A Backwards Story

Cover Crazy: Analyzing Four Highly-Anticipated Covers That Dropped This Week

2012-03-05T08:30:00.000-05:00

Cover Crazy is hosted by The Book Worms. Each week, bloggers "admire the art and beauty of a book’s design, so I’m going to post minimal words. It is up to you to write how you feel and what you like about it the way you’d like to."

I thought this week's Cover Crazy would be so easy. I was planning to showcase one book in particular. But, um, every book in the world seemed to have a cover party this week!

Which of the following covers do YOU like the best? The least?

1) BLACK CITY by Elizabeth Richards:

I actually never heard of this one before this past week, but it sounds different. Besides, we all knew it wouldn't be long before paranormal books and dystopian books decided to make the big leap and get hitched!

I actually like this cover a LOT. While the city skyline isn't unique to dystopian fiction and the flower (and the color red) isn't unique to paranormal fiction, the way they're paired together is striking. I adore the way the flower's petals are shattering like glass and bleeding down upon the city. If this cover doesn't make you sit back and go, "Whoa," I don't know what will!

1) THE ESSENCE by Kimberly Derting:

A lot of people didn't like the first book in this trilogy, THE PLEDGE. If you recall my review, I loved it. It's not your average dystopian, but one with KINGDOMS and QUEENS and zomg, I couldn't put it down. Sure, that's not for some people, but the merger of these two genres was 100% up my alley. I was hooked from the creepy first chapter and am highly anticipating THE ESSENCE. My only complaint is that the release date has been pushed back and the book will release in January 2013 now! *cries*

The cover looks as amazing as the first one, though, if not more so. There's more action going on now. Look at the model's hair moving in the wind! I love that shade of red; it adds so much to the book, imo. I still like the way the title is heerly stamped on top of the image in a unique fashion. This cover just makes me want this book right now!

1) THE DARKEST MINDS by Alexandra Bracken:

Am I the only person that's still surprised every time I read the title of this book? To me, it's still BLACK IS THE COLOR and I don't remember the new title until I see the author's name attached. I was hearing about this book and reading snippet's on the author's blog as she was writing it. I reviewed and adored Alexandra Bracken's debut novel BRIGHTLY WOVEN and have been highly anticipating another book by her to love!

This cover intrigues me. I want to know what that design is! I like its imperfection. I also like the way this cover makes me think of earthy, outdoorsy-ness. I'm so glad this book was pushed up to 2012 instead of its initial 2013 launch because after seeing this cover, I'm excited all over again and unwilling to wait much longer for this book!

1) REACHED by Ally Condie:

I'm not sure what I t hink of this one, tbh. It's a little Photoshoppy. The image is too stiff and wooden. I wish the orb was more cracked with shattered glass everywhere, not just a half-cracked orb she's stepping out of. I'm also not 100% sure I love that exact shade of red (Did you notice that 3/4 of the covers in this post are red and the fourth is orange?). The girl is too...perfect-looking. I want to know why. Even her hair is perfectly-coiled. It doesn't look like she's really broken free, since everything still looks so orderly!

I did review MATCHED when it first came out and liked it a lot, but since then, I've read several dystopians that I'm much fonder of. I haven't reviewed CROSSED and most likely won't because imo, it suffers from middle-book syndrome. I still want to read REACHED and see how things end, but I'm more involved with Lauren Oliver's DELIRIUM trilogy, a series with a similar theme that launched shortly after MATCHED.

What are your thoughts, bookworms? Which are your favorite covers this week?

Mythological Mondays: DARK OF THE MOON and TOUCH OF FROST

2012-03-05T08:28:00.000-05:00

Mythological Mondays is a feature I created to spotlight books brimming with--you guessed it--mythology! I adore this sub-genre and can't wait to share my love with all of my fellow bookworms! This feature isn't just focused on novel reviews; it may also include interviews, looks at original mythological tales, etc. Please feel free to do this with me! If you guys ever do a mythological feature and want to join this and snag my lovely mermaid, I would LOVE to see the feature. I’ve even included a Linkbox for you. It doesn’t have to be Greek mythology, or even mythology per say. It can be mermaids, unicorns, or heck, even fairy tales (because I’m too lazy to do a separate fairy tale feature…). It doesn’t even have to be every Monday. I’m sure there will be Mondays when I skip, too. ^_^

*Two flash reviews for you today! I read both of these books last year and kept postponing the reviews, so now I don't think I could do justice to a full review for either book. That doesn't mean they were bad, though, not by any means!! It just means that I have a horrible memory and should review things right away, lol!!

Title: DARK OF THE MOON

Author: Tracy Barrett

Release Date: Out now (Sept. 20, 2011)

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Received: Borrowed

Goodreads

SUMMARY:

Ariadne is destined to become a goddess of the moon. She leads a lonely life, filled with hours of rigorous training by stern priestesses. Her former friends no longer dare to look at her, much less speak to her. All that she has left are her mother and her beloved, misshapen brother Asterion, who must be held captive below the palace for his own safety.

So when a ship arrives one spring day, bearing a tribute of slaves from Athens, Ariadne sneaks out to meet it. These newcomers don’t know the ways of Krete; perhaps they won’t be afraid of a girl who will someday be a powerful goddess. And indeed she meets Theseus, the son of the king of Athens. Ariadne finds herself drawn to the newcomer, and soon they form a friendship—one that could perhaps become something more.

Yet Theseus is doomed to die as an offering to the Minotaur, that monster beneath the palace—unless he can kill the beast first. And that "monster" is Ariadne’s brother . . .

Greek myths are full of tragedy and sorrow, though readers not familiar with the tales might not know this when reading today's modernized mythological novels. So many books today romanticize the Gods and their stories, even the ones we love. One think I really enjoyed about DARK OF THE MOON was the fact that Tracy Barrett didn't tone down her punches. The story of the Minotaur is tragic, so don't go into this one expecting an "And they lived happily ever after" stamp. No one in this story truly lives happily ever after, and that's really not a spoiler at all if you know your mythology. The tale is told from the POV of Ariadne. I enjoyed seeing the special role she had in society despite the fact that it ostracized her from her people. She only truly loves her family until the day Theseus arrives as a sacrifice. She loves her deformed brother despite the fact that he's a hideous monster, but she also finds herself drawing closer to Theseus and must choose between them and her duty to her people and the gods. With each new path of the story, Ariadne is betrayed anew as she's forced to suffer impossible consequences from the actions of those around her. Barrett fleshes out a world both sensual and violent, one that brings a little-retold tale to life in a gritty new way.

Title: TOUCH OF FROST

Author: Jennifer Estep

Release Date: Out now (Aug. 01, 2011)

Publisher: Kensington

Received: nook book

Goodreads

SUMMARY:

My name is Gwen Frost, and I go to Mythos Academy — a school of myths, magic and warrior whiz kids, where even the lowliest geek knows how to chop off somebody's head with a sword and Logan Quinn, the hottest Spartan guy in school, also happens to be the deadliest.

But lately, things have been weird, even for Mythos. First, mean girl Jasmine Ashton was murdered in the Library of Antiquities. Then, someone stole the Bowl of Tears, a magical artifact that can be used to bring about the second Chaos War. You know, death, destruction and lots of other bad, bad things. Freaky stuff like this goes on all the time at Mythos, but I'm determined to find out who killed Jasmine and why—especially since I should have been the one who died. . .

