Hello, everyone! Today is my stop on the blog tour for The Reader by M.K. Harkins and I'm SUPER excited about it! Thanks so much to YA Bound Book Tours for hosting and giving me a spot on this tour!
To start off, as always I want to give you guys a quick disclaimer that I was sent an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through NetGalley as part of this blog tour. Below is my review of the book, details on where you can get a copy of the book to enjoy for yourself both digitally and a physical copy, and last but not least the GIVEAWAY!!
Now onto the review! Don't forget to check out the rest of the blog tour stops linked down below and please enter the giveaway for a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card! Okay bye!
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The Reader by M.K. Harkins
Rating: PG
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal
Score: 3.5 Stars
Page Count: 260
Stand Alone
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: August 17, 2016
Hunted, shot, and without her memory, eighteen-year-old Ann Baker wakes in shallow water on a deserted Pacific Northwest island. She is soon approached by two young men claiming to be her friends. Something isn’t right, but when gunshots sound, Ann is left with little choice but to allow Devon and Archer to help her escape. Soon she finds herself in their North Bend mountain compound, where the higher evolved humans claim to be mind-readers. While Ann heals, she realizes they believe her to be one of the last and most powerful of all – The Lost One.
She’s welcomed by most with opened arms, but not everyone is happy about her arrival. A jealous adversary has plans for Ann, which spirals the entire Reader community into chaos.
As lies, murder, and betrayal threaten to rip apart the once harmonious mountain dwellers, Ann is thrust into making a decision that could save or devastate not only The Readers, but all of mankind. But there’s just one glitch: by doing so it may require her to make the ultimate sacrifice.
She’s welcomed by most with opened arms, but not everyone is happy about her arrival. A jealous adversary has plans for Ann, which spirals the entire Reader community into chaos.
As lies, murder, and betrayal threaten to rip apart the once harmonious mountain dwellers, Ann is thrust into making a decision that could save or devastate not only The Readers, but all of mankind. But there’s just one glitch: by doing so it may require her to make the ultimate sacrifice.
Review:
PROS:
So, can we just talk about how darn cool the synopsis sounds? I just loved how being a Reader was something of a race of people instead of just a majority of people who like reading. Seriously, SO COOL. I thought this book sounded so cool and sci-fi which is something I'm currently in the mood to read so this book sounded right up my alley. I'm so excited to have gotten a chance to read this book and review it for you guys so let's get started with the review!2. I thought the characters were very interesting, especially our main character Ann. The struggles that Ann faces throughout the book is getting used to a new environment unlike anything she's ever seen, not remembering how she even got there in the first place or what happened to her parents and why exactly the people she finds herself surrounded by see her as something of a last hope to save their kind. The other characters such as Devon, Archer, and Lucy were all nice to get to know as they taught Ann more about their way of living and the history behind The Readers and the other groups and why they are so close to going to war with each other.
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4. The book had a steady pace without being too slow or too fast to keep up with. I think if you're looking for a sci-fi read that isn't too much to wrap your brain around, I would highly recommend this one. There was a little bit of mystery mixed in with a dash of romance, action, secrets and revelations that blended quite well and I think the book has a little something for everyone to enjoy no matter the age or gender. No need to wonder whether it's more so for girls or guys, this one is perfect for both!
CONS:
1. I think the only problem I had with this book was simply that I couldn't connect with any of the characters quite enough. I didn't think Ann was a boring character but she was a little bland and while she had nice character development, some of the choices she made had her taking a couple of steps backward from that development. I also couldn't get on board with the whole "soul-mate" type romance in the book even though it wasn't the main focus which was nice. I'm personally not a fan of sappy or soul-mate romance so I had a bit of a hard time not rolling my eyes at it. Other than that, I think this was a fun read to relax with and I would totally recommend it if you like sci-fi fantasy that isn't too complicated.
2. The ending was a bit rushed which was a little bit of a let down since it had a nice pace throughout the book but really skipped forward a little too fast. I think it could've used a couple of more chapters to come down from the climax and wrap up the book.
You Can Purchase The Book Here:
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About The Author:
MK has always been a voracious reader. After hitting a dry spell of reading material, she decided to write the kind of book she'd like to read. This resulted in the creation of her debut novel, Intentional. (Award for Best Sweet Romance - eFestival of Words- August 2014)Unintentional, her second book, is based on the life of one of the characters in Intentional. Unintentional was written as a stand-alone book.
Breaking Braydon and Taking Tiffany have both been released. Available on Amazon.
The Reader is MK's latest project, due out 2016.
When she's not writing novels, she likes to spend her free time traveling the world, splashing in mud puddles (She lives in Seattle, what can she say?), watching movies and reading (!)
MK also runs her own business in her current hometown of Mercer Island, Washington.
Author Links:
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This one sounds like a pretty decent read, but not too amazing at the same time. With not so much happening in the book, it really does sound like the first one in a series - where it can be very introductory and readying for the sequel, but maybe doesn't hold so much for itself? It's a shame about the characters being too hard to connect to though.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, I totally agree. With the way it was going, I had a hard time accepting that it was only a stand alone and not a series since there was a lot of introductory elements. I think with this one it's either a hit or miss depending on the reader themselves.
DeleteI actually just added this to my reading list - I have it on the queue to start as soon as I am done with 3 other books. I am looking forward to reading it.
ReplyDeleteOh good! I really hope you enjoy it! There are some really great things about this book :)
DeleteThank you for your honest review, much appreciated!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome!
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