Friday, November 29, 2013

Good Faith by Liz Crowe [Review & Giveaway]




Genre:
General Fiction/New Adult
Publication.Date  November 15th 2013
Pages:522
Published By:  Tri Destiny Publishing
WebsiteLiz Crowe

Good Faith Goodreads



Where to get:




Strong personalities—volatile marriages—stressful careers—conflicting goals—difficult children.

Contemporary challenges facing close-knit families form the crucible that forges a new generation.

Brandis, Gabriel, Blair and Lillian emerge from the entanglement of their parents’ longstanding emotional connections, but one’s star will burn brighter – and hotter – than the others.

With a personality that consumes everyone and everything in its path, Brandis Gordon struggles to maintain control as he ricochets between wild success and miserable failure. His life proves how even the strongest relationships can be strangled by the ties that bind.

Brandis and Gabe Frietag are as close as any brothers, bound by both loyalty and fierce rivalry. The strength of their ultimate alliance is tested time and again by Brandis’ choices.

Companions from birth, Blair Frietag and Lillian Robinson share loner tendencies, but come to rely on each other through adolescence. As they mature, both are forced to confront their feelings for the men they knew as boys.

Somewhere between the tangle of good memories and bad, independence and addiction, optimism and despair, the intertwined destinies of the new generation finally collide, leaving some stronger, others broken, but none unscathed.

As a chronicle of three families navigating the minefields of teen years into the turbulence of young adulthood, Good Faith holds up a literary mirror to contemporary life with joys and temptations unflinchingly reflected. Its fresh, real-life voice portrays the sheer volatility of human nature, complete with the hopes, dreams, and unexpected setbacks of marriage, parenthood and “coming of age.”

“After all they had been through, all the anger, disappointment, tears and frustration he still had the ability to wipe the slate clean with the touch of his lips to hers. Love, she supposed, pure and simple and yet more complex than anything in the universe."
 “You know what I require of you--you whole self not just your physical shell. Don't leave me alone, emotionally cut off, Jack. I don't... I can't operate that way. Don't take that from me, and I won't need anything from anyone else. Okay? He seemed to ponder her blunt statement, his head cocked to the side as if hearing something mildly interesting. Then nodded and walked out without another word."
 “Thanks for getting rid of the gang of evil in there for me. She drew back, put her hand to his face. I love you, she said, simply. Then stepped out of his embrace. And please inform that girl if she looks at you one more time like she would just as soon eat you for breakfast, she can come and chat about it with me. He smiled, touched his fingertip to her lips. At that moment, he loved her so much he would have moved heaven and earth to make her happy."
“Blair couldn't form words. She leaned away from her mother's irritating presence, fixing her eyes on her goal--Brandis, who stood, holding his plate and staring right at her. Her mother must have gotten up and left, Blair didn't remember. All she knew were a pair of deep, sapphire blue eyes, pinning her against the wall from across the room and the ghostly memory of his lips on hers, in the cold, just before hearing her brother's angry words."


HOOK. LINE. AND. SINKER.

I was given an ARC by TriDestiny Publications in exchange for a review.

This book was by far one of my favorite reads in a long time. I quickly see why there is so much feedback on Liz Crowe on Goodreads and Amazon. Her books take you in from the beginning and leave you breathless till the end. This is my first book by her and I am definitely hooked! I found her writing style to be well thought out, exciting, and witty to say the least. The characters in this book were written with such emotion it was hard to pick a character that you were ultimately routing for, as she told the story from all characters points of view. I found it amazing that Liz was able to switch between so many characters personas and write all of them with such strength and emotion. There were literally more than five characters that the story went back and forth on and Liz didn't miss a beat with being able to show the emotion, relationships and drama between any of these characters.

The story dives in to the lives of the children of Sara and Jack Gordon. From the story you can tell that Sara and Jack have an amazing love story that was told in the books before this one. In fact, reviewing this book made me purchase The Stewart Realty Series from the beginning because I just had to see where Jack and Sara started from. However, the reader doesn't need that story to be drawn into this one.

