Review for Slayers by C.J. Hill

Slayers (Slayers #1?)
By C.J. Hill
Published by Feiwel & Friends   
Source: Hardback from Publisher
304 pages

Dragons exist. They’re ferocious. And they’re smart: Before they were killed off by slayer-knights, they rendered a select group of eggs dormant, so their offspring would survive. Only a handful of people know about this, let alone believe it – these “Slayers” are descended from the original knights, and are now a diverse group of teens that includes Tori, a smart but spoiled senator’s daughter who didn’t sign up to save the world.

The dragon eggs have fallen into the wrong hands. The Slayers must work together to stop the eggs from hatching. They will fight; they will fall in love. But will they survive?-Goodreads

I didn't love, love, this book but I highly enjoyed it. The aspect that caught me was the fresh take on dragons. No, they are not going to be our pets and love us. They are just the opposite.

For the main part of the book we see the story progress through the eyes of Tori. The POV switchs sometimes in between, I appreciated that because it gave us a look into different peoples thoughts on the matter. Tori, well, lots of people say they didn't like her but I didn't mind her at all. She's a little bit of a wimp at first but she is definitely smart. And I loved the fact that the author didn't make her excel at everything. We find that alot, where the main hero/heroine is good at everything. That made her more realistic in my eyes. As the summary above says, they will fall in love. Particulary two will fall for one (see where I'm going here?) and those two, although one was the obvious choice the other dare I say, I felt sorry for. He really did have good intentions. But I'm still sticking with the main choice here... he's awesome. He (yes no names here) can aim arrows, ride horses, shoot a rifle (with his eyes closed!) oh and yeah... FLY! He's a keeper. I like that the romance didn't overtake the book but there was enough to keep my interest (and enough swoon worthy boys around!). One of my favourite characters though, was Bess. She's so sassy and smart, and has all the bravo in the world!

The book moved at a pace that was good. I enjoyed the writing style and I loved how she incorporated super-powers. That was awesome. But I felt as though the real action didn't come until far into the book, and I'm sad to report that.... I think this is going to be a series of some sort. Sigh. I had to keep reminding myself while reading that all these events were happening over a four day period and then it ended with finally mentioned the eluded Ryker (rocking name!) Davis, the character that I wanted to know so much about! Cliffhanger? No not really. Opening for second book? Uh, yeah. But all in all I was happy with the action, there were a lot of neat elements in this story.

I would recommend it to fantasy fans, dragon fans, romance people and anyone who's interested. A very well done job by one of my favourite authors!

Excerpt:

After what seemed like a long time, Dirk said, "I got him. I'm waiting to make sure he goes down, and then I'll head to my guard post."
Jesse's voice came over the radio. "Bess, what's your situation?"
"Same as always - chasing after men who don't know I exist."
"Have you seen your guard?"
"Yeah, and he's way to old for me. Plus, he just went unconscious - those are big turnoffs for me."
"Head toward the enclosure."
"I'm not that far away. Don't start the party without me."
**Find more @ this link**

Book Trailer:

In My Mailbox (13)

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren where we get to post about the books we receive each week through publishers/authors, our own purchases, contests, and libraries!

What I Got This Week:

 

Yup, I only got one book this past week... but one that I'm so excited to read! This book actually has a bit of a story behind it. See I was going to read an ARC online but the publishers archived it. Now, being me, I had no idea what that meant so I asked the publisher. Of course (duh!) it means that the publication date has already gone by so they take it off the reading list thingy (<- the publisher explained it in better terms). Anyhoo, then, THEN, the publisher offered me a hardback copy because I was sad I didn't get to read it. Wow, I know. :) So a big big immensely humongous hug to Lizzy Mason for sending me a copy to read! And for all of you who didn't know C.J. Hill is actually Janette Rallison (one of my fave authors!)

For Review:

Slayers by C.J. Hill

 What did you get in your mailbox this week??

Thanks for reading!

