segunda-feira, 8 de abril de 2013

Blog Tour: Inceptio by Alison Morton [Review + Giveaway]



Today is a very special day. For the first time, I'm hosting a tour stop for Inceptio Blog Tour. 
Hope you all enjoy it!

Title: Inceptio
Author: Alison Morton
Published: Silverwood Books (2013)


Description:
New York, present day. Karen Brown, angry and frightened after surviving a kidnap attempt, has a harsh choice - being eliminated by government enforcer Jeffery Renschman or fleeing to the mysterious Roma Nova, her dead mother's homeland in Europe.
Founded sixteen centuries ago by Roman exiles and ruled by women, Roma Nova gives Karen safety and a ready-made family. But a shocking discovery about her new lover, the fascinating but arrogant special forces officer Conrad Tellus, who rescued her in America, isolates her.
Renschman reaches into her new home and nearly kills her. Recovering, she is desperate to find out why he is hunting her so viciously. Unable to rely on anybody else, she undergoes intensive training, develops fighting skills and becomes an undercover cop. But crazy with bitterness at his past failures, Renschman sets a trap for her, knowing she has no choice but to spring it...


Review:
Wow, what a story!
I don’t think I have enough good words to fully express how special this book is—at least, not yet. It’s not only spectacular—for me—because it’s part of my first ever Blog Tour, but it is so mainly due to how different and fresh and original it truly is when compared to most of the books I’ve been reading lately. I have never read anything like Inceptio before. The way Morton developed the story with something new and thrilling always happening, the characters that ultimately are so believable, and the creation of Roma Nova by itself, all these things together are somewhat pretty amazing.

I really liked Morton’s writing. It is not only quite different from what I’ve come across so far, as it also shows that everything she puts on paper turns out to be important somehow. I also very much enjoyed the true balance between dialogue and narrative, especially because, as a reader, I felt all the good, the bad and the utterly scary thins going on on Karen’s life and, to me, that’s one of the most imperative components in a book. Plus, every single character I found it to be extremely well built and solid. It never mattered how significant their part was in the story, it never mattered how big or small their “physical” presence throughout the book was, all the background, all the crucial information about what motivated them, what made them want to act, want to love, want to protect, is there. This allows the reader to somehow connect with the central people in the story, and to allow himself a chance at being part of the adventure instead of only watching, reading about it.
I particularly liked Karen. She’s an enormously curious and active figure, with a strong personality and a huge amount of bad luck, especially in the first half of the book. Since everything happens to her all the time, the way she responds to problems and to all the new stuff occurring in her life ends up being one of the most interesting aspects of this book. She’s that edgy, exceptional kind of character that in a crazy way captivates the readers attention and even when the book is over, when there’s no more pages left, she’s still pretty much in readers’ thoughts. Renschman was a huge contributor to that unique alliance between reader and heroine. He’s such a damaged man, who helplessly watches everything getting out of his control, that becoming the “evil” character, the villain, was precisely what we could do best. And what a scary guy he turned out to be! It gave me the creeps more than once.

Another element that completely caught me by surprise was the alternate reality—I was aware of this when I first started the book but I could have never imagined how plausible and appealing Roma Nova would turn out to be in the end. I’m a woman so… this would definitely be the most amazing and exciting place for me to live in; but that aside, this is a country that speaks for itself and that’s unbelievably beautiful for the way it keeps its inheritance alive. I couldn’t help myself to fall deeply in love with it—and not because Nonna and Conrad are locals!
Intriguing, imaginative and with a sturdy political side to it—that completely fascinated me—this is the perfect book to anyone who is looking for something different and unusual. I can’t wait for the sequel!


About the author:
A 'Roman nut' since age 11, the mosaics in Ampurias (Spain) triggered her wondering what a Roman society would be like if run by women. That idea bubbled away in her head for years.
Playing around with words much of her life - playwright (aged 7), article writer, local magazine editor and professional translator - she came to novel writing in reaction to a particularly dire film:
'I could do better that that,' she whispered in the darkened cinema.
'So why don't you?' replied her other half.
Three months later, she had completed the first draft of INCEPTIO.
After a West Kent childhood and uni in Leeds, Alison worked as a civil servant in the City of London, dealt in coins and antique jewellery, head-hunted chief executives, served as a Territorial Army officer and owned a translation company. With a BA in French, German and Economics, she went back thirty years and bagged an MA in History. She now lives in France with her husband.
Pursuing her interest in women's history and a nod to her own military service, Alison published a history eBook Military or Civilians? The curious anomaly of the German Women's Auxiliary Services during the Second World War in March 2012.

Find Alison on: Website | Facebook | TwitterGoodreads 

*Giveaway*
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Want to check the rest of the Tour? Then here are the previous and next tour stops!

April 2 Guest Post Of History and Kings 
April 3 Guest Post/ Sneak Peek on Alive on the Shelves
April 4 Interview by Because this Girl Loves Books
April 5 Author Spotlight by Brook Cottage Books
April 6 Interview by Layered Pages
April 7 Guest Post on Layered Pages
April 9 Interview/ Review by Crime Thriller Girl
April 10 Review by Jaffa Reads Too


7 comentários:

Alison Morton disse...

What a lovely review! Thank you so much.

I think you have caught the essentials of the book - themes, characters and plot - extremely well.

Ana Neves disse...

quero *.*

Leitura Não Ocupa Espaço disse...

I'd love to win Inceptio because the synopsis is just awesome!
And Pedacinho's review just made me hungry for it!!
I can totally see how much I'll love to read it!

jen7waters disse...

Blog tour! \o/

Well, of course I'm interest in reading this book, you're saying it's good. :p
But really, I like what you said about the heroine, that she's curious, active, and has a strong personality---that's my kind of heroine.

Ivonne Zuzarte disse...

Fiquei intrigada pela opinião :)

Adeselna Davies disse...

Bem eu sou uma fã de alternative story, por isso Inceptio parece-me uma boa escolha! Also está bastante bem cotado no GR, parece ser uma boa aposta!

Alison Morton disse...

Congratulations to Cristina O. on winning INCEPTIO!

I hope you enjoy reading it, Cristina, as much as I loved writing it.

Happy reading!

2009 Pedacinho Literário. All Rights Reserved.