martedì 20 aprile 2021

Blog Tour: Unwritten (The Zweeshen Chronicles #1) by Alicia J. Novo [Review + Giveaway]

Unwritten
The Zweeshen Chronicles #1

Expected Publication: 8th May 2021
Publisher: INtense Publications
Number of pages: 324
Format: eARC
Source: Received from author
Pre-orderAmazon

Synopsis:

Books whisper to Beatrix Alba. But they aren’t the reason she has never fit in. Bullied at home and school, she keeps a secret—a power of violence and darkness.

When the spell that keeps her hidden fails, she’s catapulted into the Zweeshen, a realm where all tales live, and her dream of meeting her favorite characters comes true. But wishes are tricky, and behind its wonder and whimsy, the Zweeshen is under attack. A character is burning bookworlds in pursuit of a weapon to rule both stories and storytellers. To succeed, he needs a riddle in Beatrix's keeping.

Now he’s hunting her down.

Joining forces with William, a cursed conjurer, Beatrix must face an enemy who knows her every weakness in a realm where witches play with time, Egyptian gods roam, and Regency heroines lead covert operations. And with her darkness as the only weapon, she may have to sacrifice everything to save a world that rejects her.


My Review

Unwritten is a novel set in the world every reader dreams of visiting one day: the world of stories or the Zweeshen. Beatrix, is a teenage girl that, after her Grandpa’s death, doesn’t have a lot of reasons to stay with her hateful father. Too good then that she practically gets kidnapped and forced to join the Zweeshen. But what does a mortal girl have to do in a land of taemlins, or characters?

I loved the premises of this book. It had the potential of containing everything I want and like in a book: a fabulous, magical world, a strong female protagonist and an intricate adventure to face. I was seriosuly impressed by the writing skills the author showed in this debut novel , the story was flowing and had the ability to catch your attention. The world the author creates is certanly the result of a great imaginary effort and I liked that it was well structured and had its systems and its history. The impact it had on me during the first chapters was extremely positive and I was curious to know how all the stories Beatrix grew up with would mingle with her everyday life in the Zweeshen. Contrary to my expectations, though, the story did not really revolve around exploring the worlds of well-knows stories, but more around saving the Zweeshen from a dangerous threat, supposedly thanks to what Beatrix’s dead mother left her. All the twists and turns that led to Beatrix uncovering her Mom’s heritage though, were not always clear to me and this made me detach a little from the story, let’s say halfway through the reading. Beatrix’s principal mission being to solve her mother’s riddle, I would have expected this journey to be a little more structured while at times I felt like too many things were thrown in the way of the story and made me confused about the steps that led to the solving.

Speaking of the characters, I liked Beatrix, even if I can’t quite picture her as a teenager but always as a young girl -  similar to Emma, who was my favorite character in the story. The fact that I thought of her as this young, didn’t help me in getting warm with the idea of her being in a relationship with William; everyone knew from the beginning that they would become a thing even if they seem to hate each other, but I just hoped that Beatrix’s change of mind wouldn’t have been so abrupt. When they became a done deal though, I have to admit that I liked them together way more than I thought and I appreciated their tender and supportive relationship.Beatrix also managed to make a lot of friends in the Zweeshen, and I loved how cared for she was, even though there are just a few names that really stuck with me: Emma, Neradola and Jane, the others making a brief appearance on the pages.

Overall, I feel like giving this book 3 stars because I honestly liked the idea of the world Novo created, as it is something completely original in my reading experience . I just think that, being the Zweeshen a world full of narrative ideas, the author tried to bring too much into the first volume, making it not really easy to follow at times.Let me be clear: I loved the journey but I can’t tell you that I’m 100% sure about what happened in the end or what the prologue meant, too many elements and characters taking my mind off the important aspects of the story, probably. I’m sure that all the things that left me a little doubtful in Unwritten though, will certainly find answers in the following installments of this series, where a skillfull author and such a rich world make for an infinity of possibilities.

Rated



About the author:
Alicia has a weak spot for happy endings and transformative journeys. She spent her teenage years in Argentina and Europe, speaks several languages and loves to travel.
 
An eclectic reader, she grew up on a diet ranging from Lucy M. Montgomery and Jane Austen to Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Raymond Chandler, Hermann Hesse, Jorge Luis Borges, and many classics. She's never been cured of reading a bit of everything and is as likely to geek out about Mr. Darcy as Dr. Who.

She is a history and astronomy aficionado, who walked the Camino de Santiago in Spain, completed her Masters in the Netherlands and worked for Google in Ireland. She decided to become a writer at six but took a full, winding road here. Along the way, she learned if there’s one thing that cuts across cultures, one unifying thread that pulls everyone together, it's a good story.
 
A big-city girl, she now lives in the Midwest, where she occasionally picks apples and pretends witches exist.


The Giveaway


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