BLOG TOUR: The Incendiaries - R.O.Kwon

Synopsis:

Phoebe Lin and Will Kendall meet during their first years at a prestigious university. Phoebe doesn't tell anyone that she blames herself for her mothers recent death. Will is a misfit scholarship boy transferring in from bible college, waiting table to make ends meet. What he knows for sure is that he loves Phoebe.

Haunted by her loss, Phoebe is increasingly drawn into a religious group - a secretive cult tied to North Korea - founded by a charismatic former student with an enigmatic past involving Phoebe's Korean American family. Will struggles to confront the obsession consuming the one her loves and the fundamentalism he's tried to escape. When the extremist group bombs several buildings in the name of faith, killing five people, Phoebe disappears. Will devotes himself to finding her, tilting into obsession himself, seeking answers to what happened to Phoebe and if she cold have been responsible for this violent act.



Review:

The opening to this book is uhm… quite explosive, literally. The book starting at the end before then jumping around in all directions as Will searches for any ounce of a clue that could possibly point to Phoebe being responsible for such an act. 

The chapters switch between Will, John and Phoebe but the majority of the story is told by Will. There is many times where he recalls moments and conversations with Phoebe whilst almost straight out admitting that sometime he isn't really sure he's remembering things correctly.

The Incendiaries is a short book lasting only 210 pages but I must admit it wasn't anything like i expected it to be, it was a very slow burner and it was hard for me to really read it for long periods of time. It is as though the peak of the action took place right at the very start, most of the story that was being given, which was Will and Phoebe's back stories served in a broken/fragmented way which for me moved towards a somewhat anti climatic ending.

Initially it was the synopsis which had me interested and encouraged me to say yes and take part in this blog tour which I can't say I regret doing even if I feel somewhat in the grey towards the book and I have no regrets because the book carries themes that stick with you after you've closed it and moved on. Phoebe reminded me how vulnerable people can be, showing how people can be easily guided towards bad things in bad times, how easily they can be open to radical ideas. There's no denying that we as people like to think that we are strong-minded and can’t be moved and easily influenced by others but from this book it seems that maybe we don’t really know what we are, as humans are capable of when we’re feeling lost, at what we see is the very bottom of us and someone offers a hand to pull you free.

By that alone, as much as I actually liked the themes of the book, I'm giving it a 3.8 out of 5, I just wished I could have been able to feel something relatable about the characters, even if it were just the small things.



Amazon link to purchase a copy of The Incendiaries.

Blog Tour: A Single Journey - Frankie McGowan

Book Synopsis:

Harriet has begun to despair of her life.

With a failed relationship behind her, a business on the rocks and a flat that’s falling apart around her ears, she could really use some luck.

Elena Banbury, née Guseva, an elderly but imposing Russian woman who is Harriet’s neighbour and landlady, frequently entertains the punters at Harriet’s jewellery stall with tales of the palaces of St. Petersburg and the treasures of Fabergé. But Harriet sometimes feels, guiltily, that she could do without the endless errands that seem to fall to her as Elena’s friend.

Then, unexpectedly, when Elena dies, she leaves all her worldly goods to a grateful Harriet. In time, however, it becomes clear that others are shocked by Harriet’s good luck, too. Shocked… and very, very unhappy.

Challenged in court by Elena’s family who live in Berlin, Harriet is forced to give up her inheritance and long-dreamed-of plans for a new business, and start her life again. But with her reputation in tatters and the memory of Elena tainted, Harriet knows a great injustice has been done.

Against the advice of her friends, family and lawyers, Harriet sets off on her own, very singular journey to Berlin.

In the weeks that follow she meets rich and poor, the glamorous and the criminal, the honest and the secretive, and begins to see that perhaps she has something to learn from them all. Something to learn about herself, and something to learn about her priorities.

She knows she has to fight for justice. But, when she meets the scholarly, perceptive Neil, who generously tries to help Harriet in her mission, but who is struggling with a complicated marriage, she must also decide if she’ll fight for love, too. 

