grandchildren. He now tends his garden in Richmond, Texas.</span><br>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dee-Wilbur/e/B002G02UUA/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_3">AUTHOR PAGE</a> * <a href="http://www.deewilbur.com/">WEBSITE </a> </span><br>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><i><u style="background-color: black;">REVIEW</u></i></b></span><br>
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: inherit;"><b><i style="background-color: black;">I received a copy of this book in return for a fair and honest review, which follows:</i></b></span><br>
<span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc; font-family: inherit;"><br></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc;">Small towns beget small town politics. There are places in Alaska where you can hear the following phrase: "There's justice, then there's Alaska justice." Several things happened in the rural Alaskan town where I grew up where locals handled justice before matters were brought to the authorities. Why am I going into this? Well, Alaska and Texas kind of have a<strike> pissing contest</strike> friendly rivalry. Which is bigger/better? Depends on the day. :P This book would make it appear that the two places do have one thing in common - small towns and their workings. </span><br>
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc;">LONG STORY SHORT</span></i></b><br>
<span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc;">Dee Wilbur is (are?) at it again, crafting a superb story while revealing the soft underbelly of living in a small town - small town politics. </span><br>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc;">A small town lawyer has finally married the woman of his dreams and has brought her home to Richmond, Texas. Shorty thereafter, there are some mighty "interesting" happenings in this fine town of his, and he finds himself embroiled in a situation where things are not as they seem, lies are told, drugs run rampant, and true friends may be in questionable status with the law. A man winds up dead. Then another man. Meanwhile Jon, the aforementioned lawyer, tries his hand at criminal defense despite that not being his general area of law, and his wife - Sandy - tries to fit into a town where everyone knows everyone and has for centuries. What could possibly go wrong?</span><br>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc;"><i>Justice Perverted</i> is a wonderful sequel to <i><a href="http://onlygodwritestrees.blogspot.com/2013/11/review-jealous-god-by-dee-wilbur-fire.html">A Jealous God</a>. </i>It has a riveting plot, a court case full of gut wrenching ups and downs, likable characters, and the ability to stand alone on its own two feet without its prequel. </span><br>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc;">Let's just say that I stayed a little glued to this book </span><br>
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc; font-size: large;">On an ascending scale of 1 to 5, I give this book a 3.</span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc;">LONG STORY</span></i></b><div><font color="#ead1dc"><b><i>The Good<br></i></b></font>
<span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc;">In college I only ever found one or two people who came from a town smaller than the one where I was reared. According to the 2000 census, my little town boasted just over 400 people (I'm sure it has grown a little since then, but I'm also sure that number is a little low since I know some of the town folks who greeted the census takers with a gun and stern reminders of 'NO TRESSPASSING' signs in front of their house). </span><br>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc;">I know small towns and their politics. I also know what it is like to move into a small town where everyone knows everyone and you are the odd one out, at least for awhile (my spouse and I just moved to such a town). </span><br>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc;"><i>Justice Perverted</i> is something that made me laugh at how very real-to-life it is. This, unfortunately, is a story I could actually see playing out in any small town across...the planet. </span><br>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc;">Jon Miller is a lawyer in the relatively small town of Richmond, Texas. Much to the chagrin of the available ladies in town, this heart-stopping stud has just returned from a trip with a new bride in tow. Sandy is a vivacious young lady who has had Jon's heart for quite awhile and is definitely up to the task of fitting into a place where everyone knows everyone already....or is she? When someone winds up actually dead at a reenactment of an old shoot out, the colors of this little town show through as the gossip gears grind, someone is jailed, and justice may be swayed by a little bit of the "good ol' boys club". Or is it? And what is with all of these pesky teenagers suddenly getting into trouble?</span><br>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc;">Well, don't look at me for the answer to those questions - go read this book!</span><br>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc;">Oh, don't be nervous that it is team-written by two individuals. As in the first book in this series, you can't tell that two different brains are at work here. In that regard it is seamless - I cannot tell who wrote what chapter/page/word :P</span><br>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc;">What I can tell is that the masterminds behind Dee Wilbur put a lot of time and effort into this supremely riveting plot. Seriously, I stayed glued to the book for the couple of days it took me to read (and it wouldn't have even taken me that long to read if my toddler took longer naps). Just when I thought I knew what was going to happen next, something would happen that surprised me. My brows furrowed more than once as I tried to predict what was even going to happen on the very next page. This is not to say that it is so full of surprises that it is just plain annoying. It is to say that it is full of enough surprises to keep it interesting. </span><br>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc;">Anyways, let's take a look at characters. I'm not going to list them all out here, but let's just say it is easy to love the ones you are supposed to love and to not like the ones that you are supposed to not like. Then there are all those pesky people in the middle who do bad and good things so much that you aren't sure how to feel about them....but hey, that's life. The point here is that the characters are <i>real</i>. I could have lunch with Sandy and/or Jon. And (*gasp* I just started a sentence with and!) I am so glad that Dee Wilbur choose to continue their story with Jon...I really liked him in the first book and I really like him here. </span><br>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc;">This reminds me - this is a book in a series. HOWEVER, it can stand delightfully on its own two feet without one absolutely having to read the first book. Now, I highly recommend reading the first book because it is fantabulous, but this book can survive by itself. In a series that revolves around court cases, that is bonus. </span><br>
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc;">The Bugly (bad/ugly)</span></i></b><br>
<span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc;">You may have noticed that though I'm raving about the content of the book, I've only given it a 3 out of 5. There are 2 major reasons for this - dialog and editing. </span><br>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc;">Dialog - as in the first book, there are not enough of the "he said this" and "she said that" indicators to help readers figure out who the heck is talking. I went back many times to the start of a scene or conversation to try and figure out who said what (that's kind of important), and it drove me crazy! I couldn't rely on punctuation to help me figure out what was going on, because....</span><br>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc;">Editing - this book needs to go through a professional editor if it hasn't already (and if it has, it needs to go through a different one). Punctuation and indenting, especially within a dialog, are not consistent. My main gripe is that quotation marks are in mostly the right places, but enough of the wrong places to completely confuse who the heck is saying what and when people are talking. </span><br>
