TRANSFER STUDENT BLOG TOUR & GIVEAWAY : EXCERPT + REVIEW

        
 TRANSFER STUDENT is the latest novel from Laura A. H. Elliott and will release on Amazon and Barnes & Noble March 20th. Here’s a little bit about the novel and an excerpt written from Ashley’s POV about her obsession with Rhoe’s best friend, Yuke. Be sure to read to the end to enter to win the EBOOK GIVEAWAY and this week’s SWAG!

Author Q + A

Q. In one to two sentences please explain why we should read Transfer Student?


A. Readers will enjoy Transfer Student if they like novels about people who find their place in this universe by turning into aliens of the opposite sex in another. Transfer Student is a sci-fi romance/adventure story and a love letter to teenagers everywhere, especially those struggling with peer pressure, friendship and what it means to fit in.

My Review:

Title: Transfer Student
Author: Laura Elliott

Book Summary: (only took part for length)

“Two Worlds––Two Teens––One Wish


Geek Rhoe and Surfer Ashley would never be friends.
Even if they lived on the same planet.
But, they’ll become so much more.
They’ll transfer.”

Who wouldn’t love to swap bodies with an alien from another planet? That also just happens to be the opposite sex? Well, Ashley and Rhoe for starters. Sucked from their respective planets due to an ill-timed wish, the teens are now trapped inside the other’s life: and body. As Ms. Popular, Ashley is always on top -- the one who says and does whatever it takes to get what she wants. In contrast, Rhoe is the geek who always gets picked on for standing out. While Rhoe searches for any trace of his Dad’s disappearance, Ashley is finding a side of herself that she didn’t know existed. Now Ashley is stuck on Retha, with no idea of how she got there, and feeling very unsettled now that she suddenly has two hearts (and is a guy!). Meanwhile, Rhoe is trapped on Earth where this geek has to learn how to be popular and fit in or risk ruining Ashley’s life… assuming they will ever be able to switch back. Only one thing is sure: both of their lives will be changed forever...

The first thing that this book teaches me is this: be careful what you wish for. So many times a day, I wish that I had done something differently, said a more eloquent phrase, or even just that I didn’t have so much homework. Ashley and Rhoe are confused, to say the least, but they both really snap back quickly and take their new lifestyle in stride. Ashley bounces back from the shock and is very cautious about not upsetting Rhoe’s life. She doesn’t make people think he is crazy, or spend her days crying in his room about her situation. Instead, she goes out and tries to make the best of it. Rhoe makes more than a few errors in his efforts to act like Ashley, but they are never intentional. He tries to blend in as best he can and even adds in some of his own talents to give her a boost.

One aspect that is really hard to grasp about Transfer Student is that Rhoe and Ashley are a guy and girl, respectively. But then, during the transfer, they switch brains which basically means Rhoe is now inside a FEMALE human’s body while Ashley is in a MALE Rhethian’s body. So, certain situations are rather odd because they both still have the feelings and… ahem… desires of their original sex. What saves this from being completely awkward for me to read is the fact that they are thinking the thoughts of a male and a female.

I am VERY surprised (and a little disappointed) with how this story ends, I don’t feel any real closure and it seems like a LOT of loose ends are left open. Now, this is not a bad thing, IF there is going to be a Book Two, but I am not sure that there is. Normally, I dislike when a book alternates between two different characters, but in Transfer Student I do not mind it at all. It would seem weird to only know one person’s thoughts when they are both trapped in a strange situation! Elliott did a FANTASTIC job getting into the mind of all of the characters. Rhoe is especially surprising for me; Elliott does the first-person of her male protagonist shockingly well. She really portrays well the thoughts and feelings of an outcast, nerd who misses his dad. Basically, Transfer Student is a book not to miss! Any fan of Aliens, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy Fiction should definitely pick up this book!!

The Cover:

When I first see this cover, I am blown away! I love how it portrays both Ashley and Rhoe facing each other but not making eve contact. The contrast between Ashley and Rhoe is also very noticeable which makes them pop out at me. I also really like that half of the letters in Transfer are backwards; it really catches my attention! Basically, I think this is One. Stunning. Cover.

I give Transfer Student 4 out of 5 hearts: Great Book!!

About the Author:

Laura loves writing about enchanted road trips, birthday gifts that are out of this world, and alien romance while eating lots of popcorn. She’s the author of Winnemucca, a small-town fairy tale inspired by her life-long love of a little-known town, Avenal, CA, and her equal love of enchanted teenage road trips. 13 on Halloween is the first book in the Teen Halloween Series. 14 on Halloween, book 2 in the Teen Halloween series, will be released in the summer of 2012. Her new release, TRANSFER STUDENT will be available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble March 20th.
To find out where in the world Laura is and more about her upcoming books, visit her blog Laurasmagicday: http://laurasmagicday.wordpress.com/ and friend her on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Laura.A.H.Elliott... If Twitter is your thing she's @Laurawriting. Or, drop her a line at elliwrite [at] yahoo [dot] com.

