Book Review: Earth Blend by Lori Pescatore

Review: Earth Blend
Series: Blend Trilogy – Book 2
Author: Lori Pescatore
No of Pages: 184
Release Date: 1 July 2011

Earth Blend is the second book in the Blend trilogy and the sequel to Human Blend. In this instalment, the mysteries of the Blends and the Earthlings are revealed. How can Julie live a normal life when she is anything but normal? Her relationship with Austin is complicated by emerging abilities in them both. Trust is hard to come by as lies and secrets hinder them at every turn. Is the past destined to repeat itself as the Earthlings once again rush to save them? The ensuing chaos breeds fatal consequences.

My Thoughts:

Earth Blend was a brilliant follow up to Human Blend

Julie and Austin are still coming to terms with Austin’s emerging powers and Julies near kidnapping. They are trying to settle in to a life not only together but come into their own as individuals. Austin is devastated to learn that his mother isn’t his biological mother and Julie is forced to watch his grief without being able to help.

Julie was once again a strong character, sometimes I would say she is too mature for her age, but that wouldn’t be fair on her, also because in actuality she is a lot older than what she looks – like 50 years older because of the slow ageing process – so with that in mind at times she can almost be immature for her true age.

Julie doesn’t really follow through with things until they come to a head and that is the only real thing I don’t like about her, she lets questions go unanswered for a while because she is constantly being distracted by Austin or work or friends, at times it made me want to shake her and tell her to focus but I love Julie in every way she is intelligent and kind hearted, she only ends up in bad situations because of bad people and not due to her own stupidity which is really refreshing.

Austin is a character I just cannot like. He is a complete whinger and so impulsive that I don’t see how anyone could love him like Julie seems to. I am shamelessly on team Eli when it comes to this love triangle. Austin causes issues for everyone around him by running off and jumping in far too soon. Instead of listening to his elders who have fought in battles and found missing people and who actually know about his powers he insists on throwing tantrums stomping his feet and insulting people before running away. The way he treated his mother was absolutely appalling, she raised him, cared for him and loved him and he just threw it back in her face because she wasn’t blood, it was absolutely despicable and it cemented my dislike for him in this novel.

Earth Blend was written differently to any other story I have read before. For the first half of the book we got the back stories of the various characters, flashes of their lives and important moments in their history that have helped lead them to where they are in the story today and the significance of each of them being there.

At first I was wary of this style for two reasons; no one I’ve read has ever done it before, and there is a potential for massive information overload.

I thought it was fantastic, it was like short stories in each characters life and it worked so much better than characters info dumping in the middle of an action scene. I devoured the first half of the book in an hour and I was amazed at how detailed yet relevant each story was. I finally knew each character and why they were the way they were, not just from Julie’s perspective but from theirs as well, I got into their heads and it was amazing.

I will admit that the dialogue was once again awkward, at first it detracted a little from the story but once I got into the rhythm of what was going on again and I was too engrossed in the story to care, it wasn’t an issue. The dialogue for me reads as though it was written on paper rather than coming from a characters mouth, like lines in a soapy with bad actors and too much Botox.

I love Pescatore’s general writing style though, it’s to the point with enough detail and flowery prose but not too much that you start to get bored. If a detail doesn’t have to be there it’s not and yet the way it’s written, giving the reader that freedom, I had a perfect picture in my head of the characters and their surroundings with no one interfering in that picture with “the vase on the table that doesn’t really matter was over there”

Earth Blend was even better than Human Blend and if that’s anything to go by, I want the rest of this series on my shelf as fast as Pescatore can write them.

Also in this series:
Human Blend

Character Interview: Julie from the Blend Trilogy by Lori Pescatore

So today we have a very special guest, Julie - the main character from the Blend Trilogy - has kindly agreed to an interview. The wonderful Lori Pescatore conducted that interview and has let us have a look see as to what Julie had to say. 


Having a tendency to frequently talk to my own characters I can fully understand how these interviews come about...


