Blog Tour and Giveaway: Retribution Rails by Erin Bowman

Welcome to the blog tour for Retribution Rails by Erin Bowman! This is the companion sequel to Vengeance Road, an excellent YA historical fiction novel set during the Wild West. I had the opportunity to pick Erin's brain about writing a companion series vs. writing a continuous series! Check it out, and don't miss out on the opportunity to win a copy of the book!

The Guest Post:

Writing a companion series vs. writing a continuous series

Retribution Rails is a companion to Vengeance Road, my ‘Wild West’ historical fiction novel that released in 2015, and in writing it, I discovered that crafting a companion novel poses unique challenges. Much like a continuous series, companion novels exist within the same world, but the main characters and plot are new. If it weren’t for the world connecting all the books, companions are basically stand-alones. (Kristin Cashore’s Graceling Realm is a great example of a companion series.)

I’ve also written a continuous series—my debut Taken trilogy was one—and what I missed most from that experience while writing Retribution Rails was the familiarity of my cast. RR follows two protagonists: Reece Murphy (an outlaw) and Charlotte Vaughn (an aspiring journalist). When I wrote the sequels to Taken, I already knew my main characters. I knew what made them tick, what they wanted most in life, their greatest fears, etc. While writing a companion, I had to discover this all over again. The protagonists from VR have cameos in RR, but they take a back seat. It’s Reece and Charlotte who drive the narrative, and so their voices needed to be crystal clear for me to bring them to life. Charlotte proved to be the trickier of the two. Until I really dug into her history (and until I understood what motivated her), she fell flat on the page.  It took many drafts to flesh her out.

There’s also the issue of plot while writing a companion. While characters and subplots from VR appear in RR, I wanted RR to stand on its own. This was quite a change for me after my Taken trilogy, in which each book directly built off the plot of the prior, raising the stakes each time. But once I warmed up to the idea that I was basically writing a stand-alone with RR, things fell into place. I weaved in subtle nods to the first book, but a reader doesn’t have to read VR to enjoy RR. This is one of the best things about companion novels. Publishing order doesn’t dictate reading order, and readers can enter the series with any book.

World-building in a companion novel felt very similar to me as in a continuous series. In both situations the world is the same between installments, and in both types of series, the world should feel bigger with each new book. If anything, I found this to be even easier with a companion than with a continuous series. Because RR gives readers new characters, we’re already seeing the world through new eyes, naturally allowing it to feel fresh. I also set RR ten years after the events of VR. Arizona Territory has changed. Trains now crisscross much of the land, connecting towns and cities. With an altered landscape, the world feels more complex to readers, and I didn’t even have to do that much legwork. It was just history at work!

At the end of the day, though, it’s all just story-telling. Whether you’re writing a continuous series or a companion series, one thing remains the same: each book needs to have a beginning, middle, and end; and the protagonist(s) must face a challenge, emerging irrevocably changed by the end of the story, whether they’ve succeeded in their goals or not.

Thank you, Erin!

About Retribution Rails:

Retribution Rails by Erin Bowman

Book Two of the Vengeance Road series

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: November 7, 2017

Official Summary:

When Reece Murphy is forcibly dragged into the Rose Riders gang because of a mysterious gold coin in his possession, he vows to find the man who gave him the piece and turn him over to the gang in exchange for freedom. Never does he expect a lead to come from an aspiring female journalist. But when Reece's path crosses with Charlotte Vaughn after a botched train robbery and she mentions a promising rumor about a gunslinger from Prescott, it becomes apparent that she will be his ticket to freedom—or a noose. As the two manipulate each other for their own ends, past secrets are unearthed, reviving a decade-old quest for revenge that may be impossible to settle.

In this thrilling companion to Vengeance Road, dangerous alliances are formed, old friends meet new enemies, and the West is wilder than ever.

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | The Book Depository | The Ivy Bookshop

Check out Vengeance Road:

(Click on the cover for more information!)

About the Author:

Erin grew up in rural Connecticut, where she spent most of her childhood telling stories. It is rumored that her first words were not "Mama" or "Dada," but "Once upon a time." In middle school, when kids were going off to sleep-away camp for the summer, Erin was attending writing camp and penning short stories.

She studied web design (and minored in Creative Writing because she couldn’t stay away from stories) at the Rochester Institute of Technology in upstate New York. After several years working in advertising and designing websites for various brands, she moved from Boston to New Hampshire, where she now lives with her family and writes full-time.

When not writing, Erin can often be found hiking, geeking out over good typography, and obsessing over all things Harry Potter. She drinks a lot of coffee, buys far too many books, and is not terribly skilled at writing about herself in the third person.

She is represented by Sara Crowe of Harvey Klinger, and is the author of the Taken Trilogy (available from HarperTeen) and Vengeance Road (HMH Books for Young Readers).

