Book Review & New Release: Dismantling Evan by Venessa Kimball

Blurb:
Life is unstable...
…What will be the trigger to dismantle it?
When high school senior Evangeline "Evan" Phillips moves half way across the country with her parents to a quaint town in Texas, it should be a chance to start over.
It should be.
Typical of Evan, she doesn’t share her parents’ optimism. Always the loner, she is prepared to hide behind work at the school newspaper until graduation. That is the seemingly bulletproof plan until she meets her new neighbors, Gavin and Brody Ferguson.
The more Evan gets to know her neighbors, their band of friends, and frenemies, the more unsettling her new high school and community gets in Braxton Springs, Texas.
As Evan unwittingly digs deeper into the lives of those around her, her own skeletons begin to surface leaving her vulnerable and scrambling to keep her own sanity and reputation. Will Evan be able to get control over her spiraling secrets while discovering friendship and love for the first time?
Or will the issues and pressures of life as a band of not-so-average teens in a very typical high school become too much, resulting in the tragic dismantlement of an entire community and Evan herself?
Dismantling Evan is a fresh and edgy work of literary fiction that snapshots how life as a teen in modern society can be unstable and the social issues and pressures revolving around them can tip the fleeting stability of society over the edge.

 

*** 4.5/5 Stars ***

Thanks to the author for letting me beta read! :)

I refuse to be the queen of spoilers, especially in such an explosive book with many trigger friendly, ouchie soft spots (mental illness, bullying, and many others). The author did a fabulous job of having any accurate, flawed, and moody main female character in Evangeline "Evan". Evan drove me a bit batty with her back and forth. But that's explained well by the author and she has her reasons. Brody, her love interest, is an interesting persona spotlighted in all the drama of this realistic book. Their romance is rocky, sweet, and oh so young. Brody's brother's struggles and Evan's with understanding themselves is very honest and a regular struggle we all face. The side stories intertwined with the main characters simply adds to the variety of touchy and real subjects experienced.

Life is not fair and those who are different are treated poorly sometimes. Sometimes services and resources folks need are not available. Being a licensed social worker, I know this personally and well. I hope this book will support those who need it and teach a message to those who might not understand until now.

A powerful and addicting read, I highly recommend it to young, adult, and any where in between. Reader should be aware of emotional triggers in this book and it is not for light reading. Life is not always how we perceive it, people make mistakes, and our actions have untold consequences.

Book/Author  Links:

Youtube channel with all videos/book trailers/ interviews

https://www.youtube.com/user/vkimball7

Pinterest (board for PtF, StR, AtV, TtL, and future projects…visual inspiration)

http://www.pinterest.com/venessakimball/

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/VenessaKimball

Facebook Fan Page :

https://www.facebook.com/VenessaKimballAuthor

Google + :

https://plus.google.com/u/0/+VenessaKimballAuthor/posts

website: VenessaKimball.net (videos, teasers, buy links for books, projects, events, signings,

book trailers, interviews, lots of stuff! )

blog: venessakimballink.blogspot.com (added page for events and signings! 2 set for 2015)

Spotify PtF series playlists by book as well as Dismantling Evan playlist:

https://play.spotify.com/user/1226147569

Having always been passionate about the written word, Venessa Kimball embarked on writing what would become her debut novel, Piercing the Fold: Book 1; a young adult/ adult crossover, paranormal, science fiction, dystopian series. July 2, 2012, Venessa Kimball independently published the first book in the Piercing the Fold series. Book 2, Surfacing the Rim, released March 14, 2013.

In August of 2013, Venessa joined the publishing house, Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly. The Piercing the Fold series has been re-published with CHBB beginning with Piercing the Fold: Book 1 on September 3, 2013. Surfacing the Rim: Book 2 re-published on September 24, 2013 and Ascending the Veil: Book 3 released November 2013. The fourth book in the series, Transcending the Legacy: Book 4 released May 13, 2014. Venessa’s latest project, YA/Teen Contemporary Fiction novel, Dismantling Evan, will release January 13, 2015.

As for the future, Venessa is already filling her Work-In-Progress folder. Two of her future projects are contemporary fiction and will reflect her diversity as a writer in other genres. When Venessa is not writing, she is keeping active with her husband and three children, chauffeuring said children to extracurricular activities, catching a movie with her hubby, and staying up way too late reading.

www.VenessaKimball.net

http://www.facebook.com/venessakimballauthor

http://www.twitter.com/venessakimball7

Smart URL’s for PtF series:

ONE-CLICK LINKS:

Piercing the Fold: Book 1 http://smarturl.it/kbrqd8

Surfacing the Rim: Book2 http://smarturl.it/mrqxg7

Ascending the Veil: Book3 http://smarturl.it/rcztvn

Transcending the Legacy: Book4: http://smarturl.it/px8l95

Indie Book Review & Author Interview: Wind Down by Mark Ewig

Free with Kindle Unlimited! :)

 

There are times in an avid reader's life where a good, somewhat out of the genre norm is a refreshing and much needed break. Mr. Ewig's indie release, which is a mystery/suspense with some heavy paranormal, was a nice break from the paranormal romance I've been inhaling lately. The book is a any easy read, breezing through the life and/or (not telling!!) death of Aaron.

