Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Claire Daly: Reluctant Soul Saver! I'll be sharing my review of the book with you today - and don't forget to enter the awesome giveaway! To follow the rest of the tour, click on the banner above.
Claire Daly: Reluctant Soul Saver
Author: Michele Brouder
Genre: YA Paranormal/Romance
Release Date: September 20, 2015
Description:
When seventeen year-old
librarian wannabe Claire Daly is dragged kicking, screaming and cursing
from everything she loves—her mam, her cozy Irish village and the
dreamy boy next door—to take up arms in the battle of good versus evil,
she learns the hard way that sometimes you don’t get to choose your own
destiny, destiny chooses you.
Claire’s life plan is simple: head off
to university to get her degree in library studies, summon up the
courage to tell her best friend Chas that she loves him and live happily
ever after. She never once entertained the idea that she might possess
divine powers, that she might be predestined to battle Hell’s demons,
or, to complicate matters further, that another love of many lives past
might turn up on her doorstep. But life doesn’t always go as planned,
and when a co-worker is viciously attacked by a demon and her own family
threatened, Claire must face the truth: she is called to a higher
purpose and has no choice but to answer. Claire sets aside her dreams
and begins learning how to deal with the Unholy once and for all. Armed
with only a crash course in soul saving and her wits, she gears up for
the ultimate show down in Hell. But will it be enough?
Claire Daly: Reluctant Soul Saver is an exciting young adult paranormal novel that brings a breath of fresh air to the genre. The story follows our main character - Claire - a normal teenage girl who can't wait to graduate high school and start college in the fall majoring in library studies, so she can be a librarian - her dream job since she was a kid. Claire has normal teen issues - self esteem problems, a huge crush on one of her best friends for the past several years, a snotty co-worker, and family troubles. Claire has had her life planned out for a long time - to become a librarian, get married - hopefully to Chas - and then live happily ever after. All of that changes when Claire learns the truth of who - and what - she really is: an Illuminata. She's destined to fight evil itself and to save the souls of others - literally. Although she gets some pretty cool supernatural abilities to go along with her new purpose, Claire has a hard time believing everything she's been told about her fate. When her co-worker is attacked and Claire's family is threatened, she realizes that she has no choice but to accept her destiny and join the fight against the Unholy.
This sounded like a very original book and it immediately piqued my interested when I first read about it. There's always been a lot of YA books dealing with good versus evil, angels and demons, and so on; but the author's inclusion of the Illuminatae, the Unholy, and all of the fascinating history and information surrounding both of them, along with how Claire fits into the picture and a lot of other intriguing details - really sets it apart from the others in the genre. The story is full of action, adventure, the supernatural and paranormal, and even some romance - at the same time, it touches on deep topics and makes the reader stop and think for a bit. I loved that there was the underlying tough subject matter - it gives the book a deeper and more complex feel that it wouldn't have gotten otherwise. Mixing the two - the main story line and the serious concepts - made this book entirely unique and a compelling read that makes you stop and really think about important topics that effect everyone.
Claire was a great main character for the book. She's down to earth, determined, and very loving of her friends and family. She has her whole life pretty much planned out - until everything gets turned upside down. We get to see Claire mature and grow a lot throughout the book, and I enjoyed watching her accept her destiny and then grow into who she was meant to become. The book is written in the first person from Claire's perspective, which I loved. First person POV is by far my favorite writing style because the reader gets to know the narrator on such a deeply personal level that can't be achieved any other way. We get to learn Claire's hopes, dreams, fears, doubts, inner thoughts, and so much more. It's this intimate bond with the main character that allows the reader to truly connect and slip inside of the character's world. The writing was well done with great imagery and detailed descriptions that made it easy for me to imagine myself alongside Claire during the story. The pace of the story continues to quicken throughout the book and I found myself eagerly reading as fast as I could to see what was going to happen next. I definitely recommend this book to fans of the YA paranormal genre, as well as readers who enjoy fantasy, supernatural fiction, action/adventure, and romance.
This sounded like a very original book and it immediately piqued my interested when I first read about it. There's always been a lot of YA books dealing with good versus evil, angels and demons, and so on; but the author's inclusion of the Illuminatae, the Unholy, and all of the fascinating history and information surrounding both of them, along with how Claire fits into the picture and a lot of other intriguing details - really sets it apart from the others in the genre. The story is full of action, adventure, the supernatural and paranormal, and even some romance - at the same time, it touches on deep topics and makes the reader stop and think for a bit. I loved that there was the underlying tough subject matter - it gives the book a deeper and more complex feel that it wouldn't have gotten otherwise. Mixing the two - the main story line and the serious concepts - made this book entirely unique and a compelling read that makes you stop and really think about important topics that effect everyone.
Claire was a great main character for the book. She's down to earth, determined, and very loving of her friends and family. She has her whole life pretty much planned out - until everything gets turned upside down. We get to see Claire mature and grow a lot throughout the book, and I enjoyed watching her accept her destiny and then grow into who she was meant to become. The book is written in the first person from Claire's perspective, which I loved. First person POV is by far my favorite writing style because the reader gets to know the narrator on such a deeply personal level that can't be achieved any other way. We get to learn Claire's hopes, dreams, fears, doubts, inner thoughts, and so much more. It's this intimate bond with the main character that allows the reader to truly connect and slip inside of the character's world. The writing was well done with great imagery and detailed descriptions that made it easy for me to imagine myself alongside Claire during the story. The pace of the story continues to quicken throughout the book and I found myself eagerly reading as fast as I could to see what was going to happen next. I definitely recommend this book to fans of the YA paranormal genre, as well as readers who enjoy fantasy, supernatural fiction, action/adventure, and romance.
I've had many interesting jobs but my passion has always been writing.
I lived in Ireland from 2006-2013 with my husband and 2 boys. We moved back to the US and settled in Florida briefly (2 years) before returning back to Ireland in August 2015.
One (1) winner will received a $25 Amazon Gift Card, a copy of Claire Daly: Reluctant Soul Saver, a book mark, a coffee mug, and some other stuff for 'readers' from the author (INT)
Three (3) winners will receive a copy of Claire Daly: Reluctant Soul Saver by Michele Brouder (INT)
Three (3) winners will receive a copy of Claire Daly: Reluctant Soul Saver by Michele Brouder (INT)
I was gonna sign up for this tour, but I knew that I wouldn't have time to read it. Glad you enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteLook forward to reading. Thank you for the giveaway.
ReplyDeleteSounds like good book to check out. Thank you for the giveaway!!
ReplyDeleteThe description tells me I am going to enjoy this.
ReplyDeletethis sounds like a very good book.thank you so much for sharing with us
ReplyDeleteGood review, interested in reading it because of it, thank you. Oh one more thing the book cover perfectly fits the theme. Darlene Cruz (Read Book)
ReplyDeleteThanks for having me here! Good Luck to all who entered the giveaway.
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome sounding book. I really enjoyed the excerpt and know I'll enjoy the book. The prize pack looks like so much fun.
ReplyDeleteOhh this looks fun! Librarian and good v evil?! XD Im in!
ReplyDeleteMary G Loki