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.
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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My Thoughts:
"Sometimes we just have to do something because we're the only one's who can."
"But why us Isaac? Why me? There's nothing exceptional about me - I'm just like everyone else. How did I end up in the middle of this mess? How -" She sighed deeply. "How am I not supposed to fail?"
And there it was. That was the root of all this. She was afraid of letting everyone down.
What a fantastic follow up to book one in the Stitch trilogy!! I absolutely loved it, from start to finish!!
Shudder picks up right where Stitch left off. Alessa and Isaac are on a mission to find a base for the rebels to situate themselves free of Paragon. The world outside of the compound is bleak and desolate. If contending with the elements of the weather, the lack of food, the fear of the virus and the prospect of failing their mission isn't enough for them to deal with, they are now being stalked and hunted by creatures. Creatures that they have no doubt want them dead.
And then Alessa starts experiencing odd feelings. Feelings and emotions that aren't hers. Then there are the constant thoughts of Joe. And the bloodthirst. What is the bloodthirst? Will they complete their mission and find a new base for the rebels? With they survive the attacks from the beasts waiting to pounce?
I truly loved Isaac in this book. He remained caring and supportive at all times. I think there was only one instance where he lost his cool and that was due to Alessa's attitude, and if I'm honest, I would have lost it with her as well. Because she frustrated me through that period of the story. But putting that aside, after everything she'd been through I suppose she had the right to have doubts and fears. And unfortunately Isaac was the only one around to carry the burden of that. But despite their mission and everything going on around them, Alessa and Isaac still found time for each other.
The problem was that he couldn't remember which memories were real and which were fake. There were so many different lives jumbled in his head, it was hard to tell now which was the real Nikhil.
I absolutely loved Nikhil. I could really feel what he was experiencing and my heart ached for him. I think I actually looked forward to his portion of the story the most.
We got to learn the whole back story to the virus and the evil that are the engineers. How things happened and why they played out the way that they did. Shudder was a whole labyrinth of storylines all converging at about the seventy five percent mark of the book when the story really picked up to a whole new level. When I expected something to go one way it turned out completely differently. When i thought one characters story was going to go one way it went the other. And then there was that superb ending!!
The one constant thought that kept coming at me while I was reading Shudder was the originality of it. I remember feeling the exact same way while I was reading Stitch. Personally, I have never read anything like it before and I have to give huge applause to an author who can create such a fantastically original, well written, engaging piece of writing.
4.5/5 Stars.
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
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
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)
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* Signed Stitch & Shudder bookmarks + e-book copies of Stitch & Shudder (Int'l)
* $10 Amazon Gift Card (Int'l)
* $5 Amazon Gift Card (Int'l)
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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
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
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