D.E. Atwood

It’s been a while, I know. Did you miss me?

I got a bit behind in both reading (thank you two weeks worth of stress migraine) and writing this review (thank you semester start), so unfortunately I can’t recommend that you pre-order this book. BUT. It’s this book’s birthday! Today it has released into the wild and YOU can go find it on its very first day alive out there for everyone. And you should. Because it is keysmashingly AWESOME.

Desperate to pay for college, Bridger Whitt is willing to overlook the peculiarities of his new job–entering via the roof, the weird stacks of old books and even older scrolls, the seemingly incorporeal voices he hears from time to time–but it’s pretty hard to ignore being pulled under Lake Michigan by… mermaids? Worse yet, this happens in front of his new crush, Leo, the dreamy football star who just moved to town.

Fantastic.

When he discovers his eccentric employer Pavel Chudinov is an intermediary between the human world and its myths, Bridger is plunged into a world of pixies, werewolves, and Sasquatch. The realm of myths and magic is growing increasingly unstable, and it is up to Bridger to ascertain the cause of the chaos, eliminate the problem, and help his boss keep the real world from finding the world of myths.

Can I just start by saying how much I love the cover for this book? Many, many kudos to the artist, because the cover just captures the energy and humor, right off the bat.

The book begins with Bridger climbing up the side of a building because he needs a job. And the ad says that he has to enter through a particular door–and that door isn’t at ground level, nor are there stairs to get there. He has second thoughts (as one does, while clinging to the side of a building), but he makes it through, and from that point on, Bridger’s life is a rollercoaster. He finds himself in the midst of a world that he knew nothing about, but at the same time, he’s still a high school senior who just wants to get through that last year and move on, so he can go to a new place and start fresh.

And yes, this book is funny. It is literally laugh out loud, clap a hand over your mouth and check to see if anyone noticed your outburst levels of funny.

But at the same time, this book made me ache in ways that I’ve forgotten since high school. It made me feel (ALL THE FEELS!) and it made me hurt and it made me want to wrap Bridger up in a blanket burrito and cuddle him so hard. Because it sucks to be that age, and it sucks to try to figure yourself out while not losing track of everyone else. It’s HARD. And Bridger, like most teens, screws it up about as often as he gets it right.

You see, Bridger has a lot going on. Not only does he have his new job, which is confusing and time consuming, but he also has college coming up, and he wants to move away to somewhere brand new. He has a single mom, and sometimes they are like two ships passing notes in the night. He has a best friend, who has been there for everything, and is the only one who knows about his new crush. And of course, there’s Leo, the Big Crush, who is everything Bridger absolutely wants but isn’t exactly ready to let himself have.

And there’s conflict. There was one part that absolutely ripped my heart out, between Bridger and Astrid (his best friend). I’ve been there. I’ve done exactly what Bridger did, probably multiple times throughout my life (I’m not so great at friendship). And as Bridger tried to figure out how to go forward, how to heal his life and his relationship with Astrid, while still moving on into the new parts of his life… I ached with him. I may have cried, because OW.

I want to talk about so many things in this book, but I don’t want to spoil anyone. So I’m going to leave you with this: my favorite part of this book is the relationships. It’s a found family story. Yes, there are actual family members (like Bridger’s mom). But it’s about the way Bridger and his boss, Pavel, become friends. It’s about the pixies (who need to care for their family), and Astrid, and Leo, and even Mindy. It’s about how they come together and need each other, and the different ways each of them becomes a part of that family. And about how they do care for the others in their family. For all the humor, it’s really a story of love. And I don’t mean romance, although there is certainly that as well. I mean love: between family, between friends. And in the end, that’s what made me want to cuddle this book and keep it and read it all over again (and recommend it to everyone I know).

It’s fun. It’s heartwarming. It’ll take you on an amazing rollercoaster ride that’ll leave you breathless and laughing (and possibly crying, just a little). And you’ll have a smile on your face when it’s done because sometimes things get to turn up happy. And that’s a good thing.

You can connect with F.T. at authorftlukens.wordpress.com on Twitter @ftlukens, on Tumblr at ftlukens.tumblr.com and on Goodreads at goodreads.com/ftlukens.

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Ghosts & Ashes by F.T. Lukens... let me just flail #FTLukens #InterludePress #GhostsAndAshes

You may remember that about a year ago, I was given the opportunity to preview a copy of F.T. Lukens’s first YA SF novel, The Star Host. I was thrilled when she contacted me to ask if I’d like to review the sequel, Ghosts & Ashes. My response was an enthusiastic YES!! The book is coming out this Thursday, on March 9th, from the Duet Books imprint of Interlude Press. You’ll want to go check that…

Ren grew up listening to his mother tell stories about the Star Hosts—mythical people possessed by the power of the stars. Captured by a nefarious Baron, Ren discovers he may be something out of his mother’s stories, and must remain inconspicuous while he plots his escape. He befriends the mysterious Asher, a prisoner in the neighboring cell and member of the Phoenix Corps regiment. Together, they must master Ren’s growing technopathic abilities and try to save their friends while navigating the growing attraction between them.