Interview with author Janette Rallison

I'm excited to introduce to you, one of my favourite authors, Janette Rallison! She is going to bear with me on my first author interview.... I think that deserves a round of applause *claps* Thanks again Mrs.Rallison for coming on my blog! I'm going to be asking her a few questions and at the end of this post there will be a trailor for her new book Slayers under the pen name CJ Hills and a few links to my reviews! Ok lets get started!

Janette's Blog ~ Website ~ Goodreads Page ~ Twitter ~ Facebook



Q:

You are the author of many books including my favourite My Fair Godmother. Is there any one in particular that was a challenge?

A:

I guess that depends on what you mean by a challenge. All's Fair in Love, War, and High School went through at least six revisions because the adults who read the book had a sort of knee-jerk reaction to a character who was a popular cheerleader. Apparently most people hate that sort of character on sight, so I had to keep reworking her. And then when my editor was happy with her, his boss wanted to cut the book from 250 pages to 200 pages because she said kids wouldn't read a book that was over 200 pages. That required even more changes.

Just One Wish only had three revisions but it was a hard book for me to write because I kept crying during it. I cried when I researched kids with cancer, I cried when I wrote the scenes, and I cried during every revision. I don't ever want to write another book with cancer in it. I'll stick with fairies, dragons, and romance. That's much easier to write.

 

Q:

I cried when I read it! I can't imagine trying to write it. I hear Slayers has just been released, can you describe what it's about for us?

A:

Slayers is about kids who have superpowers to fight dragons--which comes in handy since dragons are coming back to the world and they aren't the nice friendly dragons of Eragon. They're the sort that happily munch on people. Tori, the main character, doesn't realize why she's always had a fascination with dragons until she goes to dragon camp. Then when she finds out that dragons are real and she's supposed help fight them, she is less than thrilled by her new role as superhero. She has to learn what her power is before the dragon lord attacks.

It's an action adventure story instead of my usual romantic comedy, which is why it's under the pen name CJ Hill. Janette Rallison fans will like it too though, because there is still enough romance and comedy to make it a fun story.

 

Q:

Wow sounds amazing! Can't wait to read it :) So, are there any more brilliant stories brewing for you? Anything that we could be looking forward to?

A:

I have a fun time-travel dystopian novel coming out Sept 2012 called Erasing Time. I also just finished the first draft of a paranormal romance. One wouldn't think it would be a lot of fun to write a book with flesh-eating scarabs, but it really was.

Q:

Flesh-eating scarabs? Sounds very interesting! I'm excited to learn more about Erasing Time too! What fall release are you excited to read?

A:

Ally Condie's Crossed, and Christopher Paolini's Inheritance.

Q:

Crossed is on my list too! For randomness, what is your favourite treat to eat?

A:

Chocolate. Mmmmmm.

Q:

We got that in common! Who doesn't love chocolate? Lastly, just for fun, try to describe yourself in a sentence!

A:

It's funny you ask, because I always have to come up with a blurb about myself every time I write a book and I never know what to say. But here goes anyway:

I am the mother of five awesome children, eighteen good books, and more stray cats than a normal person should have.

Awesome answers! Thank you so much again for letting me interview you! It was a pleasure to have you here! As promised here are a few links to my reviews as well as a blurb and trailor for her newest release Slayers!

Just One Wish ~ My Fair Godmother ~ My Unfair Godmother ~ How to Take the Ex Our of Ex-Boyfriend

Dragons exist. They’re ferocious. And they’re smart: Before they were killed off by slayer-knights, they rendered a select group of eggs dormant, so their offspring would survive. Only a handful of people know about this, let alone believe it – these “Slayers” are descended from the original knights, and are now a diverse group of teens that includes Tori, a smart but spoiled senator’s daughter who didn’t sign up to save the world. The dragon eggs have fallen into the wrong hands. The Slayers must work together to stop the eggs from hatching. They will fight; they will fall in love. But will they survive? - Goodreads

 

Here is the book trailor:

Thanks for reading everyone, I hope you enjoyed my first author interview!