Every January I begin my countdown to the last 1/4th of the year. Despite crunching leaves and crackling ice and hot chocolate, easily my favorite part of the last part of the year is the reading weather. The atmosphere makes…
*Sign up for my newsletter before August 1st and be entered into a $10 Amazon giftcard giveaway!* Since When Planets Fall is science-fiction, I wanted to bring more attention to other fun sci-fi/fantasy books out there in the world. So,…
I love steampunk and anything clockwork–you should see some of the clocks in my apartment–So I knew I had to sign up for this tour!
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Feisty teenage thief Maeko and her maybe-more-than-friend Chaff have scraped out an existence in Victorian London’s gritty streets, but after a near-disastrous heist leads her to a mysterious clockwork cat and two dead bodies, she’s thrust into a murder mystery that may cost her everything she holds dear.
Her only allies are Chaff, the cat, and Ash, the son of the only murder suspect, who offers her enough money to finally get off the streets if she’ll help him find the real killer.
What starts as a simple search ultimately reveals a conspiracy stretching across the entire city. And as Maeko and Chaff discover feelings for each other neither was prepared to admit, she’s forced to choose whether she’ll stay with him or finally escape the life of a street rat. But with danger closing in around them, the only way any of them will get out of this alive is if all of them work together.
And Nikki was kind enough to write up a character profile for us!
Name: Maeko (Sometimes answers to Pigeon, but only if your name happens to be Chaff.)
Age: 16 as best she can figure
Birthplace: A brothel in London
Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.
Even Ana’s own mother thinks she’s a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she’ll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?
Sam believes Ana’s new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana’s enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else’s life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?
Finally got around to reading Incarnate. Instead of adding to the many fantastic reviews out there this time, I’d thought I’d write about the thought-provoking questions the book brought up for me.
Incarnate‘s plotline is based on the idea of reincarnation. In Ana’s world, the same souls have been reincarnated over and over for 5,000 years, which leads to a lot of condiluted relationships. Your friend may become your mother who may become your lover in a span of a couple generations.
Each time a person is reborn they have a different body. Which means, you could be a different gender, fat, thin, tall, short—whatever. This makes me wonder how much our bodies are tied to our souls. How much does my gender influence my soul in real life?
During the A to Z Challenge, I read a post by Elsie Elmore in which she interviewed a young adult reader. I thought the idea brilliant, especially since I’m querying my own young adult novel right now. I asked Elsie’s questions of a thirteen year-old young, whose love of reading is only surpassed by her excitement to start high school.
What ‘s your favorite type of YA book to read?
I like historical fiction and fantasy. I’m annoyed with dystopian stuff that everyone in school is reading.
Why those genres?
I like historical fiction because I can relate to them more because they are more believable. They are more meaningful to me because they are a symbol of the past. I like fantasy because who doesn’t? It’s a whole new world and there are no rules. You can do whatever you want.
In dystopian, it’s all the same. It doesn’t expand my thinking or my vocabulary so I feel like I’m wasting my time on the same thing.
What type of characteristics have your favorite female protagonists had?
Curiosity, humor. They are normal in some way—relatable. They are like me. They are loyal and honest.
What do you mean “normal in some way?”
Meaning they are not some prodigy. I hate that. They find their own way. They are not born with some special talent. Though, sometimes I like those books if I look up to them and if they are super cool. As long as if they are somehow believable.