Friday, August 30, 2013

Blog Tour (Review & Giveaway): The Exemeus by Folami & Abeni Morris





Title: The Exemeus (Exemeus #1)
Author:
Folami and Abeni Morris
Publisher: Royal Colours Ink
Acquired Via: CBB Book Promotions
Release Date: January 3, 2013

Hyalee Smith is dead, she just doesn’t know it yet.

Her short life was devoted to love and to hate. Love of the man who stole her heart, hate for the man who stole the world. Murdered by the government she swore to destroy, she's been given another chance to make it right. But to save the planet, she needs the help of the most powerful mystic the world has ever seen—unfortunately he hasn’t been born yet.

In a world where fear is the only currency, Dephon has committed the ultimate crime: inspiring hope. His only goal is to make it safely through ninth grade, but on a post-apocalyptic Earth run by the Treptonian government, it isn’t that simple. Heir to a legendary power, Dephon Johnson is the only threat to the government’s rule. And on Trepton, all threats must be eliminated. When hundreds of assassins are dispatched to neutralize him, Dephon is forced to fight back. His only chance of survival is to enlist the aid of the greatest warrior the world has ever known. The only problem is, she's been dead for 13 years.


My Review
I've been burned a lot lately with the indie books that I have agreed to review, so The Exemeus was a pleasant surprise. The story was way different than what I've come to expect from "fantasy" or "dystopia" tags. The characters were also odd, but easy to relate to. The humor that permeated the novel was fantastic, and the story itself reminded me a tiny bit of The Neverending Story.

The prologue of the novel confused me a little. I thought that The Exemeus would be a fantasy novel similar to Daughter of Smoke and Bone (okay, maybe it was the blue hair), but almost immediately in chapter one we meet Dephon, a high schooler who is terrorized by the football team and failing math. The way that The Exemeus was able to stand apart - nay, outside - of the typical YA genre made the story something unexpected and fresh. Yes, there was dystopia, but high school was still high school, and it sucked.

What reminded me of The Neverending Story in The Exemeus is that when Dephon began reading The Exemeus (the book that the story takes its name from), he could see past events as he read them. (There was also an annoying female associated with the book, but that's about the extent of Mallea's resemblance to the Childlike Empress.) He was able to see his mother's own awkward high school moment when she woke up a beautiful Asian one morning after going to bed a dirty blonde. (No, she wasn't literally dirty! It was her hair color! *sigh* Nevermind.) I would have been hard-pressed to take it in stride like she did. Of course, there was a lot more too The Exemeus than that, but I snickered at it. A lot.

The one problem that I did have with The Exemeus is that it was so long. Don't get me wrong, I love a huge book as much as the next person, but I think this one would have been better served to have some of the content shaved or split into another volume. The names also killed me on the inside, just a little bit. I try not to complain about it too much, but some of the names in fantasy kill me. Let's take Hyalee for instance - my brain wanted to read it as Haylee, and then it would go crazy because it's spelled wrong! *flails* And the twins, Singleton and Dupleton... *stares* Really? Yes, I know I'm being nitpicky, but it took away from my enjoyment of the book.

So weird names and it being über-long aside, I think The Exemeus was a great read. If you're looking for something unlike most of the options being offered in the book world, I suggest you pick this one up!.

- 3/5 Stars -

Buy Links
Amazon | Barnes & Noble



About the Authors

Folami and Abeni Morris are a sister-sister writing team. Together they wrote (and rewrote) The Exemeus, somehow managing to accomplish it without murdering one another. Despite their facial similarities, tendency to finish each other’s thoughts and stick up for each other constantly, no, they’re not twins and thus deserve their own individual bio.

Folami Morris:

Folami grew up in the tiny city of San Mateo Ca, where nothing ever happens and no one ever leaves. She went to Xavier University for undergraduate, getting her B.A in physics and her B.S in Biology. After graduation she returned to California, to live in an even smaller city, where even less happens, Antioch, CA. During this time she escaped the monotony by hanging out with her imaginary friends Hyalee and Dephon, and by writing The Exemeus. She finally escaped to Queens NY and now realizes that quiet and tiny aren’t so bad.

Abeni Morris:

As luck (and logic) would have it, Abeni grew up in the same tiny little town as her sister, then she too escaped to the tinier town of Antioch. She has yet to leave. She received her bachelor’s degree in early childhood development from Cal State East Bay. She is the mom of two amazing kids, who swear that they deserve a percentage of the book proceeds and a ton of the credit. At least she raised dreamers.

You can find out more about Folami & Abeni on their Website.

Follow the Tour


The Exemeus Tour Schedule

Scavenger Hunt

Make sure to check out The Exemeus Scavenger Hunt, where you can win a Kindle Fire or $150! The first stop is at My Guilty Obsession, where you can get the first clues on this incredible journey for an amazing prize! The Scavenger Hunt starts on Monday, August 26th and runs through Friday, August 30th. Chances to win are through midnight on September 1st. Buy your copy of The Exemeus today, if you haven't already!

Tour-Wide Giveaway

Prize #1 (US only): Kindle 6" e-ink
Prize #2 (INT): $25 Amazon Gift Card
Prize #3 (US only): Paperback of Demon's at Deadnight by A & E Kirk

Ends at 12:01 EST on September 6th

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Scavenger Hunt

Make sure to check out The Exemeus Scavenger Hunt, where you can win a Kindle Fire or $150! The first stop is at My Guilty Obsession, where you can get the first clues on this incredible journey for an amazing prize! The Scavenger Hunt starts on Monday, August 26th and runs through Friday, August 30th. Chances to win are through midnight on September 1st. Buy your copy of The Exemeus today, if you haven't already!

To satisfy FTC guidelines, I am disclosing that I received a copy of the novel from the publisher or author through CBB Book Promotions in exchange for an unbiased review. It has in no way affected the outcome. All expressed opinions are awesome, honest, and courtesy of me.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for hosting a tour stop and for giving this one a try, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for the awesomeg iveaways and blog hops. It sure helps when one wins.,, especially when one is a book a holic

    ReplyDelete

You are going to put words in my box?! *squeezes you* Now I shall stalk YOUR blog!