Tuesday, February 19, 2013

~Book Review and Giveaway: Root Bound~


Welcome to my blog, Oh, The Books You'll Read!  Today I am reviewing Root Bound by Tanya Karen Gough.  Thank you Xpresso Book Tours for the opportunity to review this book.  Check out the rest of the participating blogs by clicking HERE.  Check out my review and be sure to enter the giveaway before you leave.


Root Bound by Tanya Karen Gough (Fantasy/Adventure)
Publication date: June 3rd 2012
by Baba Yaga Press



"A lighthearted, whimsical confection that will delight both kids and their parents’ inner child." - Kirkus Reviews

How far will you go to find your way home?

Emma and her father are always on the move, travelling from place to place as her father’s work demands. Their new home, however, is different. There’s a frightening woman who lives down the hall: she bears an uncanny resemblance to a witch. A mysterious light comes from her apartment, and a small boy seems to be trapped inside.

School in this town is no happy place either, with an odd principal and a gang of girls who make tormenting Emma their special project. And strangest of all is the fact that there seem to be brownies - basement brownies, in the air vent in her bedroom.

Haunted by visions of her mother, Emma travels through the brownie burrow to the valley of Hades to visit with the goddess Ceres, following a series of clues that lead her across the sea of memory to the centre of the world.

There, on an inhospitable rock floating in a sea of steaming lava, Emma must find a way to release her mother from the sea of memory and restore magic to both the brownie burrow and the human world above.


PURCHASE AT:  AMAZON      BARNES & NOBLE       SMASHWORDS

MY REVIEW:



Emma and her father are always on the move.  As a musician he has to move to where the jobs are.  Emma has never stayed in one place for very long.  They move to a new apartment building and Emma doesn't know what to think of it.  It almost seems like the building is alive, but that is impossible.  She meets a strange old woman who has strange noises and lights coming from her apartment.  She starts having strange dreams about her mother.  School is not much better.  A group of girls take it upon themselves to make Emma miserable.  Then Emma meets the "brownies" that live underneath her building.  Humans are not supposed to see the brownies but Emma does.  What do they want from Emma?  Will she be able to help them and save their home form an evil force?

This was such a good YA Fantasy. This is a really quick read and the story flows. A bit of a slow start at the beginning but all the magic starts to happen when we meet the brownies. Emma is such a sweet and lonely girl. I have lived in the same place all my life and cannot comprehend having to move as much as she does. She takes it all in stride and it is normal to her. I recommend this book for all fantasy fans. Let Emma and the brownies take you on a magical, mystery adventure. I am looking forward to more books in this series.




MEET THE AUTHOR:
Tanya Karen Gough was born in Montreal, Quebec and raised in New England, where she developed a healthy appetite for ghosts and things that go bump in the night. An avid reader from a young age, she quickly worked her way through Alice in Wonderland, the Magical Monarch of Mo, Andrew Lang's Fairy Books, all of the Tintin comic books, Nancy Drew, and most of the other books in the children's library. 

Finally, at the tender age of 10, she produced this poetic masterpiece:

"Whene'er you get a wandering leg
And feel that you must roam
Remember this and don't forget
The best place is at home"

To date, she has moved more than 25 times. Along the way, she earned two degrees in English Literature, taught overseas, became the owner operator of the Poor Yorick Shakespeare Catalogue, and contributed to a number of Shakespeare-related publications. Root Bound is the first of four books in the Emma and the Elementals series.



Author Links:




a Rafflecopter giveaway

1 comment:

  1. So happy you enjoyed it, doll! Thanks so much for being on the tour!

    ReplyDelete