Ais

Friday Favourites #2: Ais

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Friday Favourites is a new feature on my blog where you have a chance to learn more about my favoruite authors in a blitz interview and see what their favourite books are.


This week, Ais, co-author of the popular dystopian M/M series In the Company of Shadows (available for free at http://www.inthecompanyofshadows.com/) is sharing with us her Friday Favourites. And fans of manga and comics, you don't want to miss this interview. 

Firday Favourites


1. Favourite place
Curled up on the couch on a warm summer day with the windows wide open, the wind sifting through my hair, and sunlight heating my feet.


2. Favourite food and drink

Vietnamese food (it's a draw between banh mi or broken rice platter) but for drink it would be tea (could be jasmine, could be chai, could be bubble tea, or could be Malay pull tea/Teh tarik).


3. Favourite music/genre/artist/song

I don't have one all-time favorite, but I've loved Metallica for most of my life

4. Favourite movie/TV series
One Piece, the Japanese manga/anime series by Eiichiro Oda (although I like the manga more than the anime).

5. Favourite hobby besides writing
Drawing or reading :)

Favourite books 

NON-FICTION:
The Code Book and Big Bang by Simon Singh

M/M:
Raised by Wolves series by W.A. Hoffman (first book: Brethren)
All for the Game series by Nora Sakavic (first book: Foxhole Court)


GENERAL:
If manga counts, once again I'd go with One Piece by Eiichiro Oda
If manga doesn't count, then maybe the Sandman Comics by Neil Gaiman
If nothing visual counts then the only other series I can think of that I loved as a kid and might still love now is the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede (first book: Dealing With Dragons)


AUTHOR BIO

Ais was first influenced by fantasy themes (who didn't want to be a dragon or mermaid when they grew up? Come on) and eventually came to write whatever meets her fancy. She's best known as the co-author of the post-apocalyptic m/m slash drama In the Company of Shadows. Her next projects are anyone's guess, but she's considering branching into f/f. Other future projects include returning to her roots of fantasy. (Because she secretly still loves dragons and mermaids)

She loves talking to people so if you're debating whether or not you should say something to her, the answer is: Yes. Yes, you should.

Author links: Goodreads / Tumblr / Twitter / Facebook 

Her upcoming title is Dead Rain, an LGBT fantasy 
Summary: Magic can change a person, twisting them into something they weren’t before. Some kill for this, some try to slow it down, but there is no cure. Not one that’s known, anyway.

Excerpt


With new resolution, he rolled off the bed, and felt around until his hand connected with the bowl. He brought it with him as he paced the room and located the exact center. There, he sat down crosslegged and rested the bowl lightly on his fingertips at the center of his lap. He closed his eyes and tipped his head forward, feeling his dreadlocks falling forward over his shoulders.

He breathed evenly; a long pull in, a slow draw out, until his heartbeat evened and the room fell away around him. The center of his forehead itched. When he had been a child, he had hated the feeling. He still remembered their training. The way Robin had laughed at him and had repeatedly flicked him hard on the spot, until Oz had protested and Robin had told him, “Now the itching doesn’t bother you as much, does it?”

Now, he felt it with relief. Here was the only way he would ever see again, under his own control.

Blue light burned first at his fingertips and third eye, then raced outward along the surface of his skin until it connected at his arms, and raced down his torso. He couldn’t see it but he could feel it so strongly it lent a solid image in his mind. It had always been the same, even when he could see. He remembered so clearly the look of those veins hovering outside his skin, outlining the capillaries around his body in a complex cloud of thin lines. The pulse of the power along with his heartbeat.

The mark of witch’s blood.
*** *** ***

Next week my guest at Friday Favourites will be Sarina Bowen, author of NA romance series The Ivy Years, which I absolutely love and the Adult romance series, Gravity.

Ais

Review: Afterimage by Ais and Santino Hasell

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Title: Afterimage (In the Company of Shadows #2)
Author: Santino and Ais
Genre: Romantic suspense, Dystopia, M/M

Santino's links:
Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Pinterest
Ais' links:

My rating: 4 Stars 
Add on Goodreads 

Synopsis

In the Company of Shadows is a series about two people who are thrown together as partners in a secret agency; their mission is to disband rebels who have propagated in a post-war future, but they have to deal with everything that comes with an unlikely partnership as well.

Miscommunication, periods of distance, fleeting smiles and learning to trust someone when a person can't even trust himself, these are what they struggle with while still trying to do their jobs. One is a psychopath, called a murderer and monster and generally deemed subhuman by nearly everyone who knows of him; the other is an introvert, cold and emotionless and so lost in thoughts that he would agree that he can be called a monster of inhumanity. But what makes a person human; is it humanity, compassion, or is it simply the ability to reason? Can a monster be human, and general humanity breed monsters?

While they learn about each other, they learn about themselves; where their loyalty and morality lies, and how learning to trust another person can be incredibly difficult, bittersweet, and rewarding all at the same time. Join Hsin Liu Vega (aka "Sin") and Boyd Beaulieu as they struggle to find where they fit in a world slowly recovering from war.

Mini Review

This is the unedited version, so it's much longer and wordy than book 1. It took me some time to read it but I really enjoyed it. 

I found it a bit slow, especially at the beginning. I found it too introspective and the inability of Boyd and Sin to really talk to each other, though understandable given their background and current situaiton, was really frustrating.  

Boyd and Sin go through a lot here; though they are separated most of the time and their relationship hits an all-time low here. I  feel so much for Sin that I'm ready to accept/excuse his behaviour no matter how inappropriate it was. Boyd, on the other hand, made some spectacular msitakes. I realize he meant well and he needed to take care of himself, but his actions did make me so angry and sad. I 'm struggling with myself to forgive him.

I love how emotionally invested I'm in everyone we meet in this series. The authors introduce a lot of new characters in this installment and they have quickly warmed their way into my heart as well (Kassian, especially but also Cade and Emma and the rest of their group). We see some old secondary characters in a new light - Ryan, Ann, Carhart and I particularly appreciate how multilayered the both the plot and characters are becoming. 

Ais and Santino make a perfect blend of compicated relationships, interesting plot full of unexpected turns and lots of action and heartbreaking moments of honesty and intimacy. It feels like a truly epic story, painfully real despite the dystopian setting. 

This whole series is available for free on http://www.inthecompanyofshadows.com/

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