Review:

So I'm absolutely honoured to be a part of the blog tour for A Single Journey, I begun reading my copy of the book a little while ago but thanks to some unknown glitch I encountered, I was unable to fully read the book. Thankfully Hannah came to my rescue and provided me with another copy n a different format that allowed me to continue my reading. I must let you all know that due to the glitch and date limit on this post, I feel as though I may have missed things here and there because I had to speed read but hopefully, with all things crossed, that this all still makes sense.

I don't really want to be giving away too much of the plot away so I wont explain it in all of the detail I know, but as the story goes, Harriet rents a flat from aging Elena Banbury who spends her time entertaining customers that visit Harriet's failing stall and the others around her with tales of her childhood in Russia. It is only when Elena passes away that Harriet find out how she was really seen by her. 

As far as our main character Harriet goes, she feels extremely real to me, beyond likable in my eyes and with her own flaws, it adds to the realistic feel of her. As the story progresses I begun to feel more attached to her, rooting for her at every moment she needed me to, wanting her to be successful when a challenge came to her, she was just so real for me.

The amazing thing about A Single Journey is that as our main character dives deeper into Elena's life we get to see how the tale passes by generation by generation, crossing numerous countries. It's a greatly pulled off intricate plot that must have been thought through superbly well and because of that as a reader, I was hooked throughout and I have no doubt other readers would be/have been too. The plot is jam packed but easy to follow throughout and as each chapter closes and the next begins, you are drawn more and more into the book being unable to stop yourself from at points beginning to take guesses at what is coming next (but as always I'm so far off) 

As I've seen on The Writing Greyhounds blog tour post, Lorna talks of things that are in the book that are maybe morals and important messages within the book which I wanted to share with you too.

"there are also several important points, or perhaps even morales, that are addressed in the book. A Single Journey reminds us about the importance of following our dreams and staying true to ourselves; all too often, we can find ourselves bogged down in the mundanities of day-to-day life and realise that we are living without really living. Harriet's journey to come to terms with the events of the story perfectly encapsulate this and represent the fact that sometimes, we must listen to our hearts rather than our heads.

Another important message to take away from the book is the way that older people are treated in our society. With the UK's over-worked care system, it's all too easy for vulnerable elderly people to fall through the cracks and end up with their struggles going unnoticed, as portrayed by Elena's situation at the beginning of the book. In real life, there may not always be a Harriet around to help, and A Single Journey helps to highlight the very real issue of the UK's elderly care crisis."

I think what she says makes perfect sense, they are also things I also picked up on, I also like the idea that the message about the UK's elderly care crisis is really a great message to me sharing and showing through such a book in the way it is. 

A Single Journey was a great read for me even though I may have missed things via speed reading but maybe I'll revisit the book and update this review sometime soon. From what I got from it, as Lorna says, It's a moving, heartfelt story about love, loss and staying true to yourself.

I cant give the book anything less than a 4 out of 5, I simply loved Harriet just that much and loved how the tale within spanned so far. Please don't forget to visit the other blogs taking part in this tour and it's also the time to mention that for the duration of the blog tour, A Single Journey is at the discounted price of only 0.99.

Purchase A Single Journey Here

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The City Of Lost Fortunes - Bryan Camp

Synopsis:

The fate of New Orleans rests in the hands of a wayward grifter in this novel of gods, games, and monsters.

The post–Katrina New Orleans of The City of Lost Fortunes is a place haunted by its history and by the hurricane’s destruction, a place that is hoping to survive the rebuilding of its present long enough to ensure that it has a future. Street magician Jude Dubuisson is likewise burdened by his past and by the consequences of the storm, because he has a secret: the magical ability to find lost things, a gift passed down to him by the father he has never known—a father who just happens to be more than human.

Jude has been lying low since the storm, which caused so many things to be lost that it played havoc with his magic, and he is hiding from his own power, his divine former employer, and a debt owed to the Fortune god of New Orleans. But his six-year retirement ends abruptly when the Fortune god is murdered and Jude is drawn back into the world he tried so desperately to leave behind. A world full of magic, monsters, and miracles. A world where he must find out who is responsible for the Fortune god’s death, uncover the plot that threatens the city’s soul, and discover what his talent for lost things has always been trying to show him: what it means to be his father’s son.

