Kyla Stan's Blog: Book and Tea Blog

Can Kpop idols date their fans without drama? Obviously not! xDFind out more in this book review

A review of this classic tale:Which is better?

Hi Readers! I hope you're enjoying your summer so far and finding some excellent books :) In recent months, I've been entering more...

An ARC review of this twisted horror novel with a breakdown of literary techniques

an exploration of The Last Cuentista and what novice writers can learn in this emotional sci-fi novel.

This blog shares the best in YA literature and how new writers can learn from these techniques

Today's Tea Choice: Bigelow Earl Grey (Citrusy and Refreshing!)

Trigger Warnings: child death, demons, adoption, self-harm scene, mild violence

Genre: YA Horror/Paranormal

Pages: 296

Summary( goodreads.com ):

Something freaky's going on with Sunshine's new house... there's the chill that wraps itself around her bones, the giggling she can hear in the dead of night, and then the strange shadows that lurk in her photographs. But the more weird stuff that happens, the less her mom believes her. Sunshine's always had a quirky affiliation with the past, but this time, history is getting much too close for comfort...

If there is something, or someone, haunting her house, what do they want? And what will they do if Sunshine can't help them?

As things become more frightening and dangerous, and the giggles she hears turn to sobs and screams, Sunshine has no choice but to accept what she is, face the test before her and save her mother from a fate worse than death.

The first in a frighteningly good new series based on the popular YouTube sensation The Haunting of Sunshine Girl Network , created by Paige McKenzie.

My Review:

Ghosts have always fascinated me, especially since I grew up in a house where someone died. Unexplainable events started occuring when we did some light construction, and since then, I've been a believer. I also love to read a good ghost story, so I couldn't pass this one up when I found it at my local library!

 

What I loved:

Plot: The book begins with immediate intrigue in the prologue. Someone or something is watching Sunshine on her sixteenth birthday as she blows out the candles on her cake, surrounded by her mother and best friend Ashley. This creepy figure also notes that Sunshine's heart rate increases along with her body temperature, but we aren't sure why. All we understand is that a massive change occurs within Sunshine, something that later impacts the plot.

As we progress into the first chapter, Sunshine and her mother Kat move into a new home. We instantly feel a sense of dread within our MC. Something about the house is not right, and although she tries to tell her mother this, Kat ignores it and explains it's just the nerves of moving to a new state. However, when Sunshine hears a little girl giggling and running along the second floor hallway, she immediately knows they aren't alone. Paige Mackenzie really builds the tension and suspense in these opening chapters and hooks the reader into the story.

Things continue to get worse with Kat, who is normally happy and relaxed. Sunshine slowly notices a turn in personality as she becomes snappy, resentful and even violent. One night at the dinner table, Sunshine cuts into her chicken and discovers its raw, but Kat eats it and claims it's perfect! As a vegan, this made me sick but I appreciated this scene because it's a prime example of using show don't tell and subtext.

Once Nolan, Sunshine's new friend learns of the haunting and uncovers research, we learn that there is an entire world of luiseach (guardian angels against dark spirits) protecting humans and the author included excellent lore on how spirits work in this world along with how they become malevolent. The end of the plot has an engaging supernatural fight that ends with even more twisted turns to set up the next book!

POV:  The story is told in first person POV so we get a sense of Sunshine's emotions and her intuitive feelings about the house. The narration style also keeps you guessing what is real or something else with all of the unexpected events. Sunshine even questions if she's crazy, creating instances of an unreliable narrator. Mackenzie also included smaller chapters from the mysterious person watching Sunshine during the prologue. As a reader, this had me guessing who is following her and who we can trust, furthering my intrigue about the plot!

Setting/Historical Context: When Sunshine moves to Ridgemont, Washington, we see from her perspective how her world is changing. Instead of warm Texas, she moves to an eerily quiet neighborhood that is constantly foggy and cold. There aren't any kids playing outside, no neighbors, nothing. Utilizing this technique of personification within the setting is effective in convey a dark, tense tone, a sense of a foreboding atmosphere right away. You can also check out my Key Writing Post about The Impact of Weather on A Scene.

When she gets inside, Sunshine immediately feels freezing, comparing it to feeling cold when you're sick despite having a fever. This is another excellent instance of foreshadowing and subtext, showing that this house is infested with something and also hinting at possible illness. The house layout was a bit difficult to picture since it's so important to the plot, but I still enjoyed the novel!

Ghostly Elements: The tension is built up well since the book starts with multiple small incidents of ghostly encounters. Sunshine's stuff is sometimes moved in different spots like her favorite taxidermized owl (weird AF) or her collection of board games. Then one night a game of checkers is set up and ready to go on her bed and when she doesn't play, the lights flicker and the TV gets messed up. But things get dark when we learn who is inhabiting the house, how they died, and why they are there (no spoilers!)

