Last but not least - Round Five! As a guest judge in this year's SPFBO 2020, I have been tasked with reading 5 of the 30 books in Booknest's batch this year, and choosing 1 of them to go on as a semi-finalist. My 5 books are The Jealousy of Jalice by Jesse Nolan Bailey, Wayfarer by K.M. Weiland, A Storm of Silver and Ash by Marion Blackwood, Architect by RT Mulder, and Chasing Sunrise by Emily Mah. I will also be writing a brief review for each of them. Once that is done, I'll announce my choice of semi-finalist - and that's all happening today! My final review is of Chasing Sunrise by Emily Mah...
Chasing Sunrise is paranormal YA in the classic tradition of Stephenie Meyer. It feels to me in every way to be a cross between Meyer's Twilight and The Host, yet Chasing is different enough to thoroughly satisfy fans of Meyer and the girl-who's-bitten-hooks-up-with-hot-guardian-guy-who-isn't-actually-human genre of YA fiction. And an enormous fanbase that is. Very well written and nicely paced, if you're a fan of the genre I highly recommend it - this book is as good as it gets.