RELEASED by Megan Duncan (REVIEW + GIVEAWAY)

After a demon apocalypse kills their parents and everyone they know, 17-year old Abby Phillips, her brother, Carter, and friend, Max flee their home to travel through what has become the wastelands of America. When radio transmissions of a resistance offering shelter and safety cease, Abby is tempted to give up. Struggling to overcome life-threatening obstacles in their dangerous journey, Abby and her companions quickly discover there are much worse things lurking in the dark than they could have ever imagined. (Goodreads.com)

I have to admit that I've always been extremely wary of self published books. I know that it's wrong, because a lot of self published books are REALLY good. This book, for instance. The only thing is that with a good editor, this book could have literally been perfect. Everything that a person could ask for in a book.

Instead there were some punctuation errors: Periods where there should have been commas, commas where there should have been nothing, nothing where there should have been commas. Also, in the very beginning there was an issue with verb tenses. I'm pretty sure there were only a few instances and it stopped after the first chapter, but there were times when Abby, the protagonist, is talking in present tense and then she reverts back to past tense.

Other than those problems, this book was fantastic. It's easy to look over the technical stuff when a really great story is being told.

In a way, this book sort of reminds me of the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson. Not the writing style, or narration or the plot or anything like that. But there's Abby, Carter, and Max. Abby and Carter are siblings and their parents are dead, as well as Max's, who is Carter's best friend and Abby's love interest. It's just a group of teenagers doing their best to survive and beating the crap out of anything that tries to get in their way. Another reason this reminds me of the Maximum Ride series is because of the action. Demons are roaming the streets and sinking their teeth into whatever people the can find, of course there is going to be action around every corner! These three kids (and Taya, who comes along later in the story) are just trying to get to a safe house in order to, well, be safe. But getting there is the dangerous part, seeing as they have to cross the country.

On the cover, you can see that Abby has a very large gun in her hands...Yeah, that is useful several times in the story.

• The premise. We hear of zombie apocalypses (is that the plural term?) all the time, but how often do we get to read books about demons destroying the world? That was why when Megan requested I review this book, I knew that I had to! It's fun, horrific, disgusting, and just really wonderful to read about. Megan uses some great descriptions so that the reader can really picture the different demons and the destruction that they have brought.
• The characters. In my opinion, these characters are very realistic. None of them claim to really know what they are doing. They try their best to be tough and kick some ass, and sometimes that's not always easy, but in the end they are always there for one another. They each have their own personality traits that you can't help but admire.
• The romance. Like I said, this books has a lot of action, but there is also a romance brewing between Max and Abby. The reason I like this romance is because it is sweet and slow and does not subtract from the plot or action in any way. When the two have time alone together, they have time alone together, but they're in the middle of a freaking demon apocalypse and they're not trying to sneak off into corners and get it on.
• The pacing. I think that Megan did an absolutely fabulous job pacing out this book. I've read books where the main character has, like, ten gazillionjillion things happen to him or her in the span of one freaking day, and then no more action for about a week. Megan really spaces out the attacks, giving her characters some breathing space, just enough time for them to feel safe, and then BAM! She throws them back in the fire - metaphorically speaking, of course. There are a few places where I was thinking, "Okay, get on with it now," but doesn't that happen in every book? The pacing made it a quick and enjoyable read.

NOW THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!

THE GIVEAWAY!

Okay, so Megan Duncan has been nice enough to give away an extra eBook copy of Released to one lucky winner.

The contest ends on 8/16/2011 at midnight.
Each person can only enter once, but if you tweet about it, you can earn an extra entrance.
The winner will be generated completely random!
You must be 13 years or older to enter.

DUE TO SOME UNFORSEEN CIRCUMSTANCES, THE GIVEAWAY HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO THE 23RD OF AUGUST!

THE FORM

And come back September 8, when I'll be posting a review, a giveaway, and a character interview of her upcoming release Savor for my stop on her blog tour.


Happy contesting :)