Book Review: Faded by Chloe Miles

• Review: Faded
• Series: The Faded Trilogy #1
• Author: Chloe Miles
• No of Pages:  380
• Release Date: Published August 24th 2012

Synopsis:

“Savannah wanted to kiss him, but she had never even kissed a human guy before, let alone a ghost. How was she supposed to kiss him if he wasn’t really there?” Savannah has never been in love before, but she’s in love with Hunter Emmerton. He’s cute, funny, charming…and a ghost. How can you date someone if nobody else can see them? After seventeen-year-old Savannah Fraser and her three friends are killed in a car accident, they are given a second chance at life by a group of hundred-year-old teenage earthbound spirits who need their help. Savannah and her friends learn that they are The Chosen Ones, which means they can switch between human and spirit form, heal people and control the weather. And they are also now invincible.

The Chosen Ones are the only ones who can defeat The Forces – a group of evil spirits who are slowly destroying the perfect little town of Fort Everwick with violent storms and not-so-natural disasters – and stop them from harming everyone they care about. The Forces are set on destroying everything Savannah knows and loves, but they also have another plan – they want a new member to join them. They aren’t willing to give up until they get the one they want…and they have Savannah firmly in their sights.

Savannah had never been confident in herself before, but with her new-found powers, she discovers just how strong herself and her friends really are. But what Savannah didn’t count on was falling in love with Hunter. She’s never loved anyone the way she loves Hunter and she knows he loves her too. But how can they be together forever if he no longer exists and she’s the only one who can see him? Will Savannah have enough belief in herself to defeat The Forces, or will they be able to lure her to the dark side and turn her against her loved ones…and tear her and Hunter apart?

Interview with Chloe Miles:

Q. How did this start for you? Image, Idea, Dream?

A. I read a newspaper article about self-publishing through Amazon. I’d always wanted to publish a book, but had never really looked into it before because I didn’t think it would be possible for some regular small-town girl like me. But I was inspired after reading that article, so I immediately started thinking up ideas in my head. Faded is the first thing that came to me. I created the general idea of the story within twenty-four hours, had most of my ideas down on paper within the week, then pretty much spent every day for the next few months writing it and then editing it. The editing actually took just as long as the actual writing did! It was published about six months after that first idea came to me. Oh, and fun fact – it was storming the night I thought of the idea for the story, so that’s the inspiration behind the storms.

Q. Did you have any growing pains with this novel?

A. I think the hardest thing for me was making sure that I developed the characters enough and included as much excitement in the storyline that I could, but at the same time making sure it still had room to grow for the next two books because I knew that I wanted it to be a trilogy.

Q. Do you have a message you try to convey when writing a story?

A. It’s not so much a message, but I try to make sure the main characters are relatable. I tried to write from each of their point of view in the hope that the readers would feel the individual emotions that each of the characters brought to each scenario.

I also really wanted my main characters to be the type of people you would consider to be role models. I wanted them to be good people that I would be proud for teenagers to look up to, especially younger teens that happen to read it. I think with the main two especially – Savannah and Hunter – that shows through.    

Q. What are you reading right now?

A. This is going to sound really boring, but I don’t really have time to read anything at the moment other than See No Evil, the second instalment in The Faded Trilogy. I’m working on it at the moment. It’s almost finished, but there’s a lot of reading and re-reading that goes along with it. I don’t mind though because I love writing it and reading it, and thinking up new ideas for it!

Q. Are there any authors (living or dead) that you would name as influences?

A. I don’t know about influences, but an author I’ve always admired would have to be J.K. Rowling. Her success is just phenomenal! I was definitely a huge Harry Potter fan when I was a kid. (Who wasn’t?!)

Q. What do you do when you’re not writing?

A.  I’m honestly never not writing! No matter what I’m doing – whether it be grocery shopping, eating dinner, getting dressed in the morning, anything – I’m always thinking up new ideas. Post-it notes are my best friend! I always have them with me in case I need to quickly write down a new idea.

But to relax and unwind at the end of the day, I’ll watch TV or email my friends. And I’ll try to set aside some time each day to grab my iPod and go for a walk.