This is the story of Brandis Gordon, son of Jack Gordon, and his addiction. Brandis has everything in life the looks, wealth, popularity and an addiction. His addiction causes turmoil with his entire family. His parents are at odds over how to help. His addiction has affected everyone who has touched his life. At what price will he have to pay before he can overcome this powerful demon? When will he realize that the addition is destroying his life and everyone around him. It will take a great act of "Good Faith" to turn this story around or will it?  Jack and Sara are also in this book as the mother and father of Brandis Gordon. We also come across many of their friends and their families. This book is about all of them. It is about them as parents and raising their children. We get plenty of that steamy chemistry of Jack and Sara. In the end it is about their legacies becoming adults and life coming full circle. It is a great accomplishment for an author to start a series with a set of characters and finish with such gusto and emotional turmoil between family, friends and everyone close to Jack and Sara.

I was captivated by the story, excited to see what would become of all the characters at the end and was unable to put this book down in order to participate in my real life. You can tell that Liz Crowe's series "Stewart Realty" has come full circle in this amazing stand alone novel and the end of the epic story of Jack and Sara. A must read in the genre of new adult or general fiction, I would reccomend anyone who enjoys a great read pick this one up.

GIVEAWAY 

What you can win: GRAND PRIZE: Nook Simple Touch loaded with the Stewart Realty series and the first 3 Black Jack Gentlemen books.

FIRST PRIZE: Signed set of Stewart Realty series (including Good Faith)

SECOND PRIZE: A Stewart Realty Zazzle swag pack PLUS a Wolverine State Brewing Co. t-shirt and pint glass
THIRD PRIZE: Signed set of the first three Black Jack Gentlemen books. (thank you, Tri Destiny Publications!)

Ends: December 18th 

Open to: US and Internationally (no PO boxes please) 

Enter via Rafflecopter below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway



About the Author:
Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook

Amazon best-selling author, beer blogger and beer marketing expert, mom of three, and soccer fan, Liz lives in the great Midwest, in a major college town.  She has decades of experience in sales and fund raising, plus an eight-year stint as a three-continent, ex-pat trailing spouse. While working as a successful Realtor, Liz made the leap into writing novels about the same time she agreed to take on marketing and sales for the Wolverine State Brewing Company.   

Most days find her sweating inventory and sales figures for the brewery, unless she’s writing, editing or sweating promotional efforts for her latest publications. 

Her early forays into the publishing world led to a groundbreaking fiction subgenre, “Romance for Real Life,” which has gained thousands of fans and followers interested less in the “HEA” and more in the “WHA” (“What Happens After?”).  More recently she is garnering even more fans across genres with her latest novels, which are more character-driven fiction, while remaining very much “real life.”


With stories set in the not-so-common worlds of breweries, on the soccer pitch, in successful real estate offices and many times in exotic locales like Istanbul, Turkey, her books are unique and told with a fresh voice. The Liz Crowe backlist has something for any reader seeking complex storylines with humor and complete casts of characters that will delight, frustrate, and linger in the imagination long after the book is finished.


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Thursday, November 28, 2013

Interview & Giveaway with Naomi Canale, author of His Dark Ways


Today I have the pleasure of welcoming author Naomi Canale to the blog. Naomi is here to talk about her YA paranormal novel, His Dark Ways. We also have an awesome giveaway for you guys, so after reading the interview and checking out His Dark Ways be sure to scroll down and enter! 

1) How would you describe His Dark Ways to those who haven't heard of it yet?

His Dark Ways is about Savanna Christy, a pastor’s daughter, who is on a rebellion. Once her Dad told her the Bible warns of opening doors that shouldn’t be opened. She’s become obsessed with finding out if those doors are just as invisible as the God she’s been raised to know.

When I first pitched this book, I said it was like The Craft meets The Exorcist. Holly Black told me that pitch was brilliant. I’m a huge fan, so of course I had to keep writing it after she told me that.

2) Could you tell us a little bit about the inspiration behind it? 

I actually had a dream of touching a ghost inside a haunted house and my touch gave him life. That dream haunted me, literally. I knew I had to make a story out of it. But when I finally started working on His Dark Ways, my sister was put into prison. As I was writing it, I explored how one choice can change our lives. They always seem so innocent at the time and turn into something bigger. In a lot of ways this book was therapeutic for me to write, even the dark aspects. But I think I was destined to write horrors/thrillers. My mother was often troubled at the sight of the stories I wrote and illustrated as a child. Maybe this is why I feel a strange connection to Poe? 

