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Friday, June 27, 2014

Keeper Ingrid Seymour **Omnibus Review**

Isn't this a great cover? :3
My last review for the month...! *cries*

Ok, just had to get that out there because June is almost over...and my personal deadline to finish Whispers and Murmurs is officially looming over my head like an angry storm cloud. ("Finish me...or else!" It growls :/)

Getting back to the point, KEEPER is a fantastic urban fantasy that I wholeheartedly recommend. Keeper was released in volumes before the Omnibus arrived, so if you don't want to commit to reading the whole novel, you can preview a slice by grabbing Volume 1 and go from there. The Omnibus edition (volumes 1-4) will be available on Amazon 7/2/14. I'll be putting that link up when the time arrives. Til then, here are links for Volumes 1, 2, 3, and 4 on Amazon.

If you go on Seymour's website (links at the bottom), you can check out things like: a sneak preview, the trailer, and a playlist, to name a few.

Here's the synopsis:

For them, free will is a luxury . . .

Greg Papilio both wants and dreads his impending metamorphosis. He’s tired of being a runt—always picked last on the basketball court—and tired of being ugly, when he could be what girls call “drop dead gorgeous.” But as much as he looks forward to the transformation, he also fears the caste it will inevitably assign to him. He doesn’t want a common caste. He wants a powerful one, a cool one.

Samantha Gibson is average. She’s short and a little full around the hips—a terribly cute look for a future chef. She’s two years away from culinary school, from her uncaring parents, and from carving a perfectly Human future. She wants independence, a career and a quiet life of her own.

Except fate couldn’t care less about what Greg and Samantha want and gives them exactly the opposite. Greg’s metamorphosis assigns him a caste that enslaves him to Samantha, while her chance to attend Le Cordon Bleu is taken away. But things are never as interesting as when Ashby—an intriguing blonde with a hidden identity—enters her life with a splash.

Greg’s fate is to protect Samantha at a time when someone wants her dead. He's her Keeper and will stop at nothing to ensure her safety, even if her secret past proves deadly, even if he's keeping her safe for someone else.

And here's my review:

When I signed up for the chance to read Keeper, I was excited (of course)--but I was also nervous. Maybe this was going to be yet another novel that sounded stellar...but wasn't. So I approached Keeper with a healthy dose of skepticism and prepared for 'the worst'. 

Thankfully, Keeper turned out to be a fantastic read, and I highly recommend it! 

**I received an e-arc in exchange for an honest and fair review**

First impressions: 
I was hooked by first page, and started laughing immediately. Despite being slightly burnt out with the whole pov-that-switches-every-chapter-between-various-characters thing, I really enjoyed Keeper and found myself thoroughly invested before I even realized it. When I can talk to a book (or its characters) in both rant and rave fashion, I know it's got me...and Keeper definitely got me.
The language factor pops up a couple of times in the beginning, but this 'behavior' is very short-lived. Sure, Greg lets a word loose every now and then in the later chapters. But if that's something you're concerned about, don't be, because it tapers off quickly and hardly ever comes back.

My thoughts while reading: I really like this book. Wow, cool. This is great. I really like this book. LOL

Characters: 

It's been a while since I've read a novel in which I can relate to several characters. Could I relate to everyone? Well, no. But I could relate to the main characters—Greg, Sam, Ashby...the really important ones--so it's fine. 

I wasn't too sure about Greg when I first met him because I had a difficult time understanding him. But as time progressed, he grew on me. The concept of morphing—and his being a Morphid in general—helped this growth along because let's face it: Morphing is utterly fascinating! But back to Greg. Greg is the cute kind of awkward; he struggles to fit in and doesn't. I could relate to that. I could also relate to his struggles with his Morphid side vs his 'human' desires.



Ashby was, hands down, my absolute favorite character. Oh how I love Ashby...! Ahem. He's just so stinking adorable with his mannerisms, thoughts, and purity of heart. His naivete gets him into trouble with pretty much everyone...and it only serves to make him more sympathetic because you're standing on the sidelines rooting for him because you know he has good intentions and he's really trying.

Sam was a character I immediately bonded with—not simply because of her family situation(s), but because of her attitude. Sometimes her emotions are a little crazy, but overall I sympathized with her.

The minor characters seemed a bit...bland. While their role in the story was necessary, it also felt lacking.

Romance:

Meh. Meeeehhh. The development of romance throughout was believable, but it was also frustrating at times because every so often it would come across as a bit strained/forced. And the kissing. SMF. I just don't like extended kissing scenes because, well, to be ridiculously blunt, they're pointless. In my mind, they add nothing to the relationship. Ok, so you kissed—or more. Commitment level: 0? There's got to be a better way to demonstrate intimacy between two teens than this. I WILL write a novel in which the physical is not the end-all for intimacy (mind you, that probably wasn't the author's intention, it's just my personal beef). 

Creativity:
Keeper gets an A+ for creativity. Her urban setting coupled with fantasy is not only intriguing, but believable, and the marks Morphids bear (with all the meanings and legends) is genius. Love it! Granted, the origin of Morphids in general is a bit cloudy; they're from this planet...and that's about all we know. That's believable, too...but it makes me want to know much, much more. Expansion pending?? :D

And those similes. So. Funny. We're talking HP-level hilarity here. Seymour's use of imagery is quirky—in a good way—and makes the novel ten times funnier/better than it would've been without them. There are maybe 4 cliches throughout the entire book. The rest is filled with Seymour's special brand of stellar. 

One thing that I particularly enjoyed about Keeper was its philosophical bent as the characters questioned the meaning of free will vs fate. The characters have their own opinions about it, and free will puts up an incredible fight...but in the end, it's for the audience to decide.

Final Verdict: 


If you enjoy urban fantasy, you should check Keeper out!!

| Amazon | Goodreads

About the Author:

Ingrid Seymour is the author of IGNITE THE SHADOWS (Harper Voyager, February 2015). When she’s not writing books, she spends her time working as a software engineer, cooking exotic recipes, hanging out with her family and working out. She writes young adult and new adult fiction in a variety of genres, including Sci-Fi, urban fantasy, romance, paranormal and horror.

Her favorite outings involve a trip to the library or bookstore where she immediately gravitates toward the YA section. She’s an avid reader and fangirl of many amazing books. She is a dreamer and a fighter who believes perseverance and hard work can make dreams come true.

She lives in Birmingham, AL with her husband, two kids and a cat named Mimi.

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