Blog Tour: Review and Giveaway – Wisteria Series by Bisi Leyton

I’ve seen Wisteria around in the book blogging world so many times that it got me curious. When I found out about this blog tour, I simply had to join in and see what the fuss is about. Check out my thoughts on this series and read on to know more about the tour giveaway!

About Wisteria

Sixteen year old Wisteria Kuti has two options—track the infected around the Isle of Smythe or leave the only known safe haven and face a world infested with flesh eating biters. But even with well-armed trackers, things go wrong and Wisteria ends up alone facing certain death, until she is rescued by the mysterious Bach. Uninfected, Bach is able to survive among the hordes of living dead.

Eighteen year old Bach, from a race known as The Family, has no interest in human affairs. He was sent here to complete his Great Walk and return home as a man—as a Sen Son. The Family regard humans as Dirt People, but Bach is drawn to this Terran girl, whom he has never seen before, but somehow knows.

Hunted by flesh eaters, cannibals, and the mysterious blood thirsty group called Red Phoenix, Wisteria and Bach make their way back to the Isle of Smythe, a community built on secrets and lies.

Although it was easy to read and wasn’t specifically dull or anything, I did not particularly love this book and it was mostly because I just could not love any of the characters for some reason. Not Wisteria, whose description did not stay with me at all (I just couldn’t picture what she looked like all throughout the book), who was mostly treated like crap, and who did not seem to have any conviction. Not Bach, who was kind of annoying all the time. Not Bach’s family, who were all high and mighty. Not Wisteria’s family—her mother was a confusing mess. Not the other kids in Wisteria’s home, including Wisteria’s brother—they all seemed pretty self-absorbed, unintelligent, and irresponsible. I seriously wouldn’t have minded if they all fell to the fleshers or biters (a.k.a. zombies).

I can say though that the plot was interesting. I appreciated the whole concept of the Family; I thought it was interesting. I liked the fact that the author added something new and different to a zombie novel. I mean, let’s face it; this was a zombie book even if the z-word wasn’t mentioned at all and the story was about more than just the zombies. I really appreciated the author’s unique take on the zombie apocalypse. I also thought the idea of having pockets of surviving communities was great. It’s not a new thing, but it’s something I find fascinating and I’ve always enjoyed reading about what kind of life, society or civilization they turned into after surviving such a terrible worldwide event.

 About Myopia

Sixteen-year-old Wisteria has embraced her deep bond with eighteen-year-old Bach, a member of a supernatural race called the Family, despite the risk of his family finding out. Should Bach’s people discover his bond with a human, Wisteria will be guaranteed a painful and bloody death—but somehow, being together is more important.

Their bond is tested when empirics, an elite group of Family investigators, are sent to the Isle of Smythe under the orders of Bach’s father to find artifacts stolen by the humans. They’re to find the artifacts at any cost. Among the empirics is Bach’s old friend, the stunning Alba, who has learned about Bach and Wisteria’s secret relationship, and surprisingly accepts this. With no one else in the Family to turn to, she becomes Bach’s ally and confidant, but possibly more.

As the empirics start to take over the town, Wisteria is torn between trusting Bach and the safety of the humans on Smythe. She soon realizes that she and Bach are on opposite sides of the war between the Family and Humans, and there is no middle ground. One of them must choose a side.

Sorry to say, I still felt the same way after reading book 2 of this series. I still could not bring myself to like any of the characters. Wisteria was as frustrating as before although she has started to push back a little against her tormentors. Bach and Family were still annoying. The Smythe kids were still irresponsible and self-absorbed. I found that none of them redeemed themselves in this book.

It was good though that the story picked up and there were just a tad bit more details about the Family and the community at Smythe. Things were also a little more action-packed. I would have wanted more back stories though, especially on Red Phoenix. I really am a back story kind of girl and anything too mysterious frustrates me. I’m pretty sure the third book would have more explanations.

Overall, I really can’t say this series is for me. It has its good points, but I couldn’t connect with any of the characters. I am just one reader though so don’t take my word for it. I’ve read so many good reviews of both books. I guess you’ll just have to read them for yourself to find out if this series is for you. ;)

Note: I received a review copy of this book as part of my participation in the tour. All opinions and views expressed here are my own.

About the Author

Bisi Leyton was born in East London in 1978. She grew up in London, Nigeria and the States, listening to the stories life and love from aunts, cousins and big sisters.She lives in London, but has worked around Europe including France, Germany, Ireland, Belgium and the Czech Republic. She has a fondness for reading graphic novels.

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Wisteriabooks
Current Blog: http://bisileyton.blogspot.com/
Old Blog: http://bisileyton.wordpress.com/
Twitter: @bisileyton
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/Bisileyton

BookTrailers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_TWuWK_bbY&feature=context-cha
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvC9iJckrs4&feature=context-cha

Giveaway

Bisi will award a $15 Amazon GC to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour. Follow the tour and comment on the other tour stops; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here.