Review: Advice I Ignored by Ruby Walker

ADVICE I IGNORED

Stories and Wisdom from a Formerly Depressed Teen

by Ruby Walker

Young Adult Self-Help

178 pages

Advice I Ignored is the only book about teenage depression that was actually written by a teenager!

When Ruby Walker was 15 going on 16, she went from a numb, silent, miserable high school dropout to a joyous loudmouth in one year flat. Advice I Ignored answers the question everyone's been asking her since: What happened?

Full of stories, honest advice, fierce hope, and over 100 hand-inked illustrations, Advice I Ignored is an important resource for teens suffering from depression (which has reached epidemic proportions), parents who have one, and educators who want to help. Applicable for adults suffering too!

Amazon / B&N

MY TIDBITS

Honesty and openness hit every page as the author describes her own struggles with depression as a teen and gives advice on how others might be able to pull out of the same state.

The first chapter hits with a ray of hope before the theme of depression really slides in with chapter two. I found it refreshing to start off such a book with a bit of positive encouragement. After all, anyone who picks this up and starts reading it with the hope of maybe benefiting from the advice needs to know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. They wouldn't start reading if they weren't hoping for it. So, this already got a thumbs up from me just for that.

The rest of the book is also well done. The author goes through her own depression step by step, offering honest thoughts and experiences as she goes. The writing style is very relaxed and doesn't preach, but rather allows the author's own experiences to take center stage. These are ones that many readers will be able to relate to and easily understand the messages the author is trying to get across. There are more than a few illustrations throughout the book, which add a nice break to the more serious explanations and create an easier going read.

As to the advice itself... I always find these books difficult to judge. The author does give very solid tips and presents her thoughts clearly in a way, which readers can use in their own lives. But this book can't be seen as one which necessarily fits every depressed teen, but caretakers, guardians or anyone wanting to share this book with an individual should skim through it themselves first. For the right person, I see this as being a valuable read.

INTERVIEW

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be an actor, but I wasn’t very good at it. I did theater growing up. I was always auditioning and then getting disappointed when I couldn’t get the roles. After I dropped out, I decided to focus on art and writing instead, because you don’t need anyone’s permission to draw or write.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? Or what first inspired you to write?

I was always more interested in drawing than writing, really. But when I started my process of recovery, writing became really important to me. I think things get a lot easier to deal with once they’re down on paper. Keeping a journal helped me learn how to turn my experiences into something beautiful, or at least easier to process.

When you are struggling to write, what are some ways that help you find your creative muse again?

Sometimes I just have to be tough with myself: sit down, write something, even if it isn’t perfect. Other times, I’ve really been making an effort to write but the core concept just hasn’t come into my head yet. For times like that, I just try to go about my life in a way that makes space for thinking.  Going on a walk around the neighborhood, eating a quiet meal, taking a bath. Eventually I know I’ll think of something to say.

What’s the best writing advice you have ever received?

“If you’re bored writing it, people are probably gonna be bored reading it.”

What was your favorite book as a child?

I was absolutely obsessed with Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I used to sit up in a tree and listen to the audiobook on my little mp3 player for hours and hours. I must’ve read the whole series at least 9 times over. I had the prophecies memorized! 

And here she is...

Ruby Walker is an 18-year-old college student, artist and writer. Ruby grew up in Austin, moved down to Buda (TX), dropped out of high school, earned herself full tuition to a private university, and is currently studying art at Trinity University in San Antonio. Advice I Ignored: Stories and Wisdom from a Formerly Depressed Teen is the only book on teenage mental health actually written by a teenager.

Twitter: @Rubyirl

Author website: https://rubywalker.com/

Review: Jennifer Strange by Cat Scully

JENNIFER STRANGE

by Cat Scully

Haverhill House Publishing

Young Adult Fantasy / Dark Fantasy

298 pages

COMING...

JULY 21st!!!

When her father disappears, Jennifer Strange moves in with her estranged sister Liz in Savannah, Georgia, one of the most haunted places in the United States. When the ghosts begin to tear Jennifer and Liz's lives apart, the sisters must learn to trust each other again if they hope to uncover the truth about their family history. If they can’t sort out their differences, they’ll not only destroy the veil between the living and the dead, but fall into the hands of a rival family that wants them dead.

Cat Scully's illustrations bring the ghosts and demons of her fictional world to eerie and beautiful life, harkening back to the style of SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK and Ransom Riggs' MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN.