*Previously reviewed the prequel novel FIRST FROST here!

The Mythos Academy series touches on mythology while still remaining original fantasy. The series centers around Gwen Frost (Yes, that's why every book has FROST in the title!), a gypsy who can touch an object and know everything about its owner. Mythos Academy is a school for kids with gifts like hers, though most of Gwen's fellow students are Spartans, Valkyries, Romans, etc. Being a mere gypsy, Gwen feels out of place among her classmates, most of whom ignore her. When a hot, bad-boy Spartan starts paying attention to her after a tragic accident occurs, she's wary and suspicious. Does he actually like her, or is something more sinister at play? TOUCH OF FROST reminds me a bit of Rachel Hawkins' HEX HALL because both books take place at a boarding school for "special" students and involve solving a murder mystery. TOUCH OF FROST will keep you guessing as new twists and turns abound. The introduction of Loki and his need to bring Chaos into the world foreshadows an action-packed series that you'll be clamoring for each new installment of and leaves loose ends that can open up Estep's world in ways we aren't expecting. I'm looking forward to reading KISS OF FROST and DARK FROST soon!

Other books mentioned: HEX HALL by Rachel Hawkins, reviewed here. (I also reviewed the second book, DEMONGLASS, last year, and am looking forward to the release of the final book in the trilogy, SPELL BOUND, next week! Plus, I get to meet Rachel Hawkins at a local signing. SCORE!)

Did you do a Mythological Mondays post?

IMM & Week in Review: The Bloomsbury Edition

2012-03-04T09:19:00.001-05:00

IN MY MAILBOX: 02.05.12

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi at The Story Siren because:

"I get books to read and then ultimately share my thoughts about with my readers. As much as I want to, I can’t possibly read every book I receive. Yet, I still wanted a way to feature those books on the blog, even though it might not be in the form of a review. Problem solved! Every week I'd share the books I received that week... ones I'd bought, or gotten at the library, and ones that I'd receive to review on the blog. That way I could mention titles that might not otherwise get some face-time on The Story Siren..."

I find the same thing happening at A Backwards Story. I'm so backed up on reviews atm... That's why I like these videos!

CURRENT GIVEAWAY:

*None atm :(

READING NOW:

*COBBOGOTH by Hannah L. Clark (Review coming Tuesday along with a blog tour stop!)
*LIES BENEATH by Anne Greenwood Brown (I am...not loving this as much as I thought I would. I've read too many mermaid books. They spoil me on books I'm dying to read!)

and then I'll go back to...

*THE NAME OF THE WIND by Patrick Rothfuss (Still only about 100 pgs in!)
*FEVER by Lauren DeStefano (Okay, I actually haven't started this...I thought I'd be done by now...)
*KATANA by Cole Gibsen (Okay, I actually haven't started this...I thought I'd be done by now...)

[link to my GoodReads account so you can see my blurb feed as I read]

READ THIS WEEK:

*WAKING STORMS by Sarah Porter (zomg, better than LOST VOICES...and I LOVED that!)
*AWKWARD by Marni Bates
*LEAP DAY by Wendy Mass

REVIEWED THIS WEEK:

*AWKWARD by Marni Bates
*LEAP DAY by Wendy Mass

FEATURES THIS WEEK:

*Cover Crazy: SHADOW AND BONE by Leigh Bardugo
*Mythological Mondays: The Mythology in WAKING STORMS (& You're Gonna LOVE Me)
*Happy Book Day to SEVEN Explosive New Books
*Interview with KATANA Author Cole Gibsen

RECEIVED THIS WEEK:

YouTube Link

Loot:

The Bloomsbury Edition!

Bloomsbury granted me access to five amazing titles via NetGalley. My nook is gurgling with happiness right now, bookworms. I've been highly coveting some of these titles and I can't believe they're sitting right in front of me! (Especially since I'm actually on a reading schedule atm, *sigh*)

Anyway, because Bloomsbury is so amazing, they get this week's edition named after them.

Plus, what else would I call it? Cheapskate Buyer, Pt. II since my other box finally came? The Jodi Picoult Edition since my favorite author's new book came out? Nah, I like the sound of The Bloomsbury Edition, don't you? ^.~

PURCHASED:

{With the exception of the last two books listed here, these were all from a box I pre-ordered back in December that were finally released! I love sales, even if it means waiting for books!!!}

*THE LAKE OF DREAMS by Kim Edwards {By the amazing author of THE MEMORY KEEPER'S DAUGHTER!}
*THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST by Stieg Larsson {I read the first book back when it was in hardcover and the second book hadn't been released State-side, but I've been buying the books in paperback and this one's release date got pushed back after the series became so popular!}
*THE FINE ART OF TRUTH OR DARE by Melissa Jensen {This one was delayed in the mail, which had me really angry! And...that's happening again this week with PANDEMONIUM, so you'll see it next week, hopefully. Grr! But Melissa Jensen is lovely and I interviewed her a couple of weeks ago. Check it out!}
*DAUGHTERS OF THE SEA: MAY by Kathryn Lasky {Another series I've been reading in hardcover and buying in paperback. Pictured with the first book, HANNAH. I can't wait to read LUCY this month! Though I probably won't review it until June/July during Splash into Summer!}
*A TRUE PRINCESS by Diane Zahler {I've been buying her books in paperback as well... I'll be reading and reviewing this one in April for Fairy Tale Fortnight!}
*SUGAR AND ICE by Kate Messner {I meant to read this one in hardcover and never had a chance. I'm really looking forward to this. I've always loved books about ice skating!}
*LONE WOLF by Jodi Picoult {My favorite author has a new book out! I was in such a good mood after picking it up Tuesday, even though I haven't had a chance to read it yet! I bought this $28+tax book for only $14.25 after tax thanks to my 40% off as a member stacked with a 20% off coupon I'd been saving all month! The video also has a sneak peek at the gorgeous interior design!}
*I'D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU, BUT THEN I'D HAVE TO KILL YOU by Ally Carter {Another steal of a deal that I couldn't resist! This one was also on sale for 30% off with an additional 10% off as a member, plus I had a second 20% off coupon. I paid a grand total of $4.80 for this $8.99+tax book. I've been reading this series from the library, but I'll be meeting Ally Carter at a signing later this month and want to get something signed by her!}

Physical ARCs/Finished Copies:

*STARTERS by Lissa Price[Out March 13, 2012]
(This one came in at work and was given to me. I had it previously as an e-ARC, but haven't had a chance to read it yet. It's probably archived by now, so yay!)

NetGalley:

*TEMPEST UNLEASHED by Tracy Deebs [Out June 05, 2012]
(Thank you to Bloomsbury/Walker! Pictured with my copy of TEMPEST RISING, which I apparently DIDN'T review during last year's Splash into Summer event, though I really thought I did! It must have slipped through the cracks. :( I believe I'll be doing a blog tour with this one in a couple of months.)
*ORDINARY MAGIC by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway [Out May 08, 2012]
(Thank you to Bloomsbury USA! I'm SO excited about this book! It was my Cover Crazy recently and everything!)
*TRANSCENDENCE by C.J. Omololu [Out June 05, 2012]
(Thank you toBloomsbury/Walker! I was a judge for Nerds Heart YA last year and chose Omololu's DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS as a first-round winner. I was blown away by her novel about the daughter of an extreme hoarder. I can't wait to see where she takes us next in TRANSCENDENCE!)
*THE ACADÉMIE by Susanne Dunlap [Out Feb. 28, 2012]
(Thank you to Bloomsbury USA! This book sounded interesting, and I was pleasantly surprised to see I recognized other books the author has writtena s well!)
*SHOOTING STARS by Allison Rushby [Out Feb. 28, 2012]
(Thank you to Bloomsbury/Walker! This one sounds really cute!)

