Tea Time: Golden

**Warning: Spoilers May Abound**

 Golden, Melinda Michaels

High school senior Hanna Loch just suffered a blackout in front of her entire homeroom class. She hasn’t had one in over ten years, and she’s terrified—the last time she blacked out, she woke up with no memory of her life before. To make matters worse, no one can explain why it happens. For Hanna, bad things tend to come in threes.

And that doesn’t even begin to cover it . . .

When she learns she could be a descendant of someone who lived once upon a time, Hanna must put her trust in William Vann, a descendant of one of the most hated villains ever known. Their histories are intertwined in more ways than she expected, and he has answers about her past, answers even her family won’t share.

But is it safe to put her trust in someone who appears to be danger reincarnate, while trying to escape the darkness that tried to kill her ten years ago?

A loose fairytale retelling, GOLDEN is a story that’s just right, weaving together lost secrets, vengeful enemies, and what happens when fiction becomes reality.

Narrative-GOLDEN is told from the first-person POV of Hanna Loch, a girl smart enough to know when something's amiss in her small town (like the fact that everybody seems to be secreting some knowledge about her life that even she doesn't know about). Her voice is very simplistic, and very analytic: she's unafraid of pointing out the obvious, which made her voice strong and easy to relate to: even if she didn't say anything to others about her suspicions, she tucked them away for use later.

Now, there were a few chapters that switched POV from Hanna's, to William's. Personally, I didn't like it. It was too inconsistent, and everything that I learned from William's point of view was something that could have been learned through Hanna's very easily. With his knowledge, however, of the world that Hanna knew nothing about, I honestly wished there was more from his perspective (I know, I know, I'm contradicting myself): if there was a better balance of perspectives from the very beginning, Williams' POV could have had the potential to set up a lot of tension and suspense.

★★★☆☆

Plot-Admittedly, the plot through me for a loop; I was convinced there would be a lot more fairytale folklore than there actually was.

However, I'm not letting that get in the way of everything else I thought about it:

Hanna's got massive memory loss (she can't remember anything before she was eight years old), and by the time the novel starts she's suffered two blackouts with no clue why she gets them. Coinciding with that weirdness is the arrival of one William Vann, whose family is somewhat less than highly though of, since their name is basically synonymous a few murders that happened about ten years prior.

While Hanna's trying to trace her family history back to ancestors who may or may not have been the inspiration to modern-day fairy tales, she also stumbles upon a few answers to her own past as well as a not-so-subtle attraction for Vann (and the romance was pulled off perfectly and rather adorably). And as her family continues acting obviously strange and she starts getting hunted by some strangers who come to town (who may or may not have something to do with her missing memories), things start really heating up (literally: the school gets set on fire).

The pacing in the beginning was rather slow; slightly too slow for my personal tastes. There was also a point where I was a bit tired of the wink, wink, nudge, nudge hints that came popping around, when it was obvious that certain characters knew things and I wanted Hanna to just stop being nice and demand answers. So, in the respects of there being too much tug-and-pull between the characters and not enough action in the plot, that's why I'm ultimately taking a star out of my rating. I simply felt like there was room for more.

But if you absolutely adore mysteries (especially the kinds that involve kidnappings), like I do, then GOLDEN is definitely worth picking up; there's so much world in there; not world-building, just world. I'm excited to see what Michaels comes up with next and how far she's able to expand the ties to fairy tales while keeping up with the magical realism flair.

★★★★☆

Characters-I've already pointed out Hanna's inquisitive and demanding search for answers; once the weirdness in her life started popping up more than unusual, she was determined to chase down her family's secrets. She was suspicious in all the right places, and what I loved most of all was the way she reacted to the thrills of things. She's reckless, but in ways that I can relate to: she's a safe person, but when the chance comes to feel a little something extra in life, she takes it, and I felt it was a great flaw to keep poking at without it being overdone.

William, as her bad-boy male protagonist, was also really extremely interesting, due to his interest in good vs. evil and the fact that Hanna had a little bad in her, therefore maybe he has good in him. He tempts fate for the whole book (if the legend about how their repeating story lines is to be believed), but he never came across as creepy or overly intense.

