Blog Tour: How I Lost You Review + Interview

Jen's Review

 How I Lost You
by Janet Gurtler
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: April 23, 2013

How I Lost You turned out to be a story about friendship, romance, and courage. What I liked about this one is that it's sole focus is the relationship between two friends, which isn't common among YA these days. You typically see romance-heavy issues in these types of contemporaries, but How I Lost You's outcome proved to be different. Even though I had some issues here and there, this one is an enjoyable read, with a good balance of sweet, adoring moments and serious, dark ones as well.

When I was first introduced to the main characters Grace and Kya, I immediately fell in love with Grace's character. I think the best way to describe her is loyal. Her obvious love for her best friend is clear and she didn't stop at anything to help Kya. However, my feelings for Kya were at the complete opposite end of the spectrum. To me, Kya felt like an absolutely shallow, meaningless girl. She's the character that has had a dark past and everything, and I understand that it's hard to deal with it all, but that's no excuse to treat everyone else differently just because you didn't have a good childhood. The entire time, I constantly asked myself, "Why, Grace, WHY are you still friends with this girl?" That's how utterly loyal Grace is-- she sticks with Kya, even through the worst. The characters in this book turned out to be a pro and a con; Grace made the story very touching and admirable, but Kya made it annoying and hair-pulling.

I definitely have to mention the romance, even though it played second to friendship in this story. It's a sweet, sweet romance, and I don't think I can describe it any other way. Levi, the love interest, was patient, kind, and shy. His hesitation and carefulness with Grace was just to die for. Aside from the romantic relationship itself, I really admired the fact that Gurtler did not over-exaggerate the romance, because, as mentioned, the main idea for this book was friendship. In other words, the romance didn't overshadow the friendship between Grace and Kya.

There were definitely times when I thought that the plot-pacing was very sporadic. The first half of the novel was fantastic. We were introduced to this colorful cast of characters, and Grace and Kya's summer had just begun. My instant reaction was: YES, A PERFECT SUMMER READ. However, towards the middle, I just got plain bored. Nothing was happening, and every description triggered a thought similar to this: Why the heck do I care that she went to the bathroom with her toiletries bag? I was definitely frustrated at this point, but luckily, the last quarter of this book was redeeming and my initial love for this book returned. The book ended on a good note that I was satisfied with, fortunately!

I think a main aspect that readers will enjoy in How I Lost You is the inclusion of paintballing. I've never read any books that involved a sport with paintballing. I think it added a nice little spark to it that kind of made it stand out. The integration was smooth and played a good role in the story.

How I Lost You had it's good times and not-so-good times, but overall, it's a read that I recommend. It has its useful life-lessons and friendship morals scattered about that everyone can learn from. I know for a fact that Janet Gurtler is an author that I look forward to reading more books from!

3.5 teacups for How I Lost You!

*Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire and Netgalley for providing me with a copy to review!*

Interview with Janet Gurtler

1. How similar or different are these character to you? Did you ever experience the issues that Grace and Kya go through?

Grace has a few of my qualities, loyalty the biggest one. She is however way cooler and braver. I never played paintball or had my goals so clearly defined at that age.  Kya is not really like me.  I had a couple of friends who went to things similar to what Kya went through and the emotional devastation manifests itself in so many different ways. I don’t want to give away what it was for spoilers, but something pretty horrible. 

2. Most contemporaries out there today are centered around romance. What made you want to center your novel around friendship?

I tend to write contemporaries that deal with relationships and/or change. Romance is always present in my books, but not necessarily at the forefront. Although, in this story, I think Levi, the romantic interest,  is kind of the catalyst for the changing relationship with Grace and Kya.  But I choose to write about friendship, because man, teen friendship is SO IMPORTANT. In my experience it’s the girlfriends I remember and cherish, way more than the boys I went out with or had crushes on. Girl friendships or platonic male/female friendships are just as important and often more important than romance. In my opinion. :) And the hurt of a best friend break up. Oh. That’s hurt.

