Jennifer J. Chow's Blog, page 23

#BookReview: Children of Blood and Bone

Children of Blood and Bone

5 stars

Genre: YA fantasy

Pros:

West African influence Modern-day parallelRefreshing boy-girl take

Cons:

Reckless choices by a character

I loved the Children of Blood and Bone. The
world is set in such a vivid way, with accurate turmoil shown and interesting
types of people portrayed. (I also liked that Adeyemi tried to parallel modern
day dynamics in her fantasy world.) 



Although there were changing perspectives because of the
frequent switching of narrators, most of the pacing was smooth. (A few
chapters, though, I wanted to dwell in one character’s head longer.)



I really admired the grit of the female characters,
particularly Amari, who rebelled against the restraints of the kingdom. I had a
little bit of a problem with Zelie because she seemed to throw herself (and get
stuck) in dangerous situations where other people had to come assist her. 



I also liked the more nuanced relationship between Zelie and
the crown prince. It was refreshing (and surprising) to see it play out in a
different way. 



My favorite parts of the novel involved the deep love shown
in Zelie’s family, the world steeped in West African culture, and the strong
female characters depicted.

A five-star read. 

Find more of my book ratings and reviews here.

Robot Revenge Audiobook

Here’s a quick announcement for folks who like listening to their books: Robot Revenge is now an audiobook!

You can find it here: https://www.audible.com/pd/Robot-Revenge-Audiobook/B07MTNZ2SH

One reviewer calls it a fun cozy mystery that’s “unique and well thought out.” Plus, “Humor, an all important element for me, was sprinkled liberally throughout.”

Happy listening!

Wordless Wednesday: Cranes

Foodie Friday: Sugar Pie

Sugar Pie: super sweet single-crust dessert

When I visited Canada, I tried a traditional Canadian dessert: sugar pie. I’d never heard of it before. I love the coloring of the deep brown in this dessert. It reminds me of fall and leaves fluttering off trees.

The sugar pie lives up to its name. I hear it can be made from brown sugar or maple syrup. (You can try one version of the recipe here.) Warning: This dessert is super sweet!

The sugar overload on my taste buds prevented me from eating more than a few bites. It’s got a flavor reminiscent of pecan pie. Maybe that’s due to a similar caramelization process?

Fun fact: It’s also known as tarte au sucre , especially in Quebec.

Bookbub Free Promo Results

“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”

I was so excited to get a Bookbub Featured Deal in this New Year! For those in the writing know, this selective book listing service is hard to get into. Authors may accrue a lot of rejections before getting picked.

With the ability to reach hundreds or thousands (if not millions) of readers, Bookbub is an amazing opportunity. I ended up submitting my young adult novel, Dragonfly Dreams, and it got accepted for a free promo.

Unfortunately, the date the promotion began happened right after New Year’s (January 2nd). I, naturally, had a stressful experience making sure all the price adjustments happened in time because of the holiday break.

In the end, though, I managed to pull it off (albeit with some trouble in a few international locations).

At the peak of Bookbub’s efforts, my book went up the Kindle Free charts to #9 Overall for Free; #1 in Children’s Asian American; and #1 in Children’s Christian.

I feel mixed about the end results. To be honest, I was hoping for a long tail of sales after the promotion. (This would translate to a large number of book purchases after the listing.) Sadly, I didn’t get the follow-through on buying that I’d hoped for. Perhaps this was because I’d given away the copies of my book? (Next time, I’ll aim for a 99 cents ad.)

However, I did get more exposure for Dragonfly Dreams and my author name as a whole. Who knows how that will pan out in the future? Here are a few stats on the promo:

Book Deal (free) from January 2nd midnight PT to January 3rd midnight PT
Approximately 10,000 downloads on Amazon
Approximately 2,500 downloads on other sites (Nook, Kobo, iBooks)
Five new book reviews after being featured

The takeaway? BB is still the way to go to get eyeballs on your work. Free promotions may work better if you have a series and not a standalone (but beggars can’t be choosers with Bookbub, so take what you can get). If you want to go free, keep your expectations low in terms of revenue. However, free definitely garners more exposure–and hopefully more loyal readers and supporters of your current and future books.

