Letterbox Love #26

Letterbox Love came about after some drama with the American book haul memes, so the UKYA bloggers came together on Twitter to organise one of our own. Summaries are taken from the cover, or Amazon/NetGalley/Goodreads in the case of e-books, unless otherwise stated. Hosted by Narratively Speaking.

I’m back! And I have quite a few goodies to show you.

For Review:

White Space – Ilsa J Bick (e-book)

Emma Lindsay’s got problems: a head full of metal, a crazy artist for a guardian, and these weird blink-stretches of half-remembered time when her mind seems to bleed into other lives. Then, for class, she writes “White Space”, a story about kids stranded in a spooky house during a blizzard. But this creates one more issue. “White Space” is nearly identical to an unfinished novel about characters that jump off pages into other stories. But she’s never seen that manuscript. No one has since the writer, killed years ago, never completed the book. Which means she’s blinked into the head of a dead guy?

Or has she tripped into the nightmare of her own story? Because now Emma is trapped in a bizarre, fog-shrouded valley with other kids who have their own dark secrets and strange abilities.

The question then becomes is she real? Are there others? Or are they just characters who have all fallen between the lines into White Space – and can they escape before someone pens their end?

This sounds absolutely mind-bending, and I love Ilsa J Bick’s books. She’s an incredible writer.

Loving the sound of these two from a new e-book only imprint from Bloomsbury, Bloomsbury Spark! Watch out for these launching on December 19^th.

The Sound of Us – Ashley Poston

From Bloomsbury Spark, the hilarious and heartwarming story of a classic-rock girl and a pop-star boy...

America’s favourite pop-band, Roman Holiday, is done, dead, and so totally last year. For eighteen-year-old rockaholic Junie Baltimore, this is music to her ears. But when she discovers their sexy ex-lead singer hiding out on the boardwalk, her summer vacation becomes the cover story of the year.

She’s willing to keep him a secret, but when a sleazy paparazzo offers her the cash she needs to save the bar her father left behind, could she sell out for a chance to save her future? Who is she kidding? That’s a no-brainer...but she never planned on falling head over heels for the lead singer.

The Art of Falling – Jenny Kaczorowski (e-book)

From Bloomsbury Spark, a sweet tale that’s perfect for anyone who’s ever fallen for the high school quarterback.

For seventeen-year-old Bria Hale, image is everything. She’s a militant vegan with purple hair, Doc Martens and a permanent scowl. Kissing captain of the football team captain Ben Harris? Definitely not part of that image.

Now with each secret kiss, she’s falling deeper for the boy every girl at Oceanside High is crushing on. Throw in a few forbidden bacon cheeseburgers and she’s facing one major identity crisis.

Ignoring Ben should be easy, but when a flashy display of artistic spirit lands her in close quarters after hours with the boy she’s too cool to like, she can’t keep pretending those kisses meant nothing. With her reputation and her heart on a collision course, Bria must either be true to herself or to the persona she’s spent all of high school creating.

Gift:

The lovely Emma at Bloomsbury sent me a lovely and exciting package full of books to keep my mind off of things. It was so lovely of her!

I’m particularly excited for The Song of Achilles and Pies & Puds!

Bought:

Eleanor and Park – Rainbow Rowell (e-book)

Eleanor is the new girl in town, and she’s never felt more alone. All mismatched clothes, and red hair and chaotic home life, she couldn’t stick out more if she tried.

Then she takes the seat on the bus next to Park. Quiet, careful and – in Eleanor’s eyes – impossibly cool, Park’s worked out that flying under the radar s the best way to get by.

Slowly, steadily, through late-night conversations and an ever-growing stack of mixtapes, Eleanor and Park fall in love. They fall in love the way you do the first time, when you’re 16, and when you have nothing and everything to lose.

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, Eleanor and Park is funny, sad, shocking and true – an exquisite nostalgia trip for anyone who has never forgotten their first love.

Finally. Finally.

The Bane Chronicles 8: What to Buy the Shadowhunter Who Has Everything (And Who You’re Not Officially Dating, Anyway) – Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan

Set in the time between City of Ashes and City of Glass, warlock Magnus Bane is determined to find the best birthday present possible for Alec Lightwood, the Shadowhunter he may or may not be dating. And he’s also got to deal with the demon he’s conjured up for a very irritating client...