Review:

The City of Lost Fortunes is one of those books that takes magic, mythology, folklore and culture, throws it all into a blender and ends up being that smoothie that's a mix of mind blowing fantasy. It's unique and highly engaging, there's even a chance that The City of Lost Fortunes could be described as fantasy on steroids!

This novel was an absolute joy to read what with such a beautiful writing that guided me through time and dimensions as if it were a dream. The gods, monsters and mythological undertone blew my imagination.

The conflict at the centre of this book is not a simple one but rather a large cluster of events that through cause and effect guide Jude towards truths and a fate that he never considered.

There is a lot of magic in this book, suppressed magic, magic that has been taken away and magic that has been enhanced. And one way, or another, Jude experiences magic in all forms. But he is not a know-it-all; he learns and discovers and gambles… the game among gods and monsters isn’t over until the final card has been dealt.

Yeah, Jude is a bit of a wise-cracker! I loved his character- his intelligent, analytical mind, his particular view of men, gods, magic. Everything he goes through in this book, and it’s a LOT, he takes it in his stride, without complaint, even when he ends up experiencing an unexpected … ahem.. out of body experience of sorts! As he investigates the murder, and as his very essence hangs in the balance, Jude must remain alert to recognize friend from foe.

I liked all of the characters in the book- some of them we have all heard about through various tales, but it seemed to me that Bryan Camp is a special kind of puppeteer to bring them all together: angels, vampires, zombies, psychopomps, voodoo loas riding the human bodies, ghouls… I’m telling you, this book is a treasure and when you’re reading it, you’re the pirate taking a dive into a loot of pure gold.

The City of Lost Fortunes is an ode, a dedication, to New Orleans and its people. A fantastic, imaginative fairytale-like puzzle of gods and monsters, supernatural folklore and myths. It is an incredible venture into a world otherwise unseen to mere mortals, topped up with a generous dose of attitude, unexpected nuggets of wisdom and twists, underlined by an unwillingness to fold in a game with an open ending. Basically, do yourself a favour and read this book. Its a 5/5 from me and in a world where the number would be out of 10, it would still be a top scorer.

Henry's Departure - KD Rye

Synopsis:

KD Rye's short story 'Henry's Departure' tells the tragic tale of three sisters left to fend for themselves in the wilderness of their own home. Sue, Miley and Joyce find themselves abandoned by adults and left without food, they will need to rely on their wits to survive. But when hunger sets in, will the sisters be able to cling to their humanity?

Review:

So this story follows 3 sisters, Sue the oldest, Miley the child in the middle and Joyce, the youngest. Their mother never worked so money was non existent so after the tragic death of their mother, the girls are left to survive on what Henry can give them but it comes with a price. When Henry leaves for a while, the three children are left with no food, which he would always bring each week, they are left with absolutely nothing, their towels are unusable, their stockpile of food is non existent and they're hungry almost every second of the day.

Miley is the only child patient enough to go fishing each day and Joyce always goes with, pulling worms from the dirt to use at bait. It' hit and miss fishing. sometimes you're lucky, sometimes you're not. We do see the girls catch 2 fish, freezing one and gutting, cutting and cooking the other. The detail drawn out from that encounter makes the book feel even more real to the reader. 

I feel like this short story is all about the lengths people go to just to survive, about the level of dependence we have on others, really weirdly over thought deep things like that. It's a 5/5 from me without a doubt, it's deep and gnarly really. Not one for the kiddies really. I loved it from start to end, didn't see the end coming at all, pretty blindsided by it. I'll be keeping an eye out for more work by K D Rye, she's got something I cant quite describe when it comes to writing.

The Good Son - You - Jeong Jeong

Synopsis:

Yu-jin is a good son, a model student and a successful athlete. But one day he wakes up covered in blood. There's no sign of a break-in and there's a body downstairs. It's the body of someone who Yu-jin knows all too well.

