Book Release Announcement | Omega City by Diana Peterfreund

  

Coming this April 28th, Diana’s first book for readers eight and up is a thrilling adventure story, perfect for people who like their books with a side of rocketships and hidden treasure. Find out what secrets are hidden beneath the Maryland countryside in...

Omega City

Gillian Seagret doesn’t listen to people who say her father’s a crackpot. His conspiracy theories about the lost technology of Cold War-era rocket scientist Dr. Aloysius Underberg may have cost him his job and forced the family to move to a cottage in the sticks, but Gillian knows he’s right, and plans to prove it. When she discovers a missing page from Dr. Unerberg’s diary in her father’s mess of an office, she thinks she’s found a big piece of the puzzle–a space-themed riddle promising to lead to Dr. Underberg’s greatest invention. Enlisting the help of her skeptical younger brother, Eric, her best friend, Savannah, and Howard, their NASA-obsessed schoolmate, Gillian sets off into the ruins of a vast doomsday bunker, deep within the earth. But they aren’t alone inside its dark and flooded halls. Now Gillian and her friends must race to explore OMEGA CITY and find the answers they need. For while Gillian wants to save her dad’s reputation by bringing Dr. Underberg’s secrets to light, there are others who will stop at nothing to make sure they stay buried...forever.

 

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WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

“With seamless writing, a thrilling plot, lots of engaging science puzzles, and remarkable characterization, Peterfreund's exciting tale keeps the adventure solidly in the foreground. Young readers looking for a page turning quest should get into this planned series on the ground floor." — Booklist *Starred* Review 

"Peterfreund's focus on character development is complemented by the equal attention she gives to the vast underground city itself. Gillian’s instincts to protect her friends and clear her historian father’s tarnished name are admirable, but Peterfreund gives every character the opportunity to grow, revealing themselves for who they really are."— Publishers Weekly

“With nonstop action, sly humor, and nothing short of the end of the world at stake, Omega City is the alpha book in a new series that mashes up mystery, scifi, and action/adventure into a thrilling novel you’ll want to devour in one sitting. I did, and I can’t wait to read what comes next!” — Peter Lerangis, New York Times Bestselling author of the Seven Wonders series

“Peterfreund’s boundless imagination takes on a new and exciting adventure!” – Jessica Day George, New York Times Bestselling author of Tuesdays at the Castle”

“Diana Peterfreund takes us to an underground city that’s utterly mind-blowing, yet disturbingly possible. A knockout of a story that will have readers cheering straight through to the final, shocking, twist.” — #1 New York Times bestselling author Gordon Korman

   

Diana Peterfreund has published ten novels for adults, teens, and kids, including the four-book Secret Society Girl series (Bantam Dell), the “killer unicorn novels” Rampantand Ascendant (Harper Teen), For Darkness Shows the Stars (a post-apocalyptic retelling of Jane Austen’sPersuasion), and Across a Star-Swept Sea (inspired by the classic series The Scarlet Pimpernel). Her newest novel, OMEGA CITY, is a contemporary adventure novel for younger readers set in a secret bunker city somewhere under modern Maryland. Her works have been named to the New York Public Library’s Books for the Teen Age list, the Capitol Choices (metro DC-area) reading list, and the Texas Lonestar List, as well as having been named to Amazon’s Best Books of the Year. In addition, she’s written several critically acclaimed short stories and a variety of non-fiction essays about popular children’s literature. Diana lives outside Washington D.C., with her family.

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This is a post written by Mark My Words Book Publicity. They reached out to me and asked if I wanted to post about Omega City's release on my blog. I am in no way affiliated with this book, author, or publicity company. See my Disclosure Policy for more information. 

