The second installment in the electrifying Stitch Trilogy, Shudder follows Samantha Durante's shocking and innovative debut with a heart-pounding, paranormal-dusted dystopian adventure sure to keep the pages turning.
Shudder
348 pages
Published June 15, 2013
-- Book 2 in the Stitch Trilogy --
It's only been three days, and already everything is different.
Paragon is behind her, but somehow Alessa's life may actually have gotten worse. In a wrenching twist of fate, she traded the safety and companionship of her sister for that of her true love, losing a vital partner she'd counted on for the ordeal ahead. Her comfortable university life is but a distant memory, as she faces the prospect of surviving a bleak winter on the meager remains of a ravaged world. And if she'd thought she'd tasted fear upon seeing a ghost, she was wrong; now she's discovering new depths of terror while being hunted by a deadly virus and a terrifying pack of superhuman creatures thirsting for blood.
And then there are the visions.
The memory-altering "stitch" unlocked something in Alessa's mind, and now she can't shake the constant flood of alien feelings ransacking her emotions. Haunting memories of an old flame are driving a deep and painful rift into her once-secure relationship. And a series of staggering revelations about the treacherous Engineers - and the bone-chilling deceit shrouding her world's sorry history - will soon leave Alessa reeling...
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POV Perfection
Review at Book Adoration
Since there are quite a bit of main characters in this book, there are quite a bit of point of views that the story is told through. I believe that Durante pulls off the multiple point of views with skill: the transitions between character to character are smooth and never feel unnatural or jarring, each character’s situation has a different aura to it, I could immediately tell which character I was currently reading about, and I never felt bored or impatient with a certain character’s chapters.
Review at Book Jems
Even though I really enjoyed Stitch, Shudder blew me out of the water. The book took a turn for crazy, and dragged me willingly along. It's fascinating watching everything unfold, and getting the background of this society. Seeing it from multiple perspectives only benefit the novel. Usually, it's difficult to keep up with characters in a third person point-of-view story (for me at least), but Shudder did not have the issue in the least. Durante is a fantastic storyteller. She created likable characters, introduced them in a way that made sense and put them into a truly engaging plot that will leave its readers breathless.
Review at Why Not? Because I Said So
The story is told from several different POV's which I really liked and made the storyline richer. We not only followed the couple (Alessa and Isaac), but also two people being held in prison, and an unknown woman who doesn't remember who she is back in Paragon.
Review at Behind a Million and One Pages
The change of "scenes" (not really POV's because it's in third person, but anyways....) was flawless, even though there are multiple scenes to go between, Samantha does not miss a single beat and we pick up right where we left off, as if we hadn't even left those characters for a few chapters. No confusion, no time gap or event gap at all, everything flows perfectly and we love every second we get into a new "scene", just like as if we were the rest of the population watching the Dramas.... All I can really say is, well played Samantha!
Review at Coco's Bookish Adventures:
I really like that we get to know the characters better... Which really helps with the alternative POV's.
As an avid lifelong reader of fiction of all sorts, there’s nothing I find more engrossing than an epic sci-fi/fantasy/romance series. I’ve whiled away countless weekends of my life immersed in richly-woven worlds that someone else was kind enough to put on paper... about the author
Tour-Wide Giveaway:
5 Winners. August 24 - September 16, 2013. See Rafflecopter for restrictions.
* Signed print copy of Stitch & Shudder for you and two friends (USA only)
* Signed (via Authorgraph) e-book copies of Stitch & Shudder for you and two friends (Int'l)
* Signed Stitch & Shudder bookmarks + e-book copies of Stitch & Shudder (Int'l)
* $10 Amazon Gift Card (Int'l)
* $5 Amazon Gift Card (Int'l)
August dates:
24 - The Reading Diaries - Review
- The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl
- Rose & Beps Blog
25 - Chapter Break - Review
- Wonderings of One Person - Review
- Mortal Moments
26 - A Tiffyfit's Reading Corner - Review
- Kindred Dreamhart
27 - YA Book Addict - Review
- The Bookish Daydreamer
- Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf
28 - Library of a Book Witch
- Mommasez... - Review
29 - Mel's Shelves - Review
- Fundinmental
30 - Green Mountain Couple
- Literary Meanderings
31 - Donnie Darko Girl - Review
- My Devotional Thoughts
Sept. 1 - The Book Rogue
GRAND FINALE
Samantha Durante lives in Westchester County, New York with her husband, Sudeep, and her cat, Gio. Formerly an engineer at Microsoft, Samantha left the world of software in 2010 to pursue her entrepreneurial dreams and a lifelong love of writing. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Jerome Fisher Program in Management & Technology, Samantha is currently working full time for her company Medley Media Associates as a freelance business writer and communications consultant. The Stitch Trilogy is her debut series.
Stitch
314 pages
Published August 1st, 2012
Her heart races, her muscles coil, and every impulse in Alessa's body screams at her to run... but yet she's powerless to move.
Still struggling to find her footing after the sudden death of her parents, the last thing college freshman Alessa has the strength to deal with is the inexplicable visceral pull drawing her to a handsome ghostly presence... Goodreads
5 Winners. August 24 - September 16, 2013. See Rafflecopter for restrictions.
* Signed print copy of Stitch & Shudder for you and two friends (USA only)
* Signed (via Authorgraph) e-book copies of Stitch & Shudder for you and two friends (Int'l)
* Signed Stitch & Shudder bookmarks + e-book copies of Stitch & Shudder (Int'l)
* $10 Amazon Gift Card (Int'l)
* $5 Amazon Gift Card (Int'l)
The Highlight Tour
Sharing Top Highlights from the Summer-Long Tour!
August dates:
24 - The Reading Diaries - Review
- The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl
- Rose & Beps Blog
25 - Chapter Break - Review
- Wonderings of One Person - Review
- Mortal Moments
26 - A Tiffyfit's Reading Corner - Review
- Kindred Dreamhart
27 - YA Book Addict - Review
- The Bookish Daydreamer
- Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf
28 - Library of a Book Witch
- Mommasez... - Review
29 - Mel's Shelves - Review
- Fundinmental
30 - Green Mountain Couple
- Literary Meanderings
31 - Donnie Darko Girl - Review
- My Devotional Thoughts
Sept. 1 - The Book Rogue
GRAND FINALE