Burn Mark Blog Tour: interview and giveaway

I'm excited to have the Burn Mark Blog Tour stopping by today with an interview with author Laura Powell and a giveaway!!

You can check out my review of Burn Mark here

Q1. What three words best describe Burn Mark?

Paranormal crime thriller.

Q2. Pitch Burn Mark to a reluctant reader using just one sentence…really sell it!

As gangster witches battle inquisitors on the streets of modern London, two mortal enemies are drawn together to uncover a conspiracy that will rock their worlds...

Q3. Who is your favorite character in Burn Markand what do you love about them?

I love all my characters - even the villains. But I particularly enjoyed getting to know my heroine Glory's "Auntie Angel". She's an old lady, but she's still the head of her coven, a criminal gang in London's East End. Even though being a witch has brought her nothing but trouble, she still wants Glory to be the biggest, baddest witch in London, and will stop at nothing to get her way.

Q4. What witch power would you love to possess?

I'd like ability to steal somebody else's appearance so I could spend time masquerading as a celebrity. It would be fun to be Kate Middleton or Lady GaGa for a day.

Q5. If you were to bake a Burn Mark inspired cupcake what would it taste/look like and what would you call it?

It would have to be spiced pumpkin with lots of ginger (so Halloween themed), with a black treacle frosting. We call cupcakes" fairy cakes" in the UK, and as the power my witches have is called the "fae", this one would be a fae cake!

Thanks Laura for answering my questions!

Glory is from a family of witches and lives beyond the law. She is desperate to develop her powers and become a witch herself. Lucas is the son of the Chief Prosecutor for the Inquisition—the witches’ mortal enemy—and his privileged life is very different to the forbidden world that he lives alongside.
And then on the same day, it hits them both. Glory and Lucas develop the Fae—the mark of the witch. In one fell stroke, their lives are inextricably bound together, whether they like it or not . . .

Find the author: Site / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

Purchase: Amazon / B&N / Book Depository

Win a finished copy of Burn Mark!!!

Thanks to the awesome people at Bloomsbury, I have one finished copy of this book to give away.

DETAILS

-Will run from 7/7 - 7/21

-US ONLY

-One winner will win a finished copy of Burn Mark

Fill out Rafflecopter form to enter

• One main entry per person
• Must be a blog follower and must be 13+ to enter
• US only
• Winner will be emailed and must claim prize within 48 hours
• I am NOT responsible for lost, damaged or stolen prize

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Burn Mark by Laura Powell

Stop by my Burn Mark Blog Tour post and check out my interview with Laura Powell and enter to win a copy of the book!

TITLE: Burn Mark                        AUTHOR: Laura Powell PUB: Bloomsbury                         PUB DATE: 6/19/12 FORMAT: eARC SOURCE: from pub for review

Glory is from a family of witches and lives beyond the law. She is desperate to develop her powers and become a witch herself. Lucas is the son of the Chief Prosecutor for the Inquisition—the witches’ mortal enemy—and his privileged life is very different to the forbidden world that he lives alongside.And then on the same day, it hits them both. Glory and Lucas develop the Fae—the mark of the witch. In one fell stroke, their lives are inextricably bound together, whether they like it or not . . .

THREE WORDS: Original, Intriguing, Refreshing

MY REVIEW: I haven’t read too many YA books that focus on witches, so I was very intrigued by the premise of Laura Powell’s Burn Mark. And Powell has certainly crafted a highly original witch story.

Glory and Lucas live in a world that is like ours, except in their reality witches are real. Real and feared. Glory comes from a line of famous witches and hopes she’ll develop the Fae very soon, while Lucas, the son of Chief Prosecutor for the Inquisition, knows that if he develops the Fae it would mean the end of everything he’s always worked for. And to Glory’s joy and Lucas’ dismay, it hits them on the same day. When Lucas is used to infiltrate Glory’s coven, the two teens find themselves forced to work together to uncover a deadly plot.

Burn Mark offers readers an innovative story where the paranormal is considered normal. In the world Powell has created, witches are feared and treated as second class citizens, as their abilities and existence aren’t secret. In many books, the existence of the supernatural elements and beings isn’t common knowledge and I really like that the witches in this book aren’t forced to live or practice in secret. Another really original aspect that I like is how the covens are very gangster-like. These aren’t just groups of witches casting spells and growing herbs, these are powerful and dangerous groups who deal more in stolen goods and drugs then magic potions.

Powell crafts quite the thought-provoking story as well in the way she has developed the very fragile social structure in which both witches and non-witches alike must live. Both groups do bad things and treat each other with prejudice, and there are no real “good” or “bad” guys.

This is a longer read at over 400 pages and it did take a good 50-70 pages for the story to really pick up, and the story moved slower than I liked. But the mystery Glory and Lucas are trying to solve is written well and full of enough twists to keep readers firmly engaged in the story. There’s a lack of explosive action, which was a bit disappointing, but didn’t ruin the overall suspense.

The two main characters, Glory and Lucas are likeable, but not too memorable. I didn’t really connect with either of them; there’s nothing about them that I found annoying or unlikable, I just didn’t relate to them. I do like that there’s no cliché romance between the two (no “I hate you but I secretly love you!” or “We’re so different but we’re soulmates!”) and found this so refreshing. They do have a very believable friendship that grows organically, which I really appreciated.

The book concludes by wrapping up the mystery but leaving some things open-ended. There’s definitely room for a sequel and I would definitely read it.

MY FINAL THOUGHTS: Burn Mark may not have wowed me, but I did enjoy the original and refreshing story. Fan of witches and/or crime mysteries would certainly be captivated by this book. It’s definitely worth a read!

MY RATING

Find the author: Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

Purchase: Amazon / B&N / Book Depository

Laura Powell grew up in rural Wales and now lives in West London. She wrote her first book while studying Classics at Oxford and worked in publishing for five years before leaving to concentrate on her writing.

Hop on over and check out my interview with Laura and enter the giveaway!