Blog Tour Review with Giveaway: Sparks of Light (Into the Dim #2) by Janet B. Taylor

Book info:

Title:  Sparks of Light  
Author:  Janet B. Taylor
Series:  Into the Dim #2  
Release Date:  August 1st, 2017
Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin
Pages:  448
Formats:  Hardcover, ebook
Find it: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, TBD, Goodreads

Synopsis:

For the first time in her life, Hope Walton has friends . . . and a (maybe) boyfriend. She’s a Viator, a member of a long line of time-traveling ancestors. When the Viators learn of a plan to steal a dangerous device from the inventor Nikola Tesla, only a race into the past can save the natural timeline from utter destruction. Navigating the glitterati of The Gilded Age in 1895 New York City, Hope and her crew will discover that high society can be as deadly as it is beautiful.

Book Trailer Courtesy of The YA Book Traveler

 



My Review:
My rating:  5 stars

This sequel to one of my favorite books of 2016, Into the Dim, definitely did not disappoint.  This time the characters have a different time period that they will have to visit in order to solve their current issues.  Hope's mother is back, but she is suffering basically PTSD from dealing with being left with the cruel man she'd been stuck with back in time.  Not only is she back, but Hope has a new little sister.  Her father is asking for a divorce, happy with his new wife.  This makes one more emotional issue for Hope's mother to deal with.  While Bran had to go be with the woman who had tried to say she was his mother up until now, their enemy, he comes back to see Hope when he can, but when he comes back, he has some alarming news, news that sends them on their next trip back in time.  This time they will need to meet up with Nikola Tesla, and hopefully get him to stop working on the instrument that could mess up the careful time travel the Viators have tried to perpetrate.  This time we have Doug going back, and he's never been able to go because of his seizures.  But since he is best to work with Tesla, being the one who knows the most about what is going on, and kind of a Tesla expert, he is chosen to go, despite Phoebe's pleas about his safety.  Of course the fact that he is partly black will cause issues in how he can be a part of the group back in the time period.  It is after the civil war, but still things are not good for black, or even mixed race people like Doug. 

I liked that not only did we get a glimpse into a world with John Jacob Astor and the Vanderbilt's, a look at Nikola Tesla himself, but a dangerous glimpse into the world of the insane asylums of the time, women being committed by their husbands, the type of experimentation with lobotomies and other cruel procedures.  This added an aspect to the overall story that wasn't expected, but definitely made for a very interesting twist.  While they still also talked about the rules of not knowing about your past self/future self, as well as not changing any big events, like the fire that destroyed Tesla's lab, a very tragic death of someone in the team makes the rules seem like maybe they were made to be bent at the right times.

Of course we're once again left without the villain being brought in, not to mention that there is now someone even more dangerous out there, working with, or around the villain from before.  That means that there MUST be a third book.  And I will be waiting on the edge of my seat to hear news for that one.


Book 1 Info:

Title:  Into the Dim   
Author:  Janet B. Taylor
Release Date:  March 1st, 2016
Publisher:  HMH Books for Young Readers
Pages:  432
Formats:  Hardcover, ebook, audiobook

Find it: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks

Synopsis:

When fragile, sixteen-year-old Hope Walton loses her mom to an earthquake overseas, her secluded world crumbles. Agreeing to spend the summer in Scotland, Hope discovers that her mother was more than a brilliant academic, but also a member of a secret society of time travelers. Trapped in the twelfth century in the age of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Hope has seventy-two hours to rescue her mother and get back to their own time. Along the way, her path collides with that of a mysterious boy who could be vital to her mission . . . or the key to Hope’s undoing.      

Addictive, romantic, and rich with historical detail, Into the Dim is an Outlander for teens. 

My rating:  5 stars      Check out my review HERE.   

About the Author:

The 2013 winner of the coveted #PitchWars, Janet B Taylor, has four years' experience writing web content for a major television network fan site (CBS) that garners over a hundred thousand hits a day. Janet travels extensively to those places where her novels are set, often roaming around at night to commune with the famous historical figures about which she loves to write. She is a member of several writing organizations, including the SCBWI and the Historical Novel Society, and lives in a tiny town in Arkansas with her family.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Tumblr | Pinterest   



Giveaway:

• 3 winners will receive a finished copy of SPARKS OF LIGHT, US only.

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

-->

Week One:

7/24/2017- a GREAT read- Review

7/25/2017- Lisa Loves Literature- Review

7/26/2017- YA and Wine- Guest Post

7/27/2017- Ex Libris- Review

7/28/2017- Once Upon A Twilight- Interview

Week Two:

7/31/2017- Seeing Double In Neverland- Interview

8/1/2017- Adventures of a Book Junkie- Interview

8/2/2017- History from a Woman's Perspective- Review

8/3/2017- Two Chicks on Books- Interview  
-->

8/4/2017- The Bucket List- Review

2016 Debut Author Bash - Featuring Janet B. Taylor and an Interview with the Characters of Her Debut Novel: Into the Dim (Giveaway!)

