TITLE: Young Adult
GENRE: Secret
If I hadn’t felt with each prickling of my skin that the day was going to bring horrific things, I might have been fooled by how brightly the sun shined and the birds chirped. The cloudless sky and warm air with just a hint of coolness would’ve been ideal for a picnic with my family and Terrace.
I waved goodbye once I got back to the porch, watching dust kick up from the gravel road, as my family disappeared into the distance.
“Okay, there’s no time to waste.” Mysin said as he turned me around and nudged me back into the house. Taking my hand, he led me towards the kitchen.
Abbey hovered over the table, unfolding a large sheet of paper, hair cascading over her shoulder in a copper waterfall.
“Yasmine, draw the house with the forest around it.”
Miss Snark's First Victim
Fantasy.
ReplyDeleteAbbey might be literally hovering above the table, like a genie. The house surrounded by the forest smacks of Hansel and Gretel. Prickling of her skin, odd names like Terrace and Mysin, all led me to fantasy.
However, I thought it was contemporary until I reached the house and forest.
I can't tell
ReplyDeleteWithout reading the comment above, I was in between contemporary or historical (a hint of the vehicle her family left in would help). But I guess it could be fantasy, too.
I can't tell.
ReplyDeleteI thought horror because of the word "horrific." Then I thought it was contemporary. Then I thought it was historical. Now I'm not really sure.
I can't tell.
ReplyDeleteI thought horror because of the word "horrific." Then I thought it was contemporary. Then I thought it was historical. Now I'm not really sure.
(I'm very sorry that posted twice). :(
ReplyDeleteFantasy / UF
ReplyDeleteThe "draw the house with the forest around it.” sound like they are preparing to scrye something or creating a ward.
Contemporary
ReplyDeleteThe first three paragraphs read like a contemp -- regular day, picnic with family & a friend.
It gets muddled with the last two, but I'm sticking with contemporary.
I can't tell
ReplyDeleteI thought maybe horror at first with the use of horrific. Then I thought fantasy if Abbey is hovering in the sense of floating above the table rather than just leaning in close.
CONTEMPORARY
ReplyDeleteThe first line about the day bringing horrific things made me think fantasy or horror, but the following lines about picnics and family swayed me over to the contemporary side.
URBAN FANTASY
ReplyDeleteI would have guessed contemporary, but the last line made me think something otherworldly was going on. The picnic, the family, the ordinary domestic setting tell me it is (or starts out, at least) in this world.
Contemporary
ReplyDeleteBut maybe historical? I wasn't totally sure.
Hmm.. historical?
ReplyDeleteOnly because she said gravel road, which isn't really any huge indicator, but the only "hint" I saw.
MYSTERY
ReplyDeleteThe plan to go exploring in the woods makes me think this. It's hard to tell if it's contemporary or historical. Even though it says horrific things are to come (which is a turn off for me), there's no way to know if it's actual Horror, Paranormal, etc, so I'm going with Mystery.
PARANORMAL?
ReplyDeleteBecause of the 'horror' and the comtemporary feel to the scene. But I'm not sure.
I can't really tell, but I'm leaning toward Fantasy.
ReplyDeleteThe names are odd and there are a few things that don't make sense if this is the real world.
I'm guessing paranormal.
ReplyDeleteFirst read had me leaning toward fantasy, but since everything else feels very contemporary. (Picnic, drive away, draw on paper, etc...) I feel like something abnormal is about to happen in ordinary world.
Fantasy. Can't say exactly why, but it feels like that to me.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to go with fantasy because I'm assuming drawing the woods makes something magical happen. Also, the name choices seemed appropriate for the genre (but could also work for paranormal).
ReplyDeleteContemporary, but there is a feeling of dystopia or mystery in the opening. I did find the opening confusing as to where our main character is. Good luck, Sarah.
ReplyDeleteDystopian-
ReplyDeleteIt feels like the characters are in a rural area about to fend for their lives, from a bad government maybe?
Fantasy.
ReplyDeleteI think Yasmine is a kind of seer. Horrific throws me toward horror, but I still believe something magical is going on. With somebody other than the family.
HORROR
ReplyDeleteIt starts off in what seems to be the present day and there are no hints of anything fantastical, but there's a kind of mood of dread. I'm going to take a hint from the word "horrific" in the first line and say that the bad things coming are going to be deadly and terrifying. Hence, horror.
Contemporary Adventure
ReplyDeleteThe MC has a bad feeling about what they are about to do, but pretends to be fooled by the cliché ordinary things. There doesn't seem to be anything to suggest an undercurrent of magic (the hovering didn't seem literal to me) I thought the MC was just drawing a map - chosen because she's the best artist.
Horror
ReplyDeleteI'm taking the first line at face value. Fantasy, Paranormal and even Historical are not ruled out, but 'horrific things' sounds definitive.
My instinct is urban or contemporary fantasy so I'm going with that.
ReplyDeleteI suppose it could also be a thriller. I'm kind of feeling like she's afraid the "heist" or whatever is going to end badly.
Contemporary adventure novel is my guess. There's nothing fantastic going on yet (except for Abbey's perfect hair!), and a picture of the house could be an attempt to figure out how to find something hidden in a place that the teens know is stashed away.
ReplyDeleteFantasy - the hovering over the table felt like literal flying to me.
ReplyDeleteCONTEMPORARY
ReplyDeleteOnly because there's nothing in here to suggest to me otherwise. It could be paranormal, but I don't see it from this text.
Paranormal
ReplyDeleteThis one's tough. The 'prickling of [the narrator's] skin' suggests something otherworldly to me, but the rest of the scene is so contemporary I could see it just being a contemporary novel. I could also see horror.
Paranormal
ReplyDeleteI didn't get a good sense of anything, but it had a hint of the prophetic with the way the MC's skin prickled with forewarning. I don't know what the kids are doing, but being out in the country (which I assumed from the dirt road) makes me think of ghosts and werewolves and such.
Urban Fantasy or Supernatural Contemporary.
ReplyDeleteWords like porch and gravel road and picnic feel modern. But there's something about the names, the prickling of her skin, and the command to draw that feels magical.
I can't tell
ReplyDeleteSorry, but it could be a lot of things. First, I thought Horror because of the word horrific, but nobody really writes horror anymore, and when they do, they call it something else
Then I thought Contemporary because everything seems to be set in modern times. Then I thought Fantasy because the girl could be hovering, and I got a sense that the drawing might become real. So I'm basically all over the place.
Fantasy.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the names and fact that they want to draw the map so quickly after the family leaves makes me think this is fantasy. Something happens once the map is drawn. Who or what is "Terrace"? That threw me.
My submission was for a fantasy novel with science fiction elements.
ReplyDeleteThank you to all for your guesses. Some of you got very close! I appreciate the comments. They allow me to know how to revise to ensure I'm creating the tone that I want from the very beginning.
I've heard the term "science fantasy" thrown around for a combo book like this (especially since it's more of an urban fantasy, set in contemporary times).
DeleteUrban Fantasy with science fiction elements would be more accurate.
ReplyDelete