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YABooksPodcast's podcast

I interview Young Adult, YA, authors about their books. YA novels may be Science Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Adventure, Action, Horror, or General Fiction. We talk about the author's lives, locations, work, careers, training, education, inspiration, writing methods and routines.
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Now displaying: April, 2017

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Apr 27, 2017

The Bloody Shoe Affair: A daring and thrilling adventure with the Jailer's daughter.
by Joy York.
Published in Feb of 2015
4.4 Stars from 25 Reviews

https://www.amazon.com/Bloody-Shoe-Affair-thrilling-adventure-ebook/dp/B00TUJTWEC/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=740R7ZC613GKDV5XJG7W

http://www.joyyork.com/://www.joyyork.com/

Here is the cover copy:
In this mystery set in 1968, Christi, a shy and awkward teenager, never expected to get sucked into helping her cousin, Lily, the “double-dare-you” daughter of the county jailer, try to solve the grizzliest murder the town of Roselyn, Mississippi, had ever seen. Then again, Christi had been entangled in her misadventures before. So a whirlwind week of spying, lying, crawling through tunnels and sneaking into the jail should have come as no surprise to Christi.

Lily, a vivacious prankster, loves adventure. It’s not hard to find when you live in a house connected to the jail. Christi, a city girl, is self-conscious and afraid of everything. Still, she’s drawn to the excitement and adventure that Lily always seems to provide. Christi arrives for a visit in time to help her cousin discover what happened the night Lily observed a county deputy drop a pair of women’s bloody shoes from a bag. After a chance meeting with the accused, they learn new information that sheds doubt on his guilt. Seeking justice, Lily sets a plan in motion that takes them on an adventure of risk and surprising twists. They not only discover unexpected truths about the case, but about themselves as well.
The Amazon preview has two full chapters and a bit of the third. The second is much longer than the first, so if you like what you hear, you can go read some more if you are still debating whether or not to get this book.
Here is the first chapter:
(Read it)


About the Author
Joy York grew up in Alabama, but has spent much of her adult life in the Midwest. She is a graduate of Auburn University. She has had a rewarding career in retail management. She was an active volunteer in her community, holding positions on nonprofit boards supporting education, including an elected four- year term on the Hudson City School Board of Education in Hudson, Ohio. She was inspired to write when she began creating stories and adventures to entertain her son when he was growing up. She has returned to her home state of Alabama where she now follows her passion of writing fulltime.

Why I like this story.
The author takes full advantage of telling a story in the first person. The character's voice and the narrator are the same. We get Christi's thoughts and interpretation of events as they happen. Though we only have two short glimpses of Christi and her family in the first chapter we learn a lot about her personality, her feelings of awkwardness, her desire to fit in, and that she may actually enjoy the excitement that accompanies Lillie's reckless curiosity. We also learn about the plot. That there has been a murder, and Lillie's father being the jailer is going to put them right in the middle of the excitement.
I give this story five stars for characterization, plot, and pacing. The only draw back that I can see is that there isn't an audio version, so I'm going to have to actually read it. And I will. This looks to be a fast paced, fun read.

Apr 20, 2017

Savages: Chronicles of Warshard by Katherine Bogle.

https://www.amazon.com/Savages-Chronicles-Warshard-Katherine-Bogle-ebook/dp/B06XG5KJMT/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=6WYYW82F41EZRX1CF6TB


It currently has 18 reviews with an average of 4.1 star rating.
It was published on April 4th of 2017. I saw this the week before, advertised on Twitter. The blurb and book cover caught my attention, so I preordered it for 99 cents.
Two weeks after it's release it is sitting at 12K odd in the Kindle store and at #5 for Teen & Young Adult > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Historical

 

Katherine Bogle's debut young adult novel, Haven, came second in the World's Best Story contest 2015. She currently resides in Saint John, New Brunswick with her partner in crime, and plethora of cats. She can be found at www.katherinebogle.com.
Haven is a Chonicle of Warshard book as well as another one called Fyre which is a collection of short stories in the same environment.


Here's the story description on the amazon page.

Daughter of Chief Ruin, Breen is one of the most fearsome warriors in the Southern Delica Tribe, but nothing can stop the Emperor from reaping the Savage Lands for soldiers.

