Gretchen C. Hohmeyer's Blog, page 83

Interview + Giveaway: “Doppleganger” by Milda Harris

WELCOME TO AUTHOR MILDA HARRIS!

Author Milda Harris is a Chicago girl who ran off to Hollywood to pursue a screenwriting dream! Shehas a dog named after a piece of candy (Licorice), was once hit by a tree (seriously), and wears hot pink sunglasses (why not?). Between working in production on television shows like Austin & Ally, Hannah Montana, and That’s So Raven and playing with her super cute dog Licorice, she writes young adult murder mystery, horror, paranormal romance, and chick lit novels.
 
Her ebooks Adventures in Funeral Crashing, Adventures of a Graveyard Girl, The New Girl Who Found a Dead Body, Doppelganger, and Connected (A Paranormal Romance) are for sale now!

Citrus Leahy is having a really bad day. First she’s late to school. Then she runs into the girl who drives her nuts because she always calls her Orange instead of her name. To cap it all off, though, when Citrus finally makes it to class, she sees herself already inside. Wait. What? Citrus Leahy has a doppelganger, it’s probably aliens taking over the world, and her life has just turned totally upside down!. Goodbye, normal. Hello, paranormal! Luckily, her crush Aedan has the exact same problem!

Interview:

So, your book Doppelganger was just released. Can you tell me in one sentence why someone should read the book? You should read Doppelganger because it could happen: evil doppelganger aliens could take over the world and you should be prepared. Kidding. Maybe.

What inspired you to become a writer of books? Reading! As soon as I started reading, I couldn’t stop and quickly wanted to write my own books!

When you’re writing, do you prefer silence or do some of your characters have soundtracks? Or do you do something completely different? Usually I prefer silence, but every once in awhile there’s a soundtrack to the story. I wrote the bones of one book that’s yet to be released, listening to The Muppets’ Green Album over and over again! Manamana was in my head for weeks after that!

Can you see yourself in any of your characters? Definitely! There’s pieces of me in all of the main characters I write, even if it’s just a small detail. The character that’s closest to me is probably Kait Lenoxfrom Adventures in Funeral Crashing, although I don’t crash funerals.

When you aren’t writing, what kind of stuff do you read? Any favorite titles you think everyone should read? I’m all over the place with my books. I’ve been reading a ton of YA lately, but I’ll pretty much read any genre if someone raves about the book. Favorite titles that everyone should read…hmm…I’d have to say: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling, and A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. I’d keep going, but then this would be a really long answer.

When you need to do something that doesn’t involve books or writing, what do you like to do? I love TV and movies, so watching them is at the top of my list (I really like stories!), but I also like to play random sports and take classes. In the past I’ve been on a dodgeball league and last year I played kickball. The year before I took ice skating lessons. I’m not sure what’s next!

What’s the better YA trend: vampires, angels or mermaids? I admit it – I’m a fan of vampires!

So, according to your bio, you’ve worked in production on shows like That’s So Raven and Hannah Montana. That’s amazing! Tell me a little bit about what that was like. So much fun! I love working in television! It’s a crazy process making a television show! That’s So Raven was the first television show I ever worked on as a PA and that was fun because I got to learn how a sitcom was made from start to finish – from the writers coming up with an idea, to the actual writing, to shooting the show, to post production, all the way until the episode was finished. Fascinating! By the time I started working on Hannah Montana I was an old pro at the process, but that show was an amazing ride because I started on it before anybody knew who Hannah Montana was and then the show became a phenomenon! Plus, I was an assistant to the head writers, so I got to see how the show was written and I thought the writing on the show was fantastic!

What’s the biggest difference between screenwriting and novel writing? For me the biggest difference is that in a novel I can tell you what the main character is thinking, but in a screenplay you have to show it outwardly by something that they do because screenplays are used for a visual medium. It’s a big difference.   