Characters:  Each character was described well with just enough physical features for readers to picture what they look like with personality traits shown through dialogue, actions, and other elements. Sunshine is a teenager who loves vintage stuff and shops at thrift stores. She also loves classic novels, especially Jane Austen books, which adds a quirky touch to her personality! We can also see through interactions that Kat and Sunshine are close, which is why it's so devastating when Kat starts acting aggressive and nasty later on.

The visual arts teacher is another strange but intriguing character. Mrs. Wilde is described as very pale with long dark hair, always wearing black, and reminded me of Morticia Addams.

Then there is Nolan, who was one of my favorite characters! He serves as a potential love interest while also becoming Sunshine's first friend in her new school. They quickly bond over vintage items and their love of history. He also seems to have some connection to the dead as Mrs. Wilde points out when examining his art project(which had nothing to do with death, so I was super curious where this was headed!) Sunshine always feels extra hot around him, but not in a flirty way. She's super uncomfortable and even mentions wanting to gag. This reaction is hinted at slightly later on but still needs more exploration in the next book.

Dialogue: The interactions were written authentically with cute banter between sunshine and her mom, showing their close bond. The dialogue was also really well written with her friend Ashley with some cute banter and minimal dialogue tags, a must if you want to keep the focus on conversation.

What Needed Improvement:

I had very few issues while reading this book, and it constantly kept my interest. However, I wish the house layout was described in more detail. If you don't read high fantasy or lore-rich novels often, you might find it difficult to keep track of the ghost's backstory and the supernatural lore.

 

Authors Can Learn:

-How to utilize the setting to create a sense of foreboding with foreshadowing elements

-How to build tension within your plot and avoid unnecessary exposition

-The importance of minimal dialogue tags and great character detail.

 

Readers Will Love This For:

A fantastic start to a ghostly trilogy with a different spin on common supernatural elements.

 

 

I give this book 4 stars.

 

Kyla

 

(Hi everyone! Just re-publishing this since there was an error in the original. Carry on!)

You may have began reading a scene and wondered why the author chose a blizzard in the middle of the night, or perhaps a warm spring day. Although these simple choices might not seem like much, weather details are extremely important when writing a scene.

 

Let me introduce one of my favorite video games, Until Dawn.

 

 

Now if you look closely, you will notice snow. This gruesome, yet enticing video game takes place in a blizzard. Can you guess what happens?

 

 Death, death, and more death!

 

Think about it this way.

 

During blizzards or snowstorms, life is asleep. Animals are hiding, trees are without leaves, and a lot of plants are dead. Authors use blizzards, snow, and other deadly weather events to signify a macabre or melancholy theme.

 

Here is another example:

 

 When I Googled spring, this is an image that comes up.

 

What does this image mean to you?

Happiness, love, warmth, relaxing times, or fertility.

 

Authors use spring and summer to represent happier, more romantic events, such as a first kiss. Spring could also represent a change in a character's environment or life.

 

Here is a guide for other weather events and their symbolic meanings in literature:

 

1) Spring:

Happiness, love, romance, warmth, fertility, sex or a major change in a character's life.

 

2) Summer:

Summer can have two meanings.

If it's a pleasantly warm day: Similar messages compared to spring. Happiness, love, freedom, warmth, fertility, birth, life.

 

However, if the weather is oppressively hot, like a 95 degree day, this can signify: tension, the beginning of a fight, a signal of bad events coming the character's way.

 

3) Fall:

 The environment is going under an extreme change. The leaves are turning, loosing life, while the animals are scavenging for winter storage. This season represents a major change, usually into something negative.

 

4) Winter:

Last, the season that most authors use to represent death. In a similar fashion, a major storm can also signify death.

 

 

 

I hope this post gave you inspiration on how to choose a season for your novel or short story. What do you think? Would you change anything in this post? Post a comment below.

 

Kyla

 

 

Dear Friends,

Over the last few months, I've shared how much my health impacted my writing endeavors and just life in general. Fighting fibromyalgia is HARD like final boss level difficult and you don't have the right weapon. Add on migraines and the other stuff that comes along with the disease you can feel defeated. I've even mentioned these struggles in my latest novel Community Garden.

For many years, I've discussed how much I love animals, whether they have scales, fur, feathers, or even an exoskeleton! This week, I tried veganism and I cannot believe the difference I feel: less chronic pain from fibromyalgia, more energy and better endurance. I've also updated my fibro medicine to help with the pain, but having this new plant-based mindset is game changing.

I also watched the documentary on Netflix called "You Are What You Eat." Please give it a chance. The "farming" industry is absolutely disgusting, and even if you're vegetarian, those animal products like eggs (avian flu anyone?) or milk (yay for GERD/inflammatory diseases) still cause suffering.

Veganism is NOT tasteless or gross! In fact, let me introduce you to Krimsey Lilleth author of the Vegan Cajun Cookbook. This book has changed my perspective about what we can do with plant-based ingredients! And there are SO MANY vegan cookbooks out there! <3

This year, try a different approach to healthy, clean, and delicious eating!

