Blog Tour: Owlet by Emma Michaels- Read along Excerpt, review, and giveaway

Tour hosted by Tribute Books

Owlet Twitter hashtag: #Owlet

Title:  Owlet

Author: Emma Michaels
Publishing Date: October 13th 2012

Pages:  138
Genre:  YA Romance/Fantasy

Series: Society of Feathers #1
Source: Kindle edition provided by Tribute Books

  

Ibooks/Barnes and Noble/Smashwords

Somewhere between falling and flying… there is a girl.

Iris has a secret. She lost her memory eight years ago and never told a living soul. After an asthma attack one night she finds out that her dreams of a strange house on a snowy island may be a memory resurfacing but the more she learns about the past the more she realizes the life she has been living is a lie. As the façade her father has built starts to crumble around her she will have to decide which means more to her; the truth or her life.

I picked this book up for the tour before really knowing much about it. It sounded intriguing and I fell in love with the cover right away. So I grabbed it and read it. 

The story is about a teenage girl, Iris, who has basically been kept separate from the world for her entire life. She lives with her father and a friend of the family, Diana. Her mother died, she doesn't remember her, she doesn't know when or how she died, just that she did. She starts to dream of an island she calls her Never-Never. After telling her dad of the dream and the white feathers in her dream, he sends Diana and Iris to an island that Iris soon believes to be her Never-Never. Iris meets a mysterious boy that she feels connected too and feels she can trust him. The boy, Falcon, tells her he knows her, she should remember him. This is when the story unravels and secrets of the past come out. 

It was a good book, I enjoyed reading it and I loved the plot and storyline. The book was a very fast read, almost too fast, and very easy to get through. The entire story kept me interested allowing me only snippits of what was happening here and there. I felt a little confused at times but only because I felt the author wanted me to. 

The writing style was good and easy. I do feel the book read as more of a younger YA novella than a YA novel, but I was fine with that. It was a nice change of pace to some super long books I have been trying to get through. The story had a real fairytale feel for me, more than a fantasy feel. Which I love fairytales, so this worked for well for me. 

The plot was very intriguing, the world, the family line, it was all very refreshing from what my normal fantasy reads have been lately. I enjoyed being a part of Iris' world very much. 

The characters were sweet. I did like Iris, she was clueless and at times felt very naive but she was secluded her entire life, so it was a bit expected. She flew off the handle a couple times about being kept in the dark, so her immaturity showed at times but all in all I felt she was in true character form for the part she played in this story.  She wasn't just naive and immature, she was a very loyal, sweet, caring, genuine girl who I couldn't help but fall in love with. She felt like one of those friends I always felt was too good to be true but they never gave me reason to believe it. Her character never falters from who she really is and I enjoyed that. The other characters were all wonderful too, but Iris is the only one I really felt connected too. I

If I had to ask for anything more from this story it would be a bit more character building and a little more length. I think the two really go hand in hand though. If the story would have been a tad longer, more time could have been spent on the characters. I find most shorter books, I have the character connection issue. Don't let this stop you from reading the book though, it was a very good book. 




I enjoyed my read of Owlet and I will continue the series to see what happens. I am curious and I really did like Iris' world. 

Iris closed her eyes. She was slowly starting to feel pulled away from the room so she got up and opened the door to leave. As she stepped through the doorway she saw her parents. It was her first time seeing them both together. They were speaking in hushed tones, but when Iris backed away she realized that her younger self had been peeking through a crack in the door.

“You were right to take him in. I am sorry I doubted you. He was never even taught concepts like love or true emotion, never allowed to read anything that wasn’t approved. How could Caleb do this to a boy? He can’t even remember his parents.” She heard the passion in her mother’s tone, the way she cared so much that she could hardly control her voice and keep it at a whisper.

