Pandragon Dan

What happens when E-S-P spells D-A-N-G-E-R? Well it could mean one of two things. One, you need to learn to spell properly – or two, you’re a young girl with psychic powers and you’ve met other young girls with psychic powers and made some friends. Only for something sinister to be in the air...

Well, that’s the plot today of the book Dark Before Dawn by Stacy Juba, a Young Adult Paranormal novel involving psychic powers. It may sound like the plot to a Charmed episode, but in actual fact, this is a lot more enjoyable (apologies to Charmed fans).

So let’s start channelling our chakra and gather our inner spiritual energy and dive into Dark Before Dawn.

About The Author

Stacy Juba has written about reality TV contestants targeted by a killer, an obit writer investigating a cold case, teen psychics who control minds, twin high school hockey stars battling on the ice, and teddy bears learning to raise the U.S. flag: she pursues whatever story ideas won’t leave her alone. Stacy’s titles include the adult mystery novels Sink or Swim and Twenty-Five Years Ago Today, the children’s picture books The Flag Keeper and the Teddy Bear Town Children’s Bundle (Three Complete Picture Books), and the young adult novels Face-Off and Dark Before Dawn. She is also the editor of the essay anthology 25 Years in the Rearview Mirror: 52 Authors Look Back. She is a former journalist with more than a dozen writing awards to her credit.

Website: http://stacyjuba.com/blog/

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Before-Dawn-ebook/dp/B005PG7SXG/ref

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dark-before-dawn-stacy-juba/1105896327?ean=2940013428591

Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Dark-Before-Dawn/book-FR1KyG_SGkOx_tLz3cSseA/page1.html?s=V2kxe7qEY0Ob5UL-4FW6Qg&r=4

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/dark-before-dawn/id476451947?mt=11

More retailers at: http://stacyjuba.com/blog/dark-before-dawn/

Dark Before Dawn is also available as part of the Young Ladies of Mystery Boxed Set - which contains Twenty-Five Years Ago Today, Sink or Swim and Dark Before Dawn in one download. http://stacyjuba.com/blog/young-ladies-of-mystery-boxed-set/

Twitter: http://ow.ly/99G6J

Facebook:    http://ow.ly/99G8i

Cover

Gotta say I love the title – very symbolic of the central character. And this cover is quite striking with its contrast of dark and light. It may not stand out amongst most covers I’ve seen, but it’s a pretty cool cover none the less and the themes of the book are portrayed nicely.

Overview

Like a lot of teenagers, Dawn has trouble fitting in and making friends. The fact that she seems to possesses psychic abilities and can read minds by accident doesn’t help matters and can put her in some quite embarrassing situations. But when she makes friends with Candice and Jamie (two girls that also possess psychic abilities), they bring her to a powerful psychic called Serina, who seems almost too keen to teach her about her abilities. With it, Dawn learns new abilities that she never knew that she had, which empowers her and gives her more confidence. But there couldn’t possibly be a sinister side to Serina and the girls, could there?

Well, I don’t want to give too many spoilers – but if you know how most Paranormal stories go, you can bet that there will be some sinister dealings somewhere down the line!

I liked this one, it was a nice change to the amount of romantic novels I’ve done the last few reviews (not that I don’t enjoy reading those of course). The language and writing style is simple to follow and very easy to read, making this perfect for teenage readers.

The basic story (of a main character seeking acceptance, but isolated because of the gifts they possess), is one we’ve seen more than once in other novels, but I felt that the story was well done and I couldn’t see any plot holes in it, which was a good thing. Occasionally it was a little predictable in terms of the twists and you do kinda see what’s gonna happen before it does – but that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable to read. It’s a good length as well and not overly padded out, so most people will be able to get through this fairly quickly.

I think the only real issue I had with this book was a lack of a strong male character. All the guys in this book are either annoying or (minor spoilers) characters waiting to die. The closest we get is Ken, her step brother – but he was a bit of a prat and little more than a “damsel in distress”. I’m guessing this book was more intended for female readers, but I believe that, just because you may aim this book for one particular gender, it doesn’t mean you can’t put characters in that the opposite se can’t relate to or back. After all, even Twilight had some strong male characters as well as strong female characters. That’s just my view though and only really a nitpick.