I am absolutely thrilled to have been given the opportunity to be an advance reader for The Star Host, by F.T. Lukens. The short version is that this book is amazing, and I am hard-pressed to be more coherent than ASKLJFDAH and OMGFLAIL, but I am a professional here and I can do this. However, let me preface this with the note that this is a wonderful story that you don’t want to miss, and as it releases on March 3rd, you should go check that out right away at @interludepress, under the Duet imprint.

While you do that, let me see if I can flail properly, but without spoilers.

The Star Host opens on a very idyllic scene between two brothers, but quickly drops us into the heart of the story with pulse-pounding action. While the story begins with love, family, and dreams, that is all quickly ripped away when Ren is captured and dropped into a confusing world. It is absolutely lovely for us, as the reader, to be able to see Ren as he flounders into new talents, and the discovery of how he fits into his mother’s stories.

I fell in love with Ren from the beginning. He’s very open, very there on the page. He wants to believe, and he wants to be connected to those who he considers important. He worries about family and friends, and as he forges new friendships, he creates new loyalties there as well. I never worry about Ren’s heart; I could always see that it was one of the most important parts of him. And I found myself trying to see the other people through his eyes: the surprise friendship with Jakob, and his fading crush on Sorcha but a solid friendship with her at the same time, not to mention the unexpected friendship with Asher (and oh goodness, oh my dear, the moment Asher came on screen I was in love with him, he has attitude).

The book sucked me in quickly, becoming a page-turner that I didn’t want to put down. F.T. is skilled at dropping little hints and clues, like breadcrumbs along the trail, that as a reader I wanted to collect and lay out and figure out the puzzle before Ren did. And the mythology of the stardust is absolutely gorgeous; the worldbuilding is fantastic, with so many tiny details building a perfectly clear view of a world that is not our own.

I have loved science fiction since I was small and first could reach that shelf in the bookmobile. As I’ve grown, I’ve read a lot of it, and F.T. does two things that makes this a perfect SF book for me. One: she creates the story around the characters, and we become invested in their lives. SF is about worlds, and about technology, and in this case about spaceships and politics, but it is also about people. F.T.’s people are alive. The more I read, the more I cared about them, and about what happened to them, and to me that’s the hallmark of a good story. And two: the world is human. The worldbuilding is deep, and detailed, but it is not technology and mythology that forsakes the human side of the story. While it could be a story about the ships and abilities and what Ren can do, it is instead a story about Ren and Asher, and how those abilities and that technology affects them.

There’s more I want to say, but I don’t want to spoil the story for anyone else. I love the way it looks at the interaction between humanity and machinery. I love how the story explores family and friendship. I love how it talks about consent. I love the nicknames. I love the way Asher and Ren have to work together to figure things out.

When the book ended, I set it aside with a happy sigh. I flailed around (a lot). I read some pieces of it again. I made notes to myself. I wrote down all the things I’d love to see more of, all the spaces I wish I could see filled in. And there’s the hallmark of a well-built world, when the reader tries to fit within it, tries to see the extra things and hopes for more. This is a story I’d love to see expanded, and I will keep my fingers crossed that perhaps someday we can see more of Ren and Asher (and everyone else!).

This is a fantastic YA novel that will appeal to teens and adults alike. It will release on March 3, 2016, from Duet, an imprint of Interlude Press. I highly recommend picking it up; you won’t be disappointed. My grade? A all the way.

What’s in your toolbox? (And how do you use it?)

No matter what you do, no matter how you learn, you are always finding new tools to keep in your toolbox. Sometimes they are unexpected, shiny and bright new, and you might look at it like what will I ever do with this? and sometimes they are simply new versions of old and well-loved tools that you use often. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately as we get ready for our tournament at TKD,…

sometimes life kicks you in the face

Our annual big AAU Taekwondo championship is coming up in slightly less than a month. Many of our black belts are competing this year for one reason or another (including my husband and son), but I am determined to compete. When I expressed concern to our instructor about how I am the least valid competitor out of my family, he said to me that the most valid competitor is the one who competes. So…

I was supposed to be heading to First Event in Waltham tomorrow (Saturday) to do a reading at 11:30am, but unfortunately I have had to cancel.

I came down with a bug on Wednesday night and as of partway through Friday I still feel like I’ve been hit by a bus. The scary part is how much betterI feel than I did for about thirty-six hours before now. This is just nasty, and I do not want to spread…

Look! No, really, LOOK!!

I’ve been notified that If We Shadows has won the Rainbow Award for Best Transgender Debut, for Best Transgender Fiction, and for Best Transgender Book.

Please excuse me while I hyperventilate.

I am beyond excited and humbled and might just be bouncing off the walls. Like COMPLETELY bouncing.

I’m in great company with other wonderful runners up, and I highly encourage y’all to go check out the lists of all Rainbow Award Winners and runners up and find yourself some great books to read. I went on a buying binge from last year’s list and I did not regret it.

So happy for you!!!

The other day I was absolutely thrilled to be notified that I was on the Honorable Mention list for the Rainbow Awards. The review I received was incredible (and may have made me tear up just a little… okay, a lot).

Today the finalists were announced and I am even MORE thrilled to discover that If We Shadowsis a finalist in the Transgender Fiction category. There are six books in this division…