Welcome to the 2016 Debut Authors Bash hosted by YA Reads.  I've participated in it for the last few years.  It's a great way to meet new authors and learn about new books. There are also a lot of giveaways.  You can check out the other posts by clicking on the highlighted Debut Authors Bash link at the beginning of this paragraph.  Make sure that you scroll all the way through, and if you think this book sounds great, like I thought it was, there is a giveaway at the end!

Book Info:
Title:  Into the Dim
Publication:  March 1st, 2016
Category:  YA
Genre:  Science Fiction

Synopsis:
When fragile, sixteen-year-old Hope Walton loses her mom to an earthquake overseas, her secluded world crumbles. Agreeing to spend the summer in Scotland, Hope discovers that her mother was more than a brilliant academic, but also a member of a secret society of time travelers. Trapped in the twelfth century in the age of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Hope has seventy-two hours to rescue her mother and get back to their own time. Along the way, her path collides with that of a mysterious boy who could be vital to her mission . . . or the key to Hope’s undoing. 

You can check out my review of the book HERE. 

Characters Interview:

1.      This first question is for  all four:  Hope, Bran, Collum, and Phoebe.  What is the one time period or event that you would most like to travel to see, or hope to visit in the next book?

 Well, since Hope just got the hook up on her all-time number one time-travel destination, medieval London, I’ll let the other guys answer for themselves.

Bran:  Well, as we are speaking in confidence, I feel I must make a confession. I know, I know. I come across as urbane--even irreverent. But you see, that sophisticated candy shell conceals a romantic center of the most melted variety. The truth is that all I really care about is being with the girl I love. The setting matters little. Waltzing (in the most-fashionable ballrooms) of the genteel Austen’s Edwardian England. Engaged in intrigue at Louis XIV’s Versailles. Sunset cruises on the Nile as we feeding each other grapes on our Pharaonic barge. If you’re sensing a luxury theme you would not be mistaken. However, to make her smile, I would happily spend the rest of my life mucking about with the cave people. As long as we are together. As long as I can watch the the sunset flicker in her eyes...I shall die a happy man. Let the sighing ensue.

Phoebe: Thank you! You know, no one ever asks me that question! Lu and the Grands, they make the decisions, and then it’s all ‘Phoebe wear this and Phoebe go there’. I’m not complaining, mind! Really! But cheese ‘n rice, wouldn’t it be nice if just once, I got to choose? My answer’s been the same since I was ten years old, and watched a documentary about the ‘Roaring Twenties’. I know what you’re thinking. It’s not the hooch or the gorgeous parties or the sexy flapper duds. Well...all right. It’s not only that. In the 1920s, women began to break open that ‘be a good girl and do as you’re told’ framework. They spoke out, and for the first time in history...people listened. Women like Josephine Baker and Zelda Fitzgerald and Amelia Earhart. Ohh...how I hope to one day meet Amelia Earhart and tell her thank you. Thank you for being so absolutely bloody brilliant! 

Collum:  {Shrugs} What a barmy question. You don’t get to choose just for the enjoyment of the thing. You do your duty. You go where you’re needed. The end. All right, fine. If--as you say--the world were going to end because I didn’t pick a favorite...I suppose I’d have to say the height of the Roman Empire. My father once traveled there and brought back a Gladius, a sword used by the Gladiators. The Roman Army was the greatest army in history. And if I was given the opportunity to spend some time leading my own legion, well...I suppose I wouldn’t turn that down.  

2.      Hope – We know you like to read, and you love Harry Potter, now that you’ve done some time traveling, what do you think of Hermione’s time turner? 

You know, the first few times I read PRISONER OF ASKABAN I got so irritated. Why not go back and take out Tom Riddle before he graduated Hogwarts and became Voldemort? Why not warn Dumbledore much, much earlier and leave little Tommy at the orphanage in the first place? But now that I have a bit of experience in time manipulation, I understand that there are severe limitations. You have to be so careful when you’re messing around in the past. All in all, I think Hermione did the best she could. And hey, she did save Buckbeak, after all.

3.      Hope – Can you tell us what your favorite time travel books or movies are?

Oh, I absolutely adored ‘A Wrinkle In Time’ by Madeline L’Engle. I probably read it a hundred times when I was a kid. And I loved all the classics, The Time Machine, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Time Train. Recently however, Moira’s been lending me copies of a series called ‘Outlander’ by Diana Gabaldon and oh...my God. They are freaking amazing! Every chance I get I ride out on the moors, settle in next to the river, and just read all day!  Also, Doug had been bugged me forever about watching this British TV show called ‘Doctor Who’. Have to admit, I was really skeptical. Now though? I am proud to call myself a full-blown Whovian!  

4.      Bran – When did you first know that you would not be able to betray Hope in the way that your adoptive mother wanted you to?

The day my stupid horse tossed me in that river, and I opened my eyes to find her standing there in that freezing water, glaring down at me. She was shivering, but so fierce and so damn beautiful...I knew I would die before I would ever let anything happen to her.

5.      Collum – We know that you weren’t really excited about Hope coming at first. But, what is the first thing you noticed about her that you did like?

