Wednesday, November 4, 2015

www.youknowbookpeople.com WE HAVE MOVED!

If you have followed us for a while here you will have noticed that nothing has been posted in many months. I have debated closing the website forever but couldn’t part ways, this has become a very valuable part of my life and I enjoy reading and reviewing all of the wonderful novels that are sent to me. So with this in mind I did not close the blog, instead I opened my own domain. And here we are, You Know Book People, is now live and will be posting reviews and author interviews.


www.youknowbookpeople.com




Please go check us out there, we will no longer e posting on this website but I will leave it open.

AUTHORS if you would like your review moved to the new website please e-mail us.

Happy reading everybody,

Rebecca

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Anatomy Of A Single Girl- Daria Snadowsky



From the Back of the Book
After everything that happened—my first boyfriend, my first time, my first breakup—jumping back into the dating game seemed like the least healthy thing I could do. It’s not that I didn’t want to fall in love again, since that’s about the best feeling ever. But as a busy college premed still raw from heartbreak, which is the worst feeling ever, I figured I’d lie low for a while. Of course, as soon as I stopped looking for someone, an impossibly amazing—and devastatingly cute—guy came along, and I learned that having a new boyfriend is the quickest way to recover from losing your old one.

The moment we got together, all my preconceptions about romance and sex were turned upside down. I discovered physical and emotional firsts I never knew existed. I learned to let go of my past by living in the present. It was thrilling. It was hot. It was just what the doctor ordered.

But I couldn’t avoid my future forever.

In Daria Snadowsky’s daring sequel to Anatomy of a Boyfriend, eighteen-year-old Dominique explores the relationship between love and lust, and the friendships that see us through.



Review
We've all read and enjoyed books on summer love and growing up, I know I have at least. But this books isn't just another one of those novels. Bringing a new spin to summer romance the author- Daria Snadowsky- has once again pulled you into a romance you don't want to end.

After reading the first book in this series you are left with a deep sadness for the main female character who has had her heart shattered and believes that nothing will ever fix it. You pick up where after that break up and she's had time to recover but is still hurting. I enjoy that while following the same character and story line you can pick up this book without having read the first book in the series "Anatomy of a Boyfriend" before reading this, I can't tell you how many times I've bought a book and not realized it was the third in a series I've never read before!

While I love the style that this book is written in I don't love the way that the main character some times, the way she thinks of some things, that I'm not going to reveal - read the book to find out anything, like love and relationships and marriage seems to young for how old she is. The way she speaks sometimes was worked more... nerdy, for lack of better words, but it seems to fit with her character so once you get you to it I really enjoy the different way to see somebody speak.



Rate
I recommend this book to fans of summer romances and strong friendships backed by a great writing style that makes you love the story.I rate this book from 1, I couldn't finish it to 10, unputdownable, an 9.

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Last Kiss In Venice- Martin Chu Shui


From the Back of the Book
Beside a bridge over a canal in Venice, Charlie is spellbound not only by Caitlin’s absolute beauty but also by what seems like a mythical bond between them. The more he knows about her, the more mysterious she becomes. As they finally admit their love to each other in Paris, then move to settle down in Australia together, it looks like the start of Happily Ever After. But neither of them realizes that this is just the start of a heart-wrenching journey.

After a lifetime of searching, Caitlin finally finds her true love, settles down in the beautiful rolling countryside of outback Australia, and starts to raise a family, but her enemy is never far away. She loves Charlie deeply and is certain he is her soul mate, but she knows she can never reveal her secret; he must never know who she really is, and that is her downfall. Information in the hands of her enemy brings her life crashing down around her. To save all she has worked for, she must fight for her love and the right to survive.

“Last Kiss in Venice” is a reinterpretation of one of China’s most famous love stories, ‘Legend of the White Snake’. It is a supernatural love epic that encompasses both eastern and western culture to tell a story of love and hate, loyalty and betrayal, revenge and justice. This cocktail of oriental magic, vampires, and sword fights is a legend not easily forgotten


Review
Being a snake is one thing, a pretty cool thing if you are that snake. But being a century old snake that leaned to become a human to find it's true love's reincarnated spirit in a different century is a really cool thing and that's what this story is all about.

A story about a love that really does overcome everything; Magic, time, people and even being the same species. This book really has you falling in love right along side the characters and at the same time knowing what they are keeping from each other. While I loved the romance I couldn't connect with the characters and I am interested to read the legend that inspired this novel.

