Review: Hot Pterodactyl Boyfriend

Reviewer: Kristen

Author: Alan Cumyn

Format: ARC - thanks Simon & Schuster CA! 

Pages: 304

My Rating: 6/10

Summary (thanks Goodreads): Prepare to be blown away—or rather, carried away on huge muscular wings—by this blissfully outlandish, bracingly-smart, tour de force about a teen who has to come to terms with relinquishing control for the first time as she falls for the hot new…pterodactyl…at school. After all, everybody wants him!

Sheils is very pleased with her perfectly controlled life (controlling others while she’s at it). She’s smart, powerful, the Student Body Chair, and she even has a loving boyfriend. What more could a girl ask for?

But everything changes when the first-ever interspecies transfer student, a pterodactyl named Pyke, enrolls at her school. There’s something about him—something primal—that causes the students to lose control whenever he’s around. Even Sheils, the seemingly perfect self-confident girl that she is, can’t keep her mind off of him, despite her doting boyfriend and despite the fact that Pyke immediately starts dating Jocelyn, the school’s fastest runner who Sheils has always discounted as a nobody.

Pyke, hugely popular in a school whose motto is to embrace differences, is asked to join a band, and when his band plays at the Autumn Whirl dance, his preternatural shrieking music sends everyone into a literal frenzy. No one can remember what happened the next day, but Shiels learns that she danced far too long with Pyke, her nose has turned purple, and she may have done something with her boyfriend that she shouldn’t have. Who’s in control now?

Hilarious and relatable (despite the dinosaur), Hot Pterodactyl Boyfriend is about a teen who must come to terms with not being in control of all things at all times, break free of her mundane life, discover who her true self is, and, oh, finding out that going primal isn’t always a bad thing

My Thoughts: Have you ever just sat back and wondered what you'd get if you took a little contemporary, and then threw in some dinosaurs? Like, maybe, you're reading Twilight, and you're just so annoyed with Bella (because, let's face it, she does annoying things), that you kinda really want a dinosaur to come in and mix things up? I mean, who doesn't? While Hot Pterodactyl Boyfriend doesn't exactly fit that description, it definitely takes contemporary and takes some dinosaurs and creates this fantastically weird, and funny, novel. 

So, I think that one of my favourite things about this book is it's title. A) Because I finally learned how to spell Pterodactyl (I did that with my eyes closed but I'll never be able to prove it), and B) Who isn't going to immediately grab this book and go.... wait, what? Add that with the cover - which I love and it stands out so well on my book shelf - and you got yourself a winner at the book store. 

This definitely not a serious book - it's light, and funny, and a supremely quick read. I sat down to start reading, and I didn't stop until I was finished. It was one of those "I can't put this down because I have literally no idea where this story" is going type of deals.  The characters were funny enough, and definitely original. I particularly liked Sheils, I connected with her a weird amount (especially considering she falls in love... with you know... a literal dinosaur).
It held my interest the entire time, and even though I probably wouldn't re-read it, I'd recommend it to people with dry senses of humour. There's a lot of satirizing taking place, especially about the YA genre (their meeting gave me some Twilight feels), so if you're about that life, this is another good one to check out. 

Also, fellow Canadian's: this book is for you. It's one of those books that actually get the weird things us Canadian's say and do, and of course, there is a moose cameo. What more can you want? Dinosaurs and moose is all you need. 

Final Thoughts: Probably, no - definitely - the most original and unique book I've read this year. If you're intrigued by that description (and, I ask again, who isn't), definitely check this one out! 

Follow along with the rest of the tour here! 

*** Thanks again Simon & Schuster CA for having me be apart of this tour!*** 

Blog Tour: Madly (Potion, #1) - The Recipe for Samantha Kemi

Reviewer: Kristen
Author: Amy Alward
Pages: 384
Format: ARC - available September 29, 2015! 
My Rating: 7.5 out of 10

* I received this from Simon & Schuster CA in exchange for a fair and honest review* 

Summary (I'm mad about you, Goodreads): When the Princess of Nova accidentally poisons herself with a love potion meant for her crush, she falls crown-over-heels in love with her own reflection. Oops. A nationwide hunt is called to find the cure, with competitors travelling the world for the rarest ingredients, deep in magical forests and frozen tundras, facing death at every turn.

Enter Samantha Kemi - an ordinary girl with an extraordinary talent. Sam's family were once the most respected alchemists in the kingdom, but they've fallen on hard times, and winning the hunt would save their reputation. But can Sam really compete with the dazzling powers of the ZoroAster megapharma company? Just how close is Sam willing to get to Zain Aster, her dashing former classmate and enemy, in the meantime?

And just to add to the pressure, this quest is ALL OVER social media. And the world news. 

No big deal, then.

My Thoughts: So, I wasn't a hundred percent sure what to expect with this novel. I mean I saw a tagline that said that Madly was The Princess Diaries and The Hunger Games mixed together and talk about intrigue. I'm generally a little scared of fantasy, just because it can go in so many different directions and I never know exactly what I'm going to get with it. But, if Madly is any indication of what to expect in the fantastic-y world, count me in! There was magic and mythical creatures and love and kickass characters (I mean, hello, Samantha Kemi? Can we be best friends please?). It took place in a modern setting - which, hello sorry for another interlude from yours truly, but how cool is that? I never ever read fantasy stories that take place now - and it never felt like it was trying to hard or it was reaching. It was refreshing to read about this kickass girl and these surreal and wonderful (and often, not so wonderful) experiences taking place in a world that I can clearly imagine, because it's my world. There was some romance, but I thought that it was adorable and added to the story. There wasn't any insta-love or anything like that. They genuinely cared about what would happen to the other people, and I was here for it. Basically, without spoiling anything, if you add alchemy, mix in some fantasy, stir in adventure, add a whole heck of a lot of humour, and add a pinch of romance, you've got yourself a recipe for Madly. Maybe that's actually the love potion recipe... 