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram

The Giveaway:

3 winners will receive a finished copy of Retribution Rails. US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the Tour:

Week One:
10/30/2017- Tales of the Ravenous Reader- Interview
10/31/2017- Novel Novice- Review
11/1/2017- The Eater of Books!- Guest Post
11/2/2017- YA and Wine- Review
11/3/2017- Adventures of a Book Junkie- Interview

Week Two:
11/6/2017- Fiction Fare- Review
11/7/2017- BookHounds YA- Guest Post
11/8/2017- The Book Cellar- Review
11/9/2017- YA Books Central- Interview
11/10/2017- Mundie Moms- Review

Waiting on Wednesday (#249): Contagion by Erin Bowman

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week, I'm featuring:

Contagion by Erin Bowman

Book One of the Contagion series

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication Date: May 1, 2018

Summary (from Goodreads):

Two teens working internships for a drilling conglomerate are coerced into investigating a distress call from a research crew lightyears away, only to find a single survivor when they land on the supposedly uninhabitable planet.

Website | Goodreads

No summary, no cover, no preorder links... but I am excited about this book! I've read and enjoyed Bowman's previous books (the Taken trilogy, Vengeance Road), and this new book sounds very different and very good. I hope the cover is revealed soon!

    

  

Swoon Thursday (#131): Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman

Swoon Thursday is a hot meme hosted by the fabulous ladies at YA Bound!

- From the book you’re currently reading, or one you just finished, tell us what made you SWOON. What got your heart pounding, your skin tingling, and your stomach fluttering

- Try to make the swoon excerpt 140 characters (or less), if you are going to tweet about it. Use the hashtag #YABOUND when tweeting

This week, my swoon is from Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman!

I grab him at the neck and pull him nearer. His mouth is warm and soft when it meets mine, his jaw rough 'gainst my skin. He leans into the kiss, arms gathering me up, and I swear a part of my head drifts right outta my body. I don't got a clue what I'm doing, but he seems to, so I let him lead. I let him lead like we're still dancing, and I follow blind, praying I ain't awful while trying to keep my knees strong, 'cus I wouldn't be shocked if they bucked and broke right there. Jesse Colton tastes like spice and tobacco and sweet mountain air, like salt and sweat from our travels. He feels like home and smells like mountains and I can't get enough. My one hand grips him tighter at the neck. The other curls into the front of his shirt.

- ARC, pages 272-273

Author Website | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Taken | Frozen | Forged | Vengeance Road

This book took me by surprise! I'm delighted that I loved it :D

Review: Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman

Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: September 1, 2015

Rating: 4 stars

Source: ARC sent by the publisher

Summary (from Goodreads):

When Kate Thompson’s father is killed by the notorious Rose Riders for a mysterious journal that reveals the secret location of a gold mine, the eighteen-year-old disguises herself as a boy and takes to the gritty plains looking for answers and justice. What she finds are devious strangers, dust storms, and a pair of brothers who refuse to quit riding in her shadow. But as Kate gets closer to the secrets about her family, she gets closer to the truth about herself and must decide if there's room for love in a heart so full of hate.

In the spirit of True Grit, the cutthroat days of the Wild West come to life for a new generation.

What I Liked:

I don't like Westerns. At least, I haven't liked the idea of Westerns in the past. I also didn't quite love Bowman's debut trilogy - Taken, Frozen, Forged. However, given that I've read all of the author's published books to date, and I don't read enough Westerns, I thought I'd give this book a try. Maybe it was fate, maybe it was timing - The Quick and the Dead was on TV late one night, and I watched it because I couldn't sleep (I don't watch TV, very rarely). So perhaps I was coincidentally primed for this book - because I loved it!

Kate is bent on revenge after she comes home one day and finds her father murdered - hung from a noose - the house burning. Her father left a note to find a family friend who can help her should he ever die, and Kate will stop at nothing to find the Rose Riders that murdered her father. She strikes a deal with the family friend's sons - help her to Phoenix, and they can reap some serious rewards. But Kate must stop and think - is vengeance worth it?

This is easily my favorite YA Western. I've read another in "recent" times - Relic by Renee Collins - which was good. I really REALLY liked this one though. There are so many awesome elements of this book! This is (in my opinion) Bowman's best novel to date. I enjoyed it so much more than I enjoyed her Taken trilogy.

I feel like Bowman captured Kate really well. A huge difference from the Taken trilogy, because that series was written from Grey's POV (and he's a male). Kate is a likable gal! She is very tough, very independent, very ornery and prickly. Seriously, the girl wants to be left alone at all times. She doesn't like when Jesse and Will (the family friend's sons) tag along to help her find the men (and something else). Kate is prickly as thorns, and there is nothing wrong with that! I liked her so much, and I think Bowman did an amazing job of developing Kate's character.

