Owlet by Emma Michaels - Excerpt, Review, and Giveaway

Title: Owlet
Author: Emma Michaels
Series: Society of Feathers Book 1
Publisher: Tribute Books
Publication Date: October 13, 2012

Synopsis: 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.

My Thoughts: Owlet took me a little by surprise. I think I have read a few too many paranormal books lately because I was expecting people to just start bursting into flight as birds. Instead I got to read a book about a girl whose soul is half bird, that cannot remember her past, and who possesses something great and dangerous inside herself.

Iris is a great leading character. I love reading her dreams and watching them become her reality. She reacts so typical, it makes her seem more real. She gets upset about not remembering and being lied to. I like that a lot. She didn't just accept everything and be done. She questioned and thought about everything. She may have had feelings for Falcon but she didn't just fall all over him without questioning those feelings. To me, that made her character so much more believable.

I love the dream scenes. The first ones of Iris' Never-Never are so vivid. Then as the book goes on and the dreams become a way for Iris to glimpse her past. I love that I as the reader got all those little glimpses at the same time as Iris. I got to build up to moments with her in the book.

There was one specific scene that at first seemed incredibly chaotic to me as I read it. I wasn't sure to begin with if it was an error or something. But then I realized that it actually added so much to my reading. Chaos was happening in the story and I was experiencing that dis-jointed craziness that so often comes with it.

The rest of the cast of characters were very interesting and likable. Roger and Diana just wanted to protect Iris, and their love for her shown through greatly in this book. Falcon's love for Iris was very apparent as well. He was understanding, even though he worried, and he tried to help her remember everything. We got to glimpse several other members of this Society of Feathers, and I cannot wait to learn more about them all in later books.

Rating:

I need half stars because this is a very solid 4.5 for me.

Excerpt:

After the plane landed Iris fell asleep in the car. Already the day had felt like an emotional roller coaster and it was just starting. When she woke up as the car traveled over a poorly leveled dirt road, the air smelled like food.

“We are almost there. I grabbed some of your favorites on the way, so we have enough Chinese to last us a few rounds of leftovers. I know Roger had them bring groceries out here but who knows what he asked for. You must have had one rough night after that asthma attack,” Diana said.

She seemed like she was back to her old self for most of the plane ride but Iris was still uneasy about forcing Diana to face her fear...and even more uneasy about having slept through the car drive without a single dream. She had never seen Diana
afraid of anything before, other than Iris’ asthma attacks. She was normally either jubilant or serious, but never frightened.

“You sure you don’t want to just stay at a hotel in town? It might be easier and I can’t remember ever getting to stay in one before,” Iris offered, but Diana seemed to zero in on the road in front of her.

For more excerpts follow along with the Owlet tour. The linky is at the bottom of this post. 

About the Author: 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.

Owlet GoodReads page / Emma Michael's Facebook / Emma Michael's Twitter / Emma Michael's Website / Emma Michael's GoodReads

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There is an amazing giveaway for the Owlet tour. Prizes include:

• 38 "Owlet" swag packages - bookmark, sticker, mini poster
• 35 gifted Kindle versions of the "Owlet" ebook
• 4 original "Owlet" sketches drawn by author Emma Michaels
• 2 $10 Amazon.com gift cards
• Original "Owlet" painting created by author Emma Michaels
• custom designed "Owlet" necklace
• owl bracelet and owl keychain

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received an e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.