3. Which character did you feel a closer connection with while writing HOW I LOST YOU? Why?

I felt a really strong kinship for Kya. I understood why she was doing the things she was doing.  She didn’t mean to be selfish and horrible has is kind of driven by a dark secret in her past that damaged her. She hasn’t dealt with it yet, and until she does she is going to be unable to deal with people or things or herself in a respectful way. She is a wounded little bird, and I wanted to fix her, but she wasn’t ready to be fixed yet.

4. Do you have a some sort of message or moral that you were trying to reach out to readers through this book? If so, what is it?

My message in this book is that ultimately in life, sometimes you have to make hard decisions in order to look out for own best interests.  Grace is the type of person who wants to fix Kya and help her and I think a lot of girls/women have this quality. But we also have to realize that sometimes relationships become toxic and we have to make a choice to put ourselves first sometimes. It’s a harder than for females to do. It’s the nurturing gene.  I want girls to know it’s okay to be strong and also vulnerable, but also strong.

5. What can we expect from you in the future? (What are you currently working on?)

 I have a book coming out in 2014 called Sixteen Things I Thought Were True.  It’s about a girl who has a video of her dancing in her underwear to “I’m Sexy And I Know It’ go viral online.  Ironically , she’s hiding out from the real world online, but when life throws curves at her,  she ends up on a road trip with a strange girl and her mean boss and finds out things about herself and her life that she never knew.

Thanks so much for your time, Janet!

Happy reading, 
Jen xx

REVIEW: Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins

Jen's Review

Sweet Evil
by Wendy Higgins
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: May 1, 2012

Why. WHY.

Seeing Sweet Evil land in multiple lists of 2012 favorites, I knew I had to pick it up. I'd heard only countless things about the amazing Kaidan Rowe (the HOTTIE.), and creativity of the angel and demon aspect. And yes, I can agree to those things. I loved the characters in Sweet Evil, as well as the twist on Nephilim, sure. The start of the story was addicting and I knew I was going to fall in love with it. I thought, "So THIS is what I've been missing out on! You guys were so right about this book." Well, turns out, I was kind of wrong. By the last quarter of the novel, I was bored to death. Because of this, I was left disappointed by Sweet Evil, but at the same time, I still enjoyed it.

But before I start ranting about this book, I'd like to rave about it for a little bit. The characters were one of my favorite qualities in Sweet Evil. I immediately loved Anna Whitt because she was innocent and new how to make the right decisions. She was a little too innocent at times, but it wasn't bothersome for me. I loved her relationship with her surrogate mother, Patti. It was really sweet and genuine and just really touching overall. Of course, I have to talk about Kaidan Rowe, the infamous British bad-boy that everyone seems to rave about. Um, can you say MAJOR SWOON? There was some definite fan-girling and sighs involved while reading the steamy scenes. Not only were the main characters fabulous, a lot of the side characters were just as significantly likeable. Jay, for example. Jay is Anna's music-loving best friend, and he was so supportive, he made me want to have a guy best-friend. He was super friendly and just an overall happy character. Also, previously mentioned before, Patti Whitt. As Anna's "mother", she was really lenient and protective at the same time. Her genuine concern really hit it home for me. The characters had to be one of my favorite attributes of Sweet Evil.

I also have to appreciate the angel and demon world that Higgins has created! It's unlike any other angel story I've read, since she brings in Dukes and Legionnares and it's just a bunch of awesome. The creativity of the demons was able to bring about conflict and little bumps along the way, which I thought was a very smart way to create plot tension.

However, my enjoyment for this book pretty much ends here. Let the ranting begin.

While I do say that I love Anna and Kaidan as characters, I didn't necessarily like them together. Their relationship didn't really seem real to me. I never fully understood why Kaidan liked Anna, as he IS the son of the Duke of Lust, and kind of easily falls for a girl's physical features. Similarly, Anna seemed to fall for Kaidan for the same reason. Because he was cute. Yeah, that makes a strong relationship, right? Their relationship was on-again, off-again for the ENTIRE time, and I just. *face palm* MAKE UP YOUR MINDS, HORMONE-LOADED TEENAGERS. Goodness.

I also got bored with the plot in the last quarter of the novel. Nothing was happening, and most importantly, nothing was being resolved. *Insert bored gif here* And you know how usually, novels end with a fast-paced, action scene? Well, Sweet Evil had one of those, but it certainly wasn't exciting or a page-flipper. Needless to say, the ending wasn't even able to satisfy me. There was no craving for more. I didn't even want to know what happens next for Anna and Kaidan. Yeah, super depressing.

