{Blog Tour} Review & Author Interview: Things We Know by Heart by Jessi Kirby

Posted by Donna
Release Date: April 21st, 2015
Finished Date: August 1st, 2016

Publishers: HarperTeen
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
Source: For Review
Format: Hardcover 

Pages: 304

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

Quinn Sullivan lost the love of her life when her boyfriend, Trent, died in an accident their junior year. In an attempt to get closure, she reached out to the recipients of his donated organs. Though some answered her letters, the one Quinn feels matters most--the person who received Trent's heart--has been silent.

Nineteen-year-old Colton Thomas has spent the last several years in and out of hospitals waiting for a heart transplant. Now that he's finally received a new heart, Colton is regaining strength, and he's walking away from his bedridden past with no intention of looking back. He doesn't want to know about the person who had to die so that he could live. He only wants to move forward.

But Quinn can't let it go. Venturing outside the system to find Colton, Quinn takes a risk in hopes of finally laying her memories to rest. But what begins as an innocent conversation quickly becomes an attraction--and to make matters worse, Colton has no idea how they're connected. His zest for life pulls Quinn from her months of sorrow but leaves her torn between honesty and utter betrayal. Because no matter how hard she's falling for Colton, each beat of his heart reminds her of all she's lost.

The Review: Things We Know by Heart is a beautifully written and moving story by YA author Jessi Kirby and it’s one that’s going to stay with me for a long time. 

When Quinn Sullivan’s boyfriend Trent dies, her world is turned upside down and she doesn’t know how to move on. So when his organs are used and go to people who are on the donor waiting list, Quinn decides to reach out to them through the reach out program and see if this helps her to move on. Four out of five people response but the person who receives Trent’s heart doesn’t. Quinn does the only thing she knows she’s not supposed to not do – she tracks the person down but it’s something she’s not prepared. Her and Colton Thomas’s first meeting doesn’t go to plan. After that, Quinn knows she’s breaking the rules but there’s something about Colton that she’s drawn to and Colton’s pretty determined to get to know her too. But can they have a relationship when there are so many secrets between them?

I loved Things We Know by Heart. It’s such a short story – just 300 pages – which I flew through it within a day. Had it of not been for work I would have finished it much quicker. Even though it’s a short read, it didn’t stop the feels I got from this book. The emotions really packs a punch from the impact of this story. It’s such a heart-breaking read. It’s a story about loss and life but then hope and love.  Jessi Kirby writes the story so beautifully that is well developed and you can see through each chapter how much research has gone into the story.

The characters are written great. Quinn is a teenage girl that makes mistakes but also recognises when she’s made them. Her decision to find Colton might not have been the best one but once she meets him, she can’t forget him. And the same goes for Colton. They have an undeniable connection that as a reader, you can see immediately. It’s not an insta-love but a just a tiny spark that continues to grow throughout the story. I loved all of Quinn and Colton moments. I struggled with them. I cried with them. And I laughed with them. I came to love both of them very much and even Trent that we only see through Quinn’s memories. He was a lovable character too. 

Admittedly the plot of the story is a little predictable but it didn’t bother me at all. I was so wrapped up in the story that no matter what, I loved it. I loved everything about it and even though Quinn and Colton’s story is over, I can’t help wanting more. 

In all, Thing We Know by Heart is a beautiful story, full of angst, heart-break, grief, hope, and love and about moving on after losing a loved one and I'm proud to have this book sitting on my shelf - definitely one of my favourite contemporary reads to date!

Thank you to Harper 360 for giving me the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an honest review. 

Author Interview with Jessi Kirby! 

1) Could you tell us a little bit about Things We Know by Heart? 
Things We Know By Heart is the story of a girl who loses her boyfriend in a tragic accident.  When his parents make the decision to donate his organs, she reaches out to the recipients in an effort to deal with her grief.  All of them respond but one--the one who she believes is most important, because he received her boyfriend’s heart. Quinn can’t seem to let this go, so she finds out who he is, which leads to an unintended meeting, where they have an undeniable connection.  

2) Where did you get the idea behind the story? 
I first got the idea for the story when I read an article about the theory of cellular memory—the idea that our very cells carry the “memory” of who we are as people, so that in the case of transplants—especially heart transplants—there’s this idea that some essence of the donor could be present.  There are all sorts of anecdotal stories about this, and that’s the original direction this story was going to take.  But then I started researching  the relationships between donor families and recipient families—how some want to meet each other, and others never do, and that’s what I found most interesting.  I thought about how complicated it would be if one party really felt the need to meet, and the other absolutely did not want to do that, and that’s where Quinn and Colton came from. 

3) How long did it take to write?
This took roughly a year to write.

