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Thursday, October 1, 2015

Chatoyant by Sarah Elle Emm : A Review




BOOK TITLE: Chatoyant
ISBN: 978-1941058183
AUTHOR: Sarah Elle Emm
GENRE: Fiction / YA / Dystopian
NUMBER OF PAGES: 423
FORMAT: Digital
SERIES / STANDALONE: Harmony Run #3
REVIEW BY: Dhivya Balaji
HOW I GOT THIS BOOK: I thank Debdatta Sahay for this review copy.
SUMMARY:
          In the wake of an interrogation led by the UZTA's dictator, President Nicks, Rain Hawkins and her friends must deal with the consequences of their defiance as the countdown continues towards the execution of the mixed-zone citizens across the United Zones of The Authority. The Freedom Front faces new challenges as Rain's cousin, Calista, prepares for her impending relocation to the pure zone, and Rain sets out to solve the mystery surrounding her mother's torment while being followed by an officer of the Elizabeth Guard. As she uses her abilities to dodge The Authority and follows the strange clues from her dreams, Rain is determined to persevere, to secure the future she and Jabari have been fighting for, and to earn The Freedom Front's ultimate goal of liberation.
REVIEW:
          The story starts where from where the previous one ended – a good cliff hanger. Rain, in order to save another innocent old lady, dares to defy the furious, cold and calculating Nata. The tyrant tries to make her comply with her mind controlling powers. Rain is advised by her friends to fight it, and she tries…
          With such a promising start, Chatoyant (Having a changeable lustre, twinkling) continues to follow the journey of Rain and the freedom front. Rain has more and more dreams about Nata and her disturbed childhood that maybe explains why the frightened little child became the frightening Elizabeth Nicks. She struggles through the fight for freedom, feeling sure that she was going to become a traitor and be the downfall of all her friends and family. And there are the adolescent pangs.
          As the lead character, Rain, to her credit, is flawed, panged with self doubts and of course has all the confusion and moral dilemma any hero in her situation would feel. Her team has new additions, and suddenly, no one is safe anymore. Elizabeth, as the antagonist, has the exact expected character traits. In hating half breeds, she is the Umbridge and in terrorising the people under her authority, a President Snow.
          The writing style is racy and it keeps the pace of the book steady, despite an information overload. The characters are complex and the author tries hard to maintain the suspense. For a story that is mostly narrated in first person point of view, Chatoyant is surprisingly deep in describing characters who are not under the spotlight. The last two chapters are the Zenith and Nadir of Rain’s journey and this story ends with a suspense element, though not exactly a cliff hanger.
VERDICT: Gives good continuity for the series and tries to set up a good pitch for book 4 of the series.
RATING: 3.6/5
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
          Sarah Elle Emm is the author of the HARMONY RUN SERIES, a young-adult fantasy and dystopian series, released in May 2012 by Winter Goose Publishing. (PRISMATIC, May 2012, OPALESCENT, February 2013, CHATOYANT, September 2014, NACREOUS, August 2015) Her debut fiction novel, MARRYING MISSY, was published by Bird Brain Publishing in October 2011. Sarah is a graduate of The University of Evansville, she has lived and worked in Mexico, Germany, England, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and has traveled extensively beyond. Sarah lives in Naples, Florida with her family. When she’s not walking the plank of her daughters’ imaginary pirate ship or snapping photos of Southwest Florida scenery, she is writing.
EDITIONS AVAILABLE: Digital, Paperback
PRICE: $ 1.99 for Kindle, $14.95 for Paperback


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