Tag: young adult

Book Review: Hunger by Michael Grant

M.T.Wilson @ The Last Book on the LeftLeave a comment

Hunger by Michael Grant

Genre: Young adult, science-fiction, dystopia

Publishing Info: 2010 by Egmont

Pages: 608

Star Rating: 4/5

Back Cover Summary:

It’s been three months since everyone under the age of fifteen became trapped in the bubble known as the FAYZ. Things have only gotten worse. Food is running out, and each day more kids are developing supernatural abilities. Soon tension rises between those with powers and those without, and when an unspeakable tragedy occurs, chaos erupts. It’s the normals against the mutants, and the battle promises to turn bloody.

But something more dangerous lurks. A sinister creature known as the Darkness has begun to call to the survivors in the FAYZ. It needs their powers to sustain its own. When the Darkness calls, someone will answer — with deadly results.

This is the second book in Michael Grant’s Gone series, and I liked it about the same amount I liked the first one. It was good and kept me gripped but it wasn’t spectacular.

In terms of pacing the first third or so was quite slow and I was wondering what the main plot line of the book was going to be. Once it got going though it was very exciting and made me want to keep reading. I also didn’t predict exactly what direction it was going in so there were some surprises which was great.

The first book had a lot of characters, but this book introduces even more for you to try and keep track of. Thankfully, I’m quite good at remembering which characters are which but I can imagine some readers getting the characters mixed up when there are so many of them. On the other hand I do like that there are a lot of characters because you get to see lots of different characters viewpoints and how different people are coping with being in the FAYZ.

Some of the characters brought forwards from the first book develop further in this book but most of them are just the same as in the first book. There isn’t much character development going on. Sam’s character is done really well and we see how the pressures of being in charge of Perdido Beach get to him. But most of the characters show very little change and development.

Plot holes. This is the biggest issue I have with the book. The end action sequence is filled with two gigantic plot holes. I think the problem is there are so many characters that the editors, and Grant himself, forgot that three of them even existed and were even at the final big fight scene. Did he forget he’d sent those characters there in a previous chapter? This gaping hole just annoyed me to no end and left me stunned that the author or editors hadn’t realised.

Overall I did enjoy it and in the end gave it four stars because it really did keep me gripped, but I did find that there were some problems with it. I will carry on and read the next one because Grant has managed to keep my curiosity going.

Overused Clichés in YA Fiction

M.T.Wilson @ The Last Book on the Left2 Comments

As much as I love YA fiction some of it is just so repetitive and similar. It may be marketable for books to be this way but it just gets kind of annoying.

1) The love triangle. It’s just been overused and has become boring and off-putting for many readers. Nobody ever seems to do anything different with it and it’s got to the point where I just find it so irritating.

2) The nice girl falling for the idiot/jerk character. Really? Why would the MC even want to go out with this guy? It just doesn’t make any sense. Perhaps she considers him for a while but I can’t fathom why she would actually pick him to be with.

3) The character describing themselves in a mirror. Just no. Who walks up to a mirror and describes their appearance in detail? Unless it is character/plot relevant (e.g. they have bags under their eyes from lack of sleep due to *insert life issue here* or their skin has turned pink overnight).

4) The main character is the chosen one. They have been picked out by a higher force and there’s some kind of prophecy involved. See Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, The Matrix, Star Wars, Terminator, and the list could go on…

5) Dead or non-present parents. Unless it is plot relevant or plays some MAJOR role in the arc of the main character why are there never parents around? And if they are around they’re always really stereotypical and 2D. This is especially in realistic teen fiction stories because the most likely scenario is their parents are going to be around ignoring them for convenience just annoys me.

6) Good vs. Evil. Now, I’m not saying we should ditch this completely. Sometimes it’s nice to just read a simple good vs. evil story.

7) Insta-Love. For a start love at first sight is not biologically possible, only attraction at first sight. You love someone when you have got to know someone and they have got to know you and you understand each other. You can’t know that from the first moment you see them. Insta-attraction is, however, definitely possible.

