April 2021 - Plaid Reader Reviews

Willa of Dark Hollow Review

Posted on April 29, 2021April 29, 2021 by Plaid_Reader

NOTE: Willa of Dark Hollow is a stand-alone story that does not require reading any of the author’s previous books Even though this is the case I would personally recommend at least the other Willa book. If you want the depth to the world read the Serafina books. The series arent connected. However, they run parallel to each other in an interesting way that bears putting reading the extra books if you have time.

Willa of Dark Hollow has already awarded a prestigious Kirkus Star. Kirkus has called it a captivating, stirring tale of family and friendship.

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read this wonderful book.

Summary

After going against her clan in the last book Willa is a Faeren girl with a foot in two worlds. By birth she’s Faeren. The Faeren are an ancient race of forest people that have lived in the mountains since the beginning of time. But the Faeren put her out, and now she’s living with a kind human Nathaniel who she considers her father and her sister and brothers.

They’ve peacefully made their home in the Great Smoky. But it’s a new century and times are changing bringing loggers to their peaceful home. When human crews start cutting down great swaths of the forests she loves. Willa feels helpless to stop them, how can she stop such powerful destroyers of the forest and powerful machines.

When Willa discovers a mysterious dark hollow filled with strange and beautiful creatures. She soon realizes it contains a terrifying force. Is unleashing its dangerous spirits the key to stopping the loggers.

Willa must find a way to save the people and animals she loves and take a stand against the all-consuming darkness meant to destroy her world.

Review

I’m a huge Robert Beatty fan. Its main themes deal with human and nature’s interconnectivity. Willa is personally dealing with her past and her future. She has to deal with what humans mean for the forest, and what the forest fighting back might mean to her, she has to figure out who she truly cares about, human, animal, Faeren, and forest. And figure out the best way to save them all from potential destruction.

Not to mention the mysterious and deadly creatures that are now filling the forest. Willa has to figure out what is going on all with the help of her new friend Adelaide. A girl who seems strangely familiar, and who becomes a fast friend to Willa. But when the fight for the mountain comes to Willa, will she and her allies have enough to withstand the darkness of both the humans and mountain and finally have a chance at saving the place they love for good.

Amazon: Willa of Dark Hollow

Author Recommendations, Giveaway, new releases

Foreverland Book Tour

Posted on April 28, 2021April 28, 2021 by Plaid_Reader

I’m taking part in a Book Tour for the book Foverland sponsered the wonderful folks at Turn the Pages Book Tours. Written by Nicole C. Kear. Foreverland was just released on April 21st 2021, published by Imprint, it’s billed as a Middle Grade it listed under the genres of Contemporary and Adventure. These are two genres I think describe it well though I would have added in a bit of fantasy as some of their adventures are somewhat fantastical.

Summary

Margaret is tired of everything always changing. Middle school has gone from bad to worse. Her best friend is becoming a stranger. And her family—well, it’s not even a family anymore.

So Margaret is running away to Foreverland, her favorite amusement park. Hiding out there is trickier than she expects–until she meets Jaime, a thrill-seeking, fast-thinking runaway who teaches Margaret how to stay one step ahead of the captain of security.

At first, this after-hours, all-access pass to the park is a dream come true: sleepovers in the Haunted House, nonstop junk food, and an unlimited ticket to ride. But as the runaways learn each other’s secrets, they must face the reasons they left their normal lives behind. With the Captain closing in and Jaime’s future on the line, can Margaret finally take control?

Review

This book is going to be a hit with the middle-grade set. I mean who wouldn’t want to spend all their time at a theme park, right? Right? That bit of question is where the story lies and it shows just because something is fun for a while, doesn’t always mean it’s fun forever. Just like eating too much ice cream. It will make you sick eventually Change is important in life. But Margaret wants to keep her life static, exactly the way it was before she learned her famialy was changing and middle school became a nightmare.

That puts her on a crash course with Jamie the park’s resident runaway, who makes big plans, has connections that involve burgers and ways to get unlimited rides. At first, Margaret is charmed, but Jamie seems to put the forever, in Foreverland. It’s like he’s been there since the park opened. When she asks about his past it’s like he’s a whole other person. No one can really live at a theme park forever, can they? But he gets Margaret out of trouble with the captain of security who is after Jamie too.

With the magic of the park on their side and a mysterious but prickly ally. They have to find a way to let go of their pasts if they want to move on and save Jamie’s from the Captain, and see that Margaret gets home safe. While this is going on they learn that while some staying in the past feels like the right thing to do, sometimes you have to let go and embrace the future.

Four out of five stars would totally love to read more from the author!

Purchase Foreverland

Foreverland Author

Nicole C. Kear is the author of the memoir Now I See You (St. Martin’s Press), chosen as a Must-Read by People, Amazon, Martha Stewart Living, Parade, Redbook, and Marie Claire UK among others. Her books for children include the middle-grade novel Foreverland, the chapter series The Fix-It Friends, and the middle-grade series The Startup Squad, co-written with Brian Weisfeld (all published by Macmillan Kids’ Imprint). Her essays appear in the New York Times, Good Housekeeping, New York, Psychology Today, Parents, as well as Salon, the Huffington Post and xoJane. She teaches non-fiction writing at Columbia University and the NYU School of Professional Studies.A native of New York, she received a BA from Yale, a MA from Columbia, and a red nose from the San Francisco School of Circus Arts. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, three children and two teddy bear hamsters.

Foreverland Giveaway Information

Up for grabs, we have THREE (3) paperback copies of Foreverland by Nicole C. Kear & ONE (1) K’NEX Thrill Rides Shark Attack Roller Coaster Building Set. This giveaway will run from April 26th to May 3rd at 11:59 PM CST and is open to US residents only.

GIVEAWAY LINK: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/1e4a114d26/?With

new releases, Recommendations

The River, The Lake, and The Ocean: New Releases this week!

Posted on April 27, 2021April 26, 2021 by Plaid_Reader

Water seems to be the theme for this week, the river, seas, and lakes. Prepping for summer for perhaps? We’ll have to see as future releases come out.

River Magic

Donna has always loved life by the river. Until her beloved aunt Annabelle died in a tragic kayaking accident. Now with money tight, her mom working, and her friends distant. Donna finds herself in the sway of an old woman who moves in next door. The woman hires Donna to clean part time and Donna figures this is a great opportunity to get over her friendship troubles. Plus she can help her family since the woman pays in gold!

But as time goes on Donna finds out the woman is an ancient, ornery thunder mage, and it doesn’t take much to make her angry. Before Donna knows it, the friend who dumped her is in danger and Donna’s family is about to lose their home. To save the day, Donna will need the help of a quirky new friend and the basketball team . . . plus the mysterious, powerful creature lurking in the river.

Releasing April 27th.

Amazon: River Magic

Sea of Kings

Thirteen-year-old Prince Noa, has always hated the ocean since it took his mother from him. But staying away from the sea isn’t easy when you live on a tropical island. And if he wants to keep his brother Dagan who is the brawn to his brains in line he’s going to have to deal with his fear of the sea.

However when a vengeful pirate lays siege to their home Noa and Dagan barely escape with their lives. They are armed with a stolen ship and a haphazard crew. They also have a magical map that make little to no sense, with this they sail to other kingdoms in search of help.

But navigating the seas proves deadlier than Noas fears. To free his home, Nos much solve the confusing map and charts and confront a dangerous one-eyed Pirate before an evil force spreads across the land and destroys the people Noa was meant to protect.

Releasing April 27th.

Amazon: Sea of Kings

Rescue at Wild Lake

Everyone knows that twelve-year-old Madison “Madi” Lewis. Is a stray animal magnet, to the point there is a rule she’s not allowed to bring home any more animals. After all, she’s rescued hairless mice, two birds, a rabbit, and a stray cat that ended up destroying their front porch.

Madi’s parents have put their foot down if they find one more stray animal in the house Madi won’t be allowed to meet Jane Goodall at an upcoming gala event.

But Madi finds the promise hard to keep when she and her two best friends Aaron and Jack rescue beaver kits whose mother was killed. The trio soon finds themselves at the center of a local conspiracy that the beavers and their natural habitats in danger.

Madi and her friends race to uncover the threat targeting the beavers, in using her animal skills and staying out of best skills in staying out of trouble.

Releasing April 27th

Amazon: Rescue at Wild Lake

ARCs

Arcs and Book Tours: Oh My!

Posted on April 26, 2021April 25, 2021 by Plaid_Reader

So I’m currently working on several book tours and enjoying them very much! I also have several ARCs through NetGalley to review. And I don’t know about you sometimes all of this can feel a little overwhelming. So I’ve got a few hard-won tips on how to keep your ARC and Book Tours in line and make everything a little easier.

Theses tips will be practical admit to the fact that some of us all put things off to the last minute.

Start early if you can. If you have a list of ARCS or Tour books do them by the first tour date. The caveat being if one of them is for a publisher. *cough* Big 5 *cough* They get pushed to the front of the list and paid more attention just in case that lands you more from that publisher in the reviews in the future.
Give yourself time to digest what you’re reading don’t finish a book and have the review the day after make sure you give yourself time to think about the review.
If you can’t do either of the above speedread from when you know the book is due, hopefully, making it your only focus and hopefully not the day before.
Be sure to pay attention to the publication date on your ARC: especially if you are on Netgalley or Edelweiss.
My personal tip is to keep a spreadsheet of all your upcoming ARC and Book Tour Books, a calendar is also a good idea for this purpose just to keep track of what you have on your radar.

Interested in more tips and tricks check out my Patreon, bookish info and and tarot tips.

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More Information about my tiers

Posted on April 25, 2021 by

I’ve got three tiers I’m open to having more as patrons would like and at lower prices as if that’s easier for some of my followers. At the moment, my tiers are:

Bookish Helpers

Followers at this tier will get early access to my posts, a suggestion in an actual book jar I will have set up every month. Followers will also get access to polls to help me decide what to read. Finally, they will get a free two-card reading every week and a Patron newsletter.

Bookish Knight

Followers at this tier will more one on one time with me. They will get access to polls about what I post about next, weekly tarot readings twice a month, and weekly oracle readings twice a month. Along with a Patron-only Q and A. As well as access to all the benefits from the lower tier.

Bookish Royalty

These wonderful royal folx get access to all the benefits of the lower tiers as well as: a full tarot reading every week and a full oracle reading every week. They also get recognition on posts on my blog. Finally a private Youtube/Livestream of my book reviews, so much goofiness will be on show. Also the only time you’ll see me on camera ever. EVER.

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Welcome

Posted on April 25, 2021 by

Welcome everyone to my Patron. I’m still working everything out including the art but I’m excited to get started here. My name is Solara and I blog over at Plaid Reader Reviews. I’m also a tarot reader for around two years now. I will have my individual reading rates up soon but by joining Patron you’ll get readings at a discounted rate. If I’ll be putting up more information about myself and about the Patron soon just wanted to say a quick hello.

Announcements, Weekly Wrap-ups

Patreon and Weekly Update

Posted on April 24, 2021April 24, 2021 by Plaid_Reader

Hope everyone is doing well. I’m going to some panels at Ya’llWest today and reading up for my book tours. I also want to let everyone know I’m starting a Patreon doing book-related content and tarot. In addition, I’m redesigning the website but I’m not as far along with that, one of the designers from the Patron is the same and the images are precious it just might be a bit longer before we get the whole web design worked out but believe me it will be adorable. Think of my new design as Lost in the Woods, and yes the Frozen pun was completely intentional.

This week has been pretty quiet, I’m starting to be able to walk unassisted, so I’ll only need a little more therapy, I lost my wallet so that was a bit of a pain. However my disability case is going well and I learn I’m going to be represented by the lawyer that the law firm is named after, so that, makes me feel better somehow. My hearing is coming up in the next month or so keep thinking about me.

I’ve been putting games by the wayside but I set up my Switch again and am going to try to get some play time in. I restarted my game because I was bored honestly.

I’m still reading books for the Autism and Disability Readathons, I probably won’t finish them all by the end of April but I’ve still found a lot of great books.

Anyway, here is my Patron if anyone is interested; Plaid Reader Reviews and Tarot. No stress of course if you can’t make that happen but thank you lots if you happen to be able to put in any time or money. I will make another post to the Patreon detailing more about the benefits of each tier soon so keep an eye out for that. I will also do things like explanations of the card on my Patreon along with my book reviews.

Photo by Lili Kovac on Unsplash

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Song for a Whale Review

Posted on April 22, 2021April 21, 2021 by Plaid_Reader

Summary

Iris is a tech genius. If you put any old radio in her hands she’ll have it running like it was never broken. But being the only D/d student at a hearing school makes her feel out of place. She has an interpreter and all but people often treat her like she’s not very smart. She feel like she’s not truly seen or heard.

When she learns about Blue 55, a real whale who is unable to speak to other whales she understands how he must feel. Iris who is already interested in sound waves from her interest in old radios has an idea. What if she creates a song for Blue 55, a way to sing back to him.

