Tagged: debut novel
The Book of Ivy by Amy Engel
(Cover picture courtesy of NetGalley.)
After a brutal nuclear war, the United States was left decimated. A small group of survivors eventually banded together, but only after more conflict over which family would govern the new nation. The Westfalls lost. Fifty years later, peace and control are maintained by marrying the daughters of the losing side to the sons of the winning group in a yearly ritual.
This year, it is my turn.
My name is Ivy Westfall, and my mission is simple: to kill the president’s son—my soon-to-be husband—and restore the Westfall family to power.
But Bishop Lattimer is either a very skilled actor or he’s not the cruel, heartless boy my family warned me to expect. He might even be the one person in this world who truly understands me. But there is no escape from my fate. I am the only one who can restore the Westfall legacy.
Because Bishop must die. And I must be the one to kill him…
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
At first, I thought The Book of Ivy would be a guilty pleasure read. I’m a sucker for the failed-assassin trope, I’ll admit. What I didn’t really expect was that it would have as much depth as it did.
In her debut novel, Amy Engel has created some truly amazing characters. Ivy is one of the more memorable characters I’ve read in a long, long time. She’s brave and not afraid to stand up for herself, but at the same time she can be weak and vulnerable when it comes to her family. Not only that, she also knows how to act: she can hide her feelings from those around her reasonably well. But when Bishop starts to worm his way into her paranoid heart, she starts to question all that her family has told her about the current regime. It’s not perfect, but maybe the Westfalls don’t have Ivy’s best interests at heart.
Bishop was more than your typical love interest as well. He’s kind and patient, waiting for Ivy to come around rather than trying to force his affection on her once he falls in love with her. He knows that she doesn’t trust him and instead of saying “I am trustworthy”, he demonstrates it. Some of his actions are rather shocking to our sensibilities, but in the fairly brutal future they make sense. To his credit, he did the right thing but he is also disgusted about what he did in that case. That makes him a memorable character as well instead of just Generic Male Love Interest.
The world-building is excellent. There’s not much I haven’t seen in post-apocalyptic/speculative fiction but The Book of Ivy manages to combine old tropes with Amy Engel’s new take on them. She paints a realistic picture of a horrible world where the survival of the fittest is very, very true. Even within their community, there is always danger lurking around the corner and dissent is punished severely. I would like to know a little more about the founding of the community, but Amy Engel manages to explain all of the essential things in the course of the book. So I’m looking forward to learning more, but I’m not desperately seeking information in order to actually understand the book.
The only place that I felt The Book of Ivy was shaky was the plot. Not the pacing, which was excellent for a largely character-driven novel, but the plot itself. It was fairly fast-paced and the way Ivy changes is very believable, but I was a little annoyed at the end. Ivy did some counter-intuitive things in order to advance the plot at the end and set up the next book The Revolution of Ivy. I get that she needed to finally meet the rebels on the other side of the fence, but it could have been done in a more believable fashion. Still, it’s a first book and it didn’t make me mad or even anything more than slightly annoyed.
All considered, The Book of Ivy is an amazing debut that’s better than the books of more established authors. It’s one of the better post-apocalyptic books that I’ve ever read in the YA genre and considering how many I’ve read, that’s saying something. I can highly recommend picking it up when it releases on November 11. I can almost guarantee that once you finish it, you’ll be like me and become extremely anxious for November 2015 when the next book releases.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
Seed by Lisa Heathfield
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
All that Pearl knows can be encapsulated in one word: Seed. It is the isolated community that she was born into. It is the land that she sows and reaps. It is the center of her family and everything that means home. And it is all kept under the watchful eye of Papa S.
At fifteen years old, Pearl is finally old enough to be chosen as Papa S.’s companion. She feels excitement . . . and surprising trepidation that she cannot explain. The arrival of a new family into the Seed community—particularly the teenage son, Ellis—only complicates the life and lifestyle that Pearl has depended upon as safe and constant. Ellis is compelling, charming, and worldly, and he seems to have a lot of answers to questions Pearl has never thought to ask.But as Pearl digs to the roots of the truth, only she can decide what she will allow to come to the surface.
Lisa Heathfield’s suspenseful, scintillating debut features a compelling voice that combines blithe naïveté, keen observation, and sincere emotion.