What’s the last book you read? Any books out there that you’re dying to be released? I’m currently reading and finishing up The Host by Stephanie Meyer. It’s very different from Twilight. As for dying to be released books, my next book to be read is Cassandra Clare’s The Infernal Devices series, so I’m sure I’ll be dying for the third book Clockwork Princess (out in 2013) after I’ve raced through reading the first two! I wish books in a series could all come out at the same time so that I didn’t have to wait for them!

NOW, ARE YOU READY FOR THE GIVEAWAY?

Milda has kindly offered TWO copies of the ebook of Doppleganger to TWO lucky winners! This giveaway is INTERNATIONAL and ends 11:59 PM on September 21st! Click HERE to enter!

Blog Tour + Giveaway: “Flight” by Alyssa Rose Ivy

It’s time for another blog tour, this one hosted by A Tale of Many Reviews for Alyssa Rose Ivy’s Flight (The Crescent Chronicles #1). Here’s what we’re talking about!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Sometimes you just have to take flight.

A summer in New Orleans is exactly what Allie needs before starting college. Accepting her dad’s invitation to work at his hotel offers an escape from her ex-boyfriend and the chance to spend the summer with her best friend. Meeting a guy is the last thing on her mind—until she sees Levi.

Unable to resist the infuriating yet alluring Levi, Allie finds herself at the center of a supernatural society and forced to decide between following the path she has always trusted or saving a city that might just save her.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alyssa Rose Ivy is a Young Adult and New Adult author who loves to weave stories with romance and a southern setting. Although raised in the New York area, she fell in love with the South after moving to New Orleans for college. After years as a perpetual student, she turned back to her creative side and decided to write. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and two young children, and she can usually be found with a cup of coffee in her hand.

Goodreads | Author Website | Facebook | Twitter

Sounds cool, right? You want a copy of this, right? Well, look no further! Not only do I have a US only giveaway for 1 print copy, but I ALSO have an INTERNATIONAL giveaway for one of TWO ecopies of the book! For the US giveaway, click HERE. For the international giveaway, click HERE.

DON’T FORGET to check out the other blogs on this tour for their reviews and guest posts! Check out what’s going on HERE!

Waiting on Wednesday #24

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine!

Title: City of a Thousand Dolls

Author: Miriam Forster

ETA: February 5th, 2013

Summary from Goodreads: The girl with no past, and no future, may be the only one who can save their lives.

Nisha was abandoned at the gates of the City of a Thousand Dolls when she was just a child. Now sixteen, she lives on the grounds of the isolated estate, where orphan girls apprentice as musicians, healers, courtesans, and, if the rumors are true, assassins. Nisha makes her way as Matron’s assistant, her closest companions the mysterious cats that trail her shadow. Only when she begins a forbidden flirtation with the city’s handsome young courier does she let herself imagine a life outside the walls. Until one by one, girls around her start to die.

Before she becomes the next victim, Nisha decides to uncover the secrets that surround the girls’ deaths. But by getting involved, Nisha jeopardizes not only her own future in the City of a Thousand Dolls—but her own life.

Why I’m Waiting: GUYS. This sounds SO COOL. Have you SEEN the cover? …oh, well, it’s right there. So, yeah you have. I almost cannot handle how awesome this sounds. I can’t wait!

Top Ten Books on My Fall TBR List!

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish!

(Yes, I am aware that this is last week’s topic. I had this post done up but then things happened and I never got to posting it, and as you will see down below I am WAY behind on reviews SO– Here’s a feature on just how behind I am. )

So, I talk a LOT about my “have-but-need-to-read” shelf on Goodreads. It’s … long. And I’m behind on reviewing, so I have a LOT of books to get through. Here’s what’s coming at you this fall! …at least, the first ten of them.

