[Blog Tour] Gaia by Karen Ann Hopkins (Review + Guest Post + Giveaway)

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Welcome to my tour stop for the second book in The Wings of War series, Gaia, by Karen Ann Hopkins. I'm new to this series and I'm really excited to share the love! I will reviewing both Gaia and Embers -which is the first installment in the series. Also, I'm featuring Karen's Guest Post in which she'll be sharing her Dream Cast for some of the amazing characters in this series. And don't forget to check out the giveaway at the end of this post!

Embers by Karen Ann Hopkins

The Wings of War #1

Published October 21st, 2014

Young Adult Paranormal Fantasy

Premise:There are descendants of angels walking among us. Ember is one of them. And she may be the only hope mankind has as the rapture approaches and evil rises.Embers is an epic paranormal adventure about an eighteen year old girl who discovers that she's immune to fire and any other injury when she’s in a horrific car crash that kills her parents. Following a violent episode with her aunt's boyfriend, Ember flees Ohio to live with an old relative in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. Ember's exuberance at escaping a bad home life soon turns to trepidation when she finds out that she's a Watcher, a descendant of angels. While Ember learns about her heritage and the powers that go along with it, she strikes up friendships with two young men who live in a frightening walled compound in the forest. Inexplicitly drawn to one of the men in particular, an impossible romance develops. But it is cut short when Ember discovers that her new friends are fighting on the opposite side of a war—one that’s been raging between two factions of Watchers for thousands of years. When the compound’s inhabitants threaten the townspeople, Ember takes action, sealing her fate in the ancient battle of good versus evil—and the grayness in between. Ember is up to the challenge, until she realizes that she isn’t only fighting for the lives of the locals and the souls of her new friends. She also might be one of the few champions who will make a stand for all of mankind as the rapture approaches and the end of days begin.
Embers is a dark and gritty YA novel that’s the first book in the series, The Wings of War.

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Review

My thoughts:

I'm new to Karen Ann Hopkins book but I've heard amazing things about her books and her writing style and now I can honestly say that they live up to the hype. 

I'm not going to summarize the book because I think the description given is pretty accurate and it's better if you go into it not knowing exactly what you're in for. I'll only say that the end of the world is coming, but it's not quite here yet. First, Ember must fight smaller battles, so don't go in expecting the world to go up in flames right away.

The beginning was kind of slow and a bit confusing to me. At first I had a difficult time establishing a time-line for the events such as the accident, the encounter with the priest and the prologue. But little by little everything begins to fall into place and the action starts building-up and before you know it, you're so deep into the story and its character that you can let go of the book. 

The world building is amazingly well done considering that it's a huge world full with a lot of different supernatural beings with different set of rules and powers. The characters were really multi-dimensional and well developed. I liked the way they toyed with the line that divides what's right and wrong, good and evil, it gave them much more depth. 

Ember is a great protagonist. She's bad-ass but not so much that it takes away from that relatable quality of her character. I really enjoyed seeing the world through her eyes and discovering all of her powers along with her. 

Sawyer is an impossibly gentle soul trapped in an awful life which requires him to do awful things to survive. I won't go much deeper into it's character, because all of his mysteries are better when you discover them yourself. 

I really liked Ivan and Ila too. Ivan was very sweet and shy and my heart went to him for all he'd been through. Ila was a seriously bad-ass character. She's is very cryptic and she has this grandma-like sweetness to her but she still is very active and amazingly strong. The mentor being the one who tell the girl she is different was pretty refreshing. I know it's been done before, but not as many times as the version where the mysterious guy with whom she inevitably falls in love, is the one who tells the girl the truth about who she is.

This first installment ends with a bang, it's like everything explodes and the story rises up to its full potential and there's fighting, deep emotions and suspense. It left me with a sense of closure but still very excited for what's coming next. I don't know how people managed to sit still while the next book was in the making. I'm really glad I get to jump right into it!

