Blog Archives
The Elephant in the Ivy
The Elephant in the Ivy by Alexander Greengaard is a playful campus spy story that blends secret games, academic life, and personal loss. The book follows Alison Ashe, a theater student at an Ivy League school, who plays a hidden espionage game between departments. What starts as lighthearted intrigue grows into something darker. Stakes rise. Friendships strain. Death becomes real. The story moves through classrooms, quads, dorms, and late-night walks while asking how much performance and pretense shape real life.
I enjoyed the writing style a lot. It felt loose and confident. The voice has humor and warmth. I laughed often. I also felt a pit in my stomach more than once. The dialogue snaps. The inner thoughts feel honest and messy. I liked how the book never tried to sound smart for the sake of it. It trusted the reader. The pacing worked for me. Some scenes flew by. Others lingered in a good way. I felt close to Alison.
I kept thinking about performance and identity when reading this book. Everyone in the story plays a role. Students act like spies. Professors play at authority. Institutions play at fairness. The game mirrors real power structures and privilege. That resonated with me. The book talks about gender and class without lecturing. It just shows you. I felt anger at times. I felt joy too. I liked that the book respected fun and silliness while still taking emotions seriously. That balance is hard, and the author pulled it off.
I would recommend The Elephant in the Ivy to readers who want something smart. It is great for people easing back into reading. It is also good for students and educators who enjoy stories about school life with a twist. If you like humor, secret worlds, and characters who feel real and flawed, this book is worth your time.
Pages: 167 | ASIN: B0FXS7BVPK
Tissiack: A Sierran Siren
Tissiack: A Sierran Siren follows Awena, a Native American and white high schooler who runs cross country, deals with family pressures, hears a mysterious ancestral voice, and tries to figure out who she is. The story jumps between her school life, her tribe’s struggles, and big moments like the State meet and the winter Bracebridge feast. It also weaves in deep cultural history, government injustice, and a coming-of-age kind of quest that Awena doesn’t fully understand at first. By the end, she starts shaping a path that blends tradition, identity, and her own sense of purpose.
The writing sneaks up on you. One minute it feels like a simple YA story about running and friendship, and then suddenly it drops these heavy truths about Native history and government failures that made my stomach twist. I kept getting caught by the quiet moments, especially Awena’s talks with Ama. They felt warm and sad at the same time. I liked that the book didn’t rush those scenes. The whole vibe had this mix of modern teenage life and thousands-of-years-old memory that gave the story a kind of echo. It made the book feel bigger than it looked.
The scenes with the BIA meetings made me mad. The explanations about broken treaties and stolen land made me sit back and just stare for a second. I kept thinking about how unfair it all is, and the book didn’t sugarcoat any of it. I liked that the story leaned into the messy parts of identity and didn’t pretend everything works out cleanly. Some moments were blunt. Some were tender. Some were almost funny in a dark way, like the boys’ cross-country team acting tough and then totally wimping out in front of a mountain lion. The mix of moods kept the book alive.
By the end, I felt proud of Awena. I wanted to cheer for her. She isn’t perfect, and that made her real. She stumbles, she doubts herself, and she fights through it. The writing made me feel like I knew her. I also loved how the story kept circling back to the idea of hearing your own voice, not just the ancestral one but the inner one.
If you like coming-of-age stories with heart, culture, humor, and a real sense of place, Tissiack: A Sierran Siren would be great for you. It feels especially perfect for teens or adults who enjoy stories about identity and heritage, and for anyone who loves the outdoors or running. It also works well for readers who want something thoughtful but not heavy in a gloomy way.
Pages: 64 | ASIN : B0F922QL54
I Let Aria Cry
Lost to Alice is a raw and haunting coming-of-age novel set in the Rocky Mountains, where a grieving teen is pulled into a world of secrets, trauma, and tangled love after the death of her parents. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Well, the actual premise of this book came from a dream I had while living in a town in Colorado, very similar to Serenity Springs. There was a man with a gun just walking through town, and we couldn’t get out, we were trapped. It was all just fueled by this desperate need to survive and that “someone’s right behind you” feeling. But once I started writing, so many things took on a life of their own: Alice, Jonah, etc, so I decided to explore the idea that maybe the enemy can be someone close or not a person at all. I wanted to explore just raw fear, heartbreak and pain, and watch them persevere anyway.