8) The “strong” female character. A strong heroine does not constitute making a girl do man stuff. What makes a strong character is the same for male and female characters. They have to be rounded, believable, have back story, have a character arc etc. Just making a warrior of the female gender does not make that character a strong female character.

9) The girl who is super pretty but believes she is ugly. To some extent this is kind of realistic for many people. But it has just been overdone in fiction now.

10) Everyone is super attractive. Not everybody is super hot and looking like a model. Yes, some characters may be pretty/handsome, but that’s not everyone in the world! One of the things I love about Jane Eyre is that emphasis is put on how neither Jane or Rochester are at all conventionally attractive and that they fall in love because of their personalities.

These are just some things that annoy me whenever they crop up. Do something new people! /rant over

Book Review: Moment(s) by Lisa Terry

M.T.Wilson @ The Last Book on the Left3 Comments

Moment(s) by Lisa Terry

Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult, New Adult

Publishing Info: Self-published January 10th 2015

Pages: 218

Star Rating: 4/5

Back Cover Summary:

Scottish rocker Julian McLane lives life as normally as possible. But fame can be lonely, which might be why he’d spent a year looking for the girl he caught making a wish behind the concert arena. His fans aren’t happy to share him now that he has found Emilie—too bad their violent displeasure only pushes the couple together.

Emilie needs protection from rabid fans, so Julian convinces her to tour with him and his prank-loving bandmates so his security team can watch over her too. Julian thinks their coupledom is as right as a love song. But something’s very wrong about murder victims wearing the band’s concert bracelets. Someone seems intent on downsizing the fandom.

Julian holds a twisted mess of clues about the killer’s identity, with every day bringing a different theory, and he’s beginning to think finding the killer means losing Emilie forever.

Moment(s) is a mix of romance and mystery, with a string of murders in the background of the romantic dealings between Julian and Emilie. Despite there being some issues with the book I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I’m going to deal with that issue at the start so we can get it over and done with. Basically, the book needed more proofreading. Reading a self-published book I’m expecting there will be some typos and things as the writer doesn’t have access to the editing team as someone publishing under a publisher. However, there were a few too many obvious typos in almost every chapter that could have easily been ironed out through a proofread. The last couple of chapters before the epilogue also needed more work as it was just very confusing and was nowhere near as polished as the first half of the book.

Now we’ve got that out of the way let’s talk about the actual story. I thought the plot was good and there were plenty of twists that I didn’t see coming. I also liked the mix of romance and mystery, I thought that combination of genre worked really well in this book.

The characters were great and all very likable. The interactions between the band members was realistic and humorous and just so well written. I also liked the slow build of the relationship between Julian and Emilie and thought their relationship was written very well. It was a bit predictable that they would end up together but the mystery going on in the background meant there was something to keep me reading.

I had some issues with the gymnastics described in the first half of the book. In addition to performing their songs the band also do some gymnastics on stage. I get that they are doing things that gymnasts wouldn’t normally do as they are outside the competition environment but some of it just seemed unrealistic. It was hard to visualise but at one point they were going directly from one piece of equipment to the next but given the structure of the equipment I don’t see how they could be placed close enough together for them to be able to swing from one to the other.

Overall I feel like the story had the potential to be a better novel than this. It perhaps needed a little more time to be edited before it was published. However I did thoroughly enjoy reading it and would definitely recommend it. I will be reading more books by Lisa Terry.

Book Review: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

M.T.Wilson @ The Last Book on the LeftLeave a comment

The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia, Science-Fiction

Publishing Info: August 1st 2011 by Chicken House (first published 2010)

Pages: 359

Star Rating: 3/5

Back Cover Summary:
The Scorch Trials picks up where The Maze Runner left off. The Gladers have escaped the Maze, but now they face an even more treacherous challenge on the open roads of a devastated planet. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them. Can Thomas survive in such a violent world?

The Scorch Trials is the second book in The Maze Runner series and carries straight on from where the first book left off. The back cover summary is rather vague so I didn’t really know what to expect. I shan’t say too much as I don’t want to spoil it! Although I enjoyed the book and found it gripping I didn’t like it as much as the first book. I’m not sure why I just liked the first book much better.

