About Jia

http://dearauthor.com/author/jia/

Jia is an avid reader who loves fantasy and young adult novels. Her favorite authors are Michelle West and Jacqueline Carey. YA authors whose works she's enjoyed include Holly Black, Laini Taylor, Malinda Lo, and Megan Miranda. Jia's on a neverending quest for fantasy novels with diverse casts and multicultural settings. Feel free to email her with recommendations at jia@dearauthor.com!

Posts by Jia :

REVIEW:  Insurgent by Veronica Roth

REVIEW: Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Dear Ms. Roth, I read and enjoyed your debut novel, Divergent, when it first came out. In a post-Hunger Games literary landscape where there are many followers but few contenders, I found that I enjoyed it a great deal. It was one of the better dystopian YAs to come out in recent years, and I’ve(…)

REVIEW:  Spirit’s Princess by Esther Friesner

REVIEW: Spirit’s Princess by Esther Friesner

Dear Ms. Friesner, I’ve never read any of your books but I’ve certainly heard of you. How could I not? Not only do you have a substantial backlist, you’ve had a long career. Recently, it seems like you’ve turned your attention towards YA retellings of mythological princesses. In this novel, you focus on Himiko, the(…)

REVIEW:  Shadows on the Moon by Zoe Marriott

REVIEW: Shadows on the Moon by Zoe Marriott

Dear Ms. Marriott, I’m always on the lookout for books featuring nonwhite characters so when I stumbled across your new novel on NetGalley, I had to request it. I know my previous encounter with your work was so-so but the experience certainly wasn’t enough to turn me off to the possibility of giving you another(…)

REVIEW:  Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

REVIEW: Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

Dear Ms. Griffin, I’m a big Edgar Allan Poe fan. Any book with a title referencing him is always going to get a second look from me. Combined with a striking cover, it’s almost guaranteed I will pick it up. I initially thought Masque of the Red Death was a debut, but your name sounded(…)

What Jia Read in March and April

What Jia Read in March and April

Wow, has it been a long time since I last put one of these lists together! And I think I promised to be better about it in my previous post too. Obviously I need to learn not to jinx myself. The Scholomance by R. Lee Smith. Since lots of people were talking about Smith, I(…)

REVIEW: Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

REVIEW: Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

Dear Ms. Norris, I admit I went into your debut novel not knowing much about it. I knew it was a YA. I had an idea about the basic set-up: a girl dies in a car accident and is brought back to life by a classmate. This somehow leads into a race against the clock(…)

REVIEW:  The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman

REVIEW: The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman

Dear Ms. Wasserman, I’m a sucker for an evocative title, even more so than I am for a striking cover. And for me, you don’t get more evocative than The Book of Blood and Shadow. It caught my eye immediately on NetGalley. On top of that, the premise sounded different. That’s not something you can(…)

REVIEW:  The Girl in the Park by Mariah Fredericks

REVIEW: The Girl in the Park by Mariah Fredericks

Dear Ms. Fredericks, I was in the mood for something different when I ran across your novel. A reader can take only so many paranormal and dystopian YAs before she loses it. A YA mystery/thriller sounded right up my alley. Your novel delivered what I needed, along with something more. Rain was once best friends(…)

REVIEW: The Kingdom by Amanda Stevens

REVIEW: The Kingdom by Amanda Stevens

Dear Ms. Stevens, I enjoyed your previous novel, The Restorer, about the self-styled Graveyard Queen, Amelia Gray. It’s a morbid name but a fitting one. Amelia is a cemetery restorer, as well as the owner of a niche, but popular, blog. What few people know, however, is that she can also see ghosts. Because I(…)

REVIEW: A Temptation of Angels by Michelle Zink

REVIEW: A Temptation of Angels by Michelle Zink

Dear Ms. Zink, I admit it. The lovely cover is what made me stop and give your new novel a second look. I’m a sucker for pretty covers, and I thought this one was highly effective for the genre. If only I could say the same for the content. Helen Cartwright is the sheltered daughter(…)

REVIEW: Cross My Heart by Sasha Gould

REVIEW: Cross My Heart by Sasha Gould

Dear Ms. Gould, I love stories that feature relationships between female relatives, especially sisters and cousins close in age. I also love the idea of an all-female secret society that controls the world from the shadows. So when I saw that your novel combined the two, I snatched it up with excitement. Unfortunately, I discovered(…)

REVIEW: Starters by Lissa Price

REVIEW: Starters by Lissa Price

Dear Ms. Price, The YA dystopian subgenre is fast becoming glutted. It seems like so many titles fitting the category are coming out these days. But sometimes I wonder if that’s because they genuinely fall into that category or are just being placed there for marketing purposes. When I first heard of your novel, I(…)

What Jia’s Been Reading in February

What Jia’s Been Reading in February

It looks like my reading’s slowed down a bit compared to last year but I’m determined to keep putting these together on a monthly basis. Last month I discovered I hadn’t read any books not for reviewing purposes, which is rather sad, so I aimed to fix that this month. Blackout by Rob Thurman This(…)

REVIEW: Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

REVIEW: Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

Dear Ms. Gaughen, I picked up your debut because it looked like a good change of pace from all the paranormal YA. Now I’ll be the first to admit I’m not a die-hard fan of Robin Hood but this seemed like it could be fun. Sometimes that’s more than enough reason for me. Scarlet is(…)

REVIEW: The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges

REVIEW: The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges

Dear Ms. Bridges, I first encountered your debut novel on NetGalley. I admit I’ve always been fond of historical YA, especially if there’s a paranormal flavor. Your book sounded like the ticket. It was a nice change of pace from the urban fantasies and dystopians overwhelming the genre right now. The unique setting was just(…)