To Save a Life: Book Review

To Save a Life by Jim & Rachel Britts

I went to the library in search of about five different books. And I couldn't find any of them. So I came home with five or six different books, this being one of them. I didn't really know anything about them, and I was having trouble deciding which one to actually read. They all looked good. I had seen this one on the shelf before and had even taken it home, but just hadn't had the time to read it. I have the tendency to start a book, get bored a few chapters in, and drop it. So my mom told me that this time around whatever book I chose I would have to read it until the end.

As soon as I started this book, I considered putting it down. It starts with the main character Jake standing in the rain at a funeral. The first couple of chapters are just Jake going back through memories of the person who died--or rather killed themselves. I was bored and scared that the whole book would be like this. Who wants a book going through memories and the occasional thought of regret of a person who lost their childhood best friend? I wanted to see action, to see the person changed. And I was not disappointed. Once the book picked up, it really picked up.

I fell in love with the characters right away. Jake, his girlfriend, his parents, his youth pastor, and even his "enemies" are all very relatable because they are just like people now of days. They go through real life struggles of having to deal with the mistakes they've made or being accused for things unfairly. The characters came off the page and it was much more like a movie playing out in my head than black words on a white page.

Every inch of the story was inspiring, entertaining, and realistic. Over and over the question What is your life about? is asked. By the end of the book, I was sitting there sobbing (I  hardly ever cry over books) and wondering how in the world Jake's life would be pieced back together in the remaining twenty pages.

To Save a Life has many Christian aspects and carefully deals with things that are dealt with loosely in today's world. I would recommend this book to anyone who is already aware of these topics (it talks cleanly about teen pregnancy, partying, drugs, etc.) and who is looking for a good, inspiring read.

CAVE SECRETS OF THE PTERODACTYL: Welcome, Author Aidyl Ewoh

Today I am excited to host Aidyl Ewoh on Cave Secrets of the Pterodactyl blog tour! Take it from here, Aidyl

 

About the Book:

Cave Secrets of the Pterodactyl: Traveling with her parents brings Lydia, daughter of explorer and singer Buddy Davis, plenty of adventure and mystery - from hidden clues in bookstores to cave paintings deep underground. 

About the Author: Whether she’s building life-sized models of dinosaurs with her adopted family, trying her hand at cooking at a private retreat, or living in a barn, author Aidyl Ewoh (aka Lydia Howe) seems to have adventures follow her wherever she goes. Check out her book, Cave Secrets of the Pterodactyl and find out more about her at her Blog, Facebook, and Twitter. 

Answer to the True or False question from the last stop:  False! I do get bothered by the small, tight spaces, but as long as I don't focus on it I am fine. :)  

        My adopted parents and I, along with five of our friends and one of the guides, ended up in the very back of the line (there was one guide at the front, and one at the back). I really don’t have proof, of course, but I’m willing to guess that we had the most fun of anyone in the cave. It was a blast! (Thankfully, there wasn’t really a blast, because that would have been quite dangerous while underground...)

 

 

        There were quite a few of us doing this part of the adventure, but it actually didn’t feel like it because most of the time the passageways were so narrow that we got pretty spread out. There was hardly ever a time I could see, or hear, more than about 10 people. It was crazy to think that it was pretty late (about ten or so at night), yet we were so secluded in darkness that time didn’t mean anything to us.

        I didn’t see any bats (which was sort of a bummer), but I did get to see cave crickets - which looked more like spiders than any crickets I’ve ever seen.

        The first time I had to do a belly-crawl, I started into the crevice before the person in front of me was all the way through, and I almost freaked out because then I had to just wait there for a couple of seconds. Seconds felt like minutes while being surrounded by rock on four sides and a person's feet in front of me, and someone else standing behind me. When it was finally clear, I scrambled through there as fast as I could. But not having the leverage to lift myself made for some breathless moments as I wriggled through the opening.

        About halfway through our journey we arrived in a large, open room. It was short; I couldn’t stand up in most of it, yet it still felt big after all the narrowness we had been through. We all sat around while the guides told us stories about people being lost, including one about a guy who had a fatal fall in the cave. Then we all turned our lights out. It was as dark as dark can be, and I was glad to know when we were able to turn the lights back on!

