Sunday, June 25, 2017

Blog Tour & Giveaway: All the Stars Left Behind by Ashley Graham

Book Blurb:

All the Stars Left Behind by Ashley Graham

Published by Entangled Teen

Release Day: June 6, 2017

Relocating to Arctic Norway would put a freeze on anyone’s social life. For Leda Lindgren, with her crutches and a chip on her shoulder the size of her former Manhattan home, the frozen tundra is just as boring as it sounds. Until she meets her uncle’s gorgeous employee.

Unfortunately, no matter how smoking hot the guy is, Roar comes with secrets as unnerving as his moving tattoos. And Leda doesn’t trust him.

Roar shouldn’t be drawn to the moody human girl with eyes that leave him weak in the knees. But when Leda gets shot by one of his enemies and survives, Roar finally understands why he’s drawn to her: Leda is exactly what he was sent to Earth to find. A weapon of immense power capable of saving his planet.

She just doesn’t know it yet.

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My Review:

3.5 Out Of 5 Stars

Genre: Aliens, Another-World, Mystery, Romance, Space, Supernatural, Teen--

Leda has just lost her beloved father to cancer and now her whole life has been uprooted by her distant mother, dropping her with her Grandmother and uncle, who she did not even know existed. While living with her newly discovered family, she meets her uncles employee Roar, a strange boy that she is instantly drawn to. Strange things keep occurring to Leda, like seeing things that nobody else sees like shadow people, and the odd encounters between her and Roar, where time goes missing whenever they touch. Just when she feels like she is starting to get a grasp on her new life, a bomb is dropped and nothing is what Leda thought it was.

I love alien stories and pretty much anything with space travel so I was really interested in reading this version. It did not hurt that the cover was eye catching, and we all know I am a sucker for a good cover. I can honestly say this book was a very unique plot with an alien search party, pretending to be refuges from another planet seeking shelter on earth, but in actuality they are searching for a weapon to save their people. The book took place on earth as well as outer space, with the crew facing one challenge after another from all kinds of space attacks and human surprises. This story was a nice mix of space/supernatural technology and adventures, mystery, danger (creepy space tentacles? yes please) and a forbidden love thing going. I could not predict what would happen next, Ashley Graham kept me on my toes with each dangerous turn thrown at Leda.

The story alternated between Roar and Leda, both so important to the mission and the story. I am such a fan of dual narration in my romance books, and this was no exception. My favorite part of Roar was the fact that Leda was disabled never even was a thought. To Roar, she was a beautiful, competent and smart girl who he wanted to get close to at any opportunity- her crutches and spina bifida did not exist to him. So sure, Leda had a physical disability, but nobody treated her as such (except for herself at times) instead they expected her to be capable of great things and brushed off what she felt she was not capable of. I was not sure how her physical status would play into the storyline, but it was well played where a girl with a disability can save the world- no haters here. Both Leda and Roar are well developed characters, enough so that I could connect and empathize with everything they go through. The side characters were just as important to the story, such as Leda's family and Roar's crew, helping to create a fully fleshed out world.

The one thing that I struggled with a little was the transitions in the story, especially at the beginning of the book. The narration of the book alternates between Roar and Leda, but it never indicated when, so it would switch randomly during a chapter and took a few sentences for me to catch up. Also, the story jumped around, like things were missing, so I would re-read parts to see if I accidentally skipped it, but nope, it was just not there. For example, Leda was about to finish making dinner for everyone, had an intense confusing moment with Roar, and then went to bed... I guess dinner was over? Did time jump too, and the people she was cooking for did not feel the need to eat or come look for her if she was missing for hours? And she disappeared in front of her uncle, who didn't notice she physically vanished (if that is what happened...I really am not sure). There were some other times like that where things did not match up with what was previously happening or other things just were left out making me feel like I was missing parts of the book. Sure, they were not the most needed or interesting parts, but it drove me a little insane with how choppy the delivery was near the start of the story.

This was a great first book by this author, and I would gladly read whatever else she creates and releases on the world. The way the story ended wrapped up the book, but it left plenty of wiggle room for more Roar-Leda adventures to come, so I look forward to another space adventure to really end the war...and for them to be together... Hope that was not too spoilery, but I have hopes for what will come next. I enjoyed the story regardless of the choppy transitions at the start of the book and I flew through the pages in a single sitting. This is the perfect read for anyone who likes aliens, space and space-technology, forbidden romance and adventure.

I received this title in return for my honest review.

Author Bio:

Ashley Graham was born in Ontario, Canada, and has since lived in five countries. Before writing her first manuscript in 2015, she worked as a clerical assistant, quality assurance officer, chef, and stay-at-home mom/homeschool teacher. When she isn’t writing or reading every book she gets her hands on, Ashley enjoys online window shopping, Netflix binges, and spends way too much time thinking about space travel. ALL THE STARS LEFT BEHIND is her debut novel.

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