It’s not often that I don’t finish a book or won’t promote a book I’ve read, even if it wasn’t my absolute favorite there’s usually something I liked about it. And I’ve never thrown a book away physically until this morning. Let me back up though to explain myself before you get the pitchforks out! Weeks ago, my husband and I watched King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. It was supposed to be a six movie franchise that fell through when it spent more than it made, but I loved it! It got me curious about all the Arthurian Literature out there. When I was completing my BA in English Literature I took an Arthurian Literature class. Mind you, this was over ten years ago so I barely remember what I read but I do remember “The Mists of Avalon” was one of them. I remember because it was the only book I’d ever given a one star rating to. I absolutely hated it. But as I sat picking out new Arthurian literature to read I couldn’t remember what it was I hated about this book exactly. During my early twenties I was definitely more Twilight, less medieval, but that’s changed now. Maybe I would like it I thought. So I bought a used copy from some library in Kentucky and dove in. It was good. There was a lot of Christian hate and you could definitely tell the woman who wrote it didn’t think much of marriage or a woman being tied down, but I was still enjoying this time period piece, anxiously awaiting King Arthur to appear on the scene as I read the love story between his mother and father blossom. Then, I decided to check out some reviews on Goodreads. I found one that mentioned “Yes, that author” and had a link, so naturally I clicked it and it led to a blog post about Marion Zimmer Bradley and how in 2014 her daughter spoke out against her with accusation of child molestation! At first I thought it was a joke article. No way it could be true. Then I read more. Her husband was arrested and died in jail. There were claims of molestation and rape from the age of 3-12 by both parents. It made me sick to my stomach to even think about! I knew in the book issues were tackled about women and marriage and sexual freedom and I had already read about a husband forcing himself on his wife and I was only 80 pages in. I saw everything in a whole new light, though. I had to put the book down after reading those articles. It bothered me that it was even sitting on my nightstand while I slept. I knew I couldn’t continue to read it. As an author I know all too well how our beliefs, values, and personal lives creep into the very bones of the books we write, the stories we tell, and the characters we create. I just couldn’t bring myself to travel deep into the mind of a known child molester. And it made me so sad to read that this poor woman who suffered so much as a child never spoke out because she didn’t want to mar her mother’s legacy, to disturb everyone who was helped and empowered by her mother’s work. Even after everything her mother did to her and allowed to be done to her by others, she still had the desire to protect her mother, her lifelong work, and everyone that work helped. I was heartbroken for her, but I’m so glad she’s found the strength in her to speak out and that there are so many people behind her and supporting her. Needless to say, the one star review remains, because I’m sure it was there for a good reason. It was a part of the curriculum in 2011-2012 when I took the class, but I’d be interested to see if it’s still required for their Arthurian Literature class after the 2014 allegations. I’d hope not. All I can say is that the deprivation of this author must have leaked through the pages and even then it was enough to turn me from it and leave the terrible review I did. This book is now sitting in the bottom of my kitchen garbage waiting to be thrown out of the house. The very act made me feel so much better. I then grabbed Le Morte d’Arthur by Thomas Mallory. I’ve only read the forward to the Canterbury Classics version of this legend but I’m excited to dive in.
I am such a huge fan of historical pieces, especially about people who live in communities like the Vikings did. They’re so ancient, they have so many legends that they’re almost myths themselves now. I was weary about this one only because I have a love/hate relationship with YA novels. I love how they’re written usually and the stories they tell, but I am not a fan at all of when they make the female character smitten, lovestruck, and hopeless for a guy, obsessive really. It’s such a huge book turnoff for me. There was a little of that in Fable by this author but then Namesake (the second book in that series) was better about it. When I read this was her first debut novel I had no idea which way it would go.
Right away I got sucked into the Viking world. Eelyn was such a tough, family loyal seventeen year old that I couldn’t help loving her and her little village of friends and family. This story really was more about family dynamics than love. Of course, there was love in it but Eelyn fights it for most of the novel and when it happens I actually wanted it to happen! It wasn’t gushy, it wasn’t forced, it wasn’t the center of the story, it just was meant to happen so I was happy when it did.
