Until Beth Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for UNTIL BETH! I'm so excited to be kicking off the tour today! I'll be sharing my review of the book with you - and don't forget to enter the giveaway! To follow the rest of the tour, click on the banner above.

Until Beth

Author: Lisa Amowitz

Genre: YA Mystery

Release Date: September 29, 2015

Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

260 pages

Description:

She doesn’t just play, she kills it. 

Talented rock guitarist Beth Collins has been barely holding herself together for months, ever since her boyfriend and bandmate became the latest victim in a string of suspicious disappearances. When her brother is injured an accident and she sees something dark billowing around him as he hovers close to death, she’s convinced her sanity is collapsing for good. 

Then she's accepted by a boarding school for the musically gifted. All of her new friends are bursting with talent, but they're also keeping secrets. Can she trust Vincent, who's so sweet that his very touch makes her fears melt away? Or Xavier, who's trying to tell her something but is hiding even more? 

And will anyone be safe when her true Talent comes out? 

PRAISE FOR UNTIL BETH:

"I wish I could have read about a protagonist like Beth when I was growing up--a girl who doesn't fit into her society and must learn to use her abilities for good instead of evil. Her struggles will resonate with teen readers, and the hidden agendas of the school and its students will keep readers guessing up to the final page." - Lyn Miller-Lachmann, author of Rogue

"This unique and compelling novel grabbed me on the first page and wouldn't let go. With unforgettable characters and a story that is by turns heartbreaking, thrilling and uplifting, UNTIL BETH is a must-read.” - Christine Johnson, author of The Gathering Dark

Until Beth is a refreshing young adult mystery with some paranormal aspects blended in that will have readers eagerly reading as fast as they can in order to figure out what's really going on. I'm a huge fan of thrillers and paranormal fiction, so this book was pretty much a no-brainer choice for me. I was a bit hesitant because it seemed mainly focused on music - with the main character being in a band and then attending an elite music school. I figured I wouldn't be able to get into the story because I'm not a musician or anything even relatively close to one, but I was happily surprised when I read the book because even though the music aspect is a major part of the plot and characters - it doesn't overwhelm the story. I wasn't even bothered by the musical aspects - I think the author wrote the book in a way that the paranormal mystery is highlighted and focused on, with the music being background. That being said, this was a really original story and a great breath of fresh air for the genre. I'm always saying that there aren't enough good YA thrillers out there (although that seems to be changing lately) - but this novel brought some much needed freshness to the genre. 

The main character, Beth, is a great leading lady for the story. She's a complex person and incredibly realistic. Right from the beginning, we learn of Beth's grief and pain after her boyfriend and longtime friend disappeared. She's stuck in a state between knowing that he's gone and isn't coming back - most people have even said that he's probably dead - and being unable to give up on him or let him go and move on with her life. Beth's an incredibly talented musician - and it's her music and talents that are the focus of the story. She's also a great friend, a devoted and loving daughter and sister (even though she might not show it much), and is very determined whenever she sets her mind to something. She has obvious flaws and weaknesses like a normal person, which made her easy to identify with right from the beginning. The story is told in the first person point of view with Beth as the narrator, so we get to see everything that happens from her perspective. I'm a huge fan of first person POV because the reader is able to connect on a much deeper level with the main character than with any other writing style. The same holds true with this book - we get to see inside Beth's private thoughts, fears, dreams, emotions, memories - basically everything that makes her 'tick.' In my opinion, the author made a great decision when she chose to write from Beth's POV and it took the story to a whole different level that wouldn't have been possible otherwise.

The plot was fresh and intriguing. I haven't read a book quite like this one before and it definitely stands out from the rest of the books in the same genre. The premise is fascinating with the mix of music and the paranormal. I wasn't sure what to expect when I started the novel, but I was almost immediately sucked into Beth's world and didn't come back out until the strange mystery had been solved and the book finished. With detailed descriptions and vivid imagery, the author creates a vibrant and realistic world for her story to take place and I had no problem imagining myself beside Beth the entire time. I don't want to give anything away or have spoilers, so this part of my review is going to be pretty vague. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the book - even though I had reservations at the beginning. Like I mentioned, I haven't read anything quite like this before, so I found myself getting really into the story and trying to figure out what in the heck was going on. Overall, this was a compelling and exhilarating novel that fans of the genre will definitely not want to miss. I also highly recommend it to fans of music, mystery, paranormal, contemporary, and those looking for something new in YA fiction.