1. Flight by Alyssa Rose Ivy

Blog tour time! This post is coming at you this week, actually, on September 13. No, I don’t actually have it read yet – that’s what I’m going to go do RIGHT NOW, when this post is done. I’m that behind. >.>

2. Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff

Being contacted to do this by the publisher was possibly the happiest day of my life. This hits the blog Sept 17 and I literally couldn’t be more excited. I’ve heard nothing but good things, and it just SOUNDS like the best thing.

3. Nerve by Jeanne Ryan

Another blog tour! This one coming at you Sept 20, and it promises to be awesome as well. Don’t know if you’ve checked it out yet, but it sounds rather Hunger Games-esque–which can either be a good thing or a bad thing, really, but you know. I’m excited, at least!

4. Mystic City by Theo Lawrence

I’ve been sitting on this one fore a while and it’s KILLING me. The review is finally coming out Sept 21 and I couldn’t be happier. I’ve sort of outgrown my dystopian fad for now, but this one still has so much potential I can’t pass it up. (Besides, I’ve been told it’s dystopian but it doesn’t SOUND dystopian.)

5. Crewel by Gennifer Albin

GUYS. GUYS. HAVE YOU NOT HEARD ABOUT THIS BOOK YET? Because now would be a FANTASTIC time to start. Not only am I reviewing this book on Sept 24, but I’m ALSO a part of the Crewel Street Team which is FANTASTIC. I’m so in love with this book that I’m not actually participating for the points thing; I’m just doing it for idea love and worship. I cannot WAIT to read this.

6. The Shadow Society by Marie Rutkoski

I have high, high hopes for this one. It sounds really interesting. Of course, I could do without the “complusive love” bit in the synopsis on Goodreads, but you should all know how I feel about those. And, if you don’t, if you check out my review on Sept 27, you’ll hear about it, I’m sure. I can never NOT comment on insta-love.

7. My Boyfriend Merlin by Priya Ardis

BLOG TOUR AGAIN! I’m reviewing book one of this series on Oct 1, but a whole bunch of other blogs are reviewing and otherwise featuring the two other books in the series as well. Sadly, I couldn’t get a handle on all three of them like I wanted.

8. The Unfailing Light by Robin Bridges

Do you know how awesome it is to have Random House email you and ask you to review an ARC? I know a whole bunch of people will tell you that happens to them all the time, but this is the FIRST time it’s happened to me and EEK! So happy. PLUS, not only am I reviewing this one on Oct 4, on Oct 5 I’ll have an interview with Robin Bridges AND a giveaway of The Unfailing Light coming at you and it will be THE BEST.

9. Katya’s World by Jonathon L. Howard

This sounds darker than my average fare and I LIKE IT. I’ve been looking for something a little different, and I think this could be just the ticket. Review goes live Oct 8!

10. Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill

I have been sitting on this one for FAR TOO LONG. I cannot wait to read it because it sounds SO SWEET. (Er, that’s a switch from Katya’s World… XD) I’ve heard good things, and I hope to add my own on Oct 12!

ARC Review: “Eve and Adam” by Katherine Applegate and Michael Grant

Eve and Adam by Katherine Applegate and Michael Grant

Goodreads | Amazon

In the beginning, there was an apple—

And then there was a car crash, a horrible injury, and a hospital. But before Evening Spiker’s head clears a strange boy named Solo is rushing her to her mother’s research facility. There, under the best care available, Eve is left alone to heal.

Just when Eve thinks she will die—not from her injuries, but from boredom—her mother gives her a special project: Create the perfect boy.

Using an amazingly detailed simulation, Eve starts building a boy from the ground up. Eve is creating Adam. And he will be just perfect… won’t he?

3 1/2 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Feiwel and Friends for this eARC! You can get a copy for yourself on October 2nd, 2012!

To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t sure at all how Eve and Adam was going to turn out. I was only lukewarm about the concept, but requested it in a slew of requests from Macmillan publishing (which owns F&F). I then proceeded to read the entire book in two days.