What did you get in your mailbox this week?

Interview with KATANA Author Cole Gibsen

2012-03-01T09:00:00.000-05:00

A Backwards Story is happy to be a part of The {Teen} Book Scene's tour for KATANA! Check out the tour schedule to see the list of events. On March 12th, check in with A Backwards Story again for my review of this fun title!

KATANA is Cole Gibsen's debut YA novel and launches next week on March 8th. Her sophomore novel, BREATHLESS, comes out later this month on March 27th. Um, the fact that one of Cole's novels deals with Japan when I lived in Japan for two years and the other deals with mermaids (I'm pretty sure you all think that I'm a mermaid in disguise by now...) has me so excited! It's like she's writing just for me! ♥

Check out Cole Gibsen's web site and find her on Facebook and Twitter.

An interview with Cole Gibsen

Having previously lived in Japan, I’m always interested when I see Asian novels! What influenced your interest in Japan and made you want to write KATANA?

The idea for KATANA came to me when I was taking martial arts classes. I couldn’t help but wonder why some people had a natural ability and others (like myself) did not. I wondered if maybe their natural talent was a result of a past life as a samurai or ninja, and my imagination took it from there.

Do you have any experience with the martial arts yourself, or did you do a lot of research for this novel?

I do—though, I’ve never been very good at it. I’ve taken karate, tae kwon do, tai chi, and kick boxing. Lucky for me, my husband’s good friend is a very experienced martial arts instructor, and he was my go to guy for questions and fight scene choreography.

Rileigh is such an unusual name. Is there a reason you chose it?

Rileigh’s name was originally Renee. But I was revising KATANA during my pregnancy and I’d recently purchased a Celtic baby name book to help me name my daughter. We found the name Rileigh in it and, while we went with another name for our daughter, I loved the name so much I couldn’t let it go.

Describe your ideal day/writing environment.

My daughter goes to preschool for two hours a day. It’s during this time I try not to get distracted by the shiny internet and write like mad. A good day for me is 1500-2000 words.

Can you tell us a little bit about any other upcoming projects?

I just turned in the sequel to KATANA the other day—yay! I have a paranormal mermaid romance coming out through Crescent Moon Press called BREATHLESS. And now that I’m done with my contracted books, I’m freed up to work on the bright shiny new idea I have.

Cole, thank you so much for stopping by and teasing us with hints of what is to come in KATANA! I'd love to have you back this summer with BREATHLESS for Splash into Summer, winkwink/nudgenudge! ^_^

Bookworms, stop back at A Backwards Story on March 11th for my review of this novel!

(Review) LEAP DAY by Wendy Mass

2012-02-29T23:57:00.000-05:00

Title: LEAP DAY

Author: Wendy Mass

Release Date: Out now (Sept. 06, 2006)

Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers

Received: Bargain Book

Goodreads

SUMMARY:

What if you could step into everyone else's shoes for just one day? Soon-to-be-sixteen Josie Taylor was born on Leap Day, February 29, and now it's her "fourth" birthday.

Like every teenager, sometimes she wonders what other people are thinking, but in this unusual novel, YOU get to find out--by leaping into the minds and viewpoints of Josie and everyone around her.

Birthday festivities, school play auditions, her driver's test, a scavenger hunt, and the all-important sweet-sixteen initiation at the lake--these are the things that define Josie Taylor today...but what defines her tomorrow and in the days to come are the people who touch her life at every moment.

Full of everyday imaginations and truths, LEAP DAY will surprise you in more ways than one.

What better book to read on a day that comes once every four years than LEAP DAY by the always-innovative Wendy Mass? The novel is one of Mass' teen offerings; most of her titles are middle grade. The book centers around a girl named Josie on her sixteenth birthday--also known as her fourth birthday. Josie is a Leaper, one of the few born on February 29th. She's excited about her special day and hopes everything goes perfectly. While it starts off well enough--she's having a fabulous hair day and has been given car keys as a gift--the rest of the day gets off to a rocky start. From worrying about whether or not she'll earn her driver's license to trying out for the much-coveted role of Juliet for the school's upcoming production of ROMEO AND JULIET, Josie's birthday is as ordinary as it is extraordinary.

Mass utilized a unique writing technique when writing LEAP DAY. She writes A Chapters and B Chapters. A Chapters are always from Josie's POV (Chapter 1A, for example). B Chapters (Such as Chapter 1B) are always from the POV of other characters mentioned in that chapter. We get little paragraphs with the thoughts of friends, family members, teachers, enemies, crushes, classmates, etc. It's interesting to see what everyone is thinking about everything. Maybe Josie thinks someone did something, but that person has no clue and is thinking about something else completely. Or maybe she wonders why someone dislikes her. As a reader, we're privy to everything. These B Chapters took a little getting used to, but they absolutely fleshed out the story. We'd all love to know what the people around us really think about us or what's going on, but we never know for sure. We don't know all of the fears and dreams and reasons that motivate people to move on certain paths in life. Every once in a while, Mass even foreshadows what will happen to a character in the future such as: "It didn't occur to Tom to write the things that he did do today. He won't start writing those things in his diary until next year, when he'll start calling it a journal. He'll have had his own room for months by then, along with a new appreciation of why a teenage boy might want his own room" (pg. 163). Oftentimes, readers are left wondering what will happen in the future and this was a nice flourish to add on.

Overall, LEAP DAY is a light contemporary that reads fast. It takes place over the course of one day, so there's not an epic story full of carefully knotted ends. Instead, we're allowed a single glimpse. This is life, which will continue on tomorrow and the day after. Not everything is resolved, but not everything can be in a single day. While Josie doesn't have any miraculous character growth, she does have a slight revelation towards the end that will change her in the days to come. Plus, the book takes an inside look at what it must be like to have one's birthday fall on February 29th. I will admit that it's a little dated now. I always hate when books feature real actors and bands because by the time a reader picks it up, it's possible that these are long out of fashion, as was the case with this novel published in 2006 (And written, of course, before that. My favorite part about the novel was the refreshing POV style. If you take nothing else away from this review, LEAP DAY is worth reading for this alone!

COVER DESIGN:

At first, I didn't really "get" this cover, but looking at it again after reading the book, it's actually quite clever. A calendar takes up most of the cover...only, we're seeing the numbers backwards as though it's being held up to a mirror. This reflects the way we see the day encompassing the novel from multiple POVs. I also like the way the 29th of the month stands out, since a model's face fills the square. She's peering in from the other side of the calendar.

I do wish the title was a little larger; it fades away inside the box. I do like the way the blurb from Lauren Myracle matches the pink strip at the bottom of the cover (that continues onto the spine and back) featuring the author's name. The pink also pulls out the color in the model's skin tones and lips.

(Review) AWKWARD by Marni Bates

2012-02-29T11:47:00.003-05:00

A Backwards Story is happy to be a part of The {Teen} Book Scene's tour for AWKWARD! Check out the tour schedule to see the list of events. Stop back at A Backwards Story on March 21st for a fun Character Word Association Game with Logan (And trust me...once you read this book, you will WANT to know more about Logan!!!!!)

