What Makes Me Love Authors

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Goodreads lists over 1400 YA novels published for the first time in 2013. In order to cover them all, I’d have to review nearly four novels each day. While some of those novels aren’t a good fit for this blog and some of those authors probably aren’t interested in having reviews posted here, I still receive more requests each month than I can commit to review.

What makes requests memorable? What can authors do to stand out as savvy and professional? As a review blogger, here are my thoughts on what makes for a fabulous working relationship between author and blogger:

Reads My Blog

When I get a request email that specifically comments on a post I’ve written or mentions an aspect of the blog the author finds useful or appealing, I’m more inclined to pay attention. Why? Because this tells me that I’m not just getting a form email … Continue reading →

Review: Eve and Adam by Katherine Applegate and Michael Grant

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Eve and Adam (Eve & Adam #1)
Katherine Applegate and Michael Grant
Feiwel and Friends
Published October 2, 2012

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

After a devastating accident, Evening is sent to an advanced medical facility called Spiker Biopharmaceuticals to recover. With her mother as the director, no expense is spared to get Eve back on her feet. To keep her busy and distracted, Eve’s mother offers to pay her to test simple simulation software. Eve agrees and begins to create a boy. The most perfect boy.

As Eve’s body rockets through recovery, Eve begins to suspect that there are things her mother isn’t telling her. Then Solo, the mysterious boy who seems to live at the … Continue reading →

Review: Merlin’s Shadow by Robert Treskillard

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Merlin's Shadow by Robert TreskillardMerlin’s Shadow (The Merlin Spiral #2)
Robert Treskillard
Blink YA
Published October 1, 2013

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After vowing to protect young Arthur at all costs, Merlin and his companions flee from the army of Vortigern, the new self-proclaimed king of Briton. Merlin’s faith falters along the difficult road, as does his confidence in the love of the fair Natalenya. Now that his sight has been restored to him, he can’t help but despise the terrible scars that mar his face. He decides to ask Natalenya to break her vow to marry him and return to her family. Heartbroken, Natalenya fears the mysterious illness that plagues her has driven away Merlin’s … Continue reading →

Review: Tandem by Anna Jarzab

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Tandem by Anna JarzabTandem (Many-Worlds Trilogy #1)
Anna Jarzab
Random House Children’s Books
Published October 8, 2013

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An ordinary teenage girl and a runaway princess from another universe have only one thing in common: They are identical, analogs of one another.

When a special forces soldier kidnaps Sasha from her senior prom on planet earth and drags her across time and space to Aurora where she will replace his missing princess, her only choice is to cooperate. Only Thomas, the solder who kidnapped her, has the power to return her to home and family on earth.

As Sasha desperately tries to impersonate the princess, she uncovers a truth Thomas can’t stomach. A … Continue reading →

Accusations Against Authors Reviewed on This Site

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An Upsetting Comment

This week I received a message from a concerned reader, alerting me to disturbing allegations against an author whose book I reviewed on this site.

“How can a blog from a ‘Christian Worldview’ review a book written by a molester, rapist, pedophile?” the commenter asks. A link to a blog post written by a woman accusing her father of sexual abuse followed the question.

In the hours since receiving the comment, my head has been spinning with all sorts of thoughts and questions. Because this is such a serious issue, I would like to share them here.

Let me first state that I accepted the review request and posted the review of the book in question months before the blog post accusing the author of abuse appeared online.

A Terrifying Story

When I read the blog comment today, I followed the link to the post mentioned. … Continue reading →

Review: The Selection by Kiera Cass

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The Selection (The Selection #1)
Kiera Cass
HarperCollins
Published April 24, 2012

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All sixteen year-old America Singer wants is to save her earnings as a musician and begin a new life with her secret love, Aspen. Her family, especially her social-ladder-climbing mother would never approve of America marrying a class beneath them, and when Aspen withdraws from the relationship because of the class difference, America despairs. Though she once considered it a nightmare, being chosen for the Selection, a group of girls spirited away to the palace from which the prince will choose a bride, now seems like America’s only escape from her heartache.

She arrives at the palace determined to stay only … Continue reading →