Review ~ Fallen (After #1) by Traci L. Slatton

Paperback received from the author in exchange for an honest review

Release Date: 12th July 2011

Publisher: Parvati Press

Description:

As chaos descends on a crippled Earth, survivors are tormented by strange psychic gifts. In this time of apocalyptic despair, love is put to the test. One woman with mysterious healing power guides eight children to safety. Charismatic Arthur offers her a haven. Slowly Emma falls for him. But at the moment of their sweetest love, his devastating secret is revealed, and they are lost to each other.

My Opinion

It was the premise that caught my attention with this book. I liked the idea of the Mist as it wasn't going to be the standard paranormal novel. It also had strange powers, the promise of romance and a dystopian theme so obviously it sounded like my kind of book. However, having finished the book I feel a little let down as the book didn't live up to what I thought it would be.

The book started off really well and did catch my attention. It set everything up nicely and portrayed Emma as a strong determined female lead. It was also tense and introduced the subject of the Mist well. It showed how deadly it was and it also hit upon a mother's love for their child. However I felt that as the book went on this atmosphere was lost. Emma stayed strong throughout though which was good but I couldn't connect with her. I wanted more thoughts, to see inside her mind and get her opinion, especially as this book is written in 1st person.

For me there was just too much text and not enough speech - and the speech that was there felt very stiff. It made the book very slow to read and dense so I found myself skimming sections, especially nearer the end. I felt that there was a lot of unnecessary description that didn't really add anything to the story and there were parts that were underdeveloped which I wanted to know more about. For example the whole paranormal aspect is never really explained very well. We get a little idea about the mist but have to wait until the penultimate chapter for it to be revealed, which was frustrating. Also the abilities created by the mist weren't really developed well for me. Emma had a healing ability but I didn't understand how it worked and why she couldn't heal herself or certain condition and I wasn't keen that the author made the character unwilling to learn as for me it felt like an easy way of not having to come up with the back story. I wanted to know the limits of the ability, how they were created and what triggered it. It needed to be more developed. 

As well as this I didn't really understand the setting.  I think it was in Paris (can't be sure though). Slatton created such a diverse range of nationalities in her cast of characters that it became slightly unrealistic as it just didn't seem to fit with the location. It was hard to keep up with who was who and then it led to questions to why were they in Paris to begin with when the Mist hit - something that wasn't really explained.

My biggest issue with the book though was the relationship. The description implies a "sweet" romance but it just felt wrong to me. The first time Arthur appears, Emma basically gets him to look after her and the children by offering sex. After that Arthur seemed to force himself upon Emma and she some how went from being reluctant to pleased by it within a matter of seconds. It was unrealistic and kind of creepy. I couldn't see how she would fall for him after stuff like that and it didn't make him likable. 

Overall, although there is something I can't put my finger on that kept me reading. However, Fallen was just too slow for me to engage with it. For me it needed to be broken up a lot more with speech or shorter sentences to change the pace every now and then. It also needed more development in terms of the paranormal aspect. The premise has potential and I think with work it could be an interesting book however for me I feel slightly indifferent and that it was just an average read right now.

Review ~ Icons (Icons #1) - Margaret Stohl

Paperback received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Release Date: 7th May 2013

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Description:
Your heart beats only with their permission.

Everything changed on The Day. The day the windows shattered. The day the power stopped. The day Dol′s family dropped dead. The day Earth lost a war it didn′t know it was fighting.

Since then, Dol has lived a simple life in the countryside - safe from the shadow of the Icon and its terrifying power. Hiding from the one truth she can′t avoid.

She′s different. She survived. Why?

When Dol and her best friend, Ro, are captured and taken to the Embassy, off the coast of the sprawling metropolis once known as the City of Angels, they find only more questions. While Ro and fellow hostage Tima rage against their captors, Dol finds herself drawn to Lucas, the Ambassador′s privileged son. But the four teens are more alike than they might think, and the timing of their meeting isn′t a coincidence. It′s a conspiracy.

Within the Icon′s reach, Dol, Ro, Tima, and Lucas discover that their uncontrollable emotions - which they′ve always thought to be their greatest weaknesses - may actually be their greatest strengths.

Bestselling author Margaret Stohl delivers the first book in a heart-pounding series set in a haunting new world where four teens must piece together the mysteries of their pasts - in order to save the future.

My Opinion

I was really excited to read this book and was so happy when it came in the post. I must say though, Icons has really split my opinion in terms of what I think of it. I just cant decide how I feel. On one hand it was an enjoyable read that had good moments and on the other hand there were things that I just didn't get.