However, I think that my absolute favourite part of the novel was how wonderfully written it was. All the sudden I was swept up into the world, and seriously devouring the book. Once I was in, I couldn't get out. And once I was in, I didn't want to get out. I'm eagerly awaiting the rest of the series to see what kind of trouble our characters are going to get into!

P.S. Serious cover lust. Hardcore cover lust. Lust that is moving into love territory kind of lust. 

Final Thoughts: This was a light, funny, and fun read. It was the perfect end of summer story, and I'll definitely be finishing off the series!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Recipe for Samantha Kemi 

Making A Main Character by Amy Alward, author of Madly

Inspiration when creating your characters flows down from your everyday life and upbringing, from your old Aunt Mildred to that villain in your childhood novels. When creating my main character for Madly, I pulled and picked and flipped and twisted characteristics that stuck with me over the years, then finally pieced them together to create Samantha Kemi. In this specific book, my inspiration came from all the characters I’ve encountered in my reading. And I remember exactly the wizards and witches and all around kick-butt characters who inspired me:

1. Chrestomanci, from The World of Chrestomanci by Diana Wynne Jones

Chrestomanci is employed by the Parliament in The World of Chrestomanci and his job is to make sure magic isn’t being misused in the world. His character seeped into Samantha in the way that he can be random and unpredictable, but also honourable. Samantha’s main goal is to redeem her family’s name and save Princess Evelyn, two very honorable endeavors.

2. Ged from The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin

Ged is the main protagonist in A Wizard of Earthsea and can be seen as a very serious and arrogant boy who then matures into an extremely powerful wizard. Now, I wouldn’t say Samantha is arrogant but she definitely has got some cheeky-ness to her! She doesn’t take any crap and is confident in her potion skills. The only person who can ruffle her feathers is Zain and that’s when her cheeky attitude really comes forward!

3. Indiana Jones from Indiana Jones

Indiana Jones is one of the cleverest and quick witted characters I’ve ever seen. But more importantly, he’s human. I wanted to create a supernatural world but with very relatable characters. Like Indy, Samantha makes mistakes and ends up in sticky situations and they both have fears like you and I (can’t forget Indy and the snakes!). Indy and Samantha are really only human at the end of the day.

4. Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Katniss is a kick-butt character that I absolutely love and there are qualities in her that I definitely mirrored when creating Sam. The most important characteristic about Katniss is her strive to create her own fate. Even before she volunteers as tribute she is always pushing the boundaries of her district. Samantha is very much like Katniss in this sense, she will not settle for the reputation that her family’s name has developed and will go to great lengths to prove herself and carve her own path.

5. Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter Series by J.K Rowling

The characters in the Harry Potter series as a whole have definitely influenced my writing and inspired me as an author. But it is Hermione Granger that specifically inspired elements of Samantha while writing Madly. It is her desire for truth, her ability to learn, and her passion for what she is learning that I infused into Samantha. Just as Sam prefers natural potion ingredients as opposed to synthetic ones, Hermione also hates cutting corners (especially when it comes to studying!).

There you have it! I hope you enjoy reading about Sam as much as I enjoyed creating her and writing Madly! Let me know which characters inspire your writing @amy_alward.

Madly Blog Tour!

The Madly blog tour has started, and you should follow along and check out all these other blogs! 

PostApoc

Reviewer: Kristen 
Author: Liz Worth 
Pages: 184
Format: Paperback (sent my JKSCommuncations) 
My Rating: 10 out of 10

------ This was sent to us by the publisher for a fair and honest review ----- 

Summary (thanks GR): Sole survivor of a suicide pact, Ang has fallen into an underground music scene obsessed with the idea of the end of the world. But when the end finally does come, Ang and her friends don't find the liberation they expected. Instead, those still alive are starving, strung out and struggling to survive in a world that no longer makes sense. As Ang navigates the world's final days, her emotional and physical instability mix with growing uncertainty and she begins to distrust her perception in a place where nothing can ever be trusted for what it seems to be. Bleak and haunting, "PostApoc" blends poetry and punk rock, surrealism and stark imagery to tell the story of a girl wavering at the edge of her sanity.

My Thoughts: Holy crap. Where do I even start with this one? The cover? The writing? The story? All of the above might be too daunting a task to do at once, so I'll start with the cover. Oh. My. God. How creepy/haunting/beautiful is that cover?! Seriously though, it's perfect for the story. It sets the mood perfectly. And that title? That title is perfect, it has so many different meanings and connections within the story. I don't want to spoil anything, so you're just going to have to read it yourself! (Trust me, you should be doing that anyways.) The writing is definitely, without a doubt, hands down my favourite part of the story. It's written beautifully. There are no words to describe how beautiful the prose in this story is. There were times where I would just re-read certain parts because of how beautifully it was written. It definitely inspired me to get writing, and it takes quite the novel to make me wanna do that lately. The story was so unique and so engrossing. It was dark and beautiful and twisted and I've already re-read it just so I could really appreciate it. I loved this novel, and I promise you, you will too. 

Final Thoughts: Go, go go! 
P.S for the playlist click HERE

THIS WILL BE RELEASED OCTOBER 15th, DON'T MISS OUT!