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Albert Camus

Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Thursday, March 26, 2020

Who will you be? Ordinary (Ordinary Series #1) by Starr Z. Davies

"First, I must say, this story is anything but "Ordinary". [...] 
The story brings in the believable, even if almost impossible. I have fast become a big fan of Davies. I look forward to reading more by this author. This book is a definite recommendation." Amy S., Goodreads

Description: 

Published: March 24th, 2020

Fans of Powerless, The Testing, Hunger Games and the Maze Runner will crave this world of iniquitous secrets, intrigue, and desire to find a place in society. 

Divinic. Somatic. Psionic. Naturalist. Who will you be? 

Having a superpower is ordinary. Your Power determines your job, social class, and future success. 
But Ugene doesn’t have a Power. The only thing special about him is that he isn’t special at all. Ugene is Powerless. 

So when the most prominent biomedical research company in the city offers Ugene a solution, he jumps at the possibility to be ordinary. All he has to do is agree to allow them to use him in their research. But the longer he stays at the research facility, the more he realizes something isn't right. 

Friendships are forged. Trust is broken built and broken. And everything Ugene thought he understood and believed is called into question. 

Who can Ugene trust in his search for answers? What is he willing to sacrifice for Powers? 

EXCERPT

Three days define who a person will be for the rest of their life. The day they are born. Testing Day, where their abilities are determined. And, of course, Career Day, where social status, wealth, and future prospects are decided for them by an exhibition hall of employers.

I passed my birth with great pains. According to stories Mom told me, my labor gave her particular difficulty. After arriving too soon, too weak to survive on my own, I lived in an incubator for the first six weeks of my life in a struggle to survive. It’s why she sometimes—annoyingly—calls me, “tough guy.”

Up until Testing Day, everyone—from my teachers to my neighbors—called me a late bloomer and constantly reassured my parents that eventually I would fall into one of the Four Branches of Powers. They said it as if doing so was something I would just stumble over on the sidewalk one day and say, “Oh look, there’s my Power!”

Testing Day came early in my ninth year of schooling, alongside everyone else in my class. Those who had already developed their ability were divided into groups based on their Branch of Power: Somatic for Powers relating to the body; Naturalist for those with organic Powers; Psionic for the Power of the mind; and Divinic for those with Powers outside our world. Mostly, this division left me and three other kids—Mo, Dave, and Leo—uncategorized. By the end of the day, only I remained unclassified. Testing Day was a bitter disappointment for everyone in my family— including me.

Ordinary people have Powers and prospects. I have neither.

Now I face Career Day, where I get to parade around a convention center with all the other doeeyed, eleventh-year students and try to convince businesses why my Power is worth employment. Except I still don’t have one, and probably never will.

I’ve dreaded this day for years. Now, there’s no escaping it.

Miraculously, my parents haven’t given up on me. They still hold on to the hope that everything is about to change.

For all our sakes, I hope they are right.

About the author: 
STARR Z. DAVIES is a Midwesterner at heart, and lives in Wisconsin with her husband and kids. From a young age, Starr has been obsessed with superheroes like Batman and Captain America, which inspired her novel, ORDINARY. If Starr had a superpower, she would be an Empath, because she is an emotional sponge and easily relates to how others feel. 

While pursuing a degree in Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin, Starr gained a reputation as the “Character Assassin” because she has a habit of utterly destroying her characters both emotionally and physically. 

In her free time, Starr loves watching Doctor Who or anything with superheroes, reading books (duh!), writing about her favorite fantasy stories (Song of Ice and Fire, Mistborn, The Wheel of Time), and staring out the window as she dreams up more stories. Oh, and sometimes she steps out the door. 

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3 comments:

Starr Z. Davies said...

Thanks so much for sharing this with your readers! I'm happy to answer any questions you all have. I sincerely hope you love the book!

laurie nykaza said...

I like the cover and the book sounds like a great read too.

Starr Z. Davies said...

Thanks Laurie! I think you will enjoy it. Until April 11, I have discounted the ebook to 0.99. Also, if you like audiobooks, I have them in the works and they should be available late this summer. If you want to know when they become available, I recommend following me on Facebook, Instagram, or my newsletter.