I recommend this book to anybody who enjoys modern day legends with a flare for romance.


Rate
I rate this book from 1, I couldn't finish it to 10, unputdownable, an 8.The plot held my interest but I didn't connect the characters as much as I like to. I am on a look out for the original legend though.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Perverse- Larry Rodness


From the Back of the Book
19 year old Emylene Stipe is a 2nd generation Goth who, like every teenage girl, is trying to find her place in the world. One night she comes upon an old painting in an antique store and is compelled to purchase it. When she brings it home an image of a young woman appears in the sketch and then magically materializes in her apartment. Emylene nick-names her 'Poinsettia' and they soon become fast friends. But Poinsettia has an ulterior motive for her sudden and strange intrusion into her host's life which causes Emylene to question her whole belief system.


Review
A picture says a thousand words, but a picture is just that, a still frame, an image of one time, something that will fade but never change. What happens when a picture comes to life. A simple snowy scene but what's weird is footsteps that will appear and disappear. If that's not weird what about a girl that slips from the very same picture's frame.

This book is far from normal with plot twists where you least expect them. Romance is heavily hinted at but the plot doesn't depend on it to keep it going. I struggled with the first half of this book, reading a few pages and then putting it down, forgetting about it for a month and then reading a few more pages. I am few glad that I kept reading and because this book is smoking from the middle right to the very end.

I would recommend this book to romance readers even though there's not much romance, fantasy lovers and anybody who enjoys a good plot twist or two.



Rate
I rate this book from 1, I couldn't finish it to 10, unputdownable, an 8, because of the hard to get into opening, but I promise it is totally worth it to keep reading.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Along the River Styx- Ashley Cooley


From the Back of the Book
Sixteen year old Delphi Andrews lives by one rule: no physical contact with mortals, or they’ll die.

But when Delphi makes the mistake of giving into desires and breaks the rule; Dale Henrys falls down dead. As if being a demigod and having Death for a father isn’t complicated enough, Delphi is forced to exist in the mortal world. It’s too bad her existence leaves a trail of bodies...

Dodging revenge seeking Cheerleaders, cowering Football players, and hallways full of whispers Delphi never expected to stumble upon the most unlikely group of friends and to be welcomed into their ranks. They don’t understand her “no-touch policy” but they don’t ask questions either. For once Normalcy seems to be within her grasp, until Dale makes his grand reappearance as a….Reaper? With a taste for the River Styx. 

Review
Be warned if you read this book you will fall in love with the daughter of death, all it takes is one touch, one page and you've been pulled into a world full of Greek myth set in a modern day world. Grabbed Right away by the main character Delphi, you can feel her struggles to live in the mortal world. If you thought getting up early for high school was bad, try being a demi- god of death. Delphi can't touch anybody or she kills them, and she still has to wake up early like everybody else. I loved that as the plot got darker and more intense Delphi's struggles begin to not only include her fearing her own touch will kill somebody, but being stalked by a reaper who has it out for her and a mortal that wants to go out with her.

This book is a great read for those looking for a book to sink into and get lost in, it is jarring to come back to reality once you have started this book, it really pulls you into Delphi's world and her life. Romance, fantasy, gods, lots of boys, death, this book has it all!


Rate
And so with all this being said I rate this book from 1, I couldn't finish it to 10, unputdownable, a absolute deathly 10.


This book has been released today, this is a must buy! please support self- published authors and do not download and please do not share copies of books.
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/442518

Friday, May 23, 2014

Author Interview- Ashley Cooley

I have been given the privilege of announcing to you that fellow reviewer Ashley Cooley is publishing her novel ‘Along the River Styx’ available May 28th on Smashwords and its distributors. She has been kind enough to answer a few questions about herself, her writing style and Along the Rive Styx!

B: First of all, tell us a little about your debut novel.
A:Thanks for having me. Along the River Styx is about the half-mortal teenage daughter of the god of death, Thanatos, who has inherited her father’s ability to kill people with her touch. But her ability gets her into some trouble when she kills the highschool quarterback Dale Henrys, who comes back to haunt her as a Reaper with a taste for the river Styx and ruling the Underworld.

