#BlogTour stop for There Once Were Stars by @McFarlaneBooks with review and #giveaway #YA @Month9Books @chapterxchapter

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There Once Were Stars
by Melanie McFarlane
Publication Date: April 26, 2016
Publisher: Month9Books

Peace. Love. Order. Dome. That’s the motto that the Order has given the residents of Dome 1618 to live by. Natalia Greyes is a resident of Dome 1618, a covered city protected from the deadly radiation that has poisoned the world outside for four generations. Nat never questioned the Order, until one day she sees a stranger on the outside of the dome. Now Nat wants answers. Is there life outside the dome and if so, what has the Order been hiding from everyone?

Link to Goodreads

Purchase Links:


About the author
Whether it’s uncovering the corruption of the future, or traveling to other worlds to save the universe, Melanie McFarlane jumps in with both hands on her keyboard. Though she can be found obsessing over zombies and orcs from time to time, Melanie has focused her powers on her upcoming YA trilogy: THERE ONCE WERE STARS and her YA urban fantasy series: SUMMONER RISING.

Author links:


First off, look at the cover for this book. Doesn't it seem like a contemporary romance cover? I really like it and think it's adorable, but I never figured hiding inside its pages was a cool post-dystopian novel. Refreshing, right? I think so.

Honestly, I chose to read this book because the cover grabbed me and the synopsis totally drew me in. One of my favorite anime series of all time is Ergo Proxy and dome life is a big aspect of its futuristic world so stories about domes appeal to me. I don't want to give anything away about this YA gem simply because readers need the element of surprise to fully enjoy a title. Author Melanie McFarlane really sent this one flying out of the ballpark. Nat is a wonderful heroine with just the right amount of nerve and strength and she's full of questions about her deceased scientist parents, life outside of Dome 1618, the politics of the times, conspiracies, and so much more. Did I mention there are zombie-like beings? Ha, piqued your interest now, right?

From the first page, I knew this was the type of book I'd stay up to finish reading no matter the time. And I did. Terrific pacing, strong, developed characters, engaging plot which raised many questions and deepened existing mysteries, plenty of action to keep me invested, a little romance (hello Evan!), the horror of the zombie beings, There Once Were Stars has it all. The feelies I had while reading and the times I stopped to re-read a section only prove how GOOD this is. I also didn't mind the love triangle at all because it worked. The fluid writing made the story easy to visualize and the bigwigs at The CW should snap this up and make it a series. I heard The Vampire Diaries is ending so there's an opening. Schedule this next to The 100!

If you think dystopian is so yesterday or ended with The Hunger Games, think again. McFarlane has revived the genre and made me a fan of both her writing, her books, and the genre once again. Where's book two?

Rating: 5 LOVED IT!
Cover comment: Already mentioned how cute it is and how surprising.
Book source: I received a promotional copy from the publisher (thanks to Month9Books) in return for my candid viewpoints in a review for a blog tour.

Giveaway 
Five (5) winners will receive a digital copy of There Once Were Stars by Melanie McFarlane (open INT). Contest ends May 6, 2016
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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