This concludes my mixed-feeling review for Sweet Evil. I had every intention of picking this book up in the first place and devouring it, but no intention at all to pick up the sequel. While the characters and the concept of angels and demons were highly fascinating, I couldn't look past the romantic relationship or the plot in the end. However, there are so many other readers out there who enjoyed this book, so I do still recommend it!

3.5 teacups for Sweet Evil!

Blog Tour: Forever ME Excerpt

Hi everyone! Today I'm part of the Forever ME blog tour hosted by Thomas Amo, the author himself. I'll be sharing with you what Forever ME is about and an excerpt from the book!

About Forever ME

Forever ME
by Thomas Amos
Publisher: GothicTwist Publishing
Release Date: October 11, 2012
Synopsis via Goodreads:

Forever Me is considered YA and NA. 
Inspired by True Events
Hannah Richards isn't your typical 16 year-old at Wichita Falls High. Fashions, trends, cosmetics and style are unimportant to her. An avid reader, guitar player, classic movie and television buff, Hannah marches to the beat of her own drum. Visible only to her Father the town Sheriff, and her two best friends. Hannah lives a simple, un-pampered life as an "Eastie."
After coming to the aide of Taylor Monroe, a popular member of the ultra snobby "Stilettos" at school, Hannah's life beings spiraling out of control. As she starts spending more time with Taylor, her best friends abandon her, after a series of misunderstandings, causing Hannah to re-invent herself.
Hannah quickly gets caught up in a life much different than the one she knows, where status, glamour, makeup, appearance and acceptance become her masters. And what of the dark secret that haunts the streets of Wichita Falls?
Can Hannah survive the lies, deceit, jealousy and rage that are now waiting for her behind every corner? Will she succumb to the pressures of popularity? Or will she be crushed under the heels of the "Stilettos"?
~High school is hard enough just being yourself, let alone being someone you're not~

Amazon  - Twitter - Facebook - Author Goodreads

Excerpt

Wichita Falls High was your typical Texas educational institution. It boasted a fine athletics’ department with a focus on football. The student body was composed of about fifteen hundred students, the majority being mostly Caucasians and Hispanics. While the African American and Asian students were smaller in numbers, they all mixed well with one another. Like most high schools, you could find plenty of, emo, goths, stoners, jocks and cheerleaders. The only segregation that seemed prevalent at Wichita High was the one between the Clubbers and the Easties. Clubbers were the young adults whose families belonged to the country club. These were the students who went out of their way to not interact with the teens who were from, that part of town. Hannah and Lauren were Easties. If you lived east of Chester Street, then you were socially unimportant. To translate into pop culture terms, Easties were Mudbloods.

            There was one other group at Wichita Falls High that commanded its own title, and it belonged to a small band of girls known as the Stilettos. They were, Shelby Farrell, Courtney James, Vanessa Chezwick, Madison Winthrop and Taylor Monroe. They were Clubbers of the highest order. Their fathers had the most money, and they lived in the exclusive section of the country club, with the exception of Taylor. Taylor’s family lived just outside the club. Her inclusion in the Stilettos came in the form of a proxy, as her father was Shelby’s father’s best friend.