[Full disclosure: I requested and received an ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
If you know anything at all about cults, or have even read any first-hand survivor accounts of former cult members, Seed will hold absolutely no surprises for you. I wish it had been a more unique and less predictable take on how cults keep and manipulate their members, but Lisa Heathfield really doesn’t stray from the typical cult modus operandi. That’s not a bad thing because it makes it realistic, but for me it was so predictable that it got a little boring at points. It won’t be true for everyone, but for anyone with the aforementioned knowledge of cults you aren’t going to encounter any surprises.
That said, Lisa Heathfield does paint a very realistic picture of what someone raised in a cult would be like. Pearl constantly wants to please Papa S., wants to be his Companion without realizing what that fully implies (and yes, it means exactly what you’re thinking) and laughs off Ellis when he tells her of the wondrous things in the outside world. She’s been kept naive about absolutely everything and while she questions some things, she doesn’t question them like you or I would. It’s more realistic than if she were questioning everything and you’d think it would become annoying, but it doesn’t. Lisa Heathfield writes very good characters and while sometimes I was exasperated with Pearl, her character still rings true.
As I said, the plot is predictable for people who know a little about cults, but somehow that adds to the overall suspense toward the end. I knew how things were going to end and I knew how they were going to get there, but I was still anxious to find out what happened. Heathfield’s pacing was a little slow in the middle (thus my occasional boredom) but despite that she really ratcheted up the suspense toward the end. Particularly in the barn scene.
I would have liked for a little more even pacing throughout the novel so that it didn’t drag so much in the middle, but this is her debut novel so you can’t really expect everything to be perfect. Her character development was still amazing and in the end I do have to say that I enjoyed Seed. Will it ever be on the list of my top 10 favourite novels? No, not really. But it is quite a good book and a decent debut so I think we can expect great things from her in the future. Heathfield has a good grasp of psychology and with a little practice, she can write some truly terrifying novels in the future. I for one can’t wait to see what she comes out with next.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
Threats of Sky and Sea by Jennifer Ellision
(Cover picture courtesy of Two Ends of the Pen.)
Sixteen year-old Breena Perdit has spent her life as a barmaid, innocent to her father’s past and happily free from the Elemental gifts that would condemn her to a life in the Egrian King’s army. Until the day that three Elemental soldiers recognize her father as a traitor to the throne and Bree’s father is thrown in jail—along with the secrets from his last mission as the King’s assassin. Secrets that could help the King win a war. Secrets he refuses to share.
Desperate to escape before the King’s capricious whims prove her and her father’s downfall, Bree bargains with him: information for their lives. It’s a good trade. And she has faith she’ll get them both out of the King’s grasp with time.
But that was before the discovery that she’s the weapon the King’s been waiting for in his war.
Now, time is running out. To save her father’s life and understand her own, Bree must unravel the knot of her father’s past before the King takes his life– and uses her to bring a nation to its knees.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
You know, at first glance it would seem like Threats of Sky and Sea has it all: an interesting plot, some fantastic world-building with new takes on old tropes, a tough main character and plenty of intrigue. Except when I finished reading Jennifer Ellision’s debut novel I was left feeling kind of hollow.
Unlike with many books, I know exactly why I was feeling hollow by the end: there really wasn’t that much action in the whole novel. Yes, there’s action when Bree is plucked from her home and there’s quite a bit of action near the end of the novel but there’s really not all that much in the middle. Despite the minor plot surrounding the king and the king’s generally evil intentions, I was left feeling that the plot lacked something. I mean, Bree’s in a court where pretty much everyone hates her because of her father’s betrayal of the king. Surely some people would try to remind her of her place, of her rough upbringing? Surely there would be some other intrigues! When it comes to novels I’m not that demanding in terms of plot pacing but I do like for there to be a little more substance to the plot.
Still, despite that I really loved the characters in this novel. Bree is strong and brave but she at least learns when to keep her mouth shut, unlike a lot of YA heroines. She’s definitely not your traditional heroine in the looks department either because she has short brown hair (gasp!) whereas the current trend usually has heroines with red hair. Not only that, Bree really does love her father but that doesn’t mean she isn’t annoyed and hurt by his betrayal. He told her nothing of her birth, of her abilities for sixteen years and you can’t expect someone to forgive another person (even their own parent) for a betrayal like that. She grows to forgive her father, yes, but it’s a long path in that regard.