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Gaia by Karen Ann Hopkins

The Wings of War #2

Published July 26th, 2015

Young Adult Paranormal Fantasy

Premise:

As the Demons grow bolder and the walls between the planes of existence weaken, Ember is forced to develop her powers as quickly as possible, and she seeks out a powerful earth Watcher to continue her supernatural lessons. Her glimpse of the future demands she fight the dark forces spreading across the earth.

But her new mentor has his own agenda, making her question everyone and everything she ever trusted.

When Ember is thrust into the world of the Watchers, she learns of their plans—ones that defy the scripture and make them enemies of the Celestial Host. Ridding the world of evil gets complicated when it becomes impossible to take sides.

As Ember struggles with morality, she soon discovers that there’s something more frightening than anything she’s faced before.

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Review

My thoughts:

OMG! This series is so freaking fantastic, you guys! I'm having a hard time reviewing this one because I'm so agghh! Why did it have to end there?! I was dreading those last few pages, I didn't want it to end because now the waiting for the next one is going to kill me!

I don't know if this happens to anyone else but me, but I tend to get suspicious when the book covers are too pretty. Like they are too good to be true. And this book covers are freaking gorgeous! But I'm relieved to say that, in this case, the beautiful covers are the perfect complement for the gorgeous story inside...

I know I'm not making much sense, but I'm writing this right after finishing the book and my mind is in pieces... Let me breathe for a while...

Okay, here we go...

Gaia picks up right where Embers left off which is great since I started this book as soon as I finished the first one and the transition was seamless. The big difference between this installment and the one before is the pace. Since the very beginning there's action and honestly just a whole lot of crap going on, which I love. So make sure you're comfortable and don't have to be anywhere else soon, because you won't be able to put this thing down once you pick it up.

I'm not going to go into much detail about the plot, because I stand by what I said in my review of Embers. It's way better if you don't know what you're getting into. The surprises hit you in the face like a brick and it's freaking awesome. 

I should not be amazed at the world-building since it was already pretty well done in Embers. But the depth it shows in Gaia was monumental. I've not read the Bible since I was a kid, but I still got most of the references and the way its text found its place in the backstory of the characters and their purpose was superb. Everything was really well put together and I can't wait to see how all the revelations dropped here and there play out in the next book.

Onto the characters now... I loved Horas addition to the gang. His character makes me really happy for some reason, I loved his relentless teasing and how he could be so sarcastic and snarky even in the most dire moments. I just love him to bits. 

I also really enjoyed spending time with Piper, since she was often mentioned in the first book but we didn't see much of her all in Embers. Also Timmy! I'm glad they both had a place in this book, because I felt like we should know these characters that meant so much to Ember.

Ember keeps growing as a character throughout this book. Her powers are growing and she's also discovering where her loyalties lie. She struggles a lot to find balance between right and wrong in this book, because everything is mostly different shades of grey and I really enjoyed seeing her trying to make the best decisions in the most impossible situations. She's just overall a great main character. 

We finally meet the famous Insepth in this book and he's a handful. He's really powerful and cocky and unbelievably resourceful. But he's also mysterious and has his own agenda. Sawyer also got his mystery back. We know he really cares for Ember, but there's still just something about him though. I think I trust him, but the thing is that every freaking character in this book made me uneasy! I had a really hard time trusting people in this book. When things were nice and quiet I could feel myself just waiting for the other shoe to drop, thinking "I don't trust you Karen! I know you're up to something!". And then bam! Like an nuclear explosion everything went to hell and then there were even more characters and HUGE revelations and my heart could barely take it when it ended. 

I can't wait for the next book. This series is one of my favorite angel-themed series of all time. It's very different than what I've read before on angels and I'm enjoying it immensely. I sincerely recommend it to anyone who likes paranormal fantasy, especially people who are looking for more than just a story, because this world is phenomenal and you won't want to get out of it. 

