The Veil by Cory Putman Oakes was a really refreshing read for me. There is a mixture of fantasy and reality for the lead character Addy Russel. She lives in a realm of two overlaping worlds- the world as we see it and Annorasi. After her 17th birthday the world as she knew around her changed. It felt that the veil that she had around her was lifted and she gained full access to the alternate universe that she was living in.
Her life takes a 180 degrees turn as she realizes that the cats who she lived with for the most of her life were actually men employed by her grandmother to protect her. Addy had difficulties adjusting to her new found identity and knowing that her life was being threatened by the “Others”. However with the help of her grandmothers and those sworn to protect her she is able to live a normal life in the human world.
Addy learned that the hallucinations which she thought she was having were actually real. Through the help of Lucas Stratton her guardian she learned about her actual parentage and how she fits into the parallel universe. It does help that she has a crush on Lucas and that he just “happens” to be assigned to protect her. It seems a bit predicable that they both end up as a couple and are able to disclose their true feelings to each other.
I found the pace of the story moving rather slowly and the development of the plot and romance between the lead characters lack a bit of punch. I did love the way Lucas Stratton acted as the gallant knight in white armor who would risk everything to protect his beloved. The the meet up between Addy and the council was a real disappointment to read as it lacks the intensity of a proper debate between the two different factions. It was a real anti-climax and sounded more like a toddler disagreement then a life and death issue.
Overall there could be better development of the plot and more dwelling into the paranormal world instead of brief views of the alternate universe through the eyes of Addy.
Disclosure: I received a copy of The veil for review purpose. All opinions are 100% my own. This post has a compensation level of 1 .
Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of PR By the Book. I received the book in this review for free and was not paid any money for my opinion. All opinions are 100% mine.
I received an e-mail a few weeks ago from a Publicist asking me if I was interested to review this book.
The title sounded very interested and I felt that it would be interesting to know what kinds of secrets girls keep. It would give me a better idea on how to deal with my students who are reaching their tweens.
In this book Carrie talks about the 7 Tips
Tip 1- Using your Gut
Tip 2- Discover your strengths and use them
Tip 3- Choose the right friends and respect them.
Tip 4- Be courageous and confident.
Tip 5- Be fit and stay fit ( Health is very important)
Tip 6- Dream Big ( Push yourself an be amazed as what you can achieve)
Tip 7- Get outside yourself ( Reflection and contribution to society)
These tips are incorporated into solving problems surfacing in the following topics.
Beauty
Boys
Best friends
Family
Dealing with school
Cyberwellness
Divorce, suicide and other serious issues.
In each topic Carrie gives some real sound and practical advice using the experiences of various teenage girls to show how problems could be solved.
Carrie interlaces her topics with short quizzes which one can fill in to get a better understanding of how they are at taking care of oneself, level of confidence, knowledge of boys etc. I find these extremely useful for as a teenager one has yet to really understand how to handle one’s emotions and need for taking risks.
Having gone through the teenage years myself I understand how lost some of the girls featured in the book must have felt as they face growing up and hormonal changes at the same time.
The tips presented by Carrie and the real life example case studies make this book an excellent guide for both parents and teenage girls who may be facing similar problems. They are practical and easy to follow and everyone can easily relate to the teenage girls featured in the book.
Nowadays the kids mature extremely fast. Problems which used to be faced by teenagers are sometimes faced by tweens or even younger. Ie: difficulty in relating to their parents are issues that are also faced by some of my elementary school kids.
Carrie dishes out simple tips like
Sending an e-mail or text message
Sharing a journal
Showing your appreciation through creating a card
These tips help in breaking the ice between parent and child and help to slowly guide them on how to get kids to talk to their parent.
Through all the examples presented in the book a common trait that surfaced was that these girls faced difficulties and didn’t know who they could turn to. Many of them tried solving or internalizing their problems on their own which gave them added stress. They cave in to the evils of social media and peer pressure and disregard their own health, family and friends.
Only when they learned how to open up and seek outside help were they relieved of the burden that they were carrying around.
Some of the girls didn’t know that they were having problems like depression or obsession till their family members noticed and approached them.
Being a teenager is a scary time for a girl as you are suddenly faced with issues and problems which surface out of nowhere. Boys for one are something which you may not have to deal with as an elementary school student.
Carrie take one step by step through the issues that may arise with dating and boys and walk you through what you may be feeling and questions you may have about dating.
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