Blog Tour - Review: Allusive Aftershock By: Susan Griscom + A GIVEAWAY!!!

Title: Allusive Aftershock
Author: Susan Griscom
Publisher: Amber Glow Books, 274 Pages (December 18th, 2012)
From: the Author
Format: eBook
Add to: Goodreads
Order Online here: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository, Amazon UK

Synopsis: What happens when a major earthquake changes life as you know it and the boy you thought you hated ends up saving you? Three times!

Courtland Reese is the guy everyone hates and makes fun of because … well, he is weird. He communicates with animals. Strange or interesting, seventeen-year-old Adela Castielle can’t quite figure out, but when he saves her from being trampled by her own horse, she begins to understand him a little better and wants to learn more about him.

But, Max--her best friend/dream guy/someday-to-be-her-husband-only-he-doesn’t-know-it-yet--hates Courtland with a passion. Adela wants to know why, except neither boy is talking.

When Max leaves her stranded in his parents' wine cave with his worst enemy, Courtland, after what the experts are calling a “megathrust” earthquake, Adela starts to question her loyalty to Max as steamy kisses in a dark damp cellar only fuel her emotions with more conflict.

But does she really have time to worry about that when fire, destruction and mayhem surround her?

Review: 3 Stars - Allusive Aftershock by Susan Griscom is a teen survival tale, after a massive earthquake hits California sending the characters within the story on a collision course with dangerous events and people, while they fight to find family, and to heal and survive.

Our main character is Adela. She’s a high school student and sadly has a one sided crush with her best friend Max. She has a horse she loves and is close to her family. When the first earthquake hit she had to pull together to help take care of the horses and put on a brave face for her younger twin siblings.

Max, the best friend is one of those high school teens that everyone wants to be friends with, the girls all want to date and on top of all that he’s a bully whom everyone follows. He’s been cruel to fellow student Court for years and the name calling and rumors have stuck. Max is a big lover of taking care of one’s self, before helping others, so when the earthquake hits and destroys the school it wasn’t a shock that his first instinct was to run.

Court has a way with animals. Farms from far and wide call on his help with animals of all kinds who are in need. He has a better relationship with them since his mother died and with how he’s bullied, I can understand why. When the second earthquake hits he’s a take charge kind of person trying to help rescue his fellow students and teachers from the rubble that’s left of the school.

So, the main part of the story really only takes place over about a  couple of weeks or so, which to me felt like so much was crammed into a short amount of time. It reads more as the beginning of a series or trilogy than a standalone title. I’m not sure if there are other books to follow this one but with how the book ends I can’t see that happening as easily. While the book is fast paced there seemed to be things that were glossed over or missing and in turn made this title a bit lacking.

While the characters are true teens and did indeed for the most part act their ages, they had to grow up fast in order to survive. Being put in difficult situations over and over again it was all about survival and making it one day to the next.

I think my favorite character was Court. Right from the beginning I liked him and wanted to know more about this gentle giant. He’s smart and knows enough to help both Adela and Max, and really if it weren’t for him those two would be in some deep, deep trouble.

I went into reading this title with high hopes that were somewhat dashed with parts of the story that were rushed and some things that I felt were filler rather than the true meat of the story. I did enjoy it but it wasn’t the best, yet it’s far from the worst and other aspects of the book had pretty good visuals because of the author’s descriptive writing. Often times while reading I felt as if I was watching through a window so that alone is one of the reasons why I not only finished the book but was also able to give this one the 3 stars that I did.

In the end I liked the character Court the most, was irritated by Max from start to finish and had my ups and downs with Adela. I wish the author didn’t rush this and took a bit more time to set certain scenes up to make the story better rounded. This reads more as a series book, so anyone going into it should know that as far as I can tell it’s a standalone which packs a lot into a small amount of time, for both characters and the reader. I do recommend this title to anyone looking for a quick read about three very different teens in survival mode, after a devastation event takes place.

GIVEAWAY!!!

Prizes:
--One paperback copy + Swag (US only)
--One audiobook copy (INTL)
--One ebook copy (INTL)

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