Interview with S.L Bynum

Hello to you all! Stopping by on the blog today is S.L Bynum, author of
Grim Crush. 

She has taken the time to answer a few questions about her debut novel.

Hello! Tell us a little bit about your novel 'Grim Crush'

Seventeen-year-old Xia is just like any teenager—she loves to break rules—only difference is, she’s a grim reaper (yes, with a scythe and all). And now she faces consequences when she does something forbidden: she falls in love with a human.

Grim Crush is your debut Novel. What made you want to become an author?

When I realized I loved to use my imagination by creating worlds and characters with their own personalities, I attempted to write my first novel at the age of thirteen (it was super short, and super horrible). And when I realized that some authors, like J. K. Rowling, could make millions, even a billion from writing books, I thought, “well, if they can do that, I should at least be able to make a decent living on my own writing books.” I used to think writing books could only be a part time thing or just a hobby for me, but now I saw it could be my career (although I’m not sure I’ll ever be rich).

 Why did you choose to write with a Young Adult audience in mind?

;I was a young adult when I started writing, so I wrote characters that were my age. Then I just stuck with it because I like that young adults are old enough to experience first love and a few life problems, yet young enough to have fun and go on adventures.

Where did you come up with the idea to write Grim Crush?

;From a Terry Pratchett novel featuring a grim reaper. I remember thinking, what if a grim reaper wasn’t the usual stereotype? What if it was female instead of male, and wore a dress instead of a black robe? And then I liked the idea of a female grim reaper falling in love with a human, because that was paranormal romance and that genre was getting popular at the time I wrote this.

Did you relate to any of your characters while writing the novel?

Yes, my main character, Xia. I got a late start in the romance department, I guess because I was busy writing books while in high school. So love and affection felt as strange and new to me as it does to Xia.

You started writing at quite a young age. Do you have any advice for young aspiring novelists?

If you want to do this for a living, you have to ignore the people who don’t think writing is a real job. As for writing advice, you’ll hear this a lot, and it helped make my writing loads better: show, don’t tell.

If you could choose to live in one fictional universe, where would it be?

The universe of the Harry Potter novels! I would love to perform magical spells with the flick of a wand.

What can readers expect to see from the second book in the series?

;Xia and Shilah’s relationship will be put to the test even more, especially with Xia’s new responsibilities that are put on her at the end of the first book.

I'd like to say a big thank you to S.L Bynum for stopping by!

Grim Crush is now available in both ebook and paperback formats from Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. Find out more at S.L Bynum's website at http://slbynum.wix.com/author

You can also follow her on twitter at https://twitter.com/WriterSLBynum

Review on 'Storykiller'

When 17 year old Tessa Battle moves to a new high school, her life changes forever. Stories are real, and live in another dimension. Tessa is The Last Scion, the only Mortal who is able to kill Stories. Although she tries to reject her destiny, Tessa is pulled into the world of Stories, and must face up to who she is. With the help of her new friends Micah and Brand, and stories such as Robin Hood and The Snow Queen, Tessa must find out the truth behind who in the story world is trying to kill her.

I loved the idea behind this story and thought it was interesting and original. Tessa is a brilliant protagonist, and shows that girls can fight just as well as boys. I loved the friendship between Micah and Brand, as it is rare to come across male and female characters who have such a strong platonic friendship. It was a change to see such a loving relationship without romantic feelings developing. I also enjoyed how some of the Stories were fighting their fiction, particularly in the case of Romeo. I have always been an avid fan of fairy tales, and seeing characters such as The Snow Queen and the big bad wolf acting differently to what we have come to learn about them was interesting. Fenris was an interesting character, as throughout the novel it is unclear where his loyalties lie. I adored Fenris, and I found myself hoping that he would turn out to be good despite his history.

I didn't particularly enjoy the romantic subplot, as I thought it was slightly too cheesy. I also thought Tessa and Robin chose strange times to kiss, as personally I would not be thinking about kissing a boy if supernatural creatures were trying to break into my house and kill me. I also dislike love triangles, so I did not enjoy Robin's conflict over wanting to go back to Marian but also wanting to stay with Tessa. I also found the relationship between Brand and The Snow Queen quite strange, as although I loved the platonic friendship between Micah and Brand, I found myself agreeing with Micah that it was slightly weird.