3) Did you have to do any research for your books? If so, what was the most interesting thing you've learned? 

For my current book, I’m doing a lot of research. The others not so much, I tried to play it safe and write what I knew for ten years, to learn the craft of writing first. Now I’m digging deeper. But the most interesting things I’ve found is that honey can never spoil and England is smaller than the state of Florida. It’s all fascinating really. 

4) Is there a specific character you identify with?

My main character, Savanna, she’s a strong heroine. But has her weaknesses. The strength she has is admirable, even though I put her through hell fire. I’ve always wished I could stand stronger for who I am and what I believe. She does that, even when she’s broken and questions everything.

5) Is there a message in your book that you want readers to grasp?

It’s funny you ask this question because I didn’t set out to write a book with a message. And some readers have taken away that I did, in fact, to teach them Christianity. But I didn’t. I think stories, like the Exorcist, for instance, wouldn’t have been what they were without the Catholicism or the religious aspects. When religious elements are used, it can be sticky and doesn’t always mean the author set out to teach readers about a certain religion, but rather that’s what they knew (or grew up knowing) and explored that in their work. And I think that’s what’s so brilliant and powerful about literature, it makes us think, feel. Otherwise, we wouldn’t want to dive so deep into a world other than our own. 

6) Can you share with us a few of your favorite quotes from His Dark Ways?

“For the longest time I stumbled through these shadows thinking I just needed to find the afterlife, but all I found were monsters and I was positive I was cursed until I saw you—touched you.”

I like this quote because it shares the hope between my characters, love.

And this next quote isn’t in His Dark Ways, but the newest book I’m working on. I really love it and thought I would share.

"Sometimes it’s not only the night that can bring upon such frightening wonders, but the day as well. In its order, with everything seen, there too are despicable creatures that go roaming about and the worst of them are human."

7) What are some of your literary inspirations? Favorite books/authors? 

Poe will forever be my number one. I constantly go back to his work and always take something new away from it. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens is always thumbing on my hearts door, it’s brilliant. I also love Stephen King, Holly Black (a huge inspiration for me), and Neil Gaiman.

8) Are you working on a new book/series now? If so, when can we expect it? Can you share some juicy details to keep our appetites going?

I’m working on a gothic horror, set in 18th Century England. I’m absolutely hooked, and of course there’s lots of murder. I’m a great admirer of Poe, remember? *throws head back* *laughs evil* But as far as expecting it anytime soon, I’m not sure, I want it to be perfection for all you lovely readers, so I’ll probably be spending a few years on it.

Fill in the blanks:

1) If I was magically transported back in time to the Dark Ages, I'd... Be a Jester. I was the class clown growing up, and as annoying as I was, hearing other people laugh or getting a reaction out of them became my favorite pass time. 

2) I'm a pro at... Cooking (at least my husband makes me think so). I absolutely love it. When I’m not writing, I’m trying to perfect the art of cooking through Gordon Ramsey.

3) I'm addicted to... Nerd candies and coffee. Strange combo, I know, but I’m hopelessly devoted.

4) I'm scared of... Spiders. I have serious arachnophobia. It’s a problem. Oh! And IT, that awful clown Stephen King invented still terrifies me to this day.

5) The last book I faked reading was... Twilight. Please still love me.




This giveaway is US/Canada only

What you can win: 
- a signed copy of His Dark Ways
- author SWAG pack
- $15 Starbucks Gift Card
(thank you so much Naomi for the wonderful Prize!)

Enter via Rafflecopter below:
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About the book:


Title: HIS DARK WAYS
Author: Naomi Canale
Pub. Date: August 27, 2013
Publisher: Self / Create Space
Pages: 206
Find it: Amazon, Goodreads
Savanna Christy, a pastor’s daughter, is on a rebellion. Once her Dad told her the Bible warns of opening doors that shouldn’t be opened. She’s become obsessed with finding out if those doors are just as invisible as the God she’s been raised to know.