            Taylor was easily one of the most attractive girls at Wichita Falls High. She had striking, golden honey colored eyes, set within an oval shaped face. Her dark eyebrows accentuated her luxurious long blonde hair. She was the most petite member of the Stilettos, standing only at five-foot-three. Shelby was the accepted leader of the clique; her tall five foot ten height alone made her appear like the one in charge. She had long brunette hair, porcelain skin, and emerald green eyes that seemed to peer directly through you. Like the rest of her clique, she too was sixteen. They all drove, but to be a friend with Shelby, it was a requirement to ride in her Mercedes. The way her tall legs carried her, she walked as if she owned the school. Her second in command was Courtney, a medium height and slight build of a redhead. She was freckled and pale and her disposition was always dour and disagreeable. She loved taunting other students, especially girls she considered ugly or fat. The two remaining members of the Stilettos were Vanessa and Madison. Vanessa was a stunning Japanese/Italian girl with rich, naturally wavy, black hair and almond shaped, chestnut eyes. Her olive toned skin appeared flawless and her heart shaped face was beautiful when she smiled. That, however, only happened when she was bullying younger students. She was just slightly shorter than Shelby, which was in her favor. Madison took care to be certain she never wore heels that made her taller than Shelby. Otherwise, it would be considered an act of defiance. Madison had been into Cosplay during her middle school years. Being a slightly overweight child, her involvement in costume play had been a means to find acceptance among others. She loved the idea of dressing up as a character from a film or television show. She mostly wore Catholic schoolgirl uniforms that were reminiscent of popular 90’s Japanese anime. By time she became a Stiletto, everyone was so used to it, it would have been odd for her to wear anything else. She too was pretty with brunette hair and blonde streaks. She wore glasses but Shelby forced her to go to contacts that year. She was slightly shorter than the rest, yet taller than Taylor. She was also a bit chunkier than the other girls but it didn’t take away from her looks in the slightest.

            To be a member of this clique, looks were not enough. You had to be beyond good looking if you were going to walk with this privileged collection of goddesses, and you better have the money, the heels, and social standing to go with it.

            Hannah didn’t care she was considered an Eastie by the Stilettos or the Clubbers. She was happy with who she was. Designer labels and loads of makeup didn’t make you prettier in her mind. Hannah never bothered with makeup; why spend hours in front of a mirror trying to become something she wasn’t. She tried it once when she was twelve to impress her friend Haylee’s older cousin, Nick. She applied false eyelashes and blue eye shadow, complete with bright red lipstick. She thought things were going well, until Nick asked her how much she charged. Hannah was as embarrassed as any preteen girl could ever be. Makeup became a thing of her past after that day.

*

  About Thomas Amo

Thomas Amo is the author over 20 comedies and farces for the live theatre. This former full time theatrical producer has spent the last thirty years writing in many different genres, from pilot scripts for television to screenplays on independent films. Outside acting, directing and producing, his first love has always been writing. Forever ME, marks his debut into YA fiction.

Happy reading, everyone!

Jen xx

Showcase Sunday #19

Showcase Sunday is hosted by the lovely Vicky over at Books, Biscuits, and Tea! It's a great way to share what you have received for the past week and to also gush over the wonderful books to other bloggers have added to their bookshelves!

Welp, just a couple more weeks until Beverley is back! *dances* we all miss you so much, Bev! And by the way, I returned a lot of library books. :/ Anyway, onto the books. :)

Jen's Books

(all covers link to Goodreads)

 

For Review:
Gated by Amy Christine Parker
The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas
Dance of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin
Truly, Madly, Deadly by Hannah Jayne
How to Love by Katie Cotugno
Once We Were by Kat Zhang
Across a Star-Swept Sea by Diana Peterfreund

Borrowed:
Destory Me by Tahereh Mafi

Bought:
Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger (ONLY $2.99!)

THAT'S IT. It kind of shocked me how less I got these past two weeks, compared to previous weeks. (Is that bad? O__O) What did you get this week, lovelies?

Happy reading,
Jen xxx

Blog Tour: The Rules for Disappearing Review + Giveaway!

Today is my stop for The Rules for Disappearing blog tour, hosted by Shane at Itching For Books! I have a review to share with you all, as well as a giveaway! To check out the rest of the tour, click here.

Jen's Review

The Rules for Disappearing
by Ashley Elston
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Release Date: May 14, 2013

The one thing that stands out for me when I first heard about The Rules for Disappearing was the fact that it's about the Witness Protection Program. I had never read anything like it before, so I was instantly curious and itching to read it. This book, more than ever, is a mystery. But more importantly, I felt that it was stronger as a romance, and a self-realization type of story. While this book was an entertaining read, it's not the most memorable.