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Guest Post: Dream Cast for The Wings of War series.

Dream casts are always difficult to come up with because I tend to imagine my characters with very specific looks. Basically, I create a completely new person in my mind. But sometimes I see an actor or model that reminds me of one of my characters. The following are a few picks I made. 

Helen Mirren ~ Ila 

I would be so thrilled to have her play Ember’s magical mentor. She’d be perfect! 

Zoey Deutch ~ Ember 

Her hair color would need to be altered a bit, but otherwise, she looks a lot like how I imagine Ember. She also has an earthy quality about her that I think would fit well with Ember’s character. 

Alex Pettyfer ~ Sawyer 

If his hair was darkened and grown out, he has the charisma and enough bad-boy persona to portray Sawyer—I think, maybe. 

Maia Mitchell ~ Piper 

She is Piper in my mind. 

Scott Eastwood ~ Insepth

Insepth is a larger than life character, but Scott has the right looks and confidence to pull it off. 

Anson Mount ~ Eae 

I’m a huge fan of the TV show Hell on Wheels and if I had to crush on someone, Anson Mount would be the guy. If anyone could live up to angelic-looking standards, he could ;) 

?? ~ Ivan 

Do you have any ideas who would be a great pick for Ember’s Russian born shape shifter friend? If you do, let me know. I’d love to hear them! 

Thank you for being a part of Gaia’s blog tour! I love to connect with readers on my Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram or at www.karenannhopkins.com. Please be on the lookout for the release of SECRETS IN THE GRAVE, the third installment in my mystery series, Serenity’s Plain Secrets, in early September! Thanks for reading! 

 Karen Ann Hopkins.

Giveaway

One lucky winner will receive a $50 gift card (Amazon, B&N, iTunes), as well as a complete set of Karen’s YA books, includingEmbers, Gaia, Temptation, Belonging, Forever, and Rachel’s Deception! Please enter via the Rafflecopter form. Giveaway is open internationally.

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About the author

Karen Ann Hopkins resides in northern Kentucky with her family on a farm that boasts a menagerie of horses, goats, peacocks, chickens, ducks, rabbits, dogs and cats. Karen's main job is home schooling the kids, but she finds time to give riding lessons, coach a youth equestrian drill team, and of course, write. She was inspired to create her first book, Temptation, by the Amish community she lived in. The experiential knowledge she gained through her interactions with her neighbors drove her to create the story of the star-crossed lovers, Rose and Noah.

Karen grew up about a mile from Lake Ontario in Upstate New York. She was bitten by the horse bug at the age of five, and after diligently taking riding lessons for several years, was rewarded with her first horse when she turned eleven. The feisty horse's name was Lady, a Quarter Horse-Thoroughbred cross, who became Karen's steadfast companion. Through the years, the constant force in her life was horses. Eventually, she found her place as a riding instructor herself. Before accepting her fate in the barnyard, she worked a short stint as a paralegal, traveled abroad, and guided tourists on horseback riding tours in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.

Karen is currently working on her Amish mystery series, Serenity's Plain Secrets, along with the YA paranormal/fantasy series, The Wings of War. Karen is also excited to announce the Temptation series has been optioned for TV by Pilgrim Studios and is available on Audible. More books in the Temptation series are in the works.

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Don't forget to check out the rest of the tour stops for more content and reviews! 

Monday, August 31st

Bewitched Bookworms (Guest Post)

Pause Time Reviews (Review/Guest Post)

Tuesday, September 1st

A Dream Within A Dream (Review)

Addicted Readers (Guest Post)

Wednesday, September 2nd

Actin' Up with Books (Review)

The Unofficial Addiction Book Fan Club (Guest Post)

Thursday, September 3rd

Sassy Book Lovers (Review/Guest Post)

Fire and Ice (Interview)

Friday, September 4th

Read by Amanda (Review)

Curling Up With A Good Book (Guest Post)

Check out the rest of the stops HERE!