4) What was the most challenging thing about writing this book?
The thing I found most challenging about writing this book was balancing out Quinn’s grief over her first love with the fact that she was healing from that grief and finding a new love.  

5) Do you have a favourite non-spoiler quote from the book?
I do! I found so many great passages about the heart when I was researching this story that I began collecting quotes and ended up beginning each chapter with them.  The following comes from Plato, is one of my favourite, and I do think it captures the feel of the story.:
“Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back.” –Plato

6) Can you describe Quinn and Colton in three words?
Meant to be.

7) What’s next for you?
Next up I have a novel called THE SECRET HISTORY OF US, which will be released in Summer 2017, and is about a girl who has a near-drowning experience.  When she wakes from a coma, she has lost the memories of her most recent years—those that include high school, graduating, and even her boyfriend.  This one is a story of trying to find out who you are, while uncovering secrets about your past. 

Fun Questions 
1) What would we find in your refrigerator right now?
Ha! This is a fun question, and no one has ever asked me this. I try to eat pretty clean, so lots of fruits and veggies, but it’s also summertime, so there’s almost always a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc there for when friends stop by. If you looked in the cabinet, you’d find my favorite treat to have with that wine—potato chips.

2)What are some of the most recent books you’ve bought? 

I just picked up HIGHLY ILLOGICAL BEHAVIOR by Corey Whaley, and THE UNEXPECTED EVERYTHING by Morgan Matson, both of which I can’t wait to read!

AUTHOR BIO:  Jessi Kirby  is a former English teacher and librarian. She lives in Orange County, CA with her husband and two kids, where she writes stories and runs the beach every day. Well, almost every day. You can contact Jessi at jessi@jessikirby.com.  

{Guest Post + UK Giveaway} Chloe Bennet, Author of Boywatching

Boywatching
By Chloe Bennet
Release Date: June 4th, 2015

Publishers: Orchard
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Pages: 384
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

The annual joint school dance (aka the Snog Fest) is looming, and Chloe and her three best friends are determined not to repeat last year's disaster, which led to Year 9's top Mean Girl, Maggie, humiliating them online as a pack of sad losers. 

First they need to figure out just what's going with the utterly incomprehensible yet strangely attractive St Thomas's boys - 

and so the science of BoyWatching is born... 

Boywatching, by Chloe Bennet

Like most people reading this (I’m guessing here, but I think I’m right!) I grew up loving reading.  Not that my life wasn’t perfectly nice, but there was nothing I’d like better than wrapping myself up in somebody else’s … whether they lived in a castle in Scotland or a hut in America, whether they were really real or magically unreal, whether they did harm or had harm done to them, I’d bury my nose in the book of their stories.

When I started to (sort of) grow up, I didn’t grow out of the reading thing.  So I was very lucky to get a job as an editor in publishing.  Which meant I was wrapped up in other people’s lives in a different way – helping people write memoirs, history, humour.   I loved the business of working with writers to shape their stories, to look at the big picture and the little detail.  It was rewarding and fascinating.  But then it got frustrating….and I realised it would be much more fun to Do It Myself!

At about this time, I found myself at a bus stop, watching a boy as he waited for the bus – he must have been about nine or ten.  I was thinking how sweet he looked in his school uniform, collar askew, expression of concentration as he opened his packet of crisps.  And then up came these two fourteen-year-old girls.  They looked super cool in their skinny jeans and crop tops, long straight hair and eye-liner.  Much older than their years.   They must have recognised the uniform because they went up to the boy, and asked him, ‘Do you go to St George’s?’.  The boy looked rather nervous and admitted that he did.  And then the girls asked him whether he knew any boys in Year 11.    Still nervous, the boy said he did.  “So,” one said, “do you know Harry Adams, or Patrick Clark?”   “Or,” said the other, “Mark Forster or Sam Johnson?”  And I thought that at that age, however cool you look, you don’t necessarily know much, and you just have to get your information about The Boy wherever you can find it, even from the most unlikely sources.

And then I started to think back to those days when you’re young and curious and just starting to work out the whole thing with Boys.  And I thought, what if my heroine and her friends approached these mysterious creatures scientifically, noting down behaviour patterns – good and bad – and working out who might go with who and why.   I reckoned there’d be laughs and tears along the way, but maybe she would learn stuff, find The One, and maybe her friends would too.

That very night I went home and started to write Boywatching – Chloe’s story of her own and her friends’ adventures as they try to get the hang of The Boy.   What makes them behave the way they do, look the way they do, do the things they do….?  Chloe develops a system of points and unpoints,   and there’s much discussion about what’s really important – ranging from Great Kissing and Kind to Children and Animals to Looks Good in Jeans and Doesn’t Ignore You When He’s With His Mates.

