Blurb:
It sucks being the son of a super villain. At home, Harry spends half of his time getting medical treatments and the other half tied up in his father's underwater lair. It was different when his mother was alive, but she disappeared when Harry was six. He can't seem to stay out of trouble at school, and his new roommate, Antonin, thinks he’s a spaz, but somehow Harry has to find a way to stop his father's evil plans.
Antonin Karganilla wants to become a comic book artist, but other than that, being gay is the most normal thing about him. His uncle is an aquatic plant man, his aunt is a molecular biologist back from the dead, and his mom is an overprotective pain in the butt. Antonin's in boarding school and it's starting to look like he and this Harry kid might have a lot in common... and that means a whole new set of problems.
Antonin Karganilla wants to become a comic book artist, but other than that, being gay is the most normal thing about him. His uncle is an aquatic plant man, his aunt is a molecular biologist back from the dead, and his mom is an overprotective pain in the butt. Antonin's in boarding school and it's starting to look like he and this Harry kid might have a lot in common... and that means a whole new set of problems.
Excerpt:
He just wasn’t used to feeling like this, was all. Sometimes when he was alone he shook with it -- pinpricks of terror all over his body. Terror because he couldn’t quite understand how someone as fucked up as him could feel this good.
But then he’d think of Antonin, and he’d remember.
Harry took his customary seat at the back of the class and settled in for an hour of mystery speak from Professor Brill. Not Antonin, though. Antonin sat up at the front of the class with his notebook and his pencil, ready to take notes.
Harry had known Antonin was smart from the get-go, and it hadn’t taken long for him to appreciate his fine, fierce beauty either. But it wasn’t until Antonin assured him with calm and deadly certainty that the Old Man was as good as dead that Harry appreciated just how savage Antonin really was. If there was any chance at all of ridding the world of his father, it lay with Antonin along with every other hope Harry had ever had.
Brill was blathering on about the square of the hippopotamus or something, and for no reason at all, Antonin glanced over his shoulder at Harry with a little smile. Later he’d probably nag Harry for not taking notes, but Harry wouldn’t really mind. It was worth it to get that glance and that smile, a snapshot moment of dark eyes and soft lips that he could spend the rest of the day falling into.
He was in such deep shit.
But then he’d think of Antonin, and he’d remember.
Harry took his customary seat at the back of the class and settled in for an hour of mystery speak from Professor Brill. Not Antonin, though. Antonin sat up at the front of the class with his notebook and his pencil, ready to take notes.
Harry had known Antonin was smart from the get-go, and it hadn’t taken long for him to appreciate his fine, fierce beauty either. But it wasn’t until Antonin assured him with calm and deadly certainty that the Old Man was as good as dead that Harry appreciated just how savage Antonin really was. If there was any chance at all of ridding the world of his father, it lay with Antonin along with every other hope Harry had ever had.
Brill was blathering on about the square of the hippopotamus or something, and for no reason at all, Antonin glanced over his shoulder at Harry with a little smile. Later he’d probably nag Harry for not taking notes, but Harry wouldn’t really mind. It was worth it to get that glance and that smile, a snapshot moment of dark eyes and soft lips that he could spend the rest of the day falling into.
He was in such deep shit.
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My Review:
4.5 stars
4.5 stars
This was a wonderful book that I greatly enjoyed. Not only was the plot interesting, but the characters were wonderful and lively, and I absolutely love Antonin’s “family”. From a resurrected android, to a living plant man, they cracked me up, and they almost stole the show from Harry and Antonin, they were so great. And I loved getting to see multiple POVs (you read not only from Harry and Antonin’s POVs, but also Harry’s dad, and all of Antonin’s family members at times). Having multiple POVs can throw a story off sometimes, but it worked well here, and helped explain the character’s thoughts, motivations, backgrounds, etc., which really enhanced the story.
Another thing I loved about this book was that the romance wasn’t raced. Harry and Antonin went from being enemies to friends, and eventually to more than friends. I loved seeing how they grew and changed as the story progressed. Oh, and the ending? Loved it! I can’t wait to see what happens next.
The only thing that kept this from being a 5 star book was the violence and the language. While there was bad language, it didn't really bother me too much, but I thought it was a bit much for a YA book. The violence on the other hand, really bothered me. It wasn't just that there was a lot of it, it was that it was detailed as well. The abuse that Harry suffered especially was hard, and while I understand why it was necessary to have that happen to him to make him who he was, I didn’t think it needed to be spelled out so vividly and bluntly, especially in a YA book. I think that this book should be classified as a NA (new adult) book rather than a YA (young adult) one because of this.
All in all though, this was an amazing read. I laughed, I cried, I cringed, and I celebrated while reading this book. I would definitely recommend this book to an older crowd (high school and up, though this could be okay for some older/more mature middle schoolers), and I sincerely hope there’s a sequel where we see what happens in the aftermath and as Harry and Antonin age.