Title: AWKWARD

Author: Marni Bates

Release Date: Out now (Jan. 01, 2012)

Publisher: Kensington Teen

Received: Review copy courtesy of Kensington Teen and The {Teen} Book Scene

Goodreads

SUMMARY:

Mackenzie Wellesley has spent her life avoiding the spotlight. At Smith High, she's the awkward junior people only notice when they need help with homework.

Until she sends a burly football player flying with her massive backpack and makes a disastrous - not to mention unwelcome - attempt at CPR.

Before the day is out, the whole fiasco explodes on YouTube. And then the strangest thing happens.

Suddenly, Mackenzie is an Internet sensation, with four million hits and counting. Sucked into a whirlwind of rock stars, paparazzi, and free designer clothes, she even catches the eye of the most popular guy at school. And that's when life gets really interesting...

If you're looking for a fun, refreshing contemporary YA, look no farther than AWKWARD. Readers will find themselves rooting for socially awkward high school student Mackenzie as she finds her most embarrassing moment broadcast on YouTube for the world to see, which puts her every klutzy moment from there on out in the spotlight. You'll wince, you'll laugh, you'll sympathize. Mari Bates creates a character with so much depth that you want to see her succeed.

The novel begins when high school Notable Chelsea beckons to Mackenzie, one of the Invisibles, in order to get some homework help. Mackenzie trips and falls on top of another Notable and knocks him out, then unsuccessfully attempts to revive him with CPR...and it's all caught on camera. Suddenly, celebrities are tweeting about the girl in the "hilarious video" and the country's biggest music sensation, ReadySet, has integrated the footage into the music video for their latest single. Paparazzi are hanging out at school waiting to badger MacKenzie and designers are sending her packages overflowing with clothing. Mackenzie is even invited to a Notable party and given backstage passes for a ReadySet concert. Yet she still struggles to remain an ordinary girl that blends in and doesn't stand out. She continues to tutor Logan, another Notable, who somehow manages to become her friend and helps her through her most embarrassing flubs. She's not really sure why a Notable would help her unless it's a trick, or why new, nice classmates will sit with her at lunch. She doesn't get why her crush of four-years suddenly seems interested. Is it because of her newfound notoriety? Could it be that people actually like her personality despite her tendency to babble in public? Mackenzie doesn't know, but throughout her journey, she's going to learn a lot about people--and about herself.

I love the character development in AWKWARD. Mackenzie feels so real. As a fellow klutz with some painful moments left behind, I completely sympathize with her. Additionally, I love that she has supportive friends and that her family cares so much about her. It's nice to see the way such a major event bonds Mackenzie and her brother in a way they never had before. Mackenzie grows so much as a person and her character really solidifies by the end of the book. I also loved Logan, the guy she tutored, and love how he went from being one-dimensional to having so much depth. I was really excited when I turned the last page and found that Bates is going to return to the world she's created in 2013 with the release of INVISIBLE, which centers around Mackenzie's best friend Jane. I feel like this companion novel will be in the manner that Stephanie Perkins uses in ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS, LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR, and the upcoming ISLA AND THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER, where characters return in later books so you can see how they end up, but the book is centered around someone else. Bates is also releasing FAUXMANCE (Which might have been changed to DECKED WITH HOLLY) this October. This one seems to be in its own self-contained world, but from the sample at the back of the book, also features an awkward moment that leads to a bigger story. If you're looking for a new contemporary author, definitely check out Marni Bates, who's set to have many more books for us to love soon!

Other books mentioned in this review that have previously been reviewed at A Backwards Story are ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS and LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR, both by Stephanie Perkins. Below, Julia Kagawa recommends this book to fans of Meg Cabot.

COVER DESIGN:

What a fun cover! I love all the doodles in the background anad the way even the title, AWKWARD, has pencil sketching behind it. I also like the way the author's name fits in perfectly among the doodles while still remaining apart. I tried to replicate this sense of fun when creating the above blog tour banner (though I apologize that the sketch behind the lettering looks so awkward on my end. Epic Fail!). This cover screams, "Read me! You're in for a fun time!" And...this cover doesn't lie, either. It does exactly what it set out to do!

Additionally, it's fun to see the model screaming on an online video, which will make a lot of teens into the YouTube/Vlogging scene pick this up in a heartbeat the way they did with Katie Finn's TOP 8.

Finally, that blurb!
1) It's from Julie Kagawa, which will pique interest.
2) She recommends the book to Meg Cabot fans (and I agree!) I love Meg and the way she portrays school. If you're a fan of her, you'll love this book, too!

Happy Book Day to SEVEN explosive new books!

2012-02-28T08:44:00.001-05:00

What new releases are you most excited about this week? For me...

Happy Book Birthday to FIVE amazing books this week:

PANDEMONIUM by Lauren Oliver / HANA by Lauren Oliver

I was lucky enough to read an ARC of this one thanks to work. I've been trying to get up a series of dystopian flash reviews for a couple of weeks now and it keeps...not happening. It probably won't today, either, despite my best intentions!
I'm planning a short review because this is one "middle book" that's very hard for me to talk about without spoiling things. Sweet, short, and simple will have to do it this time around!

Also, are you as excited as I am about the fact that Lauren is also releasing an e-novella, HANA, today? I loved Hana's character in DELIRIUM and can't wait to see where Lauren takes us because I thought there was more to her than what we saw!!!

If you were lucky, you caught a free preview of HANA Valentine's Day Week. I personally didn't have time to read it then, but I'm very excited to give Lauren some more money because I love this world she's created for us all to devour!

LONE WOLF by Jodi Picoult

You all know by now that Jodi Picoult is my favorite author, I'm sure. Lately, I haven't loved her new books in the same way I do her older titles. I feel that this could be because I cyber-stalk Jodi. She used to send out newsletters a year in advance with a preview of her upcoming book and information on what she was working on for the year after.

Now that she has a bigger following, she doesn't do that anymore, and I'm relieved. Doing this gave me such a big build-up that the book could NEVER live up to what I wanted out of it. This year, I haven't even READ the synopsis for LONE WOLF. I don't want to know. I just want to read and enjoy this one!

BOURNE by Lisa T. Bergren

Yes, that's right, the book I gave you an exclusive sneak peek of recently is now available for 99¢ from the e-book vendor of your choice!

As a fan of Lisa's RIVER OF TIME trilogy, this new novella has me so excited! If you haven't read the series yet, what are you waiting for!? Definitely start there before moving on to this spoilery novella!

Look for my review of this one soon!

WHEN THE SEA IS RISING RED by Cat Hellisen

Another book with a goooooorgeous cover! I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this one and have been holding off until closer to release!

This is going to be a creepy, tingly read, and while I don't love the fact that the summary mentions a vampire, the synopsis still sounds fresh and unique, everything required for an engaging read!

THE HUMMING ROOM by Ellen Potter

1) This was inspired by THE SECRET GARDEN, one of my all-time favorite childhood novels.

2) Cover artist Jason Chan has once again created an amazing piece of art that will have readers everywhere dying to pick this one up!

PARTIALS by Dan Wells

Another dystopian series from Harper/Balzer & Bray!

I received an ARC of this one from work and it sounds like the publicity is going to be huge. I've already seen an ad on GoodReads today!

This one sounds like it could go either way in terms of whether I'll like it or not. I'm looking forward to seeing which path I go down!