Boywatching, though, is an imprecise science, which is why you have to do so much of it.   Plus it’s always a work in progress; boys can change, grow up (even though this can be a slow process), and you have to observe them in all sorts of different conditions - playing football, being with grown-ups, going to school….  (That’s why there are going to be further books in the series!)

But Boywatching isn’t just about watching boys: it’s about friendships, bullying (survival tips, not how-to), families, tiresome brothers and sisters, annoying parents (not always annoying though, sometimes parents can be quite helpful), and teachers who will keep interrupting your life to try to make you learn stuff.  I think - I hope - there are a few life lessons to be learned in between the laughs. 

Chloe herself is feisty and funny.   Although she can also be quite annoying because she DOES like to get things right.   She wants to be a writer when she grows up, so is also quite pedantic when it comes to apostrophes and the right place for them….   But otherwise she’s perfectly normal, and very good at looking out for her friends.   (Chloe and I have a lot in common, but the main thing we have in common is that we believe in friends like some people believe in Heaven or homeopathy.)

I’ve grown to be very fond of Chloe.   

And of Mark, who is not only handsome in a tousled, dimpled way, but also sensitive, intelligent and funny.  He is The One Chloe falls for.  

If only Mark were twenty years older.  And real. . . .   

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{Author Interview + UK/IRE Giveaway} The Territory by Sarah Govett

The Territory
by Sarah Govett
Release Date: May 14th, 2015

Publishers: Firefly Press
Genre: YA, Dystopia

Pages: 202
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

Limited Space requires Limited Numbers

The year is 2059. Noa Blake is just another normal 15 year old. Except in the Territory normal isn’t normal. The richest children can download information and bypass the need to study. In a flooded world of dwindling resources, Noa and the other ‘Norms’ have their work cut out to compete. And competing is everything – anybody who fails the TAA exam at 15 will be shipped off to the disease-ridden Wetlands, to a life of misery, if not certain death.

But how to focus when your heart is being torn in two directions at once?

‘Brilliantly plotted, utterly gripping... This is a book you won’t be able to put down. I can’t wait for part two!’ Gemma Malley (The Declaration)

‘A page-turner with cinematic qualities... I gasped an involuntary “No!” when I turned the final page; I really want to find out what happens next!’ Zoe Tuft (Playing by the Book)

‘The Territory had me hooked from page one... The tension was almost too much to bear ... an accomplished and compelling debut.’ SB Hayes (Poison Heart and Don’t Look Back) 

Author Interview with Sarah Govett.

1) Where did you get the idea behind the story?

I think the biggest influence has been working as a tutor these past 12 years. I’ve taught some incredibly bright and talented pupils at low performing schools, who, without additional input, have no chance of competing against their often less able peers at more spoon-feeding, exam-factory style schools. I wanted to take this unfairness and heighten it to a life or death situation.

2)How long did it take to write?

It took about two and a half years to write, but I wasn’t writing consistently (or even frequently). I had the idea just after my first daughter was born and then typed away in stolen half hours while she slept. She wasn’t a very good sleeper!

3)What was the most challenging thing about writing this book?

Finding the time to write. I’d have an idea that really excited me and then have to try not to forget it before I had a chance to write it down.

  

4)Do you have a favourite moment in the book?

That’s difficult without including any spoilers so for now I’ll go with the Anne Frank moment. I think one of the things that draws me to dystopia is that when the issue is one of survival, conventional morality collapses and you’d do anything to protect those closest to you.

5)What’s your favourite quote from the book?

It’s not really a quotable book but I do like the phrase, ‘limited space means limited numbers’. I truly believe we’re heading towards a global tipping point and unless we take drastic action to reduce carbon consumption and population, dystopian scenarios may become reality.

6)What’s next for you? 

I’m working on book 2 at the moment and loving being back in the world of The Territory again.

Fun Questions:

1)What would we find in your refrigerator right now?

Let’s have a look: Cheese (lots of cheese), some cold cottage pie (I’m a big cook-loads-then-heat-it-up-er) and a red felt tip pen. Hmmm that’s the trouble when your four year-old has figured out how to open the fridge door.

2)List 3 books you have recently read and would recommend?

Bone Clocks by David Mitchell, The Girl with all the Gifts by M R Carey and The Son by Philipp Meyer

3)If you were deserted on an island, what three favourite things would you want with you?

If I had my girls, a Frisbee and a guide to Desert Island Foraging I’d probably be quite happy. 

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{Author Interview + Giveaway} Soulmates by Holly Bourne

Soulmates
by Holly Bourne 
Release Date: September 1st, 2013

Publishers: Usborne Publishing
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Romance

Pages: 544

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

Every so often, two people are born who are the perfect matches for each other. Soulmates. But while the odds of this happening are about as likely as being struck by lightning, when these people do meet and fall in love…thunderstorms, lightning strikes and lashings of rain are only the beginning of their problems.

