i am not a bookworm!: Of the Trees by E. M. Fitch | Blog Tour

Title: OF THE TREES

Author: E.M. Fitch

Pub. Date: February 28, 2017

Publisher: Month9Books

Format: Paperback,eBook

Pages: 345

Cassie and Laney fancy themselves amateur ghost hunters. When a carnival comes to town, Cassie embraces the chance to try something new.

Carnival workers watch the girls with a collective gaze that ignites in Laney a dark and dangerous fascination, leaving Cassie unnerved.

It's not just their age or the unsettling way they stare. There is something in the shifting of their skin and the way their features seem to change in the shadows.

Cassie can's shake this sickening feeling that there's more to the carnival than meets the eye.

When townspeople suddenly start dying and bloody warnings appear around town, Cassie is lured into a nightmare where trees whisper and strange, shape-shifting men haunt the backwoods she once hunted for ghosts with her best friend.

Then Laney goes missing, and only Cassie can get her back. But the creatures of the trees aren't simply going to hand Laney over to Cassie without getting something in return.

Of the Trees by E. M. Fitch | Blog Tour | Book Review by iamnotabookworm

It seemed like a series of unfortunate events happened to me last week. First, I got hit with a flu and then the laptop stopped working and we had to send it to the technician for repair. Until now, it is still not done. Thankfully, I am better now after a week of being sick and feeling so tired. This post was supposed to be due last March 10th. Better late than never. Even though I was not able to post my review in time for the blog tour, I still owe the author and Month9Books a review for the copy that they have sent me. I need to maintain my integrity and commitment to helping out get new books and stories out there. Anyway, reviews don't get old, right? It will always be relevant to whoever is intending to read this book, in particular. Again, I apologize to E. M. Fitch and Month9Books for not posting this on time.

Of the Trees is a paranormal story about two teen best friends who were dazzled by an illusion. A mirage. More like disillusioned to be honest. The story started as a ghost-hunting expedition or more likely an obsession for a popular town ghost by Laney, turned into a tragedy for the whole town.

In the Philippine culture and literature, we call the beings encountered by Laney and Cassie in the story as "lamang-lupa" or elementals. They are known to be living or part of the trees, the ground/land and nature, in general. Only a select few can see them. They say that if you have a third eye, you will likely see and encounter these beings. They are known to change their appearance or how they look to those humans that see them. In this story, the elementals first appeared as carnival workers and then later looked like handsome teen boys. The sole purpose of the changing of appearances is to get the attention of the people they want to lure into their den--Laney, Cassie and their girl friends, in this story.

Truthfully, it was not really mentioned or identified what beings were talked of here. What was certain was that they were of the trees which they can control, including the ground that we walk on, especially the forest. It was one of the things that got me frustrated about this story. Until the end, it was not clear what those beings really were except that only a select few can see them. Their origin was not even mentioned. However, Cassie, the main character here, thank God, she was smart enough, pretended to not see these beings. That decision, on her part, proved to be the only thing that saved her from being taken by them.

I give this 2/5 leafless trees. This was just OK. I think it would have been more interesting if the story stuck to ghost-hunting. It turning into an elemental story sort of did not work for me. The author's talent did show in putting enough suspense to the story but still I was not so taken by it. If the intent was to scare, it was in a way scary but I think there were parts that did not mesh well. In some way, I felt that there was a disconnect somewhere in the story. I felt there was something that was missed out that would have made it work for me. What stood out for me were the careless and the delinquent teens. Their disregard for safety just to satisfy their raging hormones. The selfishness. Of not even thinking of the consequences of their actions. At least, there were Cassie and Ryan, but these two only highlighted more the flaws in the characters of the rest of the teens here.

It was what made it so uncomfortable, sensing the hurt and anger and anguish in the other and being impotent to fix it.

- E. M. Fitch, Of the Trees -

E.M. Fitch is an author who loves scary stories, chocolate, and tall trees. When not dreaming up new ways to torture characters, she is usually corralling her four children or thinking of ways to tire them out so she can get an hour of peace at night. She lives in Connecticut, surrounded by chaos, which she manages (somewhat successfully) with her husband, Marc.