Review: Hereafter by Tara Hudson

Book: Hereafter by Tara Hudson

Pages: 404

Genre: Young Adult, paranormal

Source: library

Short Synopsis: Amelia has never felt so alone. She realizes that she's a ghost. No one can see her and no one can hear her. It isn't until she sees an accident happen on the river that a boy named Joshua, is about to drown. And though he was gone for only a couple minutes, Amelia figures out that there is a special connection between Joshua and her.

My Thoughts: I really wanted to like this book a lot, but as I kept reading, it wasn't what I'd expected.

Amelia has no recollection of who she is or how she died. She wanders day to day with no human contact and no idea what to do and where to go. One thing for sure is, she has unpleasant night mares even in death.

It isn't until one day she witnesses a car accident and a boy drowning in the very river she has drowned in. Before it's too late, she tries to do everything she can before it's too late. When the ambulance takes him away, Amelia discovers that he is the only one that can see her.

After Joshua's near death experience, he returns to the scene to find Amelia to find out more about what happened that day and to find out more about her.

But as Joshua and Amelia start to get close, there's another ghost named Eli that has been haunting Amelia. Can Amelia find out who she is, and have a relationship with Joshua without Eli getting in the way?

I initially loved the story for this book, but as I continued to read, it didn't really sit right with me. I loved the relationship between Joshua and Amelia. But it wasn't really explained why they had this so called 'spark' whenever they touched, or that if Amelia was in fact a ghost, how could Joshua even touch her at all? And why was Eli so intent on claiming Amelia as his apprentice? When novels are left with a lot of unanswered questions, it kind of puts me off of the book. I started out really liking the book, but as it progressed, there were just too many loose ends and it felt like there should have been a sequel to this novel. In general, the novel was okay, but I felt like it could have had so much more potential.

Would I recommend this book: Eh

Rating: 3/5.

Guest Blog: The Writers Voice

The Writers Voice

Where you get to know the people behind the pages

(http://ourbooksourvoice.blogspot.com)

This is Emma Michaels, the author of The Thirteenth Chime’ and I am taking over! Don’t worry, it is only for one post. To introduce you to the team of amazing authors who are a part of a new blog called, ‘The Writers Voice’. A blog run by 12 authors. Dedicated to letting you get to know each of us and the authors we feature!

What are five things that are must haves when you are writing?

“Adequate sleep, good health, kid-less environment (or if they are occupied they can be around), my lappy, thesaurus, google… wait, that’s more than five. Maybe something good to drink? Like coffee or a soda. And maybe chocolate … I’m so breaking the rules.”

-Brenda Pandos

“Really, I only must have two things – a pen and paper or a computer and Word. But coffee, chocolate and music (or white noise) help. A lot.”

-Kristie Cook

“1.Music 2. My notebook 3. My Idea Board (a cork board I pin sticky notes, pictures, facts, myths etc to) 4. My Laptop 5. Earphones/Earplug”

-Samantha Young

“1-Sleep. If my head is foggy from sleep deprivation, I can’t write well no matter how much I want to.

2-Characters. If I come to a story without them, well, there is no story without characters for me. And they know it. >.<

3-Laptop. All my writing is done on a laptop. It’s convenient, portable, and I can lay down while I’m writing.

4-Quiet. I need the world around me to fade into the background and stay there while I write, so I need a fair amount of peace and quiet.

5-Confidence. I need to believe deep down (some days, it’s really deep down) that I can do this. That I can torture my characters for a good cause, find the thread of story and follow it along until it’s conclusion.”

-Danyelle Leafty

“Hum, I don’t know that I have five… Let’s see… One- my computer, Two- a chair to sit in, Three- music, Four- only one child climbing on me at most, not two, Five- hum… to be awake I suppose! Lol”

-Keary Taylor

“Coffee, my MacBook, YouTube, a cat to cuddle, a tidy room”

-Jayde Scott

“My computer or lap top, peace and quiet, contentment, relaxation, and coffee, at least a couple big mugs a day. Though I've written with a lack of all of these at times, these are what make writing most enjoyable.”

-Victoria Simcox

“Beyond my lap top there are only two things I must have: music & Red Bull.”

-Jamie Magee

“Music, coffee, snacks, an area free from distractions, and if I’m writing a book that’s part of a series, I need the other books that belong to the series as well.”

-Jessica Sorensen

“Music, water, a closed door, a comfy chair, and my laptop.”

-Megg Jensen

“This question should be an easy one but I never have the same 5 things. The one thing that is always needed is my fiancé, to make sure I don’t forget to eat, hydrate, stretch at least once every three to five hours and to be the person I bounce ideas off of if I need some information.”

