Blog Tour: Review + Guest Post: Persistence Of Vision by Liesel K. Hill

Reading Level: Ages 13 and up

Paperback: 386 Pages

Release Date: January 29, 2013

Publisher: Tate Publishing

Narration: Third Person: Maggie,

Marcus, Other Minor Characters

Genre: New Adult/Sci Fi

 

Interchron Series:

Book One: Persistence Of Vision

Book Two: Unknown

Book Three: Unknown

 

Order On Amazon: Paperback

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Order On Barnes and Noble:

Paperback and Nook

 

Author's

( Goodreads ! Website ! Blog ! Twitter ! Facebook )

 

Goodreads Synopsis:

 

In a world where collective hives are enslaving the population and individuals have been hunted to the verge of extinction, Maggie Harper, and independent 21st Century woman, must find the strength to preserve the freedom of the future, but without the aid of her memories.

After experiencing a traumatic time loss, Maggie is plagued by a barrage of images she can't explain. When she's attacked by a creep with a spider's web tattoo, she is saved by Marcus, a man she's never met, but somehow remembers. He tells her that both he and her creepy attacker are from a future in which individuals are being murdered by collectives, and Marcus is part of the rebellion. The collectives have acquired time travel and they plan to enslave the human race throughout all of history. The flashes Maggie has been seeing are echoes of lost memories, and the information buried deep within them is instrumental in defeating the collective hives.

In order to preserve the individuality of mankind, Maggie must try to re-discover stolen memories, re-kindle friendships she has no recollection of, and wade through her feelings for the mysterious Marcus, all while dodging the tattooed assassins the collectives keep sending her way.

If Maggie can't fill the holes in her memory and find the answers to stop the collectives, the world both in her time and in all ages past and future will be doomed to enslavement in the grey, mediocre collectives. As the danger swirls around her and the collectives close in, Maggie realizes she must make a choice: stand out or fade away...

 

My Review:

 

Wooot! First Blog Tour Ever! Huge thank you to Liesel Hill for inviting me to be a part of her tour and providing me a copy of her debut novel, Persistence of Vision! :D

 

*Does Happy Dance*

 

 

Now that I've gotten that out of my system, let's move onto the actual book, shall we? Persistence of Vision was definitely something I have never encountered before! I'm usually a pretty eclectic reader when it comes to books, but the Sci Fi/Time Travel genre has never been of interest to me. I've tried reading books like Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris (which is related to the Time Traveling theme if you don't know), but throughout most of that book, my reactions and thoughts basically equated to, "Uhhhh what the heck just happened?" All of the sciencey terms and equations they used had my head reeling! Although there were certain points in Persistence of Vision when I was confused as to how something worked or how something came to be, unlike Unraveling, those moments weren't very often and the majority of the explanations were very straightforward.

 

In this story, we follow Maggie and her journey into discovering who she truly is and where she really came from. Ever since she and her brother lost 12 hours of time and woke up confused in a locked hotel room, Maggie has always felt like something was missing. Even when her brother, Jonah, moved on and wrote off the incident as a freak accident, Maggie could never get it off her mind. She always felt out of it, as if she didn't belong where she currently resided. She constantly had the same flashes of random events but never understood their meaning. When a stranger drops by her doorstep one afternoon, everything she ever knows changes within a blink of an eye. Maggie soon finds herself caught between two life changing choices: To either leave with a complete stranger who seems to know things about her that she hasn't even admitted to herself.....or ignore his warnings and stay at home...even with the possibility that someone's coming for her. Someone who means to kill her. Or Worse. 

 

Maggie was a great character most of the time! She wouldn't hesitate to risk her life in order to save someone she didn't even know. She was compassionate towards others and was an admirable character to read about. Generally, she made realistic decisions. Like when she was questioning Marcus and Doc about who they were and what their purpose really was. She asked the exact same questions I would've asked if I was in her position. Also, when she was told that she and Marcus were romantically involved, she didn't immediately swoon over him. Her reactions were sensible and although their conversations flowed easily when they had a topic to talk about, she felt awkward because she didn't remember anything about their love for one another. Which is understandable. However, there were also times when I felt like she trusted others a little too easily and ignored VERY important LIFE CHANGING revelations.