Lisa Amowitz was born in Queens and raised in the wilds of Long Island, New York where she climbed trees, thought small creatures lived under rocks and studied ant hills. And drew. A lot. She is a professor of Graphic Design at her beloved Bronx Community College where she has been tormenting and cajoling students for nearly twenty years. She started writing eleven years ago because she wanted something to illustrate, but somehow, instead ended up writing YA. Probably because her mind is too dark and twisted for small children. Lisa is represented by Shannon Hassan of Marsal-Lyon Literary Agency. shannon@marsallyonliteraryagency.com

BREAKING GLASS, released in July, 2013 from Spencer Hill Press, is her first published work. VISION, the first of the Finder series was released September, 2014. FRACTURED, a novella combining the worlds of BREAKING GLASS and VISION releases as an ebook only, June 7, 2015. UNTIL BETH, the first in the Life and Beth trilogy will be released September 2015.

Lisa Amowitz is available for guest appearances, Skype visits, school visits, libraries & interviews. Please contact her for scheduling.

Links: 
http://lisa-amowitzya.blogspot.com 
http://www.lisaamowitz.com 

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5815435.Lisa_Amowitz 

Buy Links:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble

Grand prize US:
$25 gift certificate
Ebooks of Breaking Glass, Vision & Fractured also by Lisa Amowitz
Swag
Handmade by author guitar pick necklace.
(International will only be ebooks and gift certificate)


Second prize:
Ebooks of Breaking Glass, Vision & Fractured also by Lisa Amowitz
(International: ebooks only) 

 

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Book Blitz + Giveaway: Vision by Lisa Amowitz

Vision

Author: Lisa Amowitz 

Release Date: September 9, 2014

Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

Summary from Goodreads:

The light is darker than you think… 

High school student Bobby Pendell already has his hands full—he works almost every night to support his disabled-vet father and gifted little brother. Then he meets the beautiful new girl in town, who just happens to be his boss’s daughter. Bobby has rules about that kind of thing. Nothing matters more than keeping his job.

When Bobby starts to get blinding migraines that come with scary, violent hallucinations, his livelihood is on the line. Soon, he must face the stunning possibility that the visions of murder are actually real. With his world going dark, Bobby is set on the trail of the serial killer terrorizing his small town. With everyone else convinced he’s the prime suspect, Bobby realizes that he, or the girl he loves, might be killer's next victim.

By the time they got home, blue afternoon shadows crawled across the overgrown field that surrounded the house. Aaron was fast asleep as they rumbled up the driveway. Bobby let his mind drift to the memory of his fingers cradled on the frets of his guitar. The melody from earlier had come floating back into his head, as if the rough edges of it had been polished smooth and clean as marble.

From the chaos of his mind, a new song was forming. Bobby knew immediately.

The song was for Gabe.

“Crap,” he said out loud. He was in some deep, deep shit.

“Huh?” Aaron yawned in the back seat. “Your head okay now, Bobby?”

“My head’s just fine, A-man.”

Bobby’s stomach flip-flopped at the memory from earlier that day. The red blindness and strange visions had taken him down twice. By sheer force of his stubborn nature, he couldn’t let it happen again—wouldn’t let it happen again.

“Do me a favor, bro,” he said, swiveling around in his seat. “Don’t tell none of it to Dad? About the girl, the head thing and all? I don’t want him to get his panties in an uproar, you know?”

Aaron nodded stiffly. “Panties in an uproar” was their code for drunken temper tantrums. Whatever objects could be reached from a sitting position went flying. Once, Dad had grabbed a saucepan of boiling water off the stove and thrown it at Bobby’s head, narrowly missing scalding him with it. After he’d sobered up, he’d apologized for days.

Bobby and Aaron kept a lot of things quiet between them. It was best that way.

Aaron loped into the house. Bobby lingered, tossing a stick with Pete. He just needed a few more minutes to think before he let the four walls close in on him. He took Pete around back and slumped onto his guitar-playing stump beside the logs he’d split earlier.

Gabriella Friend. The name floated through his head like a string of notes, merging with the song he’d already half-written.

One wrong move and he could lose his job. Hands off. Keep out. Private property. Violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. He’d have to travel too far to find a new job, and then his earnings would be eaten up by the gas-guzzling truck. Bobby stood to go in the house, Pete trotting behind him. No Gabe, he vowed.

While Aaron played a noisy video game, Bobby threw together a quick dinner of spaghetti and red sauce. Dad eyed him blearily from his chair. He’d already polished off his fourth can of beer and was clearly feeling little pain.

“A-man tells me his team is going to the playoffs, thanks to his fearsome pitching. Something for the Pendells to celebrate tonight, eh, Bobby?”

