A Goddess Reads: Firebolt Book Tour + Giveaway (Part 2/2)

Glad to see you made it back! Like I said in the last post, with Part Two we'll actually get a sneak peek into the book with a scintillating excerpt. I'll follow up with my review, and then! And only then will I reveal the precious giveaway. (Or you can scroll down to the bottom. But I warn you, there will be stuff down there and you'll be all wtf? And then you'll have to scroll all the way back here to make sense of it all.) Are we good? Ok, good, because here comes the excerpt!

EXCERPT

A girl singing her heart out about a miracle boomed inside my ear. A miracle would get me what I needed: a chance at a semi-normal life.

The bedroom door hitting the wall expelled the thought from my mind. With his hand tangled up in his copper hair and with huge brown eyes, Dad's figure filled the entire doorway. “Pack your bags.” He had that set to his jaw, the one that meant there was no way out of this. He bolted out of the room just as suddenly as he had appeared.

My teeth ground hard against each other, and the sharp pain behind my eyes, I guessed from the lack of sleep, grew stronger. Every fibre of my being wanted to explode.

Ever since I could remember my name, Dad and I had been on the run. From what? Beats me.

For the last two weeks, I'd been pacing up and down through the house, struggling to fall asleep at night, waiting for this day.

For the love of blue berries, no sixteen-year old should live this way!

I climbed off my bed, and the first step I took left my toe tangled in the wide leg of my jeans. I tried to regain my balance as the closet inched closer, but with wildly flailing arms, I came crashing down. The thud reverberated across the wooden floor, and it sounded as if I'd broken something.

Dad darted back into my room. "Are you okay?" He lifted me back onto my feet as if I weighed nothing.

Tears lurked in the corners of my eyes, threatening to burst, as I stared up at him.

"Don't give me that look, Elena. Please, we need to hurry.” He pulled my suitcase from the top shelf and chucked it haphazardly onto my bed. “We need to go. Now.”

"Dad…"

He started to grab my clothes from the shelf and tossed them messily inside my small suitcase. Then he paused, sighed, and looked up with soft eyes. He stroked the side of my cheek with his hand gently. “This wasn't the right place, bear. Please, you’ve got to trust me.”

His hand reached back to pull everything off my shelf, while my hands curled up into balls of fury. My heart pounded fast as those two words bounced inside my skull. “Trust you, Dad?”

"Elena, we don't have much time,” he yelled. “Pack your bags! You can ask questions later." He left, and the hollow “doof” sound from his footsteps stomped loudly as he made his way into the hall.

Ask questions? Yeah right! I’ll only get answers that don’t reveal why we are on the run for the gazillionth time.' “Trust me” and “I'll tell you when the time is right” were the only two answers Dad gave. 'Guess time with him will never be right.’

It was no use arguing with him anyway. The last time, he threw me over his shoulder and carried me out without any of my things.

So I grabbed the stuff I needed: my mp3 player, a photo of Mom that Dad didn't know I had, and my journal from underneath my bed. I tossed them into my backpack. It wasn't much, but it was the stuff that made my miserable life felt less pathetic. I zipped up my suitcase and took a deep breath. Looking around my bedroom for the last time, I said goodbye to my sixtieth-something room.

Dad almost ran me over in the hall with his army bag slung over his shoulder. He grumbled, which I assumed was an apology, took my suitcase, and ran down the stairs. He always rented these huge old houses, pre-furnished and near the countryside, and we always left after three months.

The pickup's horn honked as I shut the front door. I closed my eyes and took another deep breath. Just two more years, then I'll be eighteen and free from this freak show. Huge raindrops fell hard onto the ground. The smell of wet dirt filled the air. It was my favorite smell.

The water that pooled on the ground covered all the gaps in the driveway, forcing me to hopscotch around all of them. My shoe got caught in one of the gaps and I smacked down hard in a huge puddle. By the time I reached the truck, my jeans and shoes were soaking wet.

Warm heat from the vents inside the truck hit me full blast as I jumped in; a million goose pimples erupted across my skin. As soon as I shut the rusty door, Dad floored the gas pedal. Tires screeched and the truck spun away as if the Devil chased us. My lower lip quivered softly as he swerved onto the road. The streetlights flew by in a blur as I plugged in my earpieces. The same stupid song about a miracle boomed from my mp3, drowning the sound of the engine and the hard dribbles on the roof, a percussion that became the perpetual soundtrack to my misery.

A feeling of utter loneliness consumed my heart as I stared out the window. Homes with white picket fences and the convenient store whizzed by in a flash. A tear rolled down my cheek as I said goodbye, and my breath on the glass created a foggy condensation. Reaching out my index finger, I drew a small heart. These were the reasons why Mom had left. She couldn't handle his paranoia, but why she’d left her daughter to deal with it was a mystery. Dad constantly reminded me of the latter, and that was the only time he ever spoke of her. If he ever discovered I had that picture, he would kill me. That was how much he hated her for leaving us.

