Blog Tour | Review and Giveaway: DUST by Devon Ashley

I welcome you to the Official Book Blog Tour of DUST by Author Devon Ashley. This tour will last until September 21 with exciting giveaways along different tour stops. Be sure to visit the rest of the participating blogs. I also want to take this opportunity to thank the lovely author of DUST for making me a part of this wonderful tour. THANK YOU SO MUCH Miss Devon!

As part of the tour, I did a book review of Dust, and somewhere in this post is a giveaway, too! Be sure to enter! Good luck and enjoy the tour!

DUST (Of Dust and Darkness #1)
Author: Devon Ashley
Publication Date: September 18th 2012
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Summary | Add to TBR

4. The number of times my delicate wings have been broken and clamped behind my back. 

68. The number inked upon my skin, marking me the sixty-eighth pixie to be stolen.

87. The number of days I’ve been wrongfully imprisoned.

88. The first day the faeries will regret stealing me.

Healthy. Cheery. Vivacious. All traits Rosalie has before becoming enslaved by the faeries to make an endless supply of pixie dust. Now that Rosalie has been traumatized by slave labor, extreme desolate conditions and multiple deaths, this hardened pixie is anything but. When this rebellious teenager attempts an escape, she’s isolated in cramped quarters until she learns her place. Just as she begins to let go of all that hope, she finds an unlikely friend in Jack, the faerie assigned to guard her. Interspecies dating is forbidden in the fae world, so their growing attraction is unacceptable. And even if Jack can find a way to free her, they know the prison is the only place they can truly be together.

My Thoughts:

My name is Rosalie. I may be smaller, I may be weaker, but I was born free, should die free. You will not take this from me.

I don't normally judge a book by its cover, but the gorgeous look of DUST made me want to read it. I'm not a fan of faeries or pixies whatsoever, but the summary of this book was so enticing that at the moment I wanted to grab a copy and devour it.

DUST reminds me Tinkerbell and the Pixie Hallow. It reminds me of those cute and adorable Disney fairies which I loved and enjoyed watching. Though this book isn't entirely about fairy tales and happy endings, I think it's beautiful and inspiring.

Before the Spriggans captured Rosalie, she was living with her roommate Poppy in their Hollow. She was an adventurous, free-spirited little pixie who finds happiness and comfort in her humble little tree-house. Now, she's living in a pit away from home with fellow slaves who have broken wings and deteriorating bodies. They are forced to work long hours making magic dusts--deprived of food and most of all, freedom. This isn't that Rosalie wish for and she will do her best to get her freedom back and save the other pixies from forced labor and near death. But in her attempt to escape, she was caught and put back into prison for torture and breaking of her wings. She prepared herself for the worst, but what she didn't expect was to become friends with the suddenly nice, gorgeous faerie who is assigned to guard her. 

The story is interesting and might as well unique since I haven't read any stories like this one before. I'd say though, that the first half of the book was a little slow for me and I was fighting the urge to skip a few lines just to get to the part where the action and romance will happen. During the first part of the story, I felt mixture of emotions, most of them sadness and pity for those poor pixies that were deprived of their freedom and soon die without hope. It was a bit emotional for me too, especially when it comes to the characters I began to care for. I just think that it could have been more exciting if we could see more than just glimpses of the other characters in the story. I can see big potentials for some of those minor characters  and I'm looking forward to seeing them again in the next installments. 

Even though the first half was a little slow for me, I'd say that my favorite part happened in the second half of the book. When I pictured Jack descending from the top of the prison down to the hole where Rosalie was, I finally see myself smiling and dreaming for that love story that I was waiting for since the beginning of the book. It wasn't love at first sight but their chemistry has been obvious to me ever since. I know that some may find their romantic relationship a bit rushed but I still enjoy it and the fact that these two characters finally found each other made me giddy and excited. I know there are more to anticipate in their relationship and I want to see how everything will work out for the two of them. 

Some books know how to make their readers hanging by the end of the story, and this book did it BIG time! I wasn't expecting something like that. And I wasn't prepared for such a cliffhanger ending. This book surprised me! After the ending I was left open-mouthed. I didn't know how to react at first. It wasn't something I expected but I believe it's good that the readers have something more to anticipate in the coming sequel.

If you're looking for a fast and enjoyable read that will touch your imagination as well as your heart, read this book. It has a promising plot, interesting storyline, and likable characters. I enjoyed it and I'm looking forward for the next book.

My Rating:

About the Author

Devon Ashley has always had an active imagination, and found herself daydreaming her childhood away. She became interested in creative writing as a teenager and used writing as a stress-reliever - and a way to escape the real world for a few hours. It wasn't until a judge in a screenwriting competition suggested she turn her world into a fiction series that she actually began writing novels.

Find her at The Crazy Dream Blog | Dark Horse Books | Facebook | Goodreads

And now for the giveaway, below is the picture of what you can WIN. Isn't it awesome? Just enter in the Rafflecopter to join!

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