Tagged: michelle hansen
Before They Find Us by Michelle A. Hansen
(Cover picture courtesy of Nicole Sobon.)
I’m going to make you wish you were dead.
Just a text. Seventeen-year-old Rebecca Hales tries not to worry. Probably a wrong number. Not really meant for her, and definitely not related to the crime she witnessed six years ago. Right?
Then two states away, a bomb goes off in her best friend’s locker. Soon Ryan is labeled a terrorist and runs to the safest place he knows—Rebecca’s house in small-town Wyoming. It doesn’t take long for the FBI to show up asking questions. Rebecca lies, of course, and says she hasn’t seen him.
Now she’s neck-deep in it with him, whatever “it” is. The only way out is to return to Vegas, where Ryan is a wanted man. The city of lies and illusion tests Rebecca’s wits as she struggles to find the person who framed Ryan and why.
Is Rebecca’s text linked to the bombing? And what does it have to do with a six year old murder? Rebecca needs to find out before she loses Ryan—and her own life.
[Full disclosure: This was a free gift to me from Michelle A. Hansen as a token of her appreciation and a review was not expected so of course, as always, this review is honest.]
There were more than a fair amount of clichés in Before They Find Us that any action movie fan will recognize, but overall I actually enjoyed this book.
The main strength of Michelle A. Hansen’s writing is her characters. Rebecca is definitely well-rounded and you really feel that she has some psychological problems as a result of her witnessing a murder at the age of 11. I like how her backstory is slowly revealed because it adds more depth to her character and it’s revealed at a more natural rate than if there was a huge info-dump at the beginning. At first I was a little confused about her relationship to Ryan but then things sorted themselves out and I felt like I knew each character intimately.
I definitely liked the plot twists in this one. There’s just twist after twist and the plot is so fast-paced that I couldn’t stop reading even for a moment. Just when you think it’s all over and the plot is going to wind down for the conclusion Michelle Hansen springs another surprise on you. Yes, there were some twists I could predict because I watch a lot of action movies, but for the main part I was pleasantly surprised at the plot twists. They felt more organic than forced.
The only thing I’m sort of ambivalent about is the premise/clichés. There wasn’t really anything completely unique in the novel and there was a heavy reliance on action/thriller clichés. I would have liked to see some new twists on old tropes but there wasn’t really any of that within the story. It was a good book, but with a few modifications it could have been a great book.
Still, if it sounds interesting to you I’d recommend giving it a try. It’s a heart-stopping read!
I give this book 4/5 stars.
Giveaway Winners
Well, my first official giveaway has now come to a close. The winners have been chosen. For category #1, you had to name your favourite historical figure and tell me why. For category #2, you had to name your favourite book and tell me why. Since I love history, I chose the winner in category #1. So, drumroll please.
The winner is Erin for her comment about poor Lady Jane Grey:
My favorite historical figure is Lady Jane Grey. I’ve always felt bad for the fact that she was unwillingly made to be queen and then betrayed and executed such a short time later. Now I wish that she wasn’t always so overlooked by history. Most people don’t know who she is, or that she was handpicked by Edward VI to be queen, and nobody ever seems to wonder why he might have done that.
Since Michelle Hansen is an author and she is the one offering up a prize pack, she picked the winner in category #2.
The winner is James Wymore for his comment about Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut.
Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut is my favorite book. It was the one I read that made me want to write books that meant something to people.
Winners, I have given your email addresses to Michelle and she will contact you soon about your prize packs. Congratulations on winning and thank you to everyone who entered and tweeted about my first giveaway. There will be more giveaways in the future, I can promise you that.
The Mad Reviewer’s First Giveaway
As you probably didn’t know, today is my blog’s six month anniversary. I’ve been publishing one book review a day for half a year now, give or take a few reviews because of power outages and personal issues. So how am I going to celebrate yet another great milestone?
How about a giveaway?
YA author Michelle Hansen, who wrote the amazing self-published novel Painted Blind (which I had no idea was self-published until she mentioned it because it was of such professional quality), has offered to help me with this first giveaway. She has generously offered to ship to my two contest winners a prize pack each that includes a postcard, a bookmark, a calendar and a coupon on Smashwords for a copy of her novel. I would quite honestly recommend Painted Blind to anyone who loves amazing fantasy.
That said, let’s get to the contest! Part One of this contest involves correctly guessing a question on one of my favourite interests: opera. You will have one week to post your guess in the comments below and whoever guesses the answer first wins. If no one guesses it, I’ll ask a different opera-related question. After Part One is over, Part Two will begin and run for a week in which you may guess the answer to another question, this time book-related. If no one guesses it within the time-frame, I’ll ask a different question and so on. That said, here’s my first question:
What is my favourite operatic aria?
Here are your hints:
- It is sung in Italian
- Many attempt to sing it, but there is only one king or queen of this highly emotional aria
- When I hear my favourite version, I have to hold back the waterworks because the lyrics in Italian are so beautiful. In English this aria would sound absolutely stupid.
So go on and use Google like you’ve never used it before! You may only guess once and the first person to guess correctly will win the contest. I will announce the winner of Part One at 12:00am local time on Friday, July 20.
Note: I have told Michelle Hansen herself the answer so she knows I’m being honest. And no, she will not tell you the answer.
UPDATE: A great place to look would be Wikipedia, especially this page. *Hint, hint*
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.