The Crystal Key, book 2 in my new YA urban fantasy trilogy, The Dream Rider Saga, has just been selected by BookLife as an Editor's Pick.
BookLife also made The Hollow Boys, book 1 in the trilogy, an Editor's Pick. So they're loving the series so far. You can read the entire review on BookLife, but here are some highlights:
"The richly inventive Dream Rider adventure continues in this second appealing entry, pushing the young heroes of Smith’s epic YA series to face new realms, old villains, wild dangers, and, most terrifying of all, the truths of their pasts."
Epic! Very nice, but then we have this next bit (italics are mine):
"Smith deftly blends ongoing tensions between these characters…with an exciting plot… always enlivened by the Smith hallmarks of crack dialogue, fun sleuthing and puzzle-solving, a strong throughline of emotion, a swift pace…and a principled refusal to settle for the familiar."
Wait. I have "hallmarks" in my writing? Okay, now that is cool. Please, do go on…
"Be ready for memorable beasts, weird magic, and fantasy worlds that are truly fantastic… For all the wonders, though, the series is also compellingly engaged in Toronto street life and its characters’ very human hearts. New readers should start with book one. Takeaway: This thrilling superpowered urban fantasy series continues to grip." —BookLife (Editor's Pick)
"Editor Pick" reviews by BookLife appear in Publisher's Weekly, the main trade magazine for the publishing industry, and in BookList, the journal of the American Library Association.
You can buy The Crystal Key here, and if you haven't read it yet, the first book in the series, The Hollow Boys here.