   

Book Review | The Martian by Andy Weir

The Martian by Andy Weir
Published by Crown Publishing on February 11, 2014
Genres: Adult, Science Fiction, Survival
Pages: 369
Format: Paperback
Source: Giveaway
Goodreads: ★★★★

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him & forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded & completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—& even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—& a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

REVIEW

I was beyond excited when a won a giveaway for a copy of The Martian by Andy Weir. This science fiction novel has quickly been gaining recognition and gathering hype in the book community. If you haven't heard of it yet, you will soon. A movie starring Matt Damon is set to be released in November of this year. I knew I had to read this as soon as possible to avoid spoilers, and to be prepared for the film adaptation's release. 

First of all, how awesome is the premise of this book? Astronaut Mark Watney is stranded on Mars. Everyone thinks he's dead, he has no contact with Earth, and he has to figure out if there is any way possible to survive on the red planet. I was instantly sucked into this survival story, and truly amazed at Watney's ability to stay calm under dire circumstances. Plus, the guy is extremely hilarious and a lovable character. I was rooting for him from page one. Suffice it to say The Martian is an inventive and captivating story.

The writing style, however, was a bit too inventive for me. Much of the book is written by Watney in log entries detailing his days and his plans. The book starts out this way, and suddenly after fifty pages, the reader is provided with a third person narrative overlooking NASA and how they discover Watney is still alive. This jump was a bit surprising, but quite manageable. Then, things get even more unique – there are random passages that don't fit with either point-of-view. They are thrown in sporadically, and as a reader it was jarring to the cadence of the book. At times, I had to reread passages to even understand their purpose. While I can see how this experimental writing could work for some readers, I was not a fan of the passages that didn't fit within the book's writing pattern. 

In the same way, the pacing of The Martian was a bit off for me as well. At first, readers follow Watney at a steady pace. Then, all of a sudden, the story has skipped forward 150 Sols (Martian days). It was almost as if a huge chunk of the story was edited out so the publisher could shorten the book. The author does explain this time jump through Watney's log entries, but it took a bit of credibility away from the story for me – are we supposed to believe that Watney just doesn't log anything for half a year when he wrote regularly before? 

My last critique is difficult for me to even believe – I got bored. Yeah, Watney was stranded on Mars figuring out how to live and I got bored! Somewhere around the 250 page mark I was wishing the story would pick up again. I'm not sure how this happened, but for some reason the action died down in the middle. Luckily, the ending started picking up, and I raced through the last hundred pages. 

Putting those gripes aside, The Martian really is a remarkable novel. It sparks a great discussion on how far humans will go to remain alive even when things look hopeless, and how the cost of one human life is truly priceless. I loved the sappy moments throughout the story to show Watney's emotional struggle that he often tries to hide in his log entries. I also thought the ending was perfect, but you'll have to read it to see if you agree. 

In the end, I do highly recommend The Martian. Don't be afraid to pick this up if you're not a science fiction fan. I know absolutely nothing about science and found the story easy to follow even with all the technical jargon involved. In fact, I felt as if I was learning a lot while reading an entertaining book – that's a win-win right there. I look forward to more work by Weir in the future (another Watney novel would be great!). 

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Book Review | Shutter by Courtney Alameda

Shutter (Shutter #1) by Courtney Alameda
Published by Feiwel & Friends on February 3, 2015
Genres: Young Adult, Horror, Paranormal
Pages: 384
Format: Hardcover
Source: Goodreads Giveaway
Goodreads: ★★★★ 1/2

Horror has a new name: introducing Courtney Alameda.

Micheline Helsing is a tetrachromat—a girl who sees the auras of the undead in a prismatic spectrum. As one of the last descendants of the Van Helsing lineage, she has trained since childhood to destroy monsters both corporeal and spiritual: the corporeal undead go down by the bullet, the spiritual undead by the lens. With an analog SLR camera as her best weapon, Micheline exorcises ghosts by capturing their spiritual energy on film. She's aided by her crew: Oliver, a techno-whiz and the boy who developed her camera's technology; Jude, who can predict death; and Ryder, the boy Micheline has known and loved forever.

