Sage Nestler's Blog, page 57
September 27, 2016
Weekly Update – 09/26/16 – 10/02/16
Happy Tuesday, Everyone!
This week I will be reviewing:
No One Dies in the Garden of Syn by Michael Seidelman
Perennials by Bryce Gibson
Saved by a Billionaire by Eve Fox
I will also be writing a post up about what you should make sure you do when publishing your novel, from a reviewer’s perspective. Even though I am an author myself, I am also a reviewer and that helps me to understand what should and shouldn’t be included in a self-published novel. Be on the lookout!
I hope that you all have a beautiful week!
Much love,
Ashley
FOR BOOK REVIEW REQUESTS FILL OUT FORM: Book Review Request Form
IF BOOK REQUEST WEBSITE IS DOWN EMAIL: peachykeenreviews@gmail.com
September 25, 2016
Behind Broken Glass Walls – First Review
Hello everyone,
As many of you know, my third novel “Behind Broken Glass Walls” will be releasing November 1, and I have my first ARC review in! I hope you enjoy, and that it helps you to understand more about what I am trying to accomplish with this novel.
“This poignant novel tells the story of Oceana, her teenage daughter, Drachea, and the unraveling of their lives when Drachea takes a gun to school and unloads on her classmates. Even though Oceana knows her daughter is a killer, she can’t help but love her, still. She can’t help but feel at fault. What could she have done differently?
Learn what it means to love a child when everyone else sees her as a murderer, and experience what it feels like to love someone who you no longer understand.
‘Behind Broken Glass Walls’ tests the limits of love, friendship, and delves deeply into the psyche of a school shooter and bullying in a truly beautiful and heartbreaking way. It makes you think about these controversial and rather tricky subjects in a way that you might not have thought of them before and will pull at your heartstrings. The people we perceive as villains aren’t always what they seem.
I read this book as part of my #yearofindiewomen. I was given an advanced reader copy (paperback ARC) in exchange for an honest review.
Guh, this is a truly beautiful novel. It made me cry at several parts, and that’s a really hard thing to do. I devoured it in one sitting. I simply couldn’t put it down. Aaroones has told a story here that, I think, really needs to be told.
Bullying is a serious problem in our society, as we all know, and the rise in school shootings is a downright horrifying thing. The amount of kids who believe they need to resort to some sort of violence to save/redeem themselves from the torture they endure every day, either by committing suicide or by hurting those who hurt them, is downright scary and tragic. I don’t claim to know what the solution is. I wish I did, but I don’t. But I do think talking about the problem is a step in the right direction, and stories like this one is a way to do it.
What I liked most about ‘Behind Broken Glass Walls’ is how it humanized Drachea even though she did something so horrible. Now, I know I’m probably going to get a lot of backlash for this, but we so often see the kids who make a choice like Drachea’s as nothing but pure evil. As Satan incarnate. And yes, they did something so unforgivable, so awful, but they are still children. They were hurting so badly, and they weren’t in a stable state of mind. I’m not justifying killing in the least, please don’t take it that way, but I just wish people would take a moment to think about why these kids make such a terrible decision. Most of the time, these kids weren’t born bad. They were pushed and pushed and pushed to do something so heinous. Just like Drachea. And I appreciated how Aaroones told her story.
I felt the same way about the way she portrayed Oceana’s heartbreak. I can’t imagine what it must be like to be the parent of a child who does something like that. What could you have done differently? What signs did you miss? Why didn’t they talk to you? Everyone blames you. You can never escape it, and as much as you know how wrong what they did was, you can never stop loving your baby. Oceana’s heartbreak is so raw and real that it broke me. I cried with her. And I found strength with her.
Finally, the relationship between Drachea and Emmalynne was so important. I found myself cheering that it would save her even though I knew it wouldn’t.
I think Aaroones is brave for writing this book. I think there are going to be people who won’t like the way Drachea’s story is told, and that’s okay. Sometimes the most important books are hard to swallow, but they have the biggest impact.”
