Vincent Lowry

I bought a copy of American Vineyard because I’d read a book of Vincent’s poetry and loved it, so I had to find out how his skill as a writer translated into novel form. This novel doesn’t disappoint, the story line is spot on, but the story is difficult emotionally to read. Still, I’m glad I read it, and the characters have lingered in my mind for days. This could be made into a movie or a series just like 13 Reasons.
It’s a coming of age tale set in 1982, of 6 junior high kids growing up in New Mexico. One of the boys, now an adult with a son of his own son, takes a trip back to New Mexico and sifts through his memories of a series of fateful encounters that led up to a tragedy that forever changed the future for all of them. Be warned: there is some violence, bullying, and language consistent with these types of difficult subjects. I’m giving American Vineyard 4 stars.… (mais)

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A very inspiring tale, warning about climate change and how we can change to save our world. Despite the heavy subject matter and intended message, the author manages to avoid coming across as preachy by spinning a creative story to share this message.
This really felt like a great addition to the apocalyptic/cli-fi genre, taking a unique turn by looking at the long-term effects of global warming, rather than all of it happening in one day.

I had problems with the dialogue and time span. The dialogue of the main character was much older than her, especially since she lives at least 80 years in the future, so it was a major disconnect with her age. There were also several time jumps in the book but while one character aged many years, another would only age a couple years, so the author seemed to have lost track of how much time had actually passed.

I liked the overall story but these aspects did prevent me from fully connecting with the characters.… (mais)

You know, when I first saw this title I was curious. I checked with my library and unfortunately they didn't have a copy. That was about a year ago.

So recently I was going through my TBR list and realized I still wanted to read this - the reviews were solid, the premise interesting. I've always been a sci-fi/fantasy geek but real sci-fi is getting harder and harder to find. So I splurged and I purchased the e-book and just last night decided to start reading the story.

Almost immediately my concerns about it being a small-name title by an author I'd never heard of vanished. I was sucked into a story about 18 year old Glenn, a boy with girl problems of his own (although very seriously downplayed which was refreshing) and a family with issues of its own.

Then the book took an interesting twist with the arrival of a UFO and what is, quite possibly, the cutest little alien life-form I've ever read about. Sweet, adorable Paako.

Seriously, Paako and her popcorn-eating ways had me eating out of the palm of her hand. The rest of the story was interesting too and I can see my nephew LOVING this book as he approaches the teenage years. Spaceships, alien lifeforms, a prophecy, wars, exploring planets in our solar system (with some really fascinating, educational tidbits thrown in for good measure). This was a teenage boys dream-come-true type of story.

From what I understand there's eleven more books that are due to come out and all I can think is.. okay I waited this long to pick this one up, please don't make me wait another few years! Vincent Lowry has gained a new fan in me.… (mais)