 The plot is basically a repetition of The Maze Runner but in a different setting. The characters are still being watched by WICKED and have to do some stuff to survive. Essentially it’s like they’re in the next level. It is very different to the first book though and the characters have different dilemmas and enemies. Dashner does suspense very well and I found myself keeping turning the pages. The pacing was good, there were some slow moments but it always kept me hooked.

 The characters from the first book were good. But the new characters weren’t so good. Like I found with the first book whenever a character was introduced they were just a name and their personalities didn’t really show until far into the book. I understand that you have to get to know characters but I should still have a sense of what they are like from the beginning through their body language, how they talk and the decisions they make.

 In terms of the characters that carried over from the first book I would have liked to have seen them developed more. I didn’t really get a feel of how everything they had been through impacted on them as people. I guess they don’t have much time for reflection as once again they’re running for their lives but I would have expected some change in them after having been through all that.

 I guess there’s not much I can say without giving spoilers for the first book and this one as well. There’s so many twists and things that I don’t want to spoil anything as the suspense and mystery of wanting to know what is going on is the best aspect of these books. Overall I enjoyed it and will keep reading the series but it wasn’t as good as the first one. I really liked how it kept me guessing and I never knew what was going to happen next.

 Click here to read my review of book 1, The Maze Runner.

Author Interview: Sarah Perlmutter

M.T.Wilson @ The Last Book on the LeftLeave a comment

Sarah Perlmutter is an English teacher from Pennsylvania who has self-published her Young Adult apocalyptic novel The Blast. It follows the story of Beatrice and her family as they fight to survive in the aftermath of a nuclear apocalypse, exploring themes of moral choices and humanity. The novel has been very well received and its current highest rank on Amazon is #26 in YA Dystopian! Sarah agreed to answer some questions about her novel and her self-publishing experience.

Why did you choose to write a story set during and after the apocalypse?

I’ve always been interested in human nature, and what better way to test it than to put people in extreme survival situations? I also really enjoy the science fiction genre, especially post-apocalyptic and dystopian stories, so I wanted to contribute to that genre of YA literature with my own take on the world’s end.

The Blast is fairly short, did you consciously choose for it to be a short novel or did it just turn out that way?

I did consciously choose for it to be a shorter novel, because I wrote it to be a companion piece or prequel for the trilogy I’ve been working on for a couple of years now. I meant for it to only be a novella, but at its current word count and length it’s straddling the line between novella and novel. Once I started writing, I had more to say than I initially anticipated I would.

How did you build the cast of characters for The Blast?

I built the cast of characters based on characters in my trilogy. I knew Beatrice, Eleanor, and their parents had to be in The Blast, but some of the other characters I added to help explain who they became as adults, like Henry and the Smiths. Characters like Jacob and Mr. Timmons were included to help explore themes in the novel, while characters like Drew helped me to flesh out the community within which Bea and Eleanor grow up and later raise their children.

The Blast is a prequel to your Deathless trilogy. Which idea did you come up with and write first?

I came up with the idea for the Deathless trilogy first, and then halfway through the second book, I realized that I didn’t know nearly enough about Beatrice or what happened before the trilogy begins. I began writing The Blast as an exploration into Bea’s character and as a way to bring the entire world to life for myself. The trilogy now exists in a world that is much more believable and complete than it did before I wrote The Blast.

What made you decide to take the self-publishing route?

I sent out maybe 5 queries for the first book of the trilogy when it was not in the proper shape to be published, and, not surprisingly, received 5 rejections. I began researching self-publishing then, and learned that it can actually be a viable route for publishing these days. I wanted to test out the waters of self-publishing as an alternate option, and after receiving positive feedback on The Blast from readers on Wattpad, I decided that would be the perfect book with which to test self-publishing. I’m glad I did, because now I feel like I have a better handle of the whole industry.

What do you think the pros and cons of self-publishing are?

The huge pro of self-publishing is how much creative freedom you have. The book is exactly as you want it, as is the cover and all other materials for it. However, as a self-publisher, you really need to be ready to invest serious time and money into your project. Good cover designers and editors cost money, as does professional formatters for your manuscript. That’s the con of self-publishing: Because you are in control of everything, it requires much more work to get your book into reader’s hands. A lot of writers just want to write, but when self-publishing, you must also be your own editor, production manager, designer, marketing professional, advocate, and internet personality.

Has self-publishing been a positive experience?

So far I have really enjoyed my experience with self-publishing! I have learned so much more about the industry than I would have if I kept querying, and I love experimenting with different marketing platforms for The Blast; however, I will still try my luck at traditional publishing for the trilogy and for any future projects. If it doesn’t work out with traditional publishing though, I’d be happy to self-publish again. Do you have any advice for writers hoping to be published?  Write! Write so much that it becomes an obsession. Write books, stories, plays, and poems of all genres. The more you write, the more pieces you have to choose from for submission calls, and the more likely one of your pieces will be chosen. Have fun with the submission process, and find a new way to view rejection. Rejection shows you’re living your dream, because every single writer you’ve ever heard of was rejected just as much as you. And if you like the idea of self-publishing, do it. Don’t wait. Get your manuscript ready, and do it.

Quick fire questions!

-Are you an organised or messy planner?

I am a messy planner masquerading as an organized one. I always have a plan, but it will be in 15 different notebooks, in the notes on my phone, on my Pinterest boards, and in my mind.

-Favourite character from The Blast?

I have to say Bea. When I finished writing The Blast, I really felt homesick for her perspective. But I also love Ellie. I didn’t think I would, but by the end of the book, she was one of my favorite characters to give dialogue. I love her voice.

-Would you survive the apocalypse?

Not likely. My husband and I are not at all prepared like Bea’s family was, and I’ve never even held a gun.

-What would be your weapon of choice – force or diplomacy?

Diplomacy for sure. I’m a teacher by day, so I feel like diplomacy is second nature to me. Force, not so much.

-Favourite book?

So difficult! It’s a four-way tie between Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, The Giver by Lois Lowry, Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, and Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison.

-Favourite film?

My gut’s telling me to go with Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

-Favourite character?

Oh man, even more difficult! I love so many characters for so many different reasons! Right now, because I recently finished reading All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven, I really enjoy Finch’s character.

The Blast is available NOW to purchase on Amazon for Kindle and in paperback.

Follow Sarah on social media:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SarahPerlmutterbooksTwitter: @SaPerlmutterWebsite: http://www.sarahperlmutter.comPinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/saraibunbury/Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24265868-the-blast

You can read my review of the book here!

Book Review: The Maze Runner

M.T.Wilson @ The Last Book on the Left4 Comments

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia, Science-Fiction

Publishing Info: August 14th 2011 by Chicken House (first published 2009)

Pages: 371

Star Rating: 4/5

 

Back Cover Summary:

When the doors of the lift crank open, the only thing Thomas remembers is his first name. But he’s not alone. He’s surrounded by boys who welcome him to the Glade – a walled encampment at the entre of a bizarre and terrible stone maze. Like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they came to be there – or what’s happened to the world outside.

 

So I’m rather late to the Maze Runner party. Having heard such praise for it and there being a film which was released last year, I thought I would give it a go. Dystopia is one of my favourite genres, but there is so much fluff out there, especially in the Young Adult market. The Maze Runner in some ways disappointed me but also thrilled me.

The beginning of the novel is rather confusing. It is told in third person from Thomas’s viewpoint, which means we only know what he knows. So I guess the reader is confused because Thomas is confused. Eventually, things begin to start making sense though and the more you get into it the better it gets.

The writing style isn’t particularly amazing. It’s quite ordinary and to be honest the writing could be much better. Often the language was a little too ‘telling’ and impersonal meaning it was hard to connect to the main character, Thomas, whose thoughts we are supposed to be sharing.