I thought the narrative was strange in places, as although it is written in third person, it seemed to take on a first person style in certain parts. I found the epilogue involving Tessa's mum interesting, and would love to find out more about her intentions. Overall I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of adventure stories or fairy tales. 

Storykiller is now available to purchase in ebook and paperback formats HERE

Review on Shades of London #2 The Madness Underneath

After her encounter with the Ripper copycat, Rory has been living with her parents in Bristol, recovering from both mental and physical trauma. However, Rory misses her friends, both her classmates at Wexford and the Shades, a group of young people who like Rory, are able to see ghosts. The cover up story means that Rory can never tell her parents or her therapists what truly happened. Rory is desperate to get back to London, so when her therapist suggests she go back to school, she doesn't hesitate to leave. The Ripper may be gone, but there are now a new string of threats. A pub owner has seemingly been killed by his employee, and a woman was seen falling to her death from a window. Could these cases be coincidences, or is it the cause of something more supernatural? Rory and her friends must find out what really happened before it is too late.

I loved the first book in this series and was eager to get onto the second. Although the Ripper is gone, there is definitely no lack of excitement on the streets of London. I loved the new cases and was eager to find out how the Shades would solve them. I loved how Rory was leading a double life, trying to keep up with her school work and her relationship with Jerome, while also sneaking out with Stephen, Callum and Boo to investigate the cases. I loved how Rory's relationship with the shades progressed, especially her relationship with Stephen. Although I loved Jazza and Jerome in the first book, I found that they were starting to become less significant to the main plot, and was drawn a lot more to the Shades, particularly Stephen. I also loved that Rory was needed a lot more in this book, as with the terminus being destroyed, Rory is the only one who is able to force the ghosts to move on. I found the ending really shocking, as the first book was overall light hearted with only a few darker parts. I was not expecting the book to end this way at all, and it has been left on a major cliffhanger which makes me extremely excited to get my hands on the new book once it comes out. I will definitely be continuing to follow this series.

My New Layout!

So my new layout is now complete! I may tweak a few things or add some gadgets but it will more or less be staying like this for a while.

I must thank my best friend Katie for creating the header for me and finding the layout. I'm really bad at these kind of things. She also runs a book blog so you should all go check it out by clicking HERE!

My contact details and review policy are once again in a place where they can be easily located, so make sure to check those out! In the meantime I shall get back to what I do best which is reading and reviewing books.

Site under construction!

So my old layout messed up for some reason and I am currently searching for a new one. This is going to mean that the site is probably going to look strange for a little while but bare with me while I try to find the perfect layout! I will be functioning as normal however, but contact information etc may not be available until I've figured this out so if you need to contact me for review requests etc then email me at rachelsreallyrandomreviews@gmail.com

Hopefully the site will be back to 100% functionality soon!

Review on 'The Covenant #1 Last Light Falling'

Fifteen year old Arena and her twin brother Gabriel are orphans. After they survived the car crash that killed their parents when they were just nine years old, they were taken into foster care, and have been living with their foster parents ever since. However, everything changes when Arena receives a letter, seemingly from their uncle Finnegan. After learning about her fate, Arena must use the combat skills she has been taught to fight against the corrupt government and bring justice to the thousands of innocent citizens that are being abused, beaten and raped.

I loved the idea of this book and found the idea of a post apocalyptic America with a corrupted government to be quite similar to the Hunger Games which is one of my favourite book series. Arena is a very strong female protagonist, and has had years of combat training, along with the use of bow and arrows, guns and knives. She has no problem in taking out armed soldiers, and it destroys the age old idea of females being weaker than men and not being able to fight as efficiently. I thought the biblical element was interesting, but as I am not religious myself I found it slightly strange that these characters were putting so much of their faith into a God. I also found it hard to believe that everyone Arena and Gabriel came across believed in God, and therefore it felt as if they were forcing their own beliefs on others, as they often tell them to pray for forgiveness. The book is action packed, and although I loved the fight scenes I felt that it would have been more exciting if there were more breaks from the action, as towards the middle of the book, almost every chapter contained blood shed. I felt that characters such as Juliana could have had more input, as I would have loved to have seen characters with no combat training also making more o a difference. There are quite a few disturbing scenes including strong violence and rape, so I would recommend it to older teenagers. I would love to continue reading this series, as there are a few plot points left hanging, such as what happened to Arena's step sister.

Last Light Falling can be purchased HERE