Aria Delgado is an intriguing and well-developed character. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
Aria. for me, was a way to see myself in a character. We suffered a loss of a young family member, and it shattered us as a family. I was angry and volatile. But as I wrote the story, Aria opened up and showed me this deep well of sadness that drove her behavior. In writing her, I realized how much sadness I hid behind a wall of anger. So I let Aria cry when I wouldn’t have let my younger self shed a tear. I wanted her to feel the sadness and not just give in to the anger. She left a lifeline into the world with Chase, and I think that’s why their relationship is so important, they’re each other’s life rafts. But Aria’s pain and sadness are very much inspired by my past and I am so proud of how far I’ve come… I’m proud of how far Aria has come, too.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
It was important for me to convey the themes of suspense and fear, of course, but there were other themes that kind of evolved from the characters and their interactions. The importance of family became a central theme of the book, even if that family looks a little different, it can still be filled with love and comfort. And unfortunately, trauma is a central theme to Lost to Alice; how it affects us, and how we deal with it.Â
What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?
My next book is taking us back to the fantasy genre in a story about a land-locked siren. I have the outline done and am working on fleshing out the characters – I call this my “marinating” phase. I hope to have my first draft done within the year and a release within 18 months after that. Alice took me about 3 years to finish, and my other novel, Tied to You, took 2 years, so it needs a little time. But I am really excited about it and can’t wait for everyone to meet Sienna.
In another part of the state a drug named Alice comes to life. First formulated to be a cure to depression and anxiety but soon turned to a fun party drug… in small doses. After ripping through a Denver nightclub leaving nothing but blood in her wake Alice collides with Aria’s tiny family, taking no prisoners and hungry for death. As the mountains rage around them, Alice takes over the minds of the only police officers left on the force, ushering in a night of terror as Aria, the twins and Chase are hunted. But is the real enemy within?
Can they make it until sunrise or will everything be lost to Alice?
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Lost to Alice
Lost to Alice is a gripping coming-of-age novel set in the Rocky Mountains, following Aria as she’s thrown into a new life with her cousins after her parents’ tragic death. The story explores grief, love, identity, mental health, and the unforgiving pressure of growing up in a small town brimming with secrets. Through her new friendships and romantic entanglement with Chase, Aria finds herself entangled in drug deals, suicide, abuse, and deep-rooted trauma, all while navigating the treacherous terrain of high school. The plot crescendos with brutal emotional weight as one loss triggers others, and the fragile connections between the characters threaten to unravel.
From the first chapter, I was hooked. The writing has a raw, unpolished quality that works. It mirrors the chaos and roughness of the lives it’s portraying. Aria’s voice is incredibly real. Her inner monologues felt like the thoughts I might have scribbled in my journal as a teen, full of rage, heartache, and sarcasm. I appreciated how the story didn’t sanitize grief or teenage pain. The characters aren’t clean-cut heroes. They’re messy, flawed, sometimes deeply unlikeable, but that’s what makes them compelling. The pacing occasionally jumped, and a few transitions felt abrupt, but I never wanted to stop reading.
Emotionally, this book gutted me. I felt every loss like a punch to the chest. Miguel’s suicide hit me the hardest because of how complicated it was. Nobody is innocent, and the book doesn’t try to pretend otherwise. It forces the reader to sit with the weight of words and the consequences of silence. I loved Chase and Aria’s chemistry, their softness blooming in the middle of such dark, violent lives. But I also wanted to scream at them sometimes, which is what made them feel real. And Jonah? God, Jonah just felt like a walking wound. The ending wasn’t tied up in a neat bow, and I’m glad for that. It honored the pain the characters went through without pretending everything would be okay tomorrow.
Lost to Alice is a story for anyone who remembers how hard it is to be young, or who is living through that hell right now. It’s for people who have lost someone and were never the same afterward. It’s for kids who are angry, tired, and trying not to drown. I’d recommend it to readers of Thirteen Reasons Why, Looking for Alaska, or Girl in Pieces.
Pages: 288 | ISBN: 1948807793
Anna, the Princess and the Pendant
Anna Owens is a bright, imaginative seventeen-year-old living in the quiet town of Morrisville, North Carolina. Yet beneath her composed surface brews a yearning for something more, something strange, something thrilling. That desire becomes reality when Anna is summoned to her dying grandmother’s side and receives a curious parting gift: a green gemstone said to possess unusual powers. As it turns out, the stories are true. The gem is a portal, a key to a dreamscape filled with romance, peril, and discovery.
Anna, the Princess, and the Pendant, the debut novel by J.E. London, offers a spellbinding coming-of-age fantasy that blends elements of classic portal fiction with a touch of gothic mystery. Echoes of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman and Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell surface throughout, though London’s voice remains distinct.
The premise may sound familiar: an adolescent longing for adventure, drawn into an alternate realm, but it endures for a reason. Such narratives tap into our collective craving for escape and transformation. Here, that escapism is filtered through Anna’s emotional lens, adding depth to what might otherwise feel conventional.
