Early review: Afterglow by Karsten Knight

Title: Afterglow
Author: Karsten Knight
Genre: Young Adult
Series: Wildefire #3

Hardcover, 336 pages

Publication: November 12, 2013 by Simon & Schuster BFYR

Source: I received an Arc from the publicist in exchange for a honest review. 

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Teenage volcano goddess Ashline Wilde discovers that her former love, Colt Halliday, has an evil plan to kill the Cloak, the benevolent beings that oversee the gods. And that’s not all—he also wants to merge Ash and her two sisters back into a single, too-powerful goddess, Pele. Ash must stop her trickster-god ex-boyfriend once and for all…and to do it, she’s going to have to feed a few flames.

Afterglow is the final book in the Wildefire trilogy about teenage reincarnated Polynesian volcano goddesses Ashline Wilde. In this last installment, Ash is hunting down Colt, her ex-boyfriend as he jumps from state-to-state looking for objects that will help him kill the all-knowing cloak race and to bring the pieces of Pele’s soul back together.  With the help of new and old gods, Ashline sets out to make sure Colt doesn’t accomplish his goal, because Pele is one of the most unpredictable and dangerous goddesses around.

Afterglow takes place less than 24 hours after the events of Embers & Echoes and has the same book layout as the first two in the series; the chapters are divided into three parts and again we get flashbacks scenes of Pele and Colt but this time it’s in Maui, 1831.  The story start rolling  within the first 20 pages, when Ashline learns that Colt needs help from Hephaestus, Greek  god of forge and metallurgy who happens to be clueless that he’s a reincarnated god. The story is nonstop action and snarky one-liners from Ashline and Eve from start to finish. I love Ashline, she’s one of the toughest heroines in the YA genre, but the one thing that bothered be this time around is the snarkiness; it was just too much. It was like every other sentence. In the beginning I thought it hilarious, second book it was still funny but now it just feels like overkill…but overall it didn’t deter me from enjoying the book.

Readers reunite with familiar gods/goddesses from the first two books and many more new ones in the flashback scenes and present. My favorite part of the book was probably the way Knight ended his trilogy. There were a LOT of casualties, more so this time around than Ember & Echoes but the good thing is that they’ll be reincarnated in the next life. The ending for Ashline was bittersweet because while she saved some important people in her life she couldn’t save everyone.  As for the main-main ending (epilogue); Knight did something that no author has ever done. It was brilliant! The ending fit the series perfectly, and is probably one of the best ending I’ve ever read for a series.

Afterglow was a gratifying end to a great series. It’s been an amazing ride with Ashline and the gang, and I definitely won’t look at gods and goddesses the same way ever again. If you’re looking for a series with a refreshing concept and relatable/likable characters then this series is for you. Make sure to start at the beginning to get the full effect of this series starting with Wildefire. 

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Review: Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano

Title: Perfect Ruin
Author: Lauren DeStefano
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia, Fantasy
Series: The Internment Chronicles #1

Hardcover, 356 pages

Publication: October 1, 2013 by Simon & Schuster BFYR

Source: I recieved an Arc from the publicist in exchange for a honest review.

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On Internment, the floating island in the clouds where 16-year-old Morgan Stockhour lives, getting too close to the edge can lead to madness. Even though Morgan's older brother, Lex, was a Jumper, Morgan vows never to end up like him. She tries her best not to mind that her life is orderly and boring, and if she ever wonders about the ground, and why it is forbidden, she takes solace in best friend Pen and her betrothed, Basil.

Then a murder, the first in a generation, rocks the city. With whispers swirling and fear on the wind, Morgan can no longer stop herself from investigating, especially when she meets Judas. He is the boy being blamed for the murder — betrothed to the victim — but Morgan is convinced of his innocence. Secrets lay at the heart of Internment, but nothing can prepare Morgan for what she will find — or who she will lose.

This is my first time reading a book by Ms. DeStefano. I’ve heard about her Chemical Garden Trilogy for awhile now, but haven’t read it yet (I have Wither in my TBR pile). After reading Perfect Ruin, I can see why her books are so popular. DeStefano’s writing is entrancing and the words just flow seamlessly that I was sucked in from the first page. In Perfect Ruin readers are introduced to 16-year-old Morgan who lives on a floating island in the sky. Morgan is pretty content with the ways of Internment, she abides by the rules and belief that is ingrained in everyone since birth but slowly she begins to question the rules and yearns to see what else is beyond the edge of Internment. Everything that Morgan thought she knew about Internment gets shaken when a girl she knows gets murdered.
 

