Review: Where Futures End by Parker Peevyhouse

Where Futures End by Parker Peevyhouse
Publisher: Kathy Dawson Books
Release Date: February 19th, 2016
Purchase: Amazon

Five teens.
Five futures.
Two worlds.
One ending.

One year from now, Dylan develops a sixth sense that allows him to glimpse another world.

Ten years from now, Brixney must get more hits on her social media feed or risk being stuck in a debtors' colony.

Thirty years from now, Epony scrubs her entire online profile from the web and goes “High Concept.”

Sixty years from now, Reef struggles to survive in a city turned virtual gameboard.

And more than a hundred years from now, Quinn uncovers the alarming secret that links them all.

Five people, divided by time, will determine the fate of us all. These are stories of a world bent on destroying itself, and of the alternate world that might be its savior--unless it's too late.

My thoughts:
Have you ever read a book and just didn't get it, but wanted to so badly?  Well this is me right now.  I feel like I am totally missing out on some huge secret and I don't like it at all.  I want to like this book and I want my intelligence to understand what the author was trying to say to me, but I just don't get it.

The story started out really interesting.  We have Dylan who is obsessed with the Other Place which I think and I'm pretty sure I'm right is Fairy.  Now I could be wrong, but it felt like that was what the author was going for.  Don't think Melissa Marr's world, but more like a fairy tale happy place with adventures...maybe Peter Pannish??  I don't know but anyway Dylan wanted to go back there because he felt like that was where he belonged. The story was weird from the start, but I understood it because the author did a great job cluing her readers in.  Things slowly fell apart after that first part though for me.

This book is broken down into parts instead of chapters and the second part takes place ten years later and the world is a very different place.  It all felt really sad to me.  I kind of got the feeling like maybe the author was predicting our future because it was all very technology based and not in a good way.  Think YouTube but way way bigger.  This second story I understood too for the most part, but it didn't really connect much with the first.  The Other Place was in there and a few other things, but not enough for me to connect the dots.

I trudged on though because I did like the writing and the story was still really interesting.  This third part though was a little more different and while I still got it I started to really question where this was all going. This part was sadder than the previous ones and honestly made me scared.  I don't think this could happen but it does make you think about where our world is headed.

The fourth part really made me think.  This part was about a gaming world and was again sadder than the other parts.  The Other Place and Dylan were still the only connecting lines throughout the stories and at this point I had no idea where the author was going.  I had a hard time understanding this part because it was so very different than what my imagination could grasp so I was left feeling left out.  Now that I am thinking of it every part felt like a short story.  They all had a common thread, but nothing really connected them.

At the end I totally lost it all.  This last part takes place more than one hundred years from the start and I have no idea what this story was supposed to be about.  I feel like it has some higher meaning and I honestly feel a little stupid for not understanding it.  I don't like when stories make me feel this way.  I want to get it and I wanted to fall in love with this book because it had my name written all over it, but I'm left feeling very disgruntled, sad,  and a little upset.  I'm going to look through other reviews to see if it's just me and hopefully I'll find some clarity for this story because I feel like it should have been great and enlightening.  Maybe I'm just reading too much into I don't know, but I'm completely lost after that last chapter. 

I don't even know what to rate this honestly so I am for the first time ever not going to rate a book that I finished.  I can't rate something I didn't understand in my opinion so there you go no rating and a review filled with I don't get its....sorry.

Blog Tour: Where Futures End by Parker Peevyhouse: Novella feature & giveaway

 Today on WinterHaven Books I am participating in the blog tour for Where Futures End by Parker Peevyhouse!  As part of my stop I have an amazing novella to share with you as well as giveaway!!

When We Ended It All (Quinn)

“On the first day, you will tell your story. On the second, I will tell mine. On the third, one of us will die. You will choose who.”

One hundred years from now, Quinn lives in the woods near an apocalyptic ruin. During her rite of passage, she meets a boy who claims to be from the Other Place. But no one knows the stories of the Other Place better than Quinn, and Quinn senses there’s something not quite right about the tale this stranger tells her.

Each part of WHERE FUTURES END explores the storytelling power of a different medium: novels and movies in the first part, TV and the Internet in the second part, music in the third part, video games in the fourth part, and oral storytelling in the fifth part. I wanted this fifth part, in which Quinn and the stranger tell each other stories, to have the feel of a fairy tale. Since WHERE FUTURES END often alludes to Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, I decided to base this final section on the tale that supposedly inspired “The Jabberwocky.” This old English legend, called “The Lambton Wyrm,” is about a tiny monster that grows so large it surrounds the entire countryside and must be slayed.

When Quinn listens to the stranger’s story about a monster that must be defeated, the reader can see how the legends about the Other Place have evolved over the course of the book. Together the reader and Quinn must use their knowledge of the Other Place to decide whether this stranger can be trusted, and then must try to figure out the truth at the heart of the stranger’s story.

Finally, the puzzle pieces of WHERE FUTURES END come together, and I hope the reader will have enjoyed putting them together.

