Cortney Pearson

How far will one girl go to save the ones she loves?

Soldiers are raiding the towns and villages all across the land, stealing magic from people and using it against them. Ambry’s brother is stolen in one of these raids, and she should feel hurt and pain at this horrific event, but she doesn’t. But Ambry isn’t the only one. The soldiers have cast a spell that switches off the emotions of everyone they encounter. While they do not feel any pain, they also feel no joy, no happiness and no anger at what is happening to them. All Ambry wants to do is get her brother back safely, but when her tears have been stolen from her, she must work to get her emotions back, as well as the emotions of everyone around her.

Welcome to the blog tour for Such a Secret Place – run by the lovely Itching For Books! This book absolutely fascinated me! The world is such an interesting one to dip into. It took me a few chapters to get to grips with the setting, but afterwards it was such an interesting book to immerse myself in. I loved the premise, the idea that a spell could turn everyone’s emotions off is something I've never encountered before, and I really enjoyed the book and look forward to seeing how the rest of the story plays out.

The book has a little bit of everything, magic, adventure, mystery and a touch of romance. One thing I appreciated about the book was that the romance was slow to come together, it wasn't an overnight Disney kind of romance. The book is very well paced and there’s plenty of exciting goings on.

I liked Ambry, though I will admit she got on my nerves at several points during the novel. She’s an interesting protagonist, and I was definitely rooting for her to succeed. The book keeps you guessing, and while the world building is very intricate, I personally think that makes for a more satisfying and believable experience.

Overall the book is very entertaining, keeps you engaged and can be hard to put down. With book two – Such a Daring Endeavour in the works now, you hopefully won’t have long to find out what happens next to Ambry and Talon!… (más)

Phobic by Courtney Pearson is the first book in The Forbidden Doors series. It is a young adult paranormal horror story. Piper Crenshaw is fifteen years old, has terrible acne, father died ten months ago, and her mother is in prison for murder! Just your typical teenager—wrong! Her older brother, Joel is her guardian and Todd Dawes, who lives next door, is her best friend. They live in a beautiful old Victorian home that has been in their family for a couple of generations. When they changed towns to get away from publicity regarding the murder, their father moved the house. In all the time they have owned the house they have never needed to do repairs or replace anything in the home. Everything in the house still looks brand new. They do not have to do yard work. Their home is alive.

Piper is starting to have visions while in the house. She can see scenes from the people who lived in the house when it was first built. Augustus Garrett, his maid, Ada, and driver, Thomas are in the scenes. Garrett was a nasty man who was cruel. He killed people in the basement for parts. Pipe does not know what is going on? There were certain rules her father had in place. Do not go into the basement and do not open the door behind his desk in the library. Unfortunately, Piper violates both rules. Then ten horrible teens from school come to the house one night. They want to know what is behind the door to nowhere (a door on the outside of the house above the library). When one of the teens takes an axe to the door, Pipe starts bleeding from her stomach! What is going on? Why when something happens to the house it happens to Piper? Then her brother goes missing. What is going on with the house, Piper, and where is Joel? What was Augustus Garrett doing with the body parts? Piper along with Todd set out to find answers to their questions.

I give Phobic 3.5 out of 4 stars. The book is okay, but it did not flow smoothly. It was very stilted (that is the only word that comes to mind). There is graphic violence and gore in the book.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.… (más)