Blog Tour: Reign of Serpents by Eleanor Herman

Title: Reign of Serpents

Author: Eleanor Herman

Series: Blood of Gods and Royals #3

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Publication Date: June 27, 2017

Source: Publisher

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I don't know about you guys, but I am totally stoked for Reign of Serpents by Eleanor Herman!  I have read all of the books (except for the latest novella and Reign of Serpents) and have enjoyed each one of them.  In case you missed them you can find my review for Legacy of Kings HERE, Empire of Dust HERE, and for Voice of Gods HERE.

However, today I am not here to share with you my review of this book.  I am actually here because I had the pleasure of asking Eleanor Herman some questions and she answered!  Talk about a fan girl moment when I received this opportunity!

So without further ado I give you my Q&A with Eleanor Herman!

1) What inspired you to write the Blood of Gods and Royals series?

No one had written YA novels on Alexander the Great. And because so little is known of his teen years, that gave my imagination a lot of room!

2) What is your all-time favorite point of time in history?

The ancient Mediterranean world fascinates me. It was a sophisticated world, with gorgeous buildings, well-built roads, a great deal of shipping and trade, fine artwork and jewelry-making, entertainment, and literature. And people bathed frequently, unlike in later centuries where they thought bathing would kill them and must have stunk to high heaven. I am a great fan of bathing.

3) You have traveled a lot for research, which place has been your favorite so far?

I absolutely adore Italy. It’s a giant layer-cake of civilizations, one smack on top of the other. People live in houses eight hundred years old, and in the basement are ancient tombs and temples. But I also love Greece, Lebanon, and Jordan. When I go to places this old, I have the strange feeling that I am absorbing energy from all the people who have ever been there. I get an odd buzzing sensation that makes me dizzy. And happy. I can just touch an ancient wall, and thousands of human stories flow through me, connecting me to the story of all mankind.

4). There is a lot of magic in the Blood of Gods and Royals series, how/where/why did that come about? 

Magic was very real to all ancient societies and still is to many tribal ones thriving today. I have spent time in African villages learning about it, and believe me, things happen there that our Western minds have a hard time understanding. In order to write about my characters’ experiences with Snake Blood and Earth Blood, I drew on the connection I think we all have with other life forms and the earth itself. As Kat says when she becomes the whale in Reign of Serpents, We are one. I believe this is true, and that is the real magic.

5) Who is your favorite of your characters?

That is like asking a mother of many children which is her favorite child. While I love all my characters, I have a particular fondness for the bad girl, Cynane. I love her defiant pain at being female in a man’s world. I love her fierce strength. I especially enjoyed writing the scenes in Reign of Serpents where she has married the crazy king and trying to keep him happy while plotting to kill him.

6) Who is your favorite author?

Clearly, J.K. Rowling! I also love the ancient Roman murder mystery series of Marcus Didius Falco by Lindsay Davis. Action-packed, very funny at times, and you feel that you have been there.

7) Which book in the series has been the hardest for you to write? Why?

The first book in the series, Legacy of Kings, was hardest to write for two reasons. It was my first novel, and I learned that writing fiction is much more complex than writing non-fiction, which is simply stringing facts together in an engaging way. Also, I had to learn who my many characters were, how their personalities differed. It took some time for them to really talk to me, to take over their chapters. I had a much easier time in Empire of Dust and Reign of Serpents. Now I am writing the fourth and final in the series: Dawn of Heroes. The challenge here is to show how they have grown and changed over the course of the series. They started off as kids. Now, though it’s only a year later, they are wiser and more experienced. They are adults.

8) What are your plans for after Reign of Serpents?

I have all kinds of ideas! Historical fiction, naturally! And I just finished a non-fiction book called The Royal Art of Poison, which looks at poisonings at royal courts centuries ago. That was a load of fun to research and write. I will come out in May 2018.

Blog Tour: That Crazy Perfect Someday by Michael Mazza

Title: That Crazy Perfect Someday

Author: Michael Mazza

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Turtle Point Press

Publication Date: June 20, 2017

Source: Irish Banana Blog Tours/Publisher

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I think that That Crazy Perfect Someday may be my second book that I have ever read that is about surfing.  I'm not a surfer, I have never even tried it, so I'm not too surprised about this.

Thanks to this book though, I wouldn't mind going out into the ocean.  It made it sound pretty good.  Too bad I am not into the outdoors and I am too much of a chicken to try.