Hope is terrible at almost everything I need for a member of my team. She can’t shoot a bow. She can’t fight. She stabs herself more often than the target. But...I have to admit that she has a keen mind. Probably the most brilliant mind of anyone I’ve ever known. She can be funny, too, though usually when she doesn’t mean to. And…{mutters this last part as he’s stomping away}...she smells nice.

6.      Hope – You’ve got two hot boys you’re working with, Collum and Bran, one with a British accent, and one with a Scottish accent.  My favorite accent is Irish, but what is your favorite?

Hmm. That’s a tough one. Though Bran’s posh Brit accent makes me go all jelly-kneed, all in all, I like the natural, rustic sound of the Scottish accent best.

7.      Bran – What do you think would be different about your life if you’d been raised by Hope’s adoptive parents instead of your adoptive mother?

{Shudders theatrically} Oh don’t. Please. My childhood was a nightmare, no doubt about it. But I would live it over again a thousand times. If Sarah had taken me along with Hope that fateful night, Hope and I would’ve been raised as brother and sister. And as much as I adore the Game of Thrones franchise, I would hate to think of the two of us as some kind of time-traveling version of Jamie and Cersei.

8.      Phoebe – Of all the time period clothing you have available for your trips, if you could pick one of those to wear as a Halloween costume, what do you think you’d pick?

Ohhh...there is this seventeenth-century Venetian masquerade ball gown in all these shades of silver and violet that I’ve been dying to borrow since forever! It is sublime, but Gran swears if she ever catches me coming within ten feet of it, she’ll come after me with her old wooden spoon!


I have to say thank you so much to Janet, as well as her wonderful characters, for this awesome interview! I loved this book so much, and the interview answers from some of them (Bran and Collum) definitely made me swoon once again!

About the Author:

 Janet Taylor lives in such a small town in Arkansas that if you happen to sneeze when you pass by, you'll totally miss it. (Cause, you know, you can't sneeze with your eyes open. For real--try it--it's impossible)

Her debut novel, INTO THE DIM (coming 3/1/2016 from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) is about a 16 year old girl who travels through time. Totally on purpose and stuff.

She's a reader/fan first and a writer second. She lives with her fantastic husband, two hilarious sons, and Dorda the diabetic dog who won't win any beauty contests, but has a "nice personality".

She would think you're the coolest thing since AC on a hot day if you'd like her on Facebook. Follow her on Twitter or visit her web site. And if you felt like adding INTO THE DIM to your Want to Read well golly! She'd probably come over to your house and do cart-wheels on your front lawn. (probably)

(PS-check out the bracelet on Janet's pic. That's a teeny-tiny Tardis. Uh, Whovian much?)

Giveaway:

• Signed, hard copy of Into The Dim plus lots of ITD swag! Open to US/Canada!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Into the Dim by Janet B. Taylor

First, thanks to Edelweiss and HMH Books for Young Readers for allowing me to read an egalley of this book.  I'd heard good things about this, and I was intrigued by the synopsis.  And I wasn't disappointed.  I've never read the Outlander series, but this is billed as that for teens, so I may have to give the Outlander series a chance now.

The main character is Hope.  Her mother died, or at least disappeared when she was giving a speech in a country where there was a horrible earthquake.  Now, Hope is adopted, and her father, who does love her, has found a new woman to love.  And he is going on a trip with this new woman.  So Hope has the option of staying at home for the summer with her grandmother, who doesn't like her at all, or going to stay with her mother's sister, someone she's never met.  Oh, one other thing, because her aunt lives in Scotland, Hope will have to take a plane, something she has never been able to do because of her claustrophobia.  Hope gets some sedatives from the doctor and makes the plane ride to Scotland safely.  Once she gets there, she soon learns that her mother wasn't quite who she always thought she was.  Hope has always had an eidetic memory, being able to recite word for word any book she'd ever read.  In Scotland she learns that her mother and her family are actually time travelers.  And they need her to go back and help them find something in the time of Eleanor of Aquitane. 

She will have to go back and try to stay undercover so that she doesn't stand out or mess up the timeline by changing history. But back in time she will have to save her new friends she has traveled with, and also try to keep what they are looking for out of the hands of another group of time travelers who want it for nefarious purposes.  And of course, there is the cute boy that she first meets on her aunt's land.  He will figure into the story in a surprise way.  But he will still be a love interest for Hope.  In the end not everything will end up being settled, but Hope will learn how things work, and try to figure out who is really her family and friends, and who the enemy really is.

I loved the historical parts.  I love when there are actual historical figures in a story and I learn more about them intertwined with an interesting story.  I also loved that the stone the time travelers needed to have on their person when traveling through time was an opal.  As opals are my birthstone, I'm always fascinated by stories that use them, because I love them  myself!  As I said not everything is finished at the end, so I'm looking forward to a sequel.  And I'm excited to see what part of history we'll get to visit in the next story.  I can't wait to see where this romance between Hope and Bran goes.  And the major twist at the end with the two of them, well I'm ready to see where else it leads.  I highly recommend this book if you enjoy time travel stories with great history in them.