ARC REVIEW: BEYOND THE RED by Ava Jae

BEYOND THE RED by Ava Jae. 

Summary: Alien queen Kora has a problem as vast as the endless crimson deserts. She’s the first female ruler of her territory in generations, but her people are rioting and call for her violent younger twin brother to take the throne. Despite assassination attempts, a mounting uprising of nomadic human rebels, and pressure to find a mate to help her rule, she’s determined to protect her people from her brother’s would-be tyrannical rule.

Eros is a rebel soldier hated by aliens and human alike for being a half-blood. Yet that doesn’t stop him from defending his people, at least until Kora’s soldiers raze his camp and take him captive. He’s given an ultimatum: be an enslaved bodyguard to Kora, or be executed for his true identity—a secret kept even from him.

When Kora and Eros are framed for the attempted assassination of her betrothed, they flee. Their only chance of survival is to turn themselves in to the high court, where revealing Eros’s secret could mean a swift public execution. But when they uncover a violent plot to end the human insurgency, they must find a way to work together to prevent genocide. 

Title: Beyond the Red

Author: Ava Jae

Publisher: Sky Pony Press

Publication Date: March 1st, 2016

Rating: DNF

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC!

Yep, I have finally found a 2016 debut that, sadly, I don't like. It's never easy DNF-ing a book, especially one such as this. In 2015, my biggest problem was trying to slog through books that I didn't like, forcing myself to get to the end. In 2016, if I read a book that I don't like at all by page 100, I will DNF. It's hard, but I need to do it. 

BEYOND THE RED, unfortunately, was not my cup of tea at all. I did break my own rules and try to read this twice, but I simply couldn't get into it either time or enjoy it. I strongly disliked Kora, the heroine, and simply could not connect with her or feel anything for her. The same with Eros. 

The beginning started out wobbly, then it just didn't recover in my eyes. Despite desperately trying not to, I kept finding little things wrong after that and I couldn't overlook them by the time I reached page 100. Incredibly disappointed that one of my most anticipated reads of 2016 has fallen flat. I feel like I was expecting something vastly different because of the scintillating summary, then saw next to none of it.

Ava has great writing potential, I will say that. Truly hoping that she writes other books, because she could very easily knock the ball out of the park with her vast imagination. 

So, with the heaviest of hearts, BEYOND THE RED is a DNF. 

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY: Beyond The Red by Ava Jae

And it's that time of the week again! So what am I waiting on this week?

BEYOND THE RED by AVA JAE

Summary: Alien queen Kora has a problem as vast as the endless crimson deserts. She’s the first female ruler of her territory in generations, but her people are rioting and call for her violent younger twin brother to take the throne. Despite assassination attempts, a mounting uprising of nomadic human rebels, and pressure to find a mate to help her rule, she’s determined to protect her people from her brother’s would-be tyrannical rule.

Eros is a rebel soldier hated by aliens and human alike for being a half-blood. Yet that doesn’t stop him from defending his people, at least until Kora’s soldiers raze his camp and take him captive. He’s given an ultimatum: be an enslaved bodyguard to Kora, or be executed for his true identity—a secret kept even from him.

When Kora and Eros are framed for the attempted assassination of her betrothed, they flee. Their only chance of survival is to turn themselves in to the high court, where revealing Eros’s secret could mean a swift public execution. But when they uncover a violent plot to end the human insurgency, they must find a way to work together to prevent genocide. 

Published: March 1st 2016

Publisher: Sky Pony Press

First of all, isn't that cover just BEAUTIFUL?! The twin suns, the vibrant red of the sands? Total cover porn.

Next, did someone mention aliens? And humans? Living on the same planet together? Oh my... that's a war waiting to happen right there! Also, Eros sounds delicious. I'm extremely confident that I shall be adding him to my jar of already overflowing book-boyfriends very soon. Kora sounds like she's going to rock everyone's socks off. As BTR touches on subjects such as sexism, I am intrigued in seeing how Kora reacts to it. 

Needless to say, I shall be requesting this book the very moment ARCs appear at Sky Pony Press. Very good feelings about this book, and it's been a long time since I've enjoyed a good ol' story that involves our extraterrestrial neighbors.