But the above didn’t hinder my enjoyment of it and it was a refreshing read from the sort of books that I had before.

PROS (the Force is strong with this one):

• Easy to follow story and plot is very tight and consistent.
• A good collection of psychic powers throughout.
• Great length.

CONS (I sense much fear in you):

• More aimed at female readers, so male readers may feel a little isolated.

Summary

If you like a nice, easy to follow story with a strong plot, then this will be right up your street. It could have had more strong male protagonists, but I still found a lot to enjoy in this book and I’m sure that readers of Young Adult Paranormal novels will as well. Go get yourself a copy – you know you want to!

FINAL SCORE: 3.5/5

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PANDRAGON

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UPCOMING BLOG TOURS:

  - 5th December - Interview with Sasha Summers

“Revenge doesn’t have a name, but has chosen a victim...”

When the first part of a book blurb starts off like that you KNOW you are in for a pretty wild ride! And this book certainly doesn’t disappoint in terms of action. And considering that the author, LM Preston, was recently was voted number one downloaded free ebooks for her book Bandits, I can tell that this author is destined for good things!

So, without further ado, let’s get into the review of The Pack: Retribution, book 2 of The Pack series.

About The Author (taken from the author information on her website)

LM. Preston was born and raised in Washington, DC. An avid reader, she loved to create poetry and short-stories as a young girl.  With a thirst for knowledge she attended college at Bowie State University, and worked in the IT field as a Techie and Educator for over sixteen years. She started writing science fiction under the encouragement of her husband who was a Sci-Fi buff and her four kids. Her first published novel, Explorer X - Alpha was the beginning of her obsessive desire to write and create stories of young people who overcome unbelievable odds. She loves to write while on the porch watching her kids play or when she is traveling, which is another passion that encouraged her writing.

Check out her other works and contact LM at her website:

http://www.lmpreston.com/index.html

Cover

A pretty standard cover – but it works for me. It shows our protagonist, Shamira, holding a sword and looking ready to cut someone’s head off. I wouldn’t want to be the poor sucker that gets in her way! I do also like the sun and fire effect behind her. Kind reminds of a phoenix rising from the ashes.

Overview

Now, I have to be honest, I haven’t actually read the first The Pack book, so I was going into this one a little bit blind. The first (minor) issue that I had was that the book kinda relies on you having read the first book before this one so that you know the characters and what has gone before. As such, I did end up getting a little lost now and then – fortunately the book did fill in the blanks for me and give some back story now and then, so I was able to catch up soon enough.

The plot involves a secret organisation targeting our protagonist, Shamria, by threatening her friends and family as sort of revenge for Shamria foiling the criminal organisation in the previous installment (like I said, I don’t know the full details as I never read the first one). Because of this, she has to forsake her boyfriend as a way of protecting him – kinda like Mary Jane in Spider-Man 3. The romantic subplot is pretty standard, but it works well within the context of the story. The story has a nice few twists in it as well to keep the reader interested.

On the whole, I found Shamira a very good heroine – in the same kinda vein as Buffy the Vampire slayer. She’s not as stoic as most heroes in this type of book and she does have enough of a personality to make her likeable. I will admit that there were times when I felt she was dangerously close to being a mary-sue – but on the whole she was pretty well rounded.

There is a lot of cool action in this book as well and the action rarely seems to stop. Shamira is often confronted with several enemies that she had to take down – it almost feels like a comic book come to life. It has its fair share of violence, but no more then I’d expect from a YA story. I have to be honest thought, I wasn’t too fond of Shamira using torture on a few enemies to get information, but that’s just a personal preference of mine and in no way a comment on the character.

As this was a book that was submitted to me in paperback form, I also had a chance to give my view on the printed version – something which I rarely get a chance to do. Overall, it was pretty good, formatted quite well and with little spelling errors (though I did spot a couple here and there). The paper used to print is just very slightly floppier and not as sturdy as most other books, but that’s a minor complaint.

I can’t really say too much else as I did enjoy it and don’t have many complaints about it. I think it would have helped if I read the first book first so that I could understand the characters a little more, but from what I got from this book I did feel like they were very well put together.

