Saturday, February 16, 2013

{Blog tour + Review} Ashes and Ice by Rochelle Maya Callen


(: Hello there! We are today's stop for the Ashes and Ice blog tour! We are so excited. This book was pretty amazing, and I am so thrilled I am able to take part is supporting this talented author. 

Who is this Author?
Rochelle Maya Callen

Rochelle grew up dreaming up stories. When she entered high school, she tucked away her creative side and jumped head-first into academics, work, and service projects. She graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Political Science and Communication when she was twenty years old. After years away from her writing, Rochelle picked up a pen and started fleshing out a character sketch that she outlined when she was twelve. That sketch was the start of the Ashes and Ice story. Rochelle lives in the DC metro area with her husband and daughter. By day she works as a behavioral therapist. By night, she is a dreamer and is busy tapping out new stories on her keyboard.

What is her debut book about?
Ashes And Ice 
Release Day: February 4th, 2013
Genre: Young Adult
Lady Amber's Tours

She is desperate to remember.
He is aching to forget.
Together, they are not broken.
But together, one may not survive.

Jade wakes up with no memory of her past and blood on her hands. 

Plagued by wicked thoughts, she searches for answers. Instead, she finds a boy who doesn't offer her answers, but hope. But sometimes, when nightmares turn into reality and death follows you everywhere, hope is not enough. 

LUST. LOVE. LOSS. Sometimes, all that is left are Ashes and Ice


EXCERPT
Jade
            The girl’s glassy, dead eyes stare into me, through me, pierce me with a fierce urgency, with a wicked accusation. The blood is still on my hands.
            Red hair, blue eyes, a constellation of freckles on pale skin. She was fragile and innocent, a lovely thing. That is what I think until I see the gashes on her wrists and throat. With her blood spilling out, she looks delicious. She’s mine. Possessiveness shocks me, stabs into me. I run, tearing away from a craving I don't understand.
            Breathless, I grit my teeth and run harder, faster.
            My feet pound against the earth, away from the lifeless body and toward the lights of the city lingering on the horizon. Rot and death linger in my nostrils. Unscarred skin stretches taut over my freezing bones. Echoes of an empty memory reverberate in my mind, taunting me. The ice chases me, clutches me, and bites at my heels, sending shivers up my spine. The ice wants me back, but I run forward, toward the lights, toward the heat, toward a world that burns me, because I have no other choice.
            The lights are so close. Heat scalds my skin.
            Images race through my mind, paralyzing me. I skid to a stop, my boots digging into the mud. The vision’s blurred edges materialize into solid shapes.
             I gasp.
            A new horror rakes my insides. Desperation propels me forward; the pictures nagging at my seams threaten to tear me apart.
            Scorching fire licks over my skin. In my vision, I contort like a vile, ugly creature, eyes as black as decay. My frame hunches over the small, dead girl, like a demon looming over a defenseless child. Her blood drips from my mouth.
            I lick my lips and taste only salty sweat.
            I run, desperate to trample the vision under my feet, to crush it deep into the ground.
            I refuse to believe the image, refuse to acknowledge the monster within me demanding to be unleashed—and the possibility it has already been unbound. An unrelenting tide of fear washes over me. Past the denial, the fear, and the hope, I think I can still taste her.
            The cold stillness inside me cracks open just as the lights of the city slam into me.
REVIEW
Where to begin? This book, as you can so obviously see from the excerpt, is not going to be a fairytale. It is dark and there is so much mystery, the book literally pulls you in. I'm not kidding. It seriously takes some effort to put the book down. I NEEDED to know what was gong to happen next. 
The dark side of this book makes it new and interesting. Don't get me wrong, some parts or characters will mess you up and you will want to hate them, but those are the same parts that have you rooting for a character. All throughout the book, I was coming up with possible reasons and trying to crack the mystery that is Jade. She was just something else entirely. The girl is completely badass. I LOVE that. She didn't take anything from anyone, even though she was fighting an internal battle. 
Um... Connor is completely and utterly adorable. I love his transformation throughout the book. You guys will, too. He is a character you just cannot help but root for! <3 

I am a little iffy on how I stand with the other characters introduced in the book. Some are okay, but there are a few that I know are going to bother me when I read the sequel. Yes, I will most definitely be reading the sequel. ;) 
What I did not like? The ending. DEAR GOD, NO. Not the ending *sobs* WHY? Why must you always do this to me? My heart is still a little battered from reading it. And I found myself exasperated with a certain element in the book, but I will get over it. (: I guess. 
All in all? A Good book...A Really Good book. Love, Love, LOVE the concept and the darkness and the intrigue. You, woman, are a a genius. You are a little morbid and messed up... but I love it. I absolutely love it. (:
[Hurry up with that sequel, woman] ;)



Want a copy of your own? The ebook is on sale for the tour. (it says .99 on amazon right now. not 2.99. check to make sure!)


The End :D


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