Jinnspeak by M. S. Farzan (spotlight, excerpt, review, and GIVEAWAY) GFT

Jinnspeak

by M. S. Farzan

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GENRE: Young adult urban fantasy/magic realism

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BLURB:

Zahra's algebra midterm is in one month, but more importantly, the Winter Formal is only two weeks away. Fitting into high school is hard enough for the Pakistani American teenager, particularly when a fire spirit begins appearing in her dreams, speaking to her in a language she doesn’t understand. Meanwhile, a secret cult at her school begins to carry out a nefarious plot, with only the Magic Club – and its newest member, Zahra – standing in its way. A popular multiplayer online roleplaying game may hold the secret to saving Golden Mountain High School, but only if Zahra can decipher her perplexing new talent – Jinnspeak.

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EXCERPT

That night, Zahra dreamed. 

It wasn’t one of those trances where people and places seem to be just strange enough to have the possibility of being real.  Nor was it a fragmented dreamscape where each object and every character stands as a symbol for thoughts being played out in the subconscious.   It was vivid, cohesive, and unlike anything she had experienced.

She was standing in a large grass field, lit only by a full, red moon overhead and frigid as a midwinter night.  She shivered, but not with cold, as her body was hot, as though she had been running.  Her breath turned to frost in front of her, and the only sound was the air rushing in and out of her lungs.

Zahra turned to take in her surroundings, but there was only dimly lit grass for as far as her eyes could see.  She looked up at the moon, which cast the field in an eerie scarlet incandescence.  Her heart beat loudly in her chest, sounding like a drum in her ears.

She turned again, and was startled to see a figure standing before her, in what had previously been an empty expanse of grass.  The form was a rough outline of a human body, mirroring her own in size and stature, but wreathed completely in crimson fire.  It made no motion or sound, and two almond-shaped eyes peered out at her from within the flames.

Buy Link: 

Amazon

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

M. S. Farzan was born in London, UK and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has a B.A. in Integrative Biology, M.A. in Religious Leadership for Social Change, and Ph.D. in Cultural and Historical Studies of Religions. He has written and worked for high-profile video game companies and editorial websites such as Electronic Arts, Perfect World Entertainment, and MMORPG.com, and has trained in and taught Japanese martial arts for over ten years. He also enjoys soccer, baseball, and games of all kinds.

Twitter

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GIVEAWAY


a Rafflecopter giveaway


The tour dates can be found here

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My review:

4 stars

Jinnspeak by M.S.Farzan is a young adult novella that centers around Zahra, a junior in high school who is dealing with the normal teen challenges—difficult classes, social gatherings, and peer pressure, but also has to cope with different cultural norms and a distressing escalation in unusual dreams. Fortunately, her best friend, DJ, is right there to help and he has connections that will come in handy if she can bring herself to reveal her concerns in time for them to make a difference.

I enjoy stories that expand my horizons and give me a chance to experience different cultures and mores, so this was a very satisfying tale in that respect. It has been quite a while since I have dealt with the angst of being a shy teen in semi-uncomfortable social situations but the author evoked those emotions vividly and added the twist of a paranormal element. I thought a few things were a little forced and not everything was resolved as much as I would like, but perhaps that is due to the brevity of the story. Nonetheless, this is an engaging story that straddles the line between urban fantasy and contemporary fiction and features a lovely cast of diverse characters and I hope that there are more tales to come.

A copy of this title was provided to me for review

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