Thursday 14 February 2013

Blog tour: Phoebe Pope and the Year of Four by Nya Jade



I am pleased to be able to participate in the blog tour for Nya Jade’s Young Adult/Paranormal novel, Phoebe Pope and the Year of Four.

Tour Host: Giselle @ Xpresso Book Tours

Phoebe Pope and the Year of Four 

Publication date: October 30th 2012 by Dreamwell Publishing

The students of Green Lane Academy roam their halls unaware that below their manicured campus exists a prestigious school of an entirely different kind . . .

Sixteen-year-old Phoebe Pope has enrolled at the Campus Below: a spy academy for shape-shifters hidden deep beneath the grounds of a boarding school whose humans unknowingly protect it. There, thanks to a carefully planned schedule, she leads a double life: spy trainee Below and normal teenager Above.

As if two course loads, concealing a secret power she alone wields, and coping with her father’s recent death weren’t enough, Phoebe finds herself developing major feelings for actor and teen heartthrob Colten Chase, who attends the Campus Above and appears to be majoring in winning Phoebe’s heart. But when officials learn that Phoebe may be at the center of a startling prophecy, she becomes the target of shape-shifting assassins who will stop at nothing to suppress the truth.

Now Phoebe’s lessons about Shaper’s enemies and spycraft take on great importance as a menace stalks the campus, with Phoebe as its target. Meanwhile, what began as an unlikely relationship with Colten, quickly morphs into heartache when she suspects that something sinister lurks beneath this movie star’s glitter and fame. Suddenly, Phoebe’s caught in a mesh of lies, betrayals, and danger where she doesn’t know who to trust, and needs to rely on herself—and her secret power—to get to the  truth and to stay alive.

Review: 4 out of 5 stars

Phoebe Pope and the Year of Four first captured my attention when I participated in the cover reveal, and I love books which have a school or academy setting with ‘secrets’ so I literally devoured this book.

16 year-old Phoebe Pope is a Shifter with a secret ability to read emotions, she has recently lost her father who was killed by Vigo’s and has transferred to Green Lane Academy in the hopes of following in his footsteps. The academy above is seen as a normal prestigious boarding school where as below, it is a secret spy-academy.

Phoebe Pope and the Year of Four has an interesting plot that carries a lot of mystery, it centers on a prophecy which surrounds Phoebe who is a Hypha (Human/Shifter) as well as Vigo (Tiger Shifters) attacks happening on the schools campus; I was drawn into the story from the setting, mythical aspect and likeable characters who each bought something interesting to the story. Despite a few things being predictable, it was enjoyable to see everything unfold.

Some of the terminology I initially found to be really confusing (Hearts, Vigo, Mita, Hypha, Blackcoats etc.) but it all became apparent as the book progressed and I found myself quite intrigued by the creative world and explanations Ms. Pope has used.

The love interest is Colten Chase, a young actor who attends the academy above and has taken quite the liking to Phoebe but there is mystery and secrets that he isn’t quite forthcoming about. I liked the developing relationship between Colten and Phoebe and although there seemed to be awkwardness between them, it was quite endearing and cute to watch their interactions. I wasn’t really surprised by his revelation, there were a few clues which led up to the big reveal but I’m curious to see how it all plays out it future installments.

We get a great look into the secondary characters, Hayley was a wonderful friend and I was really interested in the Blackcoats, their purpose and history - I was quite shocked by the ‘bad’ guy, I wouldn’t have guessed it from a mile off.

I quite enjoyed Ms. Jade’s simplistic, detailed writing, it was engaging and with the fast-paced plot it kept the story moving along nicely.

Overall, Phoebe Pope and the Year of Four was an entertaining read full of suspense, danger, action and a sweet romance. I can’t wait to get hold of the next book to see how the threat unfolds and if the prophecy holds true.

A great start to this series.

Author Bio:

Nya Jade is a singer-songwriter and author based in San Francisco. Her music videos have aired on the VH1, BET, and MTV networks. USA Today hailed Nya as a “young female troubadour worth keeping your eyes and ears on,” in an entertainment feature on up-and-coming singer-songwriters. “Her cool singing voice recalls Sade,” said the LA Times.

Between writing and performing new music, Nya took a musical sabbatical to focus on writing a novel—an endeavor she found quite daunting, until she began looking at each chapter as a verse in a very long song. Phoebe Pope and the Year of Four is her first novel.

In her free time, Nya enjoys hanging out with family and friends, searching for amazing gluten-free desserts, and bargain hunting for her next pair of funky shoes.

Nya holds a B.A. in Economics and an M.A. in Sociology, both from Stanford University.

Author Links:

Giveaway:

The giveaway is for an iPad Mini, open internationally and ending on Feb 27th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
 
https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/1/?ui=2&ik=d86af9f599&view=att&th=13ca5b96d326f456&attid=0.1.3&disp=inline&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P-QVxeJo29yFYe1mXtYyDyi&sadet=1360810293237&sads=rwqlFL05tnPndrTfcqVJZWGtt4g 

5 comments:

  1. This sounds good and like you I love books set at academies boarding schools etc. Awesome review, another one to add to my wish list!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Kimba, this one was fun and a great start to a new series!

      Delete
  2. I'm glad you enjoyed this one! I remember the cover reveal too and was thinking I had to read it, so I'm happy it's a good one. I love that the bad guy was a surprise, too many books I've read lately broadcast it from a mile away. Great review!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Barbara! I love to be surprised and the twist in this certainly came as a shock, I was clueless about the bad guy.



      Delete
  3. I'm glad that you enjoyed this book, Sharon! It really surprised me in a good way. I decided to read it because of the boarding school setting too!
    Lovely review! :)

    ReplyDelete

Thank-you so much for stopping by today!

I love to receive your comments, please leave your blog link & I'll be sure to stop by.

I also respond to your comment here on my blog :)