Review: The Newstead Project by Melanie Schulz + Giveaway!

 

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The Newstead Project

the giant.

Joel Cranston shouldn’t exist. He just doesn’t know that yet. He’s lived a pretty normal life for the last sixteen years. If you consider being almost seven feet tall and good at about every sport you’ve ever played normal. Normal ends the day Newstead shows up with an invitation to come to their school.

the school.

Newstead is a private high school in Central Vermont by the Green Mountains. It’s a great place to hide a few hundred people who shouldn’t exist while you train them to become tomorrow’s rulers, tomorrow’s dictators, tomorrow’s gods.

the unexpected.

Rachel Newell thinks she’s just passing through. She never stays any place more than four months and with Newstead so close to Weston, she has even more reason to make this her shortest stop ever. The last thing she expects is to have a reason to stay.

Together Rachel and Joel uncover the truth behind what is

the newstead project.

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Book Trailer

My Review

 

Melanie Schulz…thank you for providing me with an ecopy of your book in trade for an honest review, for this blog tour.  Honestly, I had read the synopsis some time ago and when it came time to read the book, I had forgotten what it was about and was pleasantly surprised.  For those who are fans of Hush Hush, Angelology, The Mortal Instruments, etc., this book will be right up your alley. 

 

Centered on Joel, the story plays out from the time he is offered a place at the private Newstead High School to the time he leaves there.  So much goes on in the span of a few months.  There is romance, danger, awakening, discovery, treachery, betrayal, anguish and much more.  Joel’s life is changed forevermore.

 

I found this book to be a quick read.  It caught my attention and I fell asleep reading it, read it upon waking, dug back in to it during my lunch break and finished when the rest of the family went to bed for the night leaving me to myself and the story.  A good YA book about Nephilim and humanity in battle through one person.  It is also wrapped up with Sun Tzu’s The Art of War in a way that at first you don’t get, but later on you get the Ah-ha resounding from the pages.

 

The story grabbed me, but I found some items in it distracting.  There were changes of thought that had me rereading it because there was no noticeable break showing a shift in the storyline.  I also found that for Joel not knowing who he was, what was going on at the school would have had me looking for answers.  Staring down people and just walking away, ok, if it was me and I was being stared down I would be like, “Hey, take a picture” or “What the hell are you looking at?” For a teen, he was actually quite submissive in a lot of ways.  But…he does find his mojo, thankfully.  Also, I don’t know if it was the ecopy that I had, but there were some grammatical errors that I found a bit awkward, BUT they did not take away from the story.

The author gives us some interesting characters, a setting that is very well described and a story that holds its own.  I recommend this to anyone who likes a take on the Nephilim and those that are thrown into their world unwillingly.  I also recommend this to anyone who likes a good, well-structured read.  I’m looking forward to the next book in the series, The Bashan Agenda, but not looking forward to waiting until November 1^st to read it!  I know…get a grip…but I want to know what happens NOW!  

 

 

Author Melanie Schulz

I live in Upstate New York with my husband and three children, where I’ve pretty much been planted my entire life. Which is fine, because it’s beautiful here. My only complaint is that most people assume that New York means NYC, which it doesn’t. There. I’ve done my part in exposing the truth. Truth. The truth is I’m not a writer; storyteller maybe, but not a writer. It wasn’t something I spent years dreaming of, or even what I went to school for. I’m a nurse. I love being a nurse. So why write? I don’t know. I do know when it started, though. September 3, 2010. I know this because I nature journal, and on that day Joel made it into my notes. I guess that’s fitting. Someone like him needed to be birthed out in the woods. If you were to meet me, and I hope someday you do, you would not connect me with this story. I’m a wife, a mother, a nurse. The person who wrote this should’ve been a guy, first off, secondly he should be some militaristic strategist; that’s who you’d expect to see if you were to come to a book signing, not me. But I’m there, in every line. So if I don’t have the good fortune to meet you in person, I hope to see you in THE NEWSTEAD PROJECT.

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Blog Tour Giveaway

$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Ends 5/22/13

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

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