Take it away Lori & Julie!

~~~~~~

Lori: Hello, my name is Lori Pescatore. I am the author of Human Blend and the newly released sequel, Earth Blend. I have with me today one of the characters from the novel, Julie. Julie, thanks for stopping by.

Julie: Thanks for having me.

Lori: Julie is not your real name, correct?

Julie: Well it is now. I used to go by the name Laney.

Lori: Can you tell the readers why you changed it?

Julie: My childhood was very troublesome. I was kidnapped at a young age and raised in an organization of very bad people. After years of torture and abuse I was able to escape. I changed my identity so the men I had ran from would not be able to find me.

Lori: They did find you, though.

Julie: Yes. I am still upset with myself. So many other lives were put in danger. I was selfish when I involved other people in my new life.

Lori: You were taken because of your special abilities. Can you tell us what those abilities are?

Julie: I don't really like talking about them. I would rather just be normal.

Lori: In the beginning of Human Blend, you had no idea how or why you were able to do the special things you could do. By the end, you found out a lot more than you anticipated. How are you dealing with the new-found information?

Julie: I'm dealing with it as best as I can. I can't undo how I came to be. All I can do is try and live with the facts of about who I am. I am doing my best to be as human as possible.

Lori: You have a lot of people who want to help you live your life.

Julie: I really want to be independent and make a life for myself on my own. It is not that I am ungrateful for all the wonderful people who want to help me, it is more of something I need to prove to myself. I need to prove I can take care of me.

Lori: Let's talk about Austin.

Julie:What about him?

Lori: You began a relationship with him early on despite your own desire to keep people at bay. A lot of readers feel your relationship developed too quickly given your past. How do you feel about that?

Julie: I really did not want to get involved with anyone, although my actions said otherwise. It is hard to explain. It seems the more I try and keep a distance from people, the more drawn to them I am. Does that make sense? I feel I am unable to be by myself. Maybe I am just selfish. I was able to block the trauma I went through. So much so that I missed warning signs early on of my impending trouble.

Lori: Let's talk about Eli.

Julie:What about him?

Lori: He is an Earthling, a creature created by the Earth to help protect her. He tried to protect you.

Julie: Yes, and now he is set to be punished. I'm very upset about it. I should be the one to be punished, not him.

Lori: What is your relationship with him?

Julie: I don't know what you mean.

Lori: It is a simple question. How do you feel about him?

Julie: I care about him, deeply.

Lori: Is there more to it than that?

Julie: Can we talk about something else?

Lori: Okay. What can you tell readers about Earth Blend?

Julie: It answers a lot of questions about the beginnings of my people and Eli's. I think readers will like having that background information. A lot happens in this edition. Some good, some very bad.

Lori: Thank you, Julie, for stopping by.

Julie: You are welcome. I hope the readers enjoy Earth Blend.

~~~~~~

Thank you so much Lori and of course to the wonderful Julie for taking the time to come on StoryWings today. My review of Earth Blend will be going up tomorrow so you can see what I have to say about this series.

Book Review: Human Blend by Lori Pescatore

Review: Human Blend
Series: Blend Trilogy – Book 1
Author: Lori Pescatore
No of Pages: 230
Release Date: 12 June 2010

Marion, Virginia seemed like a nice place to live a normal life, but she is not a normal girl. Laney has special abilities that keep her looking over her shoulder as she makes her escape from the men who had kidnapped her.

A young doctor’s interest is piqued when he witnesses her mysteriously curing a young child’s illness. He befriends her due to his growing fascination with uncovering the true nature of her abilities, but not without harbouring secrets of his own.

Laney’s budding relationship with a local boy puts both of them in danger when the men she was hiding from find her. All of their lives will change forever as ancient secrets become unearthed.

My Thoughts:

Human Blend was far better than I was expecting.

Laney/Julie is on the run from the men that stole her from her family. Stopping to rest in a small town that catches her eye she decided to stay when she meets a local boy and realises that she might have a chance at a normal life.

Laney needs to stay hidden so she assumes the new identity of Julie Miller when she arrives in the small town of Marion. Laney/Julie isn’t just a normal girl though, she has powers that let her “see” numbers meaning she’ll never lose a bet or the lottery and she can also heal others by taking the illnesses into herself and healing instantly.

Laney was a strong, independent character that expertly drove the story. She backed up her words with her abilities, not only her powers but also her survival skills and instincts. Laney was also extremely intelligent which was a refreshing change from the constant damsels in distress that we read about. Laney listens to her gut, and she doesn’t walk into her house alone in the dark after finding the door open, she gets help first from someone who is capable.

I loved that Laney just wanted to be normal even though she is so different. She went to work in a hospital just so she could be near people and use her powers to heal them, not for recognition just because she felt it was the right thing to do.

Laney also had a love interest in Austin, the local boy who takes a liking to her as soon as he meets her. Austin is a complete gentleman which is also a pleasant change from the controlling stalkers and the dangerous bad boys we are currently bombarded with in literature.

Human Blend was really well written and kept me completely engrossed from start to finish. It was not only an interesting storyline but a refreshingly new one as well. Pescatore didn’t conform to our current stereotypes of men, women and the paranormal but created something completely new and exhilarating to read.

Not only did we have a paranormal story with sci-fi themes mixed in, but we also had a beautiful YA romance that unfolded perfectly and without unrealistic devotion but with camaraderie and tenderness.

Human Blend was an excellent start to a promising new series and I absolutely can’t wait to get my hands on the next novel in this trilogy.

Also in this series:
Earth Blend