Review: Luminaire by Ciye Cho

Release Date: December 1st, 2012
Self-Published

Being the only human in a world of merfolk... isn't easy. Florence Waverley chose to stay in Niemela, but things have gone awry. Secrets have risen and the prince she cares about has pulled away. All the while, dark dreams warn her of a tragedy that only she can stop. But in order to save the merman she loves, Florence will have to enter the Life Path tournament: a brutal test of fear and madness.

The tournament is a rite of passage--a maze where young mermaids and mermen battle to find their purpose. It is also a place where Florence will face grave danger: mermaids with evil magic, tunnels filled with sea fire, and guardians who wish to use her as a pawn in their secret plans. But will Florence be strong enough to survive the tournament... or will she perish inside it?

Everything hangs in the balance: her life, her world, and her love

So bright, lively and full of colors; these words describe Florence's sequel! Luminaire is exactly what a second book in a series should be: just as good as the first one, or even better. Ciye has a way with words that can help you picture everything in great detail and the story has an interesting pace.

The story is really captivating. I was expecting a more romantic novel but the author makes things interesting. Roman, completely unexpectedly, changes his behaviour towards Florence. But the best part for me in this novel was the tournament. I was pleasantly surprised that Florence wanted to participate and I loved hers and Yolee's friendship. But the tournament and the consequent surprising ending was a highlight in Luminaire.

Therefore I also have to comment on Florence's development as a character. She decided to stay and fight for her right to live in Niemela even though (almost) no one wants her there. I really enjoyed her strength. Roman was a bit absent in this novel but I really enjoyed the ending, but I'm not going to spoil it for you guys! I think it was a pleasant change that the romance wasn't as perfect as I expected it to be. Furthermore I love the new characters Wynn and Marilenna. They complemented the story really well.

Hopefully there will be a third installment to this wonderful series and then I would love to have more of the new characters and to find out what Kiren has been doing this whole time! I really can't wait to read more from this amazing author.

 Thanks to the author for providing me with a copy of the novel for review!

Ciye Cho lives in Australia and works as a graphic designer. He writes YA novels in his free time--and his head is often lost in the clouds or some place far from reality... Website

Fang Girl Promo Blitz & Giveaway

Fang Girl by Helen Keeble - September 11th 2012 / HarperTeen

Things That Are Destroying Jane Greene’s Undead Social Life Before It Can Even Begin:

1) A twelve-year-old brother who’s convinced she’s a zombie.
2) Parents who are begging her to turn them into vampires.
3) The pet goldfish she accidentally turns instead.
4) Weird superpowers that let her rip the heads off of every other vampire she meets.(Sounds cool, but it doesn’t win you many friends.)
5) A pyschotic vampire creator who’s using her to carry out a plan for world domination.
And finally:
6) A seriously ripped vampire hunter who either wants to stake her or make out with her. Not sure which.

Being an undead, eternally pasty fifteen-year-old isn’t quite the sexy, brooding, angst-fest Jane always imagined....

Helen Keeble’s riotous debut novel combines the humor of Vladimir Tod with Ally Carter’s spot-on teen voice. With a one-of-a-kind vampire mythology and an irresistibly relatable undead heroine, this uproarious page-turner will leave readers bloodthirsty for more.

Purchase:  

Amazon / Barnes & Noble / The Book Depository

Extract from FANG GIRL by Helen Keeble

 In which Our Heroine, Xanthe Jane Greene (unexpectedly undead vampire fangirl) wakes up back home…

I woke up in pitch blackness, lying on my back and utterly convinced that I was still six feet underground in my coffin and had hallucinated the entire previous night due to oxygen deprivation.

“Aaaaaaaaaugh!”

I flailed for a moment before my brain kicked in with three simple observations: first, I was wrapped in a fluffy fleece blanket that certainly had not been included in my grave goods; second, I’d just sat up, which I wouldn’t have been able to do in a coffin; and finally, the air reeked of hay.

The first two let me deduce that I was not, in fact, buried alive. The third made my brain stall.

A knock came from the other side of the—door? wall?—to my left. “Janie?” Zack called. “Are you alive again?”

“Yeah.” I struggled out of the clinging blanket, banging my elbows against the walls on each side in the process. Something light and metallic clinked against the top of my head when I tried to stand up, making me duck again. I reached up and found—coat hangers? “You guys put me in a closet?”

“Well, it’s not like we have a convenient crypt, you know. It was the only place we could think of where you would be totally out of the sun.” He paused. “Um, by the way, you haven’t gone insane with bloodlust, have you?”

“Uh . . .” Actually, I was feeling rather light-headed. My stomach was one big, growling void. “Give me a minute here, okay?” I closed my eyes, trying to make the hunger go away. It was only a signal from my body, that’s all. . . . I could tune it out.

Warmth spread outward from my chest and down into my stomach. The cramping ebbed away. I opened my eyes. “I’m fine now.” I pushed at the closet door; it flexed, but didn’t open. “Hey, what’s up with this?”

“Oh, we duct-taped you in,” Zack said cheerfully. “To make sure all the light was blocked out. Hang on.”

Something sneezed on my foot.

“There’ssomethingaliveinhere,” I observed with all possible calm and flung myself forward shoulder-first with full vampiric strength. Plywood burst under the impact, sending me sprawling onto the horrible floral-patterned carpet in my parents’ bedroom.

“Yes,” said Zack. He was wearing pajamas, with a long strip of tape stuck to one leg. “That would be toast.”

“Toast,” I repeated. “Sneezing toast.”

“Not toast, Toast!” He ducked into the closet, and reemerged clutching a large, wire cage. “I named her myself. Isn’t she the greatest?”

I got to my feet, gathering up the shredded remains of my dignity, and peered through the bars. A fuzzy brown-and-white ball of fur looked back at me with round, black eyes. Its pink velvet ears quivered. “It’s a guinea pig,” I concluded in the face of the evidence before me. Well, that explained why the closet had smelled of hay. “Zack, why is it a guinea pig?”

“Dad got her for you.” Zack gazed fondly down at the little fluffball. “I guess if you aren’t going to eat her, I can keep her!”

I rubbed at my forehead. It was way too early in the night for this conversation, and the terrible clashing colors of the room decor were giving me a migraine. “Dad got me a . . . guinea pig?”

“For breakfast,” Zack said. “That’s why I named her Toast. You aren’t going to eat her, are you?”

“No!”

“Woot!” Zack hugged the cage to his chest, carrying it off in the direction of his bedroom. “I hope you don’t want to eat Marmalade or Sugar Puff either!”

Giveaway (INTERNATIONAL!)

The prize pack includes:

- one signed copy of Fang Girl (can be personalised)
- a voucher for an ARC of Helen's next book NO ANGEL as soon as they are available (likely to be Spring/Summer 2013)
- a cheerful vampire goldfish paperclip
- Fang Girl stickers featuring the cover and quotes from the book

a Rafflecopter giveaway