<span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc;"><br></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc;">The reason I knocked two points off my score for this book for these gripes (typically I'd only take off 1 for these) is that they were so <i>freaking </i>distracting that I had to do far too much freaking work as a reader. I should not have to work that hard to keep track of conversations, and punctuation needs to be consistent throughout an entire work. Since I found these kinds of errors on <i>many</i> pages instead of just a few, I took off 2 points. </span><br>
<span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc;"><br></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc;">Also, in my humble opinion, too much of the book itself is dialog. This is merely me quibbling about a stylistic choice that I'd never make, but I felt that learning 95% of the content from the 95% dialog that made up the books text was just a bit too much. </span><br>
<span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc;"><br></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: #ead1dc;">That all being said, the story itself is superb and this is a good book! I will be happy to read more...</span><br>
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<br></div>Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945796233161285793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609483682620368953.post-6500021016246114162014-04-13T20:40:00.000-07:002014-04-13T20:40:45.383-07:00REVIEW: "I Didn't Know" by Yvette Allen-Tatum (Write Now Lit)<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG8VVFfAJKwn0qtYd8GVQ8zDeUucSTCKnVBqrOuscrn4dvFNouXr3x0-r2iCa5xM2WEXlX9WT-qUsahjgD3saKUNSf0Ceeh8zj534g75jTUV85OzIDyEGSV19eBKxnPJYmWbcFiu6Hm3ZY/s1600/jpg-book+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG8VVFfAJKwn0qtYd8GVQ8zDeUucSTCKnVBqrOuscrn4dvFNouXr3x0-r2iCa5xM2WEXlX9WT-qUsahjgD3saKUNSf0Ceeh8zj534g75jTUV85OzIDyEGSV19eBKxnPJYmWbcFiu6Hm3ZY/s1600/jpg-book+cover.jpg" height="320" width="206" /></a></div>
<b><i><span style="color: #f4cccc; font-size: large;"><u style="background-color: black;"> BLURB</u></span></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #f4cccc;">“<span style="font-family: Californian FB, serif;">I Didn't Know" is for more than just an audience of one. If you look to your left, look to your right, or directly in the mirror, you will see or know someone who has been sexually abused... even if you look in the mirror, and the person is YOU! More than the tragedy of sexual abuse is the tragedy of the silence of sexual abuse. It must be talked about. Our stories have to be shared; someone's life is literally depending upon YOU to BREAK THE IGNORANCE OF SILENCE! "I Didn't Know" brings to the forefront the many hidden faces of child sexual abuse. The author, Yvette L. Allen-Tatum, shares not only her story, but the compelling testimonies of others--everyone from the actual victim, to the offender, to those who standby by in disbelief and allow these heinous crimes against our children to continue. Our voices have to be heard, our children must be free or freed to tell the TRUTH: that someone touched them. Who can they run to? Will it be you?</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #f4cccc;"><span style="font-family: Californian FB, serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Paperback:</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Californian FB, serif; text-align: center;">
110 pages</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #f4cccc;"><span style="font-family: Californian FB, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Publisher:</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Californian FB, serif;">
Kingdom Publishing Group, Inc. (March 15, 2013)</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #f4cccc;"><span style="font-family: Californian FB, serif;">Language:</span><span style="font-family: Californian FB, serif;">
English</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #f4cccc;"><span style="font-family: Californian FB, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>ISBN-10:</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Californian FB, serif;">
0988312670</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #f4cccc;"><span style="font-family: Californian FB, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>ISBN-13:</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Californian FB, serif;">
978-0988312678</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Californian FB, serif;"><b><span style="background-color: black; color: #f4cccc;"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/om77u4q">AMAZON</a> * <a href="about:invalid#zClosurez">BARNES & NOBLE</a> * <a href="http://youtu.be/PXXx89XTDOA">BOOK TRAILER</a> * <a href="http://www.wnlbooktours.com/">WNL BOOK TOUR</a> * <a href="http://wnlbooktours.com/yvette-allen-tatum/">TOUR SCHEDULE</a></span></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC6i02aboZ3CzW-mMitUrM-onYHD-SB3tZgOuXH_KdFo49VcvXyBTh5NNdVC7jw5TCHYLE7uF3qACxR75_iRs4cEjHBTd1fU7arjGMqygb-SpuHL5S4Ar1IquUz7QYu54b3ElzKihGdOU1/s1600/photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC6i02aboZ3CzW-mMitUrM-onYHD-SB3tZgOuXH_KdFo49VcvXyBTh5NNdVC7jw5TCHYLE7uF3qACxR75_iRs4cEjHBTd1fU7arjGMqygb-SpuHL5S4Ar1IquUz7QYu54b3ElzKihGdOU1/s1600/photo.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a><span style="color: #fce5cd; font-family: Californian FB, serif; font-size: large;"><u><b><i style="background-color: black;">ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Yvette Allen-Tatum</i></b></u></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-family: Californian FB, serif;">Author, teacher, conference host, public speaker, encourager, motivator, ordained & licensed minister of The Gospel, radical for Christ,
undercover comedian </span><span style="font-family: Californian FB, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>and
the list goes on</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Californian FB, serif;">...</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-family: Californian FB, serif;">Yvette
is a graduate of Grace Christian College where she earned her Masters
of Divinity and a Bachelor of Arts in Theology. She is also a
graduate of University of Richmond, where she earned a Bachelor of
Science in Business Administration with a Concentration in Finance
and a Minor in Leadership Studies. In addition, she has 30 plus years
of experience in income tax preparation and bookkeeping. </span>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd; font-family: Californian FB, serif;">As
the Founder of <i>Surrounded by Faith Ministries</i>, Yvette has had the
opportunity to touch and transform the lives of many women with the
Word of God. This mighty woman of God has a prophetic teaching
anointing which has enabled her to cross many boundaries. As such,
the call of God on her life has broadened from transforming the lives
of women to transforming LIVES with the Word of God. While she still
holds a passion to train and equip women in the life study and
application of the Bible, her ultimate goal is to strengthen
families. To do so her platform is geared to men, women and
children.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #fce5cd; font-family: Californian FB, serif;"><b style="background-color: black;"><a href="mailto:Loosed03@gmail.com">EMAIL</a> * <a href="http://www.yvetteallentatum.com/">WEBSITE </a> * <a href="http://twitter.com/loosed03">TWITTER</a> * <a href="http://facebook.com/Yvette.tatum"> FACEBOOK</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d9ead3; font-family: Californian FB, serif; font-size: large;"><b><u><i style="background-color: black;">REVIEW</i></u></b></span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">I received a copy of this book in return for a fair and honest review, which follows:</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">There are few ways to rile my ire faster than to harm a child. In fact, that is the most expedient way to rile my ire...especially if that harm comes through sexual means. Unfortunately, as the news tells us every day, sexual abuse is rampant in our society...even targeted at children less than a year old (if you don't believe me, ask the 9 month old little girl who died after her mother "gave her" to her boyfriend for the night). I've seen many posts lately about "rape culture", and few of these dealing with the fact that grown men and women are not the only targets. Our precious ones, the "Dibbuns" (to borrow a term for young ones from Brian Jacques), are also targets. If only we talked about it more...