Enter Poppy, the 17-year-old cynic with a serious addiction to banana milk, and Noah, the heart-throb guitarist; residents of mediocre Middletown, sometime students, and…soulmates. 

After a chance meeting at a local band night, Poppy and Noah find themselves swept up in a whirlwind romance unlike anything they’ve ever experienced before. But with a secret international agency preparing to separate them, a trail of destruction rumbling in their wake, (and a looming psychology coursework deadline), they are left with an impossible choice between the end of the world, or a life without love…

Author Interview with Holly Bourne.

1) Where did you get the idea behind the story?

It seems SO long ago now, but I got the idea in the midst of the Twilight mania. Where there were entire sections of bookshops dedicated to ‘dark romance’ and ‘forbidden love’. Though I loved those books, I also worried they didn’t set the most realistic expectation of love. So I got the idea for Soulmates – using a romance book to play with the generic conventions of other romance books. I really wanted to hold a mirror up to all the clichés and expectations of romance, while writing a stonking romance at the same time.

2) How long did it take to write? 

Two long years, around my 50 hours a week job as a news reporter. Whenever anyone tells me they ‘don’t have time to write a book’, it makes me want to do a little spiteful dribble on them. Only a little one… 

3) What was the most challenging thing about writing this book? 

The ending. Oh, the ending, the ending, the ending. I cried solidly for about two weeks afterwards. Plus, making all the science behind soulmates was pretty challenging. I spent a good couple of months researching the science and psychology of love to make the storyline as plausible as I could. 4) Do you have a favourite moment in the book? I really wanted Poppy to have a strong set of friends – that she keeps throughout the romance. And it was brilliant fun writing all the scenes of her, Lizzie, Amanda and Ruth pissing about. 

5) What’s your favourite quote from the book? 

*SPOLIER ALERT* It’s right at the end of the book. “That’s the thing about love. However you’ve have it, however you’ve had it – it never goes. Once it’s touched you, it’s touched you forever. You’ll be permanently scarred by its brilliance. You can walk through the rest of your life with that wonderful knowledge… …someone once loved me and it was beautiful. No-one can take that from you.” 6) What’s next for you? I have a YA trilogy about FEMINISM coming out. I’m so, SO excited. It’s about a group of girls who start a grassroots campaign group at their college. The first book is called ‘AM I NORMAL YET?’ and is about Evie and her OCD relapse. It examines the links between gender and mental health. 

Fun Questions’s: 

1) What would we find in your refrigerator right now? 

A lifetime supply of Quorn sausages Chocolate. A lot of chocolate. Probably a half-empty jar of tomato sauce at the back with mould on it. That’s the sort of gross human being I am. 

2) List 3 books you have recently read and would recommend? 

ARGH! THERE ARE SO MANY. Recently? OK The Sin Eater’s Daughter made me realise I do actually like fantasy books! Who knew? Elizabeth Is Missing was beautiful, haunting, frustrating, but hilarious in equal measures. And I’ve been lucky enough to get a sneaky preview of The Secret Fire, co-written by CJ Daugherty and Carina Rosenfeld, and it’s ruddy awesome. You should be excited by it. I am. 

3) If you were deserted on an island, what three favourite things would you want with you? 

Books. Obvs. Mascara. Just in case a pirate that looked like Johnny Depp rocked up. I guess I should say something like ‘a paper and pen so I could use the experience to pen the next great British novel’…but you know what? I really like Quorn sausages. So I’m choosing them.

About the Author: Holly Bourne writes for young adults for a living. She is a journalist for www.TheSite.org, an advice and information website for 16-25 year-olds. Before this, she spent two years working as a local news reporter on the Surrey Mirror and was nominated as Print Journalist of the Year 2010. She also has a first class degree in Journalism Studies and has won awards for her writing.Her debut novel, Soulmates, is published by Usborne on September 1, 2013. 

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{Blog Tour + Kindle Giveaway} Rebecca Newton and the Last Oracle by Mario Routi (UK only)

Rebecca Newton and the Last Oracle by Mario Routi 
Release Date: April 4th, 2015

Publishers: Oak Tree Press, UK
Genre: YA Fantasy 

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

Rebecca’s life is about to change!

In the beginning, the ancient Gods created not just the earth. They also created three other worlds: the Elysian Fields, a paradise where they themselves live; Tartarus, the dark world of demons and Titans, ruled over by the ancient deity Cronus; and finally the Land of the White Sun, where all the heroes and creatures of myth dwell – Centaurs and Minotaurs, Cyclopes and Gorgons, Amazons and flying horses! In this land the Creator planted the Sacred Flame, the Cosmic Source that keeps the universe in balance and must be protected from the Dark monsters and Evil Gods who desire to seize it, in order to destroy all the worlds.

