Christy's Love of Books

Happy Monday!  I have a great post for you today as part of the Shadow Slayer blog tour hosted by SupaGurl Book Tours.  I read and reviewed the first book in the series – 13 on Halloween.  You can download it free, so make sure to do that after you’re done here.  I’ll also share an excerpt of Shadow Slayer (book #2) and pretty cool giveaway!  You can follow the rest of the tour by clicking the banner above.

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Title: 13 on Halloween
Author: Laura A.H. Elliott
Published: September 20, 2012
Series: Shadow #1
Pages: 206

Roxie has the best night of her life until the popular kids decide they want to celebrate her birthday in a way Roxie never expects––in her attic, with a gift that’s out of this world, and a pact to never tell a living soul what happens next.

Twelve-year-old Roxie wants to be like Adrianne, the popular girl who gets everything she wants––a flock to prowl around the mall with; invitations to parties; and for Hayden, the cutest guy in the eighth grade to, you know, notice her. When Roxie invites all the eighth grade peacocks (code word : popular kids) to her first ever thirteenth birthday party on Halloween, they all come and give her a gift that’s literally out of this world. Roxie astral projects to Planet Popular where she becomes seventeen instantly and gets everything she’s always wanted, but nothing is as it seems. Being a high school peacock is complicated and Roxie will risk everything to be who she thinks she wants to be. Oh yeah, there’s Prom, doppelgangers, a mysterious map, and lots of bad peacocks too.

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

Even though I don’t normally read books with such a young main character anymore, I had to give this one a try.  I’ve always read books with my son (now 15) or before he did to see if he’d like them and to make sure they were appropriate, so I’ve read a lot of books from different age groups.  13 on Halloween would have passed my stamp of approval.  It’s a fun, quick book that really, any age could enjoy.

Roxie is in the 8th grade, and she turns 13 on Halloween.  She’s not a popular girl, so she decides to have a birthday party and invite the twelve most popular kids in school.  To her surprise, they all go, but they have an ulterior motive; they need Roxie.  Her life is changed when they astral project to an alternate universe dubbed Planet Popular.  Okay, I admit, I giggled a little at that name, but again, these are 12 and 13-year-olds.  When Roxie goes there, she’s 17 and uber-popular, but it all comes at a very dangerous risk.  Shadow people are desperate to be human, and they can come back as the person instead.

I thought the idea was creative, and found Planet Popular interesting.  The adventure Roxie goes on is fast-paced, so there isn’t much of a chance to get bored.   However, there were quite a few questions I didn’t feel were answered.  I’m sure we’ll find out more in the next book, though.

The author did a great job at capturing the voices of this age group.  Roxie was likeable, even though some of her decisions were selfish and immature.  Honestly, I was a bit disoriented when I first started the book, and it took a few pages for me to adjust to Roxie’s lingo.  She categorizes people and their social status with animals.  For instance, the popular kids are peacocks, Roxie is a dodo bird, her brothers are owls, etc.  She does easy up on it after the first few pages, though.

Overall, 13 on Halloween is a fun, clean middle grade read.  There is talk of puberty and the stuff it entails, but it’s nothing inappropriate.  At least not to me.  I already read a little bit of the second book, and it’s nice to see Roxie’s voice has matured a little more since she’s in high school.

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About Shadow Slayer (book #2)

Shadows will do anything to become human. You see their influence everyday. You say things you don’t mean or do things that aren’t like you. You look, different. Friends you’ve known forever suddenly never call.

As a freshman, Roxie just wants to fit in which is impossible because she barely runs into her friends at her huge high school. Adrianne’s disappearance and Hayden’s attention rock Roxie’s world. But nothing rocks it like the most gorgeous guy at school, Drew. And nothing is more important to Roxie than astral projecting back to Planet Popular to solve the mystery of the map. But that changes when Drew invites Roxie to Homecoming. Hayden warns her that something’s wrong. Why would a guy like Drew like Roxie anyway? Drew must want something. Hayden’s right. Drew is…different. Planet Popular was just the beginning. Part of a bigger world, the Shadow World. There’s a war brewing between the world of humans and the world of shadows. When the shadow invasion begins at Roxie’s high school, she’ll not only fight for her life but the lives of her family and friends, when she discovers she’s the Shadow Slayer, the one human who can save Earth from the shadow onslaught. But, Roxie can’t even kill a spider. Oh yeah, there’s an evil English teacher, an enchanted play, a sword of Sandonian steel, a homecoming of horrors, and seven magic words too.

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Here’s an excerpt from Shadow Slayer (book 2):

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Connect with Laura: Website | Facebook | Twitter

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