Did I miss something amazing that I must know about? Let me know!

Mythological Mondays: The Mythology in WAKING STORMS by Sarah Porter (& You're Gonna LOVE Me)

2012-02-27T07:10:00.000-05:00

Mythological Mondays is a feature I created to spotlight books brimming with--you guessed it--mythology! I adore this sub-genre and can't wait to share my love with all of my fellow bookworms! This feature isn't just focused on novel reviews; it may also include interviews, looks at original mythological tales, etc. Please feel free to do this with me! If you guys ever do a mythological feature and want to join this and snag my lovely mermaid, I would LOVE to see the feature. Leave a comment for us all to see! It doesn’t have to be Greek mythology, or even mythology per say. It can be mermaids, unicorns, or heck, even fairy tales (because I’m too lazy to do a separate fairy tale feature…). It doesn’t even have to be every Monday. I’m sure there will be Mondays when I skip, too...like, uh, recently?^^;;;

Today's Mythological Monday post is also:

Two birds, one stone.^_^

After parting ways with her troubled mermaid tribe, Luce just wants to live peacefully on her own. But her tranquility doesn’t last long: she receives news that the tribe is on the verge of collapse and desperately needs her leadership. The tribe’s cruel queen wants Luce dead. Dorian, the boy Luce broke mermaid law to save, is determined to make her pay for her part in the murder of his family. And while the mermaids cling to the idea that humans never suspect their existence, there are suddenly ominous signs to the contrary.But when Luce and Dorian meet, they start to wonder if love can overpower the hatred they know they should feel for each other. Can Luce fulfill her rightful role as queen of the mermaids without sacrificing her forbidden romance with Dorian?

From Goodreads

WAKING STORMS is the sequel to last year's LOST VOICES, Sarah Porter's debut novel. It is the second in a trilogy of books about sirens. I almost wish I had waited until next week to post this because I just noticed that on March 6th, it will be the one-year anniversary of the day I launched my You're Gonna LOVE Me feature--because of LOST VOICES. (See the first post!) Hopefully, I'll use this feature more frequently this year. I always mean to and then the book's release date gets too close and then...I don't.

Last year, I also interviewed Sarah Porter for Fairy Tale Fortnight (Watch out for FTF again this April!) and, of course, reviewed LOST VOICES. If you're into mermaids or darker tales, this series is for you! The mermaids remind me more of the ones from PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES (which I actually saw for the first time last night; in fact, that's why I finally cracked this open! I got home and planned to go to bed relatively early since I'd gotten so little sleep the night before after the wedding, but from 9 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., I DEVOURED this book. Could not put it DOWN!). They're darker, more violent than your average mermaid. Sirens bring doom to sailors and their ships. Porter's trilogy is also darker because of the way/reason girls turn into mermaids.

WAKING STORMS is even darker than LOST VOICES. I personally loved it even more than I did the first book, and that's saying a lot. I can't wait to see how the series concludes in 2013 with THE TWICE LOST! (This is one of the downsides of ARCS, bookworms: WAKING STORMS won't be available in bookstores until July and the third one in July 2013, yet I already crave it!) I'm looking forward to reviewing this book for you in June during my Splash into Summer event!

For now, you'll have to look forward to some tidbits!

What I CAN tell you....is that Porter uses mythology in unexpected ways in WAKING STORMS.

(And the following is why this post can also be for Mythological Mondays, lol!)

We find out why girls become mermaids in the fashion they do (How did none of us, not even main character Luce, stop to think about this in LOST VOICES?) and who created them. We get an inside look at the first mermaids. And....I will not spoil that further, but I loved reading this mythology!

There is also an island that reminds me of a very famous island out of Greek mythology...and events occur on this island that I NEVER saw coming.

There's so much new depth and world-building in WAKING STORMS. Just when you thought you had everything more or less figured out and knew the direction the trilogy would go after reading LOST VOICES, Porter went and broke the rules again. This book is amazing and I can't wait to review it for all of you!

Cover Crazy: SHADOW AND BONE by Leigh Bardugo

2012-02-27T06:40:00.000-05:00

SHADOW AND BONE by Leigh Bardugo:

The cover design for SHADOW AND BONE by Leigh Bardugo was unleashed into the world this past week. I personally think it's gorgeous. I love the look of the font and the way it extends into swirls, which mirror the swirls in the cover's design. The silver swirls remind me of bare trees rising up. I love how the colors remind me of plumes of smoke. Combined with the distressed background, the colors give a dark feeling to this cover. It's also nice to see a full illustration that doesn't come out of the children's department as most do these days! This cover has a dangerous feel to it, imo.

When Macmillan sent me my ARC a couple of weeks ago, it had no cover. I assumed the title font and color scheme would be what was used in the final cover and was intrigued by the dragon-like creatures (They only kept the distressed background). While I really liked the direction it was going, I really like the way this cover has come together! (Plus, how AWESOME is it that Veronica Roth is blurbing this title??)

This is yet another home run from Rich Deas, whom I interviewed in January for his design work on another Macmillan title, Marissa Meyer's CINDER.

What do you think? Do you like illustrated covers outside MG? Should more designers start swinging back this way? Or does it make you lose interest?

IMM & Weekly Review: The Cheapskate Buyer Edition

2012-02-26T09:07:00.001-05:00

IN MY MAILBOX: 02.05.12

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi at The Story Siren because:

I find the same thing happening at A Backwards Story. I'm so backed up on reviews atm... That's why I like these videos!

CURRENT GIVEAWAY:

*None atm :(

READING NOW:

*THE NAME OF THE WIND by Patrick Rothfuss
*FEVER by Lauren DeStefano
*KATANA by Cole Gibsen

[link to my GoodReads account so you can see my blurb feed as I read]

READ THIS WEEK:

*HERE by Denise Grover Swank
*WINTERLING by Sarah Prineas

REVIEWED THIS WEEK:

*HERE by Denise Grover Swank

FEATURES THIS WEEK:

*Happy Book Day to FEVER and SHADOWS!
*Waiting on Wednesday: Double Cover Reveal Edition
*Breaking News: New Book Coming from JK Rowling!

RECEIVED THIS WEEK:

YouTube Link

Loot:

The Cheapskate Buyer Edition!

This makes up for last week's haul, which consisted 100% of books I didn't pay for. This week and next week will feature two big box boxes! I called this week the Cheapskate Edition because...the reason I have these two big boxes coming? Back in December when I got an amazing deal, I ordered a bunch of paperbacks and split the orders with books coming out through April. I had to put a certain amount of $ together for free s/h, too, so I'm going to be getting a big box or two each month. This probably only saves a few dollars (maybe $5 a box), but it all adds up!!