~Roxie, Goodreads
If you are interested in providing me with an honest, ARC review of Behind Broken Glass Walls, please email me at peachykeenreviews@gmail.com.
September 23, 2016
Keep Calm and Reap the Benefits of a Book Sale
Starting today, September 23, through October 8 Trusting the Currents by Lynnda Pollio is only 99 cents on Amazon! This promotion is for the ebook version, and I have personally read and fallen in love with this novel . It is definitely worth a read, and I hope you take advantage of this wonderful sale! My review for Trusting the Currents can be found here: Trusting the Currents by Lynnda Pollio
Purchase here: https://www.amazon.com/Trusting-Currents-Lynnda-Pollio-ebook/dp/B00GH15WB8/
Winner: 2014 Nautilus Book Awards Gold Medal in Fiction
Winner: 2015 IPPY Gold Medal in Visionary Fiction
Winner: 2015 National Indie Excellence Awards Gold Medal in Visionary Fiction
Winner: 2015 International Book Awards Gold Medal in Visionary Fiction
Winner: 2015 Readers Favorite Gold Medal in Inspirational Fiction
Winner: 2015 USA Book News Best Book Awards top Winner in Visionary Fiction
Winner: 2015 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist in Inspirational Fiction
Winner: 2015 Los Angeles Book Festival, Honorable Mention in Spirituality
Winner: 2015 Writer’s Digest Book Awards, Honorable Mention in Inspiration
Winner: 2015 B.R.A.G Medallion
Winner: 2016 Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards, Red Ribbon Winner in Fiction (England)
Winner: 2016 Selected as a 5-Star Awesome Indie, a list of quality independent fiction curated by publishing professionals
Trusting the Currents was selected by Library Journal for its Self-e Select program as a great library book. This is a nationwide program available at any local library subscribed to BiblioBoard and participating in the SELF-e program.
Some moments change everything you become.
Author Lynnda Pollio’s life as a busy New Yorker abruptly changes when she unexpectedly heard the mystical, elderly voice of Addie Mae Aubrey, a Southern, African American woman. Her first words, “It’s not what happened to me that matters,” begin a spirited remembering of her teenage years in the late 1930s rural South and the learned wisdom she asks Lynnda to share. As women from different times and different places, they embark on an uncommon journey together.
Narrated by Addie Mae Aubrey, Trusting the Currents is a spiritual story of self-discovery–of faith, courage, forgiveness, and the uneasy search for one’s place in life. Beginning at age eleven with the unexpected arrival of beautiful, mysterious cousin Jenny and her shadowy stepfather, Uncle Joe,Trusting the Currents explores Addie Mae’s reluctant awakening. As Jenny, the story’s mystical center, introduces Addie Mae to the spiritual world, a caring teacher, Miss Blanchard,guides with the power of reading. Romantic love enters her life for the first time with Rawley, and we experience how Addie Mae’s emerging sense of self compels her to a life-altering decision.
Throughout the story, her mother remains an unwavering source of love, even when fear and evil shake their lives. Unfathomable loss and rising trust in the “Invisibles” not only transform Addie Mae’s budding life, but leads to the author’s own spiritual awakening.
There are three levels to the book: Addie Mae’s powerful story,universal life messages woven throughout the book, and high energeticfrequencies embedded in the writing that expand the reader’sconsciousness.
Addie Mae reveals how life blossoms when we have the courage to not only accept but also learn from mistakes and sorrow. Her story may belong to one woman, but the lessons it teaches belong to everyone willing to open their hearts and listen to the truth within their souls.
Trusting the Currents represents a new literary genre of Visionary Fiction, engaging high spiritual frequencies that resonate with the reader’s heart, guiding them deep into their own truth and transformation.
September 22, 2016
Mystical Mojo Blowout Sale
Mystical Mojo is having a sale on ALL of their leftover inventory starting this Friday at 9am(eastern).
