AfterLife

AfterLife

by S.P. Cloward 

AfterLife, by S. P. Cloward, is the first in a series of books about the Mortui. Even those who hate Science Fiction love AfterLife, an action-packed, fast-paced thriller that crosses genres to grip the imaginations of readers from 16 to 60. Described as "believable fiction," you will find yourself rooting for Wes and AfterLife.
Prior to recorded history, a small genetic mutation occurred that created this race now found among every civilization in every corner of the globe. Unrecognizable to the rest of mankind but dependent upon them for survival, this race is known as Mortui; those whose spirits do not sever from their bodies when they die. They are not zombies, but they are the source of all living dead legends.
“You living beings have an instinctual knowledge of our existence. Why do you think people are afraid to look into the eyes of strangers, or avoid the gazes of those they pass? It comes from an intuitive need to protect yourselves from us."
At the time of his premature death, Wesley Lohmann discovers he belongs to this select group. “You aren’t a zombie. Zombies are bodies without a soul, and such a thing can’t really exist. Your soul still resides in your body; it’s just not a living body as you think of one.” 
Wes joins in the impending conflict between two rival organizations; AfterLife, determined to co-exist symbiotically with humans, and The Atumra, a Mortui organization headed by Seth that focuses on the domination and subjection of the living. 
"Seth remained in his seat, pleased by his successful hunt and reveling in the physical sensations he always felt when he was finished. His victim sat lifeless on the other side of the train and Seth knew it could be hours before anyone realized she was dead. He had looked into her soul and seen her hopes for a rich and full life, yet he had squashed her pathetic dreams and life without a second thought. The image of her body riding the train for hours caused him to smile. He had fed on her in public and not a single person in that car knew he had done it. He truly was the superior species – a Mortui, and thus, a god."
As Wes struggles with new and past relationships and tries to find meaning for his continued existence, he discovers within himself the ability and heart to tip the balance in favor of those who want to deal harmoniously with mankind.

This was yet another review request. I thank you sincerely, Deb Cloward for reading my blog, requesting the review and bringing this lovely read to my attention! 

Oh where to begin? First off, complements to S.P. Cloward for the sheer originality of this book. The idea of Mortui was completely new to me and that kept me interested. The writing was simple and painted the vivid images in your mind. The book was realistic enough that you could relate to it and find the situation to be believable or possible but fictional enough to keep that element that drew the YA fiction audience in to begin with. 

Now I am going to address the problems I had with this book. One problem I had was, that the main character Wesley was rather boring and underdeveloped. He didn't grow much other than a nearly immediate change from depressed to not as soon as he dies. Also, there was nothing bad about him post death, and his post death life was most of the book. He was too perfect, no one is that perfect so, it was very hard to relate to him and connect with him. I felt like this was true with many of the characters throughout the book. Even the antagonists or "bad guys," only instead of being flawless, they only had flaws, there was nothing good about them, again making them unrelatable and unrealistic. The other problem I had was with the pace of the books plot. It was going at a reasonable pace for quite a while then for about the last quarter of the book it suddenly moved at lightning speed and everything important happened in the blink of an eye compared to everything else. 

This book was solid and a good read despite having a few problems in my opinion. I thin that many people would enjoy this book. I would not recomend it for anyone younger than about 12 or so (depending on maturity) just because of some of the things that Wesley did in his depressed state at the beginning. I think that any gender and any age about 12+ years would enjoy this book. I give it a solid 3.5 out of 5 stars. 

Briana

Arabelle's Shadows

Arabelle's Shadows

by Fleur Gaskin

Everything in Arabelle's life is coming together. She has confidence, great friends, she's even dating Naak, a wealthy Thai socialite. But there are too many models in Bangkok. Arabelle’s broke, she can’t find an agent in New York, and Naak isn’t as wonderful as he first appears. Slowly the Shadows creep back into Arabelle’s mind, bringing with them thoughts of hopelessness and despair. The vile Shadows know something Arabelle’s refusing to remember and, if she’s not careful, they’ll use it to destroy her. Based on a true story, Arabelle’s Shadows takes us on a journey through the struggles of growing up, not quite making it as an international model, and attempting to overcome a crushing depression.

