#TWRBlogTour Book Review: Rise of Gaia – Kristin Ward

Wow. Kristin Ward did it again. This book took my breath away – given the theme you should take this quite literally! But before I get into that, the blurb:

“Beneath rock and soil, trees and oceans, she lies. Under concrete jungles and poisoned rivers, she slumbers. She is Mother Earth. And mankind has turned its back on its mother. The visions begin on Terran’s seventeenth birthday. Horrifying images pummel her brain, while a voice commands her to see beyond the world she thought she knew and into the heart of it. Gaia has awakened, brought to consciousness by the greed of a species that has tainted every aspect of her being in a tide of indifference. With this awareness, comes rage. Gaia calls upon her children to unleash her fury, wreaking vengeance on humanity. Terran will emerge in a world on the brink of collapse, to face a being whose wrath is beyond imagining.“

My Thoughts: Does this sound awesome or what? Well, it is! This is the kind of book that makes you think. That makes you stop and wonder – wow, the author is right. What can I do to make it right? I love that the big theme here is Mother Earth and nature. I think we need many, many more such books. I also love that despite it being the big theme, it‘s not in your face, as if it wants to instruct us, no, but it does educate us. The characters in this are awesome and you will definitely feel with them, and be able to identify with them, too. Especially Terran. When she starts getting her ‘visions‘, she acts like I can imagine anyone would. She is scared, she doesn‘t know who to tell, what to do. It feels very natural. I also loved Beth, Terran‘s best friend. The pair has a great, very close relationship – it‘s just the kind everyone wishes for themselves. I also loved how Beth‘s mother was close to both of them, and how they are all very open and can rely on each other. There is a little bit of romance in this book too, but it doesn‘t really take over the main plot, which I loved. It has no adult content and is very clean, yet not any less entertaining for adults! Gaia – Mother Earth – is a very special ‘character‘ too. Well, you can‘t really say just a character, more of an entity really. I won‘t give too much away because I want you to see for yourself, but I love that she‘s there and yet not really palpable. I was in love with After the Green Withered by the author (you can read my review here), but with Rise of Gaia, Kristin swept me off my feet. She has taken her writing to a whole other level here. 5 stars from me for sure, and I will keep my eyes peeled for every future work by her! Big thanks to Kristin and Dave from The Write Reads for giving me an ecopy of the book in exchange for my honest review. #TWRBlogTours rock!! Author Bio Kristin Ward has loved writing since middle school but took thirty years to do something serious about it. The result is her Best Indie Book Award-winning novel, After the Green Withered, followed by the sequel, Burden of Truth. She lives in a small town in Connecticut with her husband, three sons, and many furry and feathered friends. A SciFi geek to the core, she is fueled by dark chocolate and coffee and can be heard quoting eighties movies on a regular basis. Where you can find her: Website

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Thank you so much for reading! Be sure to check out all the other stops on the blogtour, which will be running till the 18th of February. xoxo Noly