The same goes for many of the secondary characters. Jesse is the male protagonist. He is the older son of Abe (the family friend), about twenty years old. He has a serious protective streak, as he has been the "man of the family" for years. He is smart and loyal and considerate, and he has a slow-burn temper that is kind of funny, especially clashing against Kate's prickly nature. I like Jesse a lot!

Will is a hilarious guy! He is the humor of the story, and I loved his interactions and role in this book. Liluye is another secondary character that we meet later in the book - she is very smart and has wonderful morals! And then of course, the villain, Waylan Rose. He is ruthless and mean, but not in a fake over-exaggerated Disney way. There is also another villain at work...

There are so many shootouts! In bars, outside of bars, in the trails while on horseback. Bowman definitely got that down. The *feel* of Western culture is alive in this book! There are so many little things, like the Stetsons, the rifles and guns, the dust storm. And then there are the obvious things, like the speech! Bowman has the historical Western accent written phonetically, so for me, it was easy to hear the Western accent! I loved that!

The story goes by so quickly, with nonstop action and plain-old fun. Kate is hellbent on vengeance, and Jesse and Will are determined to get something else out of this adventure (it's something super important, too!). There are scenes when Kate breaks down a little and shows some emotion under all of those thorns. I like that Bowman has written an action-packed, fun Western that also delivers on the feels and friendships.

There is a hint of romance! And no love triangle. Don't get mad (or excited?) if you read that "pair of brothers" phrase in the summary and immediately thought "love triangle". No love triangle. Jesse and Kate are the one pair of this book from the moment they meet each other - though there is no insta-love at all! In fact, Kate and Jesse barely have any physical romance, though you know emotionally that they care about each other. There are little things that Bowman does that shows us the development of the relationship. So wonderfully done - and so much more enjoyable than the romance in the Taken trilogy! Sorry, Taken trilogy.

This standalone novel won my heart! I am so glad I decide to give it a shot, despite two very large things standing in my way (my dislike of Westerns and my so-so feelings towards Bowman's first three published novels). I love that this is a standalone! It wraps up a well, though a touch bittersweet. Just a touch. Not too much though. Very HEA-esque ending. Yay!

What I Did Not Like:

I can't really think of much I didn't like! I wasn't even bored or tired of reading or hateful of any of the characters. This book was awesome!

Would I Recommend It:

I would totally recommend this novel! Says the non-Western-fan! I had a feeling this one would be Bowman's best novel yet, and it really is. Not that the Taken trilogy was horrible - but this book was much better. And it is only a standalone! No waiting and agonizing cliffhangers required. I hear talk of companion novels, so that might be a thing! Even if you're not a fan of Westerns (like me), give this book a chance!

Rating: 

4 stars. Very well done, Mrs. Bowman! I'm glad I took that leap of faith and read this book solely because it had your name on it (I like to read books by authors I've previously read, even if I disliked or felt meh towards the books I previously read). Go read this one, people!

Author Website | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Was this review helpful? Please let me know in the comments section!

Science in Fiction (#2): Forged by Erin Bowman

Welcome to this month's Science in Fiction feature! Science in Fiction is a meme I created to showcase the wonderful aspects of science in Young Adult fiction novels. For more information and previous feature, check out the "Science in Fiction" tag!

This month, I'm featuring Forged by Erin Bowman!

Taken review | Frozen review | Forged review

This is the sequel to Taken and Frozen, and the conclusion to the trilogy. The Taken series is built on a world of experimentation, cloning, and resource control. A huge problem, mostly explained in Taken, is available freshwater resources. Water rationing is common in this world.

So today, I'm going to talk about water stress, water scarcity, and a case study!

And, it is a bit of coincidence (okay, not really) that today is World Water Day! You can CHECK if you don't believe me :D

Water is actually my area of interest (and hopefully, expertise). Aquatic chemistry and science is my focus area of my environmental engineering major. Water is everything - with no water, there is no life. You ever hear the phrase "the third world war will be fought over water"? Personally, I'm very inclined to believe that theory.

Facts about water:

- About 97% of the Earth's water is salt water, leaving about 3% as fresh water.

- Of that 3%, 70% is ice (icecaps, glaciers, etc.)

- Less than 1% of the freshwater can be used for drinking water

- Agriculture/irrigation and electric power are the two highest uses of water, followed by consumer use

- Water withdrawals have tripled in the last 50 years

- Freshwater availability is often tied up with politics, unbalanced power, and poverty

(See HERE for the source, and for more facts.)