EXCERPT:

Yuke catches up to me. We walk side-by-side in silence through the Golden Meadow. The airboard launch, a sort of gigantic upside-down slide, peeks over a row of Truffula Trees.
     “Listen, there are three things you have to remember about soaring. You’ll never soar if your mind is on the ground. Put it up on The Ridge,” Yuke says, pointing to a purple-blue mountain ahead of us. “Rhoe taught me that.”
      The way he says Rhoe I know it’s happened. He knows. He really knows I’m not Rhoe, I’m…Ashley. It’s sunk in. Finally. I stop walking and can hardly breathe. It’s the first time he’s ever seen the real me, and his gaze warms me down to my frog-feet. Yuke spots the question in my eyes.
      “The Ridge of No Return,” he says with a small smile, “It’s the prime place to catch air. But beware The Devil’s Grip. Soar too high and you’ll be caught in The Grip and lost to The Other Side. Forever.”
       He misreads the question in my eyes. Again. I shiver thinking about The Grip and dying in the mythic ice and snow of The Other Side. I stare at my hideous frog-feet, my peds. I don’t care about The Ridge. There’s only one person I care about. One boy I’ll never have. Yuke.
      “What else?” I ask, peering deeper into Yuke’s alien eyes.
       “You’ve got to feel the beat of the wind in your peds. Surrender to the air. And know, deep in your hearts, no one is its master.”
       I hear and don’t hear every word Yuke says. For the first time in my life I can’t speak. I can’t take my eyes off Yuke, now that he knows I’m not Rhoe. He wouldn’t be telling his best friend, an Astral, how to airboard unless he knows I’m Ashley, someone who doesn’t know much about soaring.
      “Your catchers will always stop you if you fall,” Yuke says, filling the silence between us. He raises his arms above his head. Delicate wings expand out from under his arms. Thin pinkish-purple skin stretches over delicate, long bones. No feathers at all. Just smooth, glimmering skin. And it’s crazy. A week ago I wouldn’t even look twice at a guy with a big nose, but now, I’m hot for an alien. With wings. He’s that hot.
       I have to touch him. It’s beyond wanting to. The way Yuke spreads his wings makes his pecs flare and his biceps seize. He’s beyond gorgeous. The way his sheer wings take to the breeze makes Yuke more unreal than he already is to me. He’s everything I never wanted and everything I can’t live without. It feels like we’re the only souls in the universe. The look in his golden exotic eyes melts my ability to stay away from him.
      “You can’t be real,” I say taking a few steps closer to him, holding my hand out to touch his wing. Waiting for him to let me. To know it’s OK. He flexes and lets his head fall back a little inviting my touch. I lay my alien fingers on his smooth taught skin, and run them over his wing’s thin hollow bones. My eyes fill with tears. His wings flutter in a breeze. He’s beautiful.
       Yuke sticks his chest out and when he drops his arms his catchers vanish back into his biceps. “I can’t let you soar. Not now,” he says, the crowd cheers just beyond the trees.
      Only then do I remember where we are. What we’re here to do. A band begins to play a set of songs. The crowd beyond the row of trees cheers again and again.
      “I have to. I’m doing this for Rhoe,” I say.
      Yuke puts his hand on my shoulder. I shudder.
      “And for me,” I say.
      Yuke’s golden eyes focus only on mine, on the Earthling inside of this alien body.
      “And for you,” I say, feeling the beat of my hearts in my throat. “We’re going to win this damn thing.”

GIVEAWAY:

       Here’s how to enter to WIN A TRANSFER STUDENT EBOOK here today! Just follow @Laurawriting and tweet: [leave a comment here with your link-- Winner announced here tomorrow!]

Can’t wait to read Transfer Student by @Laurawriting Check out the Blog Tour & Giveaway! #teenreads #scifi #romance #ya http://wp.me/P1J9jx-bs

THAT’S NOT ALL:

       Every week all comments are entered to win some great swag too! THIS WEEK’S SWAG: A PIG IN SPACE PIGGY BANK, Griffith Observatory travel mug, a HOLLYWOOD MAP OF THE STARS, signed bookmarks, Griffith Park Observatory pen & postcards, Space Shuttle Anniversary commemorative coin, a CHOCOLATE MOON PIE, and more! Check out the weekly swag here: http://wp.me/P1J9jx-bs

THIS WEEK’S GIVEAWAY OPEN UNTIL MARCH 13! 6PM PST. 1 swag winner will be picked. Open internationally!