One night, during another thrill-seeking adventure, Savanna and her friends Amy and Lucky, head thirty minutes out of their small town of Tonopah, to check out the Goldfield Hotel, known to be one of the most highly active places for paranormal activity in the nation. Together the three of them break in, hoping to open one of the doors the Bible speaks of, and in the middle of a satanic séance the three of them are dragged to various places of the hotel. But when the door shuts before Savanna’s cornered, something saves her. As footsteps slowly make their way to where Savanna is under a window, she reaches out her hand. Daniel, an entity who’s been locked away between space and time, becomes just as visible as Savanna. And her energy can give him life again, only when they touch (which triggers an addiction).

About the author:






Website | BlogTwitter | Facebook | Goodreads
Naomi Canale is a lifelong Nevadan obsessed with anything vintage and Tim Burton. In between creating art and loving on her three children, she writes young adult and new adult fiction with creepy noir themes.

She is thrilled to share her debut His Dark Ways with you. Her other work can be seen in the anthology Love Stinks and she's currently working on a new title she can't wait to pull out of hiding.

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Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (Review)



Genre:
New Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction
Publication.Date:September 10, 2013
Pages:433 (hardcover)
Published By:  St. Martin's Press
Website:Rainbow Rowell 

Fangirl on Goodreads
My review copy:Won through Goodreads First Reads

Where to get:


From the author of the New York Times bestseller Eleanor & Park.

A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love.

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan . . .

But for Cath, being a fan is her life — and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?
(Goodreads)

"I feel sorry for you, and I'm going to be your friend."

"I don't want to be your friend," Cath said as sternly as she could. "I like that we're not friends."

"Me, too," Reagan said. "I'm sorry you ruined it by being so pathetic." 
Levi was wearing a black sweater over a white T-shirt. He looked like he'd just gotten a haircut - shorter in the back but still sticking up and flopping all over his face. He called out someone's name and handed a erin to a guy who looked like a retired violin teacher. Levi stopped to talk to the guy. Because he was Levi, and this was a biological necessity.
Cath's eyes were half closed, and so were Levi's - and his lips only looked small from afar, she realized, because of their doll-like pucker. They were perfectly big, really now that she had a good look at them. Perfectly something.

He nudged his nose against hers, and their mouths fell sleepily together, already soft and open.
"This is exactly what the ground rules are for," Reagan said. "Levi is one of my best friends, and I'm your only friend, and I don't want this to get weird."

"Too late," Cath said. "And you're not my only friend."

"I know-" Reagan rolled her eyes and waved a hand in the air. "-you've got the whole Internet."

     I. Love. Everything. EVERYTHING!

     This is my first encounter with Rainbow Rowell and she did not disappoint. It's almost perfect that Joe got his Xbox One the same weekend I started reading Fangirl because we just left each other the hell alone. Perfection, really.

     Fangirl is the realistic story of Cather's first year away from home at college. Cath has a very introvert personality and dislikes new situations, especially when on her own. Her twin sister, Wren, however is very excited for her freshman year of college and dives head first into new friends and new experiences. At the same time, while introvert within her real life Cath is quite popular on the Internet amongst Simon Snow fans as her fan fiction Carry On, Simon is hailed as the eighth book when it comes to fan fiction. She is receiving tens of thousands of hits on day, but spends her free time huddled up in her room and living of protein bars as she is too afraid to go down to the dining hall by herself.

     After being "forced" into a friendship with her roommate, Reagan, Cath begins to come out of her shell; albeit a little bit. Once becoming closer with Reagan, she also beings a friendship/relationship with Levi, Reagan's friend who is always hanging around in their room. One of my favorite parts of the Cath/Levi relationship is the scene with Cath reads The Outsiders to Levi. I won't go into detail so as not to ruin it, but I reread that scene after I finished the book because . . . *sigh* (Note: I may have read it again after writing this review.)

     The romance between Cath and Levi is perfect. It's that slow build that happens more often than not in real life. It's not a "OMG, I love you and need you now" instalove and it's not the friend patiently waiting to be noticed. It's fresh and it's new and it's perfect . . . (I know, I should stop saying it's perfect but it is and I won't) but it's not perfect. (Whoa, contradicting myself!) They have a flawed relationship, but it's flawed in all the right places. Cath worries that she isn't good enough for Levi and when she voices her concerns to Reagan, Reagan tells her to get over it and that Levi already likes her. When she voices her concerns to Levi her proves to her that she is the one he wants above all others. In a super cute example, he tells her that if aliens were to come to Earth, they would have more in common than anybody else and even the aliens would know they were meant to me.