Water stress and water scarcity are two different things. According to the UN, "an area is experiencing water stress when annual water supplies drop below 1,700 m3 per person". Water scarcity is occurring when annual water supplies drop below 1,000 m3 per person. Absolute scarcity is occurring when annual water supplies drop below 500 m3 (source HERE). Globally, we're experiencing water stress.

The cast study:

Last week, it was announced that California has one year of water left (super hot topic in the environmental and political world right). I actually planned this post weeks ago, but it's morbidly convenient that this announcement was made last week and coincided with my post, just like it's oddly convenient that World Water Day happened to be within weeks of me planning this post.

California has been relying on sources of surface water, and will have to turn to ground water to meet the demand in water. Groundwater is very precious, and not easy to replace. Politicians are claiming that California will not run out of water in a year, because so much groundwater is available, but using the state's ground water supply is not smart at all. California's supply of groundwater has been decreasing rapidly. Jay Famiglietti, a water scientist, believes that water rationing might need to be employed in California. In fact, restaurants and bars are no longer allowed to serve water automatically.

One thing I personally found interesting, being an engineer and expecting the interconnections of all environmental issues - if there is less water available, there will be less power generated from hydroelectric sources. This could mean two things - California (and other states) will turn to renewable sources of energy, such as wind or solar; or, the states will turn to non-renewable sources of energy, like natural gas through hydraulic fracturing (which is totally evil, the nightmare of environmental engineers). THIS article talks about this dilemma briefly.


Scary, no? This winter has been very dry for California and the West Coast, and the ground water levels have been dropping for years. Emergency relief plans may possibly alleviate some problems temporarily, but a long-term plan has yet to surface. This is not just a problem California is/will face. Will water rationing be part of the state's future? Part of the world's future?

What do you all think?

Review: Forged by Erin Bowman

Forged by Erin Bowman

Book Three of the Taken series

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication Date: April 14, 2015

Rating: 3 stars

Source: ARC sent by the publisher

Summary (from Goodreads):

Gray Weathersby and his group of rebels must make their final stand in the epic conclusion to the Taken trilogy, which New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu called "an action-packed thrill ride from beginning to end."

The Order is building an unstoppable army, with every generation of Forgeries harder to detect and deadlier than the one before. It’s time for Gray and his fellow rebels to end the Order's world of lies. But when the most familiar faces—and even the girl he loves—can’t be trusted, Gray will have to tread carefully if he wants to succeed. Or survive.

What I Liked:

I think, of the three novels, this one was my favorite. Taken and Frozen received the same rating as this book, but of the three-star trilogy, Forged is my favorite. While it excelled in some areas (in comparison to its predecessors), it failed in other areas (where the other two might have failed as well). Overall, I'm glad that I stuck it out and finished this series, but it definitely isn't a favorite series of all time. 

Gray, Blaine, Bree, and the group of rebels must plan their every move carefully in order to take down Frank and the Order. But Forgeries are everywhere, and it's getting more difficult to tell who is true and who is Forged. This conclusion novel is rife with betrayals, torture, and heartbreak.

One thing that really worked for me in this book was the resolution of the love triangle. I stuck with this series because I liked the idea of it, and I wanted to know how it would end. I wasn't burning with curiosity, but I like finishing what I start. In this book, from the start, it is clear that Gray wants Bree and only Bree. He constantly says that he loves Emma like he loves his friends, like Sammy or Clipper. Gray spends the whole book trying to convey to Bree that his deepest regret is vacillating over whether he loves her and wants to be with her.

So, I'm glad that love triangle was cleared up. The romance was meh; on the one hand, I hated Bree's tough-girl act, in terms of the romance. On the other hand, I see her point - she wants to protect herself from being turned down or jilted by Gray again. Understandable. 

Just so we're clear - I don't like Bree, never have.

There is a lot of action in this book, just as there is a lot of "dead" time. I definitely did a lot of skimming, in terms of the "dead" time, but I was really invested in the action, chunks at a time. There was this one point in the book, around page 160, when my heart stopped. And broke. And that was when I knew that, no matter how this book would end, this book would be my favorite of the series. Bowman did something extremely shocking and heartbreaking, and in the first half of the book! I totally would have expected something like that in the very end of the book. Props to her (though I'm SO SAD about that event). 

I have to be honest - I couldn't remember much of the specifics of Taken and Frozen. Which is very telling of how invested I was in this series, I know. But I think this novel functioned well as a conclusion novel. The pacing was pretty consistent with the first two books (i.e. slow), and the novel addresses the big picture problem in little steps that lead to the big climax. The finish is a bit cliche, in my opinion, but whatever. It could have ended worse.