I’m so sad these are nearly over. I just love Magnus so much!

I Capture the Castle – Dodie Smith (paperback)

Cassandra Mortmain lives with her bohemian and impoverished family in a crumbling castle in the middle of nowhere. She records her life with her beautiful, bored sister, Rose, her fadingly glamorous stepmother, Topaz, her little brother, Thomas, and her eccentric novelist father who suffers from a financially crippling writer’s block. However, all their lives are turned upside down when the American heirs to the castle arrive and Cassandra finds herself falling in love for the first time.

I feel it’s about time I read this, really.

Sophie

UKYA Blog Tour: An Interview with CJ Flood

CJ Flood’s debut novel, Infinite Sky, published by S&S earlier this year is one of my favourite reads of 2013. It’s beautiful, moving and deeply affecting. This woman has some serious talent and I’m very excited to what she gives us next.

1. The subject of travellers is a sometimes sensitive topic. What made you decide to tackle it in Infinite Sky?

Irish Travellers are often the target of a lot more open prejudice than other ethnic groups, and so I knew their presence in the story could create a lot of conflict, which is at the heart of all good novels. Because their presence sometimes stirs up strong feeling in people, I thought it would be interesting dynamically too. I wanted to create a more realistic/sympathetic/subtle portrayal that what is currently appearing on our TV screens in the form of My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding and that kind of thing, but mainly I wrote about Travellers because I required a conflict around land to make my novel work.

2. The ending of Infinite Sky made me cry on a train. What was the last book that made you cry?

Hurray, I love to make people cry! I cry often during novels, so have probably cried loads recently. My friend, Nathan Filer’s The Shock of the Fall made me cry with happiness, which is quite a rare thing. And John Corey Whaley’s When Things Come Back made me cry too. Both stunning books, please read them immediately.

3. At thirteen, Iris is on the younger side for the protagonist of a YA novel. What attracts you to that age?

Thirteen was an interesting age for me. I would still try and play children’s games, like imagining things, but they were no longer satisfactory; I’d lost the knack. But I wasn’t quite ready for the new interests – aka snogging/groping etc – and so I felt confused and left behind and lonely a lot of the time. Also, typically, kids start to separate from their parents around this age, and realise they are just human beings like them. It’s an interesting time, for sure.

A few quick ones!

4. Favourite writing snack?

When I’m in Serious Editing Mode, I live on packet noodles and Earl Grey tea. I need to think up more snacks really, but I worry about getting fat, what with never moving.

5. Story world you want to live in?

His Dark Materials. I want a daemon so bad.

6. Current read?

I’m currently reading From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler, and it’s magnificent.

Thank you so much Chelsey! And thank you to Lucy of Queen of Contemporary for organising such a fantastic tour! Now go and get yourself a copy of Infinite Sky and check out all of the previous tops of the We Love UKYA! tour!

Sophie

Gone

At around 8am on Wednesday morning, the 13^th, my mum passed away.

I was expecting a few months longer than I got.

She went into hospital on the 5^th for the fluid to be drained from her lungs to ease her coughing and breathing. She was supposed to be out on Thursday and her final, vicious round of chemo was supposed to begin today. But they wanted to run some tests so she stayed Thursday too. She was fine. I called her Thursday lunchtime and we were joking and laughing and I was in London on a course for work. She was jealous that I got to have a lunch of excellent Chinese in Spitalfields Market while all she got a sandwich. I picked up a leaflet for her about a night-time antiques market that I knew she’d love. By Friday she had jaundice.

We went to visit her on Saturday. She was drowsy, but alert and with-it, she’d possibly be home on Monday once the doctor had been around to check on her. We left after an hour. It took us all day to get through to her on Sunday. She was even drowsier, but it was just the phone line, right? She’d be home the next day. So I went up to London for another course on Monday and continued as normal. Then the mid-afternoon break arrived and I checked my phone. I had five missed calls and a string of texts. She was deteriorating and there was ‘cause for concern’. I’ve never moved so fast in my life and yet it still took me two hours and forty-five minutes to get home from London and then to Guildford where she was in hospital.