The characters are one of the weakest aspects of the novel. I just felt like there wasn’t much to distinguish them, they didn’t stand out, and their personalities weren’t clear. For the first half of the book Thomas didn’t seem to have much personality, I found him quite bland. But as I got to know him he grew on me. Though he’s nothing special, nothing different from any of the other protagonists out there. There is one thing that makes him interesting, but I really can’t say because it would mean giving away major spoilers! Many of the other characters were fairly flat at the start as well but like with Thomas they became clearer as the story went on.

The plot is definitely the strongest aspect. It really kept me hooked and almost every chapter has a cliff hanger, meaning I couldn’t stop reading. I wanted to know what was going to happen. Throughout the book my head was full of questions which I was biting my nails to find out the answers to. There is some question of believability, but I will wait to pass judgement on that until I have finished the series (as there are many questions still unanswered at the end of this first book).

I’m definitely interested to see where it will go next and will read the rest of the series. A lot of people love this book and a lot of people hate it. There are an awful lot of flaws to it, but I couldn’t help but love it because of the suspenseful plot.

Book Review: The Blast by Sarah Perlmutter

M.T.Wilson @ The Last Book on the Left2 Comments

The Blast by Sarah Perlmutter

Genre: Young Adult, Apocalypse, Dystopia, Science-Fiction

Publishing Info: Self-published, Amazon Kindle edition

Pages: 154

Star Rating: 4.5/5

 

Back Cover Summary:

After a series of blasts force Beatrice Hicks and her family into their prepper bunker, they emerge to discover they are among the survivors of a nuclear apocalypse. Fighting against rogue groups and coping with deaths are just some of the adjustments Beatrice must make to survive, but how will she maintain her humanity after the blast?

 

The Blast is a self-published novel by Sarah Perlmutter which shows a family’s attempt to survive the apocalypse. I’ve read a lot of books about what happens when society has been rebuilt after an apocalypse, but not one which is actually set at the time the apocalypse happens, so this was an interesting new read for me. I found it really refreshing to read and it is written very well, in a style which pulls you in.

The plot is somewhat typical of an apocalypse story – it is about survival. But what makes it great is the way the characters are handled and how they change and develop through the course of the novel. There was plenty of action and lots of unexpected turns which kept me glued to the page. It is quite short, more of a novella than a novel, but I like that. I think a lot of the time authors force stories into a novel length when there isn’t enough substance to make it that long. I think the length of The Blast is right for the content which is great.

The narrator, Beatrice, is forced to grow up before she has much chance to be a child. Her characterisation is great and her inner conflicts are shown really well. Over the course of the book she changes an awful lot as a character. Importantly, she isn’t without flaws, and is a really rounded, well thought-out character. The main characters are equally well depicted and they are all likable. There are many emotional and tragic moments made more so by the attachment one feels for the characters. However, it would have been good to see more development of the minor characters, particularly Mr and Mrs Becker and Mr and Mrs Smith. It felt like they were just shadows in the background. Just one scene with them would have allowed the reader to gain a better picture of them.

Overall I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves apocalypse and dystopian stories. But I also think people who don’t usually go for the genre would like it, as the topic and issues are dealt with so well. I gave it 4.5 stars, as is wasn’t quite perfect for me (though I am quite hard to please), but it was a really awesome book which I urge you to read.

Book Review: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

M.T.Wilson @ The Last Book on the Left2 Comments

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia, Science-Fiction

Publishing Info: May 2011 Simon Pulse

Pages: 406

Star Rating: 4/5

Back Cover Summary:

Everybody gets to be supermodel gorgeous. What could be wrong with that?

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can’t wait. Not for her license – for turning pretty. In Tally’s world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.

But Tally’s new friend Shay isn’t sure she wants to be pretty. She’d rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world and it isn’t very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all.

The choice Tally makes changes her world forever…

 

Uglies deals with an issue I am very interested in/concerned about: expectations of how we should look. We change our appearances – through makeup and even plastic surgery – to try and reach those expectations. And who can blame us, really, when we’re having magazines shoved in our faces that are full of photographs of photoshopped models. Anyway, I will stop ranting and get onto the book.

So, yes, the premise intrigued me so I decided to find out what this was all about. In Tally’s world, everyone gets made pretty when they turn sixteen. But her friend, Shay, doesn’t want to turn pretty and runs away. I thought it was great that Westerfeld chose to narrate from the point of view of someone who believes in the system. In many YA dystopia novels the protagonist hates the system and wants to get out of it, but here we have a protagonist who is desperate to turn pretty and thinks her friend is crazy for running away and wanting to stay ugly. This aspect of the novel was really refreshing.

In terms of characters I really liked Tally as a main character and her character arc is excellent, we really see her change throughout the novel. A lot of reviews I’ve read said they don’t like Tally at all, and I can see where they are coming from, but I really felt intrigued by all her internal conflicts and development. I thought Shay was great too, her characterisation was done very well. One thing that needed more work was David. I felt his characterisation was very weak, there was nothing about his personality that stood out and I found him very flat. And guess what, we find ourselves reading yet another young adult book which includes a love triangle. I shouldn’t have been surprised really, though, should I?

The world building is very good, it’s well developed and very clear. There’s also a lot of cool technology like hoverboards and a lot of it is really inventive. There were lots of twists and turns in the plot that kept me gripped, and there were a couple of heart-in-mouth moments where there were revelations I wasn’t expecting. At no point did I find myself bored, I was always wanting to know what would happen next. By no means is this an edge-of-your-seat-thriller, but it did keep me glued to the pages in an unusual way, I can’t really describe it.

Overall, one of the better young adult dystopia’s I’ve read, and is definitely unique. I’m very excited to read the rest of the series and already have them on my shelf waiting!

Want to know if the rest of the series is worth reading? Check out my reviews of book 2, Pretties, and book 3, Specials.

Author Interview: Ashley Maker

M.T.Wilson @ The Last Book on the LeftLeave a comment

Ashley Maker is a young adult author who recently had her debut novel, Under the Trees, published by Cliffhanger Press. Ashley is from Oklahoma and enjoys writing songs for her books as well as writing them. Under the Trees is a fantasy romance which follows the story of Princess Araya as she runs away to a neighbouring kingdom to escape an abusive arranged marriage. There, she falls into the hands of Prince Thoredmund, who decides to help her and provides refuge for her in his kingdom, unbeknown to his father. As their feelings for each other begin to grow, the fragile peace between the two kingdoms is threatened.

 

Where did your inspiration for Under the Trees come from?

UNDER THE TREES is actually a complete rewrite of a book I finished when I was nineteen titled ARAYA. The first version was much sillier, and I had an agent tell me it had too much of a Middle Grade tone for a Young Adult book. After a few years of it being shelved, I set out to rewrite it as a Middle Grade book, but the first words of the rewrite ended up being the opening scene of UNDER THE TREES. I knew before I hit the end of the first page that I wasn’t writing the lighthearted, comical MG novel I set out to. Araya’s new voice, and her desperation and fear, sent the novel in a darker, much more mature direction, falling squarely in the upper YA category. I loved it so much I plotted the entire novel around that scene, and on giving Prince Thoredmund his own point of view chapters, whereas before he had little journal entries interspersed at the end of every few chapters. The two versions are so drastically different that they’re hardly comparable today. Just about everything changed.

 

What made you decide to write from the alternating perspectives of Princess Araya and Prince Thoredmund? 

I wanted the reader to be able to see the story from both sides, especially since Prince Thoredmund’s first chapter opens where Araya’s leaves off. There are important things the reader would never get to see if it only followed Araya’s POV, like all of the stuff going on at the castle and how the feud between the two royal families plays out.

 

What is your writing process? Do you have any habits?  

I’m a very slow writer, and I tend to edit while I write. I almost always write in my office at my desk, and before I type anything out, I try to take ten minutes or so to brainstorm what I want to work on that day. As far as habits go, I like to listen to music on Grooveshark, and I always have something to drink and snack on nearby.

 

How long did it take for you to bring Under the Trees from its planning stages to its final manuscript? 

