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Jess’ and Kat’s Bout of Books 7.0 Sign Up
It’s that time again ! Bout of Books is one of my favorite read-a-thons and this time I will dominate my goals list, with my new page counting strategy
My Goodreads’currently reading list is getting out of hand, so for this Bout of Books I’ll be finishing up some of my currently reading books. Instead of keeping tally via books I’ll be counting pages.
– Jess
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Strictly Indie : The Crimson Hunt by Victoria H Smith
Books and Sensibility’s month long dedication to indie
It’s hard to be in the YA book blogging world without noticing all the upcoming indie novels and novelists. So, to open myself up to more independent and self published authors, I am going Strictly Indie for the month of May. I will be focusing on reviewing, discussing and posting about indie novels and even have a few guest posts along the way.
- Release Date: November 12th 2012
- Pages: 340 pages
- Genre: Science Fiction Romance
- Price: $3.99 ebook; 13.99 paperback
Synopsis: Ariel
Richmond’s everyday life consists of wrangling in her crazy best
friend, Piper avoiding her enemy Lila Hicks and finding salvation in her art, and the peanut butter brownie at her favorite cafe Demitasse.
But, the day Ariel makes eyes with Luca Grinaldi, murder and death begin to surround her. Ariel soon learns that people aren’t just dying–they are being hunted. And she and Luca’s meeting is a not just a coincidence, but destiny.
I’ve been following the publication of this novel since I happened upon Victoria’s blog for a contest. At the time she was being repped by Curiosity Quills, but deferred to self publish. It’s been interesting reading her blog and seeing the journey she has taken to self publication.
The Crimson Hunt is my first voyage into the New Adult category and I can definitely see the appeal. Being in their early 20’s New Adult characters are slightly more mature than YA characters, but still in the “I’m invincible” stage common to YA. While some Big Six publishers are dipping their toes in to the NA water, indie authors are heading in full force.
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Strictly Indie: Callum and Harper by Fisher Amelie
Books and Sensibility’s month long dedication to indie !
It’s hard to be in the YA book blogging world without noticing all the upcoming indie novels and novelists. So, to open myself up to more independent and self published authors, I am going Strictly Indie for the month of May. I will be focusing on reviewing, discussing and posting about indie novels and even have a few guest posts along the way.
- Release Date: December 24th 2011
- Pages: 256 pages
- Genre: Contemporary Romance
- Price: $2.99 ebook; 8.99 paperback
Callum and Harper is my first real look into the world of self-published novels. Now, to be honest, I am writing this review 6 months after reading this book and I don’t have many notes, so this review will focus more on my experience with the novel.
The titular Callum Tate and Harper Bailey are a pair of teens who recently aged out of the foster care system. They meet at the Social Services office and told their only option for housing is in one of New York City’s homeless shelters. The story follows the couple as they work, study and struggle to make a better life for themselves together.
Being my first indie, the writing in this book was better than I expected. Fisher seems to really know ins and outs of New York City and the music scene the characters spend a lot of time in.
The story is told in alternating first person POVs and as I was reading them I would often forget which POV I was reading. Callum and Harper didn’t have the voice distinction. The characters were strong as a couple, but couldn’t hold their own as individuals.
One of the plots in this novel involves a boy from Harper’s past who is a a psychotic killer and starts hunting her down. This plot line felt a little melodramatic at times and took the focus away from the main story. I wish Amelie had stuck to keeping the story based on the growth of a relationship, the plot that worked great for the first half of the book.
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The Sense List Vol. 19
… Strictly Indie : Indie 411
Books and Sensibility’s month long dedication to indie !
It’s hard to be in the YA book blogging world without noticing all the upcoming indie novels and novelists. So, to open myself up to more independent and self published authors, I am going Strictly Indie for the month of May. I will be focusing on reviewing, discussing and posting about indie novels and even have a few guest posts along the way.
Want to get into reading Indie YA and have no idea where to start ? Well, Jess has compiled a list of great resources within the indie YA/NA
community.
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