Escapism: Dystopain

Dystopian which failed to shine

Title: Reckoning
Series: Silver Blackthron
Author: Kerry Wilkinson
Publisher: Pan Macmillan, UK
My ratings: 3 out of 5 stars
Released: 22nd May, 2014
Reckoning starts off strongly with a great dystopian setting, where Silver and her family are struggling to live a decent life. She lives in a small village called Martinsdale , with her best friend Opie. The beginning was well done with simplistic yet convincing elements of dystopian woven in. In Silver’s world, sixteen year olds have to sit for a Reckoning, an examination where their status ion society is determined as to whether they will be an Elite, Member, Inter or a Trog or if you are lucky, you can be an offering to King Victor. And go and live in the Castle with him.

The Reckoning itself was quite interesting and I loved Silver’s quiet relationship with Opie. Up to the half point of the story everything was looking goo but somehow the plot lost its hold on me. When the true atrocities of the castle were discovered I should have been horrified and I was too but somehow it failed to really sink it. Not only did it not feel ‘real’, it also did not interest me. I realised it was the writing and not the story which felt off for me. Kerry Wilkinson tried to tell rather than show me how the events were unfolding. Especially towards the end, when the last ‘twist’ came, I felt that it could have been shown rather than conveniently told to be as to what happened as an afterthought.

Overall, with a promising start Reckoning had everything going for it but failed after the second half of the story. It had bags of potential which reminded of Keira Cass’ Selection Series but all my hopes were dashed and I feel slightly betrayed by it all. It is not a bad book. No it is not a bad book at all, it was just a book which I went into with high expectations and was lured by the intriguing and well written start but was let down by the end.

ARC received from Pan Macmillan via NetGalley

Today I have the lovely Ingrid Jonach on the blog who will talk about her dream cast for her book When the World was Flat.

Guest Post: When the World was Flat Dream Cast

For me, reading a book is like watching a movie. The books I tend to put down (a rare occurrence) are those I cannot visualize. Like many other readers, I will often wait with baited breath for the announcement of the casting and the release of the first trailer when my favorite books are turned into movies.

My all time favorite film adaptation of a book would have to be the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, starring Keira Knightly as Elizabeth Bennett and Matthew Macfadyen as Mr. Darcy. This is closely followed by the 1939 adaptation of Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell starring Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara and Clark Gable as Rhett Butler.

Nine times out of ten I prefer the book to the movie though. Particularly in the case of Harry Potter. I do like the films, but I think you lose a lot of internal dialogue with Harry (even though the novels are written in third-person). I was relatively pleased with the recent adaption of The Hunger Games and am anxiously awaiting the release of the first trailer for The Forest of Hands and Teeth.

I have never read 50 Shades of Grey, but I have read about the petition currently being circulated about the actor playing Christian Grey. Likewise, fans of The X-Men originally petitioned to remove Hugh Jackman from the cast because he was 6 foot 2 inches and slender instead of 5 foot 3 inches and stocky like Wolverine. It turned out to be the best casting decision in history (slight over exaggeration, but you get the idea).

It shows that many readers know what their favorite characters should look like, but what about authors? Brett Ellis recently said E.L. James told him she wanted Robert Pattinson to play the role of Christian Grey, seeing as the novel was originally a tribute to Twilight. Apparently Margaret Mitchell did not want Clark Gable to play Rhett Butler (although I think he fits her description perfectly!), but perhaps that was because they had to delay production for two years due to his contract with MGM.

Clark Gable was also reluctant to play Rhett, because he was worried he would not be able to live up to the character. He finally agreed due to public pressure and later said, "I think I know now how a fly must react after being caught in a spider's web." It turned out to be one of his most recognised roles and earned him another Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

If When the World was Flat (and we were in love) was turned into a movie I would love see these actors (or similar looking actors) cast:

Felicity Jones as Lillie Hart

Jensen Ackles as Tom Windsor-Smith (I know he is too old, but JENSEN ACKLES! Yum!)

Emily Bowning as Jo Green

Dakota Fanning as Sylv Dartmouth

William Moseley as Jackson Murphy

Megan Fox as Melissa Hodge

Sissy Spacek as Deb Hart

The jury is still out on who should play Mr. Green. Maybe Kiefer Sutherland?

Here's more about When the World was Flat (And We Were in Love)

Looking back, I wonder if I had an inkling that my life was about to go from ordinary to extraordinary.

When sixteen-year-old Lillie Hart meets the gorgeous and mysterious Tom Windsor-Smith for the first time, it’s like fireworks — for her, anyway. Tom looks as if he would be more interested in watching paint dry; as if he is bored by her and by her small Nebraskan town in general.

But as Lillie begins to break down the walls of his seemingly impenetrable exterior, she starts to suspect that he holds the answers to her reoccurring nightmares and to the impossible memories which keep bubbling to the surface of her mind — memories of the two of them, together and in love.

When she at last learns the truth about their connection, Lillie discovers that Tom has been hiding an earth-shattering secret; a secret that is bigger — and much more terrifying and beautiful — than the both of them. She also discovers that once you finally understand that the world is round, there is no way to make it flat again.

An epic and deeply original sci-fi romance, taking inspiration from Albert Einstein’s theories and the world-bending wonder of true love itself.

Read my review here.

Release Date: 3 September 2013 in the US and Canada, and 5 September 2013 in the UK, as well as worldwide as ebook and audio.

Author Bio

Ingrid Jonach writes books for children and young adults, including the chapter books The Frank Frankie and Frankie goes to France published by Pan Macmillan, and When the World was Flat (and we were in love) published by Strange Chemistry.

Since graduating from university with a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing (Hons) in 2005, Ingrid has worked as a journalist and in public relations, as well as for the Australian Government.

Ingrid loves to promote reading and writing, and has been a guest speaker at a number of schools and literary festivals across Australia, where she lives with her husband Craig and their pug dog Mooshi.

Despite her best efforts, neither Craig nor Mooshi read fiction.

Find out more at www.ingridjonach.com

Tour Wide Giveaway

Enter below (go to the website below) for your chance to win one of two awesome prize packages as part of the Around the World in 80 Days Blog Tour for When the World was Flat (and we were in love) by Ingrid Jonach.

There will be two winners worldwide. Each prize package includes:

· a signed copy of When the World was Flat (and we were in love)

· a pair of silver plated key-shaped earrings in a When the World was Flat (and we were in love) gift box

· a When the World was Flat (and we were in love) bookmark.