Q. Have you always wanted to be an author?

A. Yes, I have. I can remember being six years old and saying that I wanted to be an author when I grew up. There were always other things that I wanted to do as well over the years as I was growing up, but writing a book was always on the list. I just didn’t realize that it was actually possible until now. I think my six-year-old self would be pretty happy!

Q. How did you break into the industry?

A. I honestly didn’t really ever think that I could actually write a book and get it published, so I had never even tried to get a publishing deal. Then when I found out about self-publishing through Amazon, I thought it sounded perfect. Nobody would decide whether my ideas were good enough to be published except me. I love that idea of creative control!

Q. What is your writing style? Do you create outlines for your writing or do you just sit and type away?

A. Both, actually. I always write a basic outline for each chapter and then I go back and start typing whatever ideas come to me. With Faded, after I had the basic outline for it, I started writing chapter one and continued straight through until the last chapter. I didn’t intend to do it that way. I thought I would probably end up writing it all out of order then just piece it all together when I was finished. But all the ideas came to me that way, so I just went with it!

Q. What is your next project? What have you been working on recently?

A. At the moment I’m working on See No Evil, the second instalment in The Faded Trilogy. And I’m also thinking of ideas already for the final installment!

Q. Do you listen to music while writing? If so, what’s on your playlist?        

A. I don’t actually listen to much music while I’m writing. I find it too distracting if it’s a song I really like because I’ll start singing along to it in my head and completely forget what I’m doing! But when I’m not writing, I do listen to music quite a lot, actually. Taylor Swift is always on high rotation! And also an amazing Australian artist, Delta Goodrem. I absolutely adore both of them! I think they’re the most incredible songwriters of our generation. If there’s going to be song that brightens my day and makes me happy, it would definitely be one by either of them!

Q. Do you have a guilty pleasure?

A. Definitely chocolate!

Q. What is your favorite word?

A. Love.

Q. What is your least favorite word?

A. Spider! I freak out whenever I hear the word spider, or think of the word spider…I’m always terrified there’s one on me, about to eat me or something. I’m freaking out now just writing the word spider!

Q. Do you talk to your characters?

A. I don’t actually talk to them, although I’m surprised that I don’t because they seem real to me. They have their own little personalities, they’re own little traits. I spend more time with them than I do my real friends!

Q. What sound do you love?

A. Laughter.

Q. What sound do you hate?

A. Crying. Especially if it’s a child, or someone close to you. I hate seeing anyone upset, and I’m always the first person to offer a hug if any of my friends need one.

Q. What’s your favorite time of year?

A. Probably Christmas. It’s the one time of year where your world can seem magical, no matter who you are. Also, a lot of people that I care about have birthdays within a few weeks of Christmas, so that makes that time of year even more special.

My thoughts:

Ok, there are two different thoughts with Faded. One is that I wish there was a first first book! In the beginning chapters you learn all about these supernatural beings and why they’re there, why they protect the land and how the Forces came about. It was a LOT to take in. There are also so many characters that you get overwhelmed very quickly. It took me quite a bit to get situated and understand who everyone was.

Hunter stood out straight away but he was one of the few that did. A lot of the characters blended together but as I said above I feel that if this whole beginning was actually another book that it would have played out better. It felt rushed and squished into a couple of chapters. And then how Savannah finds out she’s a ghost and then takes it so easily! You would think there would be some kind of freak out mode, maybe that’s just me though! 😉

So, now that this is all out of the way, the rest of the book is really interesting! The plot kept me wanting to know what was going to happen and how everything was going to play out. But it was still difficult to see the characters separately. It is fun watching Hunter and Savannah and those two really do stand out! Since they are two of the main characters that did make me really happy! It is paranormal so although Savannah is kissing a ghost I just kind of took this with a grain of salt and I really hope that their relationship will grow even more in future books.

All in all this was really interesting. A little slow to start, more because I kept needing to figure out which was which character but once you get that working out you get a better feel for the story. Definitely worth reading, gets better towards the end. The flow is a little stop and go but the plot is definitely there! Curious about book two!

About the author:

“Chloe Miles is the author of FADED, the first book in THE FADED TRILOGY. The second book in the series, SEE NO EVIL, is due to be released soon.”

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Tags: Chloe Miles, Faded