        When we left the large room, Cody, the guy who had traveled to the cave with us, decided to do the rest of the hike back with me and my adopted parents. He asked me if I got claustrophobic and I was like, “Oh my goodness! Don’t say that word to me right now!” Because I do, although not badly. But I do. And while he was asking, I was standing there, waiting for the people in front of me to go through another one of the belly-crawling parts. I seriously had my face two inches from the wall in front of me - while standing sideways. Not a good time to think of being claustrophobic! It was pretty amazing to me, how much I had to work on keeping the right mindset so I wouldn’t freak out. And I didn’t freak out, I had a total ball!

        There are more harrowing tales to tell (ok, not really harrowing, but it sounded like a cool word to use while talking about caving), but this story has already exceeded its original post and taken up the space of two - and I can’t really justify letting it use three. So right now I'll just leave you to wonder how I made it out alive...

For a chance to win a free copy of Cave Secrets of the Pterodactyl and read a character interview, check this blog out!  on Monday!

To see the schedule for the Blog Tour and to find out how you could win a book by just commenting, click here. 

 

 

 

Blog and Writing INSANITY

Hello! Sorry it's been awhile since I blogged. I have been waiting on myself to finish a book so I could review it, but it was taking longer than I expected. But on the notebooksisters.com they are doing a chain post I am quite interested in.... So....:) Here ya go!

1. How many books did you write this year?
This year I completed finished my YA novel TEN PROMISES. I also started FORGIVEN and SAVING RUTHIE.
2. Which was your favourite to write?
So far I think FORGIVEN has been my favorite to write. It's been a story that has been very close to my heart for around two years. It took me forever to figure out how to write it! I got the idea when I was at a beach. It was beginning to get dark and fireworks were about to go off, so I sat in the warm water, just thinking. Then I thought, "What if someone were to do something so bad that they didn't think they could ever move on and have friends and get married and just have a life?" So over the next year or two, I came up with the character Ariella Violet Burns. She actually had a lot of different names throughout her life. She started out as Emily Burns, then changed to Amelia "Lia" Burns, then Arielle Violet Burns. Finally she became Ariella Violet "Vi, Ari" Burns.
3. Which was the hardest to write?
FORGIVEN has also been the hardest for me to write, because it is such an intense story. It deals with city violence, forgiveness, death, rape, and dealing with regrets.
4. Tell us about you favourite Male Character you wrote this year!
My favorite male main character of this year was James O'Conner. He came about when I was rethinking TEN PROMISES plot. Originally he was my female main character's brother, but he changed to her best friend, a marine overseas. Throughout the book him and Chrissi write letters.
5. And how about your favourite Female Character?
I think Violet would have to be my favorite female character. I love her because she's very "tough" and "mean" on the outside, but she is really very sweet at heart. For example, when visiting her boyfriend's sister's grave, she sat there and cried, over the lost little girl that Jacob was hurting over.
6. Any romances in your writing? Which couple didn't go together as expected?
I have a few couples! In TEN PROMISES there is Samuel and McKenzie. In FORGIVEN, Jacob and Violet. In SAVING RUTHIE, Darren and Ember and Samuel and Anna. I think that my favorite couple out of them is Jacob and Violet. She claims that they aren't a couple...but anyone who has read anything from that book can see it. A couple that didn't go together as expected was Chrissi and Ross from TEN PROMISES. They ended up being friends, not lovers like I had expected!
7. Last word from your manuscript(s)! Go!
Since TEN PROMISES is my only finished WIP from the year, I will post the last word in that, then the last word I have wrote in the other two.
TEN PROMISES-it
FORGIVEN-happening
SAVING RUTHIE-Ember 
 9. First sentences from your manuscript(s)!
TEN PROMISES-Don't do it, Chrissandra.
FORGIVEN- Grandma Burns continued to read words out of the Bible: a book Violet had no interest in whatsoever.
SAVING RUTHIE- My sword clashed with my elder sister's, and I struggled to hold mine up, retaining the blow that I knew Ember would never deliver.
10. Anything big on the horizons for next year? Plans to query? Publish? Edit?
In 2014 I plan on querying TEN PROMISES. Well I plan on sending out the first round of query letters out by the end of the year.
 11. Tell us a bit about a book you're super excited to write in 2014!
I'm going to be writing a book set in winter where a girl gets trapped in her house during a snowstorm. A guy's car breaks down outside of her house. She is reluctant to let him in, but he'll die otherwise. So she divides the house in half and walks around with a steak knife, until she gets sick and has to accept his help.

Hope you enjoyed!