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">LONG STORY SHORT</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">Allen-Tatum has here a non-fiction work that shines a light on one of the aspects of our society that we want most to hide - sexual abuse aimed at minors....heck, sexual abuse in general. As a survivor of multiple instances of sexual abuse herself, Allen-Tatum speaks from harrowing experience about a subject that we want to pretend is relegated to Law and Order shows. Powerful language is used to talk about a powerful subject. Definitions are given that ensure one cannot walk away from the book saying "I didn't know...", or pretending sexual abuse is not running disturbingly rampant in our world. Real-world research and stories highlight this disturbing occurrence in this tool intended to educate people in order to protect them. Scripture is used to highlight God's healing power in the midst of the sh** storm of this life.</span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">Despite the subject matter being something that I wholeheartedly agree needs to be discussed more in the name of prevention, the format of the book left something to be desired. I kept wanting to pull out my red editing pen to fix poorly constructed sentences, organizations of chapters that were confusing, and formatting errors in the printing of the book. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">Because the formatting problems with the book overshadowed the valuable material contained within, </span></div>
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-size: large;">On an ascending scale of 1 to 5, I give this book a 3.</span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">LONG STORY</span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">The Good</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">Let's just get this out of the way - I have several close friends who have been sexually assaulted. I've wept with and over friends who have told me their devastating stories of abuse. This is a problem running rampant within our society, a rape culture that is highly sexist. If I ever find out that my son has sexually assaulted someone, I'll turn him in myself. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">Allen-Tatum has here created a work that seeks to shed light on myths and truths about sexual assault in its various forms. She desperately wants to fulfill God's all on her life to minister to those in need, and the issue it appears she has been called to is educating the world about sexual assault. <i>What is sexual assault? What are its various forms? Who is responsible? Why isn't it usually reported? What are the ramifications on both the victims and survivors of sexual assault?</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">This is a non-fiction book. It's a quick and easy read filled with difficult things. Allen-Tatum defines many terms that society probably wishes were left ambiguous. She describes her real-world experience with being a survivor of sexual abuse, as well as the stories of several others. She uses scholarly research, Scripture references (to the protestant Christian Bible), and a tone that one of my friends would call a "come to Jesus" tone that makes readers sit up and pay attention. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">It is hard. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">It calls us to realize hard things...such as that ignoring the issue revictimizes the victims of sexual assault, such as that children are sometimes not even safe with their own family members, such as that forgiveness is about setting the victim free.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">It is something we need to talk about more, especially if we want to see more of the abuse that happens actually freaking <i>reported </i>(can you tell the lack of reporting is a personal hot button of mine?) so that more can be done to protect those who are targeted. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">It is something that teenagers should read, so they are equipped to talk about the topic intelligently instead of regurgitating questionable ideas found in sound lyrics. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">It highlights the importance of talking about this with our young children so they know how to report if - God forbit - it ever happens to them. </span></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">The Bugly (bad/ugly)</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">While I appreciated the content of this book, I did not appreciate how it was written. There are problems with how the chapters are organized (I'm sure there is a method to the madness, but I couldn't find it), poorly constructed sentences that are unnecessarily repetitive in all the wrong ways, fragmented sentences, random inclusions of information, Random Capitalizations of Words that Should Not Be Capitalized, Scripture passages yanked completely out of context (as a seminary educated person as well, I'm touchy on this topic), and citations at the end that are just plain not done properly.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">I understand that Allen-Tatum is a very well educated, well qualified woman to speak on the subject. That much is obvious. I do not understand how this work got past an editor in this shape (if it hasn't been through a professional editor, it needs to be). In honesty it feels like a stream-of-consciousness work that was cleaned up only a little bit. Were this a person, it would be a highly attractive person, but with disheveled hair, wrinkled and mismatching clothes, and perhaps a hole in a shoe in the wrong place. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3;">For the sake of spreading this message in as effective a way as possible, I want to see this run through an editor so the glaring problems with grammar, sentence and paragraph formation, organization, etc do not detract from the quality of the content. The content is superb...the presentation is terrible.</span></div>
Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945796233161285793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609483682620368953.post-57880582562986099052014-04-10T19:34:00.000-07:002014-04-10T19:39:40.269-07:00REVIEW: "Leviticus" by Daniel Seltzer (Fire and Ice Blog Tours)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i style="color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><b><u>BLURB</u></b></i><br />
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<span style="color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;"><i>Science has created a world where anything is possible and everything is affordable.<br /><br />A world where illness and disease have been eradicated.<br /><br />What if you could be young forever?<br /><br />What if you didn't want to?<br /><br />Levi Clayton Furstman's decision not to be inoculated with technology designed to bestow youth and immortality leads him on a journey that forces him to reexamine his relationships, his purpose in life, and, ultimately, what it means to be human.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Genres: </b>Dystopian, Sci-Fi, Futuristic, Nanotechnology</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.daniel-seltzer.com/">WEBSITE</a> * <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Leviticus-When-Were-Gods-ebook/dp/B00EW38MXI/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1377900025&sr=1-9&keywords=leviticus">AMAZON</a> * <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/leviticus-daniel-seltzer/1116851811?ean=2940148564768&cm_mmc=AFFILIATES-_-Linkshare-_-TnL5HPStwNw-_-10:1&r=1">BARNES &NOBLE</a> * <a href="https://www.createspace.com/4259668">CREATESPACE</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: #fce5cd; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><i><u>ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Daniel Seltzer</u></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #fce5cd; font-family: inherit;">Daniel Seltzer holds a J.D. degree and a BA in English. He also holds an MA in Bioethics and previously worked at a major university researching the ethical, legal and social implications (“ELSI”) of nanotechnology. It was while working there that the idea for this story first took shape.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WhenWeWereGodsTrilogy" target="_blank">FACEBOOK</a> * </span><a href="https://twitter.com/WeWereGods_Book" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">TWITTER</a> * <a href="http://whenweweregodsbook.blogspot.com/" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">BLOGSPOT</a> * <a href="http://www.daniel-seltzer.com/" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">WEBPAGE</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><i><u>REVIEW</u></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>I received an ARC of this book in return for a fair and honest review. Such follows: </i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We are witnessing technological advances in the <st1:place w:st="on">First World</st1:place> that would boggle the mind were they seen by
individuals from even 100 years ago.
Microwaves, “moving pictures” in 3D, computers, little computers that
have a phone capability (what my hubby calls smart phones), etc. Anthropologists have argued that youth today
in <st1:place w:st="on">First World</st1:place> countries are so different from
their grandparents, and even their parents, that anthropologically speaking,
they can be considered members of different cultures….and there is one main
reason: technology. How far is too far
for technological advances?</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">LONG STORY SHORT<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In this book, Seltzer explores the ramifications of living
in a society that truly mirrors something we’d see in Star Trek – replicators,
nanobots, technological advances to the point that aging has become a moot
point…at least in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region> Clay Furstman is a man who deeply questions
technological advances that most others around him seem so enthralled by…especially
when first any books other than math and science disappear, and then all books
disappear. Technology rules the day, but only in the U.S. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Beginning with a disturbing flashback from our own history (and one that I remember unfolding on the news), this work plows ahead decades to a dystopian paradisiac future where Apple has basically taken over society with one technological advancement after the next. One advancement in particular practically ends poverty, crime, social injustice, etc....<i>but was it worth it?</i> Seltzer here wrestles with questions regarding the loss of humanity in the face of technological advances that force Clay, the main character, to struggle with mortality, faith, and humanity. </span><br />