But anyways...

That Crazy Perfect Someday is about Mafuri Long, a surfer girl who is some where between the ages of 20 and 30 as far as I could tell.  She holds fame in the world for riding a record breaking wave.  She is currently training for the upcoming Olympic Games.  Her father is a depressed and troubled veteran and he mother passed away some time before this book began from cancer.

In short, this book is more or less about Mafuri Longs life and the things that happen in the course of time that this book is talking about.  She is trying to help her father and keep him safe from himself while training hard for the Olympics.  She wants gold.  Like really wants it.  It would be a life defining thing for her.  Not much else matters.  She needs to show the world she wasn't just that wave.

So we travel through her life with her on her way to the Olympic Games.  And a lot of stuff happens.

So That Crazy Perfect Someday is technically set in the future, but not a very far off future.  The year for the book is 2024.  The world is essentially in a predicted state from where we are now.  Some advances in technology and medicine - nothing to crazy from what we currently have.  Drones in the air, cars that can drive themselves, etc.  And the global warming has hit which has messed with the weather patterns and what not making them totally unpredictable.  Is this why surfing is such a huge deal for Mafuri's world?  I don't know, but it does seem to be the end all sport of the Olympics (is it a huge sport in the Olympics now?)

And of course this book talks a lot about surfing.  There were definitely times I felt like I was out in the ocean along with Mafuri.  Feeling the water on my skin and the sun beating down on me.

Character development wise, I did feel like there were a few bumps.  There were times when I was really feeling Mafuri, and there were other times where I just was not.  I would occasionally lose a bit of that feeling where she could be real, but it would come back.  Or there were cases where other characters had vindictive attitudes and I didn't really feel their actions were quite on the mark for what was going on.  I also wanted to feel more connections between the characters than I got, but part of that may just have been Mafuri's character (which we do see grow thankfully).

Also, there is some language use in the book, and it did throw me.  Mafuri, the narrator, tended to not swear and use words such as "effing" and other softer terms for the harsher ones.  But when other characters would swear, the harsher terms were used.  It isn't a huge thing, but I found myself noticing it and to me it felt a bit weird.  At first I thought Mazza was trying to not use swear words, but then they were there...and it just a tiny hiccup in the flow for me.

I will say this though, probably by the time I was 25% into the book I didn't want to put it down.  I wanted to be there on that beach with Mafuri.  I wanted to be surfing with her.  I wanted to see what was going to happen next to her.  Would she kiss that guy?  What was she going to do about this new situation she found herself in?  What was the heck was that person thinking?  I wanted to know.  And when I found myself at the end, I felt like I had made the journey with Mafuri.  And I enjoyed it a lot.

I look forward to reading more of Michael Mazza's work.

My Rating

4 Stars

This review is based on a copy provided by the publisher through Irish Banana Blog Tours in exchange for a fair and honest review.  All thoughts and opinions are mine and mine alone.

My apologies if this review seems a bit rambly.  I wrote it much later in the night than I should have.  Yay for having a toddler.  Feel free to contact me on twitter or to use the comments section to discuss anything about this book further!

Follow the Rest of the Tour!

Tour Schedule:

6/19: Never Too Many To Read: Photo Collage

6/20: The Story Sanctuary: Guest Post

6/21: Here's to Happy Endings: Q&A 

6/22: Reading Is Better With Cupcakes: Review

6/23: Quarzfeather: Review

Book Blitz: The Strange Case of the Alchemists Daughter by Theodora Goss

Title: The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter

Author: Theodora Goss

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Saga Press

Publication Date: June 20, 2017

Source: Publisher

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

I just wanted to give a quick shout out to The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter by Theodora Goss.  I personally think the blurb sounds crazy interesting, and thought I would share it's existence with you.  

You can actually expect to see a review of this book up on the blog within the next few weeks!  I'm pretty excited to read it!

Here is a little about the book:

ABOUT THE STRANGE CASE OF THE ALCHEMIST'S DAUGHTER:

How do I explain how amazing this book is? TSCotAD features found families, monster girls, snarky meta, and Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson all wrapped up in an incredible Victorian Era bow. Brianna took this book to London with her and devoured it. Hopefully you’ll love it just as much as she does!