-Emma Michaels

“My laptop, music (movie soundtracks, John Williams usually), coffee, and a thesaurus. That’s it.”

-Kim Richardson

Oh yeah, did I mention we have amazing guest authors?

Here is a sneak peak of a few of the interviews we have planned for the future:

“Honestly, because I have kids and had a day job for most of my writing career, I had to squeeze in my writing time whenever I could get it. I couldn’t afford to have “must haves.” But there are definitely things I like to have! Quiet (I don’t understand writing playlists – I stop paying attention to what I’m writing if a song comes on that I like!); my laptop (tried writing on my iPad but it wasn’t very successful); space (writing around people with constant interruptions drives me crazy) ; coffee (perhaps not necessary, but definitely helps).

I guess that’s only four. ;-)”

-Inara Scott

"1. Absolute quiet (better to hear the voices in my head:)

2. A desktop computer (no laptops or tablets to do serious writing)

3. A window (preferably two)

4. A stack of Post-It notes (I jot ideas, phrases, feelings, songs, likenesses, anything and everything)

5. Colored pens (that’s how I keep everything as separated on paper as it is in my head)”

-M. Leighton

1) “Music

2) An outline

3) Scenes detailed and imagined in my head

4) Kids not destroying the house

5) Something to drink (usually juice or water actually)”

-Rhiannon Paille

“A clean house is a must!, music to help me get "in the mood", aroma therapy (oils, candles etc) to make the room smell good. Pepsi, I can't live without Pepsi, and Ice! I eat icecubes all day long (it drives my husband nuts)”

-Morrigan Michele

We are the team of authors for The Writers Voice but our blog is about so much more than just us, writing or even literature. It is about everything reading can bring to each individual person’s life, the work and lives that go into novels and all authors out there with their own stories and voices to share. I hope you will join us at The Writers Voice and hear more from our team and other writers from around the web!

http://OurBooksOurVoice.blogspot.com

“The Writers Voice: Where you get to know the people behind the pages”

Waiting On Wednesday!

Hey guys! It's a posting of Waiting On Wednesday, hosted by Breaking The Spine. This weeks pre-publication is...

Dearly Departed

by Lia Habel

Publication Date: October 18, 2011

Product Description:

Love can never die.

Love conquers all, so they say. But can Cupid’s arrow pierce the hearts of the living and the dead—or rather, the undead? Can a proper young Victorian lady find true love in the arms of a dashing zombie?

The year is 2195. The place is New Victoria—a high-tech nation modeled on the manners, mores, and fashions of an antique era. A teenager in high society, Nora Dearly is far more interested in military history and her country’s political unrest than in tea parties and debutante balls. But after her beloved parents die, Nora is left at the mercy of her domineering aunt, a social-climbing spendthrift who has squandered the family fortune and now plans to marry her niece off for money. For Nora, no fate could be more horrible—until she’s nearly kidnapped by an army of walking corpses.

But fate is just getting started with Nora. Catapulted from her world of drawing-room civility, she’s suddenly gunning down ravenous zombies alongside mysterious black-clad commandos and confronting “The Laz,” a fatal virus that raises the dead—and hell along with them. Hardly ideal circumstances. Then Nora meets Bram Griswold, a young soldier who is brave, handsome, noble . . . and dead. But as is the case with the rest of his special undead unit, luck and modern science have enabled Bram to hold on to his mind, his manners, and his body parts. And when his bond of trust with Nora turns to tenderness, there’s no turning back. Eventually, they know, the disease will win, separating the star-crossed lovers forever. But until then, beating or not, their hearts will have what they desire.

In Dearly, Departed, romance meets walking-dead thriller, spawning a madly imaginative novel of rip-roaring adventure, spine-tingling suspense, and macabre comedy that forever redefines the concept of undying love.

About the Author

Lia Habel is in her twenties and lives in western New York State. She is fascinated by zombie movies and Victoriana, interests that eventually led her to write Dearly, Departed. When she first got an agent, she was literally opening envelopes for a living. By the time the auction for Dearly, Departed was held, she was considering food stamps. Now that she has a book contract, she is busy working on the follow-up to Dearly, Departed, entitled Dearly, Beloved. Lia Habel can be found on Facebook and Myspace, and she has a blog at liahabel.com.

--From Amazon

I'm usually not a big fan of zombies and have actually yet to read a zombie book that I really love. But this one sounds interesting, and set in the future, and with a mix of romance involved. Sounds like a great mix! What pre-publication are you waiting on?