MY TIDBITS

After reading the blurb on this one, I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy, and I wasn't left disappointed.

Jennifer is left in a hard spot. Literally. Her father has dumped her off at her college-aged sister's place and taken off, leaving her only with a few personal items and a notebook. But there's even more behind all of it than first appears. Jennifer has powers, strange ones that she can't control let alone understand. She only knows it has to do something with her mother and that the notebook, containing explanations and more from her parents, is all she has to figure everything out. When everything breaks loose at school and some of her classmates wind up dead, Jennifer realizes how deep in trouble she is, and that there is so much more to everything than she even suspects. If she and her sister can't figure things out and get along, they might do more than just destroy themselves. They might release demons on the entire world.

For some reason, I was expecting this to be a graphic novel. It isn't, and it's actually good that way. This is a fleshed out novel, which allows the characters to gain depth and the plot to be woven in all sorts of unexpected ways. The fact that there are wonderfully done illustrations sprinkled in between, is an extra bonus.

The tale itself was as deliciously dark and as packed with adventure as I'd hoped it be. But then, with a character like Jennifer Strange, how could it not be? She is, at first glance, a fairly normal teenage girl thrown into a difficult situation thanks to a mysterious past. Her thoughts run fairly normal and her reactions are easy to relate to. Her powers are what throw her into the category of odd...and fitting to her name, they are strange. And almost as dangerous as the demons and evil itself. There is violence, and the stakes are high. The reader is kept on the edge of their seat the entire way through. Fans of darker, young adult fantasy are sure to enjoy this one.

Review: Esme's Gift by Elizabeth Foster

NOTE: I just popped by Amazon and noticed that this one is FREE (Kindle version) today!!!!

ESME'S GIFT

Esme Series, Book Two

by Elizabeth Foster

Odyssey Books

YA Fantasy

266 page

In the enchanted world of Aeolia, fifteen-year-old Esme Silver is faced with her hardest task yet. She must master her unruly Gift – the power to observe the past – and uncover the secrets she needs to save her mother, Ariane.

In between attending school in the beguiling canal city of Esperance, Esme and her friends – old and new – travel far and wide across Aeolia, gathering the ingredients for a potent magical elixir.

Their journey takes them to volcanic isles, sunken ruins and snowy eyries, spectacular places fraught with danger, where they must confront their deepest fears and find hope in the darkest of places. Esme’s Gift, the second installment in the Esme trilogy, is an enthralling fantasy adventure for readers 12 years and over.

        

MY TIDBITS

Esme returns to her home to find her father almost broken thanks to her mother's and her own latest dissappearances, but instead of finding hope of rebuilding what was lost, she faces even more dismal circumstances. Her step-mother is in control and is using her father much more than Esme first suspected. But when Esme approaches her father, he refuses to listen to her and wants her hauled off to the psychiatrist like her mother was. Esme escapes and is forced to try to figure out how to wake her mother from the coma on her own. But time is ticking and Esme hasn't even started to dig into the world of magic which awaits her.

This is such a well-written book! I did read the first one in the series and was looking forward to continuing the adventure. There's more character depth and a smoother, more enticing tension in these pages than there was even in the last book. Esme has grown, but still has a lot to learn. She's down-to-earth and although some decisions are a bit risky, it's understandable why she does what she does. It's hard not to get lost in this book as she battles not only to discover a way to help her mother but find the path to discovering herself.

From the first chapter, I was hooked. The opening scenes with her return home and meeting with her father pull at the heart strings, while adding the disturbing sense that evil lurks nearby. It's hard not to feel her desperation, hope and doubt as she comes up against all sorts of unexpected hurdles. It's nice that she doesn't have to tackle everything alone but has golden friends. And it's this ray of light which makes the darker moments so much fun to read. I can't wait to dive into the next book and see what Esme is up against next.

Review: The Natural Warrior by Leslie I. Landis

CHENDELL

A Natural Warrior

Book One

by Leslie I. Landis

Waldo LLC

YA Fantasy

221 pages

A super boy from a village in China and a super girl from rural Vermont meet in college and fall in love. Both grapple with their unique powers and purpose. Will they master their abilities in time to save each other and the ecosystem from certain destruction? And what twists does life have in store? Originally released in early 2019, Landis is re-releasing an updated version of her environmental YA fantasy as well as adding an audiobook format in April 2020, to celebrate Earth Day.

