In Which I Review... The Phoenix Rising- Destiny Calls by Phenice Arielle + (GIVEAWAY for BLOG TOUR)

Hey everyone! Welcome to Mera's YA Book List. I've been awol for a while but hang in there with me. There are some big improvements coming soon!

Back to the subject!

Today, I have the pleasure of reviewing the mammoth book, The Phoenix Rising- Destiny Calls by Phenice Arielle.

And I call it mammoth for the fact that it's over 400 pages of word (Amazon actually puts it at 506 pages), lol, but still really good!

Now to the review!

Kindle Edition, 508 pages

Published June 5th 2013 by Phenice Arielle

 

SYNOPSIS:

Sure, Kay’s parents didn’t think twice about sending her to therapy.

After all, Kay fully believes that she just narrowly escaped an explosion, watched a handsome co-ed walk through fire for her—oh, and that she battled an extremely skilled foe to the death—all before her 10 AM class!

They’re just dreams of course, but when this talented NYU student wins a coveted trip to South Africa, she soon finds out the truth—that everything her parents TRIED to convince her wasn’t real actually lies HIDDEN deep in a jungle Kay once assumed was paradise.

Now, if Kay can survive the hand-to-hand combat and the one with the ivory dagger who wishes her death, Kay may just get the answers that unlock her dreams. Kay might even fall in love. On the other hand, our brave girl may get an answer to something she never wanted to know the answer TO:

What happens… when you die.

 

REVIEW:

The Phoenix Rising: Destiny Calls had me hooked at the synopsis. And when I began reading the book, I became even more excited. The cover, which is the type that would lure in the male reading crowd more primarily, is awesomely designed but it so does not do the book justice. Destiny Calls is the first in the series and follows Kay, nicknamed so due to the difficulty of pronouncing her real name, Nanyamka.

"He smiled at me in a way that sent a chill throughout my body, and the tears in my eyes down the sides of my cheeks. That was the last thing I remembered before everything went black. That was the last thing I remembered before I realized I’d never see Beth, my mom, my dad, or even Callum, ever, ever again.”

This passage is on the back of the print copy and we immediately know something is going to happen that is basically going to screw with you good while reading.

I refuse to tell you what happened, because that would be sucky of me, but it was worse than any of the scenarios I imagined.

What I loved about this book was that it tied in the concepts of destiny, soulmates (which I love in books), and the extraordinary.

There was the influence of Romeo and Juliet, lovers torn apart, without being overly present. There was adventure, and in such a way that you wondered if Kay would get back to her life as we knew it.

Kay was a good protagonist, though thoughts of Callum stole the show, even when he wasn't there. One problem I had with Kay was the inconsistency of her memory. I mean, for her to be as smart as she is, she's a budding journalist studying at NYU, and as well rounded as she is, I can't fathom her forgetting some of the important things, and this doesn't even include her dreams (which I understand).

Note: Kay has terrible nightmares that have affected her immensely throughout her childhood and into adulthood.

So, overall definitely a great read. And I would recommend it to my YA readers.

However, I can't give The Phoenix Rising- Destiny Calls the 5 star review I so wish I could. There were a few small errors, and that happens, and do not take away from my rating. I do think the book needed another go through by a well-rounded editor.

Arielle's writing style is unique, in a great way, but her use of detail, which vastly helped build the beautiful world she created, hinders the book a bit also, as some of the writing was unnessecary and a little drawn out. Some scenes were overly descriptive and sentences or passages could be removed and actually help the books readability.

Also, because of who Kay is, the flashback technique was used a lot, and the book would have benefited from italics in those sections.

So, just a few small things I couldn't ignore, and things that I think could've been fixed or discussed in editing.

Still, the adventure and romance, and uniqueness of Phenice Arielle's novel is great, and I can't wait to read the next installment of Kay's story.

I give the book a 4/5 star rating.


GIVEAWAY!!!!

There is a tour wide rafflecopter and here it is! Enter to win some awesome Phoenix Rising swag!

Super easy entry!

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/8040a90/