Anna is painted with nuance. She is impulsive, deeply emotional, and teetering on the edge of adulthood. Romantic entanglements tempt her, pulling her between logic and longing, between the budding maturity of a young woman and the whimsy of the girl she still partly is. This tension feels authentic and is one of the novel’s quiet strengths.
London’s real distinction lies in the richness of historical context and vivid sensory detail. The dream world Anna explores never loses its grounding. A delicate balance is maintained, ethereal settings balanced with tactile realism. Even as Anna faces life-altering decisions, the prose remains buoyant, never descending into overwrought drama. The stakes are real, though largely emotional, centering on the tumult and vulnerability of first love.
Anna, the Princess, and the Pendant marks a compelling entry into young adult fantasy. It’s a heartfelt, imaginative journey, and J.E. London proves to be as captivating a storyteller as Anna is a heroine.
Pages: 200 | ASIN: B079KHD1PC
His Wictim’s Innermost Dreams
The Son of Poetry follows a high-achieving and emotionally frayed teenager, who is unwittingly drawn into a mysterious, supernatural conflict while protecting his friends from a demon sent to destroy them. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The inspiration for the villain of the story, “Icelos” came from a painting titled the “Nightmare” by Henry Fuseli, 1781. In this painting, a hideous, demon implants fearful, crippling thoughts into a victim entrapped in sleep. In his modern persona, “Ice” never resorts to physical violence to control or punish his victims. But able to know his victim’s innermost dreams or greatest fears, he is able to implant thoughts or manipulate memories until the most courageous hero is broken.
This in turn inspired the idea of a normal teenager who has an inner hidden quality that can allow him to triumph over such evil. Only someone whose life has always been a quiet daily struggle can face an enemy whose weapons are cruel and psychological. The protagonist, Louis Song, has never won a fight and isn’t popular. But his selfless love for friends and family turns him into a tenacious hero.
In many contemporary coming-of-age fiction novels, authors often add their own life experiences to the story. Are there any bits of you in this story?
Many of my own life experiences were able to find their way into the story. I was very studious in my school years and did well, but like Louis, was never able to win any honors for all my efforts. And episodes of day dreaming between intense bursts of study were pretty common while I was holed up in my room.
The wet mountains and boreal rainforest of the Otherworld also bear a resemblance to the Olympic Peninsula of the Pacific Northwest, a place I loved to climb and backpack. Being surprised by a front coming off the Pacific while climbing an icy summit and crossing a long stretch of beach against a cliff before the next high tide are both experiences that I can now look back on fondly.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The theme that runs through the story is to never give up. Ice is a monster. His victims end up ruined or commit suicide. Several of the primary characters seem outwardly successful, but happiness eludes them. Many successful people have problems which are hidden behind successful façades.
Louis should be the weakest and most flawed character. He is constantly struggling, fighting despair, the fear of being ridiculed, and a crippling fear of heights that he has to overcome. Once he is able to win the inner struggle, then the bigger battle become achievable.
Our lives are interconnected. When Louis triumphs over evil, everyone in his inner circle, including friends, family and even some enemies find redemption. Good triumphs over evil, and it is important that we lift each other up.
Is this the first book in the series? If so, when is the next book coming out, and what can your fans expect in the next story?
There is a sequel, Aerglo, which will seek to answer several questions that have been left open. And, of course, Ice is a vengeful immortal who cannot accept failure. Work and other commitments limit my time so I don’t have an estimated completion date, but it will happen.
Author Links: Website | Amazon
Louis Song is completing his last year of high school in Edinburgh. His world revolves around achieving academic excellence and acceptance to a top university. For Louis, his grades mean everything. But self-doubt and exhaustion plague him as he often studies into the early hours of the morning.
Annwfn is the mystical name of the Celtic Otherworld. It is also the name of Louis’ friend, Anne Engliesin. Anne is brilliant; top of their year, she makes getting perfect grades look easy. And like Louis, who is Scottish-Asian, she too is different, keeping secret that her father was among a group of survivors who escaped the Otherworld and who now make their lives in modern Edinburgh. Her mum’s a native Scot, but her father is a descendant of a mythical people.
An Otherworld demon now seeks to destroy the remaining survivors, and this includes Anne. Icelos, or “Ice” in his modern form is the personification of nightmares. Off the streets of Edinburgh, Ice recruits disillusioned youth with the promise to join him and become like gods in a magical Otherworld. He betrays them and they become his sluagh; evil incarnate, bound to his evil plan.
Only Louis, with his intellect and true heart, has what it takes to protect his friends. But what Louis doesn’t realise is that, in saving the lives of his friends, his stature against the evil of the world grows until his life becomes the greatest prize of all.
LITERARY TITAN 