While on a research trip to the Peruvian rainforest, Robin Dell and Jamie Chen’s lives (and consciousness) are changed forever when they drink a shaman’s brew and are transformed into CHENDELL. Two halves of one person. A dual consciousness – female and male – in one body. This new being is streamlined. Eurasian. With one green eye and one dark brown eye. Shoulder length hair that is half auburn and half black. As CHENDELL, their fight is to save our environment from the people responsible for ecocide and biocide – the willful destruction of the environment and the annihilation of living organisms.

Individually, Robin can control insects and Jamie can communicate and control trees and plants. When joined as CHENDELL their powers are enhanced. Their senses are extremely acute. Their strength is exceptionally strong. Their mind is lightning quick. And their powers are extensively increased – not only with trees, plants, and insects – but also with other living creatures. All of nature is their ally.

Finally, Nature has a hero.

Amazon / B&N

Audio Book also available!!!

MY TIDBITS

Getting deep into the characters' heads, this is a story of change, hope, difficulties and finding one's self...even when it means embracing something completely foreign and others don't understand.

This book was unlike any I've ever read before. Not only does it combine superpowers with nature, but it also dives into a dual-gender existence and battles the question surrounding how mankind deals with the environment. Add a romp into different cultures and romance, and it's definitely a packed book. The messages are loud and clear, and the characters' battle to embrace everything as well as the can. It's a read with plenty of food for thought.

The writing and format of the book are also very unique. Instead of telling a tale from start to finish, the author allows each character to simply describe their thoughts as if they were in an interview and explaining the story and events to someone as they saw it happen. Unlike books which take the journal form, this constant change in points of view doesn't only include the characters, but also allows most of the side characters to join in. The result is a constant change-up from one view to the next. But it's never confusing, either. The name of the character about to narrate their thoughts and experiences is stated by name before each section starts. Each section usually only lasts a couple of pages...if that. This form allows the story to happen from many perspectives, making it clear why everything happens the way it does and how each character sees things differently. So, character depth is definitely given full points on this front.

I did enjoy the originality of the book quite a bit. Not only is it a new twist on superpowers, but the change in views made it easy to follow and gain a greater understanding of why things happened the way they did. Still, there was something about the style which felt like I was being kept an arm length's away from the world and surroundings. I couldn't really sink in. The audio book version (of which I only heard a snippet) seems to do better on this front.  The readers help the characters gain a little more color and come to life.

Readers interested in environmental issues, who love a sprinkle of fantasy/science fiction and romance and originality, should pick this one up and give it a go. It grows on you as you read it and opens up some different views.

Talking Points...

●     Is battling climate change already a lost cause?

●     Ways Leslie hopes that her novel will inspire young people to be environmentalists

●     What are ways that young people can start taking care of the environment

●     How does Leslie’s psychology background tie in with the way she forms her characters and plot?

●     Why did Leslie choose a boy and a girl to combine, and does CHENDELL’s dual gender have a particular meaning? How might this affect their romantic relationship?

●     How can celebrities like Silverstone and Grenier bring climate change and the environment to light?

Book Buzz...

"A lively nature-oriented superhero adventure…the heart of the tale comes together in the final pages." - Kirkus Reviews

"CHENDELL starts as a boy-meets-girl story, connecting a girl from the U.S., to a boy in China, told in an unusual compelling format. It is about love and family, but also about insects and trees. When boy and girl become a super couple, the reader accompanies them on a wild, dangerous journey, and then, when your heart is in your throat, something happens that is shocking, unique and utterly heartwarming. Leslie Landis has written a tale I'll never forget. Bravo!"

—Best selling author, Thom Racina

"Everything you ever wanted in a fantastical story but were afraid to ask! A superhero story packed with a delightful page turning packet of ingredients—adventure, love plus humor and wit. Be prepared to be invested in the Landis characters and swept up into their world and their dreams. CHENDELL and its heroes Jamie Chen and Robin Dell are just begging to be given the big screen treatment."

—Ivor Davis, Author of "Ladies and Gentlemen… The Penguins!" and "The Beatles and Me on Tour."

And here she is...

Leslie Landis has been a teacher, a financial planner, a bank trust officer, worked for a U.S. Senator, an associate director in television and a licensed therapist. Her first book, is a humorous take on our food and diet obsessed culture titled The Art of Overeating: A Bellyful of Laughs About Our Food-phobic Culture. CHENDELL: A Natural Warrior is her first novel. Leslie lives with her husband in Los Angeles.

