Deviant Blog Tour: Character Profile + Giveaway

Today I'm excited to welcome author Helen FitzGerald to the blog as part of the promotional tour hosted by Precious Gem Book Tours for the release of her newest book, Deviant. Helen is here to share some insight into main character Abigail, and don't forget to check the bottom of the post for the full list of participating blogs and all the giveaway details!

My main character is Abigail. She started life on a hippy commune in Western Scotland. She was happy in her caravan by the loch (Lake in Scottish!), alongside the other anti-nuclear protestors and the wonderful Nieve, who’d cared for her since her Mum abandoned her.

At the age of nine, Nieve dies and Abigail is taken into care. For the next seven years, she’s in and out of children’s homes, and shunted from foster carer to foster carer. She’s had to learn how to survive on her own: being ready to adapt to new environments, and never getting too close to anyone.

So when, at the age of sixteen, she discovers that her mother has just died, leaving her a letter which says she has a father and a sister who live in LA, Abigail puts up her usual defences. She’ll fly to America to check them her new family, but she won’t get too excited, and she won’t let her guard down.

All good strategies, as it turns out. Because what she finds is far more sinister than the constant rain and intermittent foster carers of Glasgow.

I loved writing Abigail. She comes across as serious, organised, and icy, but in fact she’s a very kind girl. She’s never hurt anyone, or done anything she’d be ashamed of. She’s also awkward and funny – characteristics I’m drawn to in a friend!  If I needed someone’s help, I’d ask Abigail.

Another character I loved writing was Billy. I knew someone like him when I worked at a hostel for homeless young women in Glasgow. He’d visit the new arrivals, befriend them, show them a good time, and buy them things. Then he’d offer them drugs, get them hooked, and set them to work on the streets. In the book, this is exactly what Billy does at Abigail’s hostel, where she lives at the start of the story. He’s an ugly character – heartless and dangerous. Luckily, he’s no match for Abigail.

• • • • • • • • • •

DEVIANT

When 16-year-old Abigail's mother dies in Scotland--leaving a faded photo, a weirdly cryptic letter, and a one-way ticket to America--she feels nothing. Why should she? Her mother gave her away when she was a baby, leaving her to grow up on an anti-nuclear commune and then in ugly foster homes. But the letter is a surprise in more ways than one: Her father is living in California. What's more, Abigail discovers she has an eighteen-year-old sister, Becky. And the two are expecting Abigail to move in with them.

After struggling to overcome her natural suspicions of a note from beyond the grave (not to mention anything positive) Abigail grows close to her newfound sister. But then Becky is found dead, the accidental victim of an apparent drug overdose. As Abigail wrestles with her feelings and compiles a "Book of Remembrance" of her sister's short life, she uncovers a horrifying global plot aimed at controlling teen behavior: one that took her sister's and mother's lives, with vast implications.

Amazon • B&N • Indiebound

• • • • • • • • • • 

HELEN FITZGERALD

Helen FitzGerald is the second youngest of thirteen children. She grew up in the small town of Kilmore, Victoria, Australia, and studied English and History at the University of Melbourne. Via India and London, Helen came to Glasgow University where she completed a Diploma and Masters in Social Work. She worked as a probation and parole officer for ten years. She’s married to screenwriter Sergio Casci, and they have two children.

Website • Twitter • Goodreads

• • • • • • • • • • 

BLOG TOUR + GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Week 1: 
June 10: Hafsah at Icey Books--Guest Post 
June 11: Ruby at Ruby's Reads--Guest Post
June 12: Jess @ Jessabella Reads--Author Interview
June 13: Stephanie @ Bookworm 1858--Review
June 14: Lisa @ Dizneeee's World of Books--Guest Post

Week 2:  
June 17: Mary @ The Book Swarm--Review 
June 18: Jenny @ Supernatural Snark--Character Profile  
June 19: Jessie @ Jessie's Book Place--Review 
June 20: Ash @ Smash Attack Reads--Guest Post 
June 21: Jess @ Gone with the Words--Review

Review: Born of Illusion

BORN OF ILLUSION
Born of Illusion #1
Teri Brown
Paranormal Young Adult
384 pages
Balzer + Bray
Available Now
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from author's website)
Anna Van Housen has a secret. A gifted illusionist, Anna assists her mother, the renowned medium Marguerite Van Housen, in her stage show and séances, easily navigating the underground world of magicians, mediums, and mentalists in 1920’s New York. As the illegitimate daughter of Harry Houdini—or so Marguerite claims—sleight of hand illusions have never been a challenge for Anna. The real trick is keeping her own gifts secret from her opportunistic mother. Because while Marguerite’s own powers may be a sham, Anna possesses a true ability to sense people’s feelings and foretell the future.

But as Anna’s powers intensify, she begins to experience frightening visions of her mother in peril, which leads her to explore the powers she’s tried so long to hide. And when a mysterious young man named Cole moves into the flat downstairs, introducing Anna to a secret society that studies people with gifts like hers, she is forced to confront her past and rethink everything she’s ever known. Is her mother truly in danger, or are Anna’s visions merely illusion? And could the great Houdini really be her father, or is it just another of Marguerite’s tricks?

MY THOUGHTS
Born of Illusion is a quiet, deeply intriguing story, one that spiderwebs into various different directions, each thread appearing thin and fragile until we touch it and find an underlying strength and a tactile quality we can't help but want to explore with careful thoroughness. While each thread holds a great deal of potential on its own, not all of them seem completely necessary to ensure the success of Anna's story as a whole, and we find ourselves wondering how our reaction to this tale might have differed were scissors taken to just one or two of those additional lingering threads. There is a delicate quality to this story that holds our interest despite the many shiny facets vying for a share of our attention, a sense that if just the slightest movement is made or our voices rise above a whisper that Anna's carefully constructed world will shatter, scattering the pieces of her into the wind where we might not ever be able to find them all again.

Anna has lived her entire life spending equal amounts of time both confidently performing in the spotlight and discreetly hiding in the shadows, her tricks and showmanship onstage a striking contrast to her real extrasensory abilities off it. She's there in the limelight for all the world to see, but at the same time they perceive nothing more than the smoke and mirrors they take as truth simply because they want to, the reality of her hidden behind far more than a curtain as she keeps her true self locked up tight. She's an easy young woman to root for, the difficulties that accompany having one face that tilts up into the light to attract attention and another that tilts down and away to deflect it hold us transfixed, as captivated by the dualities of her life as her audience is during her magic show.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this story is not Anna's paranormal abilities or life in New York City in the twenties, but rather Anna's complex relationship with her mother and performance partner, one that's an uncomfortable tangle of tension, jealousy, and possibly love, though the love is buried so far beneath the other emotions we can never fully convince ourselves it's truly there. Anna's mother is a star first and a nurturing and caring woman a far distant second, her subtle put-downs and insults camouflaged as motherly concern expertly delivered, honed over years of practice to deliver the deepest cut possible without anyone but Anna noticing. While Anna could have been unbearably frustrating, clinging to the naïve hope that underneath the snide comments and thinly veiled venom lies deep and abiding motherly love, she instead is well aware of the dark games her mother plays and calls her on it several times (though perhaps not quite often enough to soothe our ire), refusing time and again to be the scratching post for her mother's claws.

Anna herself and her relationship with her mother are both highlights of Born of Illusion, and though the story flows well and has a certain ease to its telling that keeps us devouring chapter after chapter, when we finish some questions with regard to the multiple plot threads start to make themselves known. In addition to Anna's visions of the future and her strained bond with her mother we also find ourselves juggling the not-insignificant mystery surrounding Anna's connection to famed magician Harry Houdini, a love triangle, and numerous dangers from a myriad of outside sources, all which have our interest individually but which can be a touch distracting when taken all together in a single story. Also, there's a slight inconsistency with regard to the language, certain sayings and slang from the twenties seeming to pop up at random to remind us of the time period before fading away again and leaving us with a very modern-feeling Anna. Overall though, Born of Illusion, despite its flaws, is an entertaining and worthwhile read, and I will certainly be looking forward to reading more from Teri Brown.

Rating: 3.5/5

Find Teri:

Website • Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads • Amazon

This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Don't forget to to check out my interview with Teri - talking stage names, Houdini, and Anna's mom!

Outcast Blog Tour: Review

OUTCAST
Adrienne Kress
Paranormal Young Adult
322 pages
Diversion Books
Available Now
Source: Finished copy from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
After six years of “angels” coming out of the sky and taking people from her town, 16-year-old Riley Carver has just about had it living with the constant fear. When one decides to terrorize her in her own backyard, it’s the final straw. She takes her mother’s shotgun and shoots the thing. So it’s dead. Or … not? In place of the creature she shot, is a guy. A really hot guy. A really hot alive and breathing guy. Oh, and he’s totally naked.

