Book Review & Giveaway: Raising Sleeping Stones by P.H.T. Bennet

About the Book

Title: Raising Sleeping Stones (The Orora Crona Chronicles, Book One)

Author: P.H.T. Bennet

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy

Number of Pages: 364

Publisher: DreamKeeper Publishing

Publication Date: December 4, 2014

Book Description:

***Winner of a 2013 Newbury Comics Award!***

When sisters Kiva and DeeDee Stone discover a mysterious plot that threatens them and everything they care about, they have to take a crash course in the ancient art of DreamKeeping to survive. As two elder DreamKeepers lead them up the Varruvyen river to the Eyle of Return, they show the girls how to gain dream powers greater than anything they had ever imagined. But can they become strong enough to face the monsters that haunt their dreams at night, strong enough to fight the enemies that draw nearer each day? The answer lies somewhere in the broken history of Orora Crona, the Valley of Dreams lost centuries ago, and whoever can piece it together first will rule for centuries to come.

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My Review

I received a free ecopy of this book for an honest review.

Raising Sleeping Stones is about sister Kiva and DeeDee who are living in the lowest class in their society because their father left to help others who had been exiled and their mother lost her job and is now working as a Facilitator…a job usually for those who couldn’t pass a test to become anything else. Poor Kiva can’t seem to excel at anything but DeeDee is better than her sister at most things even though she’s just 5. In fact, DeeDee is so used to be better than Kiva that she gets upset when Kiva does perform something better than her.

The first half of Raising Sleeping Stones is about Kiva and DeeDee discovering that there is more to their world than they had been taught. When Kiva figures out they’re in danger, they’re suddenly on the run and on an adventure. The second half of the book is about their new friends, or guides, not only trying to find them safety, but teaching them about their ancestors and about using their dreams to learn about their waking moments.

I enjoyed reading about Kiva and the way her character developed over the course of time. I also liked the important message that just because you don’t fit in doesn’t mean you’re not special or important. This is definitely a great coming of age story.

I like P.H.T. Bennet’s writing. He’s done a good job at creating a new world that seems to be without hopes and dreams…until the DreamKeepers enter the picture. I look forward to reading the next book because there is still much to learn about this world and those in it.

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Read an excerpt…

 
Kiva looked closely at the sun’s golden face. Wavy rays representing shimmering heat radiated out from it. Its cheeks were plump, the lips full and curved, the nose wide, and the eyes were a little almond-shaped, like hers. In the middle of its forehead was a weird circle with six curving parts swirling around a six-pointed star. She’d never seen the sun drawn like that. Wondering what was on the back of the pendant, Kiva turned it over.
 
The instant she saw the moon’s closed eyes, her hair flew back in the wind, her stomach dropped, and she was pressed back against the cushions of a vessel that was flying just inches above the river. She jerked her head back up and found she was in the back of a crescent-shaped boat piloted by an old man sitting up front. She was about to call out to him when he pointed at a tree that had fallen across the river and shouted, “When you get here, you must take a detour that even old Jacques didn’t know about! Hold on!”
 
Before she could, though, he turned the boat around so quickly that Kiva was thrown against the side of her boat and the wind was knocked out of her. She only got her breath back when he straightened out and followed the river back down.
 
“Look there!” he shouted moments later. “Turn right between the tall twins!”
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Watch the book video…

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About the Author

P.H.T. Bennet began exploring his dreams when he was a child and has never bothered to stop. He had the good luck to have two daughters, Juliette and Paola, who not only served as the inspirations for DeeDee and Kiva, the main characters of Raising Sleeping Stones, but also helped him turn their family dreamwork sessions into this book. His lucky streak grew when he married his lovely wife, Mim, who tolerates his turning on a light in the middle of the night to write down ever-crazier dreams and talking about them in the morning as long as he lets her sleep in, first. His favorite dreams involve flying, visiting the dead, and replaying nightmares until they reveal their secrets.

Pratt’s latest projects are editing Book Two of the Orora Crona Chronicles and planning a virtual summer dreaming camp with other dream authors.

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 Giveaway

Prize: One winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift card or $25 PayPal cash prize, winner’s choice
Giveaway ends: July 4, 11:59 pm, 2016
Open to: Internationally
How to enter: Please enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.

Terms and Conditions: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. A winner will be randomly drawn through the Rafflecopter widget and will be contacted by email within 48 hours after the giveaway ends. The winner will then have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, a new draw will take place for a new winner. Odds of winning will vary depending on the number of eligible entries received. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. This giveaway is sponsored by the author, P.H.T. Bennet and is hosted and managed by Stacie from BeachBoundBooks. If you have any additional questions feel free to send an email to [email protected].

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