Even after she creates her song, how will she ever get it to him, he’s with a little luck and a little help from her grandma. The two of them take a trip that Iris will never forget. But will she get to play her song in time.

Review

I like the way this book explored D/deaf issues. I am in no way an expert on these issues but I did like the connection between Iris and her grandmother. Some children don’t learn sign language the way they that would make them more able to communicate. Communication is the real theme of this book and Iris comes back from her journey to see 55 as a better communicator and able to finally tell her parents what she wants, her grandmother also finds her voice.

This book is a five/five. I’d totally read it again. I would suggest this book for Disability Readathon but it’s not #OwnVoices. The author however is a long-time interpreter, but I don’t know about the feelings in the D/deaf community about interpreters writing stories so that might be an issue.

Amazon: Song For a Whale

Photo by Cameron Venti on Unsplash

Clementine with blue hair and a black dress and boots against the lady of the lakes background

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The Dark Lord Clementine Review

Posted on April 20, 2021April 20, 2021 by Plaid_Reader

The wonderful people at Algonquin Publicity allowed me to participate in their Book Tour for the Paperback edition of The Dark Lord Clementine. So this review will be a little different I’ll give a small summary, then share my thoughts.

The Dark Lord Clementine Summary

Twelve-year-old Clementine Morcerous never expected to fill her father’s shoes, even though she has been trained since birth to be a Dark Lord. But after her father falls ill from the mysterious Whittle Witch’s spell, Clementine finds herself in charge of her father’s evil empire.

Running Castle Brack and terrorizing the village looks surprisingly like running a farm. She realizes has her hands full after she has a little adventure outside the castle. When, Sebastian, the village boy who keeps following her won’t let up. She does what any evil villain would do, she makes him a Brack Knight. After all, it turns out her knight can help build a chicken fence and Clementine needs all the help she can get.

Clementine has her hands full: feeding the nightmares (evil horses), tending the fire-breathing chickens, picking the poison apples at the precise time they ripen, making sure the snake pit is cleaned out and the castle is defended. Oh and making sure the family grimoire Clementine accidentally turned into a chicken doesn’t run off. It is all a lot to handle.

Clementine realizes she’s going to need more than just the two people to help around the castle,luckily that’s just when more of the village boys show up wanting to be knights . The mysterious hunter Darka soon joins life at the castle and trains the boys in weapons to be knights.

Clementine is enjoying this life with Darka and her knights but she knows she’s walking a thin line; she still needs to find a cure for her father while keeping him unaware of the life she’s bulit

But when the price to pay for a cure goes against her beliefs, will she stand up for what her heart believes or for what she’s always been taught.

The Dark Lord Clementine Review

This book is hilarious and important at the same time. Clementine is a perfect example of how your past or your family doesn’t have to define who you are. The book has examples of facing your fears, finding what love is, and mending broken hearts. I definitely read it again this book is a total 5/5.

I can’t wait to read more books from Sarah Jean Horwitz.

Author

Sarah Jean Horwitz is also the author of THE WINGSNATCHERS, the first book in the Carmer and Grit series. THE WINGSNATCHERS was a Kids Indie Next List pick and a Junior Library Guild Selection. The second book in the series, THE CROOKED CASTLE, was released in April 2018. Sarah’s most recent novel is the standalone middle grade fantasy THE DARK LORD CLEMENTINE, which was an Amazon.com September 2019 Best Book of the Month and received favorable reviews from the New York Times Book Review, School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and more

Sarah’s other passions and interests include: ruining that movie or TV show you love with feminist critique, practicing hard (and yet still being awful) at handstands, curly and long hair care, improvisational movement, tattoos, and sheepishly guessing answers out loud while watching Jeopardy. She currently works as an administrative assistant and lives with her spouse near Cambridge, MA.

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Guys, I haven’t forgotten you!

Posted on April 16, 2021April 16, 2021 by Plaid_Reader

Hi guys, just wanted to let you know I have a lot in the works including website redesign. Look forward to it, it’s going to be beautiful. A very important review from Algonquin. A very important review for a book tour and two NetGalley books. What I mean to say is I’m in the weeds guys. the book review will come because I’m still reading from the readathons, I’m just not sure when. I’m going to do the best I can to keep posting content regularly I’ve also got a nice surprise coming! I can’t wait to share it with you guys. Hope to keep posting as regularly as possible!

Photo by Todd Trapani on Unsplash