What I Did Not Like:

I still don't like Bree. She's too prickly and dense and standoffish and annoying and rude and brash and idiotic and did I mention annoying? I know what the author was going for - a fiery, brave, independent girl who doesn't need a guy by her side. Mostly, I found her irritating. The tough girl act got old real fast, and I just wanted to punch her. Talk about mixed signals. Talk about stupid decisions. Talk about double standards. I did not like this girl. She acts like she knows it all and everyone must listen to her when she has a FEELING, but God forbid anyone tell her she's wrong or try to do something other than what she said.

Bottom line: if Bree were a male, we'd cry A**HOLE/JERK/BASTARD in two seconds. I don't like these traits in a male, and I don't like them in a female. I don't like anyone like that.

Another problem that was consistent in all three books - the snooze factor. There are so many points in this book were I was bored, and then there were a few chunks when OMG THINGS ARE HAPPENING and then things calm down to the suspicion/wondering/musing parts of the book and I was back to being bored. Like, can we ponder what we should do next while on the move to the next safe house or something? Multitask? Maybe?

I mentioned that I thought the ending was cliche - well, yeah. It wraps up pretty much how you might expect a cookie-cutter ending to wrap up. With the exception of that one surprising event on page 160-something (which is like, earlier than one half of the book), this book's ending has no big surprises. In my opinion. Maybe I saw it all coming. Maybe you all will see it coming. Maybe it's all just not that surprising. 

Would I Recommend It:

Well, if you've read Taken and Frozen, I'm of the opinion that you might as well read the third book. But it IS a pretty satisfying conclusion novel, and you won't be utterly heartbroken or flabbergasted. Especially if you don't have the problems that I had. This series definitely isn't the worse series I've read - in fact, it's an okay one, in my opinion. It's not a favorite, but I wouldn't necessarily NOT recommend it, if that makes sense.

Rating:

3 stars. It was good, but not the best thing ever. I'm glad I read this series, and I'll definitely be looking out for Bowman's books in the future. I'll be catching Vengeance Road in September for sure. I think this author is a great writer and has plenty of potential, but perhaps this series wasn't a "wow" series for me.

Author Website | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Was this review helpful? Please let me know in the comments section!

Review: Frozen by Erin Bowman

Frozen by Erin Bowman

Book Two of the Taken series

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication Date: April 15, 2014

Rating: 3 stars

Source: ARC borrowed from a friend (thank you, Jessica!)

Summary (from Goodreads):

The Heists were only the beginning.

Gray Weathersby escaped from the primitive town of Claysoot expecting to find answers, but what he discovered shook him to the core: A ruthless dictator with absolute power. An army of young soldiers blinded by lies. And a growing rebellion determined to fight back.

Now Gray has joined a team of rebels on a harsh, icy journey in search of allies who can help them set things right. But in a world built on lies, Gray must constantly question whether any ally—or enemy—is truly what they seem…

What I Liked:

YES THERE WILL BE SOME SPOILERS FOR BOOK ONE. YOU ARE WARNED.

I want to say that I liked this book overall. I mean, I'm giving it three stars, and three stars is generally seen as positive, so I suppose I did? I read it a few hours ago, and I'm still not one hundred percent sure how I feel about this book. I wouldn't go as far as saying that it is a sequel slump novel, but I definitely was a little bit disappointed. The covers are amazing though - not that that's something for which the author was responsible, of course.

Gray and the team are headed to the Group A sector, to find survivors of the sector, and convince them to join them in the fight against Frank and the Order. Sounds happy snappy, right? Everyone is just going to march to Group A, and the survivors are going to be all kumbaya, yes? Not entirely. That's not what happens, so don't worry about me spoiling things. I would never spoil the entire book for you like that.

One of the things that really stuck out to me was how much more "stuff" happens. I think in my review of the first book, Taken, I mentioned that once the truth about the heists is known, things go kind of downhill from there, in terms of the plot. Well, I found the plot to be slightly less predictable (slightly), and more things happen. Yay! What do I mean by more things? Like, I feel like Gray and the team actually go to places. Granted, yes, the entire book feels like they are walking and walking and walking and going nowhere. But things shake up when they go on a boat, and also when people start dying, and also when the Forgery/Forgeries become a huge deal (which is actually in multiple places in the book).

The Forgeries were also a cool aspect of the book. They definitely brought an interesting twist to things - and it was weird and awesome how many Bowman introduced. If you don't know/remember what a Forgery is, fear not. I didn't either. But trust me, you'll know very quickly (assuming you plan on reading this book/series).

I liked the continuance of featuring Gray's first-person perspective (versus adding another, or switching it up, or something). Gray goes through some pretty trying and traumatic times in this book, but I like the character he is becoming. Except when it comes to the romance (see below).

For the most part, this book was okay. I'm definitely glad I got to read it - I'm so grateful for knowing someone as fabulous as Jessica, and for her lending me her copy!