Yu-jin struggles to piece together the fragments of what he can remember from the night before. He suffers from regular seizures and blackouts. He knows he will be accused if he reports the body, but what to do instead? Faced with an unthinkable choice, Yu-jin makes an unthinkable decision.

Through investigating the murder, reading diaries, and looking at his own past and childhood, Yu-jin discovers what has happened. The police descend on the suburban South Korean district in which he lives. The body of a young woman is discovered. Yu-jin has to go back, right back, to remember what happened, back to the night he lost his father and brother, and even further than that.

The Good Son deals with the ultimate taboo in family life, and asks the question: how far will you go to protect your children from themselves?

Review:

This book review is going to be one of those where I want to hide as much from you as I possibly can about the book itself to help it keep its intensity and helping it keep its mystery and thrill level.

The Good Son is a book follows Yu-jin who wakes up in his own bed, afraid that he has had a seizure as he can not fully remember the night before and there is a particular substance all over him that then opens up the story, allowing us to follow Yu-jin over a period of a few days to help him discover the truth taking us with him and I can assure you, all is not really as it seems.

Set in South Korea, it is interesting and kind of cool to be able to notice and see cultural and behavioural differences etc.. As Yu-jin explores the apartment which he shares with his mother and adopted brother, he quickly discovers one surprise after another. There are triggered memories that fill in the blanks of the partial memories that are bought on by hearing a few words spoken here and there, some triggered by repeating certain actions taken by him on the night he cannon remember. As the story goes on it all begins to knit together, creating such a vivid image, it's incredible.

We begin to learn even more as flashbacks to Yu-jin’s early life are merged in with the present day. The plot thickens as we discover more about the relationship he shared with his mother and auntie and then with his father and brother too.

A Good Son is a physiological thriller that grips, teases and saddens, as the story comes to an end I can see how it all fitted together so perfectly, how much it all made sense for the story to unfold in the way it, how truly amazing it had been constructed. It's easy to give this book a rating, a solid 5/5 from me. I was gripped from the start and I had even had to take a moment to collect myself once I was finished with the book. You-Jeong Jeong did and amazing job with this book, crafting something unique and amazing with a thrill factor that I'd happily go back and experience all over again. You-Jeong Jeong would probably be a little amused to find that the morning following when I completed reading the book, I awoke tasting blood...

A Path To Jupiter - Paul Richard Scott

Synopsis:

Arthur Kippax hates his name, but there's nothing he can do about it. He's a child of the 1950's, growing up in the 1960's in Sheffield - the Steel City. His parents are down-to-Earth, working class, as are most of his friends, but he will eventually go to Grammar School, learn to stand up for a principle, sit on his own chair and benefit from a good State Education. He will also learn that life is never fair, that God does not suffer little children but causes little children to suffer, in different and often insidious ways. The music of "The Swinging Sixties" becomes a soundtrack for his life, loves and adventures.

Review:

I found this book on an increasing pile of reads that my daughter had to review. From  the moment I picked this book up I found it impossible to put down.

I was born in the late 60's and grew up in a family with mom, dad, step brother and later on a baby sister. Close relatives lived around the corner and were there to pick up the pieces when my dad passed away when I was ten. Ok that's enough about me ,but I mention the close family ties as these are few and far between in todays society.

This book is written beautifully, and quite often I found myself in tears as I too felt the emotion that the main character Arthur felt. Without giving away the story, and believe me I could write for ever about this book as I loved every chapter. The musical quotes made me laugh and gave me greater enthusiasm to read more and more.

The story is one of childhood, love and loss which will touch your heart in the most endearing way .I was totally engrossed and could relate to dads brylcream and the faint whiff of Old Spice as he would dab it on to take nan to the weekly session of bingo. 

The irony is amazing, talking about the proverbial Larry who is always a happy chap to the reference to Lou Kemia and Roo Bella, each used in a way to show the innocence of a child who is affected by the loss of his first love. A truly brilliant read full of humour, the occasional ripe language which only adds to the read but is essential in order to truly immerse yourself into. 