When a routine ghost hunt goes awry, Micheline and the boys are infected with a curse known as a soulchain. As the ghostly chains spread through their bodies, Micheline learns that if she doesn't exorcise her entity in seven days or less, she and her friends will die. Now pursued as a renegade agent by her monster-hunting father, Leonard Helsing, she must track and destroy an entity more powerful than anything she's faced before . . . or die trying.

Lock, stock, and lens, she’s in for one hell of a week.

REVIEW

If you are a lover of young adult paranormal, run to the nearest bookstore and pick up Shutter. This horror novel is the first in a new series by Courtney Alameda, and features a great cast of characters as they go on an epic adventure to kill the ghost who has infected their bodies and is literally killing them from the inside out. I raced through this novel, and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a dark and thrilling tale. 

My favorite thing about Shutter is Alameda's writing style. She is able to create a dark aura surrounding her words that evokes a real sense of eeriness for the reader. The tone reminded me a bit of the Blood of Eden Series by Julie Kagawa, though the stories are quite different, of course. 

Alameda also excels in character development. Shutter has four main characters – our narrator is Micheline Helsing, a descendant of Van Helsing who is trained to hunt the undead. Her reaping team is made up of three young men, Ryder, Jude, and Oliver, who each have a distinct personality. These four characters work so well together, and each is likable both individually and as a team unit. 

My critiques of the novel are very few, and they are quite trivial. First, there are a few instances in the novel where traditional gender roles are accepted. However, these moments are fleeting one-liners, and probably only stick out to someone like me who is keenly aware of gender relations in all that I read. I also found the beginning of the novel to be a bit complicated, as the world building threw a lot of vocabulary and technology my way all at once. Luckily, as the novel progressed, I quickly grew to understand the world. 

Other than those small issues, I loved everything about Shutter, and I cannot wait for the next book in the series to be released. Whether you love ghost stories, or perhaps you're looking to break into the young adult horror genre, I highly recommend Shutter. It's a dynamic read that is sure to keep you turning pages to the very end. 

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Book Review | Beyond Orange County: A Housewives Guide to Faith and Happiness by Lydia McLaughlin

Beyond Orange County: A Housewives Guide to Faith and Happiness by Lydia McLaughlin
Published by Worthy Publishing on March 31, 2015
Genres: Nonfiction, Religion, Christian
Pages: 208
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Goodreads: ★★★

When Lydia McLaughlin made the controversial choice to walk away from her popular role on The Real Housewives of Orange County, she had two good reasons: faith and family 

In Beyond Orange County, Lydia writes about the strength and grace it takes for each of us to choose a life of purpose. She also shares behind-the-scenes insights from Hollywood, lessons she has learned both on and off the screen, and what her life looks like now that she's following God on His next adventure for her. Most importantly, she inspires us to examine our own lives and live out boldly the unique calling God has for each of us.

REVIEW

As someone who was once fully addicted to all things Bravo, I knew I had to request Beyond Orange County as soon as I saw it on NetGalley. I really enjoyed Lydia's "character" on The Real Housewives of Orange County. Her personality is refreshing and uplifting, and even though I'm not a Christian, I was interested to read her book. Now, before I jump into my review I want to mention that this is not a memoir, and it's not a book for someone simply looking for juice on the Housewives. Beyond Orange County, as the title suggests, is a guide to Christian faith aimed at married women. Thus, I recommend it for those wanting to learn more about Christianity, especially women in Bible study. 

Beyond Orange County is a good book if you are looking to become a Christian, or if you are hoping to strengthen your faith. As someone who is not Christian, I still enjoyed learning about Lydia's spiritual journey, and I liked how she included personal stories along the way to illustrate how God fits into her life. Beyond Orange County includes several Bible passages throughout the book, and I found these to be well researched as they fit well into each chapter's theme. I also thought it was great that each chapter concludes with a discussion guide featuring questions that can be used for self reflection or group discussion. It's a practical book to keep on hand if you need some guidance with your Christian faith. 