It was awful. She could barely speak, her movements were almost out of her control and she was agitated, trying to get out of bed. I think I cried for most of the three hours we were there. Especially when the doctor took us aside and said that the cancer had progressed much further than anticipated. We’d only have a few days left with her, possibly a week. I held her hand when we went back, it took all of her strength to pull my hand up and kiss it. I told her I loved her when I left and she said it back. That was the last thing she said to me, and the last thing I said to her that I know she fully comprehended.

We spent eight and a half hours by her bedside on Tuesday. She slept most of the day, making small sounds every now and again. She was dosed up on painkillers. She couldn’t speak and she only opened her eyes fully once in the entire time we were there. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a more painful, and long, day. For some reason, when we left that evening, after kissing her goodnight and telling her I loved her, I turned back halfway down the ward and went to look at her again. That was the last time I saw my mum.

My auntie arrived at our house at about 9am on Wednesday to tell us that she’d died about an hour before.

We should have had longer, we were promised longer. It was too quick, too soon, too young. She was 57.

She fought relentlessly for seven years against a vicious, evil and unrelenting disease that, eventually, made her body give up even when her mind and her heart were still fighting. 

At least I can be thankful that she's no longer suffering, no longer fighting and no longer in pain; if only that softened the blow entirely.

EDIT: I'm going to give myself a week off from the blog so all you'll see from me next week is my UKYA blog tour post, an interview with CJ Flood, but I'll hopefully be back with a Letterbox Love to kick me off on the 24th.

The Disappointing Sequel

This year has been a year of disappointing sequels. The one most prevalent in my mind is one that the whole blogosphere was flailing about since they read the second book: Allegiant. Even though I was less in love with Insurgent than I wanted to be, I was still really excited for the finale. But I was disappointed. I felt like maybe it was stretched too far and I just didn’t feel the spark anymore. Is it possible that it’s the distance between instalments that does it for me?

I think that was definitely the case for Sarah Crossan’s Resist. Clearly remember adoring Breathe, and my review supports that, but I didn’t finish Resist. I don’t think I even got a quarter of the way through before I put it down never to pick it up again. I couldn’t remember a single thing about the first book and I found I didn’t really care either. I had no connection with characters and a world I had previously loved. I was really upset, but I felt nothing when I deleted my e-proof off of my Kindle.

The dwindling of my love was a little different with Monsters, the final book in Ilsa J Bick’s trilogy. A trilogy in which I was consumed by the first two books. I read a catch up of the series before beginning Monsters so I wasn’t thwarted by my poor memory and I still didn’t click. This series has been epic from the beginning and each book is very long and complex, but I think it went a little far in the final instalment. I honestly think it could have ended somewhere in the second book and that it was dragged out. More and more characters and points of view were thrown in and it was full-throttle danger and imminent death for characters that I had fallen in love with, but by the end of Monsters, I didn’t care anymore. I just wanted it to be over so I could move on.

I felt similarly about the unnecessary length of the novel when it came to Bitterblue. This trilogy captured my heart and held it hostage for both Graceling and Fire so I was pretty crushed when I didn’t fall in love with Bitterblue. I don’t think that Bitterblue herself was as engaging as Katsa and Fire were and that’s what draws me in. I also thought it was slow and too information heavy. My favourite parts were the ones that included Po and Katsa, to be honest. Luckily, I’m choosing to hold onto how mind-blowingly amazing Garceling and Fire are instead of dwelling on the final companion.

Julie Kagawa’s world of the Nevernever is one of my very favourites. I legitimately want to go there and trade a memory for the Sight. I was gutted to see The Iron Fey trilogy and Meghan and Ash’s story end so the announcement of The Call of the Forgotten spin-off series starring Meghan’s brother, Ethan, made me super happy. We’re on book two now, The Iron Traitor, and I’m completely underwhelmed. There are lots of the same characters and the same world, but the spark is missing. I just want Meghan and Ash back. I do still love the Nevernever though. I’m hoping that this spin-off might be redeemed by the next (and possibly final?) book, but I don;t have my hopes up.