Bobby shared a grin with Aaron. “You should have seen that last inning, Dad,” he said, careful to keep his tone even. It took only the slightest spark to set him off when he was like this.

“Wish I could have, but the wheelchair don’t run too good over grass.” Dad went silent for a beat, then added, his voice hoarse. “Too bad there’s no fish tonight to mark the occasion. Too bad alls we got is spaghetti. Why’s that so, Bobby? Why’s there no fish on the night of such an auspicious day?”

Aaron flashed Bobby a look and quietly slipped into their room, closing the door softly behind him.

“I told you, Dad. Fish weren’t biting today.”

“That so?” Sam Pendell paused, his gaze pinned on Bobby. “Heard the Bartley boys caught their fill on the far side of Scratch Lake. Hank called to offer me the extras, but I said you’d bring us our own. Then Jerry said Joe Wilkins saw you at the ball field with your boss’ kid. Hot-looking blonde. That true, Bobby?”

Bobby nearly dropped the jar of sauce. He should have known. Dad’s spy network had the means to track his every move. There were no secrets in Graxton.

“Jeez, Dad. She hurt her foot and I gave her a ride. And that was this afternoon. I was at the lake this morning. You know that.” Bobby stirred the pasta as it came to a boil, his anger simmering along with the water in the pot.

“Do I? Is that right—puttin’ your own needs over the family’s?”

Bobby clutched the edge of the Formica countertop. Breathe and count. Breathe and count. It will pass. The man was a cripple. An angry drunk cripple. Suck it in. Suck it deep in.

“Have you ever seen her, Dad?” he blurted.

“Can’t say I have. Don’t get out much, you know.”

“Well, if you had, you’d know,” he heard his voice begin to rise, “that there’s no way in hell a girl like that would want a lump of shit like me!” Bobby’s voice bounced around the small living room, surprising him.

But it worked. He’d managed to shock Dad into silence.

After a pause, Dad raised an eyebrow. “Touched a nerve, didn’t I? The lady doth protest too much, eh?”

Bobby hurled the wooden spoon from the kitchen alcove clear across the living room. It landed with a soft thud on the carpet in front of the TV in a blotch of red sauce.

“Fuck you. Make your own damn dinner tonight. I’m done here. I’m gonna go do the laundry.”

Bobby whistled for Pete, swooped up the hamper, grabbed a jar of peanut butter and the last of the loaf of bread, and called for Aaron, his heart thumping. He’d never mouthed off to Dad like that. Out in the truck, he pounded the steering wheel with both fists. He was unraveling faster than an old sweater. How long until he came completely undone?

Lisa has been a professor of Graphic Design at her beloved Bronx Community College where she has been tormenting and cajoling students for nearly seventeen years. She started writing eight years ago because she wanted something to illustrate, but somehow, instead ended up writing YA. Probably because her mind is too dark and twisted for small children.

BREAKING GLASS which will be released in July, 2013 from Spencer Hill Press, is her first published work. VISION, the first of the Finder series will be released in 2014, along with an unnamed sequel in the following year. LIFE AND BETH will also be released in the near future, along with graphic novel style art. 

Author Links:

Website│Twitter│Goodreads│ Facebook

Available from:
Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Kobo Books * The Book Depository

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Book Blitz Organized by:

Breaking Glass Blitz: Excerpt & Giveaway

Breaking GlassAuthor: Lisa Amowitz
Genre: YA Paranormal/Mystery
Release Date: July 9, 2013
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

Summary from Goodreads:

On the night seventeen-year-old Jeremy Glass winds up in the hospital with a broken leg and a blood alcohol level well above the legal limit, his secret crush, Susannah, disappears. When he begins receiving messages from her from beyond the grave, he's not sure whether they're real or if he's losing his grip on reality. Clue by clue, he gets closer to unraveling the mystery, and soon realizes he must discover the truth or become the next victim himself.

Available from:

  

“So where is he?” She cranes her neck, trying to spot Ryan in the crowd.

Heart pounding, my mind hiccups through its storehouse of facts. I reposition myself to block her view. There’s no time to try texting Ryan a warning.

I could tell Susannah. Tell her how Ryan has been sneaking around behind her back for over a year, even hooking up with two college juniors in a motel room during one of our out of town meets. But defying the Morgan machine by pointing this out takes too much energy. Instead I blurt, “Did you realize the Watch Hill carousel was once part of a traveling carnival?”

She laughs and shakes her head. “What? Jeremy, sometimes you can be such a--”

But her voice trails off as her gaze wanders past mine, her smile crumpling like a paper bag. I follow her line of sight and I know this is it. The crowd has thinned around Ryan, enough for her to see him with his mouth smashed against Claudia’s.