What I Did Not Like:

Let's start with the romance. The romance was a huge thorn in my flesh. In the first book, two girls are introduced - Emma and Bree. Emma is the childhood friend whom Gray has always loved, and Bree is the new firecracker girl that has captured Gray's attention. I liked Bree in the first book, because she was spunky and snarky and totally in-your-face-with-an-attitude. So I didn't really care about the potential love triangle aspect.

In this book, the love triangle basically becomes fully fledged, which is so annoying. It's like Gray can't make up his mind. One moment, he is ALL ABOUT Bree, the fiery spirited girl. The next moment, he is wondering about Emma, the softhearted angel of girl that he has always loved. I don't like the wishy-washy attitude.

What makes things worse is the way Bowman brings about this finicky thinking - it's SO FORCED. Like, she'll just insert this one random passage about how Gray is confused about his role with Bree. Or, insert paragraph here about how he misses Emma. Insert paragraph here, about how he totally wants to be with Bree, and argue with her and be pushed by her and not be boring with Emma. It's just SO RANDOM. In my opinion, it comes out of nowhere. There are like, four incidences of this random insertion of thought about his love life, and they felt really out of place.

Also, I really did NOT like Bree in this book. I feel like she was very whiny about her feelings for Gray, like she didn't want them. Or did she want them? I don't know, because she herself could NOT make up her mind. She seems very wishy-washy about things as well. And look, I know she's a girl, but in this book, she acts like a GIRL, a girly girl. I feel like she lost her edge in this book (one of the things I really liked about her in the first book), and Bowman kept trying to FORCE her edge into the pages, but it came across as forced and fake. Witty banter and threatening violence does NOT make you spunky or tough, especially after you just got down being all emo and depressed about Gray.

Enough about the romance. The beginning. I felt like this book took a while to get into. Honestly, that shouldn't be the case with sequels. Sequels should reintroduce parts of book one, and go straight into the book. But most of the first part was just walking aimlessly, really. I had to refrain from rolling my eyes and skipping to the next part. I bet if I had skipped to the next part, I wouldn't have missed any action, and would have been able to understand things very well. Because the beginning was slow. The rest of the book may have picked up, especially in the third and fourth parts, but the first part was slow.

Also, the last part - the last 60 pages or so - are a bit fast. Like, things happen REALLY QUICKLY, and I feel like I missed something (or some things). The ending was a blur, and I caught most of it, but things needed to slow down. Or be explained better. Like, I couldn't tell if Gray had injuries or he didn't or if he just blacked out for a second or WHAT HAPPENED, I DON'T GET IT?! For this one specific part. Don't worry, that wasn't a spoiler. Or don't take it as one.

And for the most part, this book can be summarized in like, a sentence. It's a destination/goal type of book, and honestly, it's a tad bit on the predictable side. YES, more "things"/events/action occurs in this book. But overall? It's a very simple plot. I feel like there were no layers to the plot, making the book seem a little flat, or without depth. I'm not saying have like, ten plots going on simultaneously. But this one plot seemed very tunnel-vision-like.

I know I'm forgetting something, but I'll stop there. I'll still read the third book, but my standards just dropped. A lot. A lot more than when they did after I read the first book.

Would I Recommend It:

Ehhh, this is tricky. If you were kind of so-so about the first one, then I wouldn't bother. I gave the first book three stars, but still resolved to read the second book. If I hadn't had that resolve (and if Jessica hadn't offered to let me borrow her ARC), then I probably wouldn't have gone to any lengths to read this book. There are no early e-copies available on Edelweiss, and printed review copies were limited. So I probably would have gotten it from the library. I haven't gone to the library in a longgggggg time.

Basically, if you didn't LOVE or really like or mostly like the first book, then you might not really like this one either. To each their own, of course, but this series isn't OH-MY-GOSH-SO-AMAZING or the next bestselling hit series or whatever. If you've got something better to read, then that's probably the better option. 

And as I look over this same section in my review of book one, I realize that I said basically the same thing about book one - in terms of it's not a pressing book to read. So, yeah.

Rating:

3 stars. I'm happy that this book had more of an action-based, interesting plot, but I'm still disappointed in several aspects of the books. I think I will read the final book in the series (I mean, I've come this far), but my expectations are officially... super low.

Author Website | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Was this review helpful? Please let me know in the comments section!

Review: Taken by Erin Bowman

Taken by Erin Bowman

Book One of the Taken series

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication Date: April 16, 2013

Rating: 3 stars

Source: eARC from Edelweiss

Summary (from Goodreads):

There are no men in Claysoot. There are boys—but every one of them vanishes at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. The ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends…and he’s gone.

They call it the Heist.

Gray Weathersby’s eighteenth birthday is mere months away, and he’s prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a strange note from his mother and starts to question everything he’s been raised to accept: the Council leaders and their obvious secrets. The Heist itself. And what lies beyond the Wall that surrounds Claysoot–a structure that no one can cross and survive.