PURCHASED:

*FEVER by Lauren DeStefano {It came, it came, it finally came! And it's so pretty and shiny and I could NEVER read this as an ebook because, as you'll see in the video, you lose ALL of the fabulous formatting!!! I reviewed WITHER last year and loved it! You can also see a breakdown of the cover design if you don't feel like watching the video!}
*TRUTH by Julia Karr {I reviewed this dystopian series last year when Karr's novel XVI debuted. I was also lucky enough to participate on the TRUTH Blog Tour last month. You can view the author's guest post here!}
*RANGER'S APPRENTICE #7: ERAK'S RANSOM by John Flannagan {I need to catch up on this series! I'm a bit behind...}
*RANGER'S APPRENTICE #8: THE KINGS OF CLONMEL by John Flannagan {And by behind, I mean that I've read, like, four of these...two years ago...um, yeah...}
*SAILOR MOON, Vol. 3 by Naoko Takeuchi {The only two manga series I still read/purchase! This one is due to nostalgia!}
*SAKURA HIME [THE LEGEND OF PRINCESS SAKURA], Vol. 6 by Arina Tanemura {The only two manga series I still read/purchase! This one is due to the fact that I LOVE the mangaka and think her artwork is stunning. As you'll see in the video, I even have her artbooks...in both Japanese and English! FULL MOON was always my favorite series by her in both book and DVD form. The story is heartbreaking and amazing when you stick with it, and the music is so much fun!}
*THE RED CROSS KNIGHT by Sarah Prineas {This ebook only cost 99¢ on my nook AND all of the proceeds went to charity. Thumbs up for a classy author! I purchased this after finishing WINTERLING, which I'll be reviewing soon. I really enjoyed the book and am looking forward to its companion/sequel, SUMMERKIN, in 2013!}

NetGalley:

*GATE TO KANDRITH by Nicole Luiken [Out March 26, 2012]
(Thank you to Carina Press! Pictured with my copies of VIOLET EYES and SILVER EYES, two books I used to love and keep meaning to re-read! It will be fun to read Nicole again now...and as an adult author, no less!)
*DARK FROST by Jennifer Estep [Out May 29, 2012]
(Thank you to Kensington! I still need to finish reading the second book in the series, which I started a couple of months ago now and sort of...lost. ^^;;;)
*A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS by Michelle Zink [Out March 20, 2012]
(Thank you to Dial/Penguin! I haven't read Michelle Zink's last series, but this new book intrigues me!)

What did you get in your mailbox this week?

Breaking News: New Book Coming from JK Rowling!

2012-02-23T11:12:00.000-05:00

I'm definitely NOT kidding you. Not only is JK Rowling's new book far away from the HARRY POTTER world that made her famous, it's also a book for adults.

While the AP article states that it may be hard for Rowling to find as big an audience due to the fact that her previous books were for children, they're not taking into the account that most of her audience has grown up alongside Harry and are now adults, which means they buy...um, adult novels.

In the article, she states,

"Although I've enjoyed writing it every bit as much, my next book will be very different to the Harry Potter series, which has been published so brilliantly by Bloomsbury and my other publishers around the world," Rowling said in a statement released by Little, Brown. "The freedom to explore new territory is a gift that Harry's success has brought me, and with that new territory it seemed a logical progression to have a new publisher. I am delighted to have a second publishing home in Little, Brown, and a publishing team that will be a great partner in this new phase of my writing life.

The AP article can be read, in its entirety, here. The official press release can be accessed here.

What are your thoughts, bookworms? Will you read this?

HERE by Denise Grover Swank {Review}

2012-02-23T11:01:00.004-05:00

A Backwards Story is happy to be a part of The {Teen} Book Scene's tour for HERE! Check out the tour schedule to see the list of events. Last week, I interviewed Denise Grover Swank as part of the tour. Check it out!

Title: HERE

Author: Denise Grover Swank

Release Date: Out now (Nov. 11, 2011)

Publisher: Self-published

Received: Review copy courtesy of Denise Grover Swank and The {Teen} Book Scene

Goodreads

SUMMARY:

Sixteen year old Julia Phillips buries herself in guilt after killing her best friend Monica in a car accident. Julia awoke in the hospital with a broken leg, a new talent for drawing and false memories of the accident, in which she dies and Monica lives. The doctors attribute this to her head injury, but no one can explain how a bracelet engraved with her name ended up at the scene of the accident. A bracelet no one has ever seen before.

Classmate Evan Whittaker paid Julia no attention before the accident, let alone after. Now suddenly he’s volunteering to tutor her and offering to drive her home. She can't ignore that his new obsession started after his two-day disappearance last week and that he wears a pendant she’s been drawing for months. When the police show up one night looking for Evan, he begs Julia to run with him, convincing her that Monica is still alive. Julia agrees to go, never guessing where he’s really from.

While also available in paperback, if you're looking for a great ebook deal, HERE can be purchased for your nook, Kindle, or favorite reading app for a steal at $2.99!

HERE is a book full of mystery and intrigue. It also screws with the reader's head as s/he tries to figure out what's going on. In this fashion, it reminds me a LOT of Michelle Hodkin's THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER. Both books mess with your head as you try to figure out what the heck is happening and struggle to piece the clues together. Additionally, both books deal with a main character struggling from PTSD after being the only one left alive following a devastating accident. Both girls have families and friends trying to help them. If you like MARA DYER, you'll love HERE. If you didn't like/want to read MARA DYER, HERE might still be for you because while the books have the aforementioned similarities, they're also very different from one another. One of the things that drove me crazy about MARA DYER, for example, is the fact that at the end of the book, you STILL don't know what's going on and are on pins and needles awaiting this fall's sequel. While I won't deny that HERE still has a bit of a cliffhanger, it's not nearly as lethal. On top of that, a good chunk of the way into the book, you find out what's going on as the book turns in a completely new and unexpected (and spoiler-free, sorry) direction.

The novel begins a couple of months after a car accident that took the life of Julia's best friend Monica. She survived, but she doesn't remember anything about the accident. She doesn't remember ever wearing the bracelet with the cryptic love message that she's now wearing. The police say she's at fault for the accident, which means she must be since she can't remember, but...the memories Julia DOES have consist of her dying, and of Monica surviving. She believes she should have died, that Monica should be alive now. What right does Julia have to laugh or have fun? Though never stated, it's clear that Julia is suffering from PTSD. She's broken and has no will to live. She's completely checked out from the world. She doesn't even do her school work anymore. The school finally steps in and says that if Julia doesn't start making up her school work, she'll be transferred to alternative school. One of the most popular guys at school, Evan, begins tutoring her. He never looked at her twice in the past, but now he seems enamored with her. There's also something off about him, and clues that Julia mulls over but blows off, clues that make readers curious as their brains begin to whirl. As the clues begin coming together, Julia finds herself encountering situations she's never even dreamed of, ones that throw her very life into jeopardy...again.

I really liked trying to figure out the mystery and seeing the way the pieces fell together in HERE. I will definitely be interested in continuing the story when the sequel comes out. At first, I didn't think I would like it after reading the Prologue and not really understanding what I was reading, but once I got into the story itself, I became enamored with the characters and wanted to know more about what was going on. While I normally groan over love triangles, I like that this book didn't have one come into play until much later in the book, and only briefly. I think the triangle will develop more in the second book, and I'll tell you now...while I love both of the guys now in Julia's life, I feel like this is Cynthia Hand's UNEARTHLY all over again because I'm leaning toward the underdog! It isn't a triangle thrown in just-because, rather, it's one full of heart-break and intrigue that also serves as part of the story's plot. I also appreciated the way Denise Grover Swank developed Julia. She's such a rich character with an incredible amount of depth. Her pain felt very real, never forced. I felt like I was reading about a girl slogging through life after a horrifying accident. Her plight felt very fresh and real. I also enjoyed the way we see her slowly unfurl and come out of her despair as she interacts more with Evan and begins associating with the world again, from teachers to bullies to family members. I found myself rooting for Julia and her peace of mind as I read, despite the horrible curveballs life continues to throw at her, and I hope you will too after picking up your copy of HERE!