Hearing that Rebecca is charismatic, Turgoth, ruler of the kingdom of Beast, arranges for her abduction. When the two of them come face to face, they realise that there is a strange bond between them and their destinies become entwined forever. But although they start to share deep feelings for each other, they are doomed to fight on opposite sides...

Rebecca Newton and the Sacred Flame is a tale of epic wars, grand passions, mythical creatures and ancient Gods – an adventure story which reaches to the core of what we mean when we speak of “Good” and “Evil”. 

To celebrate the release of his second YA fantasy, Rebecca Newton and the Scared Flame with have author Mario Routi here with us today who will be answering a few of our questions;

1)   How did you come with the idea for the series?
I’d wanted to write the series for a few years.  Several paranormal experiences turned the flame on, but one of these was a chance encounter with an old man in a restaurant many years ago.  He read my first adult book, Orizon, also based in world of Rebecca Newton, and claimed that the place was real and that he’d been there!  As well as that, a life-long love of fantasy fiction inspired me to pick up my pen and give this series a go.

2)   How long does it take to you to write a book?
It takes me about a year to write a book. I make a rough mapping for the plot – where I want the story to go, end up and how I want my characters to behave.  Once I get started, however, I let myself relax and let the story go where it pleases, all the while checking back that I’m keeping to the rough ‘map’. 

3)   Which was the most challenging thing about this book to write?
I think the most tricky thing is to keep a good balance between description and action. I love writing both, but you need the right balance to keep the story moving but give it life. 

4)   Do you have a favourite character from the book? 
Rebecca is of course my little girl, but I see a lot of myself in Turgoth.

5)   Do you have a favourite quote from the book?
I do! It’s short, but to the point! ‘Souls are immortal!’

6)   Whatʼs next for you?
I'm currently on the 3rd book of the Rebecca Newton Saga. Once that's done, I guess there will be another Mythical Epic Fantasy – watch this space!

To celebrate the publication of Rebecca Newton and the Last Oracle, I have a brand new kindle and a copy of the book to give away to one lucky reader. 

To be in with a chance of winning, simply tweet your answer to the this question:

‘If you were granted one superpower, what would it be?’

to @BookPforLife and @MarioRouti using the hashtag #RebeccaNewton

The giveaway is UK only! 

{Blog Tour} Hilary Freeman; #UKYA Extravaganza

Author Interview with Hilary Freeman

1) You’ve written several books, which was your favourite to write? 
That’s a tough question. They’ve all been enjoyable and also frustrating/difficult in their own ways. Loving Danny, about a girl who falls in love with an edgy musician, was my most autobiographical book - so it was fun to use my real experiences and fictionalise them - and also the first, so I didn’t really know what I was doing, which was quite liberating.

I liked writing the voice of my main character in Don’t Ask, which is about a girl who gets herself into a big mess trying to find out some secret information about her boyfriend by inventing a new identity on social media. She was fun to write as she was quite mischievous.

But I probably enjoyed writing Lifted most because I was able to play with different styles: a mixture of third person chapters from several perspectives, as well as first person blogs. It made the writing process more interesting.

2) How do you come up with the ideas for your books?
My ideas can be triggered by anything - my work as a journalist and agony aunt, something I hear on the radio, a news story, something that happened to me, a picture I see, or something somebody tells me, even just a phrase that I like. Something will capture my imagination and then, over the next few weeks or months, a story will start to grow in my head, complete with its characters. There’s no formula and you can’t predict how or when it will happen. And not all the ideas are good ones. It’s definitely not a science!

3) How long does it take to you to write a book?
That’s difficult to say because I rarely have the luxury of working full time on them; I juggle my book writing with my work as a journalist and agony aunt. I usually dedicate Sundays to writing and take a few weeks off here and there to do big chunks. The more time I have to write, the more I write because once I’m ‘in the zone’ I speed up. I write an average of 1000 words a day, sometimes 2000 or even 3000 if I’m really steaming. It can take up to a year to write my first draft - unlike many writers, I only do one draft, editing as I go along -  but if I was doing it full time, it would probably be possible in three months or so. 

4) Which was the most challenging book to write?
My latest book, When I was Me, which is coming out in the autumn, was probably the most complicated in terms of its plot - it’s a psychological thriller and the main character wakes up one morning to discover her life isn’t her own. Reflecting her confusion and panic, and creating tension, without making it too confusing or giving too much away, was a challenge. The book also deals with quite heavy themes, like philosophy and physics, which I had to convey in simple terms that a teenager could understand, and in the voice of a 17-year-old. 

