Review of Clutch by J.A. Huss + EPIC Contest!
I love to read science fiction fantasy and urban fantasy so when I read the synopsis for this series I was intrigued. I’m so thankful I followed up on my impulse. I LOVED the first book!!! My review is below. I am rather kicking myself for not signing up for the rest of the tour. :p But I enjoyed Clutch so much I have already bought the sequels. The author, J.A. Huss is running a great contest all month. The Rafflecopter is at the bottom of the post. Make sure you enter for a chance to win 1 of 2 $50 gift cards and 3 autographed copies of Clutch. She is also giving everyone who signs up for her newsletter this first story, Clutch, free! I know *shakes head* an abundance of riches. She rocks! Ok, here’s my review….
Queen of Tarts Review
of Clutch by J.A. Huss
Clutch is a fast paced, addicting, science fiction adventure that hooked me from the start. When I first read about the book and saw that the heroine was 19 years old I assumed it was a YA novel. Ummm… It’s NOT! Junco is a damaged, tough, messed up cookie and she has a mouth on her like a sailor. She swears all the time. :p There’s also violence and adult situations (not as much as I’d hoped for :p but the beginnings of a romance).
Junco’s tough, she takes a lickin’ and keeps on tickin’. I liked Junco, actually I adored Junco! This is a first person novel… That’s not my favorite perspective normally, but for this story I was immediately sucked into Junco’s head and her world and held on tight for the ride. This is an adventure story, a vengeance story and a mystery and even the sparks of a love story… Its a story with science, politics, war, lies, intrigue and destiny. The world building felt so organic and real. The pieces of her life are stacked up naturally and never felt like “So Bob,” kind of details. 
Everything seemed to flow and because her world is not so unfamiliar from ours I was able to easily suspend disbelief and enjoy this tale of humans in a possible future, aliens with wings, gene splicing and cloning and a host of other fascinating details.
Clutch is set in 2152 and Junco is a member of the Rural Republic, a farming zone that shuns excessive technology use. Junco has been raised to hunt, fish and shoot and she’s a champion mounted aerialist (tricks on the back of a horse!). She works for the military and is an excellent sniper. After her father dies she sets out on a mission and has an accident. But Junco doesn’t know the meaning of quit. She crawls from the wreckage determined to complete her tasks and encounters an Avian. His name is Tier and he’s been sent to hunt her. Is he her rescuer or her executioner? And who is Junco really? Why doesn she keep having nightmares and why is everyone hunting her? Is Tier for her or against her? I got a kick out of their interaction and how they treat each other with a kind of wary fascination at first. There are a lot of intriguing questions in this story and I loved it! I couldn’t put this book down. I loved her voice, I loved her courage. This story made me laugh and towards the end I actually had tears in my eyes… I am very excited to follow Junco’s journey.
I was highlighting something on almost every page. I appreciate snark in all forms and this story delivered. Here are some of my favorite lines.
“I’m a human, get it? And human girls around my age are quite temperamental and emotional. You must not have had very much training in human culture if that simple fact mystifies you. I feel better now, so let go of me.”
“I’m an idiot now? Because I’m the subject of a multinational, shit, multi-species manhunt, and I’m scared about what’s going to happen and where I’m going to end up?”
I liked how Junco faced the challenges that came at her and the mysteries of her past and future. I can see that, for me, this series has the potential to become a favorite. I blazed through the first one and have just downloaded the sequels. I highly recommend you check out Clutch if you enjoy original world building and a strong, smart-mouthed heroine with a lot of baggage and attitude enough to take on the worlds. This ebook is only $0.99 from Amazon and it’s well worth the download. Clutch is a roller coaster adventure that made me gasp and cry and hold on tight for the ride. I can’t wait to see what happens next.
(((hugs))) Kat
The Queen of Tarts
♦eARC provided for review
CLUTCH
(I Am Just Junco Dot Com)
In 2152 the avian race is on Earth looking for something stolen from them decades ago – their genetics. At the center of the search lies the Rural Republic; a small backwards farming country with high hopes of military domination and a penchant for illegal bioengineering.
19 year old Junco Coot is the daughter of the Rural Republic’s ranking commander. She’s the most foul-mouthed, wildly unpredictable and ruthless sniper the Rural Republic has ever trained. But when her father’s death sparks a trip into forbidden places, she triggers events that will change everything she knows to be true.
As an elite avian military officer, Tier’s mission is to destroy the bioengineering projects, kill Commander Coot’s daughter, and return home immediately. There’s just one problem. Junco isn’t who she claims to be.
With no one to trust, not even herself, Junco must confront the secrets of her past and accept her place in the future, or risk losing herself completely.
Meet J.A. Huss
J. A. Huss never took a creative writing class in her life. Some would say it shows. Others might cut her some slack. She did however, get educated and graduated from Colorado State University with a B.S. in Equine Science. She had grand dreams of getting a Ph.D. but while she loves science, she hated academia and settled for a M.S. in Forensic Toxicology from the University of Florida.
She went on to write science curriculum for homeschoolers and now runs a successful home business that creates and offers online science unit studies. When she’s not writing science curriculum or fiction, she works as a farm inspector, traveling the Eastern Plains of Colorado in variety of environmentally friendly vehicles that never have four-wheel drive, so when she gets stuck in the mud in said vehicles, she has to beg for assistance from anyone who will help her. She is not bitter about that at all.
Play With Me
Website: http://www.iamjustjunco.com/
EPIC Contest!!!
Enter for a chance to win two $50 gift cards
and three autographed print books of Clutch
Contest runs from October 1-October 31.
—-> the first book in the series is FREE to anyone who signs up for the
JA Huss newsletter CLICK HERE
Bewitching Tour Release Day Blitz -
Participating Blogs
The Bunny’s Review http://bunnysreview.com
Andi’s Book Reviews http://andisbookreviews.blogspot.com
Roxanne’s Realm www.roxannesrealm.blogspot.com
The Creatively Green Write at Home Mom www.creativelygreen.blogspot.com
Fang-tastic Books www.fang-tasticbooks.blogspot.com
Smitten with Reading http://smittenwithreading.blogspot.com/
Chocolate Coated Reviews http://chocolatecoatedreviews.blogspot.com
Queen of Tarts www.thebooktart.com (See?! me )
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What a great way to start the tour! Thank you so much Kat and I’m so glad you enjoyed the book! If you ever want a guest post, just let me know. I’d be more than happy to come back to your blog and say hello again!
Julie
Yay! I truly loved Clutch and was swept into Junco’s adventure! I do have a guest post for the Bewitching Tour on Wednesday (it’s called That Little Something, Something) it’s very fun
but I would love to have you on my interview couch in November maybe?
And did you notice we both live in Colorado?
(((hugs))) Kat
Seriously, you live in CO too! How fun! So this whole book takes place in Elbert County then, that’s where I live – near Elizabeth.
And down south, near Lamar is The Stag – that’s where I work sometimes. I drive all over the state for my real job so I had a lot of time to think about the setting…
You just tell me the day and I’ll show up for an interview any time! You can get my e-mail from the contact form here: http://www.iamjustjunco.com/index.php/contact-us/3-contact-us
Julie
I have to have romance in everything I read no matter what genre. I’m a Romance junkie but I love action too. So give me a little romantic action
I like my sci-fi with romance.