“Oh, man,” I gasp. I turn to comfort Susannah, but she is already gone.

I stand, dithering; wanting to run after her and apologize for letting her walk into this ambush.

But, no. This is something Ryan needs to take care of. I might have signed on to sweep his mess under the rug, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to clean up after him. I push through the crowd to get to him.

“What? She what? Did you know she was coming back early?”

I feel my face heat. “No.”

Ryan pushes Claudia off of him, his stage makeup still glistening and thick, traces of Claudia’s lipstick smeared on his lips. “Good job, Jeremy. You could have at least texted me.”

My hand curls into a fist. I stuff it in my jacket pocket. “She ran out,” I say. “Maybe you can catch her.”

Ryan shrugs, and without a coat, stalks out of the theater into the night. I wait a few minutes then follow. Susannah’s car is gone, and so is Ryan’s. I try to call Susannah, but she doesn’t pick up.

I get in my car and focus on resisting the water bottle’s siren call, panicked glimpses of my waking nightmare crashing through the floodgates, the terrifying memories swept through with it. The rain and the torrents of water sweeping past, draining into the Gorge, forcing me to remember. To relive it. No. Not now. I need to stay clear.

Since eighth grade, when I discovered that liquor dulls my terrors, I have been a master thief and spy.

Not even Ryan knows.

Just a sip to calm my shaky nerves. One tiny sip to beat back the rising waters that threaten to drown me. I can do it. I pride myself on my steely self-control. My ability to remain stone-cold sober even when the track team holds a victory keg party. They call me Jeremy the Teetotaler. Jeremy, the History Nerd who never partakes.

I snap open the glove compartment. The innocuous silver bottle is shoved behind the owner’s manual, gas receipts and a collection of power bar wrappers. I raise it to my lips and gulp once, twice, three times; the cold liquid igniting as it hits my throat. It takes two, three more gulps to slow my heart to normal speed. The bottle is nearly empty. I cap it and return it to the compartment, warmth flowing to my cold fingers. I’d need to drink three times as much as that to lose focus.

Swerving the deserted black roads slick with rain over ice, I follow my usual running circuit. This is familiar turf. My backyard, practically.

Yes. I can do this. Susannah knows my route so I hope she’s come this way and parked, knowing I’d find her. She wants me to find her. To comfort her. I’ll tell her everything. How I’m sorry for lying to her. For letting Ryan hurt her. And maybe at last she’ll accept that it’s not Ryan she wants, but me.

But there’s no sign of her.

After driving and searching fruitlessly, my mind churning with outcomes, the now driving rain blurring my windshield, I can’t stand it anymore. My heart is racing. Just one last sip to fortify myself is all I need.

When I round the next hairpin curve, my headlights flash on Ryan’s car parked behind Susannah’s, engines running. I squint through the rain and mist and spot them behind the guardrail, illuminated in the headlamps’ cone of light. There’s no shoulder on this side of the road, so I pull over when I can, about twenty yards past them.

When I finally get out of the car I can hear her shouts over the racket the rain makes. My head is buzzing, but my thoughts are clear.

In fact, they’ve never been clearer, as the roots that entangle me fall away.

The damp air smells like freedom.

Susannah screams, and pounds at Ryan’s chest with her fists. He shoves her hard and she falls backward. I don’t see her get up again. Raucous arguments were nothing new between Susannah and Ryan, but I’d never seen him hit her before.

There’s a steep decline into the woods where they’ve chosen to have their argument and I worry Susannah could have gotten hurt. Ryan disappears now, too. What the hell are they doing?

I begin to run at full tilt. I still have some distance to cover, but that’s no problem for me, even with the Absolut pumping heat through my veins. But my boot heel catches on a wet leaf then slides out from under me.

I’m flying, but I land softly.

Lisa has been a professor of Graphic Design at her beloved Bronx Community College where she has been tormenting and cajoling students for nearly seventeen years. She started writing eight years ago because she wanted something to illustrate, but somehow, instead ended up writing YA. Probably because her mind is too dark and twisted for small children.

BREAKING GLASS which will be released in July, 2013 from Spencer Hill Press, is her first published work. VISION, the first of the Finder series will be released in 2014, along with an unnamed sequel in the following year. LIFE AND BETH will also be released in the near future, along with graphic novel style art. 

Website│Twitter│Goodreads

(1) Custom pendant like the one pictured on the book cover

(2) Signed ARCS

(1) Original work of Breaking Glass related art created and signed by the author.

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