And finally, the big one. I spent two years waiting for Clockwork Princess. Cassandra Clare is one of my favourite authors and I love every word she puts to paper, the original ending of The Mortal Instruments series – City of Glass – was perfection and so I had every faith that Clockwork Princess would make me bawl and leave me happy and satisfied. Instead, I felt cheated. I adored it most of the way through, some moments even more, and then came the ending and specifically, the epilogue. I felt like she was slightly pandering to both lots of shippers and I was so disappointed. I mean, it was a satisfying ending for Tessa, but I felt cheated and that she’s cheated the characters as well. I was so, so disappointed that I had cried for these characters multiple times, that I had cheered for them, worried for them and then it was over the way it was over. Now I’m terrified for City of Heavenly Fire. If that ends in disappointment, I’ll be devastated – I’ve been with that series and those characters for a very long time. Here’s hoping...

There are so many reasons why a sequel might fail to live up to my expectations and it’s interesting how each of these is a mixture of several different elements. But it’s clear to me that they all come down to one thing: a connection, whether that be with the world, the plot or the characters, needs to be there and have remained strong since I read the last instalment of the series. That’s a pretty tall order but I could reel off a huge list of authors who’ve done just that. Including Rachel Caine, Richelle Mead, Louise Rennison, usually Cassandra Clare, usually Julie Kagawa, Tahereh Mafi, Sarah J Maas. It’s such a shame as I end up forgetting about and disregarding authors who’s future books I may love.

I say bring back the standalone. You can’t go wrong with those.

Series or standalone? How do you make sure you remember previous books in a series? Did any of you absolutely love any of the sequels I’ve mentioned?

Sophie

Out and About: Holly Black and Sarah Rees Brennan

Last Monday, the 4th, I went up to Foyles after work to meet Holly Black and Sarah Rees Brennan. I jumped at the chance to secure a ticket the second I heard about it - I’ve loved Holly Black’s books for years and with the release of Unspoken and Untold, I’ve started to fall for Sarah Rees Brennan’s as well.

My evening started shakily after I didn’t get out of work on time and nearly missed my trains; thank goodnees for Southern’s crappy service and delays! As I didn’t have a chance to get changed at work cos of all of the running up the hill to the station, I was going to do it on the train. Cue both toilets out of order and a mad rush to get changed without falling over after I changed trains between Clapham Junction and Victoria - that’s around a five minute journey…

I finally arrived, a little bit worked up and flustered, I plopped down in the seat next to Viv from Serendipity Reviews who I never seem to get to have a chat with at events! She’d taken part in a group interview before the even which I sadly couldn’t make and had already met the lovely ladies and had her books signed.

Then Holly and Sarah walked in to resounding applause! Holly began the event by reading from The Coldest Girl in Coldtown and then Sarah let us choose what we wanted a reading from - Unspoken, Untold or Unmade. obviously, we all chose the last one. The extract featured one of my favourite characters in the series rather…distressed… I have to admit that I’m now even more excited to read the final instalment, especially after the ending of Untold!

Next we had a Q&A round where books were up for grabs from the audience members asking the ladies questions. Holly told us that she left Coldtown with a slightly open end as a book she read as a teenager had an ambiguous ending and she was left slightly irritated, but she never forgot it. Holly wanted to create that balance in Coldtown. Sarah basically spent the session telling stories about her, Cassie and Holly’s writing retreats, dancing across the stage, flailing to the floor and enjoying people’s pain her novels cause her readers.

Sarah talked about her inspiration for writing a Gothic novel that reversed the tropes and included a fierce, female journalist. And kissing. And heartbreak. And live burial. She’s quite fixated on live burial.

They answered a few more questions each (which I can’t remember - my memory is shocking!) before we queued for the signing. I met Holly first. We spoke briefly about her Tithe, Valiant and Ironside covers that I have before I went over to Sarah. With Sarah, she told me to ask her anything because she loves spoilers, then she found out that I hate spoilers which naturally led onto a conversation about The Vampire Diaries. We’re both Team Damon, incidentally. It was rather lovely.

As with most London-based book events, I got to see a few lovely blogger friends. Liz, author-to-be (look at her gorgeous cover!) and previously at My Favourite Books; Cait from The Cait Files; Debbie from Snuggling on the Sofa; Cecily from Cecily Loves Books and I caught a brief glimspe of Becky from The Bookette who I didn’t manage to catch before I left, unfortunately. It’s also so, so good to catch up with you guys.

It was a great event so it’s  a shame I had to leave fairly early as I had work the next day. Hopefully I’ll get to chat for longer next time!

Sophie