So, basically, both of the main characters were pretty well developed, in my opinion.

★★★★☆

Final Answer:  3.66 / 5

Interested in reading GOLDEN, yourself? You're in luck: there's a Rafflecopter giveaway happening right now!

Meet the Author:

Melinda Michaels is the author of Golden and currently lives in Milford, Pennsylvania. A self-proclaimed historian with a rare sense of humor, Melinda finds an immense amount of joy in knowing useless facts, exploring historical places and drinking copious amounts of coffee. When she’s not writing she can be found researching obscured time periods for her own amusement or refurbishing old furniture.

Melinda loves Philadelphia and visits often to enjoy the city with her husband Andrew. Together they have three rambunctious pets. Archie the Beagle, Winston the Boston Terrier and Beatrice the cat.

Golden is the first in a Young Adult magic realism series. 

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Tea Time: My Heart and Other Black Holes

**Warning: Spoilers May Abound**

My Heart and Other Black Holes, Jasmine Warga

Sixteen-year-old physics nerd Aysel is obsessed with plotting her own death. With a mother who can barely look at her without wincing, classmates who whisper behind her back, and a father whose violent crime rocked her small town, Aysel is ready to turn her potential energy into nothingness.

There’s only one problem: she’s not sure she has the courage to do it alone. But once she discovers a website with a section called Suicide Partners, Aysel’s convinced she’s found her solution: a teen boy with the username FrozenRobot (aka Roman) who’s haunted by a family tragedy is looking for a partner.

Even though Aysel and Roman have nothing in common, they slowly start to fill in each other’s broken lives. But as their suicide pact becomes more concrete, Aysel begins to question whether she really wants to go through with it. Ultimately, she must choose between wanting to die or trying to convince Roman to live so they can discover the potential of their energy together. Except that Roman may not be so easy to convince.(source:goodreads)

Narrative-Told from the first-person POV of Aysel, MY HEART AND OTHER BLACK HOLES is a smoothly-told story about Aysel's attempts - first - to plan her own suicide, and - second - to beat her depression. The voice is  incredibly conversational, which is what I think made it so easy to read, and the additions of Aysel's passion for physics in the form of metaphors gave it its own flair, a series of details that are easy to latch onto and helpful to really understand Aysel's perspective on the events of the novel.

★★★★★

Plot-Aysel wants to commit suicide because she's terrified of becoming her father; she manages to find a suicide partner who lives in a town fifteen minutes away because she's certain that if she had a partner, maybe she'd actually go through with it. Enter Roman/FrozenRobot.

Aysel's journey through what was supposed to be her final month of life is a long one; while she tries to convince herself that she's going to go through with the suicide pact she made with Roman, she also starts finding reasons to live. She finds her strength through time spent with Roman: learning about him and his past and his reasons to kill himself, and the interesting development was that as much as Roman started to doubt Aysel's commitment to their pact, his growing feelings for her inspire him to try to spare her, even as he accuses her of flaking from the very beginning of their relationship.

MY HEART is about learning to live even while planning to die; the stasis of relationships is disproven as Aysel's perception changes, and it's this change in perception that ultimately drives the novel. Even if the pacing is uneven and bumpy at times, Aysel's story is largely told through a lens that's unafraid to dive into an analysis of depression (Aysel eventually calling it the "black slug"); even more, it's told through a lens that paints an image of the strength it takes to fight that depression.

★★★★☆

Characters-Aysel is a girl struggling to overcome the shadow of her father's violent deed; Roman is a boy cracking under the guilt he feels over his sister's death. Both characters are struggling, and while one of them has fully committed to the idea of committing suicide, the other slowly starts to change their perception and think that maybe there is a way to live with their pain, even if it never goes away, and a large part of this new perception begins with the idea that it's okay to let others in, and to give other people a place in your life to help or at least be a hopeful presence.

It's largely this idea that disappointed me. Aysel has a step-father who's mentioned, but who we never see; her half-sister is mentioned numerous times but only gets a few scenes of page-time; her half-brother is mentioned, but only gets a few scenes; even her mother doesn't get a lot of page-time. Aysel's assigned a group project, and her partner is a boy who we only see maybe two or three times out of the whole book.