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Though this read is super relevant in today's day and age, especially as we witness the hub bub every time a new iPhone comes out, it was not one of my favorite recent reads. A superb plot, interesting characters....and yet it was not as approachable and engaging as I typically like. That being said, my philosophy major husband would love this book if he read fiction.<br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">On an ascending scale of 1 to 5, I give this book a 3.</span></i></b></div>
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<b>LONG STORY</b><br />
<b><i>The Good</i></b><br />
Apple. Google. We all know they're going to take over the world eventually.<br />
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Okay, so maybe I type that with tongue firmly planted in cheek....but what if it were true? <br />
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What if you could have a chip embedded in your head that read notifications, news, and such to you on a regular basis? That blurted out the time if you even wondered what time it was? That recognized everyone you passed by so long as they had a chip as well? <br />
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What if you had a device that was very much like replicators from Star Trek? What if nanobots somehow meant that you could live in the prime of your life for the indefinite future?<br />
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<i>What if you didn't want any of it?</i><br />
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Clay, the main character, lives in a world where he is the odd guy out. Everyone around him is loving the new technology that unfolds every so often (almost everyone, at least). He is suspicious, especially when he notices that books are becoming harder and harder to come by...unless they are math and science books. "News" contains stuff about celebrities and entertainment, and that's about it....<u>real </u>content is eschewed. Everyone takes advantage of the technology available....<i>but what if doing so robs someone of something that essentially defines them as human</i>? Clay, as someone who is deeply skeptical, is a deep thinker. He ponders. He's read extensively. He's not convinced technology is all it is cracked up to be. Rather, he's kind of certain that technology spells the doom of mankind....or at least of humanity. <br />
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Seltzer here examines hard, philosophical questions regarding where our technology is headed. Now, I don't think the technology he talks about is quite realistic (I don't know much about physics, but I'm 90% sure the physics behind some of the things here don't quite work), but nevertheless he brings up superb questions about our use of technology, ethical and moral implications, nationalism, social structures, etc. <br />
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On some level, I think we are all counting on technology to be our modern day messiah, to save us from ourselves. Yet there are individuals who are deeply skeptical of technology. Yes and? Both or? How many people ponder about how technology is robbing us of some spark of humanity even as we march ever onward towards the dawn of some sort of paradisiac future (at least in theory)? <br />
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Just today and older gentleman told me that his generation reads, while my generation doesn't so much. Is he wrong?<br />
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In this book, we find a future that is paradisiac, yes, but also rather dystopian. What freedoms are you willing to forego in the name of technological advancement that could spell immortality (in a sense)? What sinister forces are in play behind technological advances? <i>What will our great grandchildren be furious at us for missing?</i><br />
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Seltzer has creating a superb work that really forces readers to ponder this question: is technology worth it?<br />
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<b><i>The Bugly (bad/ugly)</i></b><br />
Now, you may be tempted to think there is something inherently wrong with this book because I gave it a 3 instead of a 5. Not so. It is well-written, well-thought through, internally coherent AND consistent. So what's the problem?<br />
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1) Characters sound like each other. My number one pet peeve (well, at least one of my top 3) came to light here as everyone sounded like everyone else as they spoke. Not <i>what</i> they said, but <i>how</i> it was framed. Obviously some of the power-hungry individuals spoke different words than others, but the flow of speech for all was the same. bleh.<br />
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2) This is a deeply philosophical, deep thinking kind of book. Now, I enjoy some of these works...but here it was just too much. I don't expect page long paragraphs in a fiction book. Now, this simply speaks more to my preferences than to anything inherently wrong with the book itself. It's perfectly fine for this kind of discourse and such to be in a fiction book. For some reason it just felt a bit over the top for me. That being said, if I could convince my husband to read fiction, I'd have him read this. He's a deep thinking, highly philosophical type and this would be just his cup of tea.<br />
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3) As a deep thinking kind of book, I didn't find it very accessible. Now, again, this points to my preferences rather than something that is wrong with the book. Classics are not always very accessible (have you tried reading <i>Robinson Crusoe?</i> I couldn't even finish that one.). I just had a hard time dealing with it here.<br />
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4) For the sake of making a point, Seltzer ignored the laws of physics. I grumble a little at this, but not too much bec/ I'm pretty much a wannabe Trekie.<br />
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Don't let my nit picking on style detract from your desire to read this book - it is pretty good. Just not really my cup of tea. No author is going to be every reader's cup of tea, that's just a fact. <br />
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Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945796233161285793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609483682620368953.post-29495781643081576582014-04-07T01:00:00.000-07:002014-04-07T01:00:01.945-07:00REVIEW: "Unbound" by Georgia Bell (Xpresso Book Tours)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFWinbJq6qRYgwlalIAGrNa9pHgyiIjjgRxAhMLudmbzg0mss6aTUdwMnJ21lNxHexd4-BudpIcKMFQNXRrm1ZKO9tQKt-sfxaIYTPwldOtVQSn2KKQPT_g834HuNbMi6oWQVvBmKsT_Jf/s1600/18747725.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFWinbJq6qRYgwlalIAGrNa9pHgyiIjjgRxAhMLudmbzg0mss6aTUdwMnJ21lNxHexd4-BudpIcKMFQNXRrm1ZKO9tQKt-sfxaIYTPwldOtVQSn2KKQPT_g834HuNbMi6oWQVvBmKsT_Jf/s1600/18747725.jpg" height="400" width="250" /></span></a></div>
<span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"> <b style="text-align: center;"><i><u><span style="color: #fce5cd; font-size: large;">BLURB</span></u></i></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">After her father dies, Rachel realizes she is scared and stuck. Scared of heights, of cars, of disasters harming the people she loves. Stuck in a life that is getting smaller by the minute. Stuck with a secret she has kept all her life: Someone has been watching over her since birth. Someone who tends to show up when she needs him the most. Someone she believes is her guardian angel. </span><br style="line-height: 19.31999969482422px;" /><br style="line-height: 19.31999969482422px;" /><span style="line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">Eaden is a 1,500-year-old immortal who wants to die. Drained by a life stretched too thin, he has requested his final reward – a mortal sacrifice bred specifically to bring him death. But something went wrong. Rachel’s ability to grant death has mutated in ways that threaten to upset the uneasy alliance between mortals and immortals. And utterly beguiled, Eaden discovers that although Rachel is the key to his death, because of her, he no longer wants to die. And he will do anything to protect her. </span><br style="line-height: 19.31999969482422px;" /><br style="line-height: 19.31999969482422px;" /><span style="line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">Swept into a world of legends, caught between the warring political factions of immortals, and carrying the future of mortal kind in her flesh and bone, Rachel must risk everything to save her world and the man she loves.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #fce5cd; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Unbound-Good-Things-Georgia-Bell-ebook/dp/B00GDU3OP4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395112552&sr=8-1&keywords=unbound+georgia+bell">AMAZON</a> * <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18747725-unbound?from_search=true">GOODREADS</a></span></span><br />
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<b><i><u><span style="background-color: black; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Georgia Bell (don't you just love her </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">name?)</span></span></u></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit;">Georgia Bell was raised on a steady diet of science fiction and fantasy, courtesy of her father, a man who loved his family, fishing, scotch, and science (although not necessarily in that order). Georgia is an avid reader of young adult fiction, and a lover of good wine, music, children, and cats (although not necessarily in that order).</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7372032.Georgia_Bell">GOODREADS</a> </span></span><br />
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<b><i><u><span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">REVIEW</span></u></i></b><br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;"><b><i style="background-color: black;">I received an ARC of this book in exchange for a thoughtful and honest review, which follows:</i></b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">Have you ever felt as though someone were watching you? Not a malevolent someone, just someone who seems to show up at odd times and help you out? Someone you generally see in times of trouble? Someone who helps quell the anxieties that make you double check everything? What if that someone isn't an angel?</span><br />
