Young Adult Book Review: Blaze of Glory by m.garzon
| October 7, 2011 | Posted by Amy Vodraska under Product Reviews |
Blaze Of Glory, by M. Garzon
When M. Garzon offered us the chance to read and review her book, Blaze of Glory, all HJU bloggers wanted to read it. So we have combined three points of view – from Cheryl, Amy and Megan.
M. garzon rode horses professionally for ten years, until an injury prompted a career change. She returned to school and completed a BSc; then, for good measure, an MBA. After several years of toiling as a business consultant, she turned to writing in a desperate bid to regain her sanity. A mom of two fabulous children, she lives in St-Lazare, QC and is currently working on the sequel to “Blaze of Glory.”
You can purchase the book in paper and electronic format here. To learn more about m.garzon follow her on Facebook or visit her website.
To purchase it on Amazon for Kindle click here
Cheryl’s Review:
“Blaze of Glory,” by m. garzon is the equestrian’s twist on the classic Cinderella story. This tale takes us through a troubled teen’s time of dealing with much tragic loss, physical abuse, dangerous behavior, growing up, learning to thrust and love again.
The story is told by Tea, the main character. Tea and her twin brother Seth are being raised by the “evil” stepfather after their mother’s death. Tea aspires to be a high level jumper and although she loves working with horses, there is a Cinderella like indenturdrement to her running the step-family’s show barn. The reader’s connection to Tea is established almost immediately with details of the physical abuse Tea and her brother live with from the heavy handed quick to anger step father. The textbook symptoms of Battered Women Syndrome gives flight to the development to both their personalities and paves the road for the story line to develop.
The prince is Jaden, the nephew of the evil stepfather, he is the hot, has it all, polo player/law school student and 6 years older than Tea. Jaden, being a victim of an abusive background himself, enters the story as the older-wiser-knight to the rescue. As his personality develops, so does the classic signs his healing is not as complete as he believes, and several times he comes off dominating and at the brink of abusive behavior.
The reader is able to feel their fear and is quick to accept and support dangerous behavior in a “way to go” like response including the climax of a physical romantic relationship between Jaden and Tea, which without the pain and trauma would be morally and socially unacceptable.
As an adult having spent my teenage years in a hunter/jumper barn, I found this book to be an enjoyable read. In no time at all the writing whisked me out of the office on a memorial trip and back to a time in my life I have not visited in years. In fact with the exception of a few things, I had the odd feeling the author found my old diary.
Cheryl
Amy’s Review:
If you’re like me, a voracious reader and unapologetic horse junkie, you’re always on the lookout for any book about horses. Fiction, non-fiction, I’m not picky. So when the opportunity to read and review a book for HJU came up, I was all over it. Hey, I’ve been doing a lot of traveling lately for work and what could be better on long plane trips?
M. Garzon started riding as a child, galloped racehorses at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, and left nursing school to pursue riding professionally. A devastating accident ended her riding career, and she stayed away from horses until her two small children reignited her interest and provided the impetus for the book.
Blaze Of Glory Back Cover
Blaze of Glory is a novel directed towards Young Adult (15-18) females, although it can certainly cross age groups. Tea, the 17-year-old protagonist, is a determined young rider that is determined to find her life’s path and forge a career for herself as a professional equestrian. We follow along with her as she attempts to overcome a tragic accident involving her horse, a difficult and occasionally contentious relationship with her stepfather, and oh yeah, falling in love with Jaden, her stepfather’s twenty-three year old nephew. Consider it a new twist on the kissing cousins thing.
Basically, Blaze of Glory is an uncomplicated and engaging read. Think Twlight crossed with Horse Whisperer and with a large splash of Harlequin romance thrown in. As the mother of a young girl, I’m a bit uncomfortable with the nature of 17-year-old Tea’s relationship with her 23-year-old step-cousin, although I do appreciate that the author did not go into graphic detail during the romantic scenes.
The writer’s equestrian background is apparent and adds a level of credibility not often found in fiction involving horses.
The characters are quite likeable, however, not many 17-year-old girls speak or think with the intent or maturity of Blaze of Glory’s protagonist. As for the male lead, no 23-year-old man (not even those written by Shakespeare) has ever spoken like Jaden, nor has any 23-year-old male in the history of the planet EVER shown such restraint when faced with an attractive and willing 17-year-old girl. I mean, heck yeah, if Jaden really existed, I’d be all over him like white on rice. However, it’s clear he’s written by a woman. No man thinks, much less speaks, like he does, more’s the pity.
While I don’t think I’d let my daughter read it until she was at least Tea’s age, Blaze of Glory was an entertaining way to spend a 5 hour plane ride. And yeah, it was pretty nice to fantasize that there could possibly be a guy that looks and speaks like Jaden…
Amy
Megan’s Review:
“A Blaze of Glory” is one of those books that you just can’t put down. I consider myself somewhat of a literary snob, priding myself on a thoughtful and meditative approach to reading books. I like to trudge through all the classic tomes often just to say I did so.
There was no trudging through this book, though. In fact, so engrossed was I in the characters that I was surreptitiously reading it on my iPhone during my Electromagnetic Theory class, trying to flip pages on the sly.
The main character, Tea, is at once likable and frustrating. Her impulsive decisions caused me to cringe sometimes, as I felt keenly aware of the repercussions she was sure to meet!
The trait of Tea’s that comes across most strongly, though, is her passion for riding (and later, her passion for a certain boy…). The riding scenes are admirably accurate, the equestrian background, clearly written by somehow to whom the information is innate, as opposed to researched on the fly as a filler. Yet the book doesn’t stoop to the level of brand-dropping, a habit which quickly dates a book and is all too common in young adult fiction today.
Blaze of Glory: A fun read. Looking forward to the sequel.