It’s hard to tell you all I really loved about the book without giving huge spoilers away. I’ll just say I was very surprised this was her first book (after reading her latests first) because it was so well written and engaging. The descriptions were beautiful and put you in Eelyn’s Viking world. The dialogue was natural and oftentimes I got teary-ryed, especially at reunions.
The thing I love most about YA is all the fanart that people make. This is just how I pictured Eelyn!
If you haven’t read Adrienne Young I would start with this one! It was so enjoyable and I’ll definitely be picking up the next one, which I hear takes place a decade after Sky in the Deep.
I’ve finally started outlining and planning my third and final book in the Dead Soil trilogy, “Dead World”. To help me stay on track with the characters and their changes and progressions I like to collect photos for character inspiration. It helps me to bring them to life in the story and I like to share that with my readers so they too can see what I’m seeing as I write and work on the story.
I have always used Amanda Seyfried as the character inspiration for Christine, one of the main characters in my story. In the world before zombies she was a lawyer in Chicago, kind of an introvert when outside the courtroom, and had no idea how to survive when the apocalypse hit. Her fiancé, Liam Scott, helped her to make it through each day and slowly built her up into a woman who could take care of herself, and just in time. Without giving too much away, Christine has horse knowledge from taking lessons in her childhood. She also has practiced archery hard during the winter trapped in the apartment complex from the balcony so she’s pretty good with a recurve and a crossbow now, though she definitely wasn’t always. The new world is getting to her as she struggles with her grief over the loved ones she’s lost and she may be starting to crack.
Zack Kran is one of the other main characters. Before the world crumbled he was a small-time local comic book store owner, struggling to keep the doors open. He also loved to skateboard. He lived in the same apartment complex as Christine and Liam and he was Liam’s close friend, maybe even best friend. In the beginning he and Christine didn’t always get along, but since being thrown together for survival they have grown closer in their friendship. Being into Fantasy, Folklore, Comics, Fandoms, Collectibles, and more Zack had a basic knowledge of medieval swords and using them. He had replicas of many such as the Game of Throne sword and Lord of the Rings sword in his shop which he then used for his survival. Swords and Bowie Knife have been his weapons of choice. He used to be a goofball, the jokester, but the apocalypse has changed him and he is more stoic, quiet, and still now. he cares for his group deeply and will do anything to make sure they stay alive.
Lee Hickey is originally from Ireland. He came to America to study medicine and become a nurse. He is incredibly tall and built, the muscle nurse so to say, though he has a gentle nature about him. Before the world fell apart he had a wife, two in-laws who were not so fond of him, and plans to start a family of his own in his new home. He was at the hospital when the plague hit. Dead Beginnings Volume 2 explains what happens in that time and how he survived his first days in detail. When we first meet him in Dead Soil he is a part of a group of wanderers trying to survive in the woods of the Dunes State Park. He is quiet, stoic, a loner, and does not become attached to anyone in the group. When Olivia Darling, a teenager he helped in the ER right before the apocalypse hit, finds him he becomes obsessed with ensuring her survival as if she were his own family. Lee runs into some serious trouble at the end of Dead Road, book 2, and now his fate hangs in the balance of a new group of bunker dwellers’ hands.
Olivia Darling is a teen with sass and sarcasm. It’s how she gets through the rough days of the apocalypse. Before this new world engulfed her, she was a softball all-star at her high school with plans to join the USA Team. Dead Beginnings Volume 3 tells the story of her life before and how she survived the beginning of the apocalypse before she finds Lee and the wanderers in the middle of Dead Soil, which is when we first meet her. She quickly attaches to Lee and looks to him as an older brother, father-type figure. Not that she can’t protect herself. She has her lucky bat and puts it to good use every chance she gets, almost enjoying taking down the zombies in her way. Somehow she keeps her sense of humor and positivity through the hell she’s been put through. In Dead World she’s not going to have such a good time and it may make her realize the world will never be what it was before.
Luke Benson was a librarian before the apocalypse. He was divorced and had weekends with his young teen daughter, Imani. He lived in the same apartment complex as Christine, Liam, and Zack. He always seemed scared and not willing to help the others to survive, but more expecting them to just take care of things for him. Until one day he disappeared without a word. But his story isn’t over and we see him again in Dead Road, hardly changed, more of a coward than before, and willing to let everyone else put their lives on the line to protect him, even his fourteen-year-old daughter.