What disappointed me was the fact that the lack of physical presence for these characters was extremely glaring. I wanted so much more, to really see how their influence on Aysel - even if their relationship is one-sided or rocky - really affected her. I simply felt like they were stretched too thin, and thus fell into sort of contrived or stereotyped roles, even though I know there's a lot more to them than I was able to see. Their lack of flesh stalled my understanding of Aysel's development as a character. Which made me really sad, even if I loved Aysel and her character to death.

★★★☆☆

Final Answer: 4 / 5 stars

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Tea Time: The Ties Eternal

Today I've got the final part of my three-part review series of Cait Spivey's THE WEB series! It's been a fun ride, reading all three in such a short amount of time; I also can say right now that I highly recommend Spivey's work, but let's get down to my ARC review of THE TIES ETERNAL, shall we? Then maybe ya'll can judge for yourselves.

**Warning: Spoilers May Abound**

The Ties Eternal (The Web #3), Cait Spivey

Seventeen-year-old Miranda Wolford was born Deaf, though it took her years to realize it. She thought everyone could hear the cacophony of voices that surrounded her—but those voices belong to the dead, and they are the only things Miranda can hear.

When a ghost leads Miranda to a missing child and his murderer, she tries to enlist the police; but between the communication barrier and the insane story, she can’t make them understand.The murderer is on the loose. To stop them, Miranda will have to take matters into her own hands.(source:goodreads)

Narrative-Let me just say this first: I was absolutely blown away by the narrative voice in this novella. THE TIES ETERNAL is told from the first-person POV of Miranda Wolford, a Deaf teenager who also happens to hear and occasionally see ghosts.

Miranda's voice sounded very mature, very analytic, and very relatable, which enabled me to read without noticing the words; this is a really cool thing, because it's a sign at how very clean and easy-to-read the narrative is, telling the story while also helping the reader gain an understanding of Miranda and her personality.

★★★★★

Plot-THE TIES ETERNAL opens on Miranda summoning a vampire. Which means that as soon as I started, I knew this had to be good. And I need to continue to gush for a moment. This first chapter set up many things that the reader needs to know about the book: vampires mean there's a supernatural presence that at least the main character is aware of; we become aware of her handicap; we become aware of the fact that Miranda can see/hear ghosts (more supernatural). What I love is simply that this first chapter set up the novella perfectly in terms of giving us the major points about the main character as well as the genre; it's a great example to look at from a writerly perspective.

Moving on: this novella follows Miranda as she meets a ghost who's particularly intent on getting her attention. After a young boy goes missing, she comes to realize that this ghost can help her find out what happened to him (among other things). Then it's a race against the clock, to find the body, convince the police that the boy was murdered, and then (eventually) catch the murderer.

It was all very fast-paced (mysteries! I love mysteries), and while there was all this murder and mayhem happening, there was a phenomenal and well-written focus on family, and the fact that Miranda is a minority character whose father just got out of prison. It was a conflict I honestly didn't expect, and Spivey's portrayal of these characters living in a community where they're disrespected because of these facts was mind-blowing and as equally interesting as the vampires, ghosts, and serial killers popping up around town.

★★★★☆

Characters-Ya'll might recall what I said about Spivey's characters in my review for A SINGLE THREAD, but let me quote myself: "I've come to...appreciate very quickly is how intense Spivey's characters are."

I can't restate it any better than that.

In the shorter novella form, there's not much room to introduce too many characters and give them the proper attention to make them feel full and rounded. Yet Spivey's characters feel totally real: the focus is on Miranda, a seventeen year old Deaf Latina girl who hears and sees ghosts, who kind of make her wary whenever she leaves the house, because what might she see? In addition to all the spectoral shenanigans that is her life, there's also a really great balance placed on focusing on her diverse origins. She has to deal with people sometimes talking too quickly - preventing her from being able to read their lips - or even when they purposely turn away from her while they talk, or even when there's simply so many people around that she can't follow the conversation. In addition, she has the problem of being discriminated against because of the color of her skin, and because of who her father is: many of the cops she talks to don't believe her about finding the missing boy's dead body in the woods.

It's this attention placed on the mundane in Miranda's life that adds a great surreal quality to the rest of the novel elements. Miranda's problems are very real, as well as supernatural, and most of all: they're woven together to create a solid environment to Miranda to both act in, and react, giving the reader a chance to connect to a very real and solid person.

And I'm stopping myself there because I'm getting very analytic. This is a good thing (to be honest, it means I'm studying the novel for its craft; it's amazing). I loved Miranda, and I want to be her best friend, and I think ya'll should just read this thing, too, because there's only so many different ways and contexts for me to say/use the word "phenomenal."

★★★★★

In her acknowledgements for this book, Cait Spivey wrote that she's "...very proud of this one...." My personal note: you should be, Spivey. You really should be.

I've simply been blown away by Cait Spivey since I began I SEE THE WEB. I've found her writing to be phenomenal, both from a reader's perspective and a writer's. Highly recommend to everybody, and I cannot wait to see what she's got in store for us in the future. She's made a fan out of me.

Final Answer: 4.66 / 5

The Goodreads giveaway for THE FIRST WEB, a paperback version of I SEE THE WEB and its sequel, A SINGLE THREAD, has unfortunately ended. However, you can still Buy Direct straight from Cait Spivey.

Meet the Author:

Cait Spivey is a speculative fiction writer and freelance editor. Fiction is a passion she doesn’t see giving up any time soon. In her spare time, she plans her next tattoo (there will always be a next tattoo) and watches too much Netflix. Anything left over is devoted to her tireless quest to make America read more. She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her darling husband Matt and adorable dog Jay.

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THE TIES ETERNAL @CaitSpivey: a fast-paced mystery with a diverse character you'll be rooting for (Click to Tweet)

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Special thanks to Cait Spivey, who provided me with an eARC of THE TIES ETERNAL in exchange for an honest review.

Tea Time: A Single Thread

Part two of my three-part review series of Cait Spivey's THE WEB series is here! And, don't forget: there's a Goodreads giveaway going on right now for the first two books in the series. Make it to the bottom of the post, and enter!

**Warning: Spoilers May Abound**

A Single Thread (The Web #2), Cait Spivey

It’s been two weeks since Morgan Fletcher’s little sister, Erin, disappeared before his eyes in a flurry of spidersilk and blood. Probability says she’s dead; but when Erin comes to him in a dream, Morgan’s eyes are opened to a level of reality where probability doesn’t mean jack. His sister sees the web of time, and she’s got news for him: trouble is coming.

A cryptic riddle and flashing images of the future are all Morgan has to go on in order to save a mystery boy from a gruesome death. That’s if he even believes what’s happened to Erin. Is her spider-whisperer persona for real, or has his grief at losing her caused him to totally crack?With a life at stake, Morgan isn’t taking any chances. Madness or no madness, he has to solve Erin’s riddle before it’s too late.(Cource:goodreads)

Buy Direct * Goodreads * Smashwords * Amazon * Barnes and Noble

Narrative-The second installment of THE WEB series is told from the POV of Morgan Fletcher, whose little sister (Erin) was the narrator of the previous installment. What I found myself most curious about in this second installment was how the voice would change: a teenage girl vs. her older brother. It felt to me like a challenging shift, for the main reason that these are two very different people living in the same world.

Morgan's voice was definitely distinctive,  which is what I appreciated the most, even if it felt a bit forced and unnatural at times. Something about it made me read slower, since I kept getting hung up on some phrasing or another, and that's the biggest reason that I'm taking two stars off: I'm already typically a bit harsh when rating the narrative voice, and the clunky-ness of Morgan's didn't sit well with me as a reader.

★★★☆☆

Plot-A SINGLE THREAD takes off two weeks after the previous novella left off: Erin Fletcher and her girlfriend, Dawn, have simply disappeared. Erin's mother is catatonic and her brother feels like it's his fault for not looking after them. He's determined to find his sister, even calling up one of his cop buddies on occasion to see if there's news.