One of the main factors that slowed down this book for me was that the overall plot of the story is interesting, but the pace gets slower as the reader gets closer and closer to the end. You'd expect the opposite: a mystery leading up to a fast-paced climax of the story, but personally for me, I was getting sleepier by each page. I loved the concept of the Witness Protection Program, but the mystery wasn't all that amazing. We got introduced to the story behind it all, and it was one of those "Okay, nodding my head, I'll go along with it, but I don't NEED to know what's happening" type of situations. It was fun to read about, but not gripping or heart-racing in any way. And the ending? So disappointed. It ended so abruptly, and the mystery was solved way too easily, leaving the reader wanting more of a mind-blowing resolution.

What's more strange, is that I absolutely LOVED the romance-- it's the strongest point in the whole novel-- but I didn't like the main character, Meg, independently. Meg alone is a sullen character, and she literally has no self-control. Sure, I understand that she's tired of moving so much and that she should keep to herself, but just because meeting a cute boy in a new town does NOT mean you can lose all control and fall in love with him, especially when you're under strict WPP rules. However, I'm glad this romance happened because it's seriously so sweet; I could taste the sugar on my tongue whenever they were together! Ethan, the love interest, doesn't hesitate to help and find out about Meg, and he was just the kindest, most endearing male specimen ever. SWOON, much?

In all, while the plot and mystery were pretty slow-going, the romance did it all for me. The romance was what kept me reading, and it's really something you don't want to miss out on if you're a romance junkie (like me). The Rules for Disappearing doesn't have the most memorable plot, but it is still a fun, quick mystery.

3 teacups for The Rules for Disappearing!

*Thanks to Disney Hyperion, Netgalley, and Shane for providing me with a review copy!*

Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy reading!
Jen xx

You Don't Know Me Blog Tour: Guest Post!

Hi guys, Beverley here!  Are you surprised to hear from me?  Unfortunately, I'm not returning early from my hiatus as much as I would like to - revision is making me crazy!!!  Anyway, I don't want to bog you down with my school news... in fact, I want to welcome Sophia Bennett to the blog for her blog tour of You Don't Know Me!  I'm a big fan of Sophia and I jumped at the chance to take part so today, I have a guest post about the cover to share with all of you lovely people.  Enjoy!

***

It was all so good. Sasha and Rose. Best friends in a band, singing together. Right up to the finals of Killer Act when the judges tell them one of them must go Suddenly their friendship is put to the ultimate test. On TV in front of millions. Two girls. One huge mistake. Can they ever forgive each other?

[summary taken from Goodreads]

The Cover Story

I always enjoy writing about covers. When I visit schools I increasingly talk about them, because we’ve all got our opinion – usually a strong one – and the cover are is important to a book’s success, even though the writing takes months or years, and the cover takes … well, a depressingly short time by comparison, if you happen to be the writer.

Although you’d like to think they do, cover illustrators don’t actually go through your manuscript with a fine-tooth comb, looking for the perfect scene to represent exactly. They get a few sentences giving them a rough idea about what the story is about, and off they go. However, my publisher Rachel knows that I like to put a mood board together for each book, to give me a visual sense of what I’m working towards while I’m writing, and now she likes to see it before she thinks about the cover. This is very flattering. Here was the picture I sent her for You Don’t Know Me:

Rachel also asked if I had any ideas in mind for the cover, because when she asked me about The Look I told her I was thinking of something with a magazine cover feel: the cropped face of a girl staring out strongly from the page. And that’s pretty much what we ended up going for.

This time, I was thinking more in terms of a girl in a spotlight, ready to sing. Possibly a girl with a not-so-size-zero body shape, which would make a refreshing change. I found a few things online, including some fan art for an idealised Selena Gomez album cover, and suggested these:

I think the golden eye was inspired by the Adele covers. (Note the Adele theme creeping through my inspirations here.) We both liked how graphic and strong it was. It reminded us a bit of the cover of ‘The Look’. Also, by looking down, the eye seemed somehow mysterious and possibly sad, which suited the darker elements of the book.

I like to think that maybe the eye inspired what came next, because the ‘girl in the spotlight’ idea didn’t make it through. This time, Rachel wanted to commission a photo for the cover, though, which was exciting. She suggested a photographer called Rosie Hardy, whose website is here, and Rosie’s mysterious, artistic, romantic images looked wonderful to me.