Actually, the entire first half of the book didn’t sell me too strongly. The apple thing–which is, in fact, in the beginning–doesn’t seem to have a point except for being thrown in there as an obvious allusion (she also loses a rib for no reason except for this, I’m guessing). It seemed to detract from the fact that Evening is being HIT by a VEHICLE and having her LEG RIPPED OFF. (Graphic imagery not included.)

I was, entirely through the book, lukewarm about the characters of Evening and Solo. I honestly did not understand why the for the life of me Evening and Solo were splitting the narrating, besides the fact that this is written by a male-female team. Evening does most of the narrating because even the authors seem to subconsciously know that this is Evening’s story and Solo is just kind of there. Evening’s mother is just kind of there and stereotypically evil, but PROPS for the character of Evening’s best friend. Now SHE was fun.

You know what? For the first half of the book I was just entirely lukewarm about everything.

And then the second half happened.

The action? Kicked up SEVERAL notches. All of the sudden we went from not much happening to EVERYTHING HAPPENING. Upon rereading the Goodreads synopsis, I can’t help be realize how much of the story isn’t in it. But you wouldn’t know it until the second half of the book.

Alright, I still wasn’t in love with the characters, but FINALLY the multiple points of view had purpose. The romance was particularly awkward and I didn’t find it that believable or real, but the way it’s handled was really sweet. I honestly have to be that vague because otherwise I’d reveal a MAJOR plot point, so … don’t hurt me. Trying to be non-spoiler here.

The plot also never hit a point of entire believability with me, especially the plot twist at the end. The character in the plot twist was far too one-dimensional for the entire book, and there were absolutely no hints that this was coming. All of the sudden there’s just this HAHAHA, GOTCHA moment that I still honestly don’t believe.

All and all, the three and half star rating is perfect for me and this book. I liked it a lot, but I certainly didn’t love it. Though the end did a great deal to redeem the first half, I was just never really engaged with the characters or the plot. The action was great, and so was the subplots, but the overarching concepts just didn’t fit for me.

ARC Review: “The Assassin’s Curse” by Cassandra Rose Clarke

The Assassin’s Curse (The Assassin’s Curse #1) by Cassandra Rose Clarke

Goodreads | Amazon

Ananna of the Tanarau abandons ship when her parents try to marry her off to an allying pirate clan: she wants to captain her own boat, not serve as second-in-command to her handsome yet clueless fiance. But her escape has dire consequences when she learns the scorned clan has sent an assassin after her.

And when the assassin, Naji, finally catches up with her, things get even worse. Ananna inadvertently triggers a nasty curse — with a life-altering result. Now Ananna and Naji are forced to become uneasy allies as they work together to break the curse and return their lives back to normal. Or at least as normal as the lives of a pirate and an assassin can be.

2 1/2 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and Strange Chemistry for this eARC! You can get a copy for yourself on October 2nd, 2012

They say that the first few pages of a book will alter your perception of every page thereafter.

This is exactly what happened to me with this book.

In the first few pages, a lot of things happen. A LOT. Usually, this would be a good marker for me. However, the problem was that each and every event snapped my suspension of disbelief and threw me out of the world of the book. If you’ve never heard the term “suspension of disbelief” before, it just means the reader’s ability to believe in something fantastical in the plot or in a character or so forth. In fantasy novels, often if the suspension of disbelief is snapped the reader will cease to believe any plot twist that happens after that point.

And that’s exactly what happened to me.

I absolutely adored this premise, don’t get me wrong. I had such high hopes that maybe I couldn’t help but be let down. But the unfortunate thing about Ananna is that she never thinks about what she does. There is no preamble or thoughts about abandoning her fiance–which, by the way, means abandoning her entire way of life, her family, the sea, etc. She just gets annoyed with her fiance-to-never-be talking, sees a camel and is like “SO LONG, SUCKER!”

It gets worse from there.