Imani Benson is Luke’s daughter. She’s fourteen and has learned how to survive well in this new world. Her weapon of choice is a bat with nails sticking out all over. She is unlike the others, hardened and willing to do what needs to be done, thanks to her loss and also her young age. She’s lived in the apocalypse from thirteen to fourteen and now almost fifteen it’s becoming all she knows, forgetting what life was like before this new world. She befriends Olivia immediately when they first meet, looking to her as an older sister in this messed up world. Imani hates the way her father cowers and hides behind everyone. So much contempt and disgust has built up inside her for the man that she begins to believe she hates him. Dead Beginnings Volume 4 is going to be Imani’s first days of survival story, coming in 2022.
Mac is the leader of the underground bunker at his farm. After the apocalypse he barricaded himself in there, keeping his farm running by making small trips up to the surface. Over time he collected survivors and invited them to live down in his dwelling, which has enough room for a small community. Not much is known about Mac except that he is a Christian, he always looks on the bright side, he’s a hard worker, he comes from a family of farmers, and he likes taking care of others. Everyone looks to him as a leader because he is kind and fair and wise. He makes his introduction in Dead Road. I plan to write a Dead Beginnings on him eventually but not sure when or what number it will be.
This is a new character to Dead World, Svend. He is one of the bunker dwellers. Little is really known about him except he is Danish, he is comparable to Lee Hickey is height and brawn. He comes from a Danish farm up the road, visiting family from Denmark to help them turn their farm around before it goes under. His weapon of choice is a battle axe. Where he got it is a mystery. He has long hair he wears in a braid and shaved sides which makes him look like a formidable Viking from the past. He speaks broken English, is quiet, watches and observes more than participates, but stands firm in his values and morals and isn’t afraid to set someone straight if he thinks they’re out of line. He is a big help to the original group when a new threat falls upon the bunker.
Jonathan Rivers was an intern at a CDC medical research facility in downtown Chicago before the plague hit, a grad student from Rush University. The minute the zombies came out the facility went into lockdown and all the scientists have been held up in there ever since. Jonathan is the one who lets Christine and Zack in at the end of Dead Road with Liam’s journal in hand, hoping it holds the cure to the plague. Jonathan knows basically nothing of the world outside his facility’s walls. He has a positive, jokester attitudes unspoiled by the world. He is the go between for Christine and Zack with the top scientists working on a vaccine for the zombie plague.
Dr. Hemal Bhatt is the lead scientists working on the cure/vaccine for the zombie plague. They had discovered so much in their time of isolation and feel they are on the verge of a breakthrough, especially with the clues they have been able to pick out from Liam’s tattered journal. She is hopeful, but does not sugar coat things for Christine and Zack. She rarely comes to see them in person, but sends Jonathan to relay messages.
Without giving away too much, one character has fallen to a fate worse than death and now the group is rushing to find a way to save them. Zombies have picked up their past after the ice of winter thawed and now that its Spring there are more than ever wandering the world looking to sink their teeth into some fresh flesh.
Carolyn Bock was always the pretty girl with relationship issues constantly on the lookout for Mr. Right. She worked HR at the local Steel Mill and loved all the country boys that would come through a flirt with her. She was flighty and not all that bright but she was always a good friend, looking out for a poor woman in the apartment complex who was abused by her husband. When the apocalypse hit Carolyn was useless. She had no clue how to use any weapon or how to survive. Because of Luke’s cowardice she escaped the apartment complex and ended up joining the wanderers in the Dunes State Park. There she learned to build her confidence and found stronger women to show her how to use a Bowie Knife properly. They encouraged her and practiced with her until she became formidable. Carolyn is also growing inside as she grows in skill. She no longer clings to any man she finds for protection but is realizing she is capable of protecting herself and others. In Dead World she runs into something new she has never had to deal with before, and it will test her and push her to her limits. Here’s hoping she survives it.