Coincidentally, Rosie has a picture of Janet Devlin on the site – an X Factor finalist from 2011 – who was one of the many people I was thinking of when I wrote the character of Rose. Rosie also did the cover for Rachel Ward’s new book, The Drowning, which is a self-portrait. Of Rosie, not Rachel. So now you know.

Rosie took a picture of a girl looking down and we ended up with a cover like this:

I liked it, but I didn’t love it, apart from those turquoise page edges, which are fabulous. Some other people in the process felt the same, so the picture went through some colour tweaks, ending up like this:

Which I think is much stronger. Big sigh of relief.

I’ve since shown it to a couple of secondary school classes, to get their opinion. One girl said ‘It looks as though she’s sad and she’s thinking about something’, which seemed pretty accurate. Another one said ‘She looks like she’s doing something on her phone,’ which made me laugh because in the story the main character, Sasha Bayley, is almost surgically attached to her phone. It’s what drives the plot. So I think we got there in the end.

I say ‘we’ – I was just an interested observer on this one. I think Chicken House got there in the end. I hope so, anyway. What do you think?

***

Thank you, Sophia for writing such a lovely post!  I love hearing about the cover story for different books and I was intrigued to hear about the process behind the glowing cover of You Don't Know Me.  I adore the idea of a mood board - I think I'm going to make my own one for a 'book' I'm planning to write after exams!

And if you haven't already, be sure to pick up a copy of You Don't Know Me - I'm currently reading it and LOVING it!

As usual, please feel free to leave your thoughts and comments!  And I look forward to my return in June, when I can fully resume blogging 'duties' :D

Happy reading,

Beverley xxx

P.S. If any of you have exams coming up, GOOD LUCK!

Blog Tour: Nantucket Blue Review + Giveaway!

I'm so excited to be a part of the Nantucket Blue blog tour, hosted by the lovely Shane at Itching For Books! Today I have my review of Nantucket Blue and a giveaway! To see the rest of the tour, click here.

Jen's Review

Nantucket Blue
by Leila Howland
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Release Date: May 7, 2013

Summer. When the sun's rays are shining down on your bare shoulders, when your ice cold glass of lemonade is freezing your hand off, even though the rest of your body is on fire. Summer, when your life is carefree. Summer, when sometimes, you discover who you are and who you're meant to be with. Summer, when you maybe find your summer romance.

Nantucket Blue was very much all of these things. It's quite the enjoyable perfect summer read, with it's distinct setting on an island off the coast, friendship problems, family problems, and of course, the boy problems. Although I had a few problems with it here and there, Nantucket Blue definitely prepped and got me excited for summer.

My favorite aspect of Nantucket Blue for sure was the setting. Leila Howland did a fabulous job creating the mood and picture of the story-- the island with its boat docks, little shops, sandy beaches, and bikes everywhere instead of cars. The picture was very clear and was accessibly easy to settle into the story. Perhaps it was the setting that I wanted to return to every time I wasn't reading this book, but I don't think Howland could have down a better job with it. It seriously makes me crave summer so much more!

And you know those contemporary novels that have a bunch of little mini problems that pop up here and there in the story, and they just somehow intertwine together to make an interesting story? Leila Howland was able to perfect that. The original plot with Cricket and her best friend Jules moving to Nantucket for the summer slowly turns into a whirlwind of problems amongst themselves, their parents, drama with boys, and more. All of these elements combined formed an intriguing plot line that I couldn't stay away from. I always wanted to know what happened next!

However, I did have some minor issues with the main character, Cricket, and the romance. Cricket was an okay character for me, but I never really felt a closeness or connection with her. Her obsession with her ex-best friend's family was a little intense and weird. The romance starts off as pure lust. Then, the love interest shifts into something that was uncomfortable to read about, but later on I grew more comfortable with it. I just have really mixed feelings about it, and I think it could have been done differently.

Aside from some minor problems with the main protagonist and the summer romance, I really enjoyed Nantucket Blue for its wonderfully vivid setting and well-thought out plot line. I definitely recommend it if you're looking for a quick summer read for reading on the beach!

3.75 teacups for Nantucket Blue!

*Thanks to IFB, Disney Hyperion, and Netgalley for providing me with a copy for review!*

Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy reading, 

Jen xx