I started the rewrite in the fall of 2010 and finished it in the summer of 2011. That doesn’t include revision, which was an on and off again process all the way up to December 2013.

 

Who is your favourite character in the book and why?

Prince Silas. He’s Araya brother, and I had so much fun with his character because he’s a bit of a wild card. I’m even thinking of writing a companion novel from his POV one day.

 

Do you have any advice for writers hoping to be published? 

Write what you want. If writers followed every piece of advice, or tip, or trend, we’d be writing in circles or not able to write at all. So write something you love and will be proud of, regardless of what others say about it. After your book is revised and ready, that’s the time to look into publication. Be sure to do lots of research on the different avenues of publishing so that you can find the best one for you. If you choose to submit to agents or publishing houses, make sure they’re legitimate since you’ll likely be working with them for years if they offer on your book. Also, while you’re shopping your book out, try to write something new. Publishing is one big waiting game. Having something new to focus on helps during those periods when things are going slow.

 

Under the Trees is available now in paperback and on Amazon kindle.

For more information on Ashley and the novel see:

www.ashleymaker.com

facebook.com/authorashley

twitter.com/ashleymaker

 

You can read my review of the book here.

 

(This interview was originally published in the University of Surrey’s student newspaper The Stag)

Book Review: Under the Trees by Ashley Maker

M.T.Wilson @ The Last Book on the Left1 Comment

Under the Trees by Ashley Maker

Genre: Young Adult, Historical, Fantasy, Romance

Publishing Info: September 15th 2015, Cliffhanger Press; kindle edition

Star Rating: 5/5

 

 

Back Cover Summary:

Desperate to prevent an abusive arranged marriage, Princess Araya flees to a neighboring kingdom, only to land at the mercy of the impulsive Crown Prince Thoredmund, who provides refuge in a secluded forest and teaches her survival skills. Her surprise at the unexpected hold the prince has on her heart mirrors his shock at falling for the one girl he can’t have.

As the young couple’s feelings for each other grow, the fragile alliance between the two kingdoms threatens to break apart. With a vengeful duke and an enraged king fast on their trail, Thor and Araya must decide how much they’re willing to risk for love.

Even if staying together means starting a war.

 

Under the Trees is an enchanting read that captured me from the very beginning. The opening is one of the very best I have read; it starts right in the action, immediately grabbing your attention. I also felt immediately connected to Araya because her fear and emotions come through so well in the first chapter.

The style of writing is excellent which helps the story flow very well. The book is written in the alternating first person perspectives of Araya and Thoredmund. This can be very tricky and was handled very well by the author. The characters voices were distinctive and it is interesting to see how the two characters viewed the unfolding events.

The two main characters are very strong and well thought out. I like how Araya is very strong, yet at times she can also be quite timid which I think is a very interesting presentation and also quite realistic. Her determination is an admirable trait which makes her likable. I also like how she isn’t just a damsel in distress, she also has the ability to stand her own ground. Thoredmund is very tentative and kind, and instantly likeable. I find it interesting how the other characters – especially his father – perceptions of him change as the book progresses. I really felt connected to the characters and definitely cared about what would happen to them. Another good point is that the romance isn’t forced and develops in a very natural way.

The minor characters in Under the Trees are as well thought-out as the two main characters. All of the characters have depth which is great to see. Often authors focus so much on their main characters that they forget to develop the others, but that is not the case here.

The world building is fairly good but Maker doesn’t go into too much detail, which isn’t really a problem as it isn’t essential to the plot. She alludes to different traditions in the different kingdoms which is a nice touch. The tensions between the kingdoms is well written and there is actually a reason for it which is explained.

Although the plot is simple, it is good and captivating. The fast-paced nature of the novel keeps the interest of the reader without glazing over the characters development. The story was certainly not predictable and there were a few twists that left me stunned. It has a satisfying ending, but not in a cliché way.

Overall, Under the Trees is quite a fast, easy read with very likable characters and a plot which will keep you hooked. There is just something about this book which I absolutely love and which made me give it five stars. Even if you are not usually interested in this kind of genre I would definitely give this gem a read.