Blog Tour Review: Escape From Eden by Elisa Nader + Giveaway!

Welcome to my stop on The Darkest Part blog tour hosted by YA Bound Book Tours.  Click HERE to see the full blog tour schedule!

Escape from Eden
by Elisa Nader
Release Date: 18th August 2013
Merit Press
213 pages
Buy it! Amazon | B&N | Powell's | IndieBound

Since the age of ten, Mia has lived under the iron fist of the fundamentalist preacher who lured her mother away to join his fanatical family of followers. In Edenton, a supposed “Garden of Eden” deep in the South American jungle, everyone follows the Reverend’s strict but arbitrary rules—even the mandate of whom they can marry. Now sixteen, Mia dreams of slipping away from the armed guards who keep the faithful in, and the curious out. When the rebellious and sexy Gabriel, a new boy, arrives with his family, Mia sees a chance to escape.

But the scandalous secrets the two discover beyond the compound’s façade are more shocking than anything they ever imagined. While Gabriel has his own terrible secrets, he and Mia bond together, more than friends and freedom fighters. But is there time to think of each other as they race to stop the Reverend’s paranoid plan to free his flock from the corrupt world? Can two teenagers crush a criminal mastermind? And who will die in the fight to save the ones they love from a madman who’s only concerned about his own secrets?

ADVANCED PRAISE

"The chemistry between Mia and Gabriel is palpable in their teasing dialogue and sizzling moments of physical connection. Its rewards … are many: fast-moving action, a capable heroine and a resolution that leaves plenty of room for a sequel.” – Kirkus Reviews [STARRED REVIEW]

“Debut author Elisa Nader hits a strong note with her ESCAPE FROM EDEN… At-times swoony, at-times extremely dangerous, and at-other times completely shocking.” - Examiner.com

"Nader has done something amazing: written a really original novel, one full of characters you’ll care about; smart, witty dialog; and plenty of shocks and thrills. A wonderful balance of light and dark." —Michael Grant, New York Times Bestselling Author of the Gone Series 

"An exciting, terrifying, page-turning thrill ride you will not be able to put down.” - Gretchen McNeil, Author of POSSESS, TEN and 3:59

 About the Author

Hi. I'm Elisa. I like cheese and reading and TV show marathons. Writing is scary, but not as scary as, say Civil War amputations. I'm an Aquarius. Uh... let's see... I'm not very good at writing my own biography. Or autobiography. I guess this is reading more like a slightly incoherent personal ad.

Find her!

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest

 

 

 

 

Review!

 

First impressions.....

I am the type of person who is guilty of judging a book by its cover. However, just because I don't particularly like the cover does not mean I would not read the blurb or try it out.

For this book, I wasn't really crazy about it... I thought it could've been way prettier and more meaningful due to the story but that was ok. I loved the girl's eyes though... so green.... but I don't know it that's contacts or....

Anyways, the plot was the reason why I was so drawn to reading this story. It was original and I've never read anything like it before. It was about a girl, Mia living in 'The Garden of Eden'. This place is basically like a prison and Mia is questioning about her life there and also the God-loving dude who runs the place. Trust me, I have nothing against religion (I'm not an atheist) but this was like using religion as an excuse for extreme actions.

It is quite frustrating how everyone thinks it is ok. They worship him and after day after day of always praying and praising God. He is the one sinning and killing people.

Gabriel is one of the new members of this 'community' (if you call it that...) and he reminded Mia of the world that she was forced to leave. This leads to having her ideas about things that may leave her in trouble.

This story was way darker than I thought it was and that made it even more compelling. I loved every single page that I read and I hope to read more from Elisa Nader!

 

GIVEAWAY!

Win...

(2) Sets of Moleskine Sketchbook, set of Le Pen colour fine tip pens, a copy of Otherkin andOthermoon by Elisa's crit partner Nina Berry, and a personalized copy of Escape from Eden!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for the visiting =)

Blog Tour Promo: In Harmony by Helena Newbury + GIVEAWAY

 

Release Date: September 21st 2013

Publisher: Foster & Black New Adult
Buy it! Amazon US| Amazon CAN | Amazon UK | B&N |Kobo| All Romance Ebooks

Everyone expects her to succeed….

Karen plays the cello like an angel, and it’s the only thing that makes her truly feel alive. But her father’s dream—for her to join a prestigious orchestra—leaves no time in her life for anything but music…not even love. Trapped on her path, she doesn’t know how to rebel.

Everyone expects him to fail….

Connor plays rock guitar like the devil himself, and his ability has got him all the way from a dead-end life in Belfast to a scholarship at Fenbrook Academy. But beneath his arrogance and charm, he doesn’t believe he has what it takes. He’s spent his time in New York drinking and partying, and the only future he sees is a return to Ireland as soon as he flunks out.