“I know. That is why I asked. I can remember watching Jarem and what had happened to him, the way that Ramero had saved him by teaching him both sides of the truth and letting him decide. Falcon deserves the same chance. I am so happy that you agree with me,” her father whispered. Smiling, he pulled her mother into an embrace making Iris suddenly want to cry. Her father looked so happy and free, his eyes were alight and his forehead was completely free of the familiar lines of tension that Iris grew up seeing each and every day, even though they were talking about something that Iris knew was worrying him.

“What will we do if they find us? We can’t leave him here. I won’t. Iris and I have come to love him too much to let them have him back.” Her mother’s voice sounded so frightened and worried. Iris’ stomach flipped but she wasn’t sure why. She realized this was years after what she had seen play out in the upstairs bedroom only moments before. “He found us by tracking me after my visit with my father but they still don’t know about this island. I will have to be more careful this time.”

“We will take him with us. We can’t separate them now. I have never seen anything like it but...I couldn’t do that to either of them. They are inseparable. Honestly. They tried to raise someone to kill her, but instead I think they gave her the strongest guardian she could ever possibly have. There is just something about them. I think he would die for her. I think they might even be mates.”

Name: Diana - Hair:  Black - Eyes:  Deep brown (nearly black) 

Blood Type:  O - Aves:  Red-tailed Hawk  -  Favorite food: Chocolate

History:

Diana was adopted but did not want to meet or find her parents. She was left for dead and a woman who ran an orphanage for Stryx found her and told Nathaniel that she would need protection and a friend. Many years later she found out about Iris and decided to stay by her side for reasons that will be revealed. Since then she has been Iris’ caretaker to help her father and make sure her health is properly taken care of.

Inspiration:

Growing up I had a lot of identity issues even though I was not adopted. My best friend’s mother from preschool to 5^th grade was a woman who truly changed my life. It wasn’t until during the process of writing Owlet she died and I realized who the character had been. It had been how I imagine she would have been as a child. Someone kind, caring and understanding but still full of odd flaws and odd thoughts but whose heart was always concentrated on those she loved and not herself. The Diana who included me as a part of her family changed my life and as a result, Diana in Owlet is my way of remembering her and keeping that memory and what she taught me alive.

Worst quality:

She can be a little too focused on external appearances and can have a hard time opening up to those she loves most because she fears being judged.

Best quality:

She is extremely loyal and protective. It takes her a while to love someone but once she does, it is for life. She has a great deal of faith and is always led by her heart and aforementioned loyalty. She is never a fair-weather friend and sticks by those she loved through thick and thin, no matter what the consequences.

Unique fact:

Diana was given many pet birds by Nathaniel over the years, but she didn’t believe in keeping them caged so would let them be free in her room and leave as they pleased. Many of them left and never returned, but one day, a hawk flew through her window and from that point on would visit her every few months. The hawk’s offspring came and did the same, and ever since she has seen any hawk flying close to her as a sign of something that will be extremely emotional, either because it will be dangerous or because it is a good omen.

 

Emma Michaels is the author of the ‘A Sense of Truth’ and ‘Society of Feathers’ series. Her goal with her latest YA novel 'Owlet' is to give others what she did not have growing up; a strong female protagonist with asthma. While her previous aspiration was to be a lady knight she realized that not being able to run more than a few feet might become a hindrance so turned to writing instead. Her day jobs include being a cover artist, marketing consultant and silk screen designer.

As the founder of The Writers Voice blog (http://OurBooksOurVoice.Blogspot.com) she loves to connect authors and readers. As a book blogger turned author, she was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, until she moved at eighteen to Washington State. Suddenly, the world was a new place filled with tall green trees that reached further for the sky with every moment, making her want to do the same. Ever since, she has tried to make her life something new and different from what it was before, pursuing her future career, setting high goals and reaching for them. With the support of her fiancé, Chihuahua, and her amazing blog followers and fellow bloggers, she wants to prove to the world that anything is possible and help inspire fellow literary lovers to reach for their dreams.

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