Hi All!
For those of you who have never heard of me, I'm ID Johnson's editor, McKinley Morrow. And, unlike most of the world, I have actually had the opportunity to read
Book 2: Resurrection, which comes out on June 1st. Lucky for you--that leaves you a couple of weeks to read
Book 1: Transformation before the release date--and here are five reasons why you will want to get hooked on this incredible series.
1) It's Twilightish, but without the K-Stew.
All right, folks, let's be honest, some of us actually liked the
Twilight books. Some of us may have stayed up way too late reading them all, wondering if Team Edward or Team Jacob was going to win (not that it wasn't obvious!) Well,
The Clandestine Saga is a little like
Twilight. There are vampires. There is a female lead--a strong one! And there's some romance going on. But, unlike the
Twilight movies, no one is forcing you to take an otherwise tolerable lead character and watch her shrug her way through ten hours of squinting.... Cadence Findley can look like whoever you want, at least until Johnson sells the movie rights. I think she looks a little like Emma Stone, especially around the eyes.
2) The dialogue sounds like actual people talking!
One of Johnson's strongest assets as a writer, in my opinion, is her ability to make the characters say things that real people would say to each other. Does she feed the plot through the dialogue? Sure. However, they also talk like normal people, saying things that often also turn out to be quite humorous and clever. Here's a short excerpt of a conversation from
Transformation:
“What time is
the Witching Hour anyway? Midnight?” Sidney asked, her expression seeming to
indicate that she was considering going with Drew.
“No,” Cadence said almost
automatically. “It’s 3:00 AM.”
“Are you sure?” Jack asked. “I always heard it was midnight.”
Cadence’s glance became a bit sterner.
“I’m sure,” she replied.
“Search engine it!” Taylor said,
taking over the mouse.
Jon laughed, “Because the word
Google is trademarked,” he commented quietly, almost to himself.
“She’s right!” Taylor exclaimed. “It
is 3:00 AM. Says so right here.”
“On Wikipedia? The most reliable
source of information since the invention of the internet,” Jon sneered.
“No, it’s not Wikipedia! It’s a site
about witches!” Taylor said defensively.
3) Cadence Findley is a Boss!
Okay, not literally. Aaron is the boss--at least for now. But Cadence Findley is one kick-ass heroine who can literally take down any vampire or ghoul that comes her way. And even though she's new to this thing, she's amazing at it. She's not perfect--she makes mistakes and almost gets kicked off the team. However, she comes back stronger than ever and proves that girls can do anything guys can do.
4) The pop culture references cause nostalgia.
Johnson has a flare for subtly weaving in memorable lines or references to the movies, books, and TV shows we all love. In fact, you may have to read the book a couple of times to make sure you didn't miss any. One of my favorite scenes is in Resurrection when Cadence and Aaron are talking about Bram Stoker's Dracula:
"Dracula. Not true," Aaron said.
"Oh, I guess you would know since you were
alive back then," Cadence replied.
"When Dracula was born? I'm not that old. Or
did you mean when the movie was made? Yes, I was alive in 1992."
"I wasn't," she reminded him.
"God, how is that possible," he
muttered, a comment that would have been under his breath if it hadn't been
through IAC.
"I meant at the turn of the 20th Century,
when most of the book was set. You were alive then, right?" Cadence
clarified.
"I was. And I knew Mr. Stocker," he
added, glancing in her direction. She looked a bit shocked. "He needed some information for his book.
Though, he didn't quite stay true to what we explained to him, he got most of
it right."
5) Just enough kissing to keep it interesting....
"Is this a kissing book?" (If you know what movie that line is from, you'll be happy to know Johnson works in references several times!)
This is not a love story--well, it is--but it isn't! I mean, there's Jack, Cadence's ex-boyfriend, and you have to wonder if something's going on there. And Christian tries to put a move on her.... But most importantly there's Aaron and we know how Cadence feels about him, despite the fact that she says he is "creepy" pretty early on. Nevertheless, there's just enough to keep you guessing. And by the end of
Resurrection, you'll think you know how it will turn out--or do you??
Okay, so call me biased if you will--but I honestly think these books are not only extremely well-written on top of being entertaining. So,
Transformation is on sale for 99 cents right now and you can buy it
here. Also, you can pre-order
Resurrection for 99 cents
here. Two amazing books for $2?!? Yes--do it, buy them now!
A note from ID Johnson: First of all, thanks so much Kinley for your time, your support, and for this hilarious piece. And to the readers, I hope you love the characters in these books as much as I do. I would love to hear your feedback, especially as I begin to write Book 3: Repercussion.
Lots of Love!!
Immy