Not sure what to do, she drags his unconscious body to the tool shed and ties him up. After all, he’s an angel and they have tricks. When he regains consciousness she’s all set to interrogate him about why the angels come to her town, and how to get back her best friend (and almost boyfriend) Chris, who was taken the year before. But it turns out the naked guy in her shed is just as confused about everything as she is.

He thinks it’s 1956.

Set in the deep south, OUTCAST is a story of love, trust, and coming of age. It’s also a story about the supernatural, a girl with a strange sense of humor who’s got wicked aim, a greaser from the 50’s, and an army of misfits coming together for one purpose: To kick some serious angel ass.

MY THOUGHTS
Outcast is a story that promises so many of the things lovers of paranormal young adult fiction crave when reading, a little mystery and a little romance nicely woven together to create a balanced story that allows both elements to shine without one overshadowing the other. Though the blurb suggests we're in for an action-packed page-turner as soon as we crack the spine, this story does take a while to really get going, the initial intrigue of Riley's rather violent reaction to an angel in her backyard quickly fading as more mundane details about her day to day life take over. The mystery surrounding the Taking and the fate of those chosen by the angels for either glorious or nefarious purposes still hovers at the edge of Riley's vision, but for a good portion of the middle we simply spend time with her and Gabe, enjoying their moments together while wondering when everything is going to be made clear to us.

Riley has a cute personality; a dry sense of humor and a less-than halfhearted desire to fit in among her peers leaving her on the outside looking in, but though we don't necessarily get to know her as well as we might like over the course of her story, she's not completely inaccessible to us and it's easy to spend time with her as she sorts out worries both normal and paranormal. One minor nitpick, and certainly one personal in nature and unlikely to be an issue for everyone, is her continuous referral to her father as Daddy, something that makes her feel much younger than her seventeen-ish years. That rather minuscule complaint aside, Riley is someone easy to root for both romantically as things progress with Gabe, and physically as time passes and a new Taking approaches.

Gabe is someone we come to know even less than we do Riley by the time we reach the final page, but though he doesn't firmly embed himself under our skin, he's easy to appreciate on a more superficial level, his interest in Riley progressing from shallow and flirtatious into something far more meaningful over the course of their time together. Our connection to him reaches its most emotional in the concluding chapters, a more concrete bond to him snapping into place quickly and easily, leaving us thrilled to finally have it where we want it but also mildly regretful that it's in place for so short a time before we close the back cover.

All in all, Outcast is an enjoyable read with a very bittersweet ending, and while it does take a bit of time for us to settle in and for the plot to pick up speed after a quick sprint at the beginning, our time with Riley and Gabe is still time well spent. Those readers who are able to take explanations for supernatural things at face value will likely fare better with this story than those for whom the question “why” is a repeated mantra while reading, as the details surrounding the Taking and those responsible for it are not quite explored as much as they could have been. That being said however, surface questions are answered and we're given a cliffhanger-free ending with the promise of happiness down the line for our young heroine, leaving us satisfied with only minor complaints here and there rather than large grievances.

Rating: 3.5/5

Find Adrienne:

Website • Blog • Twitter • Facebook

Find Outcast:

Goodreads • Amazon • B&N • Diversion Books

This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

• • • • • • • • • • 

BLOG TOUR

 Today is the last day of the tour, but be sure and check out all the previous stops!

June 4: http://hobbitsies.net

June 5: http://birthofanewwitch.wordpress.com/

June 6: http://www.bibliophilicbookblog.com

June 7: http://www.reviews.snarkybooks.com/

June 8: http://www.intothehallofbooks.com

June 10: http://ceceliabedelia.blogspot.com

June 11: http://bookgirl-mel.blogspot.com

June 11: http://readrinserepeat.blogspot.com/

June 12: http://read-a-holicz.blogspot.ca

June 13: http://www.yanovelreader.com

June 13: http://www.amidsummernightsread.com/

June 14: http://www.supernaturalsnark.blogspot.com

June 14: http://appraisingpages.com

Review: Rebel Spirits

REBEL SPIRITS
Lois Ruby
Paranormal Young Adult
304 pages
Scholastic Point
Available now
Source: Finished copy from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Lori Chase doesn't know what to think about ghosts. She may have seen a few in the past, but those were just childish imaginings...right? Only now that she is living in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, spirits seem to be on everyone's mind. The town is obsessed with its bloody Civil War history, and the old inn that Lori's parents run is supposedly haunted by the souls of dead soldiers.