Interested in reading more about BEYOND THE RED? You can read my interview with the lovely Ava Jae herself right HERE!

Don't forget to give Ava a follow on her many social media accounts

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Interview with Ava Jae

Interview with Ava Jae

Annnnd it's time to kick off a round of Fledgling Authors Chat (#FAC16) interviews! First up is the lovely Ava Jae and her book BEYOND THE RED.

Summary: Alien queen Kora has a problem as vast as the endless crimson deserts. She’s the first female ruler of her territory in generations, but her people are rioting and call for her violent younger twin brother to take the throne. Despite assassination attempts, a mounting uprising of nomadic human rebels, and pressure to find a mate to help her rule, she’s determined to protect her people from her brother’s would-be tyrannical rule.

Eros is a rebel soldier hated by aliens and human alike for being a half-blood. Yet that doesn’t stop him from defending his people, at least until Kora’s soldiers raze his camp and take him captive. He’s given an ultimatum: be an enslaved bodyguard to Kora, or be executed for his true identity—a secret kept even from him.

When Kora and Eros are framed for the attempted assassination of her betrothed, they flee. Their only chance of survival is to turn themselves in to the high court, where revealing Eros’s secret could mean a swift public execution. But when they uncover a violent plot to end the human insurgency, they must find a way to work together to prevent genocide. 

Published: March 1st 2016

Publisher: Sky Pony Press

Q1: What inspired you to write about aliens? And do your aliens have any badass powers or abilities?

A1: What inspired me to write about aliens? A lot of things. Overall curiosity about the possibility of life in outer space. Lots and lots of movies (especially James Cameron’s Avatar). An interest in non-human characters. Etc, etc. :)

The Sepharon (Beyond the Red’s “aliens”—which I put in quotes because technically the humans are the aliens considering it takes place on not-Earth, but semantics) are taller, stronger, faster, and have more heightened senses than humans. But they don’t have superpowers—just have better-equipped bodies.

Q2: Kora is the first female ruler of her territory, but people are not exactly happy about that. Is sexism a big deal where Kora lives? 

A2: I kind of laughed a little when I first saw this question because the answer is OH YES. VERY YES. MUCH YES. 

Sexism is a huge problem in many of the territories on Safara (thought not all), including Kora’s territory. But tradition dictates that the first born in a royal line takes the throne, so even though her younger twin brother is literally minutes younger, it didn’t matter when succession was decided. 

Of course, that doesn’t mean the people are happy about it...

Q3: I'm guessing you're a big sci-fi fan? Were any scenes in BEYOND THE RED inspired by a favorite sci-fi movie or book?

A3: I do love me some sci-fi! I’m not sure about specific scenes, but the sand bikes used for transportation in the novel are kind of Tron, Star Wars and Star Trek-inspired (they all have cool futuristic bike things, okay?) and the spark of “humans colonize alien planet” was Avatar(James Cameron version) inspired, I just added my own twist: humans try to colonize alien planet and aliens say “nice try” and kick their butts. Generations later we have the cast of Beyond the Red.

Q4: I am absolutely in love with the cover of BEYOND THE RED! What was your reaction and thoughts when you saw it for the first time?

A4: Thank you!! My first thought when I saw the initial comp was that it looked SO MUCH like what I imagined when we first came up with the title. So that was pretty awesome. And then as the tweaks were made and the colors were chosen I became more and more delighted and yeah, I love it. *hugs cover*

Q5: Describe BEYOND THE RED in ten words or less.

A5: Half-human rebel and enemy alien queen must stop genocide. 

Ava Jae is a writer, an Assistant Editor at Entangled Publishing, and is represented by Louise Fury of The Bent Agency. Her YA Sci-Fi debut, BEYOND THE RED, is releasing March 2016 from Sky Pony Press. When she’s not writing about kissing, superpowers, explosions, and aliens, you can find her with her nose buried in a book, nerding out over the latest X-Men news, or hanging out on her blog, Twitter, Facebook, tumblr, Goodreads, Instagram, or YouTube channel.