Rowan Brady was a trendy man with questionable friends before the apocalypse. He invested way too much time in his looks and not enough in his confidence or personality. When the apocalypse hit he attached himself to someone he saw as stronger for protection. He learned under him as an apprentice, never questioning his poor moral values and choices if it kept them alive. At the end of Dead Road he is left in a truly terrible state, on the brink of death, and a major story-line of Dead World is going to be a race against the clock to save him.
This was a great addition to the villain series that fit perfectly into the overall story. I read the Cruella story before this, and as good as it was I feel it didn’t fit as well. This had more to do with the story of the fairies and the Odd Sisters where Cruella did not. I really thought the explanation for Cruella’s jade earrings that seemed to make her crazy would be answered in this book because on the cover Lady Tremaine is wearing the same jade earrings. In the book Jade earrings were never referenced, but she does wear a jade brooch that was said to be cursed pirate treasure when her husband bought it for her. I’m guessing it was a part of the same pirate treasure and if they do a Captain Hook villain book in the future we might finally have that mystery figured out. Those are just my theories.
Lady Tremaine and her daughters were great characters! I loved how their story was so tragic you couldn’t help but feel sorry for them and understand why they were so terrible in Cinderella’s story. I love that the father who is not mentioned so much in Cinderella’s stories is the source of the stepmother and stepsisters misery and he is the reason they act out against Cinderella. This one did have a mostly happy ending, at least for the sisters, but I won’t spoil it. The story fit into the series as being read at the fairy council to change the law that fairies should only help would-be princesses. Nanny feels fairies should help everyone, even villains to save them from being villains. This story proved to the council that yes, that should be the new fairy law. Win for Nanny!
The only issues I found were grammatical, quite a few actually of misspellings or wrong words, which I was very surprised being a Disney book so far into a series. I thought Disney would have expensive top editors and proof readers combing this easy to read series, but there were five or more instances of wrong words used where you could tell it was a typo not corrected. Didn’t take me out of the story or bother me at all really, and I hate when people take an entire star off a rating just because of a few grammatical errors. We’re all human and we all make mistakes. Doesn’t make the book any less enjoyable in my opinion unless you truly can’t even understand what’s going on, which was not the case here. Make me feel a little better, actually, about my own typos in my books I publish. I don’t have fancy proof readers or editors to comb through my books, but reading this made me go, “Well, if Disney can’t even make their books error proof then I’m not going to beat myself up about my own few errors.” It was still wonderful!
If you’ve kept up with the entire series, then you should keep going with this one for sure! I’m excited to read more when they come out.
First off, I have to say that I absolutely love this series. All the books fit so nicely together into this big pictures story and connect so well. They did a great job of planning the series out it feels like before ever writing even the first one. I wasn’t sure if I was going to like the Cruella story, or even how it would fit in since she’s a more modern character while the others are more fairy tale medieval/renaissance time. But I loved this story! By the time I was halfway through I had a really hard time putting it down for the night.
Cruella’s background is such a great one. It’s somewhat relatable for those of us who have mother issues and are daddy’s girls. It also was relatable to me personally because I do have a mother who thinks buying things is how you show love, so I totally understand how that can make a person feel unloved or lacking. It was great the way Cruella teetered between being this great person without her mother, not caring if she pleases her mother or not but just being herself and kind to others and then in contrast to always wanting to please her mother, be like her mother, and be a nightmare to everyone and, well, evil. This story made me feel for her and also wish I could reach into the story, pull her out, and check her into a mental rehabilitation center to get her help. She wasn’t always so terrible and she didn’t have to turn into the monster she ended up being if it wasn’t for her mother’s selfish hold on her.
If you were worried this book would match too much to the new movie there is nothing to worry about there. This is its own individual story and offers a fresh and unique look into a possible background story for the beloved villain, Cruella De Ville. Without giving too many spoilers I do have some questions that I hope will be answered later in the series, like what is up with her jade earrings? They kept bugging her, pinching her, and when that happened she seemed to lose control of herself and turn into her evil self. Her father gave them to her when she was younger and he told her the story that they were from pirate treasure and they were cursed. I’m curious to learn more about them since that was never explained in the book. I did notice on the cover of the next book, Cold Hearted about Lady Tremaine, she is also wearing round jade earrings. Could they be the same? I’m on my way to finding out as this is the next book I’m reading. I can’t stop on this series!
