Brandi's Blog

Aspiring Author Sparking Thoughts

Wings

Written by Aprilynne Pike

Aprilynne Pike

Wings is well in a word…Faeryastic! I loved the book. It was a new twist to an old fairytale. This was my first Faery book and I really, really loved it. It was recommended by Jackson Pearce, fellow author and funny gal..Thanks!

 The book centers around Laurel, a beautiful, sweet, strange teen. Laurel is an excellent character. She is as human as you or me, but not quiet just a human. Adopted by her loving parents she grows up home schooled. When she starts public high school she has to make friends and learn to be a normal girl. All the while she struggled with her own weirdness she found a connection in a great guy, David. David is calm and sweet, the kind of guy every girl would love to be best friends with and even more.

 The slowness of the first half builds up to a very dramatic ending. I kept fighting the urge to read ahead. Enter the handsome and mysterious Tamani. He is the kind of character you want desperately and love to hate the fact that he’s actually not able to be real. David could be real he could be a guy you know or grew up with. Tamani is something different, something strange and mysterious. I wanted to know all about him. I want to know what he can do and how he does it. I really want to know if he and Laurel are going to pollinate… You’ll have to read Wings to know what I mean by that.

 I really do recommend this book, it’s a great read.

 I give it 4 1/2 Bran Stars!   

 + 1/2 Bran Star

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I’ve stumbled onto my new obsession….Book Trailers. I know your asking yourself.. What is that? Well for those of you that have been living under a rock like I have, they are a wonderful way to get across your book visually and musically. I love putting music to a novel, it sets the tone for the reader. Here are a bunch of books on u-tube. Check them out! Some I want to read right away like Hush Hush and others are great trailers but not my taste. Of course you have the trailers that totally suck too. You will have to be the judge. 

Nathan Bransford,agent, had a guest blogger on today that wrote about how easy it was to do his own trailer. Now I have to do it! Oh course I will be spending the next month playing and obsessing. Damn you Nathan.

I would love to hear what you think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UsDkZ1Ej5I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kYv8Vc9tFQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWNGIRTU2u4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_UUVwTaemk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7IpLhITWvs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrZ7IsA79ck

This is a clip by Jakson Pierce – she is hysterical!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ_-TOJhXXk

Note to self: Learn how to add an actual youtube video not just the links!

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At First Sight

Written by Nicholas Sparks 

Nicholas Sparks is a well known author of books (and movies) like Nights in Rodanthe, The Notebook, etc.. I picked up this second hand book for $.50 at a flee market. It’s a good thing too because I would never pay full price for this novel. I expected to love it, he’s a NYT Best Seller. It was the most awful book I have ever read! I know that sounds harsh, but really, it was terrible.

The story starts off bumpy, a sad man pining for some lost love. Then poof to the past where this NY writer (so cheesy writing about a writer) leaves NY for a small town girl he fell in love with in a day. I am a believer in love at fist sight, that’s what my novel is about, but this was stupid. The book is written in a man’s voice, Jeremy. He’s an ok character but boring. He never really does anything. Most of the book is spent in his head talking about his thoughts, which are shallow and stupid. He loves Lexi, she is his soul mate. OK that’s great. But then he gets some random e-mails and begins to question her love, her honesty, and the baby she is caring. I mean, COME ON! If you love someone unconditionally why would some random e-mail upset you? It just doesn’t make since. Why wouldn’t you just talk about it? The whole thing was dumb. I found myself reading the first three pages of a chapter then the last three, all the crap in the middle just sucked eggs.  

 He actually complained in chapter 15 about being rejected (sexually) after they got married. He remembered the exact date! What a tool. Then there is a problem with the pregnancy, which is drama but not the kind I like. Then when it was time to go to the hospital he took a long shower and clipped his nails. Who does that? What kind of husband/father is that selfish? Then he does the unthinkable, blames the baby. I won’t give away the end. I can say that the very last chapter was the best in the entire book.

Bottom line, Jeremy is a jealous hysterical man most of the book. You can just skip CH 1 through 18. Start at 19, it finally gets interesting. I can see what Sparks was trying to do. He wanted to show true love and true loss, but fell short.

 I give this book two Bran Stars.

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