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">LONG STORY SHORT...</span></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">Boy meets girl. Girls meets boy. Boy is 1500+ years old. Girl is 18. Boy has been drawn to girl her entire life. Girl has noticed boy here and there, always seeming to be around when her life is in danger or something scary is about to happen. Boy is plagued with...something behind his eyes that to hint to an immense sadness. Girl is plagued with near-crippling anxiety and a desperate need for structure, order, routine. Boy flips girl's world upside down. Is it for the best?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">This is a marvelous book about immortals and other supernatural beings which is expertly written in an engaging, frank style that is just as endearing as the main character - Rachel. Bell brings readers on a roller coaster ride where we are never quite sure what happens next, endings are merely beginnings, the unexpected delights in popping up all over the place, and people and other beings are not quite what they seem. <i>Unbound </i>is a delightful, surprising read that is sure to please your imagination with vivid settings, endearing characters, gut-wrenching drama, and a timeless love story....or is it?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">I've said before on this blog that I consider the mark of a good book to be that I continue to think about it when not reading....I thought about this book quite a bit between page-turning episodes.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">Just to warn you - this book is a bit of a tease. :)</span><br />
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Overall, on an ascending scale of 1 to 5, I give this book a 4.</span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">LONG STORY</span></i></b><br />
<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">The Good</span></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">I've been reading voraciously ever since I was knee-high to a very short cricket. I know what makes a good book and what makes a stinker. This is a very good book. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">Rachel is a young lady who intentionally leads a very ordered, structured life. After enduring the physical loss of her father through death and the emotional loss of her mother through detachment, Rachel has become an expert at avoiding people...they'll just leave her with hurt anyways. She also avoids frightening situations...kind of (spending mornings reading the world news is not exactly shielding oneself from the frightening situations in the world). Mom pressures her to apply for university and to give a particular boy a shot at happiness. A friend pressures her to get out an do stuff. She pressures herself to stay safe. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">Safe? What is safe when one is plagued by anxiety that is near crippling, prompting one to double check the lock on the door at least half a dozen times? To take a job that is utterly predictable and routine? To prefer to live in a world of books rather than the real world, because the ending is already determined in a book and is the same each time one reads the same book?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">To know that you've been followed your entire life by a dashing fellow with gray eyes who always seems to show up when your life is in danger? A number of months after Rachel turns 18, she decides to see a therapist about her....<i>issues</i>. Shortly after this, she decides to confront the imaginary figment that seems to always rescue her at the right moment. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">Little does she know that Eaden is not imaginary, and he carries <i>issues </i>of his own....1500+ years of them. He is drawn to Rachel like a fly to a light, though his attraction to her is not merely physical in a visual sense but also rather, um, genetic due to a certain major literary/historical figure who shall remain nameless here because your jaw needs to drop like mine did when his/her identity was revealed. Eaden <i>has </i>followed Rachel since the day he watched her family playing in a park when she was a tiny tot.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">The problem is that others who are not quite as chivalrous as he are also drawn to her. The problem is that immortality and the monumental task of remembering a world's history (the writers of history are generally those on top of the social structure, after all, and their world is barely 90% trustworthy) as it actually happened is too much even for the mind of a special human who cannot die. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">So a special breed of human was created, where they could end the life of an immortal human...but their life would end at the same time. Each special human is only supposed to be aligned to one immortal. Each special human is supposed to be male. Then along came Rachel. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">Okay, that's enough plot synthesis for you. If I go too much further, you are going to have no reason to read this really very superb book. First, I give Bell kudos for taking a vastly overdone trope (boy meets girl, girl meets boy, kisses ensue) and giving it a rather unique twist. Several unique twists, in fact. I find many books to be utterly predictable - this charge can never be leveled at <i>Unbound</i>. Bell kept me guessing in every chapter. Just when I thought I had things figured out....<i>whamo </i>- something would come along and not go quite the way I thought it would. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">Second, Bell uses a Hebrew word in this book to refer to the special individuals who are able to be used to end the life of an immortal being. That word is <i>mafte'ach </i>and Bell claims that it means "key" in Hebrew. I sound very skeptical here because I have an inherent distrust of so-called translations of Hebrew words (I'm a Biblical scholar type person, after all, who has studied the translation difficulties of the Christian Bible and know what can be done to the Hebrew language (for example: the word in Hebrew that is often translated as "feet" in English is not always our physical feet upon which we walk....sometimes it is used colloquially as was common in the days when the Old Testament was written. "Feet" in Hebrew can also mean "penis". Now go back and read the story of Ruth....sounds a little different (and in my opinion makes a bit more sense) when you know this!)). However, Bell has correctly translate this word - YAY!!!!!!! Maybe I'm making a bigger deal of this than necessary, but you have no idea how much it means to me when Hebrew words are translated properly!! (NOTE: The root of the word <i>mafte'ach</i> is the word for doorway ("more or less", according to my husband - who is the one between us that actually reads/writes ancient Hebrew)....which also works in this story.)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">Third, I absolutely adore the strong characters here...especially Rachel. Now, when you read the beginning of the book, it definitely does not sound like she is super strong. She does, however, come into her own and discover her inner strength through the course of the book...but it isn't something that is just gifted to her, it is <i>developed</i> - which I frankly appreciate more in a character because that is more true to life and infinitely more relateable. Eaden was kind of the same guy through most of the book (save the last couple of chapters), though I liked him for different reasons. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">Fourth, settings and descriptions in this work are super colorful and vivid. Bell leaves just the right amount of work to the reader to figure out how to set a scene. She describes things through Rachel's eyes (the entire book is Rachel's POV) and in a way that is just as endearing as Rachel herself. I absolutely loved Bell's writing style. : ) </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">Fifth, you should know there are a lot more good things about this book, but you need to read it yourself. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">Oh, I almost forgot to mention this - it can stand alone on its own merit and be a complete story line. I say this because it appears to me that Bell is writing a sequel. <i>Unbound </i>ended in a way that definitely provides fodder for a wonderful sequel (not gonna tell you how - read the darn book yourself!), but not in a cliffhanger way that makes you go "really?!" in frustration. I adored the ending. : ) For one thing, it is the perfect blend of unpredictable and predictable. </span><br />
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">The Bugly (bad/ugly)</span></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">There are a few reasons why this book is a 4 instead of a straight 5:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">1) I found multiple typos: upset punctuation, missing words, etc. Now, I nitpick on this a lot - but a book that is ready to print should have as few typos as possible. That being said, I understand that looking at the same text (and a LOT of it!) again and again means that writers - and editors - miss things. My fresh eyes just caught a few too many things to not be annoyed. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">2) Have you ever seen the television show "Highlander"? If not, you should check it out - it's pretty good. If you have, you'll understand this next phrase: this book felt like "Highlander" fan fic. For some inexplicable reason (I really like "Highlander") this really, <i>really</i> bugged me. Maybe it is because that made parts of the book just a smidge too predictable for my taste....I'm not sure. I just know that once I realized this, Eaden began to resemble the immortal main character in "Highlander" in my head as I read.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">3) There are words in other languages that are not <i>freaking translated!!</i> It bugs me to high Heaven when there are words I'm reading that I can't understand - it's the reason I rarely listen to songs in other languages, and the reason I hit Google instantly when a song in English has indistinguishable lines. If there are going to be lots of words in other languages that are not explained/translated in the text itself, there needs to be a glossary at the end of the book. :P</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSyCRRHQTuimB_y3vZUbQ8-HZXVDvTK5MCK-qemv2IZLyJcWMyeaVRxFOpiZdUp7QfDYWZZ0plMBL0oLwlrNuBrMcF_ZcLsT4etXBLqRorwqxxIYlGgHkNMRjoM8xVndDg3zcTQsv71c0G/s1600/UnboundTourBanner1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSyCRRHQTuimB_y3vZUbQ8-HZXVDvTK5MCK-qemv2IZLyJcWMyeaVRxFOpiZdUp7QfDYWZZ0plMBL0oLwlrNuBrMcF_ZcLsT4etXBLqRorwqxxIYlGgHkNMRjoM8xVndDg3zcTQsv71c0G/s1600/UnboundTourBanner1.png" height="236" width="640" /></span></a>Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945796233161285793noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609483682620368953.post-42957783100189359382014-03-30T01:00:00.000-07:002014-03-30T01:00:04.610-07:00REVIEW: "Infinity Unleashed" by Sedona Venez (Xpresso Book Tours)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggRmBa80pIOgjRX7EUxdwQ86-nwUt6R2PmzvHJ_cebsx_HyAOmoFYeQPT9VLFwXOoI68MaW6oSqzTnqHNr4H6u_yN4Ww_v8kg0M1YeO4faUxBxdx_o8y-_o6WDmATb5lq-JifNTY-P1JRW/s1600/17800668.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggRmBa80pIOgjRX7EUxdwQ86-nwUt6R2PmzvHJ_cebsx_HyAOmoFYeQPT9VLFwXOoI68MaW6oSqzTnqHNr4H6u_yN4Ww_v8kg0M1YeO4faUxBxdx_o8y-_o6WDmATb5lq-JifNTY-P1JRW/s1600/17800668.jpg" height="400" width="261" /></a></div>
