Follow Friday

Q. Do you have a favorite series that you read over and over again? Tell us a bit about it and why you keep on revisiting it?

 

For me it has to be the Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum series. Although book 17 left me sorely disappointed, the early books were a riot. If I'm having a bad week or just need something light and frivolous to read, Evanovich delivers. With crazy characters (some of which vaguely resemble my own family) and outlandish misadventures, it's hard not to appeciate the series.

Another reread for me (as I suspect it is for many bloggers) is Harry Potter. I enjoy reading the books again before seeing the movies to refresh my memory and give myself a better basis of comparison! And while the movies are generally pretty true to the books, they'll never be a replacement!

Calling It Quits

I can't remember the last time I didn't finish a book. Maybe that's because it's never happened. To be fair, I'm not sure either way. If there was a book I didn't finish (and there probably was), it was so lackluster that I don't even remember it. So this week was a first of sorts for me. A friend lent me a book by an author whose previous works I did enjoy, and while the premise of the books was interesting, I only got about 1/3 of the way through before putting it down and saying enough.

Why couldn't I finish the book? For starters, it was depressing. I knew it was going to tug at my heart strings a little, but I was still expecting a little levity-- or something to offset the negativity. Another thing that kept me from really connecting with the story was the lack of actual action (and interaction). The main character was retelling the story so everything was colored by her perspective and left me unable to connect with the other characters in the book. I won't say it was a bad book. It just wasn't for me.

Sure, there's a part of me that is curious about the ending, but not curious enough to forge ahead. With piles of good books out there, I just don't have the energy to force myself to read to the end.  It makes me wonder though, how many readers drop a book without finishing and more so, how many finish books they wish they hadn't? I'm the kind of person who never wants to quit and generally feels obligated to finish anything that I start so this is kind of a new experience for me. (The good news is that there isn't exactly a librarian breathing down my neck waiting to slap my hands with a ruler for being a quitter!)

Maybe if I were to stick it out, I'd be pleasantly surprised, but as a writer I'm not sure I'd want a reader to keep going if they weren't really interested in the story. I can't imagine anything worse than getting to the end and disliking the book even more. (Yes. I think this might be worse than getting a DNF rating). And frankly, I'd want my readers to be in love (or least engaged in) the story. I'm a realist. There may be a reader for every book, but not every book is for all readers.

Review: The First Days



DESCRIPTION

The morning that the world ends, Katie is getting ready for court and housewife Jenni is taking care of her family. Less than two hours later, they are fleeing for their lives from a zombie horde.

Thrown together by circumstance, Jenni and Katie become a powerful zombie-killing partnership, mowing down zombies as they rescue Jenni's stepson, Jason, from an infected campground.

They find sanctuary in a tiny, roughly fortified Texas town.  There Jenni and Katie find they are both attracted to Travis, leader of the survivors; and the refugees must slaughter people they know, who have returned in zombie form. .

REVIEW

Here’s the thing…. I’m a zombie lover at heart. My favorite movie of all time is Resident Evil and one of the few movies I’ve actually purchased in the last couple of years was Zombieland. So I was probably predisposed to loving this book. It’s even possible that I am also so desensitized to the walking dead that the haunting opening didn’t exactly phase me. It actually made me sit up and say ‘YES!’ because it felt authentic.

Frater opens the tale with a heart-wrenching scene: little toddler zombie fingers clawing frantically under the door in an attempt to reach the intended prey. Imagine your own child a zombie monster, hungry to devour your flesh. Gruesome. Painful. Shocking. This is how Jenni’s day starts. As her world falls to pieces and she slips into shock, Jenni is rescued by Katie, another survivor of the zombie apocalypse. Like Jenni, in a few short hours Katie’s lost all she holds dear. The world around them is changing at a breakneck pace and the women quickly realize they have two options: adapt or die. Chance may have thrown these women together, but they make an amazing team and the bond between them quickly grows to be iron tight. It’s this relationship that made the book for me. Katie and Jenni complement one another and are a force to be reckoned with.

The First Days is an edge of your seat, action-packed thrill ride. I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next. At the same time, the characters were well developed and their stories were so compelling that putting this book down was not an option. I had expected an action junkies dream in The First Days, but was pleased to discover that the story was so much more. These characters had to deal not only with the end of the world, but with their own personal baggage which included everything from grief, guilt, and the social stigmas of a world left behind to killing without a moments’ hesitation.

Jenni and Katie’s toughness is balanced with compassion, although it is not always evident and there are more than a few times where it seems Jenni might have become completely unhinged. Still, it’s impossible not to want to see these women overcome and flourish in the new world, assuming they can survive. The First Days is wrought with heartache and pain, but there are also moments of great humanity. After all, life must go on.

My biggest disappointment? Book two, Fighting to Survive, won’t be released until November 5, 2011.

Follow Friday

Q. If you could change the ending of any book (or series), which book would you choose? Why and to what?

I would absolutely change the ending to The Hunger Games. I was disappointed that Katniss basically retired into obsolescence living back in the district with Peeta and raising children. In some ways, I got it, but overall, it just left me wanting more for her. She'd been through so much and inspired so many that it was difficult to accept such a quiet ending to the tale. It made me feel that her spirit really had been broken.

Given the choice, I would have liked to see her take on a greater role in reshaping the Capitol. Katniss wasn't  quiter and returning to District 12 smacked of retreat. I also would have kept Gale in her life (as a friend) despite the obvious changes that severed their friendship. While Peeta was absolutely the right companion to balance her, Gale would have kept the spark alive!