OK, so the good points and things I liked. First I liked the concept and idea of the Icon Children. I thought it differed the novel from other dystopian where by the population is just repressed and it's up to normal humans to stop it. It reminded me a bit of Partials by Dan Wells because of this and the fact people were created to be a sort of 'cure'. I also liked how the author integrated messages, transmissions and extracts from embassy prohibited books at the end of every chapter. They created a nice mystery as they were brief and weren't explained right until the end which I liked.

One thing I found when reading Icons is that is was pretty slow and I couldn't get through more than 50 pages at a time - which is why it has taken me nearly a week to read. The ending was definitely better and the action did pick up slightly but personally it was too late as the book ended as it start to get good in my opinion. I wished the rest of the book had been like the ending as the last 70 pages really hooked me.

The thing that I really didn't like with with book - and I think it may explain the slowness - is that there are a lot of unanswered questions, with a lot of the alien/paranormal stuff lacking detail. I'm still not sure what/who the GAP Miyazawa,  the Lords or the Icons are and I've finished the book! I was reading and was about half way through when names/initialisms started appearing and I got really confused. I thought it must be my memory so I skimmed back to try and find an explanation to who they were but just couldn't. Because of this I felt it very hard to picture anything or engage with the story as I didn't really know what was what.

As well as this I couldn't really engage with the character. Towards the end I did start to engage with Ro more but like with the action I felt it came too late and wished the rest of the book had been like it. Personally I question whether the first two thirds of the book needed to be so long as I don't feel they explained much and parts were slightly boring. I just wish the action started earlier as it could have been really enthralling.

Overall, although it took me a while to read I did enjoy Icons - I just had to read small sections at a time. I do wish there were more explanations but maybe things will be clearer in the sequel? It's an interesting read that presents some new ideas so you may want to check it out.

Thanks to Harper for the copy!

                                  

Guest Post - Gabrielle Arrowsmith

Everyone please give a warm welcome to Gabrielle, who has kindly written a guest post for Lost to Books!

The Draw of Dystopias

Humans often develop the strongest bond with and understanding of one another after sharing prolonged or profound suffering. Pain and sorrow are things that we all must experience at some time in our lives. In a way, we are grateful when we do not have to face them alone. 

As readers, we immerse ourselves into the lives of the characters who live in our cherished books. We come to cherish them. In the dystopian genre in particular, we find ample ground for suffering and fear which our dear ones face. The fear pulls our hearts into theirs and the suffering knots the two together, binding us to the heroes before they emerge. We feel frustrated by the oppression they suffer, we relate to their fears, and we contemplate their choices in the face of adversity. Ultimately, we grow with these characters. Sometimes, we connect so strongly with a character and/or their situation that we find it difficult to let them go after we've finished reading. We're desperate for more because, like the characters, we become the strongest and feel the most fulfilled after we've lived through our weakest moments and conquered anyone who aims to make us feel that way.

I believe dystopian novels will be forever powerful as their relevance to human existence cannot be challenged. 

To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering. 
Friedrich Nietzsche

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/suffer.html#4Wl6iOv3HRzckY5A.99 

Strange how people who suffer together have stronger connections than those who are most content. –Bob Dylan


About the Author

Gabrielle Arrowsmith was born to her loving mother, father, and older brother on August 16th, 1988. She grew up in the small town of Ham Lake, MN enjoying soccer, school, and adventuresome play with her brother and cousins (who were much like siblings).

As she grew older, her desire to write led her to fill many diaries and notebooks with her thoughts, poems, stories, and scripts, some of which were even turned into rudimentary short films. Some of her other adolescent hobbies included reading, playing soccer, acting, and playing piano.

Gabrielle recalls her junior year in high school as the time when she first believed in the worth of her writing. Her AP course that year both challenged and celebrated her craft. Aiming for perfection caused her to slave over her work, but only so much as to allow time for her other college-level courses, soccer, track, National Honor Society, and school plays.

From 2006-2009 she attended the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, MN where she earned a degree in Elementary Education with minors in mathematics and Spanish language. She played collegiate soccer for the Saints, volunteered often, worked two on-campus jobs, and acted in three theater productions.

For the past three years, Gabrielle has taught third through sixth graders in various school settings. The relationships she has formed with her students have been very meaningful. However, after rediscovering her passion for storytelling (through both writing and acting) during the summer of 2012, Gabrielle recently decided to transition to day-to-day substitute teaching in order to pursue both of these creative outlets. She will follow these passions wherever they take her. She also continues to enjoy both playing and coaching soccer.

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