My main issue with Beyond Orange County, however, was the treatment of women in relation to their husbands. In Chapter 8 entitled "Love, Love, Love," Lydia discusses the love she has with her husband. I was quite disturbed when she recounts the time directly following the birth of her first baby with her husband, Doug. Lydia mentions she did not feel ready to be intimate with her husband again, but her doctor encouraged her to do so because, "You are first and foremost his bride, and then you're a mother." Not only was I shocked that a doctor would tell a patient how to act in her martial relationship, but the fact that Lydia was seen as property to her husband and is there to please him is unacceptable to me. This theme of women being beneath men circulated a few times throughout Beyond Orange County, and was very disappointing to read. 

Moreover, the writing style in Beyond Orange County was a bit weak. I never expect much from celebrity books, but there were several grammatical errors, and some of the sentence structures were quite awkward. I did receive this book from NetGalley, so I'm hopeful some of these issues were edited out in the final edition. I did take the grammatical errors into consideration when rating the book, but they did not weigh too heavily on my three star rating due to this being an eARC.

Overall, I'm glad I had the opportunity to review Beyond Orange County. At just over 200 pages, this is a quick read and I think any reader can get something out of it whether or not she is a Christian. However, I do recommend this for the suggested audience, as it truly is a guidebook for Christian housewives. With Mother's Day coming up soon, this might be the perfect gift! 

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Book Review | This Side of Home by Renée Watson

This Side of Home by Renée Watson
Published by Bloomsbury USA Childrens on February 3, 2015
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary
Pages: 336
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Goodreads: ★★★★ 1/2

Identical twins Nikki and Maya have been on the same page for everything—friends, school, boys and starting off their adult lives at a historically African-American college. But as their neighborhood goes from rough-and-tumble to up-and-coming, suddenly filled with pretty coffee shops and boutiques, Nikki is thrilled while Maya feels like their home is slipping away. Suddenly, the sisters who had always shared everything must confront their dissenting feelings on the importance of their ethnic and cultural identities and, in the process, learn to separate themselves from the long shadow of their identity as twins.

In her inspired YA debut, Renée Watson explores the experience of young African-American women navigating the traditions and expectations of their culture.

REVIEW

I've been on such a YA contemporary kick lately, and This Side of Home is a great addition to the list. The story chronicles the life of twins Nikki and Maya as they finish up their last year of high school. Maya is our first-person narrator, and lets readers into her life in Portland, Oregon. The neighborhood in which she grew up is changing – new businesses are popping up everywhere, new families are moving in across the street, and Maya feels as if her culture and friends are being forced to leave. This Side of Home is the perfect combination of a contemporary YA story and a discussion on race relations. 

As Maya and Nikki take on their senior year of high school, they go through numerous struggles both at home and school. Nikki refuses to attend her best friend's birthday party because she is afraid the guests will call her "white" due to her straight hair and love for vintage clothes. Maya, on the other hand, is the student body president at Richmond, her notoriously dangerous high school. Maya takes on her new principal as he tries to focus on diversity, and not on the black history that Maya craves to feature at school events.

While This Side of Home takes on a variety of serious issues, it is also a quick read that I flew through in just a few hours. I grew to love the characters, and I loved the balance between a realistic teenage love story, and the fight to overcome racism in a public high school. I was thoroughly impressed with the writing in This Side of Home, as it flowed easily and was at a steady pace throughout. If this is what a debut novel from author Renée Watson looks like, I'm excited to see what comes next!

At a time when the We Need Diverse Books campaign is at the forefront of readers' minds, This Side of Home begins many important conversations. I was truly impressed with Watson's ability to write characters that battle with the same struggles that we as readers have. There are no right answers to these questions, but This Side of Home helps us to open up and become comfortable with discussing these issues. I recommend it for all readers of contemporary young adult, and those craving a diverse book. This Side of Home is a refreshing and thought-provoking read. 

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