Am I Normal Yet?

Nefarious Tales Blog Tour: Do we actually need villains in books?

07:30

There’s no denying that often, villains can be the most interesting and readable character in a book. Although being sometimes frustrating by getting in the hero’s way, I think a well crafted villain can really make or break a book. Specifically in fantasy, there’s often a bad guy who doesn’t want to help our hero in their journey. But are villains critical for every book?

 A boring villain doesn't emotional impact. If they come across as cold and heartless (for pretty much no specific reason), their mere existence in the book can be pointless. Like, if they just hate the ‘right cause’, there seems to be no point in them, and it gets frustrating. Personally, if I’m not able to resonate with the villain, I can’t hate them or understand them, as they’re just too dull.

 However, this tends to just be in fantasy or sci-fi books. In fantasy especially, the hero has to go on a journey, and the bad guy is standing in their way. In these genres, I think we definitely do need something to hinder them on their journey. If it was easy with no one standing in their, it would make a pretty boring book!

 Could a mental hurdle work too? I haven’t read any books like this, but I’m thinking that the character could have something else that gets in their way - not a specific person or group of people. The hero could have a mental illness which they need to overcome (yay diversity ideas!), which would make a very interesting fantasy novel. Maybe depression could be the villain?

 This is explored a lot more in contemporary novels. Although there can be someone who is getting in the way of the protagonist, mental boundaries are explored a lot more. One of my favourite books exploring these themes is Am I Normal Yet? By Holly Bourne. The protagonist, Evie, is recovering from OCD, and just starting college. Her mental illnesses are great boundaries for her, because she it restricts her and can’t live her life ‘normally’. This book is so important because it’s about overcoming mental struggles. In this book, there is no villain, except her OCD.

 This leads on to saying: instead of a physical villain, could the protagonist be their own villain. There’s the saying “you’re your own worst enemy”, and maybe that could be the case (and in more books than we think) for some books. At some point in their life, everyone suffers from low self esteem, which can be so much worse than any villain from any book.

 So overall, it seems like many fantasy books do have villains, even if they’re not necessarily needed. I think maybe we do need some sort of bad thing/person the protagonist has to overcome, but it doesn’t have to be a physical person, even though that’s what it tends to be. It would make interesting variety for the protagonist to be facing mental demons though! 


To celebrate this blog tour, Mishma is hosting an international giveaway! Enter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

Don't forget to check out all the other stops on the blog tour! Today, you can visit:
Quality Fangirls
Paging Serenity
Chasing Faerytales to check out the other posts on the tour from today!!

Don't forget to join in the twitter chat tonight (7pm EST) about villains too.


Thank you to Mishma for hosting this blog tour! So, it's your turn: do you think we actually need villains in books?

3.5 stars

Blog Tour: Becoming Death

09:00

Becoming Death
By Melissa Brown

 Summary:
Ever since her father's demise, Madison Clark knew death had her number. After losing her first job, she is ushered into the cryptic family business. Little does she know her family is hiding a dark secret; they are grim reapers, custodians of souls on their journey to the beyond. Madison expects her historic legacy to have benefits beyond immortality. What she doesn't expect is to still be struggling for cash while reaping souls on the side.

As if being Death's minion wasn't strenuous enough, Madison finds herself back at school with her worst enemy studying the ancient rules, methods and paperwork of her vocation. In a cascade of life changes: her best friend admits he’s in love with her and she starts a new job as a professional mourner, but she can’t help thinking her family might have other secrets.

Just when things are finally starting to feel normal again Death throws her a curveball: her next victim is her best friend. Madison must find a way to overcome the strict guidelines of being a grim reaper in order to save his life.

Information about the book
Title: Becoming Death
Author: Melissa Brown
Release Date: June 12th 2015
Genre: Paranormal YA
Publisher: Self-Published
Format: Paperback and E-book
Goodreads Link: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25512745-becoming-death?from_search=true&search_version=service 
Amazon UK Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Becoming-Death-Melissa-Brown-ebook/dp/B00YHWBGD2

My review:
I enjoyed this book. It had a really cool concept - grim reapers and killing people with their mind, so I knew it had the potential to be a really original story. I was surprised at the direction the book took (it wasn’t as dark as I thought, and it took more of a realism / black humour direction), but I still liked it. It was really well written, and I was instantly hooked.