The lovely author of this interesting piece requested I review it a while back and now I have read it, thought about it and am now finally posting a review about it. So thank you Fleur, for the request. 

Upon reading the synopsis the first thought to pop into my mind was, "This is so, so, so, very not what I usually read. This should be quite the adventure." And well I was right. It was out of my usual reading spectrum and comfort zone and it was quite the adventure. While I am glad to have read it and taken that step into the adventurous and cold, unknown world outside my cozy genres and reading comfort zone. I did not like this book and I am quite sure that I will not be venturing out into this sector of genre outside of my comfort zone.  I mean no offence to the readers and writers and lovers of such genre but I only wish to establish that I do not find enjoyment in such books and that is just the way I am. 

The very first thing that struck me when I began reading this book was the fact that while it was written in journal form I was not forming any sort of attachment or connection with the character or characters as I usually do. I had started out hoping that maybe as I read on I would but I quickly gave up all hope in that area as I never did. I felt that the journal perspective should make readers connect on a deep and emotional level with the character but, this wasn't happening with me and that deeply irritated me. 

Another strange thing about me personally, one of my biggest pet peeves is self-pity and wallowing. I am one of those annoyingly rational people that will listen to you and feel sympathy and offer advice when you come crying to me about your unfortunate situations and problems but eventually I reach a point where I want to just turn to you and say, "suck it up butter cup! We all have issues! Dwelling, wallowing and feeling sorry for yourself is not helping!" So naturally I felt no love for Arabelle, who is depressed and with the plot line of the book, spends nearly every precious word of the story complaining, feeling depressed, and sorry for herself. This might have also been a factor in my not feeling attached to her, other characters, or the story. I read something in a book about writing called The Fire in Fiction, where the author gives advice on writing and building characters that have lots of "baggage" or issues such as Arabelle.  The author, Donald Maass, tells his readers that they need to make sure that their character, laden with such a large burden or large number of burdens such as Arabelle, has some characteristic or that the story itself supplies the reader with something that makes them want to support the character. Some reason for the readers to want them to overcome their obstacles. Arabelle had no such characteristic and the story supplied no such thing so I was left board, distanced and annoyed. 

On to character development, now this I had great hopes for because the situation and story-line gave so much potential for truly fantastic character development. However, I was disappointed to find that it was not fantastic. It happened so slowly you barely noticed it was happening and then BOOM! All of the sudden at the end she was like a whole new person and suddenly she was just growing and developing out of nowhere! Like a miracle from God above! You could suddenly see her developing and growing by leaps and bounds with every word! The unevenness and just the bad way the character development was handled also greatly irritated me. 

I did not like this book. However, I do believe that there is a certain pool of people that would and do enjoy this group. I am simply not part of that pool. I give this book one star. 

Briana

I'm Back!

Oh my goodness it has been far too long since I have been present in this little mini sector of the blogging world and I feel awful.  Truly,  I feel like I am a horrible person. So I am so so so sorry things fell so far behind! No reviews, no interviews, no news, no dares, nothing! I haven't even been writing or reading on my own! I know there is no way to make up for it so I'm not going to try and I'm not going to make promises or anything I am just going to try to do better and get back up on this blogging horse, train or whatever. To start this off is a dare for y'all. I dare y'all to create your own playlist to a book you are currently reading or to a story you are currently writing and let me know what it is. Also, post a comment with a quote from a book that includes the most fantabulous imagery you have ever read. (I know fantabulous isn't a word but hey we are all allowed to have some word fun right?!)
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Now on an entirely different topic here finally is my short story from a weekly dare that I posted. Enjoy, or not it is entirely a personal preference and is totally up to you. I mean we all have our freedoms and opinions, right? http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/0900486/1171761/

Briana

Lat Minuet News!

Hey readers of the undead genre this is super super last minute but tonight is the last night to get the book AfterLife by S.P. Cloward.