4 mystery options available with FREE SHIPPING!
Limited quantities- Once they are gone- they are GONE
Be sure to set your alarm this Friday so you don’t miss out.
Please come out and support this beautiful box! Christina, the owner, is a sweetheart, and all of her items are beautiful and generally come from small businesses. It is a great way to keep small businesses running.
September 21, 2016
The Surrendered by Case Maynard Release Week!
about the book:
After a financial collapse devastates the United States, the new government imposes a tax on the nation’s most valuable resource—the children.
Surrendered at age ten—after her parents could no longer afford her exorbitant fees—Vee Delancourt has spent six hard years at the Mills, alongside her twin, Oliver. With just a year to freedom, they do what they can to stay off the Master’s radar. But when Vee discovers unspeakable things happening to the younger girls in service, she has no choice but to take a stand—a decision that lands her on the run and outside the fence for the first time since the System robbed her of her liberty.
Vee knows the Master will stop at nothing to prove he holds ultimate authority over the Surrendered. But when he makes a threat that goes beyond what even she considers possible, she accepts the aid of an unlikely group of allies. Problem is, with opposing factions gunning for the one thing that might save them all, Vee must find a way to turn oppression and desperation into hope and determination—or risk failing all the children and the brother she left behind.
Now available!
Amazon – iBooks – Barnes & Noble – Kobo – Signed Copies – Goodreads
about the author:
With over 20 years’ experience in the legal and medical fields, Case Maynard decided to trade in her briefs and reports to write the stories that have been floating around in her head since childhood. She lives with her two teenagers and husband in South Georgia, while maintaining a long-distance liaison with her oldest daughter and partner in crime in Alaska. When not writing, she enjoys reading as often as possible, binge watching anything good on Netflix, and all things NCAA football (Go Noles!). You can learn more about Case and her stories on her website.
Website Instagram Twitter Facebook Goodreads
Want to stay up to date on everything from Blaze Publishing? Sign up for our newsletter so you don’t miss a thing! The first 100 subscribers get free Blaze bookmarks (UK, US, and Canada only) AND get added to our Loyal 100 group, which gives you access to exclusive news, teasers, prizes, and ARCs!
Website – Instagram – Twitter – YouTube – Facebook – Tumblr – Google+
Elsker by S.T. Bende
Title: Elsker
Author: S.T. Bende
Rating: 4/5
Synopsis:
Kristia Tostenson prefers Earl Grey to Grey Goose and book clubs to nightclubs. But when she transfers from her one-stoplight Oregon town to Cardiff University in Wales, she falls in love with Ull Myhr. Her new boyfriend isn’t exactly what she was expecting. Ull is an honest-to-goodness Norse god — an immortal assassin fated to die at Ragnarok, the battle destined to destroy Asgard and Earth. On top of being marked for death, Asgardian law prohibits Ull from tying his fate to a mortal. No matter what she feels for Ull, Kristia knows she’s the one thing he can never have.
With Ragnarok on the horizon and a lunatic haunting her dreams, Kristia has to find a way to convince Ull that breaking the rules is the only way to survive; that defying the order he’s sworn to uphold is their only chance to be together. And when someone starts asking the wrong questions, Kristia realizes the crazy visions she’s had all her life might be the key to saving their realms… even if they end up costing her her life. (Elsker: The Elsker Saga, Book One)
Review:
Norse Mythology is a section of literature that is most often neglected, or only present in historical fiction. But S.T. Bende took Norse Mythology to the next level and introduced it to the younger generations by incorporating the legends into an older young adult novel that connects the mythologies to today’s world. As someone who is very passionate about Norse Mythology, I was very impressed with S.T. Bende’s novel, and how she was able to take the myths of Norse Mythology and translate them to reality.