Review: Jenny Pox by JL Bryan

DESCRIPTION

Jenny's touch spreads a deadly supernatural plague. She can't control her power, so she devotes her life to avoiding contact with other people in her small Southern town. Her senior year of high school, she meets the one boy she can touch...but if she's going to be with him, Jenny must learn to use the horrific power inside her to survive his devious, manipulative girlfriend, who secretly wields the most dangerous power of all.

REVIEW

First, let me just say this book is not for the faint of heart, the weak stomached, or anyone under the age of eighteen. And I loved every page of it. I was a little hesitant about Jenny Pox initially, but decided to give it a try. And while the gory descriptions of the Jenny Pox tried my gag reflex, it was well worth the $2.99 price tag.

I thought I might have difficulty connecting to Jenny in the beginning (she’s just a little more country than I was prepared to handle with her perpetual use of the word aint’t) but it didn’t take long to fall under her spell. Maybe I didn’t quite feel Jenny’s pain (how could I possibly?), but I empathized. JL Bryan painted an image of a life so lonely and isolated that Jenny was unable to even pet her own dog without killing him. When I think of all the conscious and unconscious contact I go through in a single day, it’s inconceivable to go one day, let alone a lifetime, without a hug, a hand to hold, or a shoulder to lean on. And even though Jenny’s touch was lethal, she was the underdog. Always an outcast, always a loser, it was impossible not to want to see her triumph over a small town determined to see her beat down.

When Jenny meets Seth, the only person in the world she can safely touch, you just know they’re meant to be together, two parts of the same whole. Soul mates even. Too bad Seth’s girlfriend Ashleigh has different plans. And Ashleigh’s not exactly the kind of girl who’s used to hearing the word ‘no’. As Jenny struggles to find the courage to pursue a relationship with Seth and her own happiness, it quickly becomes apparent that Ashleigh will stop at nothing to get what she wants. (This is where the manipulation, gratuitous sex, and all out evil come into play. But I’ll let you find out about that for yourself!) While I loved the paranormal aspect of the book and the uniqueness of the story, what I enjoyed most was watching Jenny grow from sheltered and insecure to a strong and confident young woman willing to fight for what she wants.

This book has it all: teen angst, young love, insurmountable odds, sex, death, revenge. All set perfectly in the heart of small town America. You name it, JL Bryan’s worked it in. And work it does. I can’t wait to get my hands on book two, Tommy Nightmare! What can I say? I'm a sucker for indie writers. And underdogs.

Review: Daimon

 

DESCRIPTION

 For three years, Alexandria has lived among mortals—pretending to be like them and trying to forget the duty she'd been trained to fulfill as a child of a mortal and a demigod. At seventeen, she's pretty much accepted that she's a freak by mortal standards... and that she'll never be prepared for that duty.

According to her mother, that’s a good thing.

But as every descendant of the gods knows, Fate has a way of rearing her ugly head. A horrifying attack forces Alex to flee Miami and try to find her way back to the very place her mother had warned her she should never return—the Covenant. Every step that brings her closer to safety is one more step toward death… because she's being hunted by the very creatures she'd once trained to kill.

The daimons have found her.

REVIEW

Daimon (pronounced demon) opens with Alex struggling to be a normal teenager. Ripped from the only world she knew growing up, the years haven’t healed old wounds and Alex isn’t exactly that interested in fitting in with mortals. Besides, she has way too much attitude and a kickass fighting style that’s hard to reign in. It’s hard not to like Alex from the start (even though she uses oddly masculine phrases like ‘It’s on like Donkey Kong) because although she’s tough, she’s got a hopeful spirit and suffers from the same insecurities of any teenager – mortal or otherwise. She’s got bad taste in boys, a hopeless crush, and chores she’ll never get around to doing. Alex also possesses the inherent spirit of a survivor that you just have to admire.

Daimon is the prequel to Half-Blood which is scheduled for release in October and my first novella. I picked it up on my Kindle for $0.99 and at 86 pages it’s a quick, action packed read. I got a taste, but it definitely left me wanting more. If the cover wasn’t enough to draw me in (how lovely is it???), the early reviews of Half-Blood posted by other bloggers did the trick. It’s fair to say that this isn’t my usual read and I don’t think I’ve been exposed to gods and mythology since my seventh grade lit class, but that was part of the attraction. Daimon was different. Mythology, mystery, action, a notable lack of vampires and werewolves. Seriously though, Daimon laid the groundwork for the Hematoi world and I can’t wait to learn more about the descendants of the gods or the Covenant.

The countdown is on for Half-Blood and October 18^th can’t get here soon enough!

Follow Friday



Q. If you could write yourself a part in a book, what book would it be and what role would you play in that book?

Given the opportunity, I'd write myself into The Secret Circle. I read the series growing up and fell in love with the story and the main character, Cassie. L.J. Smith's tale of witchcraft was a different world for me and I have to be honest and admit that the love story between Cassie and Adam had me on the edge of my seat. I remember not being able to get through the books fast enough!

So aside from the obvious benefit of magical powers, I guess I'd like to see what choices I'd make when confronted with such terrifying power and choosing between good and evil. Not to mention choosing between friendship and true love.

I heard the CW is going to be launching a TV series soon. Maybe I'll watch, but then again, maybe not. Hollywood has a way of diminishing great stories sometimes.

Happy Friday!