YA Bound Book Tours is organizing a Blog Tour for: No One Dies in the Garden of Syn by Michael Seidelman. This tour will run from April 25th to 29th. Check out the tour schedule.
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by Michael Seidelman
Genre; YA Fantasy
Release Date: April 26th 2016
Summary from Goodreads:
Synthia (Syn) Wade is a teenage girl who struggles with cystic fibrosis, an incurable life-threatening disease. One day she is pushed into a pond by an unseen figure and wakes up in a new world – a mysterious garden where illness and death don’t exist.
Welcomed by the garden’s residents and now free of her symptoms, Syn decides to stay. But, before long, she realizes that this apparent utopia holds many dangers and dark secrets.
Surrounding the garden is a fog that Syn is warned never to enter. She encounters bizarre creatures that defy reason. And always lurking in the shadows is a masked woman - a woman who may have a connection to the disappearance of Syn’s parents many years ago. A woman whom no one will speak of, but whom everyone fears.
While No One Dies in the Garden of Syn, Syn will soon discover that some fates are worse than death.
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Review:
Syn is a teenage girl who is struggling with cystic fibrosis (CF), which is a disease that affects the lungs. Syn has a routine that she must complete each morning just to be able to make it through the day. Every day of her life is a struggle due to a non-curable disease. The doctors have told her she would most likely only live into her twenties. I think the idea of knowing how much time you have left has really affected Syn as a person. She doesn’t want to get close to many people. Syn lives with her aunt who takes care of her after her parents disappeared when she was young. She is then pushed into the pond in the garden and discovers a parallel universe where she is no longer sick and some crazy things are going on that just don’t add up.
I
connected with Syn as a character, she was very well written. The author did a great job describing her
constant struggle that she has and what her symptoms are. Syn has been suffering her whole life so she
is constantly aware of her disease and condition. It is hard for Syn to get close to people and
she said she only has one true friend who is also very sick and going to not
live long. I think during the course of
the book Syn discovers a lot about herself while being in the garden and really
matures. At the end of the book she is a
much stronger individual and someone who is looking to make changes in her life
for the better.
The
story is a little slow moving to me, there are a lot of questions that pop up
in Syn’s mind and my mind as a reader and it takes time for everything to unravel. I feel like I wanted bits and pieces to fall
into place a little sooner to grab my attention more there were parts I felt
almost like it dragged along since I didn’t know what was going on or how to
piece everything together into the puzzle.
Towards the end of the book the action really picks up and we get a lot
of answers to all the questions that where pilling up for the reader. The ending of the book is amazing!
I think the best part of the story is when Syn goes back through the portals to the other universes and sees what else could have happened to her. It was a really interesting part of the story and something I would have loved to read more about the other universes and other characters in those universes.
The
author did a great job with the descriptions of the book and making the reader
feel like they were in the garden as well.
The fog portion of the book was a little confusing, but then made sense
after explained. The fog was also a
little distrusting to me and a little dark in nature. The story does take more of a dark turn
towards the end and makes you question if you really know anyone.
I
would suggest this as a nighttime read; it was easy to pick up and put
down. The story was easy to follow along.
I
received a copy of this book from YA Bound Book Tours for an honest
review. This does not affect my opinion
of the book.
My Rating: 3/5
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Check out this Excerpt:
As the cold surface of the water strikes my face, my mind is scrambled with confusion, dread, and fear. Water floods through my nose and mouth and into my lungs. I flay my arms and legs yet can’t get my head above water.
As the cold surface of the water strikes my face, my mind is scrambled with confusion, dread, and fear. Water floods through my nose and mouth and into my lungs. I flay my arms and legs yet can’t get my head above water.
I
instinctively cough, which brings more water into my lungs. That’s an absolute
disaster for someone with CF. Panic sets in. Unable to turn around, and sinking
deeper, far deeper than I would have believed. This pond had always seemed
shallow.
My
limited sight worsens. Unless someone pulls me out, I’m going to die. My life
expectancy was already short but I never thought I’d go this young. I can feel
my consciousness—my life—fading away. I’ll never see Janna again. Or Aunt Ruth.
Though it might have been naïve to have believed otherwise, I’ll never see my
parents again either. Or even find out what happened to them. The end is near.
No, far worse. The end is here!
I
see only black as my life begins to seep from my body. Nothing but black.
And...and...the outline of something. A light. A glow. And then....
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About the Author
My name is Michael Seidelman. I was born in Vancouver, BC Canada where I continue to reside. When I was growing up, my passions were reading, watching movies, nature and creative writing. Not much has changed since then. In high school when I had an opportunity to write short stories in class, I relished reading them out loud to my classmates who would gasp at the unexpected twists and applaud when I was done. I took several creative writing classes and have continued writing over the years while working in Interactive Marketing.
About
two years ago, I decided to take some time off to focus on my writing
and work on a Young Adult trilogy. The first book in The Garden of Syn series – No One Dies in the Garden of Syn – will be released on April 26th. Meanwhile, I am working hard on the second and third books in the series.
Getting
up every morning and sitting down to create new characters and bring
new worlds to life is the most fulfilling job I have ever had. Beyond
the trilogy, I have many ideas plotted out and I look forward to sharing
them all with the world!
Author Links:
