BLOG TOUR # 30 - BLACK SATIN by RAE HACHTON - PRETTY IN BLACK # 2 - BOOK REVIEW

By: Rae Hachton
Published By : Teen Pulse
Released : Available Now
Details : Digital, 190 Pages

RATING : 4 STARS!

Book Blurb: Taken From Goodreads

What if you weren’t who you thought you were?
What if your whole life changed in an instant and you were released to a new identity?
What if you were forced to kill the one you love?
What if everything you knew wasn’t real, and you awaken to a new world?
What if love could take you to unknown places? How beautiful is death really?

Marcus Marble has disappeared from Ellie’s life, and she needs answers to questions and he’s the only one who can answer them. How is her sister back from the dead, and why is Ellie still alive? When Ellie realizes Marcus isn’t coming back, she is forced to move on with her life the best way she can, in hopes of finding the answers herself, but when people at school begin to be viciously murdered, and Giles reveals to her a life changing secret, she decides to investigate the possible truth of it. What she discovers is more than she thought she would. The only time Ellie feels normal is when she’s around Walter, the new guy at school. And normal is how she wants to feel, now that Marcus is gone from her life. But Walter may not be all that he seems, either, and she just might spiral in to an even more dark world, she never thought possible. And when it occurs to her that Marcus has made the decision to pass on through to the afterlife, during the Risorgimento, she races against time to stop him, while knowing she has feelings for Walter, too.
Will she make it in time to stop Marcus from passing through, and if she does, what will she tell Walter? Her heart will have to make the final decision. But will the choice be worth dying for?

BOOK REVIEW by Michelle :

I was a little confused at the start of this book, but then I got where Rae was coming from. I did expect it to continue from where Pretty In Black finished, it kind of reverted to back pedaling and being seen through Marcus's eyes, which did answer some questions from book 1. 

Once we are caught up again....Walter has entered the scene.
I do really love Walter's character, and is he a surprise package that one!! Did not see that coming. I thought something was coming, but not that!

We understand Jillian's motives a bit more from the start of this book from Marcus's voice. I think she is still a jealous piece of work.

We don't see Marcus much in this book as we have Walter. Marcus's presence is felt and sometimes seen, but Walter is the main guy present in Ellie's life. 

I really loved the clock scene and also the train that takes Walter and Ellie to The Land of Naught. The Land Of Naught, has a steampunk theme/futuristic theme. I did like this. I thought Rae wrote the train scenes and The Land Of Naught quite beautifully.

I still have to google the word 'anthropomorphic'. Rather large word for my vocabulary....lol!!

Ellie finds out some big secrets about herself in this installment, I quite liked what we found out. It opens more doors for storyline.

We get more on Giles Mason Gertrude. We just had a snippet in book 1. Not sure how I feel about him. I know he truly believes in his cause.

I liked the journals and the two people that were used to give the reader their version of Evermores. It cleared up some things in my mind.

All in all this was a great installment in the series that ended on a note that I enjoyed. I am intrigued to see where Rae takes the story from here.

QUOTES:

“She didn't understand the dangers of being an evermore. She didn't know that she had really tried to kill herself and I had saved her. She didn't know about me watching her for weeks and that her near suicide had been my fault. She didn't know I had wanted to claim her, wanted to kill her. And she deserved to know the truth.”



“I had to fight like hell just to breathe an hour longer. And I kept fighting, because the fight, the pain, the heartbreak, let me know that I'd had him once, that it wasn't a hallucination, or a dream. It—he—had been real.”



“I'm just a guy, a guy you don't know yet, and you're just a girl, a girl I don't know yet. And these people, are just people whom you may know, or may not want to know. And the trees are just trees and the wind is just wind. But, really, it's all more than that. And you know it. It's easy to look at things and say it's all meaningless, but everything has a purpose. It's up to you to give these little tiny things meaning. Some of these people are here to piss you off, make you angry, give you a hard time, but me? I'm not, so I'm asking...don't look at me as a small insignificant thing, get to know me, and get to know yourself. You don't have to be a shadow. When I got to this school today, it was just another school with a big mass of random people, who I didn't care two cents about, I even found myself making derisive commentary in my head about this place, but then.... When you walked into class today, and I saw you, you were different to me, and suddenly, it occurred to me that being here wasn't insignificant, I was brought here for a reason. So, you're not this little insignificant thing, not to me. Maybe to them, but not to me.”

Michelle

GIVEAWAY IS STILL CONTINUING

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BLOG STOPS

Black Satin Tour Dates

June

June 1 - Always YA at Heart *Review & Giveaway

June 2 - Waiting on Sunday to Drown *Review, Guest Post, Giveaway

June 3 - Nata ArtistaDonna *Guest Post & Giveaway

June 4 - Lovey Dovey Books *Review, Interview & Giveaway

June 5 - Itching for Books *Review & Giveaway

June 6 - Megan Likes Books *Guest Post & Giveaway

June 7 - The Cover (and Everything in Between...)*Review & Giveaway

- Tays Book Corner *Review, Interview & Giveaway

June 8 - Novels On The Run *Review, & Giveaway

June 9 - artsy musings of a bibliophile *Review & Giveaway

June 10 - Book briefs *Review & Giveaway

June 11 - Addicted to Books - Giveaway, Guest Spot & Giveaway

June 12 - Kindling the Fire *Review &am; Giveaway

Mother/Gamer/Writer *Review & Guest Post & Giveaway

June 13 - Letters Inside Out *interview/giveaway

June 14 - Book Loving Mom *Review, Interview & Giveaway

June 15 - The Bookish Babes *Review book 2 , guest post & Giveaway

- What's Beyond Forks? *Review, Interview & Giveaway

June 16 - Moonlight Book Reviews *Review, Guest Post, Giveaway

June 17 - Proserpine Craving Books *Review, Giveaway & Interview

June 18 - Sweet Southern Home *Review & Giveaway

June 19 - Chapter by Chapter *Review, Interview & Giveaway

Sweet Southern Home *Interview

June 20 - Megan Likes Books*Review & Giveaway

June 21 - Indiewritersreview *Review Book 1

June 22 - The Fable Faerie *Review & Giveaway

June 23 - A Life Pixelated *Review & Giveaway

- Memories Overtaking Me *Review & Interview 

June 24 - Indiewritersreview *Review Book 2

June 25 - The Bookish Brunette *Review & Giveaway

June 26 - Reading In Winter *Review

June 27 - The Cover (and Everything in Between...) *Guest Post

June 28 - Fictional Candy *Review & Giveaway

June 29 - Froggarita's Bookcase *Guest Post & Giveaway

Worlds Away Book Blog *Review & Giveaway

June 30 - Gotta Have YA *Review & Giveaway

BLOG TOUR # 26 - REVIEW/GUEST POST/GIVEAWAY - PRETTY IN BLACK by RAE HACHTON - PRETTY IN BLACK # 1

I would like to welcome Rae Hachton author of the Pretty In Black series to Novels On The Run and thank her for her Guest Post. This is a most intriguing series.

Please watch this little vid first, I think it sets the mood.

By : Rae Hachton
Published : Teen Pulse
Released : Available Now
Details : Digital, 175 Pages

RATING : 4 INTRIGUING STARS!

Book Blurb : Taken From Goodreads

Some Things are Pretty. Some Things are Black. Love is both. 

[Ellie Piper]

She wanted to die. He arose from the grave. He was sent to kill her. She was trained to kill those of his kind. But fate had other plans. He searched for 119 years to find her. & There's no way in hell he's letting her go. Dead or Alive. They're fated.

[Marcus Marble]

How far would you go to be with the one you love? Would you die for her? Would you kill for her? What if the only reason you're still alive is because of her? What if the reason you came back from the dead, was to be with her? But what if your job was to kill her, but you fell in love instead? And now you're being hunted by your own kind? 

