Blog Tour: Review and Giveaway - Circle of Jinn (Becoming Jinn #2) by Lori Goldstein

Circle of Jinn (Becoming Jinn #2)
by Lori Goldstein
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Release Date: May 17th 2016

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Mythology
Rate: 3 stars

Synopsis:

Being Jinn is Azra’s new reality. As she grants wishes under the watchful eye of the Afrit council, she remains torn between her two worlds—human and Jinn. Soon, secrets spill. Zars are broken. Humans become pawns. And rumors of an uprising become real as the Afrit’s reach extends beyond the underground world of Janna.

Straddling the line becomes impossible. Aware of her unique abilities, Azra must not just face but embrace her destiny. But when the role she must play and those she must protect expand to include a circle of Jinn greater than her own, Azra will be forced to risk everything. A risk that means there’s everything to lose, and at the same time, everything to gain—for herself and her entire Jinn race.

In this dramatic sequel to Becoming Jinn, Azra’s story comes to a heartfelt and thrilling conclusion.

--> I am lucky enough to get to be on the tour for Circle of Jinn.  I got a copy of the book from the author as part of the tour.  I was excited to read this book since I had been a part of the tour for the first book, Becoming Jinn, and was interested to see where the story would go next.  Now, of course I can't promise no spoilers if you haven't read the first book.  So, in that case, you should just click the link for the first book, and go read that.  I will just say that this second book definitely answered a lot of questions about the Jinn world, as well as wrapping up the story quite nicely!

Where we had left off in the first one, Azra had been trying to complete her first few wishes.  For now she is living with her boyfriend Nate and his younger sister and grandparents, while his mom is in the hospital, and they lost their father in the car accident.  The wishes they want are something that Azra doesn't know how to do. Basically they don't want to feel the pain anymore. Each of them, Nate and his sister, want the other to not feel so much pain over the accident.  But Azra doesn't know how to do this. While the Jinn are able to kind of change memories and keep humans from knowing about things they may see accidentally, mind control isn't something that can be done without consequences, as we saw with Azra's neighbor before.  Azra is also worried about her friend Henry, because he knows about all of the Jinn stuff.  And as a human, that is horribly dangerous, he could be killed if the Afrit, the Jinn in power, find out.

So Azra is trying to figure out how to grant the wish, and one day, a surprise visitor shows up from Janna, her brother.  Soon he is helping her out, but along with his help, she learns more and more about the world he came from, the world he really should not be away from.  She learns that she has a connection to the Afrit that may help her.  She has been somewhat estranged from her Zar sisters, but soon they will connect again when things start to get intense with her brother.  And soon it is not only her brother, but maybe others from Janna that will show up.  Some are there to help, others are not.  And Azra will have to hope that whoever the traitor is, they will not give away the plan her father has put in place to try to get things to be more fair back in Janna.

I can't go into much more detail without giving some major plot points away, so I will try to leave it at that.  Just know that there will be definite dangerous parts, as well as emotional parts, and we will get to see Azra learn her powers as a Jinn with all her triumphs and failures along the way.  As I mentioned, I loved the way it was wrapped up.  I like when an author gives us a look at how things go after the main conclusion of the story.

Follow the Circle of Jinn by Lori Goldstein Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

My debut novel, the Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy Becoming Jinn, is a modern spin on the traditional tale of wish-granting genies. The sequel, Circle of Jinn, releases May 17, 2016 (Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan).

Too much of my day involves chatting books, obsessing over The Vampire Diaries, and perfecting the art of efficient writing through Twitter. Find me at @loriagoldstein and follow my blog at www.lorigoldsteinbooks.com, my Tumblr athttp://lorigoldsteinbooks.tumblr.com, or my Instagram athttp://www.instagram.com/lorigoldstei....

Like my author page on Facebook for fun book-related photos, tidbits, and happenings as well as news on Becoming Jinn.

I am represented by Lucy Carson of The Friedrich Agency.

Prize: Win an infinity necklace and some Circle of Jinn swag (US Only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Waiting on Wednesday: Circle of Jinn (Becoming Jinn #2) by Lori Goldstein

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases that we're eagerly awaiting.  My choice this week is a sequel, but it is a sequel to a book I wasn't quite sure if I was blown away by, Becoming Jinn.  It was good enough that I do want to read on though.  So here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Being Jinn is Azra’s new reality. As she grants wishes under the watchful eye of the Afrit council, she remains torn between her two worlds—human and Jinn. Soon, secrets spill. Zars are broken. Humans become pawns. And rumors of an uprising become real as the Afrit’s reach extends beyond the underground world of Janna.

