Vengeance Road!

There really isn't enough words in the English language to describe how amazingly wonderful VENGEANCE ROAD is. Full of action, intriguing characters, and a setting straight out of the past, this book was fun to read from beginning to end. I started and finished it in one sitting, and it left me wanting more! (Although, if you're looking for a great standalone, pick this up! As much as I love a good series, sometimes, you just need a story told and wrapped up in one book. VENGEANCE ROAD does that beautifully!)

Without giving any spoilers (because that's never any fun!) the premise is about an eighteen-year old girl who seeks revenge against the Rose Riders, who ruthlessly murdered her father for his mysterious journal. Along her path, she meets the rough-around-the-edges good guys, Will and Jesse Colton. Agreeing to assist her, hoping to find gold in the wild west of Arizona in 1877 (a very dangerous job, indeed, during that time period!) While under the blazing west sun on her trusty old mare Silver, Kate will stop at nothing to avenge her father's death, knowing it could mean her own in return.

Like I said earlier, I can't say enough good things about this book! I was intrigued from the get-go. Westerns in YA are rare, and this is just the book YA needs! 

Also, isn't the cover simply stunning?!

The Cast of VENGEANCE ROAD by Erin Bowman!

It's no secret that I'm beyond excited for the fabulous Erin Bowman's new YA Western (Yes!  YA Western!) this fall.  A little over a week ago, she introduced the main players of VENGEANCE ROAD over on her wonderful Tumblr page.  Here's a little sneak peek...but go over to her tumblr for all the great info!  And don't forget: VENGEANCE ROAD will be available

 September 1st! 

http://erinbowman.tumblr.com/

*all of these beautiful images are courtesy and property of http://erinbowman.tumblr.com/

Favorite YA covers of 2014!

A Year Later...

Wow! I can't believe it's been a year since my last post. Yeah, I'm a terrible blogger.  But hopefully this can fix itself, thanks to a new computer and hopefully better internet at home :-)

So, a lot has happened in the past year. I've met many great authors, including Alexander Gordon Smith, Josh Malerman, Leigh Bardugo, and the amazing Anne Rice and son Christopher.  I've also read countless fabulous books and this summer was a good season for great reads. Now, I didn't read as many as I'd hoped to, but the ones I managed to squeeze in were fabulous.  I'll have to say that my favorite read over the summer was COMPLICIT by Stephanie Khuen.  Talk about a mind twist of a tale! Such great characters with dark depth!  And that ending! THAT ENDING! I can't say anymore without giving some of it away, so do yourself a favor and grab a copy now!

With fall in season now, there are so many great things to look forward to. Pumpkins! Halloween! Cool weather! Fall book releases! (I could definitely do without the allergies and sinus infections, thank you.). But before I can enjoy any of that, I must catch up on my TBR pile, which includes Susan Dennard's STRANGE AND EVER AFTER, Leigh Bardugo's  SIEGE AND STORM and Stephen King's MR. MERCEDES (I hate that I haven't had time to finish this yet! Argh!!!)

Enjoy fall and all the fun to come!!

Something Strange and Deadly: Book Club Discussion #4

It's hard to imagine that this is the final week of Susan Dennard's SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY book club.  It kinda makes me feel a little like this:

 

hehehe...minions...

But now, it's on to this week's question, the final question:

 “‘Eleanor, you have a choice,’ [Jie] said softly. ‘You always have a choice’” (p. 166, Something Strange & Deadly)

How do you think this quote relates to the overall theme of Something Strange and Deadly? Do you think Eleanor behaves as if she has a choice at the start of the book? What about at the end of the book? And do other characters behave as if they have a choice or do some see themselves as victims of circumstance? 

"You always have a choice" could've been the subtitle to SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY.  Every character, from Eleanor to Daniel, and Clarence to Elijah, all had choices of how they would continue their lives.  Whether they wanted the end results, each made their own decisions and dealt with the consequences.

At the beginning of the book, Eleanor had very little choice in how she could live her life.  With no family other than her mother (and no sight of Elijah anywhere), Eleanor must've felt like nothing she would ever do would matter, that her mother and society would always govern her life.  She was absolutely a victim of the era of which she lived.  It was when she met the rag-tag band of the Spirit-Hunters that Eleanor's life did a complete 180.  For the first time in her life, she saw a group of people who made their own decisions, who decided how they would live their lives, who didn't care what society thought of them.  Their strong-will and determination lit a fire in Eleanor that had been stirring far within her, and allowed her to believe in herself and her own future.  Even though at the end of the book, she bid farewell to her new group of friends, she knew she would never be the same person, that she finally had a choice, a say, in how her life could be lead.
The Spirit-Hunters were unlike any other characters in the book.  Although Joseph, Jie and Daniel had widely different personalities and backgrounds, each had a common trait: choice of mind.  Joseph, the strong-minded leader, allowed nothing to stand in his way.  Jie,(my favorite character in the series!) the strong girl who never believed she couldn't do anything a man could do while remaining true to herself in the process.  And Daniel, the lone-wolf who finally found his pack and never looked back.  All three chose what they believed to be best for themselves and for the people of Philadelphia.  Sure, they could've easily packed up their inventions and headed to safer places, but they chose to stay and help, fighting the living dead, with no respect for their goodwill.  But none of them did what they did for accolades, instead they chose to follow their hearts and beliefs.  And that's what, I believe, changed Eleanor from a victim of circumstance to the leader of choices.