5) Do you have a favourite character or couple to write about? 
My favourite character is probably Noah from Lifted, my novel about a shoplifting blogger. He’s a noble, lovable, gangly computer geek who makes a big sacrifice for his best friend, even though she takes him for granted and barely notices him. Lots of people have told me they really liked Noah. He’s the guy I wish I’d known when I was a teenager.

6) Do you have a favourite quote from any of your books?
Ooh, that’s tricky. Now you’ve asked that, I can’t think of a single quote from any of my books. (This is why I hated doing English exams; terrible memory for quotes. Actually, terrible memory full stop: sometimes I can’t remember my own characters’ names!) The line which lots of readers seem to like best is the opening line of Loving Danny: ‘Isn't it weird how the truly significant moments of your life often begin as the most banal?’ I think it strikes a chord because we’re all aware that the most important, life changing things that happen often come out of the blue and seem trivial at the time. We never know what’s going to develop from them. The same idea: that tiny decisions can have big consequences is explored in more depth in When I was Me.

7) Out of all your book covers, which is your favourite?
I really like the covers for my Camden Town Tales series: The Celeb Next Door, Stuck on Me and The Boy from France. They’re very pretty to look at, with gorgeous designs and colours, and they work so well together. The little motifs that decorate them - like bracelets and converse and flowers - reflect Camden Town and, hopefully, really appeal to their target readership too.

8) What’s next for you?
I’m just at the editing stage for When I was Me, and then I’ll have to start publicising it. It’s always exciting waiting for a new book to come out. As for writing, I have a few ideas, including an adult thriller set in the South of France, but I haven’t started writing it yet. Watch this space….

{Blog Tour} Red Eye Blog Tour with Alex Bell and Lou Morgan

We're hear today to let you know of the first two titles to be published in the new Red Eye horror series for teens from Stripes Publishing. So do you like young adult horror? Well then these two books are right up your street!

Frozen Charlotte
by Alex Bell
Release Date: January 5th, 2015

Publishers: Stripes Publishing
Genre: YA, Horror

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

We're waiting for you to come and play. 

Dunvegan School for Girls has been closed for many years. Converted into a family home, the teachers and students are long gone.

But they left something behind...Sophie arrives at the old schoolhouse to spend the summer with her cousins. 

Brooding Cameron with his scarred hand, strange Lilias with a fear of bones and Piper, who seems just a bit too good to be true. 

And then there's her other cousin. 

The girl with a room full of antique dolls. 

The girl that shouldn't be there. 

The girl that died.

Author Interview with Alex Bell.......

Could you tell us about Frozen Charlotte?

Frozen Charlotte is a YA horror story about a girl whose best friend dies after they muck around one night with a Ouija Board app. She thinks that they might have accidentally let her dead cousin, Rebecca, escape out of the board so she travels to a remote Scottish island to stay with her uncle and surviving cousins to find out more about Rebecca's suspicious death. They live in an old converted schoolhouse perched on the cliff top, with a burnt dead tree in the garden, a bedroom filled with antique Frozen Charlotte dolls and a family who are all keeping secrets from one another. Nothing is quite what it seems and a ghostly presence seems to haunt the house. How did Rebecca die all those years ago and do the Frozen Charlotte dolls *really* move around a night when nobody is watching? 

How did you come up with the idea for the book?

I originally intended the dolls in the story to be voodoo dolls but, whilst researching, I stumbled across the Frozen Charlotte ballad. I loved the idea of these creepy old white porcelain dolls that were based on a dead girl from the Victorian era and everything else took on from there. I remember messing around with a home-made Ouija Board with my friends at school so that gave me the idea for the app in the first chapter. And I wanted to use the Isle of Skye for the location because I love that kind of remote, creepy, very traditional horror story setting. I'm a total sucker for anything Gothic!

How long did it take to write?

Two months for the first draft. 

What was the most challenging thing about writing this book?

Probably the tight deadline! I had to write about a third of it whilst I was on holiday on a ship sailing around Aruba, Columbia and the Panama Canal. Everyone else was on deck drinking cocktails in the sun whilst I was down below, drinking coffee and writing like a lunatic. It was over Halloween, though, so there were a lot of paper skeletons, giant cobwebs and ghoulish pumpkins all over the place, which helped get me in the mood. I was in the middle of writing one of the spookiest chapters one day when the huge paper skeleton on the wall next to me suddenly fell down and made me scream. I get a bit on edge when I'm writing horror! I think the staff and other passengers were all very confused by me. 

Who is your favourite character?

