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Tahlia Newland

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Review of Phantom Universe by Laura Kreitzer

January 5, 2011 by Tahlia Newland

Phantom Universe by Laura Kreitzer is different, richly written and thoroughly engaging. Two things stand out for me, the endearing character of Summer and how fully we experience the world from her perspective. The novel, written in the present tense, has a unique voice, a powerful sense of immediacy, and lusciously heartwarming moments in a cold world. 

 Kidnapped at four years old, Summer is enslaved and so abused that she doesn’t speak. Unknown to her, she is some kind of experiment gone wrong and the secret society responsible is searching for her with the intention of terminating her. When they come onto the ship on which she had spent most of her life, she manages to escape and finds herself 200 years in the future. The story from there is one of her reorientation into a world where despite hardships, friendship and love blossoms. Throughout the book we see Summer struggle with the mere idea of speaking, and her challenge in the end is whether or not she can overcome the fear that keeps her silent to save the one she loves. The end is very satisfying but leaves you with a deepened sense of mystery, wetting your appetite for more.

 I love Laura Kreitzer’s passionate and evocative writing style, her creativity and her exceptional ability to draw very real, interesting characters. Though tiny in form, Summer is strong and smart in mind, fiercely protective of those she considers friends, and still sweet and in some ways innocent, despite her terrible life as a slave. The real beauty of this novel is that it shows how incredibly powerful even small acts of kindness are to someone who has been abused.

 I only problem I had was with the concept of a person as a time machine and the blood connection to Summer that supposedly explains the movement of large numbers of people through time. I hope Kreitzer provides some believable explanation in the sequels. I put that reservation aside however, because the story didn’t depend upon you believing that. The guts of the story is really Summer’s inner journey and that is beautifully done.

 If you like young adult Dystopian novels with engaging characters and a mix of love, action, and mystery then you’ll love this. It’s a book I’d read again and I give it 5 out of 5.  Expected publication date: February 15th 2011 by Obsidian Mountain Publishing

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Filed Under: 5 stars, Post Apocolyptic, Reviews Tagged With: Book Review, Fantasy novels review blogs, Laura Kreitzer, Phantom Universe

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Comments

  1. laradunning says

    January 6, 2011 at 11:16 am

    That sounds interesting! I’ll have to put that on my ever growing list!

  2. tahliaN says

    January 6, 2011 at 4:37 pm

    My to-be-read list is really long and keeps growing too. I hope there’s enough readers out there to read all these wonderful books that people keep putting out.

Trackbacks

  1. Guest post: Human Trafficking – Laura Kreitzer | Mama Kitty Reviews says:
    February 16, 2011 at 1:01 am

    […] Theories. “I felt tied to her emotions,” Jennifer Murgia, author or Angel Star admits. And Tahlia Newland, author of Lethal Inheritance, remarks, “Summer is strong and smart in mind [. . […]

  2. Human Trafficking & Phantom Universe says:
    February 16, 2011 at 3:05 am

    […] Theories. “I felt tied to her emotions,” Jennifer Murgia, author or Angel Star admits. And Tahlia Newland, author of Lethal Inheritance, remarks, “Summer is strong and smart in mind [. . […]

  3. Guest Post From Laura Kreitzer: Human Trafficking & Phantom Universe « PonyTails Book Reivews says:
    February 16, 2011 at 2:26 pm

    […] Theories. “I felt tied to her emotions,” Jennifer Murgia, author or Angel Star admits. And Tahlia Newland, author of Lethal Inheritance, remarks, “Summer is strong and smart in mind [. . […]

  4. A message from a new friend | says:
    February 17, 2011 at 2:03 pm

    […] Theories. “I felt tied to her emotions,” Jennifer Murgia, author or Angel Star admits. And Tahlia Newland, author of Lethal Inheritance, remarks, “Summer is strong and smart in mind [. . […]

  5. Guest Post From Laura Kreitzer: Human Trafficking & Phantom Universe « Tales From The PonyTails Barn says:
    February 19, 2011 at 3:21 am

    […] Theories. “I felt tied to her emotions,” Jennifer Murgia, author or Angel Star admits. And Tahlia Newland, author of Lethal Inheritance, remarks, “Summer is strong and smart in mind [. . […]

  6. M-Awards round 4 | 'Lethal Inheritance' says:
    February 20, 2011 at 11:05 am

    […] I wasn’t sure whether I should give this an M-Award at first, because it wasn’t a hit-me-with-a-slam-straight-away sort of book. It beauty was deep, sweet and gentle like the main character Summer. It haunted me with memories of her shocking abuse as a young child abducted into slavery contrasted with the sweetness of the character and the love of her friends. Sweet and sour make a wonderful sauce. Laura Kreitzer is giving 10% of the proceeds from this book to DNA an organisation aiming to prevent the human trafficking that goes on today even in America.  Read my review here. […]

  7. Guest Post From Laura Kreitzer: Human Trafficking & Phantom Universe : Bryan Thomas Schmidt says:
    May 31, 2011 at 12:43 pm

    […] Theories. “I felt tied to her emotions,” Jennifer Murgia, author or Angel Star admits. And Tahlia Newland, author of Lethal Inheritance, remarks, “Summer is strong and smart in mind [. . […]

  8. Guest Post: Laura Kreitzer - Lisa's World of Books says:
    August 24, 2011 at 10:31 pm

    […] Theories. “I felt tied to her emotions,” Jennifer Murgia, author or Angel Star admits. And Tahlia Newland, author of Lethal Inheritance, remarks, “Summer is strong and smart in mind [. . […]

  9. Guest Post: Author Laura Kreitzer - Fiction Vixen Book Reviews says:
    July 4, 2012 at 6:53 am

    […] Theories. “I felt tied to her emotions,” Jennifer Murgia, author or Angel Star admits. And Tahlia Newland, author of Lethal Inheritance, remarks, “Summer is strong and smart in mind [. . […]

  10. Guest Post: Author Laura Kreitzer discusses Human Trafficking - Smash Attack Reads says:
    July 31, 2012 at 10:47 am

    […] Theories. “I felt tied to her emotions,” Jennifer Murgia, author or Angel Star admits. And Tahlia Newland, author of Lethal Inheritance, remarks, “Summer is strong and smart in mind [. . […]

  11. Emma Maree Reviews | A Scottish YA writer reviews awesome books says:
    April 27, 2013 at 9:43 pm

    […] Theories. “I felt tied to her emotions,” Jennifer Murgia, author or Angel Star admits. And Tahlia Newland, author of Lethal Inheritance, remarks, “Summer is strong and smart in mind [. . […]

  12. Guest Post by Laura Kreitzer- Human Trafficking | My great WordPress blog says:
    March 26, 2014 at 3:24 am

    […] Theories. “I felt tied to her emotions,” Jennifer Murgia, author or Angel Star admits. And Tahlia Newland, author of Lethal Inheritance, remarks, “Summer is strong and smart in mind [. . […]

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