Thursday, October 9, 2014

Virtual Arcana Part 0: The Fool Book Review

Virtual Arcana Part 0: The Fool
Karen Amanda Hooper 



Rating (out of 5):5
Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: November 8, 2014
Series: Virtual Arcana
Series Number: 0
Profanity: none
Violence: none
Sexual Content: none  
Age Recommendation: 12+
Author Website: http://www.karenamandahooper.com/



Summary:
The Matrix meets The Notebook with a sprinkle of The Giver.

In a faraway future, Kelsey Zellar is starting her senior year at yet another school thanks to her twin sister’s troublesome obsession with outlawed virtual reality games.

Every school they’ve ever attended is pretty much the same: lunchroom drama, rich kids binging on enhancement candies, and classmates rallying for or against the government’s strict control over everything from entertainment privileges to caffeine consumption.

Unlike her sister, Kelsey follows the rules and keeps her nose out of trouble and politics while sniffing out her next flavored latte and favorite novel. But when Kelsey meets a charming book connoisseur, and accepts his offering of a tarot card, she takes the first step toward two new addictions: the guy of her dreams, and his illegal dealing of virtual escapes into her beloved storybooks.

Kelsey straddles the worlds of fiction and reality, but is she a fool for believing in her own happy ending? 

SEASON 1 EPISODE LIST:

The Fool ~ Virtual Arcana #0
The Magician ~ Virtual Arcana #1
The High Priestess~ Virtual Arcana #2
The Empress ~ Virtual Arcana #3
The Emperor ~ Virtual Arcana #4
The Hierophant ~ Virtual Arcana #5
The Lovers ~ Virtual Arcana #6

Review: 

The first thing you need to know about this book is that it's written serial style so this review will be covering only one part out of 7 (the numbering goes from 0-6) of the Virtual Arcana book. The book as a whole will be published by the author after the entire story is released in series.

 Karen Amanda Hooper's first installment of The Arcana caught my attention quickly and held it the entire story leaving me desperate for more by the end. There was so much packed into this short amount of text and I loved it! 

The Fool opens with 3 of my favorite things, coffee and books, and excellent writing. Karen Amanda Hooper doesn't waste anytime trying to explain away all the rules of her brilliantly crafted world, instead she drops readers straight into the story providing details as needed. Kelsey's word is a complicated one filled with rules and regulations and she and her twin sister are desperate to get out. They are just starting at a new town and school because her sister was caught playing illegal video games when Kelsy run's into the mysterious and alluring Xander
  
Xander is by far one of the most interesting male leads I've read recently He's genuine and not over done. I love Kelsy as well! Finally there is a lead female who is self aware! I loved her comments about 'if this were a book I'd be doing ect' It was great. Her personality really shines, and I love the way she stay's true to her character when faced with Xander's proposal. I can't wait to see more of these two in further installments, and see how they grow and change. Kelsy's sister, Keekee, is an interesting character as well even though we get to see little of her in this first installment. 
  
The world building so far in The Fool is wonderful. Karen paints a world that is controlling but plausible. She points out a lot of interesting issues in the society without sounding preachy or whiny and I really enjoyed that. I also love the idea of virtual reality and people who still cherish books that are real and printed.

This was a wonderful start to what I hope to be an amazing story. I cannot wait to see what happens next and what Kelsy ends up deciding. I am eager to see some of the mysteries set up in this first installment answered and filled out as the story goes on. I'd recommend this to anyone interested in a good scifi who loves to read and doesn't mind a dash of romance.

Note: I received an electronic copy of this book from Netgalley for my fair and honest review which I have stated above.

~Dawn

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