Climbing the Wall is suicide, but what comes after the Heist could be worse. Should he sit back and wait to be taken–or risk everything on the hope of the other side?

What I Liked:

Taken was easily one of my most anticipated debuts of 2013. I have known about Taken's release before it had a cover or a synopsis, because more than a year ago, I discovered the Friday the Thirteeners blog. I had a feeling that I would really like this book. I had read plenty of dystopian novels, but this one had a unique premise, and eventually, a beautiful cover.

Sadly, I was bitterly disappointed. Maybe my expectations were too high, but this book did not deliver. The beautiful cover was a lure that I fell for, but the synopsis, the premise - I couldn't believe they let me down! I got this book from Edelweiss a month before the release date, but I also pre-ordered this book without reading the book. I don't necessarily regret doing this (hey, I got my book signed last week!), but it's sad when I pre-order a book and don't like it as much as I expected.

As I said before, I loved the premise and cover of this book. I was intrigued by the idea of being a male and being heisted one your eighteenth birthday. I knew that it wouldn't be Gray that would be heisted to set the plot in motion, but a friend of family member. 

I also loved that this book is written completely in a male's point-of-view. I don't like first person, but most YA books are in first person, and it was refreshing to read from a male's point-of-view, even if it was in first person. I think Ms. Bowman did an excellent job of crafting Gray's personality, and it showed in his thoughts and perceptions.

There IS a love triangle (boo!), but I really like one love interest over the other. It's quite obvious which girl has a brain and which one tends not to use her brain. I hope that Gray sticks to his guts and does NOT give the other love interest a chance. But of course, Gray is "confused", so we as readers won't find out until the end of the series, I suppose.

The plot is interesting, and somewhat engaging, but I found it very predictable (see below). I sort of couldn't wait to finish the book, and not to find out what was going to happen (because I basically knew what would happen), but just so that it would be over. I think the pacing of the plot was pretty good, but again, the plot was predictable.

What I Did Not Like:

The plot is a large part of my dislike for this book. Let me start with Claysoot and the mystery of the heists and the wall. Here's the thing: once we start getting into the story, after a major heist of a person very close to Gray, we can see what is going to happen. To me, it was obvious what Gray was going to do. He got a tiny push from his dead mother, and there he went. Predictable.

The next few paragraph MAY have general spoilers. I mention no specific scenes or names, but I do mention general plot devices and twists that I noticed in more than one book.

So, after Gray initiates his journey, he discovers a dystopia-like society, and all of the mysteries of the heists, the wall, Claysoot, the heisted boys... everything is discovered. This happens VERY quickly into the book. After the big mysteries are divulged, my interest dwindled. As soon as we find out what is really going on with the heists, this novel became just like any other dystopian novel. Predictable.

There is a bad guy who thinks he's the good guy. This guy tries to make another guy look bad, when in reality, that second guy is the good guy, and the original guy is the bad guy. Everyone is on the lookout for the "bad guy", who is actually the good guy. Predictable.

There is a rebel settlement. Gray has to interact with them somehow. He meets a second girl, finishing the love triangle. They have to confront the bad guy. Someone major has to die. They have to find the other rebels. Predictable, predictable, predictable. 

So, the plot was predictable. And my interest sort of went out of the window when the big mystery. 

I also HATED one of the love interests. I mentioned above that I liked one of them. But the other? From the beginning, I knew that she couldn't be the girl for Gray. For one, she was in love with a previously heisted boy. She didn't really love Gray, in my opinion, despite her thinking that she does. She does something awful and hurtful to Gray (indirectly), and in my opinion, she can just stay where she was. Gray should have left her there, in my opinion.

I'm still confused as to what it was that was killing people who tried to climb the wall, to escape the heist (not a spoiler, I promise!). I know it was touched upon, but no clear explanation was given. Perhaps it is something I can hope for in future books.

So, future books. Will I read them? Yes. That's one of the reasons why I stuck with three stars, instead of two stars. I'm interested enough to read Frozen, and book three. And I love Erin, so I'm more than willing to give the remaining books in this series a chance.

Would I Recommend It:

Kind of, but not really. If you are sick of dystopian novels, then don't bother with this one. After about one fifth of the book, it's just like any other dystopian novel out there (the only big difference being that this book is in a male's point-of-view). If you own this book, or have an ARC or eARC of checked it out of the library already, then I would give it a try. Otherwise, I'd say skip it.

Rating:

3 stars. I really wish I liked this one more, but it didn't meet my high expectations, or even my regular expectations for a book.

Author Website | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Was this review helpful? Please let me know in the comments section!