We meet Aaron, his three roommates, their love interests, and Aaron's girlfriend, Jessica. As with life, it takes a devastating and unexpected turn when Aaron is stabbed one night by an unknown assailant. Onward from his healing and into his adult life, Aaron suddenly experiences paralyzing blackouts where he loses huge chunks of time. Aaron is suddenly confronted with solving who among his friends committed the ultimate back stabbing (pun intended!)

That's about all I can go into without giving away spoilers. This was a very enjoyable and distracting read. The book wasn't marred down in details and the paranormal side was weird and eyebrow raising (as it should be). The ending could be interpreted in many ways, but I appreciated the author zipping up the story instead of leaving it open ended.

 



 

Tell us a bit about yourself

My name is Mark Ewig. I am 32 years old and I reside in Mount Prospect, IL. I was born in Allentown, PA and grew up in Omaha, NE for awhile before relocating to Illinois. Married and currently raising two wonderful kids (3 years old and 9 months old). Corporate America has me busy in an accounting job during the day. My evenings are spent playing with the kiddos.

When did you begin writing?

I started writing back in elementary school. Not writing for assignments, but writing for fun. I wrote short stories at home and shared them with my family and friends. Most of my stories were about medieval adventures (knights, dragons, etc.) In my early days, my mom encouraged me to write her stories by offering five cents a word. It was a nice incentive, but at that age I never wrote anything over a page or two.

What's your favorite thing about writing?

I love the fact that you are sharing something personal with an audience. They get a window into your thoughts.

 

What is your writing style? Do you like to outline or just write as you go?

I find it best to draft up an outline and then write from there. Having an outline keeps me on track for getting to all the major points I want. After I have an outline, I simply write the story from beginning to end. Very seldom did I have to back track on Wind Down to change something up.

 

Do you have a favorite spot where you like to write?

Mainly on my laptop at home when I have quiet time to myself. Usually, this is only in short increments of an hour or less per day.

 

What's the hardest thing about writing for you?

Writing comes natural to me. For my first experience, I think the hardest thing for me was finding the time to do it. Between work and the family, it left me little time. However, when I did write, the words poured out. I did not find myself running into any word blocks. The second hardest thing would be the proofreading. After finishing the book, I re-read it several times to find any errors. It is very hard to find your own errors. Thankfully, my wife read through it a couple times too. She is a teacher, so she found a lot more than me!

 

What inspires you to write?

The creative nature of expressing your ideas inspires me to write. It is very exciting to think that someone will be reading your words and hopefully enjoy them. I also like the fact that this is a major accomplishment for me. I can share this book with my family and they can pass it down from generations to come.

 

How many books have you written and which is your favorite?

Wind Down is my first book. So, like parents tell their first born child before another sibling comes along, it is my favorite!

 

What are some of your favorite books?

I am big into post apocalyptic book such as World War Z and The Walking Dead.

 

What authors do you like to read?

Stephen King & Dean Kontz are my two favs. I like the eerie stuff.

 

What inspired you to write Wind Down?

Before I started writing the book, the premise came to me in a dream. Periodically, I have had dreams where I woke up thinking this would make an awesome plot for a book or a movie. So, I grabbed a notebook and sketched an outline. The notebook sat in a drawer for awhile, until I had another dream with a great plot. This motivated me to sit down and write the Wind Down story. I hope to do the same for some of my other ideas.

 

If you could choose a dream cast for Wind Down, who would you pick?

Oooh, this is a hard one. Here are my initial thoughts:

Bradley Cooper to play Aaron (the main character)

Brit Marling to play Jessica (Aaron’s wife)

Josh Duhamel to play Jason (roommate, suspected murderer)

Wil Wheaton to play Ryan (roommate, suspected murderer)

Kit Harington to play Drew (roommate, suspected murderer)

This or that.

Sweet or Salty? Sweet, although I could do both together. Salty chocolate pretzels are delicious.

Naughty or nice? Nice. When give a path between good or evil, I will always stay on the good side.

Cats or dogs? Dogs, man’s best friend!

Vanilla or chocolate? Chocolate. Mmmmm!

Mark Ewig (1982) was born in Allentown, PA. He graduated from Illinois State University with a degree in Accounting. Wind Down is his first book for the masses. His favorite genres are paranormal & horror.