Review: Run by Patti Larsen

E-book: Run by Patti Larsen

Pages 132

Genre: Young Adult, thriller

Source: Sent from author

Short Synopsis: Reid thought he was finally getting his life back together when his older sister reclaims him from foster care. But after spending sometime with her, Reid is captured one day, and is suddenly on the run for his life.

My Thoughts: Definitely a different read, but leaves the reader with a lot of unanswered questions in the end.

After being sprung from foster care by his older sister, Reid is finally living a great life, without really questioning where it's all coming from.

Just as Reid thinks everything is fine, he is woken up one day bay random men who capture, and drug him. He finally wakes up in a forest and escapes from his captors. For Reid, it's all about surviving the mysterious hunters, forces of nature, and who knows what else? Can Reid make it one day at a time and finally get out?

This novel definitely kept me interested, but I felt like there was a lot of assumptions with no real major explanations. I kept waiting for some type of reason as to why they were all captured in the first place. Who were their captors? What exactly were the hunters? Why were they in a forest with government facilities? Why were there normal hunters, who weren't being hunted, and why could they get in and and out when the children couldn't? Suspense is fine, but when things aren't properly explained, it doesn't really do it for me. The plot of the novel kept me interested enough, but overall there were just too many unanswered questions. The majority of the novel seemed to focus on survival of the fittest, and I enjoyed the main idea of it all, but with no real substance and only assumptions, it was a bit hard to take in.

Would I recommend this book: Maybe

Rating: I give this book a 3/5.

Review: Becoming Edward by Faye Meredith

E-book: Becoming Edward by Faye Meredith

Pages: 187

Genre: Young Adult

Source: Sent from author

Short Synopsis: Rachel is a major fan of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. Both Clive and Lewis have major feelings for Rachel. One of the boys starts to take things too far, and decides to actually become Rachel's obsession. Who will win Rachel's heart?

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book. It was interesting to read the character's developments and see what crazy ideas they came up with.

Even before the Twilight craze started, Rachel was a major fan of Meyer's work. Her obsession with meeting her own Edward was starting to take over her life. After her friend's persuasion, Rachel agrees to go to the local bookstore and find a new read to obsess about.

While at the bookstore, she bumps into an attractive stranger named Lewis who invites her to a party. Rachel agrees, but while she's at the party, she sees Lewis for who he really is, and is not impressed. All the while, there is another friend named Clive whose had a major crush on Rachel and never really worked up the courage to confront her.

When Lewis finds out Rachel's obsession with Twilight, he decides to read the books as well so that they would have something in common to talk about. But Lewis decides to take things to the next level and starts to become Edward himself by dressing, and acting just like Edward. Can Rachel save Lewis from himself before it's too late? And can Clive compete with Lewis and win over Rachel?

I enjoyed reading this novel. The characters were really interesting and I don't think I've read a plot quite like this before. There were a couple things that bothered me though. I wasn't too pleased with how Kat acted, and Clive should have stood up to Kat, and told Rachel the truth about the fight. I was actually rooting for Clive, and felt that Lewis was a complete jerk most of the time. I also felt that Rachel, the main character, never really stopped to think why Clive was doing the things he did, or why Lewis was acting the way he did. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but I felt that Rachel was pretty selfish, or maybe just clueless as to why the boys were acting this way. All in all, it was still an entertaining read, that kept me wanting to find out what happened next.

Would I recommend this book: Yes

Rating: I give this book a 3.5/5.

Review: Boyfriend From Hell by E. Van Lowe

Book: Boyfriend From Hell by E. Van Lowe

Pages: 252

Genre: Young Adult, paranormal

Source: ARC sent from Bewitching Book Tours

Short Synopsis: Megan and her mother always had a close relationship. But things start falling apart when her mother starts dating again, and Megan is convinced that her mother's boyfriend is in fact Satan himself!

My Thoughts: A cute, interesting read about friendship, loyalty, with a hilarious mix of the paranormal world.

Megan and her mother had always been close. But things start to change when Megan's Mother starts dating. Megan notices odd behavior in her mother's newest boyfriend, Armando, and tries to convince her two best friends that he is in fact the Devil himself. No one believes Megan, and they think that Megan is just jealous that her mother is spending less time with her.

Megan thinks up many ways to reveal who Armando really is, but all her plans end up back firing on her. Can Megan expose Armando for who he really is without hurting herself or her loved ones in the process?

I loved this book. Megan is a determined individual who will do everything she can to help those she loves. Her two best friends aren't always what they seem, and the least likely person is the culprit! E. Van Lowe has created a world of monsters and a great heroine. Boyfriend From Hell is a cute, entertaining read. If you're into the paranormal world, be sure to pick up a copy of Boyfriend From Hell.

Would I recommend this book: Yes

Rating: I give this book a 4/5.