Blog Tour: Review of Shades of Atlantis by Carol Oates

Hello all and welcome to my blog for the Shades of Atlantis Blog Tour! I'm so excited to be part of this tour since it's the first that I've ever participated in! I hope you are having as much fun as I am. Read on to learn more about the book and the author, and to read my review!

About the author

Carol was introduced to the world of supernatural books when, as a child, her family moved to a coastal suburb on the northern border of Dublin known as Clontarf, famous as the birthplace of Bram Stoker, the prolific author responsible for breathing life into the legendary story Dracula. This stirred in Carol an early passion for reading about all things supernatural. Combine that passion with a deep interest in the history and folklore of Ireland, as well as an active and vivid imagination, and Carol Oates the author was born. Carol's love of writing about anything not entirely "human" emerged, and the premise for her debut novel, Shades of Atlantis, was born.

Carol still lives in Dublin, but spends a great deal of time traveling though the counties of Ireland and Northern Ireland with her partner and son. When not travelling through the countryside, Carol spends her days at the office and her evenings immersed in the world of Legends and Mythical Creatures.

About the book

Title: Shades of Atlantis
Author: Carol Oates
Publisher: Omnific Publishing
Publish Date: 2010
Genre: YA, paranormal, romance
Pages: 308
Source: From publisher for review

Synopsis:
Since the death of their parents, Triona Pryor and her brother, Ben, have lived with their aunt and uncle in Camden, Maine. Now in her senior year of high school, Triona loves her family and friends, but she has always felt that she didn't quite fit in...in Camden, or anywhere else.

Enter Caleb Wallace, the devilishly handsome man who has recently moved to Triona's small town. While their attraction to each other is instantaneous, it also proves to be dangerous...and deadly.

When tragedy strikes, Triona flees to London for solace and to start her life anew. It's there she discovers from an unlikely source that her family has been keeping secrets from her - secrets about not only her birthright, but her ultimate destiny as well. Armed with this knowledge, Triona finds herself thrown into a whole new world and into a battle to save the lives of everyone she loves.

From Goodreads

Review:
I have to say that there is a lot that happens in this book. It starts out with Triona finishing up her senior year of high school, working as a waitress to make enough money to jet off to London after graduation. But then she meets Caleb, one of the young, drop-dead gorgeous new owners of the restaurant where she works. Neither of them know what’s going on, but there’s this undeniable pull of attraction between the two of them. When Triona’s life falls apart around her, she pulls herself together and moves to London. While in London, she tries to recover from the horrible memories she tried to leave behind in Camden. But eventually, stuff starts getting weird and Triona finds out she’s not who she thought she was, nor is Caleb’s family.

This book could almost easily be split into two books: Camden and London. The tone of the book changes completely between when Triona is living at home and finishing high school, and when she finally travels to London. They’re so different that I actually felt like I had finished one book and picked up the next. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, though, it totally works for the book.

I honestly don’t know anything about Irish myths. Like, totally clueless. So I really can’t compare the parts of Irish history that Carol used to create this world for Triona and her characters. However, I did recognize a few things: she integrated the stories of the lost city of Atlantis, and also incorporated Excalibur, King Arthur’s “Sword in the Stone.” The part that was really interesting for me was how she used these stories and the Irish myths and put them together to create this awesome, paranormal world.

The romance in this story is very prominent and very strong. Triona and Caleb are undeniably attracted to each other, an attraction so strong that she can sense when he’s in the room and feels incomplete without him. Their relationship is sexy and heartfelt, but also littered with mystery because of all the secrets Caleb keeps from Triona. I don’t want to say more because if I do, I will ruin a lot of things. So you’ll just have to read it in order to see what their secrets are and how Triona and Caleb try to make their relationship work.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Like I said, there is a lot going on, but it’s not too overwhelming because of the way it splits in the middle. It’s a fresh start. It allows for a great balance. This story is very imaginative, romantic, sexy, and exciting. I definitely recommend it.

And because I love book trailers, here's the one for SHADES OF ATLANTIS:


Giveaway:
Here's the rules:
- You must leave one comment on each blog participating in the tour. Please do not leave your email in the comments.
- You will have to complete the form on A Tale of Many Reviews on April 19, the last tour stop.
- Winners will be chosen by Random.org from the final form
- Giveaway is open internationally
- You do not have to be a follower of any participating blogs

Here's what you can win:

There will be 4 winners total: one will win this awesome prize pack, a second will win this prize pack minus the mug, and two more will win an ebook copy of SHADES OF ATLANTIS.

Check out my post from before the tour to get the full list of blogs participating, with direct links to their posts, and go comment away! Remember, you need to comment on each blog post in the tour to be eligible to win those awesome prizes.

Next Stop: Books and Shtuff.