Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway: Otherborn by Anna Silver

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Title: Otherborn (Otherborn #1)
Author: Anna Silver
Pages: 290 pages
Format acquired: eBook (ePub)
Publisher: Sapphire Star Publishing
Published on: April 4th 2013
Source: Received for blog tour (Thanks, Anna and Xpresso Book Tours!)
Buy the book: Amazon / Barnes and Noble



London and her teenage friends live in a reprocessed world.

Confined within Capital City’s concrete walls, London has done the impossible and the illegal. She’s created something New- a song. But her mentor, club owner Pauly, is not impressed. Since the historic Energy Crisis forced everyone behind walls generations ago, the Tycoons have ensured there is truly nothing new allowed under the sun. Pauly warns London to keep her song to herself, if she knows what’s good for her.

What he doesn’t know, is that London is keeping an even bigger secret she dreams. And she’s not alone. London’s band-mates and friends have begun dreaming as well, seeing themselves in “night pictures” as beings from another world. As Otherborn, they must piece together the story of their astral avatars, the Others, in order to save their world from a dreamless, hopeless future.

When Pauly is murdered and an Otherborn goes missing, London realizes someone is hunting them down. Escaping along the Outroads, they brave the deserted Houselands with only their dreams to guide them. Can they find their friend before the assassin finds them? Will being Otherborn save their lives, or destroy them?

(Image and summary provided by Xpresso Book Tours)

Review:

Otherborn is probably one of the most imaginative and well-thought out books I have ever read. This book isn't just Dystopian, it's a beautiful mix of Fantasy and a harsh but possible future.

I actually couldn't get into the story at first because I was kinda confused but as it went on, I saw and understand the world Anna Silver created. Like most Dystopian novels, there was a division between the people. As caste system, if you will. And people judged you from the jobs you get in the future. It's an unfair society but also familiar to us, it's how we act now. Anna Silver was able to capture the hardships and success people go through now into a new world. A world where everything is "old", where people are close-minded and tend to disregard any kind of creativity.

This is where London and her gang of misfits come in. The thing with London and her friends, Otherborn is what they call themselves, is that they dream and they create. They have ideas that most people in their society wouldn't even dream of having (well, it's also mostly because they can't dream. Croo.) But the thing is, these "new" ideas they have are being repressed due to the fact that their acting goverment dislikes any sort of evolvement from the people, especially ones from the lower caste (except for Avery who's from a higher caste.) And now, important people in London's life are being killed because of this progression and now, all London and her friends can do is leave their city and look for answers.

The idea of the Otherborn is so unique and interesting that I couldn't help but fall in love with it. They are basically dream versions of our characters but slightly cooler and they look different. They have an agenda of their own and there is a reason is to why they are actually there. While it may seem a little cliched, these unlikely heroes are there to save the world. They're trying to reshape the dullness and dreamlessness of their city and mold it into something good and positive. Innovation isn't suppose to be just for the rich, it's meant for everybody and while spreading these good intentions might seem pretty hard, I don't doubt our heroes' capabilities.

I felt for London. Yup, I felt a lot of things for her. Most of them was pride and a bit of it was pity. She has gone through a lot of shit but she certainly never gave up. Even when people tried to knock her down a peg or three, she would simple brush it off and jump even higher. She knew what her purpose was and even though she wasn't sure what she was heading into, she still believed in her instincts (even though they might not always be right.) She acts as a leader for her friends and they are cool with that because in the end, she was the one who brought them together. She "infected" them with her dreams and they welcomed it. London is just a girl who's trying to find her place in the world and even if her place is in a dream world, then so be it.

Reading Otherborn was such a wonderful experience. I honestly didn't think that I would enjoy it as much as I did, but I did. Otherborn is filled with such a unique richness that other authors just haven't tapped into yet. The fact that Anna Silver took that risk and ventured into a world most people would be reluctant to go to just made me appreciate this novel even more. It's not just the crumbling society that drew me in or her memorable characters but it's also the way she carefully details everything. You are going to be slowly guided into her world and in the end, you won't want to leave. I actually found my heart tightening at a scene in the book that I can't elaborate on because it's a spoiler but... ouch. You will really just find yourself immersed in Otherborn's world that you can't help but just feel everything, and that's always a sign for a great book. So if you want a book that is like no other then trust me, Otherborn is for you.

Rating:

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About the author:

Anna Silver is an artist and writer living in the greater Houston area with her family, pets, and overactive imagination. Her art, which includes oil paintings, assemblage sculptures, and fairy houses, has been featured in the Houston gallery Las Manos Magicas. She studied English Writing & Rhetoric at St. Edward’s University in Austin. She has written web copy for private clients and freelanced for the Hill Country Current in Texas. Her write-up on a past-life regression experience was chosen to be featured in best-selling author Brian Weiss’ new book. She is a member of the Writer’s League of Texas. OTHERBORN is her first published novel.

You can find her here:

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