Elsker is written from the perspective of our heroine, Kristia, a girl from a small town who has decided to attend Cardiff University in Wales. Kristia is catapulted from a simple small town life into the world of the Norse gods and quickly becomes involved in an ancient battle that has come back to the surface. This novel is not just a novel about a young girl finding herself and expanding her horizons, but about the power that mythology has on our contemporary lives and how those we meet may not be exactly who we think they are.
S.T. Bende’s novel is not just a novel for older young adults, but for people of all ages to learn about Norse Mythology and the origins of its age old concepts. I have not found an older young adult novel as original as Elsker in quite some time, and I now know why this indie novel is an international bestseller.
FOR BOOK REVIEW REQUESTS FILL OUT FORM: Book Review Request Form
IF BOOK REQUEST WEBSITE IS DOWN EMAIL: peachykeenreviews@gmail.com
September 20, 2016
Go Indie Now! Bibliotherapy Box Turns 6 Months Old
In celebration of our 6 month anniversary this October, I am going to dedicate this post to displaying all of the boxes we have sent out so far! I am so excited about the progress we have achieved, and where this business is going. We have shared with you all some amazing authors, and we have so many more in store! Our 4 – D bookish experience has intensified the beautiful novels that we have sent out, and I am so honored by the positive feedback we have received. We think of all of our subscribers as family, and it has been such a joy getting to know all of you❤
Remember that today is the last day that you can use your $5 off coupon on any subscription or one time box! Just used “FLASHSALE” at checkout.
May 2016
June 2016
July 2016
August 2016
August 2016 – Romance/Erotica Box
August 2016 – Poetry Box
I will post pictures of our September boxes when all of them have arrived so that there aren’t any spoilers!
Much love,
Ashley
FOR BOOK REVIEW REQUESTS FILL OUT FORM: Book Review Request Form
IF BOOK REQUEST WEBSITE IS DOWN EMAIL: peachykeenreviews@gmail.com
September 2016 Lit – Cube Review: Haunted Hearts
Lit – Cube is a monthly young adult book subscription box that sends you a book, snack and multiple additional goodies. They generally send a mix of hardcover novels or paperbacks that aren’t always published within the year, but they base each box on the novel chosen and the proposed theme. I was particularly excited for this month’s box because of the “Haunted Hearts” theme, and I was not disappointed.
First off, the Lit – Cube box is adorable and is fun to find at your day on the day it arrives.
Upon opening the box you are introduced with a couple of notecards that display the theme of that month’s box, and the mission of Lit – Cube itself: to send an experience, and not just a box. All of the items were wrapped in paper shreds and a large piece of tissue paper. Nothing was damaged.
The first item I picked up was a faux leather journal with a ribbon bookmark. The quote on the front was picked out specifically by the featured author and it reads:
“Keep a green tree in your heart, and perhaps a singing bird will come.”
The next couple of items were an old-fashioned quill pen and an ink pot. These were my favorite elements to the box because it really added to that Victorian feel. These, along with the journal, were an excellent curating move on the owner’s part.
A heavy locket with dried flowers inside was also included, and this item was very well made and connected right to the book chosen.
The snack included was a pack of dark chocolate hot chocolate.
A small bar of Mor Gardenia soap was also included to go along with the book.
And for the main attraction, the book chosen this month was The Architect of Song by A.G. Howard, along with a signed bookplate. Each item included in this box was curated to link directly back to the novel, and that was an ingenious curating move.
In the past I have not been wildly impressed with Lit – Cube’s curating due to the fact that it always seemed to be lacking, but this month hit it out of the park. It was a great experience, and one of the best curating moves I have seen in a box.
Subscribe to Lit – Cube: https://www.lit-cube.com/
Price: $34.95/month including shipping
September 19, 2016
Weekly Update – 09/19/16 – 09/25/16
Happy Monday Lovelies!