Where Futures End by Parker Peeveyhouse
Publisher: Kathy Dawson Books
Release Date: February 9th, 2016
Purchase: Amazon

Five teens.
Five futures.
Two worlds.
One ending.

One year from now, Dylan develops a sixth sense that allows him to glimpse another world.

Ten years from now, Brixney must get more hits on her social media feed or risk being stuck in a debtors' colony.

Thirty years from now, Epony scrubs her entire online profile from the web and goes “High Concept.”

Sixty years from now, Reef struggles to survive in a city turned virtual gameboard.

And more than a hundred years from now, Quinn uncovers the alarming secret that links them all.

Five people, divided by time, will determine the fate of us all. These are stories of a world bent on destroying itself, and of the alternate world that might be its savior--unless it's too late.

 

Find Parker

Website / Twitter / Goodreads

I don't know about you, but this makes me want to dive into Where Futures End right now!
Giveaway time!  Penguin has graciously offered to send one lucky reader their very own hardcover copy of Where Futures End!  Open to US residents only.
Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway! Where Futures End by Parker Peevyhouse!!

Hey snowflakes! I have a super awesome giveaway to share with you! The amazing people at Penguin are hosting a fantastic giveaway for their upcoming title Where Futures End by Parker Peevyhouse! Details below!

 Enter for a chance to win an advance readers copy of WHERE FUTURES END. There will be 5 winners, entries restricted to US only.

Where Futures End by Parker Peevyhouse
Publisher: Kathy Dawson Books
Release date: February 9th, 2016
Purchase: Amazon

Five teens.
Five futures.
Two worlds.
One ending.

One year from now, Dylan develops a sixth sense that allows him to glimpse another world.

Ten years from now, Brixney must get more hits on her social media feed or risk being stuck in a debtors' colony.

Thirty years from now, Epony scrubs her entire online profile from the web and goes “High Concept.”

Sixty years from now, Reef struggles to survive in a city turned virtual gameboard.

And more than a hundred years from now, Quinn uncovers the alarming secret that links them all.

Five people, divided by time, will determine the fate of us all. These are stories of a world bent on destroying itself, and of the alternate world that might be its savior--unless it's too late.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: The Accident Season by Moïra Fowley-Doyle

The Accident Season by Moïra Fowley-Doyle
Publisher: Kathy Dawson Books
Release Date: August 18th, 2015
Purchase: Amazon

It's the accident season, the same time every year. Bones break, skin tears, bruises bloom.

The accident season has been part of seventeen-year-old Cara's life for as long as she can remember. Towards the end of October, foreshadowed by the deaths of many relatives before them, Cara's family becomes inexplicably accident-prone. They banish knives to locked drawers, cover sharp table edges with padding, switch off electrical items - but injuries follow wherever they go, and the accident season becomes an ever-growing obsession and fear.

But why are they so cursed? And how can they break free?

My thoughts:
You know I'm not quite sure what to make of this book.  I wasn't really loving it and then the ending happened and wow.   I don't think I've ever read a book that made me want to change my rating as much as this one and I'm left really struggling with what to do.

So I'm going to try and talk this out.  In the beginning we find out that every October Sam, Alice, Cara, and their mother have accidents.  These accidents can be as small as stubbing a toe or as big as being hit by a car.  Sometimes you survive them and sometimes you don't. No one knows why this happens they only know they have to be extra careful every October.  This year Cara's friend Bea predicts this will be a bad season and so Cara starts wondering who and when will become a victim of the accident season.

Okay see this sounded so good and while I did like it okay it just didn't grab me.  The story was too filled up with unrequited love, teenage partying, and tarot card reading.  I wanted more about the accident season and I guess I just wanted something a bit darker.  The whole beginning of the book felt a little too light for what was happening to this family.  There were bits of strangeness and I'll admit I was taken in by a few scenes, but just when I would think the book had finally taken a dark turn things would go fluffy again.  This changed in the last third of the book and that's when the wow happened.

We basically find out what happens when dark secrets are kept.  This book took a total 180 turn for me and I wasn't prepared for the direction the author dove into.  I mean talk about getting whiplash!  When I finally figured out what was going on my mouth dropped and I finally understood why the author chose to include so much fluff.  No one book can handle this much dark, she had to balance it out with something to give the reader hope for her characters.  I think by building them all up it let the us know that things are bad, but you gotta remember the beginning.  I have to say this twist was amazing and something I think will blind side most people. 

See as I am writing this review I am leaning toward a pretty stellar rating because it is all starting to make sense to me. I honestly loved the writing and the character development was pretty amazing as well.  The one thing I didn't like was all the smoking and substance abuse. This has been in quite a few books I've read lately and I am really hoping its not a new trend.  I don't personally like it and especially for certain parts of this book it wasn't needed.

Okay I am going to go with 4 stars.  This 4 stars is for the amazing writing, the brilliant slap you in your face 180, the characters that will stay with me for a long time especially Cara and Sam (who were just too cute), and the hope that was given in the beginning.

4 snowflakes