Then he gets bit by a spider and has a conversation with his missing sister, who's actually become the Ma Meri of time. She gives him a riddle that makes absolutely no sense, and tells him to save a random boy's life. So when Morgan wakes up, he has two options: listen to the specter of his sister and try to save a life, or shrug it off.

Then: vampires (and, really, I'm going to leave it at that. Because I'm cruel. And I think you should just read it).

I admit: I love riddles. I especially love when those riddles are in books, and they're done so well that the reader is just as lost as the character is. The plot of this novella was so excellently crafted around this strangeness and the fact that there are some very dangerous and supernatural things coming to town, and it was reflected well in both the tone, and the fact that the entire community was coming together to protect themselves against something. All they knew was that it was a threat, and they were trusting their instincts. It was a very human reaction to fear, and it was great to see.

What I do wish, however, was that more questions were answered. The questions surrounding the vampire woman are fine (by the end of the novella, you really only find out her name); the questions surrounding why she was choosing a particular victim were really never addressed (unless I missed them). Then there were questions about why Erin wanted the victim saved: what made him so important, or was it simply that she was trying to hold on to a part of herself that was still human? There was a bit of vagueness that I was eager to have cleared up by the time I reached the last page.

Beyond that, though, the mystery in this installment was fabulous.

★★★★☆

Characters-Something I've come to learn and appreciate very quickly is how intense Spivey's characters are. Morgan, alone, carries with him a spectrum of emotion and motivation that centers around his sister, Erin: finding her, protecting her, thinking about her, inspired to do and believe anything that'll get him closer to figuring out what happened to her. This is why when the moment finally comes for him to see and talk to his sister, finally (in a dream brought on by getting bit by a spider, no less), he's willing to accept the riddle that she gives him. Either he's simply desperate for a connection to her, or the dream was real and he doesn't want to let her down.

Whatever the answer, Morgan does things like believe in vampires. He even finds/makes two wooden stakes in order to slay the vampire should he come across it. He approaches a girl he'd barely even talks to, and risks his own neck to save her brother. And, really, it's all because his sister told him to. After he figured out the riddle (with the help of a friend).

He's the big, bad brother I kind of wish I had.

★★★★★

Final Answer: 4 / 5

As promised, there's also a chance to win THE FIRST WEB, which is a paperback version of I SEE THE WEB and its sequel, A SINGLE THREAD. So if you're interested, check out this Goodreads Giveaway (open through March 31). You can also Buy Direct straight from Cait Spivey.

Meet the Author:

Cait Spivey is a speculative fiction writer and freelance editor. Fiction is a passion she doesn’t see giving up any time soon. In her spare time, she plans her next tattoo (there will always be a next tattoo) and watches too much Netflix. Anything left over is devoted to her tireless quest to make America read more. She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her darling husband Matt and adorable dog Jay.

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Tea Time: I See the Web

Alright, guys. So today I have the first of a three-part review series, which means that for the next three weeks (today included) I'll be reviewing Cait Spivey's THE WEB series. Why am I calling this a review series? Partially because I feel like it, and partially because the exciting thing is that each of the parts of Spivey's series are novellas, not novels. Novellas are tons of fun, and they're complete, quick reads, and they require a lot of talent due to their succinct form (my own humble opinion). Which means that I hope you're excited as I am.

Plus: there's a Goodreads giveaway going on right now for the first two books in the series. Make it to the bottom of the post, and enter!

**Warning: Spoilers May Bound**

I See the Web (The Web #1), Cait Spivey

Seventeen-year-old Erin has a lot to look forward to, even if it suddenly seems like everywhere she turns there’s a spider staring at her. She’s finally out to her friends and family, surprising exactly no one. When Dawn, the love of her tender teenage dreams, corners her in the library, a whole new world opens up to Erin. From here on out, it’s all make-out sessions with her beautiful girlfriend in rooms stacked high with books.

Until the spiders start whispering.

Turns out the spiders aren't just stalking her for kicks. They need her to be their voice, their vessel, whatever that means. But their timing is crap, because there's no way Erin is giving up her human life just when things are starting to get amazing. Too bad the spiders just won't quit. Like it or not, Erin will have to choose, and it won't be nearly as easy as she thinks.