<b style="clear: left; line-height: 19.31999969482422px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggRmBa80pIOgjRX7EUxdwQ86-nwUt6R2PmzvHJ_cebsx_HyAOmoFYeQPT9VLFwXOoI68MaW6oSqzTnqHNr4H6u_yN4Ww_v8kg0M1YeO4faUxBxdx_o8y-_o6WDmATb5lq-JifNTY-P1JRW/s1600/17800668.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">BLURB</a></u></span></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">A New Adult story of Betrayal. Sex. Addiction. Love. And Power...<br /><br />Mason's diabolical plan had actually worked.<br /><br />In a matter of minutes he had kidnapped me, stripping me of everything...money, family, and freedom. It was humbling, depressing, and damn infuriating but I refuse to go down without a fight. I refuse to be defeated.<br /><br />Boulder will find me. I didn't know how, but I felt it deep in my soul.<br /><br />Boulder...the one man that made my body quake with just one look. It was madness. There was so much I didn't know about him. For that matter, there was so much that he didn't know about me...like the evil darkness lurking inside me, waiting to be unleashed.<br /><br />Could he accept me without judging?<br /><br />That's where most men failed. Accepting the real me. But after years of hardening my heart, and sealing it behind a steel cage, I was ready to give myself to him freely. Knowing, that he planned to take everything I offered with both hands, until all I thought of...and wanted...was him...</span><br />
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<br />Genre: New Adult Paranormal Romance</div>
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**Mature Content Warning** 18+ for language, and adult situations.</div>
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<span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17800668-infinity-unleashed?from_search=true">GOODREADS</a> * <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Infinity-Unleashed-Valkyries-Soaring-Raven-ebook/dp/B00H6JW600/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394419000&sr=8-1&keywords=infinity+unleashed">AMAZON</a></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="color: #fce5cd; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><i><u style="background-color: black;">ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Sedona Venez</u></i></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd; font-family: inherit;">Sedona Venez aka T.L. Clarke is the author of the New Adult Credence Curse series, and the New Adult Valkyries: Soaring Raven series. She is a NYC girl (go Brooklyn!) with a slight obsession with her iPad, Pinterest, television shows Pawn Stars, Castle, and Face Off. Her love of music, tattoos, rockers, alpha men and wolf-shifters inspires her edgy paranormal and contemporary romance novels. You can find out more about Sedona and her work by visiting </span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #fce5cd; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;"><a href="http://www.sedonavenez.com/">WEBSITE</a> * <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SedonaVenez">FACEBOOK</a> * <a href="https://twitter.com/TLClarke_TLC">TWITTER</a> * <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/tlcauthor">PINTEREST</a> * <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6535416.Sedona_Venez"> GOODREADS</a> * <a href="http://eepurl.com/KtnqD">NEWSLETTER</a></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><b><i><u><span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">REVIEW</span></u></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;">Ever wonder why stories with supernatural being seem to be all the rage nowadays? Ever wonder why vampires and werewolves just can't seem to get along, no matter what universe they are in? Ever wonder if the explosion of supernatural beings battling it out under humans' unaware noses is a social commentary on something larger? This story won't answer any of these questions, but it will help you wonder...</span><br />
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<a name='more'></a><b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;">LONG STORY SHORT...</span></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;">Vampires + werewolves + lies + immortal beings + tiger shifters + fae + ravens + singing superstar + lust + visions + a whole bunch more = one heck of a sequel to <i><a href="http://onlygodwritestrees.blogspot.com/2014/03/review-infinity-by-sedona-venez-xpresso.html">Infinity</a></i>! This sequel continues the story of Infinity, superstar realized supernatural being who has three other supernatural beings all bent on claiming her: two for power, one for love. Which one will succeed...and will this start another war to which the Fire and Ash war pale in comparison?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;">Just as its predecessor, this intriguing story is NSFW and 18+ (especially the ending....hubba hubba). The silky smooth writing style will bring you on an intoxicating whirlwind that will leave you demanding more when the infuriating cliffhanger ending occurs.</span><br />
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">On a scale of 1 to 5, I give this work a 4.</span></i></b></div>
<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;"><b><i><br /></i></b><b><i>LONG STORY</i></b></span><br />
<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;">The Good</span></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;">We've seen a plethora of vampire/werewolf stories lately....but how many of those stories include a rich singer, tiger shifters, fae, creepish ravens, and immortals amusing themselves with the mess that mortals have made?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;">One.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;">Well, maybe two. :) Although in fairness, this book is the continuation of a story, so....</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;">One.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;">Again we find Infinity as the main character. She's a superstar realized supernatural creature who has been kidnapped away by the nefarious Mason - a man (cough *tigershifter*) who is after her for the power that he will be able to claim as her mate. Too bad that a kick a** vampire also wants to claim her for the same reason. Will Boulder, Infinity's true mate, be able to reach her before it is too late? Will their love start a war? Will Infinity be rescued, even as she begins to realize the truth about her heritage?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;">The prequel ended on a maddening cliffhanger. I was rather glad that I was able to pick this book right up and begin reading instantly. Sadly, the final book in the trilogy has not yet been published, so I'm over here cooling my heels while trying to wait patiently for the next book in the series to be released. Gotta know what happens!!!!!!!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;">Much of what I said about the first book is true about this one as well. This shouldn't be too surprising - same author, same story and all. Venez here continues her rather unique book in the middle of a genre that is being done to undeath, and it is still rather intriguing. I liked this book more than the first one - not sure if it was because it flowed together a little better, or because I felt more strongly tied to these characters since I knew them better, but I liked it better. Can't wait to see what is in store for the next installment!!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="background-color: black;">Oh, and still quite a chick flick - gotta love the intensity of some of these scenes (even if the science doesn't always make sense). :)</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;">The Bugly (bad/ugly)</span></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;">Um, same quibbles as for the prequel to this book (minus one):</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;">1) It is still too confusing to figure out who is talking at the beginning of a chapter. There should be subtitles to the chapter notation or something, anything indicating who is talking so the initial "who the heck is this?" work on the readers' part can be avoided.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;">2) Seriously, humans should not be this dumb....</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;">3) This book really needs a chart in the back that shows who is what: species, rank, position in the Council, etc. I was getting really confused about who was what and where and why.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945796233161285793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609483682620368953.post-37524230637918768152014-03-29T12:41:00.004-07:002014-03-29T12:41:36.533-07:00REVIEW: "The Art of Forgetting" by Peter Palmieri (Virtual Book Tour Cafe)<b><i style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">Sooooooooo, awhile back I did a post about an awesome looking book that I didn't have time to read when it was touring. The author graciously allowed me to have a copy of the book in return for a review when I had time. Shamefacedly, I admit it took me far longer to read it than I expected, but here is my review for....</span></i></b><br />
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<i><span style="background-color: black; color: #eeeeee;">"Dr. Lloyd Copeland is a young neurologist who is tormented by the conviction that he has inherited the severe, early-onset dementia that has plagued his family for generations – the very disease which spurred his father to take his own life when Lloyd was just a child. Withdrawn to a life of emotional detachment, he looks for solace in hollow sexual trysts as a way to escape his throbbing loneliness. Still, he clings to the hope that the highly controversial treatment for memory loss he’s been researching will free him from his family’s curse.</span></i><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><i><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><br /></span></i><i><span style="color: #eeeeee;">But when odd mishaps take place in his laboratory, his research is blocked by a hospital review board headed by Erin Kennedy: a beautiful medical ethicist with a link to his troubled childhood. The fight to salvage his reputation and recover the hope for his own cure brings him face to face with sordid secrets that rock his very self-identity. And to make matters worse, he finds himself falling irretrievably in love with the very woman who seems intent on thwarting his efforts."</span></i></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-of-Forgetting-ebook/dp/B00DIHZZRK/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1374536814&sr=1-2&keywords=the+art+of+forgetting">AMAZON</a></span></u></span></span><span style="color: #eeeeee;"> * GOODREADS</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #eeeeee;">Genre: fiction: medical (medical suspense)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #eeeeee;">Publisher: self</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #eeeeee;">Rel ease date: June 2013</span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #9fc5e8; font-size: large;"><u style="background-color: black;">ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Peter Palmieri</u></span></i></b><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #9fc5e8;">Peter Palmieri was raised in the eclectic port city of Trieste, Italy. He returned to the United States at the age of 14 with just a suitcase and an acoustic guitar. After attending public high school in San Diego, California, he earned his bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Animal Physiology from the University of California, San Diego. He received his medical degree from Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine and completed his pediatric training at the University of Chicago and Loyola University Medical Center. More recently, he was awarded a Healthcare MBA by The George Washington University. A former student of Robert McKee's Story seminar and the SMU Writer's Path program, and a two-time attendee of the SEAK Medical Fiction seminar taught by Tess Gerritsen and Michael Palmer, Peter is now busy practicing general pediatrics at a large academic medical center while working on his next medical suspense.</span></div>