Other books mentioned in this review that have previously been reviewed at A Backwards Story are THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER by Michelle Hodkin and UNEARTHLY by Cynthia Hand.

COVER DESIGN:

This isn't really my favorite cover in the world. My favorite thing about it is actually that gorgeous font used for the book's title. The cover seems like it would take place after the accident, since Julia is standing in the woods looking very vulnerable. It could also take place later in the story when she's in the woods. There are two male figures in the background that fade in with the trees. Are they police officers? Are they the two guys Julia finds herself emotionally attached to? I also don't really picture Julia wearing a sweet dress/nightgown/whatever in the middle of the woods like that. The way her hair is falling across her face makes me think the book is going to be placed in the horror or ghost story genre, neither of which is my favorite to read.

I am definitely guilty of judging this book by its cover, which is sad, because once I stopped procrastinating and started reading, I became very involved in the novel's story!

Waiting on Wednesday: Double Cover Reveal Edition

2012-02-22T09:08:00.001-05:00

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine. This event highlights our most-wanted upcoming releases!

I have Sarah J. Maas (Author of the upcoming THRONE OF GLASS; I interviewed Sarah last month! ) to thank for introducing me to the following two authors. I was hooked the moment she announced that her friends had book deals on her blog! That's one reason I love following authors I like: In addition to seeing what they're up to, I can find out about more awesome books to love!

Title: WHAT'S LEFT OF ME
Author: Kat Zhang
Release Date: Sept. 18, 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
Add it: Goodreads

WHY?

Are you sicking of hearing me say the summary sounds amazing? I am too, but words escape me. Kat Zhang has begun a new series that sounds like nothing I've read before. I also love the fact that it's being compared to HIS DARK MATERIALS, which has always been a favorite series of mine. September is way too far away for this one!

Also, what do you think about the book's cover? Kat revealed it on Friday. I like the way it's a puzzle piece with only half a girl. The puzzle itself is imperfect, with white blotches where there should be color! I also like the color gradiation, which pulls it away from all the white and gray!

SUMMARY:

NEVER LET ME GO meets HIS DARK MATERIALS in a beautiful, haunting YA debut, the first book in The Hybrid Trilogy.

Eva and Addie live in a world where everyone is born with two souls, but where only the dominant one is allowed to survive childhood. Fifteen years old, and closer even than twins, the girls are keeping Eva, the ‘second soul’, a secret. They know that it’s forbidden to be hybrid, but how could they ever be apart?

When a dramatic event reveals what really happens to hybrids if they are discovered, Eva and Addie face a dangerous fight for survival, neither wanting to be the one left behind…

Title: RENEGADE
Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Release Date: April 24, 2012
Publisher: Kensington
Add it: Goodreads

WHY?

Another book that sounds fresh and unique! April isn't too far off! Plus, at that time, there will be not one, but TWO releases in the series, this and the 0.5 novella ELEMENTAL. Brigid released the cover for 0.5 and the next two novels, SPARK and SPIRIT, yesterday on her blog! I'm really excited! (Also, is it wrong to say that I'm intrigued that there are guys on the cover for once? That rarely happens in YA these days!)

This is another really hard wait for me, but at least this one is closer! It also has a bit of an AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER feel due to people controlling the four elements, but that's 100% okay in my book!

SUMMARY:

Ever since her ex-boyfriend spread those lies about her, Becca Chandler is suddenly getting all the guys—all the ones she doesn't want. Then she saves Chris Merrick from a beating in the school parking lot. Chris is different. Way different: he can control water—just like his brothers can control fire, wind, and earth. They’re powerful. Dangerous. Marked for death.

And now that she knows the truth, so is Becca.

Secrets are hard to keep when your life’s at stake. When Hunter, the mysterious new kid around school, turns up with a talent for being in the wrong place at the right time, Becca thinks she can trust him. But then Hunter goes head-to-head with Chris, and Becca wonders who’s hiding the most dangerous truth of all.

The storm is coming . . .

What are you anxiously waiting for this Wednesday?

Happy Book Day to FEVER and SHADOWS!

2012-02-21T22:17:00.004-05:00

What new releases are you most excited about this week? For me...

Happy Book Birthday to two amazing books this week:

FEVER by Lauren DeStefano

Do I even need to explain this one?

It's the sequel to WITHER, one of my favorite dystopians of 2011!! I reviewed it last year (and also did an in-depth look at the design here), so if you haven't read WITHER yet, check those out...and then get reading!!

I'm really excited! This is one series I NEED in hard form. I've seen it on an e-reader and all the beautiful interior design is just...lost. Sad days ahead in the e-reading world if all books lose this unique feature!

SHADOWS (LUXE 0.5) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Okay, confession time: I have yet to read OBSIDIAN. I own it on my nook, though! I bought it the day it came out! I'm just afraid to read it and have no new books by Jennifer L. Armentrout for a while, lol! (Okay, okay, and the fact that aliens are involved. But if Marissa Meyer can make me love cyborgs and Beth Revis can have me reading about space ships, why can't Jennifer Armentrout help me fall in love with aliens?)

But now that this is out, I totally should, right? I love Jennifer and the way she makes me feel about her characters!

Did I miss something amazing that I must know about? Let me know!

IMM & Week in Review: The Holy ARC-a-Moly Edition!

2012-02-19T08:53:00.001-05:00

IN MY MAILBOX: 02.05.12

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi at The Story Siren because:

I find the same thing happening at A Backwards Story. I'm so backed up on reviews atm... That's why I like these videos!

CURRENT GIVEAWAY:

*Enter to win one of THREE Kindles or one of TWENTY autographed copies of books in THE RIVER OF TIME series by Lisa T. Bergren. ENDS TOMORROW

READING NOW:

*HERE by Denise Grover Swank (Interview here; review coming Thursday!)

[link to my GoodReads account so you can see my blurb feed as I read]

READ THIS WEEK:

*Um.............^^;;;............nothing? Wellllll, four pages of HERE. I really need to read this or else, on Tuesday, it will be two weeks since I read a book!!!

I just...haven't been in the mood to read, so it's all backing up now. I'll sit and look at book and go, "Oh, I want to read you...but I don't feel like reading atm." Argh!

REVIEWED THIS WEEK:

*I actually had ANOTHER review-less week. I actually have two reviews started that were supposed to go up Friday and Saturday. I just haven't had time to finish writing them. So....look for a lot of reviews this week to make up for it :)

FEATURES THIS WEEK:

*Happy Book Day to Four Anticipated Books!
*Haunting Lead HUNGER GAMES music video debuts featuring Taylor Swift and The Civil Wars!
*Read HANA, a DELIRIUM novella from Lauren Oliver, FREE! 4 Days Only!
*Waiting on Wednesday: RENEGADE by J.A. Sounders
*Interview with HERE author Denise Grover Swank
*Exclusive First Look at BOURNE {RIVER OF TIME 3.1} by Lisa T. Bergren!

RECEIVED THIS WEEK:

YouTube Link

Loot:

The "Holy ARC-a-Moly" edition!

I cannot BELIEVE the amount of books I received this week, especially since I didn't give back by purchasing anything! (Well, a dress for a wedding, but that doesn't count, right?) Thank you to all of the publishers and authors this week. I received some great surprises IMM!

PURCHASED:

Nothing this week, actually! *gasp*

The next couple of weeks, however..................

