Friday, October 24, 2014

Release Day Launch + Review: The Collector's Society by Heather Lyons!

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Holy cannoli! It's here!!! We are extremely excited to bring you the Release Day Launch for Heather Lyons' THE COLLECTORS' SOCIETY!! THE COLLECTORS’ SOCIETY is an Adult Romantic Fairy Tale, full of adventure and fantasy. This is Alice as you have never seen her before...


The Collectors' Society front cover

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THE COLLECTORS’ SOCIETY Synopsis:
From the author of the Fate series and The Deep End of the Sea comes a fantastical romantic adventure that has Alice tumbling down the strangest rabbit hole yet.
After years in Wonderland, Alice has returned to England as an adult, desperate to reclaim sanity and control over her life. An enigmatic gentleman with an intriguing job offer too tempting to resist changes her plans for a calm existence, though.
Soon, she’s whisked to New York and initiated into the Collectors’ Society, a secret organization whose members confirm that famous stories are anything but straightforward and that what she knows about the world is only a fraction of the truth. It’s there she discovers villains are afoot—ones who want to shelve the lives of countless beings.
Assigned to work with the mysterious and alluring Finn, Alice and the rest of the Collectors’ Society race against a doomsday clock in order to prevent further destruction . . . but will they make it before all their endings are erased?

TCS Teaser 1

Review:

Just because a story ends, doesn't mean it's finished.

Opening the first few pages, a 25 year old Alice has been in a mental asylum for close to half a year now, but her past and how she ended up in the asylum from when she was in Wonderland is very obscure. Then a mysterious man turns up and urges her to help him save Wonderland. And of course, she accepts, and is taken to New York to join The Collector's Society. And it is there that she learns that everything she thought she knew isn't what it seems.

Oh. My. God.
This book is gold!! The idea of having book characters that have come out of classic books like Alice in Wonderland to appear in our world......it's like Matrix cross Inkheart. It brought me right back to being a kid and wishing characters would come to life, except it's spun so that they learn who they are, join The Collector's Society, and live in secret among us while protecting the other 'story worlds', otherwise known as Timelines.

Sadly I've never read the classic Alice books by Lewis Carroll, but I still kept up with the story because, one, it's not vital to know who the characters are (tho I suppose it would be pretty fun to go Ohh me gosh I know who that is! lol) and two, it's true, Alice is very famous, so whether you've read the classics or not, you should know enough to get the general idea.
I must admit tho, with my main source being the latest Alice in Wonderland movie with Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, I was surprised a couple times.....like when said character turned out to be a weak and grovelling sex crazed lunatic XDD

I don't know how she writes in other books, but Lyons's writing style in this was perfect. It suited the story to a T, and even tho most of the characters are from some earlier century (in a timeline, not our world, but close enough xD), Lyons managed to make them fit in with modern times while keeping their 19th or 20th century way of speaking.

I loved Alice! She's so wise and mature and knowledgeable, and such a far cry from all those whiny girls in YA books xD I liked that when she was thrown into the deep end and her whole world shifted under her feet, she didn't cry or break down, which is a great feat, but I guess she has quite a bit of experience in that area. She did discover Wonderland after all!
Oh, and I adored the friendship between Alice and Mary (one of The Collector's Society members). Those two are so cool together :P
“Aha!” She’s triumphant. “So there is something going on between you two!” Her hands rub together. “The A.D. and I had a bet going. He said there was no way you two were going to get involved. Said you were too much an Ice Queen to even think about hooking up.” She snorts. “Ha! Queen! Get it?”
I roll my eyes. “I’m from Victorian England, not the Stone Ages, Mary.”
“The point is, I’m getting myself a nice, fat pile of money when we get back.”
“I’m glad my emotions are profitable for you.”


I was surprised with the lack of angst surrounding the romance, but in a sense I was relieved after reading so much teenage angst in YA books! There were two love interests, but it wasn't you're usual love triangle because....well, there wasn't a love triangle. XD Sounds a bit weird, I know. But it was because even tho Alice had strong feelings for both Finn and Jace, she knew she couldn't be with Jace, and both Jace and Alice had accepted that they couldn't be together. Which made any potential animosity between Jace and Finn nonexistent. In fact, they sort of became friends. Again weird, I know! I felt really sad for Jace tho :'( *sniffs*

Also, I thought I'd point out that this is definitely NA.
Lunatic Belle: NA, NA, NA, NA, NA, NA, NA, NA, BAATMAAN.
That was totally out of context......*sighs and continues*
So do not touch this book if you're solely a YA reader ;) Mind you, it's not that NAish compared to other books. It was actually more focused on the romance, which was cute :p

And now it's time to look at flaws. This was that special type of book where you don't even think about flaws because you're so enraptured! <3 But, when I looked back, the only problem I found was that the ending seemed too easy. That is, there wasn't really a climax, but no matter. It's only the first book in the series ;) That's right, there will be more books yayy! I don't know how many yet, but I'll definitely read it when them when they come out :)

On a final note....I couldn't help going a step further and thinking, maybe the real truth is that someone called Heather Lyons wrote a book called The Collector's Society, and it's about all these book characters meeting and saving book worlds called Timelines, and someone, namely a reader (*sticks up hand* PICK ME), can indeed disappear into the book to meet them.....hehehe okay, I'm being really evil. And improbable, but I couldn't help myself.....that was too tempting not to write out :p

4.5 stars

—MissBloodsucker™ All Sucked Out!

TCS Teaser 2

Excerpt:
“Do you find my ability to converse lacking, Doctor?”
He chuckles softly, no doubt remembering how I wasn’t chatty with anyone, himself included, for the first month of my stay. To be fair, it is difficult to carry on an invigorating discussion when one is shaking so hard from withdrawals they fear they might shatter into thousands of painful pieces before a single word can be uttered. Plus, there was the whole bit of how once I did open up, I raved liked a lunatic about things no normal person could imagine being true.
“Certainly not,” he says to me. “But as I must stay at the Pleasance and you must go forth into the world, it will do you good to practice on somebody new.”
“Then send in one of the orderlies. Or one of the nurses. I’ll happily chat with a staff member.” One of his bushy, out-of-control eyebrows lifts high into his forehead.
“There are people out there who are quite content being solitary,” I point out. “Who do not need to converse with anybody but themselves and their dogs.”
He sets his pen down. “What about cats?”
Rigor mortis sets in ever so briefly at this question. “You father said you were quite fond of cats growing up. There was one in particular that you favored. Dinah, was it not?”
“I’m—” I have to clear my throat. “Lately, I wonder if perhaps I’m more of a dog person after all.”

Author Photo

About Heather Lyons:
Heather Lyons has always had a thing for words—She’s been writing stories since she was a kid. In addition to writing, she’s also been an archaeologist and a teacher. Heather is a rabid music fan, as evidenced by her (mostly) music-centric blog, and she’s married to an even larger music snob. They’re happily raising three kids who are mini music fiends who love to read and be read to.

Website ** Author Goodreads ** Twitter ** Facebook ** THE COLLECTORS’ SOCIETY Goodreads


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