Thursday 23 October 2014

Blog Tour Review & Guest Blog Post: Enscrolled by Connie L. Smith (Young Adult, 10E/10E, semi short 'n' sweet review)

All the covers are gorgeous!
14th October 2014, Createspace, 308 pages, Ebook & Paperback, Review copy 

Content: some teen romance, lots of violence, tragedy, a fair amount of humour, tissues needed 

Blurb
In the aftermath of the latest battle, the stakes are higher than ever before, time hardly an ally to Nicholai’s army of paranormal soldiers. The Tomes remain hidden, and the clock is ticking for the Essenced tainted with the demon’s incurable toxin. And beyond those worries, reason exists to suspect that magic might be vanishing, a twist that could insurmountably cripple the army’s capabilities prior to the war’s conclusion.

Never has the conflict felt quite as desperate, danger escalating and hope lessening with the slow drain of each issue’s hourglass.

Will the answers to these dilemmas surface in time, or will the efforts of the band of warriors fail to prevent the ruin of the world?

Nayu's thoughts
*Wails* I'm so upset with this book because it's the end of an amazing series. I loved so much of it. I love how there's more focus on the characters than the war side of the story, that although there are a lot of people to remember, time is spent with each one, making them more memorable and, for those who die (there are deaths, hence the tissue warning), it makes it more bittersweet. The war gets stopped in a way which took me by surprise, but was AWESOME! I love the magical talents all the teens have, and how they continue to affect their daily lives. The banter was constantly making me smile, or cry when a character died. I wanted to keep on reading, but, I couldn't, as there isn't another book. Yet! Maybe if enough people want more Connie will write a sequel.... 

*Ahem* Tension is higher than it's ever been in this series for this book. Gloom plays a prominent role, but that's because the stakes are so high I didn't think there could be happy endings. AJ and the others struggle to cope with grief, which hits them all hard, and makes it hard to keep fighting, but together they find the strength to keep going, for the sake of their loved ones who are still alive, and for those they've lost. One of many great parts about the book is that there is closure at the end, of what happens to everyone. It's not a cliffhanger - phew! I'll definitely be rereading this series at some point in the future, as I'm sure you will too once you get started! 

Find out more on Connie's website.

Suggested read
This is less a suggestion and more of a must-do: read the other books in the series Essenced and Emblazed  (Young Adult, 9/10E)



Bad Reviews by Connie L Smith

Nayu here! It's with great pleasure that I present Connie's advice on how to deal with a negative review of your book - it's not as bad as it seems, and can be a huge learning experience, if you can get past the initial horror that someone doesn't love your novel as much you do. Thank you Connie! 

Connie! 
If there’s a book somewhere that everyone loves, I would be shocked. What’s a fictional gem to one person might be utter garbage to another person, and there’s really no way to get around that. Writing styles, characters, genres, plots… There are so many elements that go into each story, and a host of preferences from readers to go along with that mix.

The point? Odds are, if you’re an author, your book will find its way to someone who doesn’t really like it. Call it a hazard of the job, I suppose, but you’re likely to check on your book through Goodreads, Amazon, etc. and find a colorful explanation of what’s hate-able in your work. In fact, if you gain enough readers, you can pretty much depend on seeing one (or more), and it’s no fun knowing that the novel that you invested so much time in, gave so much of yourself to, is being bashed on the Internet.

But those people are entitled to their opinions, just as much as you’re entitled to write the book you want to create. And you’ll find more good reviews than bad, if your luck and efforts hold up.

So what do you do with a bad review? Truthfully, you can start preparing yourself for a bad review before you write the beginning word of your book. Before I published the first time, I went to Amazon, looked up my favorite fiction book, and read bad reviews for it. The rationale? If people can find things to hate about that book, then there’s no shame in them in finding things they don’t care for in mine. Knowing that a story I love so much endured that type of thing makes it a little less devastating, almost inevitable.

And okay. It happens, because people have different literary likes. It doesn’t make you a bad author, and shouldn’t keep you from writing.

Keep that in mind as you write, and write the book that you’d want to read. Even if some reviewers hate it, at least you’ll approve :)

And, once you see the dreaded bad review, don’t (don’t, don’t, don’t) confront the reviewer. As I’ve said before, that person is entitled to his opinion, and there’s little good that can come out of being the author who harasses people who don’t approve of his books. Don’t tweet your defense, or post a long-winded rebuttal on your blog, no matter how much the writer in you – the one who spent so many hours for so many weeks or months working on the book that’s being criticized – is offended.

If you have to vent your frustrations about the review, do yourself a favor and do so in a conversation with a good friend or family member. Anything negative that you post for public display might very well come back and haunt you someday.

You can, however, take the advice from a bad review and use it for future possibilities. Clearly, if the reviewer criticizes something about your story that you adored, then you might not change your upcoming projects to fit the review – and it wouldn’t be sensible to do that, particularly if other people liked your book – but the little details might make for a better or easier read next time. If someone makes a comment that the font is hard to read, for instance, you could keep that in mind for future books or editions.

So basically, at times, a bad review might actually work in your favor.

There’s still no fun to read though :)

Thanks for reading my post! I have a Goodreads giveaway going on right now through Goodreads here: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/111090-essenced.

And you can add my upcoming NA Romance novel to your to-read list here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23267803-tail-lights.

Author bio: Connie L. Smith spends far too much time with her mind wandering in fictional places. She reads too much, likes to bake, and might forever be sad that she doesn’t have fairy wings. And that she can’t swing dance. Her music of choice is severely outdated, and as an adult she’s kind of obsessed with Power Rangers. She has her BA from Northern Kentucky University in Speech Communication and History (she doesn’t totally get the connection either), and is currently working on her MA.


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