B: There’s a lot of Greek mythology and Gods in your novel, what kind of research did you do?
A: I’ve always been into mythology and religion actually. So, I already had a ton of books (I have an encyclopedia and a dictionary of mythology!) and tons of printed out and hand written notes. So when I was working on AtRS there was not a ton that I had to do. One of the main things I do remember looking up is entities/deities of death for several cultures to figure out how to blend them all together. I did a little bit of research on Delphi (the place), and on classic images of the Underworld.

B: How long did it take you to write this novel?
A: Well, the first draft I wrote in two weeks thanks to many, many word wars and several 10k word days. It’s probably the most dedication I’ve had to writing a first draft ever, it became a job. I would start writing at 8 am and I wouldn’t stop until 11pm. I did a bit of editing after that, and set it aside for a few years. Then after the characters wouldn’t leave my head, and on day out of the blue discovering what was wrong with the main plot, I started working on it again, that took roughly another year. All together from first draft to publication day, it’s been four years.

B: Did you base any of the characters in your book to anybody you know in real life?
A: The easy answer here is no, but I’ll expand a little. My characters always end up coming to me before the full fleshed out plot, and I never intentionally base any of my characters off of people I know. In my head my characters need to have a distinct image in order for me to write them well, and if I based them off of anyone, looks or personality, they would eventually mold into that person, and that’s not something I want for them. So, there might be similarities, but ultimately I didn’t have anyone in mind while writing AtRS.

B: How much planning goes into your novels?
A: I’m what they call a Pantser, meaning I write by the seat of my pants. I used to be a plotter but practise has taught me that my writing often turns out better the less I plot. When I start writing I have pretty complete characters in my head already, and the most basic plot with the biggest plot line and no sub plots. The more in depth planning happens after the first draft, with the first draft I’m just trying to get all the ideas out of my head as quickly and coherently as possible.

B: What made you come up with the idea for Along the River Styx?
A: Honestly, I can’t remember. The earliest thing I can remember is that I was watching a show about prophets, and the show mentioned the oracles of Delphi. At that point, I already had the daughter of Death character, but that’s really when Delphi’s whole identity filled out.

B: What is your writing process?
A: Put some headphones on, have some coffee or tea or both even within arm’s reach, sit down, turn music up, and write for six to ten hours…or until my hands give out.

B: What was the hardest part of getting ready to publish?
A: Getting ready to self-publish is hard in general if you put any effort into it. Meeting my self-set deadlines was probably that hardest, some days I really had to push myself to get my blogging, or editing or marketing done for the day.

B: Where is your favorite place to curl up and write?
A: I don’t think I have a favourite place to write, I can write almost anywhere as long as I have the ability to tune out distracting noises around me. For the first draft, I wrote at a desk but for pretty much every draft after that I wrote while sitting in bed.

B: If you had to be one of your characters for a week, who would you choose to be?
A: That’s a hard one…hmm…it’s a tie between one of Delphi’s brothers, Auggie and Percy, and her mortal best friend Kaizzie. The twins because hello they can phase through walls and floors and I’d never have to worry about running into anything ever again, or ever being late to anything ever again. Kaizzie because she is really her own person, she has a distinct style and doesn’t care what people think about her.

B: What’s next for you? Should we be holding our breath for a sequel?
A: I wouldn’t hold your breath for a sequel, that’s not to say that one maybe won’t happen sometime in the future. I’m just not currently working on one, though I do have a few ideas for a sequel I can’t really give you a concrete answer.

B: Do you have any writing advice for aspiring writers?
A: I don’t think I’m quite qualified to be giving any writing advice just yet. But if I had to it would be to read, read anything and everything. Be gluttonous with your reading.

Saturday, October 5, 2013

On Par With A Fairy- Lyla Bardan


When sixteen-year-old Travis meets enchanting fairy Lark, legend speaks of a fated union, but his parents disagree. Can fairy legend prove stronger than parents, prejudice and the inevitable parting that must come with summer's end?

Review

Perfect book for a light read out on the dock with a glass of pink lemonade. Or at least that is how I enjoyed with short novel. If you are looking for a cute romance story that you can read in a few hours and enjoy then this is the book for you.
The plot was set at the perfect pace and left no strings at the end that needed to be tied up, no lingering questions that needed to be answered. But even if it was a perfect ending I wouldn’t mind a sequel to following the characters and their love grows as do their experiences of being in love for the first time and the challenges they may face.

Rate

And so with all this being said I rate this book from 1, I couldn't finish it to 10, unputdownable, a 9, I thought that the book could have been a longer and had more plot twists then it did, but I'm still hoping that there will be a sequel.