AfterLife Synopsis

AfterLife, by S. P. Cloward, is the first in a series of books about the Mortui. Even those who hate Science Fiction love AfterLife, an action-packed, fast-paced thriller that crosses genres to grip the imaginations of readers from 16 to 60. Described as "believable fiction," you will find yourself rooting for Wes and AfterLife. Prior to recorded history, a small genetic mutation occurred that created this race now found among every civilization in every corner of the globe. Unrecognizable to the rest of mankind but dependent upon them for survival, this race is known as Mortui; those whose spirits do not sever from their bodies when they die. They are not zombies, but are the source of all living dead legends. “You living beings have an instinctual knowledge of our existence. Why do you think people are afraid to look into the eyes of strangers, or avoid the gazes of those they pass? It comes from an intuitive need to protect yourselves from us." At the time of his premature death, Wesley Lohmann discovers he belongs to this select group. “You aren’t a zombie. Zombies are bodies without a soul, and such a thing can’t really exist. Your soul still resides in your body; it’s just not a living body as you think of one.” Wes joins in the impending conflict between two rival organizations; AfterLife, determined to co-exist symbiotically with humans, and The Atumra, a Mortui organization focused on the domination and subjection of the living. As Wes struggles with new and past relationships and tries to find meaning for his continued existence, he discovers within himself the ability and heart to tip the balance in favor of those who want to deal harmoniously with mankind.

Briana

Pushing The Limits

Pushing The Limits

by Katie McGarry

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.

Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

  

Here it is! The review for Pushing The Limits! As I said in this week’s dare I have never read straight up, realistic, romance novels which, is strange now that I think about it since I am currently writing just that. It freaked me out just a little when I finished it the fact that I had just gone against every fiber of my reading being by reading the one genre I had promised myself I would never read let alone enjoy because the girls that are obsessed with all of those cheesy romance novels and are constantly swooning over the characters drive me out of my mind, and I was not about to be like them. Yet here I am reviewing a romance novel and totally swooning over it. Pushing The Limits was great I loved it every last word of it. The plot was tastefully done, filled with just enough twists and turns but not so much that you got bored. The characters, well, you just can't help but love them. Echo's tragic story tugs at your heart strings while her strong personality and social problems make it so that the reader can still relate to her despite her not so relate-able situation. Noah is much the same although his personality doesn't immediately win you over like Echo's probably because you don't really see his true personality until later on in the book because he keeps his "guard," so to speak, up. It was beautiful to see Echo and Noah develop, learn to love. In addition, probably my favorite development/transformation, was Echo *spoiler alert* eventually finding the courage to bear her scars for all to see despite what it may do to her social status and the storm of rumors and harsh words that the sight of her scars would cause. Sorry for the spoiler I really try not to put any in but I just couldn't help that one. McGarry's writing style impressed me not because of it's intricacy or detail or anything but rather the way that it allowed the story to take over and breathed life into it, so that the focus was not on the words itself but on the intricate story that they wove. Pushing The Limits was a great read over all and I would definitely recommend it to teen girls and readers that are into this kind of genre. I give it a solid 3.5 out of 5 stars. 

Briana

 

This week I dare you to...

This week's dare is a little different than the usual dares. This week your dare is relating to writing rather than reading. This week I dare you to write a short story of your very own about anything you want. Then if you want I would be happy to post any of them that ya'll choose to share. So good luck and happy writing!

Briana

This Weeks Reading Dare!

This week’s dare isn't too difficult or scary for most but for those of us readers who are loyal to one genre and steadfastly and obstinately refuse to ever set foot in one or more other genres this will be terrifying. I dare you to read at least one book of a different genre than you normally read. If you are feeling particularly daring I urge you to read one from genre you absolutely loath. I actually already completed this one the other day by reading Pushing The Limits by Katie McGarry, a straight up romance novel and the first romance novel I have ever read. You'll have to wait for my review to see what I thought of that daring little adventure! Meanwhile I want to hear how your out of genre read went so, leave a comment telling me all about your literary adventure!

Briana