Cameron is my favourite character. He's the oldest of the cousins and, although a skilled pianist, he can only play with one hand because the other was injured in a fire that took place at the house years ago. I'm also really fond of Lilias, the youngest cousin. She suffers from cartilogenophobia - fear of bones. Including the ones inside her own body.   

What is your favourite quote?

"Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things." T.S.Eliot

What’s next for you?

I'm working on another book at the moment, also YA, and I have a gruesome short story about Jack the Ripper coming out in May in the Mammoth Book of Tales from the Vatican Vaults anthology. 

About the Author: Alex Bell always wanted to be a writer, but embarked upon a Law Degree as  back-up plan, writing no fewer than six novels during her time at university. Now the published author of The Ninth Circle and Jasmyn, Alex happily dwells in an entirely make-believe world of blood, madness, murder and mayhem. 

Also publishing also this month is Sleepless by Lou Morgan. 

Sleepless 
by Lou Morgan
Release Date: January 5th, 2015

Publishers: Stripes Publishing
Genre: YA, Horror

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

Young, rich and good-looking, Izzy and her friends lead seemingly perfect lives. 

But exams are looming – and at a school like Clerkenwell, failure is not an option. 

Luckily, Tigs has a solution. 

A small pill that will make revision a breeze and help them get the results they need. 

Desperate to succeed, the group begin taking the study drug.

It doesn’t take long before they realize there are far worse things than failing a few exams.

Next stop on the tour is http://www.yayeahyeah.com/

{Review + Author Interview} Dark Days by Kate Ormand

Posted by Donna
Release Date: May 17th, 2014

Finished Date: June 24th, 2014
Publishers: Sky Pony Press
Genre: YA, Dystopia 

Source: For Review
Format: eARC 
Pages: 256
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

The future world has been divided into sectors--each the same as the other. Surrounded by thick steel fences, there is no way in and no way out. Yet a cyborg army penetrates each sector, picking off its citizens one by one, until no one is left. Behind the sectors' thick walls, the citizens wait to die. Few will be chosen to survive what's coming; the rest will be left behind to suffer. A new world has been created, and its rulers are incredibly selective on who will become a citizen. They want only those with important roles in society to help create a more perfect future. 

Sixteen-year-old Sia lives in one of the sectors as part of a family that is far too ordinary to be picked to live. According to the digital clock that towers high above her sector, she has only fifteen days to live. Sia has seen the reports and knows a horrific death is in store for her, but she is determined to make the most of her final days. Sia refuses to mourn her short life, instead promising herself that she'll stay strong, despite being suffocated by her depressed mother and her frightened best friend. Just when Sia feels more alone than ever, she meets Mace, a mysterious boy. There is something that draws Sia to him, despite his dangerousness, and together, they join a group of rebels and embark on an epic journey to destroy the new world and its machines, and to put an end to the slaughter of innocent people.

The Review: Fast paced, thrilling and very enjoyable, Kate Ormand’s Dark Days is a YA dystopia story that everyone should read! 

The clock is ticking for Sia. She only has two weeks left before the Cyborgs come invade the sector that she lives and destroys everyone who hasn’t been picked to go live in the New World because her and her family have been deemed to be too ordinary. Determined to spend her last days enjoying life by doing the things she’s never done before, Sia isn’t prepared to meet a boy called Mace, because Mace makes her start questioning things and opening her up to what’s really going on around her. Suddenly Sia has to do the impossible and try to stop the Cyborgs before they invade her sector, but it is a job that is doomed from the start? 

I loved the concept of Dark Days! When you first meet Sia she already knows her fate, so we don’t actually see the announcement about Sia’s sector being the next to be destroyed. The ticking clock at the start of each chapter really pumped up my excitement levels, because with each day you know that time is running out for Sia and her family and I so desperately wanted her to have a happy ever after. I really enjoyed the entire story, there’s always something going on and Kate Ormand wrote it in a way that makes you question even the smallest things and by trying to figure out how the story will end. The plot was fast paced and intriguing, and there wasn’t a dull moment. 

I really liked Sia and Mace. I thought they were great together – not just romantically – but as friends too. I liked that they could open up to one another and experience new things together. But what I loved was how Mace introduces Sia to a new life, one she’s never really wished for until she met him because she didn’t think that hope existed. For a young girl, Sia goes through so much. Most of the people she loves have been taken away from her and I really felt for her situation. It really makes you hate the bad guys in the story even more. 

What else I loved was the fact that this is a standalone book. There are simply just not enough standalone dystopia stories, they all seem to be trilogies and I’m glad Kate Ormand decided on just the one book. I think it worked well and ended well enough that as a reader I was very satisfied.

In all, Dark Days was a pleasure to read and a great addition to the dystopia genre. Welcome done Kate and I can’t wait to see more from you!

