{Blog Tour/Review} The Adventures of Jewel Cardwell: Hydra's Nest by Fumi Hancock

ISBN #: 978-1475945379

Page Count: 305

Copyright: September 13, 2012

Publisher: iUniverse

Book Summary:

(Taken from back cover)

Free-spirited and more than a little rebellious, seventeen-year-old Jewel Cardwell isn't too thrilled when she gains admission to Grayton Preparatory School, a prestigious, girls-only, top-notch private institution nestled in the South African farmlands of Limpopo. Unfortunately, it's a move that will change her life forever.

Almost from the moment she arrives, a string of misfortunes and strange occurrences begin trailing her. The comforts of home have been swept away, and she is plunged into a world where she has to fend for herself. But that pales in comparison to what happens on the nights when there's a full moon. Dark forces swirl during those nights and turn up in the form of hideous monsters and frightening demons.

Though Jewel has always been drawn to the darker side of life, this is more than she bargained for. She's also caught between two boys: Darwin Morton, a lad she's known growing up, and Eric Broder, a soccer team leader with a silver spoon in his mouth. Why her love life has to get interesting now is a question she can't answer!

The key to it all may be in her grandmother's locket, which Jewel always wears. Will Jewel be able to solve the mystery before evil is unleashed against those she loves?

Mandy's Review:

Cover

The cover is one that will draw readers in due to the haunting quality of the coloring and close-up of the girl's face. I think it's beautiful.

Plot/Main Characters

Jewel lives in a secluded area of Africa and is somewhat of a rebellious teenager. All she wants to do is hang out with her friends and have fun ... which I think would be difficult to do with all of the riots happening in town. She has to grow up fast, though, when she's accepted into a prestigious, all-girl's school 500 miles away from her home.

Before Jewel heads to her new school, her grandmother tells her a family secret and gives her a special locket. Jewel, as the first girl born of her generation, is the "chosen" girl to fight and stop Moja Kali ... an evil entity that seeks out the firstborn females of each generation in Jewel's family line. Moja Kali also seeks to destroy the men of the same family at the point of their success.

Will Jewel be brave enough to become the person she needs to be to stop Moja Kali? Or will she allow her emotional immaturity and confusing love-life to distract her from her familial duties?

Overall

This storyline is definitely reminiscent of the infamous Harry Potter series. However, I don't think it's as well-written as Harry Potter. The dialogues and emotional expressions were what distracted me from getting emotionally involved in the story. I was going to say that Jewel was like an emotional ticking time-bomb, but, really, her whole family was. I just didn't understand where all the anger came from and, when she was angry, her words didn't feel true to her emotions. It became laborious to read.

Also, we know that Moja Kali cursed Jewel's family back in the 1800s, but I don't recall it ever saying why. All we know is that there's a very PO'd evil entity out there wanting to kill people.

This book definitely has the potential to be great, and I've even seen rave reviews for it from others online, but this just did not resonate with me. I hate to give a bad review for a blog tour, but I can only tell you how it made me feel. Maybe you should read this for yourself and see how you feel about it.


*A paperback copy of the book was provided by the author through the tour host, Pump Up Your Book, for the purposes of this tour and in exchange for an honest review.