When her village is attacked, Breen is taken from her home and her family to the Seaburn Academy, where southern savages are broken and chained into a life of service to the Empire. Through the beatings and torture, Drakkone, one of the few Seaburn-born soldiers, brings solace to her days and gives her hope for the future.

Once freed of the Academy dungeons, Breen is sentenced to daily training between her plots for escape. But one night of unexpected passion turns into a problem bigger than either of them could have imagined.

Breen and Drakkone must risk capture and flee the city or death might be a blessing compared to eternal imprisonment.

The blurb has left me a little confused. It sounds to me like Drakkone is a Seaburn solder who beats and tortures Breen and by doing so, brings her solace and gives her hope. Then free of the Academy, though she is sentenced to daily training, she has an affair with someone, who we assume is Krakkone. This leaves me wondering, was he also a prisoner and in a position to become romantic with Breen, or was he still in a position of authority over her.


The Amazon preview has the first two full chapters and part of the third. I am going to read the first chapter which equaled 5% of the book. Here is Chapter 1:

 


(After the Chapter)

I thought the first chapter was well written. It's fast paced, gives us a feel for Breen's talents and the people of the Southern Delica Tribe, and sets us up with a conflict to carry us into the second chapter. The description copy tells us there is a lot of action to look forward to and at this point I am will to read on to see how she will become imprisoned and what she will do to try to escape.
The blurb mentions torture. I'm not big on torture, especially if it gets graphic or just too long winded. In the 1990's there was a series of books by Terry Goodkind that started with "Wizards first rule". I read that and several that came after it and it seemed that in each of these massive epic fantasies, the protagonist couldn't help but get caught and tortured for a couple hundred pages. It went on and on in intricate detail. If this book gets hung up on that kind of plot, I would have to give it up.
That aside, the only thing I found that took me out of the story was some ambiguity about who was talking. At times pronouns were used and it wouldn't be until the following paragraph that I would know who it was who had spoken.
So, overall, this is a good book and you probably should give it, or one of the author's other books a try.
Thanks for listening and I'll see you next week.

Apr 13, 2017

kakiolsen@yahoo.com
@kakiolsenbooks
www.kakiolsenbooks.com

Kaki Olsen is always on the brink of another adventure. If she couldn’t be a writer, she’d be a full-time musician or travel guide and she would take her lunch breaks at Fenway Park. Until that happens, she speaks both Spanish and English at her every-day office job, but she has vacationed enthusiastically in such places as Istanbul and Ireland. She has lived in five states, but will always refer to Boston as home.
She regularly contributes academic papers on zombies or wizards to Life, the Universe and Everything, a sci-fi/fantasy symposium originated at her alma mater, Brigham Young University. Her published works have appeared in such magazines as Voices and AuthorsPublish. Her debut novel, Swan and Shadow, was published by Sweetwater Books in 2016.
She is a doting aunt and librarian of two bulging bookshelves. This site allows her to share her literary obsessions.
Contact:
http://www.kakiolsenbooks.com/


http://www.kakirecommends.com/


https://www.facebook.com/kakiolsenbooks/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel
@kakiolsenbooks
E-mail: Kaki@kakiolsenbooks.com


Aislin’s curse is the standard fare: swan by day, college student by night, true love as the only cure. But does true love even exist outside of fairy tales? After having to cover for Aislin during her swan hours, Aislin’s twin, Maeve, is willing to resort to anything from matchmaking to magic to see her sister live happily (and human) ever after. Will either of them get their wish?

Apr 6, 2017


The Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare


Magic is dangerous—but love is more dangerous still. Discover the riveting first book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Infernal Devices Trilogy, prequel to the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series.

In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. Welcome to the Infernal Devices trilogy, a stunning and dangerous prequel to the New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series.

The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them....

Editorial Reviews

Magic is dangerous--but love is more dangerous still.
When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.

Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What's more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own.

Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by--and torn between--two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length...everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world...and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.

