I love a beautiful book cover! If I have a weakness when buying books it is buying a book based on the gorgeous cover. I know "don't judge a book by it's cover" is a common phrase and I see it's applications but for me a book cover is the perfect opportunity to sell your book. When perusing for books what is the first thing you learn about the book? For me it is not the plot summary, that comes second. The first thing I ever know about a book is it's cover.
A book I may not normally pick up based solely on it's plot has been known to sell me by it's cover. And then more often then not I am glad that I bought the book. A great book cover is the perfect opportunity to sell your audience on your book. I can't tell you how many times I've been perusing and just skipped past a book because it's cover was drab, boring and held no appeal. Then someone recommends the book so I read the plot summary and look again at the awful cover and still just can't convince myself to read it. It really makes me wonder why people lose out on this invaluable opportunity.
Obviously not every book with a beautiful cover is gonna be a good book. I have found that out plenty of times as well. But props to the author or publisher or whoever chose the book cover because I still read the book.
One day a while ago I was just looking for something to read. I was looking for bargain deals because let's be honest, when you read like I do you just can't afford to buy all the books you want to read at full price. So I was casually perusing and came across this beauty
I was completely sold the moment I saw this. After reading the plot I found out it was actually the second book in a series. So I searched out the first book and was just as enchanted by the cover. Even better, the book was free. Thank you indie authors. If I was unsure about buying the books before the whole free thing hooked me.
Title: UnenchantedAuthor: Chanda Hahn
Series: An Unfortunate Fairy Tale
Genre: Fairy Tale/Romance/YA
Goodreads rating: 3.87
My rating: 4
Mina Grime is unlucky, unpopular and uncoordinated, that is until she saves her crush's life on a field trip, changing her High School status from loser to hero overnight. But with her newfound fame brings misfortune as an old family curse comes to light. For Mina is descended from the Brothers Grimm and has inherited all of their unfinished fairy tale business. Which includes trying to outwit a powerful Story from making her its next fairytale victim.
To break the fairy tale curse on her family and stop these deadly events, Mina must finish the tales until the very Grimm end.
___________
Chanda Hahn is an Indie author. Not all Indie authors are created equal. I have read many a crap book that was a waste of my time, simply because it was less than 3 dollars. Ms. Hahn, in my opinion, is not one of those authors. She has two incomplete series out and I have very much enjoyed both so far. I find myself constantly thinking about when the next book will be out.
I have a lot of respect for Chanda Hahn. She is a mom of twins and she writes in her spare time. Her writing, though much anticipated to her fans, is not her priority. She is a mom and doesn't want to miss out on the special times with her kids because she was too busy trying to finish a book and meet a deadline. I also respect that one of her goals in writing her books is to write books that she would happily let her children read. There is just so much crap out there and as parents I think we want to do our best in making sure our kids are reading things that are wholesome. I think Hahn does a perfect job of writing an exciting and romantic story without compromising anything for the sake of selling the book. As an LDS mom I wouldn't hesitate in letting my kids read these books. I'm always a fan of books that you, as the adult can love, as well as your kids.
One thing I love about Mina is how much you can relate to her. Poor Mina has it so hard. Bad things are always happening to her. No matter how early she wakes up to get ready she never gets to school on time. Her backpack breaks at the most inopportune moment. She has to chase the field trip bus down in order for it to stop for her and so on. She is often overlooked and finds more comfort in NOT being noticed than the opposite. She has this huge crush on Brody Carmichael, the already claimed, popular, water polo hottie. On their field trip she becomes the lucky girl that saves Brody's life. But Mina has a secret, she is the reason that Brody's life needed saving. So why is Mina so unlucky? It is quite simply that she is a descendant of the Grimm brothers and she has been chosen to finish their morbid quest.
The supporting characters in this series are great. Mina's BFF Nan is a great foil to her. Mina's brother is quite endearing and provides for a bit of comedy. Jared and Brody provide interest in the romantic department but you'll have to form your own opinions on them :)
If you find a good indie author I recommend supporting them in all their endeavors cuz a lot of them have good stories to tell as well. You may get some typos and you may not get the refinement in editing from the big named publishers but you can still get a great and enjoyable story and best of all you get it for an amazing price. *I should add that the great prices are found in e-book form. If you want a printed copy you will have to pay the average full price.
Hahn's series include:
An Unfortunate Fairy Tale series
Unenchanted
Fairest
Fable
Untitled 4th book
Iron Butterfly series
The Iron Butterfly
The Steele Wolf
The Silver Siren(release date TBA)
No comments:
Post a Comment