Jessica will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour. So the more you comment, the better your chances of winning!
September 16: Decadent Delights
September 17: Andi's Young Adult Books
September 19: Reading In Twilight
September 20: Straight from the Library
September 24: Out of the Lockbox
September 25: Two Fantasy Floozies
September 27: Sharing Links and Wisdom
September 27: Long and Short Reviews
Author Bio and Links:
Jessica Freely can't resist a wounded hero. As a reader and a writer, her favorite stories are of soul mates finding redemption in each other's arms. Married to the love of her life in a beautiful relationship based on mutual goofiness, Jessica also warps minds as an instructor in Seton Hill University's Writing Popular Fiction MFA program. Her dog, Ruthie, doesn't seem to care that Jessica's an award-winning and best-selling author in multiple genres. She just wants to play tug of war with Jessica's pages.
Jessica Freely Online:
Buy Link
Thank you for hosting
ReplyDeleteI felt the same way about math class and the square of the hippopotamus!
ReplyDeletecatherinelee100 at gmail dot com
I'm wondering what is going to happen to Harry's father...I wonder if they kill him? I'll have to read to find out!
ReplyDeleteIt's been a great tour, thank you.
ReplyDeleteKit3247(at)aol(dot)com
Good morning everyone! Thank you so much for having me and Harry and Antonin here today, SL&W! Love your blog. And thanks to Goddess Fish for setting up this awesome tour for me. :)
ReplyDeleteJill -- very good questions, and yes, you'll have to read the book to find out. ;)
Catherine, yeah. I remember having such a crush on my 11th grade math teacher, but I didn't learn a thing!
And Rta - great to see you here. Glad you've been enjoying the tour. Me too!
Good luck in the giveaway, everyone!
Harry's just a big marshmallow inside, isn't he?
ReplyDeleteJill - I promise you that you will love the book when you read it, Jessica has written a winner!
ReplyDeleteanother great excerpt. This sounds like a fun read.
ReplyDeleteYes, Ashley, YES. He's one of my favorite characters of all time, because he comes on so tough and then the more you get to know him the more he shows that tender side. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely thing to say, Lonie, thank you! And thank you for stopping by, MomJane, great to see you here.
Have an awesome weekend, everyone!
It was great hosting you Jessica, I loved the book!
DeleteOh, and come back on Monday because I'll be announcing the winner of the giveaway then!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this book and the giveaway. Love has many colors and I am looking forward to reading your book. Congrats on the completion of the tour. evamillien at gmail dot com
ReplyDeleteThank you for your lovely, thoughtful review, Eva. So glad you enjoyed the book!
ReplyDeleteOops. I meant to thank Emily for her review and Eva for stopping by. Doh! Too early, need more coffee. LOL
ReplyDeleteLOL, no problem, hope you're going to write a sequel *hint, hint*
DeleteHi everyone, I'm tallying up the comments and I'll be selecting a winner using Random.org. I'll announce that tomorrow morning, along with a little surprise for all of you!
ReplyDeleteHi everyone! Well, the blog tour for All the Colors of Love is officially over and I want to thank everyone who came out to celebrate with me. You made this tour so much fun!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to announce the winner of the giveaway in a moment, but first, I have a little surprise prezzie for all of you, because you are such fantastic friends and fans.
Sometimes when I write a book, I end up with some… extras; scenes that are perfectly wonderful on their own, but just don't quite fit in the book. I had a couple of scenes like that in All the Colors of Love. As I was going through my notes for the novel recently, I reread them and found that I liked them quite a bit. I thought, well, why let them go to waste? So now, for a limited time only, everyone can enjoy a little peek behind the scenes with these two ebook minis featuring scenes cut from All the Colors of Love.
Is He or Isn't He?
In this brief scene, Antonin and his friends speculate about Harry's sexual orientation, but wind up learning something even more important about the new kid at school.
The Runaway Heart
In this flashback scene, a young Magnolia struggles with a lot of complicated feelings over Cid's death and rebirth. But is running away the answer?
Both of these ebook minis have been professionally formatted by the fabulous Enny Kraft and are available in .pdf, .mobi, and .epub formats.
What do you have to do to get your copies? Not much! Just subscribe to my new all-ages MailChimp newsletter here:
http://eepurl.com/FYXLf
Or, my 18+ Yahoo! group, here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/jessicafreely/info
And now, the moment you've all been waiting for:
The winner of the giveaway is... *drumroll*
Ashley V!
Congrats Ashley, you've won a $25 gift certificate to the ebook retailer of your choice. Expect an email from me shortly, with details about claiming your prize.
Thanks again everyone. This has been a blast!
Hugs!
Jessica