I’d say this is the type of novel that those who like The Hunger Games would enjoy. It has a lot of decent action and a kick-ass heroine that I’m sure will appear to many female readers. And for those who have read the first book I’m sure they will enjoy this one just as much.

PROS (eye for an eye):

1. Strong heroine with a great personality.
2. Lots of decent action.
3. Plot has some decent twists and turns.

CONS (best served cold):

1. Does kinda rely on you reading the first book before this one and it is a little easy to get lost if you don’t know the characters.

Summary

The Pack: Retribution is out next month and I recommend it highly if you want a good action story. For those who haven’t read the first one, I recommend you do that prior to this book’s release so that you can learn about the characters a little better. But if you have read the first one then I’m certain that this will be a satisfying read. This is an excellent YA novel with a very strong female lead.

FINAL SCORE: 4/5

Pandragon

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Please help Sponsor my Crowdfunding Campaign - Legacy of the Dragonkin

I actually got this review request not just through an email, but via a Youtube video as well advertising the book. I thought the video was pretty basic, but actually really well put together and it did pique my interest. And the story sounded interesting as well, so I knew that I had to give this one a read.

Describing herself as “a fantastic new voice in YA Fiction”, Michelle Horst’s Vaalbara: Visions and Shadows is more mature YA Fiction novel and certainly one of the most intriguing reads I’ve had in a long time. It’s a story of hope amidst the coming of complete annihilation and the battle to save those who have been chosen to carry on the human race.

About The Author (Info provided by the author)

I hail from the sunny South Africa and although I am on the other side of this big rock we like to call Earth, I like to think that I’ve managed to write a book that will touch the heart of others. Vaalbara was originally meant to be for my own pleasure only. I wrote this YA Fantasy for myself, but one day I woke up and found that it was in demand by others.

Books have always left me wanting more, so I decided to try my hand at writing my very own. I wanted to write a story that I would want to read - with the romance and passion levels soaring, and focusing on a girl who had the right, fun attitude.  I wanted to show that someone could go through hell and still come back from it.

I didn’t intend for Alchera to come alive the way she did.  Six months later, when I opened the file for Vaalbara, I realized I was almost finished, and I guess that’s when it hit me that I was hooked. I suppose this is how most journeys start out.

I am also currently busy with four other books which should be finish within the next twelve months. Two of these are short stories and are a new way of writing for me, but I do enjoy it.

I’ll bow out with my quote from Vaalbara: Visions and Shadows; Hope is the heartbeat of your soul – as long as you have hope your possibilities are endless.

Michelle Horst

For more information go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8Jke_cD1bI   - Trailer for Vaalbara

http://www.amazon.com/Vaalbara-Visions-and-Shadows-ebook/dp/B005QV57G0

www.preciousgemspublishing.com

Twitter: Alchera4ever

Facebook: Michelle Horst

http://michellehorstauthor.wordpress.com

Cover

The cover is beautiful to look at. A perfect, picturesque land that is somewhat soothing to look at. However, this beautiful cover somewhat hides the darker nature of the book. Also, the waterfalls are a recurring theme within the book so it’s nice that it demonstrates that.

Overview

Whilst I don’t try and give away too much in my reviews, in terms of important plot points and that stuff, in order to do a rounded review, I will be mentioning some plot points. So before I start, just beware that this review does contain some spoilers.

Aislinn is a young teenage girl that is kind of an outcast in her society – what with no real parents to speak of and with a rather disturbing talent of being able to see into the future. She thinks that her luck is in when she meets a handsome new boy at school called Ryan – who seems attracted to her for reasons she can’t understand. Turns out that this boy is actually from the land of Vaalbara and his real name is Raighne and he’s here to take Aislinn back home. Turns out that Aislinn’s real name is Alchera and she is a Princess of the land. She is told that the end of the world is approaching and it’s her duty to rescue the ten Chosen, who are the ones to carry on the human race after the end. She has ten days to rescue them before Earth is destroyed – so no pressure then!

The book is told from the POV perspective of Alchera and she is a strong heroine – starting off as kinda vulnerable and insecure of herself then gaining strength as the book carries on. Often she has conversations with an invisible friend called Sid, which are actually some of the funniest scenes in the book. So she is definitely a good heroine for this novel – especially considering some of the challenges she is about to face. Seeing as this book does have a very religious context to it, she could be considered a kind of Jobe/Jesus character.