All of the characters were really likeable. I felt like they were all really well developed, and I actually cared about all of them. Madison (the protagonist) was really interesting to read about because she was realistic and relatable. I also really liked the strong group of women in the book (Madison’s family), which always makes me enjoy the book more.

I wasn’t a massive fan of the romance. Though it did grow on me, and though I did like it much more towards the end, I would have much preferred for Madison and Aaron to have stayed friends (the ending would still have worked anyway). It didn’t add much to the story (the romantic scenes weren’t my favourite), but by the end of the book, I quite liked them together.

There were lots of nice touched which really updated a traditional story. Grim reapers aren’t really modern, but original touches like having mobile apps to find targets made the story darkly funny. At first I feared they would become a little boring and cliche, but once I got into the story and used to them, I found them original and inventive.

The book was very short, so I found somethings to be a bit rushed. This meant it was fast paced, and never slow, but made me think that Madison and Aaron’s relationship was a little rushed. I think it could have made a great duology - this way, we would have got to see more development in their relationship. Also, I would have liked to see more of Madison’s grim reaper duties, which I found really interesting.

Overall, this is a short, light paranormal that many will enjoy. I would recommend to new fans of the genre because it’s not too creepy, and it’s not too heavy. It was well written, and had some perfectly executed (excuse the pun) black humour.
My rating:

About the author:
Melissa Brown an American author that lives in Norwich, England. She is a teacher in ICT skills, English and creative writing. In 2014, she was shortlisted for the IdeasTap Inspires: Writers' Centre Norwich Writing Competition and longlisted for the Nottingham Writers' Club's inaugural National Short Story Competition. She was also a featured poet at the Norwich: City of Stories launch event, where she did a live reading of her poem 'The Library.'  She enjoys films, books, comics, fangirling and subscription boxes. She blames her love of the written word on her hometown library and fanfiction. She lives with her partner, Kris, and her awesome cat, Hailey.
Author Links
Website: https://melissarbrown.wordpress.com/ 
Twitter: http://twitter.com/MRBrown_author 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Melissa-Brown-author/515818468469866/ 
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13956318.Melissa_Brown

Follow the tour:
Monday 17th August
Serendipity Reviews
Tuesday 18th August
Elena Square Eyes
Wednesday 19th August
An Awful Lot of Reading
The Whispering of the Pages 
Thursday 20th August
The Bibliolater
Friday 21st August
Becca’s Book Affair 
Saturday 22nd August
Bookish Outsider
A Daydreamer’s Thoughts 
Sunday 23rd August
Big Book Little Book
Monday 24th August
Tales of Yesterday

Tour wide giveaway
There is also a tour-wide giveaway!
The prizes are:
5 necklaces inspired by Becoming Death
2 copies of Becoming Death
This giveaway is open to UK participants ONLY.
Rafflecopter Link:
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/320ab7e459 

Blog Tour

YA Epic Reads Blog Tour Schedule Hosted by YA Bookish News

12:18


YA Bookish News will be hosting their first blog tour called YA Epic Reads Blog Tour, featuring some of their epic reads from the YA genre. This tour will be hosted from May 25th to May 31st. Check out the full blog tour schedule below!

May 25th- YA Bookish News
Q & A Liveshow TBA
May 27th: Forever Lost in Other Worlds – Review

Summary from Goodreads:
Penelope never dreamed she’d become a superhuman experiment masquerading as a puppet.
She never dreamed everything would be taken from her; even her ability to lie.
Nor did she ever dream that she would become something so unreal.
Penelope lives in a world of advanced technology. Marionettes have advanced in the form of robots; lifelike creations remote controlled to perform super human tasks.
When Penelope makes a deal with Jed, a marionette-obsessed scientist, she doesn’t fully realize what she’s getting herself into. In order for Jed to take her away from the orphanage she lives in, she must first agree to undergo his experiments and tests, ultimately creating something no one ever dreamed possible; the first living marionette.
As Jed shows off his scientific creation to the world, concerns arise surrounding Penelope’s abilities and what she’s capable of doing. Ordered to somehow lessen her abilities, Jed makes a desperate attempt to change Penelope to make her more human, more vulnerable. After Penelope lies to the officials about her past, Jed makes sure it’s the last one she’ll ever utter. The truth is now the only thing she is capable of telling.
As Penelope struggles with her past, her disturbingly new present, and her uncertain future, she is thrust into a magically twisted world of mayhem in search of the one thing she wants, but knows she can never have. The chance to be just a girl again. To be normal. To be real.
Links to Puppet: Goodreads, Amazon
                                                    May 28th: Captain Swan Bookishh  – Interview