     It did take me a while to warm up to Cath, probably around the time Reagan befriended her is when I accepted Cath as our MC. In my head I know that her social anxiety was a mental thing, but I wanted so badly for to just go out and be a college freshman. Of course at the same time, her sister went to the extreme opposite of Cath. However, both these girls have very true college experiences. You have the girl who is introverted and stays in her room and the girl who goes party hard every weekend and thinks everything is fine.

     The familiar relationships were done very well, too. For the past ten years it has been Art (their father), Cather, and Wren. They have all depended on another to help get them through the years and will depend on another to get them through the turmoil of freshman year and beyond. They have a small family, but you can see that despite their issues they absolutely love one another.

     Fangirl is a great story of a young woman coming into her own through her experiences with family and new friends during her freshman year of college. It is a very cute story and while part of me wanted more, another part of me thinks it's just perfect (there's that word again) as a standalone novel.

   
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Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Sammy Dress Huge Giveaway! (International)


Hey guys! :)
Today we have something very special for you - and right in time for Christmas Shopping! We have the pleasure of hosting an awesome International giveaway for SammyDress.com!

Sammy Dress is an online fashion store that offers a huge selection of beautiful, girly and vintagy products from clothin to jewellery, bags, shoes and more! And yes, they even have some gorgeous stuff for your boyfriends and husbands there, too!

The giveaway will run for 30 days and you can win any item from the store - your choice, but up to $20. Or you can opt out for a $20 Gift Card and get more than just one thing! Shipping covered! And the best part? Seeing how fantastically affordable all their items are, I'm sure you can find many great things for yourself! :)

Before we move on to the giveaway, though, I'd like to show you some of my personal favorites from the store!

If you click on the pictures, you'll be taken to the store and you can take a closer look at all the shinies and pretties :) And I know what you're thining... $20 isn't going to get you any of these... WRONG! These are all less than $20 each!!! I kid you not! 

 
Let's talk handbags and totes.. ;)

SammyDress.com has some of the cutest, most gorgeous bags ever! And most of them are less than $10 each, which means you can totally get one for yourself and one for your friend! How awesome is that?! Take a look at these pretties!

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And last, but not least, some truly fabulous jewellery/accessory pieces :) These are all SUPER affordable, so you could seriously get a ton and look super fab! :) Make sure to browse the website for your own favorite pieces, they have SOOOO MUCH to offer! :)



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Giveaway:

This is an INTERNATIONAL GIVEAWAY
ends: December 26th

You will be emailed by me (Evie) if you win and you'll let me know which items (up to $20) you'd like to get! Bookish is not responsible for items lost or damaged in the mail!

RULES:
1. Follow our blog: http: www.sammydressblog.blogspot.com
2. Like our facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SammydressPromotion
3. Browse www.sammydress.com and tell us your favorite products’ links in your comment.

+ Extra entries!

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Monday, November 25, 2013

Project Cain by Geoffrey Girard (Review)

Genre:
Young Adult, Thriller, Horror, Science Fiction
Publication.Date  September 3rd 2013
Pages:368
Published By:  Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
WebsiteGeoffrey Girard 

Project Cain on Goodreads
My review copy:Review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Where to get:


Fifteen-year-old Jeff Jacobson had never heard of Jeffrey Dahmer, the infamous serial killer who brutally murdered seventeen people more than twenty years ago. But Jeff’s life changes forever when the man he’d thought was his father hands him a government file telling him he was constructed in a laboratory only seven years ago, part of a top-secret government cloning experiment called ‘Project CAIN’.

There, he was created entirely from Jeffrey Dahmer’s DNA. There are others like Jeff—those genetically engineered directly from the most notorious murderers of all time: The Son of Sam, The Boston Strangler, Ted Bundy . . . even other Jeffrey Dahmer clones. Some raised, like Jeff, in caring family environments; others within homes that mimicked the horrific early lives of the men they were created from.