YAGB Baltimore Workshop Recap (and Giveaway!)

Hi everyone! As you may or may not have known, last night, I attended one of the YAGB workshops! The Baltimore workshop was a 30-minute drive for me, which is the closest book event I've ever had the opportunity of attending. 

Anyway! These wonderful ladies - Erin Bowman, Kat Zhang, Susan Dennard, Sarah J. Maas, and guest star, Jodi Meadows, were amazing enough to stop by in Baltimore (instead of Wasington, D.C. Woohoo!). I am honored that they would travels miles and miles to meet and talk to an audience of the ages 13-22 in Cockeysville. An all-girl audience, I might add!

A huge thanks to the four touring ladies - Erin, Kat, Susan, and Sarah. They are AWESOME. And the information we received from the workshop was so helpful - especially, for me, the exercises with the dice! I had so much fun with that. I regret not sharing my two pieces from those exercises, but I think the young ladies who shared their works were amazing.

And shout-out and thanks to Jodi, who is not part of the YAGB tour, but came to the Baltimore workshop because it's close to where she lives. "Close". She's in like, Shenandoah Valley. That's pretty far, everyone! So I'm so glad she could join us and make the Baltimore workshop EXTRA special :D

So! On to my pictures! I think they tell a better story than me ;)

At the beginning of the workshop, the ladies put on nametags. And colored them in. Meanwhile, I end up ripping mine, so instead of "Alyssa", I had "Lyssa". Sigh.

During the workshop, in which Susan was talking, and Erin was refilling everyone's water!

Some awesome girls! The girl with the hat is Kyleigh, who is SO talented, and the girl in the yellow who is on her phone is Zoe, who just graduated from college, and is about to do her board exam for nursing! Good luck, girl! :)

The ladies, quickly signing books! The girl in the hat is Kyleigh again. We were strapped for time, because the library closed at 9:00, and the signing started at 8:30!

Sarah smiled at me while I was taking a candid picture, because she's fantastic! Susan was being awesome, as usual.

Kat and Jodi answering questions and signing! Jodi was showing me "HoHugged", which is found in the ARC of Incarnate (which I had, and brought with me to sign. I never saw that error! HOW?!)

Susan, signing my copy of A Darkness Strange and Lovely. She is so cute! She was telling me that her last name is pronounced "DEH-nerd", not "Deh-NAHRD". Southern Georgia!

The AMAZING Steph from Cuddlebuggery! I might have died when I met her. I didn't recognize her at first! I mean, I did, but I couldn't place where I had seen her face. I turned to her and asked her if she came later, since I hadn't seen her at the workshop. She said she had come for the signing. So then I asked her if she was a blogger. She said yes. I asked her for her blog link. She said, "Cuddlebuggery..." 

I'm pretty sure before she finished "Cuddlebuggery", I looked up in shock and started squealing. GUYS. She's like, the Maryland celebrity blogger! She is so fantastic! When I first started blogging, she was one of the blogs that I followed and basically worship. I might have tackled her! And probably freaked her out for life.

One of Jen's cupcakes! I know, not much of a picture. But the cupcake, a chocolate and Oreo creation, was DIVINE. Check out Jen's blog, people. You won't regret it.

Jodi, Kat, me, Erin, Sarah, and Susan!

By the way, one the of the highlights of this night for me was when Erin came up to me and said "I love your bag. It's one of the Graceling bags, that have the places of Graceling on it. AND THEN, while Jodi was signing my ARC of Incarnate, Erin said to me, "I'm so glad to finally meet you, Alyssa! I know we tweet a lot..." 

GUYS I THINK I ALMOST FELL OVER MYSELF. Erin remembered/recognized me! It made me feel so special and warm and fuzzy inside :D

So that was my night! I have a few more pictures, but I won't bore you all. I had such a fun night and I met so many great ladies (OMG STEPH I STILL CAN'T GET OVER THE FACT THAT I MET YOU!). I sincerely thank you, ladies, and everyone who came, and I hope to see you all again in the future!

Onto the giveaway!

Win some signed (and unsigned) swag! The ladies were so kind enough to let me take a duplicate of everything. 

Rules:

- Open internationally! (YAY, I caved!)

- The giveaway begins on June 6th, at 12:00 am EST, and ends on June 30th, at 11:59 pm EST

- Void where prohibited; no purchase necessary

- The number of eligible entries received determine the odds of winning

- There will be ONE winner

- Winner will be selected via the Rafflecopter

- You must be 18 years old or older, or at least 13 years old with a parent or guardian's permission (I didn't know this, and it makes sense, but it's illegal to take addresses from minors under the age of 13 years old)

- Winner must respond to the email within 48 hours. Failure to do so will result in me choosing another winner

- Please enter via the Rafflecopter widget below

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway