Book Review: Hurt by Travis Thrasher

Wow! Just WOW!!! What a conclusion to an amazing series!! Thrasher has done the impossible and finished this series with a blast!

I was a bit afraid to read Hurt, wondering whether it would be a disappointment, or not. It turned out my fears were unnecessary. Just like the rest of the novels in the Solitary Series, Hurt was amazing. It left me breathless, and pleasantly satisfied.

Hurt was full of mysteries and revelations. Everything that got started in Solitary, Gravestone and Temptation found it's conclusion here, in Hurt. The sacrifices and demon ceremonies we witnessed before, now made sense. The power of God shone brighter and brighter the further the story developed, even though there was a time when the blackness threatened to cast a shadow over the characters forever.

To read full review, please click here.

Waiting on Wednesday #44

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly blog post by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights releases we're eagerly awaiting.
My pick this week is:

Title: HURT

Series: The Solitary Tales, Book 4 (finale)

Author: Travis Thrasher

Release date: January 1st, 2013

Summary:

His Rebellion Will Soon Turn to Hope.
When Chris Buckley first encountered the mysteries of creepy Solitary, North Carolina, he had little idea how far he would fall into the town’s shadows. After losing the love of his life, Chris tried to do things his way. He hunted answers. Then he gave up trying to find them. But now Chris comes back to Solitary knowing there’s a purpose for his being there. As he watches his place in a twisted and evil bloodline become clear, Chris waits for the last battle—and wonders who will be left when he finally makes his stand. The fourth and final book in the Solitary Tales shines light into deep darkness as Chris’s journey to Solitary comes to a dramatic close.

 Why I want to read it:

You can't believe how long I've waited for this book to come out!!! And I finally got it on Netgalley!!!! I'm so SUPER EXCITED, you can't believe it!! I ABSOLUTELY LOVED The Solitary Tales. There's mystery, love, hurt... all the drama and then some!

So how about you? What amazing book are you waiting on this week?  

Author Interview: Travis Thrasher

Hey guys! I'm thrilled to present to you one of my most favorite authors. Please welcome Travis Thrasher, author of "Ghost Writer", "The Solitary Tales", "Paper Angles", "Letters from War" and many many other awesome books, who was kind enough to give me an interview about his latest book "Temptation", book 3 of the Solitary Tales. I personally have only read the Solitary Tales, but honestly they're so good that I'm gonna have to make time for the other books as well. Please visit his site www.travisthrasher.com to see all the titles and learn more about him. Also he posts giveaways and free stuff events on there as well!!!

Hello, Travis! I'm absolutely honored to have you here on my blog, answering my fan questions. You already have three books from the Solitary Tales out, and the fourth one is on its way. Can you describe the feeling you get looking back to the beginning of it all?

Some ideas seem to evolve slowly over time. But the idea for this series came at one sitting. I still remember it very clearly and I mapped out some of the story. Like many ideas, I thought it was a good idea if a publisher took a chance on it. As I wrote the first book and began to weave the mysteries and the backstory of Solitary, I began to think that I had something really special. I still do.

I do, too. So, which one of the books was the easiest to write and why?

I’d say book three, Temptation. After a mysterious beginning and then a darker second novel, I wanted to lighten things up. Because of this, it was fun to have Chris run the opposite direction and avoid things. Of course, this is short-lived. Soon things come crashing down on him.

I completely agree. We all have our moments of weakness and denial. Out of the three (or four?) books in the series, which one was your favorite? What/who made it be so?

My favorite is probably the fourth, even though I loved writing that first one. The first book, Solitary, is all about mysteries and secrets. I was discovering them as I went along. The fourth and final book, Hurt, is all about answers and resolutions. I love endings to my stories, so it was natural to like Hurt.

Oh, shucks! This makes me want to read Hurt even more! I'm dying for answers! So, I was wondering, is any of your characters based on a person you know from real life?

This is all my autobiography, didn’t you know that? No—seriously, Chris is obviously based a bit on me. There are certain characters that have similarities to real people in my life. But the more Chris’s world has evolved, the more those characters have become truly unique.

Nice sense of humor, but seriously - I hope you don't mean Chris is like you in his battle with the supernatural, 'cuz that would be umm... slightly weird.  Though it's kind of possible when you think about it.  Okay, since we started the topic, if you could get into the Solitary world, which character would you like to impersonate and why?

I mention that Chris is a lot like me, so the obvious answer would be Chris. But someone else would be Uncle Robert. I’d like to fill his shoes and make him the hero he ought to be.

Oooh, Uncle Robert! Good one! I hope we see more of him in Hurt. He's been so mysterious thus far. Which leads me to the next question. Which character was the hardest for you to portray?

That’s a good question. I’m not sure, to be honest. I think when you’re writing in a first person point of view, you’re so focused on that character (Chris). Jeremiah Marsh is a difficult person to sometimes convey because he is inconsistent. That’s just his character. At times, he seems truly evil. Then at times, you’re wondering if he actually wants good things for Chris. He’s complicated, so that was sometimes hard to convey accurately.

I was wondering about Pastor Marsh myself. I love tricky characters, so I can tell you - you did great with him! Well, there was this one character that stunned me beyond belief, and in case you're wondering I'm talking about Aunt Alice. Could you tell us something more about this special lady? How she came to exist in your world?

I guess it’s just my demented imagination. When I first wrote Solitary, I wanted to add something totally crazy, so here came Aunt Alice and her mannequins. But like everything in Solitary, she has a purpose and a backstory. A rather important backstory, too. (I actually just got goosebumps writing that—I’m not lying). See—you can tell I kinda like this series!

I love this series! I can't wait to read about Aunt Alice and her crazy story!And in the end, I'd love to have a little sneak peak into your fourth book in this series (which I also hear is the last one).  What is one of your favorite lines from Hurt that you're willing to share?

Hurt ends the story of Chris & Solitary. I love how it ends. I looked over the last ten chapters trying to find a line to share—there are many, many lines that I dearly love. But some give away too much. I found this one which is vague but has a lot of meaning to me, on a personal level as well as in terms of the story:



          I want to take the silent nights when I look up at the stars and do something with them.


Wow! It sounds so melancholic, and sparkly at the same time! I can only say one thing -thank you so much for doing this interview!!!

Thanks for having me! Appreciate your support and enthusiasm for The Solitary Tales. Hope you enjoy Hurt!

In her shoes ~5~

Every Tuesday I will pick a character I've read about recently, perhaps even the week before, and try putting myself in her shoes. What things would I do differently? What have I learned from her behavior? That kind of thing. You are welcome to participate if you want, just please link back, so we could build a nice community of followers. Thanks!!! :)

This week I'll be stepping in a guy's shoes. Yeah, I know, perhaps I should've picked a different picture for the occasion, but I'd rather stick with the cute one above.
Anyways, you may wonder why I'm picking a guy. Is there something special about him? Why would I want to step in a guy's shoes?
Easy, because that particular guy could've made some different choices, and I just really wanted to point them out. By which I don't mean that the author didn't do his job well. In fact, he did his job splendidly. I'm just voicing my own thoughts here.

I'm talking about Chris Buckley from Travis Thrasher's Solitary Series. And I narrow it down to the latest published book, which got out on April 1st. It's called Temptation, and my review of it is available here .

So, if I was in his shoes, I wouldn't be so damn stubborn about rejecting everything and everyone who's really concerned about my well being. That includes his father, his sort-of-a girlfriend Kelsey, and yes, God. Because instead of welcoming the positive thoughts and the help, Chris rejected them, pushed everyone away and tried to just be. Well guess what? It's in those times - when we have no one and nothing to protect us - that the enemy strikes. It's exactly when he was weakest, when he was resigned, when he had almost given up, that the evil pastor and his entourage kicked in, trying to convince him to sell his soul to the devil.

And it was in that moment that I just wanted to strangle Chris and just take the command of his body. I would've never accepted the pastor's gifts, or his easy reassuring talk. Oh no! I would've steered Chris toward his father, who was a strong believer. He would've thought of something to do. That's what fathers are for, no?

Oh, and yeah. I couldn't believe Chris when he just left his mom to struggle with the alcohol and didn't try to do something about it.  She was sent off to a clinic and he didn't even drive her there, or visit her or phone her or pretty much anything.

I think this was the book where depression struck the hardest. And I just can't wait to see him fight back. The last book, Hurt, comes out next year :)

Book Review: Temptation by Travis Thrasher

Please take note that there are some minor spoilers in this review.

Another awesome book I got from Netgalley. Another awesome book from this extremely talented author.

I absolutely love this series, because not a single string of action, not a single word is out of its appropriate place. And also because everything in it is so unbelievably complicated. So complicated in fact, that you get the feeling that the tight knot of events and mysteries and unanswered questions would never ever get untied. And it's so complicated because people - real people - are complicated. Only a true writing master can portray fictional characters as if they were real, tangible, and Thrasher does a marvelous job of it.

During the entire novel I felt like...( more )

Waiting on Wednesday #10 and Winners announcement!!!

Happy Wednesday everybody!!! Those of you who have followed my giveaway's progress should know that today is the big day!!! YES, TODAY the winners get picked! Aren't you all excited?? I sure am!

I know it will be a really happy day for two of you and I'm super anxious to learn who the lucky winners are!! But before I go off to Rafflecopter and click the fortune buttons, I'd like to thank all of you who participated in my giveaway for the past two weeks! It was fun reading your comments! I'll make sure to throw another giveaway soon :))

So, with all that said, I think it's now time to announce the two lucky winners!

(drum roll....)

Winner #1 is Karen Senoo

and....

Winner #2 is Ning Zhu @ReadingbyKF

Congratulations to both of you!!! I will send you an e-mail requesting some information. Please respond in the next 2 days. If you do not, I'm afraid that I will have to pick another winner. So don't stall, please :))

Awesome, and now onto

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly blog post by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights releases we're eagerly awaiting.

My pick this week is:

Title: Temptation

Series: The Solitary Tales #3

Author: Travis Thrasher

Expected publication date: April 1st, 2012

Summary: The third book in the Solitary Tales series for young adults, Temptation follows the soul-wrenching twists of Chris Buckley's journey as he heads deeper into a darkness that threatens all he loves best.

As a reluctant student at Harrington High's summer school, Chris meets a fun-loving senior girl who offers a welcome diversion from Chris's past. Soon Chris no longer searches for the truth about the town of Solitary. He no longer tries to pierce its shadows. He no longer questions his role in its mysteries. He makes a new choice: he runs. What he doesn't realize is that he's running the wrong way-and is very close to being beyond any choices at all.

Why I'm waiting on it: OMG, because I loved book 1, Solitary!! It was amazing! If you haven't read it, I sure recommend you to do so! It's mysterious, captivating and would totally blow your mind!!! You can check out my review here  I know the cover seems very plain, but there's meaning behind the thorny rose and the red color of the title. *wink wink*

So how about you? What are you waiting on this Wednesday?