Wordless Wednesday: Giant Snow Globe

#BookReview: When Dimple Met Rishi

When Dimple Met Rishi

5 stars

Genre: YA contemporary
romance

Pros:

Diverse main
charactersInteresting cultural
referencesCute flip of a theme

Cons:

Predictable love story

I loved When Dimple Met Rishi! It features a cute romance. Not only do the two main characters fall in love, but you also start to adore them as a reader. I particularly liked how Menon flipped the theme of arranged marriages into something culturally positive.

All the tidbits of the characters’ beliefs about culture and thinking made for a great book in terms of how to create identity and what things are taken from one generation to the next. I’m also glad that she set this story at a summer conference for web developers.

I did hit a slight snag in the beginning when Dimple is first introduced. It seemed like she took on the rebellious archetype and acted a tad too disrespectful to her elders for my taste. Thankfully, that feeling was short-lived during the first chapter, and I was able to understand Dimple’s perspective soon enough.

The only other minor issue I have is that it’s a very predictable love story. Sure, there are obstacles along the way, but it’s definitely a general rush to happily ever. I do applaud Menon, though, for making Dimple a thinking woman who stands up for herself and makes sure she doesn’t just get reduced to a role or caricature.

Overall, an adorable love story.

Find more of my book ratings and reviews here.

WriteGirl

“Don’t be surprised by the emergence of undiscovered talents.”

I had such an inspiring time over the weekend with teen girls! The nonprofit WriteGirl is a fabulous organization that pairs young women with mentors to express themselves through creative writing.

Sunday’s afternoon event was a fiction workshop and drew over 100 attendees. Held at The Autry, mentors and mentees filled up the auditorium of the Wells Fargo Theater.

I shared a few tips on jumping points for starting stories during a relaxed interview. Though I kickstarted the event, other distinguished authors who offered wisdom included Marissa Kennerson, Vicki Stiefel, Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, and Lisa Horiuchi.

The workshop split time between listening to writing advice, doing creative exercises, mining the museum for inspiration, and drafting longer narrative pieces.

One of my favorite parts of the day was when the young women went up to share at the mic. Part of the time they got to vent and say whatever they wanted about things going on in their lives—so freeing. The other half they shared the story ideas they crafted during their time at the workshop.

WriteGirl even gave me a special gift for being a guest. Too sweet!

USC Pacific Asia Museum

“Educa tion is the ability to meet life’s situations.”

I had the fun pleasure of visiting the USC Pacific Asia Museum recently. Despite being a loyal Bruin, I really appreciated seeing this gem of an institute. The permanent exhibits are organized by culture, so I saw the Pacific Islands, China, Japan, etc.

Established in 1971, you can find the museum in Pasadena. It did partner with USC in 2013. For a while, the museum also shut down to reorganize its displays.

I liked wandering the museum, seeing different cultural items. These included pottery, statues, and clothing. I even got to watch a video on how fine china was made. There’s also an interactive room that’s great for kids, detailing the journey of the Silk Road and different types of people who traveled on it.

Here’s a quick photo tour:

First off, the outside of the building is beautiful. It’s done in an imperial Chinese style and features a courtyard garden. The building is actually listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Inside, I found wonderful displays of artwork. There are even these adorable netsuke. Netsuke hang on the side of a male kimono and are used as small containers.

I also really enjoyed discovering the different clothes of various Asian cultures. The temporary exhibit housed some breath-taking historic outfits and also fancy wedding clothing. Here’s an interesting picture I took of a baby holder.

 

I would recommend this museum in a heartbeat!

Teen Vogue

“At this moment, someone is thinking good thoughts of you.”

Hi, all! It’ll be a busy week for me since I’m prepping to host Thanksgiving :)

Thus, this will be a super quick post. If you haven’t already seen on my social media channels, Dragonfly Dreams was mentioned in a Teen Vogue article. It was picked as one of nine “Asian-Led Books that Deserve Their Own Movie Adaption.”

Squee!

P.S. My book is listed in the #5 slot. If you don’t want to click on the article, here’s the full description:

“Dragonfly Dreams follows Topaz Woo, a young mother who is given a mystical choice after she dies while giving birth: if she wants to continue living, she’ll have to submit to having her and her newborn follow The Ten Commandments. It’s clear Jennifer is a pro with the fantasy genre, but also the author doesn’t neglect to take on bigger issues, elegantly weaving in space for cultural differences, family, and ideals about morality. She takes the reader through Topaz’s tumultuous and sweet story while educating readers about spiritual symbols in both Eastern and Western culture.”