Now, I have to be honest, I am in two minds of how I felt about the actual story of this book. Most Young Adult books I’ve read tended to be upbeat and with a positive feel to them for the most part. This book, I have to be honest, I found to be a little depressing and dark. I’m not saying that YA books can’t be dark – after all, The Hunger Games has some pretty dark themes to it and even Harry Potter could be pretty dark sometimes. But I can’t help but thinking that maybe Vaalbara: Visions and Shadows is probably a little TOO dark in places. After all, it’s dealing with the end of the world and the death of an entire race – that is not a small subject.

I think my biggest problem with it is that I couldn’t identify with any of the characters from Vaalbara itself. They seemed to be completely ambivalent and uncaring to the destruction of the human race – with the exception of the Chosen. Even some of the heroes I found to be cold and uncaring, so I really couldn’t support them. Also, I didn’t like the fact that Alchera (despite showing some feelings against this initially) made NO attempt to try and stop this from happening and just went along with it. She didn’t have to have succeeded – but for me the story would have been better if she at least made an attempt to save her people, so that her humanity wasn’t entirely gone. There was also a quite nasty torture scene in the middle of the book that I thought was maybe a little too unnecessary and graphic.

Now, I know the above may sound like I’m being overly negative – but I have to admit I am actually also impressed with it. I like it that Michelle Horst doesn’t conform to a lot of YA conventions and does something different. And in fairness to the book, there are some extremely dramatic moments in the book and we do feel Alchera’s suffering as she progresses – but we do also have some humour to balance it out. There is somewhat of a happy ending as well – I just wasn’t sure I was satisfied with the way the story went about before it got to that moment as it seemed to glance over the fact that many people had died.

PROS (it’s not the end of the world):

    Unique Young Adult novel that does do something different to most novels of its genre.

    Strong heroine.

    Very dramatic and also humorous.

    Has a positive message at its heart.

CONS (apocalypse now):

    Maybe too dark for some readers.

    The general plot is extremely harsh and not something that I think will appeal to everyone.

Summary

I appear to have conflicting emotions about this one. One part of me thinks that it’s a very dramatic and powerful novel that goes against a lot of YA conventions – the other thinks that it’s too dark and depressing and this may potentially put some readers off. However, I am going to meet this half-way because I don’t think this is a bad novel in any way and it actually does have a positive message at its heart. If you are prepared to have an open mind and don’t mind the dark content, then check this one out and be prepared to lose yourself in the drama of the piece.

FINAL SCORE: 4/5

Regards

Pandragon

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Following on from my post of Monday, asking for authors to submit their work for a review, I have been rather taken aback by the huge amount of authors that have asked for a review. I honestly didn't think I was going to get any takers on this. So you can imagine my surprise when I saw the number of requests in my inbox! That being said, I am absolutely looking forward to reading each of your books in turn.

To give you a little taster of what to expect from the upcoming reviews, here are a selection of books that have been submitted to me so far. These do not include any book reviews I am doing for R2R and only include books that have been submitted to me so far (so any authors that are yet to send their books into me please do so) and don't include any books that are not released yet. I list the upcoming books in alphabetical order - NOT the order I will be reading them in. They are as follows.

Devil’s Hand by M. E. Patterson

Imbrogilo by Alana Woods

L’ Aria Onyx by Sahm Ataine King

Medusa – A Love Story by Sasha Summers

One Small Victory by Maryann Miller

VAALBARA Visions and Shadows by Michelle Horst

Vixen by Nic Silver

More to follow. Watch this space! I have also made a little list on my Goodreads page of those I am currently reading (and my reading progress) of those that I could find on Goodreads.

Don't forget that you can still submit to me by following the directions at THIS LINK. I've had to add in some minor changes to the time frame, etc, but it shouldn't affect things too much.

Thanks once again to all the authors that have emailed me and I intend to give all you guys a fair review as much as possible. If anything, I'm excited to discover some new authors and stories!

Have a great weekend guys. Sorry for no "Top Five" this week - things have been a little busy and I've not really had time to put one together. I will have one for you next week!

Pandragon

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