The lights of a vehicle in the upcoming lane shone directly into my face. I shut my eyes, waiting for it to disappear. As a little girl, I used to watch Dad as we drove away from yet another house. He would glare into his rearview mirror every five seconds, every muscle in his face clenched, and his knuckles white on the steering wheel. I hadn’t been able to force myself to peek out the window then, as it used to scare the living crap out of me to consider the possible reasons he was fleeing from, or who might be following us. Now, I didn't look at him or care much for what he was going through. He created this problem. With me becoming the luggage. It was a ritual I endured every three months, and nothing over the past sixteen years had ever changed that.

The “Interstate 40” sign flew by in a whirl, and the pickup slowly moved onto the turnoff lane.

My eyes started to burn as I stared at the rain running down my window. Each rivet resembled another town, another place I would never again call home. Exhaustion consumed me and my eyelids felt heavy. I laid my head against the window and struggled to stay awake.

Suddenly, a dark and huge figure flew past me. Dad swerved to the left, which made me crushed into the side of the passenger’s door. My entire body pumped with adrenaline. I jumped straight in my seat and wrenched the seatbelt over my shoulder to buckle myself in. I tore out my earpieces as I tried to process what had just happened.

“What was that?” I looked at Dad.

He stared straight ahead with huge eyes. Beads of sweat rolled from his hairline down to the side of his temple. He looked terrified, something that conflicted with his personality. I'd never seen Dad look that scared in my entire life.

“Dad!”

“Did you see where it went?” he asked, attempting to inject calm into his voice, but I could hear the fear lacing each syllable.

“See where what went? Dad what was that!”

“You wouldn't believe me if I told you.”

“For once in your life, just tell me!” I screamed. Sixteen years of frustration exploded from my lungs. I couldn't take the unknown anymore.

“Fine.” He mumbled something else that I didn't catch. "Do you remember the stories I used to tell you?"

“Stories? What stories?”

“The ones about Paegeia, Elena.” He looked in his rearview mirror again with huge, unblinking eyes.

Vaguely, but I didn't tell him that. "What does that have to do with this?"

“They're real.”

I froze and I stared at him.

“All of it, it’s real. The dragons, the magic, the wall, everything is real.”

my reaction to that last sentence

And now ladies and gentlemen, I give you my review!

Title: Firebolt

Author: Adrienne Woods

Publication Date: November 17, 2013

Pages: 306

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Dragons

Rating: 4 stars

Summary: For the love of blueberries, Elena Watkins was destined for greatness, even though she didn't know it. Before entering Paegeia Elena was not special, she wasn't even average until the night her father was killed by a creature she thought only existed in fairy tales - a dragon. With her father's death leaving her orphaned, Elena is whisked away to her true birthplace, Paegeia. Arriving at Dragonia Academy, the premier school for young Dragonians; a school she was never meant to attend because her father was a dragon. Unbeknownst to Elena danger is lurking behind the enchanted vines concealing the once thriving capital of Paegeia - Etan. Goran, the darkest sorcerer in the realm, has lain dormant for over a century behind the crumbling city. There, in the shadowy ruins he plots his revenge to destroy the only weapon that can kill him - the King of Lion Sword. When the sword is stolen without a trace Elena doesn't think twice about seeking it; knowing deep down that it is her destiny to save her new home.

I really love dragons you guys! No, I mean it. Dragons and me, we would make an awesome team. So when Ms. Woods offered me a spot on her book tour, I couldn't resist!

Okay, so we start off with Elena in the real world. She's sick of her dad's paranoia and she just wants to live a normal girl life.

Yeah okay.

Problem is, Elena is pretty darn special (and I think I know why!) We're not told in this novel why exactly she is so special, only that she has a very rare birthmark, and that in itself is special. -Cue the halfway successful assassination attempt (which no one questions?)-

So just like in a lot of Disney movies, Elena's father dies early in the beginning and she mysteriously ends up on the other side of the Bermuda Triangle, also known as the country as Paegeia. Which has dragons.

yussssss

And the best part is there are more than just one type of dragons, there are also different abilities that dragons can have! And they have riders which are called Dragonians. Undoubtedly you can tell me what Elena is. I'll give you a hint, she's not a dragon.

Wait, did you say she's a Dragonian? DING DING DING! You are correct! There are some complications to her claim as a Dragonian but I'll leave that for you guys to find out!

I want to get into characters and plot really quickly. There's a big band of characters, and I enjoyed all of them, even if I didn't necessarily like them all! Every character was a bit quirky and I can't wait to see these characters come into play more as the series progresses. I really enjoyed the sweet moments that Elena had with Lucian, even though they were all short-lived. Something always happened to ruin those moments!

A lot of the first book is on Elena and how she is coping in the new realm. I mean, this is an accurate portrayal of how a human being would react in a new land! They would be freaked out!!! There's also that feeling of a meandering plot, it goes from one scene to the next without any real importance but overall,

Thank you Effie

The first half of this novel is pretty slow, which is expected when it's the first book of a new series. There's quite a lot to cover, especially when there are DRAGONS involved! The second half picks up the pace and the ending, oh that ending. I mean sure, a lot of bad things happen to Elena, but may I just say that I would love to switch places with the girl. Especially if what I think is going to happen in the next installments actually happens. (Some of the plot twists are pretty clear, other stuff, eh-not so much.)

I do have to point out that there are A LOT, I mean a lot, of questions raised as the story unfolds, and we get hardly any answers in the first book. I would've liked a few of them answered at least. A few isn't too much to ask, is it?