I'd been leaning on the counter, daydreaming about a world in which I wasn't wearing a hot pink apron and visor emblazoned with the words "Smoothie Station" in yellow piping. I wouldn't call myself a fashion goddess, but hot pink and yellow? There's just no way to save that. But I could have been wearing a potato sack for all it mattered. My cheeks thoroughly matched the apron when the girl shoved the cup at my face and shook it like an angry maraca.
“...I just leaned my chin on his shoulder and looked down at the dark landscape. From here, the city lights and cars were a sea of twinkles and shooting stars against a black satin nothingness. We flew farther, over the ocean, endless dark with only a faint dusting of moonlight to remind me that we were still on Earth. Through our drenched clothes, I could almost feel Tyler's skin burning against mine, still not close enough no matter how tightly I clasped him...”
~REBELLION
How much are you missing the YA Paranormal Golden Age (Or should we say Black Book Cover Age? ^.~) when you walked into the YA Section of a bookstore and came face to face with a wall of Paranormal Romance? Vampires, angels, witches, demons, werewolves....you name it, they had it. There have been rumblings for a while ago that readers miss the genre and wish it would return, and in the last year or two, we've started to see some new books in the genre. With the release of REBELLION by C.J. Listro, we have another strong contender featuring our heroine and the bad-boy-with-a-golden-heart demon she falls in love with!
Our main character, Chloe, is 18 and in her first year of college, so it lies in that space between YA and NA but very much has that old-school YA feel everyone has been missing and craving. (Although...college never actually plays a role in the book because Chloe is alway at the mall working or out with Tyler, so at least with Book One, it is less NA leaning. But there is also some great nuance around the fact that Chloe lives at home, not in a dorm, and still experiences curfew and getting grounded, etc., despite being eighteen now, which we don't see much in YA despite it being true for so many college freshmen!)
The novel starts off with our girl Chloe at her new job making smoothies at the mall's Smoothie Station. She forgets to put on the blender's lid and winds up wearing a drink, becoming the laughing stock of the entire food court -- and even more embarrassing is the fact that the hottest guy she's ever seen witnessed her slip-up and broke down laughing, too. She could just die, even though she'll never see him again. Turns out, however, she's dead wrong. His name is Tyler and he works at Hot Topic, so she sees him quite frequently. They go to the Boardwalk on a date that ends on a bad note, and Chloe has her friend and co-worker Alicia pick her up. The next day, she finds out that a girl who looks a lot like her was murdered at the Boardwalk. Could it be a coincidence? Tyler knew something was wrong. Could he be the killer? She confronts him, thinking he must be a vampire like in her fantasy novels (You can see an excerpt of the beginning of the scene below. It's the author's favorite and the catalyst for the novel!) and finds out he's a demon -- but he swears his days of killing and mayhem are behind him. More girls begin dying near Chloe, girls that look like her. A serial killer is on the loose, and Chloe doesn't know whether to believe Tyler, whom she keeps meeting up with against her better judgement, or trust her gut that he just may be the serial killer...and she just might be his next victim......
REBELLION is part paranormal romance, part supernatural thriller, and part murder mystery, so it will hit the spot for many types of readers. It has the feel of the most popular paranormal novels from the YA Golden Age that came out in droves after the success of Twilight, so will be instantly beloved by anyone missing such titles, complete with best friends who know more than they say, new friends who are a great support system, and a heroine who can kick ass Buffy style. It also has a bit of a darker vibe as it brings in the twisted tale of a serial killer, which suits the thriller vibes of today's YA market where darlings such as Karen McManus, Natasha Preston, and Holly Jackson currently reign supreme.
If you've been looking for something new that's both fun and dark, while giving you all the throwback paranormal feels, you have to add REBELLION to your TBR. I'll even help you get started -- enter to win a copy below! ^_^
~*~
Check out the Playlist for REBELLION
by scanning the QR code!!!
Check out C.J. Listro's favorite scene!
She says,
“This excerpt is my absolute favorite scene from the book, and the one that started it all!”
We didn’t really talk as we walked across the grass away from the tennis courts, toward the wide expanse of open field between the sports complex and the walking paths around the lake. The lake was huge, and it was a cloudy, cool day for summer, so there weren’t many people here. It was easy to find a path with no one nearby. I wanted to find someplace to sit, but as we crossed onto a footbridge and Tyler leaned over the rail, excitedly pointing out the gross giant goldfish, I lost it.
“Enough with the mind games, Tyler. I know what you are.”
He had his back to me. Turning around slowly, one eyebrow quirked, he said, “What are you talking about, Chloe?” He laughed. “I mean, we’ve kind of already covered that I’m a musical genius if that’s what you mean.”
Now that he was facing me, I could feel myself getting nauseous, but I’d practiced this. I could do it. Clenching my hands tightly, I shook my head. “No. That’s the thing. You’re too perfect. You know things you couldn’t know. You can see bad things before they happen. You’re completely gorgeous.”
“There’s nothing weird about being hot.” Maybe I was paranoid now, but still, I thought he looked tenser than usual. He was gripping the handrail of the bridge so tightly that his knuckles were white, and he looked like he had stopped breathing.
“That’s not it.” I took a deep breath, but I was still shaking. “I mean, no one knows anything about you. You never talk about your past or your family. You never even talked to anyone before me, and even when you’re with me, you never say anything about yourself. You have visions...your eyes are glowing red, and you have visions of the future, for crying out loud. I mean, did you think I’d never figure it out?”
“Figure what out?” He wasn’t smirking anymore.
“You’re a vampire.”
His eyes opened wide...and then he burst out laughing.
Violence: PG13+ ( Characters are kidnapped and threatened, and the gore is a little more visual here. There are also scenes of slaying demons. Some description revolving around the victims of the serial killer. )
O F F I C I A L I N F O:
Perfect for fans of TWILIGHT, SUPERNATURAL, RIVERDALE, and Cassandra Clare.
Chloe is well aware that she’s ordinary. So, when bad-boy Tyler starts talking to her, she’s convinced he must have an ulterior motive. What she doesn’t suspect is that he’s actually a demon escaped from Hell to live out his college-age dreams of going to concerts and playing in a punk metal band. And that he actually likes her. Soon, swoons and romantic dates replace Chloe’s trepidation.
But as Chloe and her new friend Alicia are dragged deeper in Tyler’s world, they realize that many less-friendly demons roam the Earth too. And one of them is murdering girls—girls who look a lot like Chloe.
With the help of Tyler and a contingent of angels, Chloe and Alicia take the paranormal investigation into their own hands. Because if they don’t find out which demon is murdering girls soon, Chloe will be next.
Enter now!
TOUR SCHEDULE
Tour Schedule:
Week One:
3/14/2022 | Guest Post | |
3/14/2022 | Guest Post | |
3/15/2022 | Review/IG Post | |
3/15/2022 | Excerpt/IG Post | |
3/16/2022 | Excerpt/IG Post | |
3/16/2022 | Excerpt/IG Post | |
3/17/2022 | Review | |
3/17/2022 | Excerpt/IG Post | |
3/18/2022 | Excerpt | |
3/18/2022 | Review |
Week Two:
3/21/2022 | Review/IG Post | |
3/21/2022 | Review | |
3/22/2022 | Review/IG Post | |
3/22/2022 | Review | |
3/23/2022 | Review/IG Post | |
3/23/2022 | Review/IG Post | |
3/24/2022 | Review/IG Post | |
3/24/2022 | Review/IG Post | |
3/25/2022 | Review | |
3/25/2022 | Review |
Comments
Post a Comment
Thanks for taking the time to stop and comment! I appreciate it more than I can say. I try to respond to each one!