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Circumstellar
2014 Southern California Book Festival - Young Adult Winner. 2014 New York Book Festival - Young Adult Honorable Mention. 2014 London Book Festival - Science Fiction Honorable Mention. Circumstellar is the first book of the new series by J.W. Lolite. It explores the lore and mystique of ancient Sumerian culture and blends it into a tale of hidden worlds and secret races. It was just another day for me, Ingrid Fairheit, in the not-so-illustrious town of Dust Veil, Tennessee. For my slice of life that included waking up late for school, taking care of my lush aunt, secretly crushing on my best friend Ty, and making sure my glowing purple eyes didn't meet direct sunlight. You know, the usual business. Then a couple of jerks with a magic space rock popped out of thin air, assaulted me, and brought up a whole lot of drama and questions I could've done without. Ever since, I've had to put everything I learned in textbooks to the side as I explore deeper into the mystery behind the strange invaders.
Kindle Edition
First published October 26, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 30, 2014
Good twist on space aliens!
September 22, 2014
A very enjoyable read, you will be glad you read it!
June 6, 2014
Reviewed for Readers Favorite.
Ingrid has always been a bit different, her eyes are purple, and there aren't that many of those around and then of course there is the fact that they have a sort of glow to them, but her Aunt Kaline won't say anything about it, won't talk about her parents to her or about much of anything else for that matter. So Ingrid counts on her best friends Lesia and Ty for what she needs in life. They have been best friends since the time Ingrid moved to Dust Veil and they have always been there for her. As things begin to get strange, and she uncovers information about her parents they are still there for her and it turns out there are reasons the three of them were drawn to each other in the first place. J. W. Lolite brings the story of a child of mixed parentage, who has some secrets but the abilities to help, but doesn't know it yet in Circumstellar. It is more a story of the loyalty of friendship and family than the other worldliness of the parentage.
Circumstellar is a great story for teens and young adults. Although it is in this popular ideal of a child who has special abilities but was raised as a human child and only finds out in their teens, it is not about those abilities as much as it is about the loyalty of the friendships, the family and the connections to people. The abilities are second and don't play much of a role in the story, in fact they are hardly developed and are not in play in what Ingrid needs to do, it is friendship and loyalty that is what decides what happens. J.W. Lolite gives the reader a story that will attract the young reader because of the genre, but attract the parents because of the message and delight both with the story.
Ingrid has always been a bit different, her eyes are purple, and there aren't that many of those around and then of course there is the fact that they have a sort of glow to them, but her Aunt Kaline won't say anything about it, won't talk about her parents to her or about much of anything else for that matter. So Ingrid counts on her best friends Lesia and Ty for what she needs in life. They have been best friends since the time Ingrid moved to Dust Veil and they have always been there for her. As things begin to get strange, and she uncovers information about her parents they are still there for her and it turns out there are reasons the three of them were drawn to each other in the first place. J. W. Lolite brings the story of a child of mixed parentage, who has some secrets but the abilities to help, but doesn't know it yet in Circumstellar. It is more a story of the loyalty of friendship and family than the other worldliness of the parentage.
Circumstellar is a great story for teens and young adults. Although it is in this popular ideal of a child who has special abilities but was raised as a human child and only finds out in their teens, it is not about those abilities as much as it is about the loyalty of the friendships, the family and the connections to people. The abilities are second and don't play much of a role in the story, in fact they are hardly developed and are not in play in what Ingrid needs to do, it is friendship and loyalty that is what decides what happens. J.W. Lolite gives the reader a story that will attract the young reader because of the genre, but attract the parents because of the message and delight both with the story.
January 2, 2014
It was a really great read. I loved the humour and the sarcasm.
March 4, 2016
Interesting YA almost dystopian read with mid teen main characters who are set up to defend Earth against mythological gods from another plane or existence. I struggled with this as I felt the main character was always overreacting and seems unstable and unreliable as a narrator, though this might be indicative of the mid-teenage perspective of the 16 year old main character. Given that the age of the charcters is mid high school, I am fairly sure most teen readers will enjoy this. While the premise has promise, I had difficulty distinguishing between the two worlds Lolite had created. The world building rules were not clearly stated and what I originally thought were to be the "evil" characters often turned out to not be at certain times, perhaps on a whim, but I still don't understand the motivations for most of the characters. It would have been nice if Lolite had more fully described the two worlds and how they interacted - how the characters were able to move between them or not. I think if I had that information I would have enjoyed it more.
November 24, 2013
I don't usually go for new independent authors, but something about this book just interested me, so I decided to give it a shot. Best decision I've made in a while. I was so impressed with this book. It's got amazing characters and an incredibly unique story. It's told from the point of view of the main character, Ingrid, which results in some hilarious inner commentary. She's funny, but there's also some really moving and tragic moments she must push through. Great story. Highly, highly recommend it to any sci-fi/fantasy fans looking to start a new series.
December 28, 2015
More of the same old recipe from every YA around here and it wasn't even good at coping it. At least was a short one.
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November 23, 2015Abstaining from rating or review. Fellow 2015 Red City Review Book Award Finalist. Best of luck J.W. Lolite!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews