Ixeos Blog Tour, Review and Giveaway!!

Welcome to my stop on the Ixeos blog tour, hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer.
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★★★

  Format: E-Book

Series: Ixeos Trilogy #1

Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy

Publication Date: February 13,2013

The McClellands are enjoying a lazy summer vacation at the beach when they are lured from our world into Ixeos, an alternate Earth. Finding themselves lost in a maze of tunnels under Paris and surrounded by strangers, they discover that they have been brought to Ixeos for one purpose: to take the planet back from humanoid aliens who have claimed it. With the aid of the tunnels and a mysterious man named Landon, the teens travel the world seeking the key that will allow them to free Darian, the long-imprisoned rebel leader. But the aliens aren't the only problem on Ixeos -- the McClellands have to deal with brutal gangs, desperate junkies, and a world without power, where all the technology is owned by the aliens, and where most of the population has been killed or enslaved. The worst part? There's no way home.

Review: I find myself chuckling as I start writing this review because I know I will probably come across sounding like a negative Nancy but to understand the good you have to understand the bad first. I liked Ixeos, I just didn't love it and here's why. My biggest complaint by far with Ixeos were the characters themselves. If I had to describe them only using one word I'd pick the term vanilla. None, save maybe Abbacus stood out for me. Every character even the mysterious Jesus-esque Landon blended together. I was never entirely sure who I was following or even worse the sex of the character I was following. I literally had to keep rereading conversations just to tell who was in the scene. Was I following The McClellands, The Ixeos Group or those Humans scattered across the world helping bring down the firsts? With a cast of characters so large it really became quite irksome not being able to clearly follow who is in the scene. My other issue, gripe whatever you want to call it with Ixeos was the pacing/overall length. The book started so strongly. I was pulled in from the very first page. The set up and how the McClelland's arrived in Ixeos was so cool and creative to boot. Ducks, honestly who would've thought! However, once I made it to the halfway point the pacing slowed way down and I could feel my interest waning with every flick of the page. See, it isn't that the story in itself was bad but instead it came down with a classic case of to much telling not enough showing. Lack of action definitely was an issue. I mean this book takes place on an alternate Earth ruled by aliens Firsts and guess what?? Even the villains of the story are boring. No, sadly I am not joking. Honestly in this readers opinion the book needed to be condensed. A page here, a chapter there and this could of been the best Sci-Fi book in ages especially considering how strongly it started off. When you find yourself wishing for mass character slaughter just to see something exciting happen it becomes quite clear that pacing/length is an issue. Overall, I really wanted to love Ixeos but much to my dismay found myself only liking it. Ixeos is a clear middle of the road book for me. I neither loved nor hated it and sometimes those are the worst type of books for me. The question however remains, Would I recommend Ixeos? No hesitation here, I definitely say Yes!! The world building in this book was certainly decent and I LOVED how the characters traveled throughout the world. The tunnels aspect was one of the coolest things I've ever seen and reminded me in more than a few ways of that old TV show Sliders, which you know is totally awesome comparison. I also really liked that every person who arrives in Ixeos has a purpose. Characters don't arrive just because they happen to be in the right place at the right time. Every person who arrives in Ixeos is part of a much grander plan its just when that plan will fall into place and what exactly it is nobody knows. Guess I'll just have to read Book 2 to find that out. In the end, I will be rating Ixeos by Jennings Wright ★★★.

Author Bio & Links

Born and raised in Rockledge, Florida, Jennings spent her early years reading anything she could get her hands on, when she wasn't spending time in and on the water. She won a prize in the 6th grade for her science fiction stories.

Jennings attended the University of the South and the University of Tampa, graduating with a B.A. in Political Science, and almost enough credits for B.A.s in both English and History. She spent time over the years doing various kinds of script doctoring, business writing, editing, and teaching writing, but mostly having and raising her family, homeschooling her children, owning and running a business with her husband, and starting a non-profit to Uganda.

Thanks to a crazy idea called NaNoWriMo Jennings got back into creative writing in 2011 and hasn't stopped since. She's written four novels and a screenplay in less than a year, with more ideas on the drawing board. She currently lives in North Carolina with her husband, also a writer, and two children, and travels extensively. 

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