Perhaps part of the problem was that the world building was never particularly solid. I got the main points about the world in which Ananna lives–which seems like a darn cool one–but several things I wanted explained never were. In fact, I got so annoyed with Ananna’s calm accepting of things being left unexplained (big things. All the small things Naji didn’t explain, she shouted “Bullshit!” and got up in his face about it.) that I started counting every time there was some phrasing of “And she let it slide” or “She knew he wouldn’t continue, so she let it go.” Ananna is established as the kind of girl who WOULDN’T do just that.

Another minor annoyance: dialect. I saw no particular reason that every once and a while Ananna would say “gonna” or “‘em” or “ain’t.” This only works if you’re Zora Neale Hurston writing Their Eyes Were Watching God, folks.

The last half of the book does even out, but by then I was just too far gone to be able to really like the book. I didn’t believe in the plausibility of the plot and the characters were a little too cookie cutter for me. I really liked the action that took place in the second half, though, and that’s what kept me reading all the way til the end–it literally wouldn’t let me stop.

The magic in this book was also awesome. I’m a huge fan of elemental magics, and this one didn’t disappoint. There is also a lot of USE of it, which is nice. As I said above, there is also plenty of action–as you would expect from a book where a main character is an assassin.

All and all, this book just defeated any chance I had at really loving it right from the beginning. There are only so many crazy choices I’m willing to believe before the plot leaves the realm of plausibility, and this one threw way too many at me right from the get-go. It redeemed itself slightly in the second half, but that was no thanks to the characters or the plot twists, but rather the action and the setting (this book TRAVELS). I also felt as if the end of the book made it feel like a great deal of the middle never had a point at all in the grand scheme of things. I may read the second book just because I like the world, but it won’t be a definite get for me.

The second book in the Assassin’s Curse series, The Pirate’s Wish, will be released in 2013

ARC Review: “Ironskin” by Tina Connelly

Ironskin (Ironskin #1) by Tina Connelly

Goodreads | Amazon

Jane Eliot wears an iron mask.

It’s the only way to contain the fey curse that scars her cheek. The Great War is five years gone, but its scattered victims remain—the ironskin.

When a carefully worded listing appears for a governess to assist with a “delicate situation”—a child born during the Great War—Jane is certain the child is fey-cursed, and that she can help.

Teaching the unruly Dorie to suppress her curse is hard enough; she certainly didn’t expect to fall for the girl’s father, the enigmatic artist Edward Rochart. But her blossoming crush is stifled by her own scars, and by his parade of women. Ugly women, who enter his closed studio…and come out as beautiful as the fey.

Jane knows Rochart cannot love her, just as she knows that she must wear iron for the rest of her life. But what if neither of these things is true? Step by step Jane unlocks the secrets of her new life—and discovers just how far she will go to become whole again.

3 1/2 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor/Forge for the ability to read this eARC! You can get a copy for yourself on October 2, 2012

There are books that I would die to have enjoyed completely, and this is one of them. Sadly, it fell short of my expectations.

In case you didn’t already realize, this book is a fey/steampunk retelling of Jane Eyre–you know, that book by Charlotte Bronte we all had to read in school. Jane Eyre was a school book that I actually didn’t mind, surprisingly, and I had high hopes for the awesomeness that could come out of adding fantasy elements.

For much of the book, however, it seems like Connelly stays too close to its original text. The names are hardly changed (not a big deal, but still) and the biggest part for me is that Ironskin reads just as slow as Jane Eyre did for a majority of the text. Retelling or no, this is still a YA book and people still want a faster pace than classic books–that’s why I read YA, at least.

My biggest problem was characterization. I never connected with Jane as a character–she was far too stiff all the time. Worse, she all of a sudden simply decided she was in love with Mr. Rochart without ANY kind of connection being made between them at all. This Mr. Rochart is more absent and strange than the one in Jane Eyre, and that’s saying something. Several other decisions and plot points were also simply made without any preamble or reasoning, and that bothered me to no end. Much of the story seemed to happen without much reason other than that it had to happen for the sake of the story.