Straddling the line becomes impossible. Aware of her unique abilities, Azra must not just face but embrace her destiny. But when the role she must play and those she must protect expand to include a circle of Jinn greater than her own, Azra will be forced to risk everything. A risk that means there’s everything to lose, and at the same time, everything to gain—for herself and her entire Jinn race.

In this dramatic sequel to Becoming Jinn, Azra’s story comes to a heartfelt and thrilling conclusion.

Have you started this series yet?  Does it sound like one you'd like to start if you haven't  yet?  What book are you eagerly awaiting this week?

Blog Tour: Review and Official Playlist - Becoming Jinn by Lori Goldstein (and 2 Giveaways!)

I have to say thanks to Fantastic Flying Book Club for allowing me to take part in this tour. And also thanks to the author and publisher who ended up sending out physical ARCs instead of just e-galleys.  It's such a pretty book I'm glad to have a physical copy of it to keep.  I'm going to share my review first, then I'll share the Official Playlist from the author. After that will be all the information you need to enter the giveaway, as well as how to get to the rest of the stops on the tour.

Becoming Jinn (Becoming Jinn #1)
by: Lori Goldstein
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Release Date: April 21st 2015

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magic, Mythology

My rating:  4 stars

Becoming Jinn is a very unique story about Jinn, or what we think of as genies.  At least I felt it was unique as I hadn't read anything like it before.  The main character is Azra, and it is her 16th birthday.  The day that all female Jinn finally get their powers and are able to grant wishes.  Only Azra isn't very excited about it.  In fact she's tried to find a way out of having to do this her whole life.  Ever since her best friend Jenny, just a normal human girl, but one that shared her same birthday, died while they were playing, and her mother who was a Jinn was unable to save her, she's not wanted anything to do with it.  She has always thought it made no sense that the Afrit, the leaders of the Jinn, are the only ones who get to choose who will get wishes granted.  And her mother has always been able to heal her little injuries, so it doesn't seem fair that she couldn't save her friend.  On her 16th birthday Azra gets a silver bangle bracelet that gives her the power to use her magic.  She also becomes a part of a Zar, a group of five other girls around her age that will be like her sisters, and that they will all work together to help each other with each wish assignment as needed.  And she's grown up with the girls, Yasmin - kind of her archenemy, Hana, Mina, Farrah, and Laila - the youngest and really the one she's always been closest to.  They've been like cousins, with their mothers who are part of their own Zar as her aunts.  But none of them, other than Laila, showed her any sympathy when Jenny died.  In fact they acted as if it shouldn't matter, that only they should matter.  But now Azra will have to become closer to her Zar sisters as she can't tell anyone who is not Jinn about it.  That is until the neighbor boy, Jenny's older brother Henry, sees things happen.  Items in the house floating from one place to another, people just appearing out of nowhere (apporting).  Henry becomes a good friend knowing all about the magic.  He is someone she can talk to when she doesn't feel like talking to her Zar because they're not really that close.  It's good to have someone to talk to because of messing up her first few times, and what that could do to her. The punishment that she could get for messing up.  But Henry is just a friend, her love interest is Nate, who works as a lifeguard down at the beach where Azra will have her first summer job.  As her first assignments begin showing up, it seems like the Afrit are trying to make her life miserable, by making the assignments as hard as possible, with as little time as possible. And when her first big mistake catches their attention way quicker than she would have thought possible, Azra will have to work her way back into the silver bangle bracelet and prove she can be a model Jinn like her mother.

I really enjoyed this story, the characters were all really good.  At first I didn't completely agree with Azra's dislike of being a Jinn. But as the story went on and more was revealed about all the rules and other background stories having to do with her father and other people in her world, I was more on her side with that.  And it will have a sequel, so I am eager to see how she handles the wish that she was left trying to figure out how to grant at the end of this book.    Oh yeah, and my favorite quote:  "aluminum-flavored skunk urine" or as you might know it as, a can of beer.  I am not a fan of beer, so this is an almost perfect description for what I kind of think it tastes like. 

Okay, enough from me, how about a playlist from the author herself?  Here you go, enjoy!

