BLOG TOUR: The Gifted Ones: The Fairytale by P. G. Shriver

THE GIFTED ONES: THE FAIRYTALE

by P.G. Shriver

Gean Penny Books, 2012

ISBN: 9780615600734

YA Fantasy Adventure

Grades 7 and up

E-copy provided for honest review/blog tour.

All opinions expressed are solely my own.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Thrown together by the cruelties of a modern day world in which genuine compassion is rare, evil abounds, and goodness is often tainted by the fight to survive, two unusually gifted teenagers discover they are linked by a fairytale told them repeatedly throughout their youth by their late mothers.

Destiny awaits them, but first they must locate the others, as the fairytale foretells, to defeat the evil monster who waits and change the lonely world in which they live. Only then will they find peace… and family.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born in California, and raised in Minnesota and Texas, P.G. spent her early years writing poetry and winning poetry contests, while escaping the drama in her own childhood by reading great books for children. Ever since her earliest days, she loved story telling.

P.G. sought her education at the University of Texas, where she studied English, literature, and Education. During the entire process of earning her BA and M.Ed, she never stopped writing and trying to get published. Many of her stories develop from nature.

P.G. graduated college and began her career in education, another great world that offered real experiences to humor and delight through children's books. She watched children interact, bringing to surface her own experiences as a child and yet more events to write about. While teaching, she discovered many great books for young people, such as The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963, Maniac Magee, So. B. It and many more. She is a fan of Dean Koontz novels, too, and loves reading fantasy and paranormal books.

P.G. has been married 20 years and has a bright, young daughter who has begun her own college career. P.G. has experienced great love and loss throughout her life. Those her family has lost are featured in some of her dedications.

P.G. has two young adult books published, Dead Perfect and The Gifted Ones: The Fairytale the first book in The Gifted Ones Series. She also has several children's books written under Gean Penny, the name under which she founded her publishing company. Her first book, No More Stinkbugs! is published under her pseudonym, as well as all of her other books for younger readers.

REVIEW

What an emotional ride this book is, full of sad and bittersweet moments, the story still manages to give a feeling of hope, mostly through the character of 13-year-old, Cheater.  Cheater lives on the streets afraid to stay with anyone she cares about for fear of bringing tragedy upon those she loves.  Despite the numerous tragedies that have plagued her she still has a caring heart and a remarkable gift for helping people find their humanity.  Yet she does not understand this gift or how it works because she doesn't remember what happened afterwards.  She follows an internal intuition that guides her toward a destiny she doesn't understand but knows is related to the fairy tale her mother told her so many times when she was younger. When she runs into Jazz, another teenager with an unusual secret, her intuition lets her know that he is important somehow.  But can the two find their destiny? And if they do what is the faceless man's role in the growing evil around them?

I loved the fact that Cheater's gift involves compassion and helping others, even or maybe especially those who have lost hope or live in anger. So many fantasy gifts involve darkness, it's refreshing to find one that benefits others.  Cheater's willingness to care about others despite her own desperate circumstances quickly endeared her to me.  And Jazz who starts off as anything but sympathetic becomes so after contact with Cheater. I must admit, only a few chapters into the story I had a strong urge to take Cheater into my arms and offer her the comfort and love she so desperately desires.  While the book has a cliffhanger ending (sigh), which I confess I am getting mighty tired of (what happened to books with a nice clean ending?!), I will definitely be looking for the upcoming sequels to see what happens to Cheater, Jazz and the other gifted ones.