DeStefano’s world is quite unique, and very easy to understand. To ensure that no one will ever be alone, people are paired since birth and at the age of 19 they’ll wed. To control the population on Internment, once a couple wed, they have to file paperwork and enter the queue to get the ‘o-k’ to have kids. The biggest rule of all is to not be curious and go to the edge of internment or to even speak about leaving for ground. The pacing of the story was constant throughout the entire book. There were a couple of key scenes but nothing too crazy or big. I usually like an action driven plot, but DeStefano was still able to make things work well…she definitely has a way with words to keep you engage the whole way through.

In most of the dystopians I read, the heroine is always a strong individual, a leader you can say but it wasn’t the case with Morgan. Don’t get me wrong I like Morgan; it’s just that for the most of the book she is trying to figure out the mystery behind a classmate’s murder. Morgan questions the rules and beliefs of Internment but that’s just it…she voices it but doesn’t do anything else about it. She follows the rules and rationalizes everything she does, usually. There were times where she didn’t and she found herself in a bad situation that not only affected her but also her friends/family. The secondary characters were all okay, none of them really stood out except for Morgan’s best friend Pen. Pen loves Internment, and doesn’t question how things are but is still an outgoing-outspoken young lady and a really good friend.

There is a little romance that takes a backseat to the story between Morgan and her betrothed Basil (love the name). A lot of reviewers gushed about how adorable/sweet their relationship is and for the most part they do like each other regardless of it being an arranged marriage but I was meh- about it. Basil is sweet to Morgan but I think he takes the whole betrothed/protector title a bit overboard. It seemed like nothing in his life is important besides her or everything he does do revolves around Morgan, he literally lives and breathes Morgan. I mean dude, get a hobby. I just found his ‘love’ for Morgan a little smothering…not that Morgan mined.

All in all, Perfect Ruin was a great introduction to the Internment series. There is certainly still a lot of questions regarding the whole makeup of Internment but on the bright side the; mystery surrounding the girl’s death is revealed toward the end and readers are left with an interesting turn of events cliff-hanger. What I enjoyed most about this book was the writing, and it is probably what sticks out most for me in the already saturated dystopian genre. I am curious to see where DeStefano takes the story next, especially with that surprise ending. If you love dystopians, then you’ll want to check this new series out.

 

[Blog Tour] Guest post by Heather Terrell

Who would I cast as Eamon, Eva's twin brother in RELIC?

 by Heather Terell

Logan Lerman as Eamon

Eamon would probably be the most difficult character to cast in RELIC. As Eva’s hugely talented twin brother -- an amazing ice-climber, scholar, and Gallant as well as a humorous and loving sibling -- Eamon has to convey his importance to Eva and the strength of his character in one scene. The very dramatic Prologue. Without revealing too many spoilers about RELIC, Eamon dies in that opening scene, and his death is the catalyst for all the events that transpire, including Eva’s decision to enter the male-dominated archaeological competition called the Testing. Conveying all that in one scene would be an incredible burden to place on one actor’s shoulders. That said, I think Logan Lerman may fit the bill. He has shown great presence in such hugely varying roles as the one he played in the epic Percy Jackson films as well as the coming-of-age movie The Perks of Being a Wallflower -- not to mention the very different sorts of parts he’ll play coming up in such movies as Noah and Fury.

OUT NOW AT ALL BOOK RETAILERS!

When Eva’s twin brother, Eamon, falls to his death just a few months before he is due to participate in The Testing, no one expects Eva to take his place. She’s a Maiden, slated for embroidery classes, curtseys, and soon a prestigious marriage befitting the daughter of an Aerie ruler. But Eva insists on honoring her brother by becoming a Testor. After all, she wouldn’t be the first Maiden to Test, just the first in 150 years.

Eva knows the Testing is no dance class. Gallant Testors train for their entire lives to search icy wastelands for Relics: artifacts of the corrupt civilization that existed before The Healing drowned the world. Out in the Boundary Lands, Eva must rely on every moment of the lightning-quick training she received from Lukas—her servant, a Boundary native, and her closest friend now that Eamon is gone.

But there are threats in The Testing beyond what Lukas could have prepared her for. And no one could have imagined the danger Eva unleashes when she discovers a Relic that shakes the Aerie to its core.

About the Author

Heather Terrell worked as a commercial litigator in New York City for over ten years, but she has always been obsessed with myth, lore, and the gap between history and the truth. This preoccupation has led to several loosely factual historical novels (The Chrysalis, The Map Thief, Brigid of Kildare) and the pure-lore Fallen Angel series. Relic is the first installment of The Books of Eva series. She lives in Pittsburgh with her family. Visit her at www.heatherterrell.com 

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Read the prequel to Relic, Chronicle for free here!