It has been quite a crazy few weeks on my end. We have finally gotten to the point with the Go Indie Now! Bibliotherapy Box that we require post office pickup and have been grappling with a new shipping service. Last week we shipped out all of the September boxes through this new avenue with great success and are extremely excited for the future! I am also in the process of working with new authors that I scouted out to be featured in our boxes starting in February, and getting those boxes planned and set has been extremely exciting. We have some great new themes coming at you, and you won’t believe the amazing books that we have planned to share with you all.
First announcement…ahem…THE SURRENDERED BY CASE MAYNARD FROM BLAZE PUBLISHING RELEASES TOMORROW! YAY! Blaze is an amazing publisher that I have teamed up with personally for the Go Indie Now! Box, and I am in love with all of the books that they have chosen to release. I read an ARC of The Surrendered back in July, and it is an amazing Dypstopian that will have you clawing at Case to write a sequel for. Grab your copy on Amazon tomorrow, or pre-order it now and get it as soon as it is released! Also, come back this week on the 21st when I will be doing a spotlight of the book as part of its release tour. It will be a blast. My review of The Surrendered can be found here.
Next, this week I will be reviewing:
Elsker by S.T. Bende
Perfekt Order by S.T. Bende
Last, I am now an affiliate for Mystical Mojo Box, a WONDERFUL spiritual box that will send you either mystical jewelry, a crystal box, or a box that combines many healing pieces surrounded all around a certain theme. This is a great healing box that sends you positive vibes each month, and there are many different pricing options.
*Use code CHAKRA5 for 5% off of your first box*
I hope you all have an enlightening, beginning of fall week, and that your life is filled with many bookish adventures. My site serves as a sanctuary for all spirituals and bibliophiles, and I hope that it brings some light to your day.
Much love,
Ashley
September 18, 2016
Fandom of the Month Club – Hufflepuff Special Edition
Rating: 4/5
Fandom of the Month Club is a monthly box that sends you jewelry pieces and accessories based on a certain fandom each month. This review is for the special edition Hufflepuff box that they offered as a one time purchase for $16.98
One of the best things about this box is that the owners design all of the jewelry and have it made specifically for the box. That means that the pieces you receive are one of a kind and are only available through them. For this particular box you could choose which Hogwarts house you wanted your jewelry based on, and these were the items that were included:
An adorable sorting hat print that was designed specifically by the creators for the box. The print reads:
“There’s nothing hidden in your head that The Sorting Hat can’t see, so try me on and I will tell you where you ought to be.”
A one of a kind bag designed with Hufflepuff’s mascot, the badger, and the word “Loyal” which defines the house of Hufflepuff. This bag holds all of the jewelry included.
A Hufflepuff cup ring that has three different bands to be able to hold the entire cup on the ring. When worn, this ring takes up the bottom third of my middle finger. It is cold toned, and can be adjusted to fit a specific size.
A three chain necklace that has small plaques that read: “LOYAL”, “FRIENDLY”, and “HUFFLEPUFF”. I love this chain necklace, but it is hard to get untangled. Once it has been put in the bag that it came in, you have to work to get the tangles out before wearing it again.
A Hufflepuff charm bracelet. This piece is my favorite from the set. It is stretchable and contains charms that represent the house of Hufflepuff. The first charm is of the sorting hat, a black bead charm, and a yellow jewel charm to represent the colors of Hufflepuff, and a small Hufflepuff charm that reads:
“You might belong in Hufflepuff where they are just and loyal, those patient Hufflepuffs are true and unafraid of toil.”
The last item included was a magnet with the Hufflepuff crest on it. The art was created specifically by the company for the box, and the magnet is paper thin which made it perfect to put on my bookcase. I also loved how the background was yellow.
Overall, this box was well worth the $16.98 paid. The pieces can’t be found elsewhere, and that makes this box one of a kind. You can purchase their limited edition boxes once in a while when they are released, or you can choose to subscribe to their box and receive jewelry from a different fandom each month. This box is perfect for those who love fandom themed jewelry, and for those on a budget.
*Overall this box was worth the money and beautifully curated, but the necklace is hard to keep untangled.*