                                *Character cards courtesy of www.somethingstrangeanddeadly.susandennard.com

Something Strange and Deadly: Book Club Discussion #3

How did week #3 of the Something Strange and Deadly Book Club already get here? Then again, how is almost the end of August? (Though that part, I'm not complaining much about because it meant I got to go see THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS: CITY OF BONES movie after work yesterday and all I can say is: MAGNUS BANE!!! *swoons*) Ahem...on to this week's question:

 

Eleanor finds herself more and more intrigued by (perhaps even attracted to) Daniel Sheridan, the inventor of the Spirit-Hunters. What is it about him that appeals to her? And vice versa, what do you think attracts Daniel to Eleanor?
Then there’s Clarence Wilcox, the seemingly perfect eligible bachelor. Why do you think Eleanor doesn’t like Clarence?

Sure, Clarence seems like the obvious best choice for Eleanor, but unlike many of the young ladies during her time, Eleanor wasn't interested in marrying up for the sake of money or social status, and she certainly wasn't keen on the idea of any type of arranged marriage.  She believed in love and that was something she didn't have for Clarence.  Yes, he was wealthy, handsome, and well-spoken, but none of that can buy chemistry, and if there was one solid thing these two didn't have, it was chemistry.  Without chemistry, you've got nothing.

Now Daniel, that's another story.  Eleanor and Daniel instantly had chemistry, even if neither knew it at first.  Like her, Daniel is an impulsive person, but underneath all that tough exterior lied the heart of an honest gentleman.  He would do anything to protect her, even if they argued about it later.  But any bickering or eye-rolling between the two only showed the undeniable chemistry between them.  I believe Eleanor was also extremely attracted to his inventor side, how he was always ready to experiment with things.  He was also fiercely protective of those he cared about, and it didn't take long before Eleanor became a part of his inner circle.  The ending of Something Strange and Deadly furthered proved their mutual adoration.  Even though he fought back the urge to reveal his true feelings, instead telling her he didn't love her, the moment they had as he left with the Spirit-Hunters, when he turned and bowed to one knee, Eleanor remarked that "he was declaring fealty to his empress."  And what more could two young loves hope for in their budding romance?

Something Strange and Deadly: Book Club Discussion #2

A bit behind, I'm barely getting this discussion in on time!  After a very busy week: the beginning of a new school year, a birthday that I'm now sharing with my wonderful best friend's adorable one-year old daughter, and the bumped up release of Fire and Ash by Jonathan Maberry (not to mention the fact that a book I've been dying to read, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by new author April Genevieve Tucholke, came out the day before my shared birthday), it's no wonder I nearly forgot to do this week's Something Strange and Deadly book club discussion!  So on to this week's question:

Question: Magic and ghostly elements frequent the Something Strange and Deadly series. Even though corpses do awaken from time to time and hauntings are hardly that uncommon, the people of Philadelphia seem determined to pretend the Dead are not a growing threat.
Do you think that’s part of human nature? To push on and ignore the danger at our door? Or do you think Philadelphia’s ignorance—or for that matter, any ignorance/false sense of safety in modern days as well—can be pinned on politicians? Can you think of any examples where something similar happened, but rather than the Dead, it was a natural disaster/growing crime rate/etc.?

From far and wide, it's completely normal and common for humans to turn a blind eye to danger that's staring them down.  There are so many examples that can be used to back this up, from the swine flu outbreak in 2009 that many ignored and refused vaccines until it became widespread (my then 8-year old nephew, in spite of having received a flu vaccine a week earlier, contracted this horrible disease, thanks to many sick people out and about in public.  Thankfully he healed in about a week!), to the wide-spread avian flu pandemics through Asia in 2007 and 2009, to terrorist attacks and the violence in the Middle East and particularly Egypt, and last but not least, sex scandals, such as the Sandusky admissions to various Catholic church officials, where abuse lasted for years, yet many who knew the facts simply swept the truths under guilty rugs.

The world's biggest woe is, by far, global warming.  Something that touches every part of the planet, global warming is something that's constantly in the news, yet many like to say things like, "Oh, it's not as bad as the news lets on," yet pictures and videos showing the devastating melting of the polar ice caps, to deforestation and the loss of countless species of animals, are proof that global warming is our biggest threat.  But look around and many, many people don't seem at all worried about the destruction we're causing our home world.  Global warming is probably the biggest danger at all our doors that people from all walks of life, from rich to poor, from race to race, that most of us choose to pretend is not really there and will not affect us in the long run.  And I don't think this is something that will ever change within human nature.