Saturday, May 5, 2012

Bewitching Book Tours: Rae of Hope by W. J. May




Description:


How hard do you have to shake a family tree to find out the truth of the past? 

Fifteen-year-old Rae Kerrigan has never questioned her family’s history. That is until she accepted a scholarship to Guilder Boarding School in England. Guilder is a very unique, gifted school. 

Rae has no idea what she is getting herself into or that her family’s past is going to come back and taunt her. She learns she is part of an unparalleled group of individuals who become marked with a unique tattoo (tatù) on their sixteenth birthday. The tatù enables them to have supernatural powers particular to the shape of their marking. 

Both her parents were marked though Rae never knew, as they passed away when she was young and never told her. Learning about her family’s past, her evil father and sacrificial mother, Rae needs to decide if there is a ray of hope for her own life.




Book trailer:  http://youtu.be/iauHkcm6UQo




About the Author:



Wanita May grew up in the fruit belt of Ontario - St.Catharines.  Crazy-happy childhood, she always has had a vivid imagination and loads of energy.

The youngest of six -- four older brothers, and sister -- they taught her at a young age to be competitive in all aspects of life.

At sixteen, she began competing in athletics (track and field) and before she turned seventeen, she was representing Canada in high jump.  She continued to compete, breaking Canada's JR High Jump record (1.92m - 6' 3 1/2" for those metric-ly challenged).  She attented University of Toronto, and Kansas State University - graduating with a BS degree in Kinesiology and beginning her Masters in Business.

She is currently married, and the mother of three adorable kids.

After her father passed away in 2009, from a six-year battle with cancer (which she still believes he won the fight against), she began to write again.  A passion she'd loved for years, but realized life was too short to keep putting it off.

Her first book, Rae of Hope - from the Chronicles of Kerrigan - is available Nov 15, 2001 by Mitchell Morris Publishing.  It is contracted as a four book series and available in print and ebook through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Smashwords and other online sites.

She is currently represented by Dawn Dowdle of Blue Ridge Literary Agency. Wanita is a writer of Young Adult, Fantasy Fiction and where ever else her little muses take her.









My Review:





My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a great book.  To me it is like if Harry Potter was a girl, and instead of a wand, you get a tatú.  So let me explain some of the great points about this book.

First, Rae Kerrigan is a great character.  She is the wounded little girl who watched her house burn down with her parents, with little idea of what the future will hold for her.  When she discovers what actually happened with her parents, she carries her burdens as well as any other teenager would: as best she can. 

I did love the changes at the school, how an all men’s school had to integrate the female students, and how the guys went crazy.  Ah, the joys of hormones and the mixing of the genders. 

Other great points on this book are:
·         The glossary at the end (though, it would be good to have it at the beginning, as I didn’t realize it was available until the end of the book).
·         It has a decent ending.  Kind of expected, but not bad as a whole.
·         There is more than a love triangle.  You got 4 or 5 guys all vying for Rae, but even better is what happens in her love life. *No spoilers there!
·         There are a few twists and turns, some of which are expected, some which are definitely not.

Now, I have a few issues that could easily be resolved.
·         This story is how you get the background story very piecemeal.  You get a little hint in one chapter, and 4 chapters later, another bit of info.  I would have liked the overwhelming information in one long chapter instead of several chapters spread throughout the book. 
·         Would have been nice to have a tatú glossary.  Yes my imagination is good, but even nicer if I didn’t have to look up some of the symbols to understand what it might look like. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book.  I recommend it and hope to see more good things from Ms. May.  



Happy Reading!


Cana

3 comments:

  1. thanks for the fantastic review! im so glad you enjoyed the book and hope I can bug you for an ARC copy to be read for Dark Nebula (the second book in the series!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Of course you can bug me for reading the next book. I'm all for it!

      Delete
  2. Thanks for the fantastic review and Im SO glad you enjoyed it!
    Cheers,
    Wanita

    ReplyDelete

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