I did, however, greatly enjoy the idea behind the story. This retelling was far more interesting than the original. However, the plot holes that were left in several places continued to irk me throughout the book. I can’t ask many of the questions I wish without giving away the plot, but I found myself at least mildly confused throughout the entire novel.

So why the 3 1/2 star rating, then? Because of the idea. This refreshing, interesting idea that–yes–wasn’t fleshed out to all its credit. Also, towards the end of the novel, the pace picked up greatly and was actually exciting. If Connolly had put that kind of pacing into the first three-fourths or so of the novel, I would have been much more invested. Also, moving towards the end, the story began to depart more and more from it’s very serious Jane Eyre parallels that were present in the beginning. I kept waiting for key plot points of Jane Eyre to crop up, some with dread (St. John, anyone?), but fewer of them actually came up, and when they did they were decidedly different from the original text. The end of Ironskin did not entirely make up for the beginning, but it did make the rating of this book much higher than I thought it would be.

All in all, though I enjoyed Ironskin, I wanted more from it than I was given. Perhaps this book requires more love for the classics than I have, or more patience, but I consistently felt like I was being let down by all the potential it most certainly had. The end of the book was a great deal more exciting than the beginning, but in truth I was lucky to make it that far. I have put the second Ironskin novel, currently untitled and due out in 2013, on my TBR list just because I’m curious to see where Connolly will take this story now that she’s exhausted Jane Eyre. Perhaps being freed from that model will open up more of the story’s potential.

Reading Clean Giveaway Hop!

Guys, I have an addiction. A blog hop addiction. I just can’t stop signing up for these so I can give you guys some free books! It’s a horrible addiction, right?

Here’s the deets on this one! It’s hosted by I’m a Reader, Not a Writer, Clean Teen Fiction and One Librarian’s Book Reviews. The blog hop list, which is HERE, has 120 blogs on it. All the books they’re giving away are free of sex, language and graphic violence. And here’s what I’ve got for you!

NOBODY’S PRINCESS and NOBODY’S PRIZE by Esther Friesner!

Esther’s books have made me very happy, and actually turned Helen of Troy into a spunky, kickbutt heroine who I really enjoy! Also, gotta love a girl who always has a sarcastic remark!

Interested? Click HERE to enter. Please note that the giveaway is US only and ends at 11:59 PM on September 12th.

Waiting on Wednesday #23

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine!

Title: Chantress (Click for Goodreads)

Author: Amy Butler Greenfield

ETA: May 7th, 2013

Summary from Goodreads: Sing and the darkness will find you.

Shipwrecked on an island seven years ago, Lucy has been warned she must never sing, or disaster will strike. But on All Hallows Eve, Lucy hears tantalizing music in the air. When she sings it, she unlocks a terrible secret: She is a Chantress, a spell-singer, brought to the island not by shipwreck but by a desperate enchantment gone wrong.

Her song lands her back in England — and in mortal peril, for the kingdom lies in the cruel grasp of a powerful Lord Protector and his mind-reading hunters, the Shadowgrims. The Protector has killed all Chantresses, for they alone can destroy the Shadowgrims. Only Lucy has survived.

In terrible danger, Lucy takes shelter with Nat, a spy who turns her heart upside-down. Nat has been working with his fellow scholars of the Invisible College to overthrow the Lord Protector, and they have long hoped to find a living Chantress to help them. But Lucy is completely untrained, and Nat deeply distrusts her magic. If Lucy cannot master the songspells, how long can she even stay alive?

Beguiling and lyrical, dangerous and romantic, Chantress will capture readers in a spell they won’t want to break.

Why I’m Waiting: GUYS. GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS GUY– Ahem. Uh. But seriously. Did you not SEE that cover? Did you not READ that description? Not only does this sound new and awesome, but it sounds FREAKING AWESOME AND AMAZING AND LIKE THE BEST THING EVER. This book makes me, uh, sort of excited. >.> May 7th is a FREAKING long time to wait, but I have high hopes it’ll be worth it!