I'd happily give this book a 5/5, I can only hope that there is a second book being written to follow this fabulous read.

Thank you, Paul Richard Scott, for the memories, and for the tears of sadness and laughter

On Holy Ground - Louise Cole Blog Tour

Synopsis:

Saving the world was just the start.
In The Devil's Poetry, Callie gambled with her life to stop a war. And she won. But now the game has changed. A Reader who understands the Book's magic is either a savior or a curse - what she can't be is free. When Callie stranded in the US, hunted and penniless, she desperately needs allies. But whose agenda can she trust? She must re-evaluate everything she knows, and find a way to escape, or die trying.

Review:

Late in June of last year I was happily a part of The Devil's Poetry blog tour and back then I was ecstatic with the opportunity and absolutely loved the book and tour so when I was contacted about being a part of the On Holy Ground ( The Devil's Poetry Series #2) Blog Tour, I simply could not say no.

On Holy Ground started with one hell of an opening sentence, which I absolutely loved but will not post here because its sort of a bummer to share something you should read in the book first, and even that's after reading the first of the series.

As with the previous book the point of view switches between first person from Callie and third person from a range of other characters’ perspectives. With nearly a year between when I read the first book it took me a little while to find my way with remembering the characters but I managed easy enough once I settled.

While The Devil's Poetry was set nearly exclusively around Callie's home town and London, the second instalment of the series jumps locations several times, and we get to see a lot more of the Order and the Cadaveri. The location jumping and the wide focus we get which allows us to see more of The Order and The Cadaveri is one of the highlights of this book. As it shows us more of these two opposing teams per say, we have a chance to learn more about their aims, their motives and what they are and are not willing to do to achieve them compared to what we see in The Devil's Poetry. I found that throughout the book, the lines of good and evil and the choice between right and wrong become so hard to distinguish and more faded than ever. There's no denying that the moral complexity in this series alone, not just this book, is one of my favourite things, it reflects the real world around us much more effectively than anything that has the good guys fighting the forces of evil.

In On Holy Ground I absolutely loved seeing Callie having to deal with things on her own. In The Devil's Poetry she generally had the Order around her, a team of highly skilled operatives protecting and directing her in the way she needed to go. In On Holy Ground she's cut off, isolated and on the run and she's bloody brilliant! The 'chase' sequences are well written, dramatic and exciting and have the feel of a action movie to them as she changes disguises and tries to stay one step ahead of her pursuers. It's also very hard for her and me as the reader to be sure of who she can trust, as every one has their own agenda. Despite this, it is nice to see Callie keep acknowledging the help she is receiving, whether from strangers or her support network back home, and that wherever she is, knows that she is never completely alone.

There is no way on this god given earth that I can give this book anything less than a 5/5, it ramps up the action and drama in comparison to the first book, gives us more detail of the world of which its set within and allows the reader to interact with some morally complex characters. I must say that if you haven't read the first book of the series but want to read this one, definitely take the time to read the first book first, it makes a difference.

Book Information

Title: On Holy Ground (The Devil’s Poetry #2)

Author: Louise Cole

Release Date: 14^th April 2018

Genre: YA Thriller

Publisher: Valkyrie Books

Format: Ebook & Paperback

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38721327-on-holy-ground

Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Holy-Ground-Devils-Poetry-Book-ebook/dp/B07C1XVTXD

Author Information

Louise Cole has spent her life reading and writing. And very occasionally gardening. Sometimes she reads as she gardens. She can be seen walking her dogs around North Yorkshire - she's the one with a couple of cocker spaniels and a Kindle. She read English at Oxford - read being the operative word - and hasn't stopped reading since.

In her day-job she is an award-winning journalist, a former business magazine editor and director of a media agency. She writes about business but mainly the business of moving things around: transport, logistics, trucks, ships, and people.

Her fiction includes short stories, young adult thrillers, and other stuff which is still cooking.

Her YA and kids’ fiction is represented by Greenhouse Literary Agency and she is also published on Amazon as one of the Marisa Hayworth triumvirate.

Don't forget to check out the other blog posts on this blog tour.