Then Lori meets one such soldier--the devastatingly handsome Nathaniel Pierce. Nathaniel's soul cannot rest, and he desperately needs Lori's help. Because Nathaniel was not killed in the famous battle. He was murdered. Lori begins to investigate the age-old mystery, stumbling upon shocking clues and secrets.

At the same time, she can't help falling for Nathaniel, just as he is falling for her....

MY THOUGHTS
Rebel Spirits has an appealing premise, promising us an impossible romance between a young woman and the ghost of a Civil War soldier as well as the uncovering of a mystery surrounding his death all those years ago. Set in beautifully atmospheric Gettysburg, the opening chapters of this story have us fairly thrumming with anticipation, eager to experience a party of history page by page. Unfortunately, what unfolds is a tale that fails to set itself apart from a myriad of young adult romantic suspense stories, giving us a heroine who reads younger than her nearly seventeen years and a soldier who is every bit as untouchable to us as readers as he is to those around him when in spirit form.

In the opening chapters Lori appears to be a cute girl who's less-than enthused about having to move away from her home in the pursuit of her parents' dream to own a bed and breakfast, but she's not whiny or sulky and she immediately has us feeling at ease in her presence. Problems start to arise when Nathaniel enters the picture (though she does handle the fact that he's a ghost quite well), becoming suddenly very judgmental and quick to believe whatever newest piece of information about his past is revealed. She fully supports him and revels in her rapidly escalating love for him one minute before suddenly questioning what type of person he was when he died the next, her emotional turmoil churning at a pace we can hardly keep up with before finally settling on a supposed deep and abiding love.

The highlight of the story is secondary character Evan, a young man doing whatever manual labor the B&B needs to keep it up and running, his quick wit and easy charm making Nathaniel's quiet and more reserved nature almost bland in comparison. Granted, a great number of their differences can be attributed to the time period in which they both grew up, but Evan is vibrant, charismatic and the first part the story that feels tangible, making our detachment from Lori's obvious feelings for Nathaniel all the more apparent. He's sweet to her even when she's quick to dismiss him in favor of Nathaniel and the responsibility she feels she owes the soldier to solve his murder, and our frustration with her only continues to grow as Evan tries harder and harder to win a little of her affection.

Overall Rebel Hearts, while a quick and easy read, doesn't quite captivate or enthrall, it simply relates the tale line by line and page by page, the difference between it and some other standouts in the genre like that of a speech delivered in monotone versus one full of inflection and passion.

Rating 2.5-3/5

Find Lois:

Website • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon

This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Review: The Girl Who Was Supossed to Die

THE GIRL WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE
April Henry
Young Adult/Mystery/Thriller
224 pages
Henry Holt and Co.
Available Now
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
“Take her out back and finish her off.”

She doesn’t know who she is. She doesn’t know where she is, or why. All she knows when she comes to in a ransacked cabin is that there are two men arguing over whether or not to kill her.

And that she must run.

In her riveting style, April Henry crafts a nail-biting thriller involving murder, identity theft, and biological warfare. Follow Cady and Ty (her accidental savior turned companion), as they race against the clock to stay alive.

MY THOUGHTS
The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die takes off at a sprint right out of the gate, a pair of ominously gloved hands reaching through the pages and yanking us roughly down beside our heroine as the manner of her death is calmly and coolly discussed. We’re as confused, disoriented and terrified as she is, minds scrambling to catalog as much about her surroundings and her captors as possible–as though our testimony might be required later on–and we find ourselves in an instant partnership with a young woman who is doing a much better job of not panicking than we are.

Cady, as we later learn her name is, turns out to be someone extraordinarily strong and smart, but neither her strength nor smarts is so overdone that she becomes more unbelievable superhero rather than relatable young woman. She uses common sense at every turn, seeking the help of authorities rather than trying to solve her identity crisis and attempted murder all on her own, but when things don’t work out as she hopes and she finds herself with only a complete stranger to lean on for help, she keeps questioning and searching for answers in a logical and methodical way.