Love Kai <3

#veganism #animallovers #lovetheplanet #youarewhatyoueat

Please note: this post will be continuously updated as I read the other books.

Today's Tea Choice: Starbucks Peppermint Mocha (cuz we all still need a boost!)

Trigger Warnings: scenes with blood (duh, it’s vampires) parental death, grief, animal death scenes, self-harm

Genre: YA Paranormal

Pages: 332

Summary( goodreads.com ):

Only a true best friend can protect you from your immortal enemies...Lissa Dragomir is a Moroi princess: a mortal vampire with a rare gift for harnessing the earth's magic. She must be protected at all times from Strigoi; the fiercest vampires—the ones who never die. The powerful blend of human and vampire blood that flows through Rose Hathaway, Lissa's best friend, makes her a dhampir. Rose is dedicated to a dangerous life of protecting Lissa from the Strigoi, who are hell-bent on making Lissa one of them.After two years of freedom, Rose and Lissa are caught and dragged back to St. Vladimir's Academy, a school for vampire royalty and their guardians-to-be, hidden in the deep forests of Montana. But inside the iron gates, life is even more fraught with danger... and the Strigoi are always close by.Rose and Lissa must navigate their dangerous world, confront the temptations of forbidden love, and never once let their guard down, lest the evil undead make Lissa one of them forever...

My Review:

 Vampires are a classic, from Bram Stoker’s Dracula to Stephanie Meyers’s Twilight series, and remain popular to this day. This book was first published in 2007 when I was in high school during the vampire craze. I’ve always been more of a werewolf girl, but after reading this first book, I might turn over to the no-sun-bloodsucker side!

 

What I loved:

Plot: The book begins in media res, creating tension within the first few pages. Several events have led the main characters to run away from the Vampire Academy (you learn more later- no spoilers!), tying back to Lissa's parents and brother being killed in a car accident. However, they live like fugitives in the first chapter until a few skilled guardians from the academy track them down. From there, the pacing is a bit slow with occasional events to propel the plot, but I wanted to see more by the hundredth page. However, there is plenty of clique drama that held my interest despite this being for teens! We also learn more about vampire powers and how Lissa is special along with how these powers affect her mind.

Toward the end there is a great climactic event that leads into the next book!

 

Characters: Rose and Lissa are described right away. Lissa is a blonde Moroi (see later on), who is royal, more controlled with her emotions, loves animals, and is super powerful. Rose is a dhampir, and since she is training to be Lissa's bodyguard, she is protective and defiant, often acting on her emotions instead of what's best for her. In fact, Rose reminds me of myself in high school, much like Violet is in the Skin Walker series. Even though these characters are different from one another, they have a psychic bond that is legendary among their race, so it was cool to see the descriptions of Rose feeling Lissa's emotions and seeing through her eyes.

Vampire elements: Within the first few pages, we see Lissa's first feeding on Rose, something that is considered very taboo and wrong(we learn later why). In this world, vampire saliva has endorphins, creating a euphoric feeling anytime they feed. Some can also compel others, which is a hypnotic power, but it's frowned upon to use it in vampire society.

There are different vampire levels in this society, which is also very cool.

Moroi: vampire royalty who also wield earth magic that is considered sacred and not used for violence (Lissa).

Dhampir: half vampire, half human(Rose), they are trained to be guardians for the royal Moroi and protect them against the next race.

Strigoi: immortal vampires who have a thirst for Moroi blood. They completely drain their victims, causing them to turn into murderous monster vampires who are super powerful and strong.

 

POV:  The story is told in first person POV from Rose's perspective. While using this perspective allows us to see and feel the character's emotions, I wish we could've seen some chapters in Lissa's perspective as well since she is an integral main character.

Setting: The school was described well, with towering Gothic architecture and modern furnishings inside. Within the school are the usual cliques and drama like any other school. At times, it was difficult to picture how the school was laid out since it's pretty complex.

Dialogue: The dialogue was well written and authentic, especially since this an older vampire novel. Richelle Mead uses minimal dialogue tags to keep the focus on the exchanges while also using subtext or the show-don't-tell method to reveals emotions/tension. Some slang and curses are also used in moderation, adding another layer of authenticity. Rose is very sarcastic and ruthless, so reading her dialogue was funny!

What Needed Improvement:

It's difficult to say what needed improvement since I really enjoyed this first novel! The pacing was a bit slow in some parts, but otherwise, I carried this book everywhere.

While I was sewing.

Before bed.

Even in the bath!

I couldn't stop reading it!

 

Authors Can Learn:

How to create a different perspective on classic monsters along with a distinct society.

The importance of first person POV, and whether a second POV is needed.

How to create authentic dialogue.

 

Readers Will Love This For:

A thrilling first novel in this distinct vampire series with plenty of romance, terror, and blood :)

 

 

I give this book 5 stars.

 

Kyla