Thank you to Sky Pony Press for giving me the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an honest review. 

And don't forget to check out the author interview with the lovely Kate Ormand!  If you have any questions for Kate, please do leave a comment below! 

Could you tell us about your new release?

Sure! DARK DAYS is a YA dystopian action-romance novel about a sixteen-year-old who only has fifteen days to live before a cyborg army destroys her sector. Sia accepts her fate, knowing she can’t escape it. Then she meets Mace, who refuses to give up without and fight, and her view of the whole situation starts to shift from then on.

How did you come up with the idea for the new series?

It’s hard to say. Because I don’t remember!!! Images tend to be the best source of inspiration for me, or things I see day to day. But it’s not like I saw a cyborg walking down the street! Or did I?

I can’t fully remember what triggered the idea for DARK DAYS, but I CAN recall picturing the digital clock counting down, and the army of cyborgs. So I suppose that’s where my journey began with this story. I’ve put it down to a love of dystopian books and action films!

How long did it take to write?

Around three months for the first draft, and lots and lots and lots of editing after that!

What was the most challenging thing about writing this book?

There were plenty challenges. I think the restriction I gave myself having it set over a specific timescale, and a short one, too. It put the characters in a “try or die” situation and made everything really immediate. I like that aspect, but it was hard.

Who is your favourite character?

Sia. She was so interesting to write. I like her a lot.

What is your favourite quote?

Ooh. Tough one. I’m not sure it’s my favourite but I like this from the first chapter:

It’s hard to believe that this is actually happening sometimes. Other times the reality of it hits me so hard I can’t breathe.

What’s next for you?

I have THE WANDERERS out next year – a YA paranormal novel about a traveling shapeshifter circus and a betrayal in camp that threatens the lives of them all. Loving editing this at the moment. It’s out Fall 2015 with the same publisher as DARK DAYS. I also have three picture books set for release in 2015 under the name Kate Louise. Anddd I’m currently working on another picture book idea, and playing with a MG idea. 2015 is going to be a busy year!

What would we find in your refrigerator right now?

Well, I’m preparing for a little DARK DAYS celebration party with friends and family, so there’s A LOT in there right now! Let me see . . . prawns, lemons and limes, strawberries, lots of cheese, raspberry lemonade, mojitos – it’s too stuffed to see much deeper without knocking it all out!

If you were to purchase a book, do you prefer to buy your books online or in store?

I like to buy in store when I can. It’s a nicer experience. I think I do buy online more often, though. I guess it depends what it is (e.g. US hardbacks).

What are some of the most recent books you’ve bought? 

It was my birthday last week so I got a nice big pile of books – FEATHER BOUND by Sarah Raughley, NEVER FADE by Alexadra Bracken, AFTER THE END by Amy Plum, THE ONE by Kiera Cass, THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH by Carrie Ryan, SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY by Julie Murphy, BREAKABLE by Tammara Webber, and DEAR KILLER by Katherine Ewell. Awesome haul! 

And I recently bought DIVIDED by Elsie Chapman and CITY OF HEAVENLY FIRE by Cassandra Clare for myself. 

List 3 books you have recently read and would recommend?

STOLEN SONGBIRD by Danielle L. Jensen is one I recommend constantly. It is truly magnificent. I’m obsessed with it. Seriously. I love it so much it hurts. Moving on . . . I would also highly recommend the amazing THE FEARLESS by Emma Pass. The story takes you on an exciting ride and leaves you breathless by the end. It’s thrilling, creepy, and very dark! And I just finished DOROTHY MUST DIE. Danielle Paige creates Dorothy’s unhappily ever after in this spectacularly dark retelling. It’s fantastic!  

Ah! Only three is too hard. Can I do some “honourable mentions”? I’m going for it: FIRE & FLOOD by Victoria Scott and IN THE AFTER by Demitria Lunetta. I’ll stop there. Read them all!

Where is one place in the world that you would really love to visit someday?

New York! So bad! I’ve been to the US plenty times, even to New York airport, but never got the chance to step outside!

And finally, who is your ultimate book boyfriend?

Peeta! It has to be.

AUTHOR BIO:  KATE ORMAND is a YA writer represented by Isabel Atherton at Creative Authors Ltd. She lives in the UK with her family, her partner, and a cocker spaniel called Freddie. She recently graduated from university with a first class BA (Hons) degree in Fine Art Painting. It was during this course that Kate discovered her love of reading YA books, prompting her to try a new creative angle and experiment with writing. Kate is also a member of an online group of published writers and illustrators called Author Allsorts. And she writes children’s picture books under the name Kate Louise. 

You can see more about Kate and her writing by visiting her website (www.kateormand.wordpress.com) or on Twitter (@kateormand).