ARC Review: “Magisterium” by Jeff Hirsch

Magisterium by Jeff Hirsch

Goodreads | Amazon

On one side of the Rift is a technological paradise without famine or want. On the other side is a mystery.

Sixteen-year-old Glenn Morgan has lived next to the Rift her entire life and has no idea of what might be on the other side of it. Glenn’s only friend, Kevin, insists the fence holds back a world of monsters and witchcraft, but magic isn’t for Glenn. She has enough problems with reality: Glenn’s mother disappeared when she was six, and soon after, she lost her scientist father to his all-consuming work on the mysterious Project. Glenn buries herself in her studies and dreams about the day she can escape. But when her father’s work leads to his arrest, he gives Glenn a simple metal bracelet that will send Glenn and Kevin on the run—with only one place to go.

With MAGISTERIUM, Jeff Hirsch brings us the story of a complex, captivating world that will leave readers breathless until the very last page.

3 1/2 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Scholastics Press for this eARC! You can pick up a copy of your own on October 1, 2012.

When I began reading the book, something stopped me right before the book even started. In the dedication, Hirsch had written “For Gretchen, my greatest Affinity.” I actually shouted, “WHAT?” because for one crazy second I thought he was talking to me because freaking nobody has my name. (Except for a few people. But they are very few.)

Perhaps that set me up with expectations that could never be met.

To be fair, Hirsch set himself up with a FANTASTIC premise. I actually never realized this was a dystopian until the first explanation of the Rift in the first few pages (which comes in Glenn giving Kevin a history lesson he doesn’t need. Sigh.).  I was thinking we were setting up for a more fantasy/straight scifi adventure, which in a way it was. No, not because technically dystopian is a subcategory of scifi, but rather because the mix of the two genres was ridiculously neat. While in the Colloquium (the technological paradise side of the Rift), the story is straight scifi. While in the Magisterium for the first part, it’s almost straight fantasy. Towards the end they mix gradually, and it was SO COOL. Talk about the best of both worlds.

However, Hirsch’s world building didn’t sell me on the concept as solidly as I would have liked. There weren’t too many giant gaps, but the little things irk me. In places it showed that Hirsch did have some world building down, so I tend to blame this one on bad pacing. Throughout the entire book, huge, plot altering events were blown by in the blink of an eye with the minimal of explanation. Half of them I was struggling to understand pages later, when they were already seriously affecting the plot, and they were never elaborated on afterwards. Unfortunately, I can’t give you an example of where I felt this the worst because it might spoil some things, but let me just say the character of Kevin turns bipolar for reasons I don’t understand to this moment.

The characterization of Glenn also turned me off the book. I never connected with her, mostly because her first instinct was to be passive. I am not a fan of passive main characters, especially when there are TWO other characters trying to kick Glenn in the rear for the whole book and she’s like “No I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore so I’ll try TALKING to the bad guy” and worse. When the dude is killing people and toting around trebuchets, I think we’re a little past talking.

The plotting and characterization throughout the novel were big problems for me, but I found them to be my only problems. It was just unfortunate that they didn’t extend just to one part of the novel or one character. Still, I found myself able to read around these problems if only to read more about the world. Having this much magic within my scifi made me a very happy person, and the description of the magical beings and powers were spectacular. I found the actual plot to be fairly predictable–right up until the end, that is. That’s when Glenn FINALLY made some proactive choices and shocked the socks off me.

All in all, I would recommend this book if you were looking for a very fast read that mixes up just the right amounts of scifi and fantasy. I did enjoy it, but the stickler editor in me found a few too many large technical problems to be totally satisfied. That said, I will be looking forward to getting my hands on the second book in this series, which I will add to me “to-be-read” list as soon as Goodreads get any information about it. I think this story has potential, and Hirsch can only improve from here.