Music plays very distinct roles for authors. Some listen to music all the time while writing, some need absolute silence or the din of a coffee shop. Some listen to certain songs to get into a particular character’s head or to write a love scene or a fight scene (probably not the same song, but you never know…).

As for me, my best writing comes when I have background music playing, which means instrumental music. I discovered the Downton Abbey soundtracks while writing Becoming Jinn and they’ve become the soundtrack to my writing life (minus the few songs with vocals!). The two together last for almost two hours, and when the first few notes sound, I’m instantly in writing mode. The familiarity and repetition allow me to push out all other distractions and focus solely on the words.

That’s a long way of saying that I don’t have a playlist that I’ve listened to while writing or revising Becoming Jinn. What I do have are songs I listen to while thinking about writing or revising Jinn! When I’m stuck, I go for walks to clear my head so that my imagination can wander and, hopefully, find a solution to my character or plot problem. Certain songs help me feel a character or the tone of the particular part of the book I’m working on.

So here’s my list of songs that have meaning in Becoming Jinn, arranged in chronological order to match the events in the story. (here’s a link to the list on Spotify: https://play.spotify.com/user/lorigoldsteinbooks/playlist/3LMVQLhNj1M0sf8lRDZQ3a)

1. I Dream of Jeannie – Okay, so I can’t have a playlist for a genie book that doesn’t include this theme song. While all the genie tropes in Jinn are turned on their head, this is still the song I think of when someone says “genie!”

2. Hello by Martin Solveig –The back and forth Azra has with learning to use her magic, which she could take or leave, is embodied by the attitude in this song, especially in its lyrics, for example: “I could stick around and get along with you; Hello; It doesn't really mean that I'm into you.”

3. Anna Sun by Walk the Moon – Azra’s struggles at the beginning of the novel and the defiance she exhibits are represented for me in the fast beat and lyrics of this one.

4. Ho Hey by The Lumineers – I love this song to death. For Jinn, it has a great meaning for Azra, staring with the lines of “I’ve been living a lonely life,” up through the pull Azra starts to feel between the people in her life. In particular, the lines, “So show me family . . . I don’t know where I belong,” and concluding with the realization that “I belong with you, you belong with me.” In fact, this makes it a song that from start to finish encapsulates Jinn.

5. Demons by Imagine Dragons – In the middle of the book, Azra is faced with the consequences of her actions, so this song and “the mess you’ve made” line fit perfectly.

6. Echo by Jason Walker – To be completely honest, this song played during a particularly emotional scene between Damon and Elena on my fav show, The Vampire Diaries. It’s haunting sadness is the perfect embodiment of a scene that comes late in the book during which Azra alienates those who mean the most to her and she feels utterly alone. 

7. Everything Has Changed by Taylor Swift – Yeah, well, things change from the start to finish of books, right? True for Azra as well!

8. Begin Again by Taylor Swift -- Okay, so I might have a TS obsession to match my TVD one. But the hope in this song—overcoming sadness and coming out the other side—is exactly the way I feel about how Becoming Jinn ends leading into the sequel.

 

My debut novel, the Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy Becoming Jinn, is a modern spin on the traditional tale of wish-granting genies. It will be released on April 21, 2015, by Feiwel and Friends, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s. The sequel will follow in Spring 2016. I am represented by Lucy Carson of The Friedrich Agency.

Too much of my day involves chatting books, obsessing over The Vampire Diaries, and perfecting the art of efficient writing through Twitter. Find me at @loriagoldstein and follow my blog at www.lorigoldsteinbooks.com or my Tumblr at http://lorigoldsteinbooks.tumblr.com. Like my author page on Facebook for fun book-related photos, tidbits, and happenings as well as news on Becoming Jinn.


And now for what I'm sure everyone is really excited for, the giveaways!

 

US Only and International | Must be 13 or older to enter

Details: 3 Prizes
Grand Prize: 1 winner will win a finished signed book, signed bookmarks, and an infinity necklace like the girls in Becoming Jinn (US Only)
First Prize: 2 winners will win a full Jinn swag pack of bookmarks, magnets, plastic bracelets, temporary tattoos and a genie charm (INT)
Second Prize: 2 winners will win bookmarks, magnets, and wristbands (INT)

Giveaway Starts: April 6th, 2015
Giveaway Ends: April 15th, 2015

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Follow the Becoming Jinn by Lori Goldstein Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.