A paranormal romance novella, I SEE THE WEB originally appeared in serial on author Cait Spivey's website, and is now available as a complete edition.(source:goodreads)

Buy Direct * Goodreads * Amazon * Barnes and Noble * Smashwords

Narrative-This novella is told from the first-person POV of Erin, the quirky (very quirky) protagonist. I'd be lying if I said that the voice isn't what pulled me in; the very first page opens with Erin explaining her fear of spiders and the way in which she gently coaxes them out of her bedroom while curled up in fear as far away as she can get.

It made me smile. It really, really did.

Erin's well-constructed voice tells the story in a fun manner, which is impressive given the creepy content. I'd love to spend more time in her head, just to follow the hyperactive thought-processes that are both handled with ease, and extremely easy to relate to as a reader.

★★★★★

Plot-Erin's trying to get her best friend to believe her when she says she's a lesbian, and when Geri (the best friend) finally does believe her, then things go pretty alright. Then her mother and brother find out, and nobody's surprised, and the very next day the girl she's been crushing on at school finds her at the library (sent there by Erin's brother), and the two hit it off.

So life's going pretty good for Erin.

Except for all the spiders that keep showing up.

That, alone, is enough to make me shiver. The spiders just keep showing up. And then when Erin tells them to go away, they go away. They just crawl into whatever dark corner they decide to hide in. And then there's a really creepy nightmare, and then a really creepy dream, and Erin starts to figure out why the spiders have suddenly started showing up. And it's not for a good reason.

I SEE THE WEB is horror. And it's horror that's written very well. While I wasn't crazy about how intense the relationship between Erin and her girlfriend became (it was just really super quick), overall the pacing was well done and all of the pieces of the puzzle fit and flowed together so well that I was hanging onto every page and read it through in one sitting (it's a novella, about 55 pages; quick and extremely satisfying read).

★★★★★

Characters-I've already kind of gushed about Erin, but let me do it again: she's realistic, funny, smart, quirky, and all-around the kind of girl I'd like to call a friend just because she'd keep life interesting for me (that's before the spiders, by the way).

Moving on to other characters: Morgan (the brother) is an intimidating presence, but I think that's only because he's described as being intimidating...and he's a bouncer at a night club. And that's kind of cool. But underneath the grizzly appearance he's just a giant teddy bear who cares about his sister (it's hinted that the only reason he hasn't left the small town after graduating high school yet is because he's waiting for Erin to graduate so he wouldn't be forced to leave her alone). Plus, he's the one who sent Dawn to the library to find Erin so the two girls could hit it off. I mean, does he deserve brother points, or does he deserve brother points?

Dawn. Dawn...honestly, Dawn confused me. She was shy and intense and kind of adorable as far as being Erin's girlfriend went, and I'm pretty sure she had a heart of gold. What confused me was her dialogue sometimes, and the way she acted; it made it really hard for me to really pin her down as a character, which would have been a good thing if she was deeper into the paranormal stuff happening than she actually was. So while I can say that yes, I liked her, I didn't think she was as well written as I would have liked.

Last is Theo, but all I really have to say about Theo is that oh my god he's such a creep. So.

★★★★☆

Guys, I mentioned before: this is a novella, and it's a well-written one. Go read it in one sitting, and you'll see where I'm coming from. And you'll see why I've already picked up and read the second in the series.

Final Answer: 4.66 / 5

As promised, there's also a chance to win THE FIRST WEB, which is a paperback version of I SEE THE WEB and its sequel, A SINGLE THREAD. So if you're interested, check out this Goodreads Giveaway (open through March 31). You can also Buy Direct straight from Cait Spivey.

Meet the Author:

Cait Spivey is a speculative fiction writer and freelance editor. Fiction is a passion she doesn’t see giving up any time soon. In her spare time, she plans her next tattoo (there will always be a next tattoo) and watches too much Netflix. Anything left over is devoted to her tireless quest to make America read more. She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her darling husband Matt and adorable dog Jay.

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I SEE THE WEB @CaitSpivey: a horrific and satisfying novella, sure to make you shiver. Read the review (Click to Tweet)