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<b><i><u><span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-size: large;">REVIEW</span></u></i></b><br />
<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;">I received a review copy of this book in return for a fair and honest review, which follows:</span></b><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;">Alzheimers in one of the most devastating diseases to ravage families across this grand planet. Slowly stripping individuals of their memories, it brutally robs individuals of their identities while completely changing how their families operate. Many of my friends have loved ones who have succumbed to this hideous monster of a disease, and I've watched the devastation unfold. Memories make us who we are. <i>But what if all that could be changed? But what if a cure is not worth the risk?</i></span></span><br />
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<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;">LONG STORY SHORT...</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;">Written with a medical accuracy only possible from someone who has worked in the medical field, <i>The Art of Forgetting</i> is a masterpiece of medical and psychological suspense. This artful novel follows part of the story of Lloyd Copeland, an esteemed doctor who has devoted his life to the search for a cure for Alzheimer's, a brutal identity thieving disease which affected his father, and his father's father before him. For Lloyd, it is only a matter of time. He must find this cure. He is so close to finding a cure....<i>but at what cost? </i></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;">A suspenseful plot that includes medical mystery, psychological discovery, romance, and a sinister plot to ruin someone's career for the sake of riches - this novel has a little something for everyone. Even my husband was intrigued, and he doesn't read fiction. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;">Palmieri, an esteemed medical professional himself, is a superb author. He successfully creates a character who is about as huggable as a porcupine on crack, but that you just want to keep hugging despite the quills. Medical situations are crafted with a clear insider's knowledge of how the medical world actually operates. The plot unfolds in a complex manner that is twisted but not confusing. My only quibbles with the book are thus: during some conversation scenes it is hard to track who is talking, and it is so infinitely detailed that in several scenes I got lost in minutia. Otherwise, a superb book. Part of me hopes Lloyd's story continues...</span></span><br />
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<b><i><span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-size: large;">On an ascending scale of 1 to 5, this book receives a 4.</span></i></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;">LONG STORY</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;">The Good</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;">I absolutely loved this book. This morning when I was finishing reading, my husband was asking me to "get up....you've been awake for an hour already!" My response? "I'm finishing the book I've been reading!!"</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;"><i>The Art of Forgetting</i> is one of the most intricate and psychologically satisfying books that I've read in a very long time. It contains levels of deceit, manipulation, familial and relational history, medical information, and interesting selfishness that were just plain satisfying to unravel as the pages turned (rather quickly, I might add). </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;">Lloyd Copeland is an esteemed medical professional who has a bright future ahead of him....if he can manage to toe the line to keep his job when his superiors seem determined to derail his research. This isn't just his research, this is his life. You see, Copeland is conducting research on a possible cure for Alzheimers. His father was ravaged by the disease, as was his father before him. So were their wives. For Copeland, it is only a matter of time before the disease ravishes him too.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;">Romantic relationships? <i>Who in their right mind would start one knowing it would end in Alzheimers?</i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;">But then along comes Erin, the woman whom he knew as a girl and who might challenge everything he thought he knew about being in love...</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;">Pets? <i>Only if you count the mice he injects with the "cure" he has discovered....</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;">Close friendships? <i>Who has the time to get close to anyone when one is trying to save his own life?</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;">This is the story of a man who is set to begin human trials of a revolutionary new cure for Alzheimer's, a cure which will never reach humanity if Copeland doesn't figure out what happened with the mouse who apparently died from the cure, who is blocking his research and how, and who is after his job? Are they all the same person? What are their motives? And just what is he supposed to do with the beguiling woman who won't leave his thoughts?</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;">Gosh, I loved this book. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;">I loved it because it was set in the modern world (I've read a lot of mythical stuff lately, as well as a decent amount of dystopian futures) and the characters feel like real people I might meet in a real coffee shop or hospital. They are human, fragile, running from their own personal demons, fallible, and determined to reach specific goals. They behave in ways that make sense according to their unique personalities, rather than in ways that simply serve the author's purposes. They refuse to be defined easily.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;">I loved it because it has roots in psychology, which was my major in college and is one of my continuing passions. Yet it's psychological roots were balanced with medical roots as well (not one or the other, as so often happens in fiction that deals with a condition of some sort). These medical roots were clearly laid out by an author who has a real-world grasp of medicine and so made inherent sense and was true to science. This is important! I've read stories with medical aspects where it is clear the author is a novice trying to make sense of the the medical terms they're researching for their story. Not so here. Palmieri is an actual doctor and the medical writing here is spot-on. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;">I loved it because we so often hear on the news "This doctor from this place is starting human trials for medicine designed to address this condition...." and here we have a story of what went behind a trial. Granted, the trial is fictional, but it is good to remember that behind every drug that ever went to human trials, there were humans trying to figure out a disease. Humans with motivations and mental struggles all their own. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;">I loved it because it has a super complex and intriguing plot that is rather unpredictable, engaging, and quite a whirlwind. I needed to know what happened next....lost a bit of sleep while reading this book. : )</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;">I loved it because psychology and medicine are all wrapped together with and ethical debate that unfolds within these pages. What are the ethics of conducting trials of an experimental drug on humans? What are the ethics of leaving thousands of families to suffer the effects of Alzheimer's? <i>What would your ethics demand if you were close to a cure that could help millions, including yourself (possibly....but you'll have to read the book to see why I said that), but everything was inexplicably standing in your way?</i></span></span><br />
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<b><i style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;">The Bugly (bad/ugly)</span></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;">Two significant issues caused this book to lose a star: </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;">1) Characters sound too much like one another. Regular readers of my blog know this is one of my pet peeves. Yes yes yes, I get that many of these characters are highly educated individuals who would have traveled in high academic circles with the same kinds of speech patterns. Truly, I get that. It just bugs me when characters sound too similar to one another, particularly when conversational scenes don't contain many of the "he said, she said, then he said" kind of identifiers that show you clearly who is speaking. Many scenes here confused the bugger out of me as I tried to figure out who was saying what. They needed more identifiers to show who was talking. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;">2) Too. Much. Detail. Okay, I get that a certain amount of detail is necessary for medical explanations and processes to make sense. The problem is that I get so stuck in the minutia of some of the scenes that it felt like my brain was stuck in a slog of information. Maybe I was just looking for too much story around the details, but every medical thing was explained in far too much detail. Don't worry, I have the same complaint about <i>Lord of the Rings </i>and some of the battle scenes. Detail is good. Too much detail is difficult. </span></span></div>
Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16945796233161285793noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609483682620368953.post-20091645361804051842014-03-28T01:00:00.000-07:002014-03-28T01:00:04.706-07:00TOP 10 LIST: "Across the Wire" by Stella Telleria (Xpresso Book Tours)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><i><u><span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">BLURB</span></u></i></b><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;">When Mia Mitchell, a hardcore but lonely former Marine, steps into an alley to pull some thugs off an unlucky foreigner, she walks into a fight she expects. What she doesn’t see coming is the foreigner making her a job offer any sane person would refuse. So, she takes it. She thinks she’s headed for some third-world country; instead she’s mysteriously transported to an Earth-like parallel world. That’s a mad left-hook.<br />Mia discovers a matriarchal dystopia where freedom doesn’t exist and fighting for it means execution. Lethal force bends all to the law; women fear for their families and un-wed men suffer slavery. Mia’s job is to train an underground syndicate of male freedom-fighters for a violent revolution. However, the guys don’t want a pair of X chromosomes showing them the way.<br /><br />Eben, an escaped slave, is encouraged by Mia to become a leader among the men. But when he turns his quiet determination on her, it spells F.U.B.A.R. for cynical Mia. Their unexpected connection threatens more than her exit strategy; it threatens the power struggle festering with in the syndicate.<br /><br />Haunted by nightmares and post-traumatic stress, unsure who to trust or how to get home, Mia struggles to stay alive as she realizes all is not what it seems.<br /><br /><i>Across the Wire by Stella Telleria<br />Publication date: November 4th 2013<br />Genres: Adult, Science Fiction</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18752667-across-the-wire?ac=1">GOODREADS</a> * <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Across-Wire-The-Male-Amendment-ebook/dp/B00GEUMY0E/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&qid=1383603440&sr=8-22&keywords=across+the+wire">AMAZON</a> * <a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/374686">SMASHWORDS</a> * <a href="http://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/books/Across-the-Wire/MLkkgY2PS0yPGzgUSiqGYw">KOBO</a> * <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/across-the-wire/id744701176?mt=11"> iTUNES</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh80LOtWO4BZbJsMihmwHapVgWekRcXFq7JX9A20aA-M5p-29AT0eOEzazbotym7lzpZvzgyRU7tTX9YSCbmcTkFrDCHx8A7yvzf_xDrGy45wVrWT6T_jX7oSO4GBs9YrDx1UvfeW1MC70e/s1600/Stella.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; color: #222222; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh80LOtWO4BZbJsMihmwHapVgWekRcXFq7JX9A20aA-M5p-29AT0eOEzazbotym7lzpZvzgyRU7tTX9YSCbmcTkFrDCHx8A7yvzf_xDrGy45wVrWT6T_jX7oSO4GBs9YrDx1UvfeW1MC70e/s1600/Stella.png" height="212" width="320" /></span></a><span style="background-color: black; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><b><i><u><span style="font-size: large;">ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Stella Telleria</span></u></i></b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh80LOtWO4BZbJsMihmwHapVgWekRcXFq7JX9A20aA-M5p-29AT0eOEzazbotym7lzpZvzgyRU7tTX9YSCbmcTkFrDCHx8A7yvzf_xDrGy45wVrWT6T_jX7oSO4GBs9YrDx1UvfeW1MC70e/s1600/Stella.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"></a><br />"All my life I’ve dreamed of stories or have had my nose buried in one. I live in Edmonton, Canada with my husband and my weird sense of humor. <i>Across the Wire</i> is my first novel.<br /><br />I love old war movies, dystopian fiction, and any story with action, a good plot, and characters I'd get into a fight at the pub for. Not that I'm a brawler or anything. Unless you think that out-of-print book or vintage piece at the thrift shop is going home with you instead of me. Then, my friend, the gloves are off.<br /><br />Some say if you have your nose buried in a book, you're missing out on life. I say my nose is buried in a book because one life is not enough."</span><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br /><br /><a href="http://www.stellatelleria.com/">WEBSITE</a> * <a href="https://twitter.com/Stellatelleria">TWITTER</a> * <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stella-Telleria/618003478260798">FACEBOOK</a> * <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7373984.Stella_Telleria">GOODREADS</a> * <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCip7UJkvhGEwRp-Y8TGYtxg?feature=watch">YOUTUBE</a></span><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitX0Wd8U-1guEVCttgGuWKVXMxgXgaYf-zXv16AyzEsjU7O8_mCsmI82T8EpZ-6jUs729aI7GpQpnWIFieTRWvlrCDgba_1VNsdYds9Dnv13IKdRDPe1PEAc6u9pGuaboLUTMlKWGr4oJh/s1600/AcrosstheWireTourBanner.png" imageanchor="1" style="color: #222222; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitX0Wd8U-1guEVCttgGuWKVXMxgXgaYf-zXv16AyzEsjU7O8_mCsmI82T8EpZ-6jUs729aI7GpQpnWIFieTRWvlrCDgba_1VNsdYds9Dnv13IKdRDPe1PEAc6u9pGuaboLUTMlKWGr4oJh/s1600/AcrosstheWireTourBanner.png" height="236" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d9d2e9; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><i><u style="background-color: black;">10 things I wish
every aspiring writer would know - by Stella Telleria</u></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9d2e9; font-family: inherit;">"I can only speak to
this from my experience and hope it helps others out there. Good luck
my intrepid writing friends!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9d2e9; font-family: inherit;">Make a writing
goal for yourself on a daily basis, or whenever you can sit down to
write. Try to never stop for the day until you meet or exceed this
goal be it two pages or two chapters.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9d2e9; font-family: inherit;">Just get the story
out of your head in the beginning. Don’t worry if you don’t know
exactly how all your plot points will connect. Some like to have a
very detailed plan, others like to fly by the seat of their pants.
Don’t worry about how others do it (the writing process) just do
what works for you. Just write.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9d2e9; font-family: inherit;">In conjunction
with #2, realize that all first drafts should never see the light of
day. You will be super excited when you finish writing your first
draft, as you should be. You will want to show everyone you know
what you have written. Fight this urge like you would if someone
asked you to pull their finger. Nothing good can come from it and if
your curiosity wins out you will regret it.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9d2e9; font-family: inherit;">Revisions, for
most writers, makes up 80-90% of the writing process/time. If you
don’t have trusted beta readers or writing partners, you need to
find some. I repeat—you need to find some. You can pay for an
editor, but I think this is only something you should do once you
believe you have gotten your manuscript into the best possible shape
you can. I’m talking after revision nine or ten. I’m being
totally serious.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9d2e9; font-family: inherit;">A great writer’s
resource I found online is Critique Circle. This is a free site where
writers critique each other’s works. I’ve found some great writer
friends and have learned so much from critiquing other’s works and
looking out for the same things in my own writing.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9d2e9; font-family: inherit;">Reading writing
books can help, but don’t go overboard.
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9d2e9; font-family: inherit;">My favourites:
</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9d2e9; font-family: inherit;">Stephan King- On
Writing: A Memoir of the Craft</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9d2e9; font-family: inherit;">William Strunk Jr.
and E.B. White- The Elements of Style</span></div>
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<li><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9d2e9; font-family: inherit;">You have to
develop a thick skin. You have to be comfortable with people judging
your writing, your characters, your story, and you. Don’t take it
personally. The majority of comments are not personal attacks on
you, and when you realize this you will be able to do the most
important thing—objectively consider the criticism you receive.
You cannot and should not change everything anyone comments on. You
have to sort through the advice and decide what rings true.
Sometimes realizing what’s true means a rewrite, or writing an
extra chapter, or cutting a few chapters. If it is going to make
your novel better, more compelling, or stronger, you need to do it
even if it hurts. Sometimes you have to murder your darlings.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9d2e9; font-family: inherit;">Writing is not
pretty, it’s hard work. Just when you think you’ve revised
something for the last time you’ll just figure out you need to do
a rewrite.</span></div>
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<li><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9d2e9; font-family: inherit;">Be ready for
rejection and a lot of it. Professionals are just amateurs who never
gave up.</span></div>
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<li><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9d2e9; font-family: inherit;">Be realistic. Not
everyone is going to love your work. This is about as impossible as
birthing a unicorn who does Gangnam style in a tutu. Not likely.
This is a feat unattainable by even the greatest of authors and the
most critically acclaimed works. Don’t hold yourself to it.</span></div>
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<li><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9d2e9; font-family: inherit;">Write what you
love not what you think will sell. I’d rather squander all my free
time over the next ten years and be known for work I feel
passionately about than work I feel apathetic for. Being original is
more important than imitating what has been successful.</span></div>
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<li><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: #d9d2e9; font-family: inherit;">You have to know
when to stop revising. When to stick a fork in it and declare it
done. This was difficult for me. I could have continued to revise
for years. After nine revisions and a major rewrite, I decided I was
finished working on <span style="font-size: small;"><i>Across
the Wire</i></span>.
Could I have made it better? Maybe. But I really felt it was time to
set the story free. To let go and have it stand on its own feet. I
had to stop hovering and realize at a point it is simply out of my
hands. That was a scary and liberating moment."</span></div>
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