 

Marcus was a great character as well! Although he wasn't swoonworthy, he was sweet, thoughtful, and kind. Even though he remembered everything about Maggie and the romance they once kindled, he didn't push her to remember him or try to force a relationship upon her. He gave her space to breathe, and if things got to uncomfortable between them, he would find a way to excuse himself in order to not cause her any discomfort. Marcus did whatever it took to protect her even if it meant sacrificing his life in the process.

 

Since Persistence of Vision wasn't in the Young Adult category but instead was classified as a New Adult novel, I feared that there would be some....inappropriate material not suited for people under the age of 18. xD But rest assured! The romance was as clean as can be and the most that ever happened were a few kisses here and there. Actually, to be honest, it was cleaner than most YA novels. There was a slight love triangle, but since the two main characters were around 20, there wasn't as much teenage angst. So for those of you who flinch at the very mention of love triangles, be warned, but I don't think you'll have any issues with it.

 

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that there were barely any grammatical errors at all! If you've read my previous reviews, you would know that I am grammatically challenged, but from what I could see, there were only a few slight problems with missing words here like "the" or "a". However, even though there were a few minor errors here and there, you could still clearly see what the author was trying to say. The other grammar/spelling mistakes I did find were tiny and didn't detract from my overall enjoyment of the novel.

 

The pacing was slow in the beginning. I was bored, but not to the point where I was flipping pages in order to find something better on the next page. However, when I hit around the 35% mark I think it was? It started to get a lot more interesting, and I was soon sucked into the world Liesel weaved! :D

 

Overall, the premise of a futuristic world when people are being absorbed into "Collectives" and controlled by higher beings is super unique! I've never read any book with a theme remotely close to this, but since I'm not usually into the whole Sci Fi theme, I don't know if my word means much. xD The characters were very likable, and I really connected with them, despite the fact that they were slightly older than I'm used to. If you enjoy stories related to mind control, Sci Fi, and superpowers, you'll definitely want to see what Persistence of Vision has to offer!

 

Heroine- 4/5

Romance- 4.5/5

Action- 3/5 Little slow in the beginning, but it picked up near the middle.

Comedy- N/A There were a couple of funny moments but not enough to rate.

Overall- 4/5

Guest Post by Liesel K. Hill on

                   Books and Technology:

 

 

As all things in our world go digital, and the age of Star Trekkian technology bounds toward us, there’s a lot of debate about digital books versus physical books.

 

There are those that embrace the digital age whole-heartedly and those who refuse to go digital on principal. Most people are a hybrid of the two. They still buy hard copy books, but also own a digital reader.

 

I’ve found digital readers can be much more convenient at times, especially when the need to travel arises. Of course, I still have shelves full of books I don’t intend to dispose of anytime soon.

 

So what’s my advice? Don’t be afraid of technology. At the rate digital technology is growing, it can only help the spread of great books. Besides, technology isn’t disappearing anytime soon. If you refuse to get on the bandwagon, chances are you’ll be left behind.

 

Did you know that things like Star Trek’s replicator and cloaking devices have, for all intents and purposes, already been invented? It’s true! The technology simply isn’t in a place yet where it can be widely used and distributed. They’re well on their way to inventing the medical tri-corder as well.

 

According to the Google Execute Chairman, “From the very beginning of time until the year 2003, humankind created five exabytes of digital information. An Exabyte is one billion gigabytes—or a 1 with eighteen zeroes after it. Right now, in the year 2010, the human race is generating five exabytes of information every two days. By the year 2013, the number will be five exabytes produced every ten minutes.”

(Source: Peter Diamandis, Abundance)

 

So, if you want to read and write and keep up with the world, I suggest you jump on the bandwagon of technology. There’s no better way for writers to spread their stories, readers to access them, and book lovers to share their passion.

 

Happy reading, Everyone, in whatever format you choose. :D

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you enjoyed my review and Liesel's intriguing guest post!

Thanks for dropping by! :)