But what no one expects….

When Karen’s duet partner is injured, the bad boy guitarist and the shy, sheltered cellist are forced to team up. Neither likes the idea, but what begins as anger and distrust slowly spirals into love…and lust. If they can face up to their feelings, they might just have a chance together. If Connor will allow Karen to stop his fall, maybe he can show her a life she never thought possible....

 



 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Helena Newbury is a New Adult Romance author with a love of bakingly hot summer days, strawberry gelato, good coffee and interesting people. Unlike the characters in her books, Helena cannot dance, act or play anything (though she is substantially more flexible since she started writing Dance For Me and tried doing dancer’s stretches, so she's hoping that something will rub off on her from each book).

Helena writes in a very noisy, very busy coffee shop which means she sometimes end up mainlining caffeine to keep her seat. You’ll know when this happens because she’ll still be on Twitter that night at 4am.

She loves meeting and talking with other authors, traveling to new places and discovering new books. You can find her on:
www.helenanewbury.com | @HelenaAuthor | facebook.com/HelenaNewburyAuthor

 

 

GIVEAWAY

Win $50 Amazon Gift Card [OPEN INT'LY]

Win "Dance For Me" & "In Harmony" eBooks [OPEN INT'LY]

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

Book Review: The Exemeus by Folami and Abeni Morris

The Exemeus

Genre: YA Fantasy

Age: 12-adult

Published: Jan. 3rd, 2013 by Royal Colours Ink

Find the book: Goodreads | Amazon

Authors' Website

"Her short life was devoted to love and to hate. Love of the man who stole her heart, hate for the man who stole the world. Murdered by the government she swore to destroy, she's been given another chance to make it right. But to save the planet, she needs the help of the most powerful mystic the world has ever seen—unfortunately he hasn’t been born yet.

In a world where fear is the only currency, Dephon has committed the ultimate crime: inspiring hope.

His only goal is to make it safely through ninth grade, but on a post-apocalyptic Earth run by the Treptonian government, it isn’t that simple. Heir to a legendary power, Dephon Johnson is the only threat to the government’s rule. And on Trepton, all threats must be eliminated. When hundreds of assassins are dispatched to neutralize him, Dephon is forced to fight back. His only chance of survival is to enlist the aid of the greatest warrior the world has ever known. The only problem is, she's been dead for 13 years."

Let's start off by talking about the book trailer. I thought it was really cool and the illustrations of the city was just...wow. The only thing, is that the music kinda ruined it all. It was like those music that they played in those old action movies. They could've used a more futuristic and dark type of music to make the person feel more excited about the book. But anyways- on to the book.

It was really great book! It was really descriptive and painted very clear images in my head. The plot moved quite fast and their were always new twists and turns. Before I started to read this I thought it was the typical book of girl from past meets boy from the future and they fall in love but it is forbidden... blah blah blah. I have to say that this book is really original and is so different from any previous books I've read before. The book contains magic, war, time travelling, dictatorship? and pure action and yes, nearly all fantasy books contain an element of that albeit, I have to say this book is a breath of fresh air. 
To be honest, I thought that the dystopia genre would be like the next cliche just like the vampire genre... *cough cough twilight cough* No offence to Twihards?? Is that what you call them?? Twilight did kill the whole genre. Now future movies, books or tv shows relating to vampires won't cause as much hype as it did before as it will be compared to Twilight- it may be due to how good Twilight was or how sickly and crappy Twilight was, but it would always be compared to Twilight. 

I actually thought that it was fantastic how it was acutally a boy who was the main protagonist of this book because usually it is always the girl. I mean I'm all for the girl or woman saving the world but it does become old if it gets repeated over and over again. 

Although, I loved how the whole story went to the past when Hyalee and Singletoon was actually doing loads of acting. I really didn't get to know Dephon or his realationship with his dad and how he feels about his mum. So, maybe for the next book, there might be snippets of them. God... I hope so.

Also, I don't know what year Dephon is living (did I miss it out??? oops) but I thought that the authors could've made a clear contrast between the time Hyalee and Singletoon were younger and the present time where Dephon is a teenager because, it kind of felt all the same... if you get were I mean. I didn't feel freedom that people had in the past or the atmosphere of the US when Dubleton took over... (he did take over right??) So yeah....

Basically, I loved this book so much. It was a shame that I didn't get a proper physical copy cos I would've hugged it but I have my phone which the e-copy is on right now so I would have to make do. I'm really happy at the end of when there is FINALLY some action for Dephon and cliffhanger isn't as huge as other books that I've read but, I have so many questions right now... it's killing me!!!
I seriously can't wait for the next book.  Is there a next book.... there has to be a next book.....

but seriously... you should read it!

Check out the blog tour that starts on August 25th to the 31st of August as you can see down below.