I tried to access the sample of this book on the Amazon site, but it wouldn't load on my computer. I don't know if others would find it there if they tried, so I gave up and bought the book on Audible, intending to write an entire review. I got the audio book because the ebook was $10.99 and I could get it on audible, with our monthly account for one $13 token. Since I have much more time to listen than I do to sit down and read a book, I knew I was more likely to finish it this way. I might point out that the paperback book is listed for less than $8 which doesn't make sense to me, unless you are trying to encourage people to buy physical books.

So here is the first chapter, which is actually a prolog. I know. Don't get me started. I'll talk about that later.

(Read the prolog)

The prolog doesn't prepare us for the story or answer any questions for us. In fact it leaves us with a number of questions that we will later cause us to exclaim, or sigh, and say, Oh, that who that is, That's what Will meant, or So, this was an important point.

In the prolog we don't meet Tessa. The first chapter introduces us to her and introduces her to the Dark Sisters. I won't give anything away that the books own blurb didn't when I say that living with the dark sisters was a negative experience. Tessa displays her intelligence and her drive when she escapes from these two evil women and falls in with the Shadowhunters.

As I was working on this review my editor-alter-ego tried to take over and looked for as many things wrong as I could find. I don't care who you are, things can be found that are wrong with any book--so much of right and wrong in literature is based on personal likes and dislikes. So, before any of my potentially negative comments can be taken wrong, I want to go over the things that I really liked about this book.

Cassandra Claire is an excellent story teller. She well deserves the many New York Times best sellers she has earned. I was immediately in the story with Tessa on the docks in England feeling out of place and anxious. I listened to an audio version, which has its benefits and its drawbacks. On the plus side, the narrator was talented and helped to bring the story to life. For the most part, she held my attention. There were occasions where I was so into the story that I wonder if I missed some salient points, which I will come to later. When I'm listening, I can't always rewind and see if I heard correctly or if I missed something, not like you can flip back to a paragraph and reread, when you have a book in your hands.

I liked the characters, though in the beginning I was a bit confused about who was who as the many characters of the Shadowhunters seemed to all come at once. I'm still not sure who all of them were. The main characters were pretty clearly rounded out, even if they didn't act they way I would have wanted them to. I never really got to like Will. I'm not sure if we were supposed to feel sorry for him or admire his independent aloofness. By the end of the book I had him rating more as a jerk than as a hero.

The plot was solid with numerous satisfying twists which I didn't see coming. I did see one of them which allowed Tessa to make a mistake. Of course, the mistake propelled the conflict forward and with it, a major action scene. Sometimes it seems like our otherwise intelligent and competent characters have to make dumb choices for the sake of the plot.

We are warned in the synopsis that this is the first book of a trilogy. As such, many questions are left unanswered. Tessa has a full character arc in coming to grips with who she is and what her magical abilities might be, but much of the balance of the story is still up in the air.

One aspect of both of the blurbs that I read states, "Magic is dangerous—but love is more dangerous still." It makes it appear that this is the theme of the book. If it is, I am left unconvinced. I think the story makes the point that trust in, or dedication to, someone you love can be dangerous, but love is not what causes the danger.

I thought Tessa was a little passive. She starts out showing some real gumption as she defies the Dark Sisters and fights for her freedom. Leaving that prison she's reluctant to join in with the Shadow Hunters for fear that they are going to use her like the sisters tried to, and then she is suddenly doing exactly what the Hunters ask her to do without any of her former resistance. She pretty much goes with the flow until the end of the story when she finally pulls up her socks and takes charge. I could accept more of her passivity if she had some internal dialog or conflict explaining why she was going along with the hunters.

If you find vampires alluring, you may be disappointed as those who appeared in the Clockwork Angel seemed weak and unusually fragile.

 

My other major concern with the plot was what the clockwork angel had to do with anything. It was on a necklace that Tessa wore. I think she got it from her parents and had some emotional attachment. At times the small device came to life and fluttered its wings. How it did that, or what brought on the action was never clear to me. I would think that the name sake of the entire book would have received some resolution.

I don't know if I'll go on to listen to the rest of the books in the series and trilogy, but I recommend this book to any lover of YA Steampunk as this book brings that mythological period of time to life with all its clockwork attackers, foggy London streets, and sword slashing, magic casting, battles.

 

 

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