When the most dangerous boys are set free by the geneticist who created them, the summer of killing begins. Worse, these same teens now hold a secret weapon even more dangerous than the terrible evil they carry within. Only Jeff can help track the clones down before it’s too late. But will he catch the ‘monsters’ before becoming one himself?
(Goodreads)


Albert Fish. Jeffrey Dahmer. Henry Lee Lucas. Dennis Rader. Ted Bundy. David Berkowitz.
How many of these names do you recognize?
Except for one, which I'd learned only the day before, I'd never heard of any of them.
They happen to be six of the most famous serial killers ever.
That's why they were chosen. Why they were born again. Manufactured.
According to my father's journals, it was time to free all of them.
To tell these clones who they truly were and release them out into the world.
Like he was letting loose a wild animal.
Or a disease.
Like he'd free me.
I knew enough basic science to understand test groups controlled experiments. DSTI had created us all to harness the XP11 violence gene. Guess they wanted to determine precisely how much of the violence was directly related to the gene and how much was connected to environment.



     If you've known me for a while, you're probably well aware of two things. First, I am a very forgiving and easy to please reader who rarely dislikes a book enough to give it anything less than 3 stars. Second, I love creepy stories, dark and disturbing premises and unsettling plots. That being said, I have never read a book before with such fantastically blood-chilling premise and such poor execution. Project Cain had so much potential that was never realized, it would've surely broken my heart, if I wasn't so damn mad at this book! 

     So what's the deal here? 
     First of all, there is no dialogue in this book. Non. The narration is scattered, which makes the plot extremely hard to follow. It's also nonsensical and boring, filled with tons of scientific info that, while some of it genuinely interesting, was for the most part unnecessary and irrelevant. And while this alone was quite unpleasant, it was something I could still overlook and get past. What I really couldn't stand, though, was the narrator himself. We're following the *adventures* of Jeff Jacobson, a teenage kid who one day discovers that he's a clone of a serial killer from 1980's, Jeffrey Dahmer. What a unique and intriguing concept! I just couldn't wait to get started on this one, but boy, was I disappointed! For a book that follows a clone of one of the most dangerous serial killers in the history of the US, there is remarkably little to no exploration of the hero's psyche. Nothing about how he feels about his discovery. Nothing about any moral struggles, repressed urges to kill, dark thoughts (or their lack thereof). Non of these things are addressed. The narration is dry and emotionless. Like a mid term paper on *the day I found out that I am an evil version of Dolly the sheep.* 

     The character development is minimal. All we really learn about Jeff is his origin, there's little to no back story, and even the parts dedicated to describing his relationship with his father are very short and kept to a minimum. I expected a complex, conflicted hero, instead I got someone who was detached, passive and completely indifferent. 

     The simple, conversational tone assumed by the narrator resembles a diary. Jeff asks the reader questions and overuses the word "seriously". The book is filled with short, simple sentences and repetitive statements. On top of that, there are numerous instances when we have the narrator describing something in the present time, and also making a premonition about how he'll feel about it, or what more he'll learn in relation to it, in the future. All that was extremely off-putting and annoying. 

     The military science, genetics of violent behavior and - most importantly - cloning was all obviously extensively researched by the author. It's also explained very comprehensively and makes for an interesting read. I do, however, feel like the author felt the need to include all of his findings in the story, making it very heavy on scientific detail and resulting in a great intellectual stimulation for the reader, but no real emotional engagement in the story. All the information is seemingly accurate (can't be sure, though, don't know all the facts and statistics), it feels legit, but it doesn't make the story any better. Sure, it was interesting to learn more about all these things, but I don't need to read YA fiction for that, I can easily look it up on Wikipedia. Geoffrey Girard forgot to put the fiction in his science fiction novel. 

      To this day, I have no idea what was the point of this story. What did the author try to achieve by telling this odd tale? If it was about deciding whether violence is something inherited through genes or gained from environment, then I'm afraid this story failed miserably. 

     To sum it all up, to call Project Cain a bad book would not be fair to all the bad books out there. Bad books we read, we dislike and we put down with a dismissive shrug. And then we move on with our lives and pretty much forget about them. Project Cain, on the other hand, is a whole new level of bad. It's that kind of bad that makes your blood boil. It's frustrating to the point you find yourself looking around for someone to punch, or something to break, or - ideally - break something on someone else's face. Multiple times. It's not a book you can shrug off and forget about, it's a book that, every time you'll think about it, you'll just get angry all over again. Well, at least that's how I feel. And I honestly doubt there are readers out there who are even more forgiving and understanding than I am.

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