Cady’s inability to remember who she is or why someone would seek to torture and murder her makes for a very tense read, the suggestion early on that she may be mentally ill only adding to the butterflies currently sending our stomachs into nervous spasms as a whole new set of questions gets added to an already lengthy list. Our three days with Cady pass blindingly fast, the short chapters seeming to increase the speed at which we devour her story, and while we can’t help but love the excitement of the ride we’re on, we find ourselves a tiny bit disappointed when the ending wraps up every bit as quickly as the story itself unfolded. Things are fully explained and resolved in just a handful of pages, leaving us a little wobbly and unsure, our minds trying to frantically to catch up with the answers as they're laid down before us.

Overall, The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die is a very quick, highly intense read easily consumed in a single sitting, and though the ending leaves a little to be desired, as a whole it delivers a thrilling story.

Rating: 3.5/5
 

Find April:

Website • Blog • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon

This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Review: School Spirits

SCHOOL SPIRITS
Rachel Hawkins
Paranormal Young Adult
304 pages
Disney-Hyperion
Available Now
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Fifteen-year-old Izzy Brannick was trained to fight monsters. For centuries, her family has hunted magical creatures. But when Izzy’s older sister vanishes without a trace while on a job, Izzy's mom decides they need to take a break.

Izzy and her mom move to a new town, but they soon discover it’s not as normal as it appears. A series of hauntings has been plaguing the local high school, and Izzy is determined to prove her worth and investigate. But assuming the guise of an average teenager is easier said than done. For a tough girl who's always been on her own, it’s strange to suddenly make friends and maybe even have a crush.

Can Izzy trust her new friends to help find the secret behind the hauntings before more people get hurt? 

MY THOUGHTS
School Spirits is everything we expect from Rachel Hawkins; a hugely entertaining story teeming with characters who have an abundance of charm and wit and who keep us smiling the whole way through. Though there are dark moments in this first installment of the Hex Hall spinoff—stemming mostly from the palpable tension between Izzy and her mother over Izzy's missing older sister—Ms. Hawkins shows us yet again how successfully she's able to create a balanced story, giving us just enough drama to create a couple sharp edges before ensuring a few pages later several unladylike snorts escape our lips thanks to a hilarious cast of secondary characters.

Izzy is everything we might hope for in a young adult heroine; strong in body, mind and personality but with a few noticeable soft spots to prevent her from being overly distant or cold. She's struggling with the rapid deterioration of her family, first with the loss of her sister some months prior and the then with resulting stress her absence has put on her relationship with her mother. Still, she approaches her new assignment at the local high school with an open mind and heart, violating all the Brannick family rules that insist bonds, friendships or romances with regular people unaware of the supernatural world around them are to be avoided at all costs. Though she repeats her mother's teachings about going it alone in her head, she refuses to submit to them completely, allowing Romy and Dex to show her what she's been missing with her emotional isolation, and becoming a stronger young woman for acknowledging the desire to ask for help.

The romance with quirky lover-of-all-things-purple Dex is as adorable as we hoped it would be before we even cracked the spine, the witty banter we so loved between Sophie and Archer carrying over to Izzy and Dex. Though the banter is familiar, Izzy and Dex are not simply clones of Sophie and Archer, instead they are unique and enjoyable on a myriad of levels in their own right, and they truly bring the story to life with their infectious laughter and warmth. By the end, the dynamic between the two of them undergoes a significant shift, leaving us fairly thrumming with anticipation to see how things will develop now that everything is different.

A review for School Spirits would not be complete without a gushing sentence or two about Torin, the four hundred year-old warlock (though he looks eighteen) trapped in a mirror that's been in the Brannick family for centuries. He's enigmatic and perhaps the most complex of all the characters in this story, his motives for helping and comforting Izzy somehow clear and opaque at the same time. Hints of romance, mystery, friendship and danger are all there at any given moment with him, guaranteeing he's someone we will continue to have our eye on as the series progresses. While not a story that will create any sort of shock and awe with its plotline as it's largely free of twists and turns, School Spirits is the embodiment of fun, never taking itself too seriously even as ghosts wreak havoc and a family begins to buckle under the pressure of the unknown.

Rating: 4/5

Find Rachel

Website • Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads • Amazon

This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

*UPDATE - Shortly after writing this review I learned that Ms. Hawkins is no longer planning to continue with this series (see below Twitter snippet). While I still thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to fans of Rachel's Hex Hall series, this news does alter my opinion of this book ever-so slightly simply due to the unanswered questions we're left with now that a sequel is not in the works. It should be known though that the story itself is a complete one, the main mystery wrapped up at the end, it's just the thread with her missing sister and a few smaller things with Dex and Torin that are left up in the air.