Destroy? Or be Destroyed?

BOOK REVIEW by Michelle : 

“I ran the blade across both my wrists, and collapsed onto the ground. I felt the fire, the ache, the sting. My pulse pounded, my life poured out of me. My vision grew dark. I waited for the darkness.”

Ellie Piper wanted to die. She didn’t ....not yet.....

This is a hauntingly beautiful story, which I found quite original, but, at the same time I have many questions.

At times this book flows beautifully and at other times it was maybe too fast, I wasn’t catching my breath, I needed more information. The potential is for an amazing series of books.

I adore Marcus Marble. He is a beautiful character that wears his heart on his sleeve. He loves Ellie. She is his enemy. Oh what a conundrum this makes for the people who care for him. And can he kiss!

The first part of the story belongs to Ellie, the second part Marcus owns. We learn a lot of answers to this mysterious guy who comes out of the blue and falls for Ellie, appearing instantly in love. But...he has watched her.

Ellie has a difficult life. Her sister Darcy , raped and murdered. Her parents break up. Her mother turns to Nick and substance abuse.

In some ways I felt like part two of this book, maybe should have been told first...maybe, well some of it.

I found Marcus and Ellie’s communication/dialogue at first to be quite staccato in the opening chapters. Which was a little odd but it also worked.

I really enjoyed this gothic read, it was so beautifully poetic in parts and sometimes spontaneous...if I am making sense. It is quite an unusual feeling I had when reading it. The story is gorgeous but sometimes the dots weren’t joined properly. Yet at the same time I give it 4 stars as I really loved Marcus and want to know more.

I loved the Black Gothic Castle and the visual I got from Marcus’s Nevermore.

Marcus is an Evermore a guardian of the dead , guides dying to otherworld, the afterlife and a destroyer of evil. I am still a wee bit fuzzy on that.

Ellie is a Chosen One, a Corvidae Hunter, I just don’t think she fully understands what being with Marcus means. I am a little fuzzy myself on a couple things.

I absolutely loved how birds are used with Evermores. Marcus is a white raven, Michael a black raven. Emilie is a Jay. Lesser Class females are magpies. This I found beautiful in my mind.

There is of course the troublemaker, the one that does not want Marcus to have a HEA - Happy Ever After and that is Jillian. She is in charge of the Red Society. I think I need to understand more some of the people that make up the parts of this world where everybody is dead, but..........

I am looking forward to Black Satin. This is a very intriguing series for me.

Michelle

GIVEAWAY TIME

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GUEST POST

by RAE HACHTON

How do you make it through writing a dark tragic read? Does it effect you, or can you go into that world , stop for a break or does it drive you to write more in a day, stay in the moment?

That's an interesting question. For me, the answer is quite simple: I am drawn to the dark, tragic, and haunted. The darker & deeper the story becomes, the more and more I am glued to my seat. [This would probably explain why I already have 10k on Raven in the Grave and I started writing it 2-3 days ago, which was May 13th.]


Raven in the Grave is told from Marcus's POV. This means it is darker than the previous two books in the series. & it's also more fun to write : )


Each books has its own tone, or note, which is why I am now calling it The Pretty in Black Quartet.

Pretty in Black was more haunted and melancholy and had more romance .
Black Satin, (& this is just my opinion) has more action, information, & drama, not nearly as poetic or haunted, but has a slight echo of that near the very end.


Raven in the Grave feels as though it will be dark, deep & grotesquely romantic. 


This could also be reflected in the covers, as the colors are darker on the Pretty in Black cover and Lighter on Black Satin, but become much darker on Raven in the Grave .


Each book kind of has its own theme, or concept. The only thing that probably doesn't change is the intensity level. I think this actually grows each time, but in a different way.

GOODREADS

RAE'S PAGE

I hope you all enjoyed this blog tour stop. Please pop over to the other stops HERE

Michelle