Based on some of literature’s horror and science fiction classics, this is the story of a remarkable group of women who come together to solve the mystery of a series of gruesome murders—and the bigger mystery of their own origins.

Mary Jekyll, alone and penniless following her parents’ death, is curious about the secrets of her father’s mysterious past. One clue in particular hints that Edward Hyde, her father’s former friend and a murderer, may be nearby, and there is a reward for information leading to his capture…a reward that would solve all of her immediate financial woes.

But her hunt leads her to Hyde’s daughter, Diana, a feral child left to be raised by nuns. With the assistance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, Mary continues her search for the elusive Hyde, and soon befriends more women, all of whom have been created through terrifying experimentation: Beatrice Rappaccini, Catherin Moreau, and Justine Frankenstein.

When their investigations lead them to the discovery of a secret society of immoral and power-crazed scientists, the horrors of their past return. Now it is up to the monsters to finally triumph over the monstrous. 

Review: Roadfood by Jane and Michael Stern

Title: Roadfood

Author: Jane and Michael Stern

Series: Roadfood: The Coast-To-Coast Guide to the Best Barbecue Join

Publisher: Clarkson Potter 

Publication Date: March 7, 2017 (10th edition)

Source: Blogging for Books

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Who doesn't love food?  I know I do.  A lot.  So I saw this book up on Blogging for Books and knew I needed to get it.  I really enjoy watching all of those food shows where the guys travel around and try food at various places local to wherever, so I figured a book that can tell you where some of the really good eats are would be cool to have.

This book starts out with the East Coast and works its way West.  Which probably isn't a problem for a lot of people, but I live way out on the West Coast and had to go find California way in the back of the book to see if it had anything near me (it does).  Each section has a map of the state and then each town that has a restaurant(s) listed is on the map.  Then from there, every restaurant in that town is listed.  Then each section actually has the restaurants listed with their phone numbers, address, if they serve breakfast/lunch/dinner, a price point guide, and a blurb about their atmosphere and food.  The restaurants are arranged alphabetically, not by city.

All in all, this is a pretty cool book.  There are a few restaurants that aren't too far away or in areas I may find myself in from time to time that I wouldn't mind trying out.  The sad part is that there are some states with very few things listed, or large portions of a state that don't have anything at all.  I don't know if it this is because there was nothing worth mentioning for those areas or something else.  This will definitely help when exploring the United States though!

My Rating

4 Stars

This review is based on a copy provided by Blogging for Books in exchange for a fair and honest review.  All thoughts and opinions are mine and mine alone.

Review: Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Title: Dark Matter

Author: Blake Crouch

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Broadway Books

Publication Date: May 2, 2017

Source: Blogging for Books

Dark Matter...Dark Matter...what can I say about this book?

I guess I can say quite a few things, but first I should probably give you a quick overview of what this book is about.

In this book our main character, Jason Dessen, find himself waking up in a world that isn't his.  It isn't his life.  His family never existed.  His career took off in a way it never had.  And everything is...just different.  Is he going crazy?  Which life is the real one?

Jason Dessen is hell bent on figuring this out and finding his way back to the life he believes is rightfully his.

That is Dark Matter if a really quick nutshell.

This book is based on the multiverse theory.  A pretty insane theory to talk about.  I won't bore you on what this is here in this post.  Dark Matter actually does a pretty good job explaining it.  Much better than I ever could, that is for sure.

Now, I am going to be totally honest with you here.  I felt like something was wrong with me the majority of the time I was reading this book.  I had quickly read other reviews and I knew that this book had a pretty high rating over on Goodreads, so I was really excited to read it.  And then I started reading it.  And you know what?  I was kind of bored!  The writing was fine and everything, but I found this book so freaking predictable!  And with it being predictable, I found it hard to get myself to want to pick the book back up after taking a break.  I wanted more "thrill" and "suspense" than this book provided me.  I was really rather let down.

What this book did do for me though was make me thing.  However, this really didn't start happening towards the end of the book.  Everything that goes on in Dark Matter kind of culminated for me and really started to make me think and kind of look at the world a little bit differently.  So I do give this that.

So while I found the plot predictable, Dark Matter still caused me to think and look at life and the world around me in a different way....and I appreciate that!

My Rating

3.5 Stars

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

This review is based on a copy provided by Blogging for Books in exchange for a fair and honest review.  All thoughts and opinions are mine and mine alone.