Today is my stop during the blog tour for One More Day by L.S. Murphy, Erika BeeBe, Marissa Halvorson, Kimberly Kay, J. Keller Ford, Danielle E. Shipley, and Anna Simpson. I share my review with you and there is a guest post/tens list by Erika Beebe. And there is a tour wide giveaway!
One More day
by L.S. Murphy, Erika BeeBe, Marissa Halvorson, Kimberly Kay, J. Keller Ford, Danielle E. Shipley, and Anna Simpson
Blurb:
What if today never ends?What if everything about life—everything anyone hoped to be, to do, to experience—never happens?
Whether sitting in a chair, driving down the road, in surgery, jumping off a cliff or flying … that’s where you’d be … forever.
Unless …
In One More Day, Erika Beebe, Marissa Halvorson, Kimberly Kay, J. Keller Ford, Danielle E. Shipley and Anna Simpson join L.S. Murphy to give us their twists, surprising us with answers to two big questions, all from the perspective of characters under the age of eighteen.
How do we restart time?
How do we make everything go back to normal?
The answers, in whatever the world—human, alien, medieval, fantasy or fairytale—could, maybe, happen today.
Right now.
What would you do if this happened … to you?
My Review:
I’ll review this one by giving my thoughts about each short story
Time Piece by Anna Simpson
This short story was really confusing, I had no idea what was going on and I couldn’t get a grip on what was happening. It’s too short to really explain a thing and there are alot of repetitive scenes, which makes it all more confusing. At the end I still had no idea what happened.
Dark Rose by Marissa Halvorson
This short story was interesting, but a bit rushed. I would’ve liked learning more and everything went a bit too fast. I did like the author’s writing style, but because of the short lenght I couldn’t really get into the story and there wasn’t enough explanation about what was happening and the different worlds and the other characters. And really why does everyone always think they are dreaming when something weird happens?
Dragon Flight by J Keller Ford
I really enjoyed this one, the pace was done really well. And the main character actually freaked out when time stopped. I really enjoyed this story and the explanation was so weird and unbelieveable, but also done really well. Although I was a bit annoyed when this main character also thought she was dreaming. I do have a lot of questions, how this exactly works, but for such a short story it was done really well, with enough explanation and story and the right pace.
The 13th Month by LS Murphy
This story was really good, it is the longest so far too. There really is a story and the pace is good too. There is even is some character development and a little bit of world building. The ending really surprised me, but it was a good ending too. I how this story is written. It’s a bit normality and then it isn’t anymore and then the ending trows it in a really different direction and puts it all in perspective.
Sleepless Beauty by Kimberly Kay
This was such a fun retelling of Sleeping Beauty. This story twists the original fairytale in comical way and while it’s short I really enjoyed it. I liked how some parts where predictable and then other so completely different from the original fairytale.
Stage Fright by Erika Beebe
This story was a bit confusing. It was about the stage and the time stoppin didn’t seem to play as big a part as in the other stories. I got the message of following your dreams from the story, but that was the only obvious part. I didn’t get who gabriels was and then Ben and there where a lot of flashbacks. I just couldn’t follow this story.
A Morrow More by Danielle E Shipley
This story started a bit slow and couldn’t really capture my interest. There was a strange plot twist and then after that again. It was a bit weird, although the inkborn sounded like an interesting concept.
To conclude: This anthology is pretty short and contains a lot of stories, short stories. While I am not a big fan of short stories, in the past I have read some anthologies that pleasantly surprised me. This on was just okay. There where two stories I really enjoyed: The Thirteenth Month and Dragon Flight. Maybe of the others felt a bit rushed to me, without enough explanation and some where just weird. So all in all there where some entertaining stories, but also some which I didn’t enjoy as much.
TITLE: Characters Make Me Feel New Things, Sometimes Better Things
By Erika Beebe
Some days, it seems like the world wants a piece of me—all at once. Yanked around, my head spins with this thought, and then that—I have a hard time grounding myself and finding the focus I need. Or maybe, I’ve had a bad day and my energy level just isn’t there. Nothing I usually do seems to work, like a cup of strong coffee or staring at a few great quotes, and when I find myself heading down one or of both of these rocky paths, there’s only one thing I can think of that gets me back on track—fast.
Characters, reading, and rereading some of my all time favorite books. It’s the best way I know how to calm my mind and generate new emotion. I can disappear for a while. It’s like an imaginary vacation without straining my wallet. And it’s not the plot that drives my escape. I am in love with stories of great character, relatable characters who touch a piece of me.
So today, I’m sharing my top ten all time character list. Most of the characters stem from more recent reads. All of them are my favorites.
So Here it is … My Top Ten Character List
1. Claire: The Main Character in The Morganville Vampire Series. A quirky sixteen-year-old girl, highly sheltered by overprotective parents, she’s brilliant. She tested out of the remaining high school years, a Physics genius. The character arc in the first book Glass Houses, blew my mind. I believed her story. I also feel like I watched her grow up in the series through her Urban Fantasy challenges. Plus, the plot in the book was incredibly creative. Physics and vampires? Wow. I loved it. And I loved every quirky character in the series.
2. Willow: The Main Character in L.A. Weatherly’s Angel Burn Series. I am a fan of angel books. Willow, by far, topped all the other leading characters in the angel books I’ve read. She’s a girl who doesn’t mind a little car grease on her hands, and can get under the hood and know what to do, well, yeah, amazing! Plus, she is an altruist, a lover of all things people and nature, and a girl with a heart of gold and an incredible backstory.
3. Cole: Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver Series. Reading his character voice for the first time in Linger, taught me the value in motive and character arc. His strong identity showed me the importance in making all characters different in a book, and not just acting different in body language, but sounding different, reflecting the unique needs and wants. I loved his rough edges. I loved his constant battle between life and death, and of course, the hope Maggie gave me for him.
4. Daphne: The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff. A child from Fallen Angels, she’s a half demon half human girl. Strong. True. She says things with impact. She’s burdened with fear for who she is, knowing someday she’ll experience her true demon power and is terrified she’ll hurt a human. She doesn’t want to hurt anyone, and a demon feeling that way? Wow. She also never experienced being loved and so she, in turn, is afraid of loving anyone. Her story is one of the best and truest character stories I’d seen in a long long time.
5. Rose: The Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead. I loved her strong no nonsense attitude. She’s a girl with a fighting soul and heart because she knows of no other life than survival mode. A protector of the elite, she covers her emotion with thick layers of skin. I loved when the layers peeled back and showed us how people aren’t always who they seem to be.
6. Joshua: Hereafter, by Tara Hudson. He was the love interest, and any character who defies what is normal because they’re so comfortable in their own skin, is a great character to learn from. After his near death experience, he woke up haunted by his attraction to the girl who saved him. A dead girl, who no one else could see. He doesn’t care how people see him talking to himself, and even kissing the air. He loves her. He’ll do anything to help her find out the truth.
7. Jo: Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott. As a thirteen-year-old girl, Jo was the first character I ever remember relating to. I bonded with her voice and I couldn’t stand what happened to her towards the end, unable to finish the book. Years later, I made amends with it. I even watched the movie and loved it. Here’s an excerpt so you can see why too (http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/alcott/lwtext.html):
Really, girls, you are both to be blamed, said Meg, beginning to lecture in her elder-sisterly fashion. You are old enough to leave off boyish tricks, and to behave better, Josephine. It didn’t matter so much when you were a little girl, but now you are so tall, and turn up your hair, you should remember that you are a young lady.
I’m not! And if turning up my hair makes me one, I’ll wear it in two tails till I’m twenty, cried Jo, pulling off her net, and shaking down a chestnut mane. I hate to think I’ve got to grow up, and be Miss March, and wear long gowns, and look as prim as a China Aster! It’s bad enough to be a girl, anyway, when I like boy’s games and work and manners!8. Patch: The love interest in Hush-Hush, by Becca Fitzpatrick. Sexy, dangerous, I get his bad side. I get his character ARC, too, and I love how he grows in the four books in the series.
9. Orual: Till We Have Faces, by C.S. Lewis. Again, she’s a strong girl who doesn’t want to fit into the norm. She has a story, being the underdog and sort of the ugly duckling next to her beautiful sister, and I loved how she fought to be heard.
10. Everafter: This is all time pick-me-up movie. Whenever I’m blue, and I need to switchover fast, I plug in my old VHS tape and watch Drew Barrymore play the best rendition of Cinderella. Sweet, honest, she’s true to herself.
And I am just a fairy tale girl at heart. :0)
Thank you for having me here. I always love the chance to ramble about reading. :0)
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