Summary from the Goodreads:
With short, fast-paced, alternating point-of-view chapters, The Death Code starts several weeks after The Murder Complex ended. Zephyr keeps the secret about Meadow close—that if she dies, The Murder Complex will be destroyed, too. Meadow, desperate to find her brother, father, and little sister, is determined to fearlessly fight to the end, even if it means sacrificing herself and her friends, new and old. The Death Code introduces a memorable cast of secondary characters and delivers a vivid and scary thrill ride read.
Links to The Death Code: Goodreads, Amazon
May 28th: The Book Bratz– Review

Summary from the Goodreads:
High school senior, Claire Reilly’s world revolves around All-Star cheerleading. The Diamond Girls, are gearing up for a major competition, which, if they win will allow them to compete at Worlds for the first time. But the unimaginable happens, and both Claire and her team are rocked by a devastating loss. Determined to get to Worlds any way she can, Claire finds help from the last person she imagined would give it—up and coming UFC fighter and notorious bad boy, Ryker Vaughn.
Fouled out of the octagon by a dirty opponent and a vicious kick to the head, Ryker loses control when he learns he may never fight again. Angry over the loss of his mother, an unsupportive family, and the world in general, he gives up, gives in, and unleashes his rage—destroying part of his cousin’s cheer gym in the process. Things go from bad to worse when Ryker is given an ultimatum: help the Diamond Girls compete for a bid to Worlds, or go to jail.
Overwhelmed with anger, sadness, and grief, the unlikely pair learn that what you see is not always what you get, and that the most difficult losses sometimes open the door to a frightening, yet amazing new future.
“Defenseless is a story of hope, of loss, of friendships, and of fighting to the end.[…] Defenseless was an unputdownable read, it made me cry, it made me laugh, and it made me gasp in sock over some revelations.” – Michelle @ Much Loved Books
Links to Defenseless: Goodreads, Amazon
 May 29th: Queekie Girl Reads – Promotion

Summary of the Goodreads:
Seventeen-year-old Mira works on a farm in the ruins of Texas, along with all of the other descendants of the defeated rebels. Though she’s given her heart to Tanner, their lives are not their own.
When Socrates, a powerful First, chooses Mira as his Second, she is thrust into the bewildering world of the rich and influential. Will, a servant assigned to assist her, whispers of rebellion, love, and of a darker fate than she’s ever imagined.
With time running out, Mira must decide whether to run to the boy she left behind, the boy who wants her to live, or the man who wants her dead.
Links to First: Goodreads, Amazon
May 30th: Booktube Net Magazine– Interview

Summary of the Goodreads:
It’s Friday the Thirteenth and it’s Sasha Hunter’s birthday. It’s also the anniversary of Dystopia day; a catastrophic world-wide blackout, and the day Sasha’s mother disappeared. Three years on, the world has started to recover. But for Sasha, everything is falling apart…
Links to Dystopia: Goodreads, Amazon
May 30th: Confessions of a Book Addict – Review

Summary of the Goodreads:
Tormented after a daring escape, Cora Sandoval must find a way to stop the Arrazi from murdering innocent people and from violating, using, and killing the Scintilla for their powers. She must also accept one bitter betrayal: Finn Doyle—the Irish boy who has both a piece of Cora’s heart and soul—is Arrazi…
On the verge of extinction and sought by those who would either consume or destroy them, Cora and the remaining Scintilla survivors must solve the mystery of The Light Key. If they fail, the truth will stay buried forever and mankind will pay the ultimate price.
No longer will she hide.
No longer will her loved ones be hunted.
And she will have her vengeance…even if she shatters her heart in the process
Links to Deviate: Goodreads, Amazon
I hope you are all as excited about the tour as I am! Have you read any of the books featured in the tour? Let me know in the comments! :)