Leslie’s degree in psychology informs her insight into how people look at the world and themselves. She created relatable characters who reflect the roles we play and the uncertainties of life. With a different take on gender equality and the battle to preserve our environment, her superhero CHENDELL speaks not only to young people but to all generations. In this captivating, exciting and realistic fantasy, Landis’ unique writing style presents a message of love, hope and commitment to fighting the real world evil forces destroying our planet.

Social Media:

Facebook: @chendellrevolution https://www.facebook.com/Chendellrevolution/

Instagram:  @chendellrevolution https://www.instagram.com/chendellrevolution/

Promotion Links:

Author website: http://chendell.com/

Mommy and Daddy's Day with a Review: The Fiery Crown by Jeffe Kennedy

It's Mommy and Daddy's Day, and I have the continuation of a series I started last year to present today. I was sure the first book in the series, The Orchid Throne, was a young adult read and looking back at my review last September (here), it appears I was right...or at least, it was advertised as a YA at that time. But after I dove into this second book, I realized that the series no longer falls under that audience. Since I did enjoy this read quite a bit, I'm shoving it into a Mommy and Daddy's Day post. Not only are our heroes now married (not a YA theme), but there are a few elicit scenes sprinkled in. While things do heat up a little, it's definitely nothing worse than I've seen in many YA books. So, here we go...

THE FIERY CROWN

Forgotten Empires #2

by Jeffe Kennedy

St. Martin's Press

Romantic Fantasy

400 pages

COMING...

MAY 26th!!!

A queen and her rebel prince turn from enemies to lovers while evil forces plot to destroy them in this lush romantic fantasy.

Following The Orchid Throne, Conri and Lia’s marriage of convenience has turned into an uneasy alliance. If only the two leaders could agree on something. Driven by revenge, Conri wants to attack Emperor Anure before the tyrant gets to them first. But Lia needs to keep Calanthe safe, and refuses to sacrifice her kingdom. Their ongoing battle for control has built up tension they’re both more than happy to release in bed, the only place where they find common ground. But Conri and Lia are developing deeper feelings for each other that are complicating matters. In the second book in the Forgotten Empires trilogy, Conri and Lia find their loyalties torn, and with Emperor Anure’s threat growing, will they be able to risk everything with each other before it’s too late?

       

MY TIDBITS

Well written and packed with character depth, this is a fantasy romance to get lost in.

After following the words of a prophecy, which Conri hopes will stop the tyranny of the emperor, and convincing Lia to marry him, he waits for the next steps to kick in. Lia, however, has her own concerns about saving her kingdom and island, Calanthe. The two are still constantly at odds, but as the emperor now readjusts his tactics, they know the time to act is quickly approaching. Somehow, they will have to agree upon a strategy, but considering each ruins the priorities of the others, it will be impossible to find a solution. Especially since Lia has secrets she can't divulge. But then, the emperor's power far exceeds whatever Conri and Lia can bring against him. So, there might not be any hope, anyway.

After reading book one, I was looking forward to diving into this one. Conri's troubled past and raw determination make him so easy to root for, while Lia is packed full of secrets and an even warmer heart. The two mix like oil and water, which makes sparks fly, especially since they refuse to admit their growing bond. This is what really stands at the center of this book, too. And that is what makes this second books so different than the first.

While book one had Conri escaping the mines and fighting back against the Emperor along with battling his way onto Calanthe and taking Lia's hand in marriage, book two doesn't have an ounce of action until about two-thirds of the way through the book. But that doesn't mean this one is boring. Quite the contrary...at first, for me, anyway. While Conri doesn't really do much in this book except offer a great foundation and trampoline for Lia and her secrets to bounce off of, it is fun to read his constant retorts and thoughts. Without him, the book would fall flat...but he doesn't really develop much in these pages either. Lia, on the other hand, opens up slowly and allows the reader to get a better handle on what she's dealing with.

The last part of the book hits with wonderful tension and action, which leaves everything on a more exciting note. It is a lovely read and engagingly written. Those who love lots of back and forth and learning more about the characters will enjoy this one quite a bit. For those like me, however, who enjoy more plot and action...it falls a little short. I found myself skipping more than a few paragraphs during the middle third. Still, I definitely recommend this one to the audience I just named because they are sure to love it.