For a first novel, the world-building in here is fantastic. Even for a second, third or tenth novel as a matter of fact. I like how people born with elemental powers are both feared and respected as the king takes them in to fight for his army. Not only that, I like how there is still quite a bit not known about where the powers come from, how and when they manifest, etc. It makes it a little more realistic than Bree’s crazy teacher having all of the answers about everything. Not only that, Jennifer Ellision has given quite a great deal of thought to the rest of her fantasy world and you can tell that we’re going to see a lot more of the other kingdoms mentioned in the next few books.
So aside from the lack of substance in the middle of the novel I was very impressed with Threats of Sky and Sea and I can’t wait to see what Jennifer Ellision dreams up next.
I give this novel 4/5 stars.
My Interview with Michelle A. Hansen
Michelle Hansen is the self-published author of the amazing fantasy novel, Painted Blind, which is far from your typical fantasy. It mixes Greek mythology in with the modern world in an unexpected and I had no idea it was self-published until she told me; it was really that good. She agreed to an interview via email and here is the result. Warning: there are a few minor spoilers. So go on and read about Michelle Hansen’s incredible road to being published, writerly advice and how she came up with the idea for Painted Blind.
Where did you get the idea for Painted Blind?
I was walking through Barnes and Noble in February 2002, and I saw a beautiful picture book version of the myth of Cupid & Psyche. I was in the middle of teaching The Odyssey to my freshman classes, so I bought this book to read aloud to them on Valentine’s Day. Whenever I read it, I wondered how the story would translate into our day. There were so many things the Greeks accepted—like gods who could make themselves invisible and fly—that we as a society do not accept. I was particularly intrigued by the idea of a girl who was too beautiful to find real love in her own society, a girl who was lonely while being admired by everyone around her. Eventually, these musings became Painted Blind. Continue reading
Painted Blind by Michelle A. Hansen
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Seventeen years old and agoraphobic, Psyche Middleton vows her dad will never see the risqué photos she took during a summer modeling stint abroad, but one of them ends up on a billboard in her Montana hometown. Now everyone—especially her dad—can see it. And yet, somehow, those are the mundane things in her life because she is about to fall unexpectedly, head-over-heels in love with Erik, a mysterious young man who rescues her from a crowd of admirers, and who she’s never actually seen because…he can make himself invisible.
As strange as this may seem, it’s about to get even stranger. Erik takes her to his palace in an idyllic kingdom, and she is swept into the beauty and culture of his world, but his affection has one condition: she may not see him. Overtaken, intrigued, and still not wholeheartedly believing he’s real, Psyche is going to have to decide if she can love him blindly; because if she can’t, she may lose him forever.
A wild, romantic adventure that travels at breakneck speed, Michelle A. Hansen’s debut is a fantastical journey filled with laughter, danger, and the indomitable power of love. Painted Blind reminds us that one can overcome seemingly insurmountable odds with fortitude and a little luck and confirms that real love is worth fighting for.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
Okay, Painted Blind was nothing like I expected and that’s a good thing because I really didn’t expect much from the blurb. But I still requested it from NetGalley for something new to read. And wow, was I ever surprised.
If I had to describe it one way, I’d call it The Goddess Test on steroids because it has a more realistic romance, better characters and a plot that glued me to my computer chair for over three hours straight. Michelle Hansen knows just how much information to reveal to her readers to hint at things, yet doesn’t give so much away as to make all the plot twists completely predictable. While I was reading, there were a lot of times I thought “Whoa. Didn’t see that coming.” Even the most cynical of readers like myself won’t be able to predict half of the plot points, which means that this is most definitely a unique novel.
I love the characters. Erik and Psyche may seem like your stereotypical romance characters, but they’re not. They actually have depth and I could sympathize with both of them. The way they fell in love was a bit quick, but actually quite natural when you think about it. First it started off as a sort of unexplainable attraction, then they got to know each other and fell in true love, not the kind of lust that passes for love in most YA fiction.
To be completely honest, I can’t believe this is Michelle Hansen’s debut novel. The writing quality is much better than most established authors, in my opinion. Her world-building is excellent; you can tell she really thought it through and made sure things made sense to readers. I honestly can’t wait to see her what she writes next!
I give this book 5/5 stars.