ARCs/Finished Copies:

*MISTWOOD by Leah Cypess [Out now]
(Thank you to Leah Cypess! I was a runner-up in her NIGHTSPELL Blog Tour, so she annotated a chapter of my choice. I asked Leah to annotate her favorite chapter. She chose Chapter Fourteen. (Go re-read that chapter right now to see why! I also reviewed NIGHTSPELL during the tour and mentioned MISTWOOD a bit!)
*SHADOW AND BONE by Leigh Bardugo [Out June 05, 2012]
(Thank you to Henry Holt Books for Young Readers/Macmillan! I LOVE the alien blue-foil envelope!)
[Designed by Rich Deas, whom I interviewed here in January for Marissa Meyer's CINDER Blog Tour!]
*STRIKE: THE HERO FROM THE SKY by Charlie Wood [Out now]
(Thank you to Charlie Wood! Charlie is awesome and sent me SIX copies, so we're going to have a massive giveaway soon!)

*AWKWARD by Marni Bates [Out March 01, 2012]
(Thank you to Kensington Teen and The Teen Book Scene for the finished copy! The Blog Tour will run from Feb. 27 ~ Mar. 23. A Backwards Story will be participating in both a review and a guest feature, so stay tuned!)

*THE MASK OF DESTINY (ARCHER LEGACY Trilogy #3) by Richard Newsome [Out May 15, 2012]

(Thank you to Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins!)

LIBRARY:

*MY ~~FAIRY~~ FAIR GODMOTHER by Janette Rallison (Because Jen from Literally Jen reviewed it on A Backwards Story during A Week of Cinderella and made it sound AWESOME!)
*WISDOM'S KISS by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
*FINNIKIN OF THE ROCK by Melina Marchetta

NetGalley:

*WONDER by R.J. Palacio [JUST RELEASED 02.14.12]
(Thank you to Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers/Random House!)
*UNBIDDEN MAGIC TRILOGY by Marilee Brothers: [out now; book four, SHADOW MOON, released in Nov. 2011]
#1: MOONSTONE
#2: MOON RISE
#3: MOON SPUN
(Thank you to Bell Bridge Books!)

*MAGIC UNDER STONE by Jaclyn Dolamore [Out April 10, 2012]
(Thank you to Bloomsbury!)
[I reviewed Dolamore's BETWEEN THE SEA AND SKY last year & interviewed the author during Splash into Summer. Check both out while awaiting her newest novel! ^_^]

*THE NIGHT SHE DISAPPEARED by April Henry [Out April 10, 2012]

(Thank you to Henry Holt Books for Young Readers/Macmillan!)

What did you get in your mailbox this week?

Exclusive First Look at BOURNE {RIVER OF TIME 3.1} by Lisa T. Bergren!

2012-02-16T12:31:00.001-05:00

A Backwards Story is excited to be a part of The {Teen} Book Scene's tour for Lisa T. Bergren's THE RIVER OF TIME series! Check out the tour schedule to see the list of events.

Last year, I reviewed all three books in the original trilogy together (keeping it as spoiler-free as possible). Check it out here!

Today, I'm excited to present you with an EXCLUSIVE look at the beginning of Lisa's highly-anticipated upcoming novella BOURNE! The novella is going to be in the POV of Gabi and Lia!

Are you as excited as I am? Because I'm really, REALLY excited about this one!

Plus, stay tuned after the excerpt for an exclusive chance to win prizes like:

Yes, Lisa IS giving away THREE Kindles and 20 copies of her books. You want to win, RIGHT!?

BOURNE is book 3.1 in the RIVER OF TIME series. It is a novella from the POV of Gabi and Lia. The first three books, WATERFALL, CASCADE, and TORRENT, became surprise hits as fans began discovering this fabulous series and recommending it. Word of mouth has been amazing for this series. I'm truly hoping that it becomes even more popular so that Lisa will continue writing in this world. I WANT MORE!! I can't wait for her to finish writing her next book, TRIBUTARY!
(But new readers, don't be alarmed by the prospect of more: The original trilogy has a satisfying conclusion and not a cliffhanger of any sort!)

Check out Lisa's blog and follow her on Twitter!

An Exclusive First Look at BOURNE!

BOURNE

By Lisa T. Bergren

River of Time Series #3.1e-novella

WARNING:We’ve tried to edit this chapter to avoid one major spoiler, but you reallyshould read WATERFALL (book 1), CASCADE (book 2) and TORRENT (book 3) if youhaven’t yet! Continue reading at your own risk!

CHAPTER ONE

~GABRIELLA~

“M’lady!They approach!” the guard yelled down to us from the walls.

“Thank God,” I muttered, taking my first full breathin what seemed like hours. Ever since the battle had ended the night before,Sienese patrols had circulated in and out of Castello Forelli, to drop offwounded, reprovision, rest, and head out again. As the night wore on, and theFiorentini withdrew north, the patrols were gone for longer periods of time.But Marcello, Luca, and Lord Greco hadn’t shown up at all.

Leaving me to fear the worst, of course.

“Open the gates!” the wall guard cried.

Three knights went to the massive crossbeam and slidit to one side, then opened the fifteen-foot doors. Twenty of our men onhorseback arrived, but my eyes sought only one—

Marcello. I sighed in relief and then picked up myskirts and ran to him, waiting for him to wearily dismount and take me underone of his arms. I laughed and reached up on tiptoe to kiss him. “Oh, Marcello.Welcome home.”

“I have to say, I think I’ll grow accustomed to youwelcoming me back, each time I have half a mind to chase a Fiorentini back tohis side of the border.” He winced as I gave him a full hug, making me pause inconcern, but then Rodolfo Greco came around three others, leading his horse…andin an awkward moment, caught the last of Marcello’s comment.

His handsome chin came up, and he stilled as ifembarrassed. Not that he had any reason to be embarrassed. It wassimply…awkward. The once-Fiorentini now in our castello. Marcello’s brother. Mycaptor-savior. I think we were all confused as to how to proceed, exactly. It’dtake some time to figure out.

Luca came over, right next to Lia, both of themgrinning. The grizzled Captain Pezzati clasped hands with Luca and the other guys,then gave me a nod of greeting and turned toward the stables. Mom came over,and I grinned at the circle of them, all around me. Together. Atlast. Everyone here, present and accounted for. Well, Dad was in his room,recovering from his own wound. But at the moment, we were all safe.

I was relishing the sweet relief, appreciating the feel ofhaving Marcello next to me again, when I felt him begin to sink. Crying out, Igot a better grip on him from under one of his arms; Rodolfo Greco came underthe other. I tried to ignore his sudden proximity—and the resulting weirdness.“Quickly, let’s get him inside,” I said.

We eased Marcello into the Great Hall and into a chair,and I knelt before him. Rodolfo took a few respectful steps away. “Marcello!” Isaid, anxiously scanning his face and body for injury. I noticed, then, hisswollen cheek, the cut at his mouth and nose, some bruising. Nothing I hadn’tseen before, after taking on an enemy. But what worried me was the gray colorof his skin, the way his eyes were hooded, half-shut. “Marcello, what ailsyou?”

“Take your ease, Gabriella,” he said in a mumble. “I ammerely weary and in—”

His head rolled forward, and he slumped. I cried outagain, and Rodolfo and Luca came to either side of him. “How is he injured?” Iasked, my voice coming out in a strangled tone.

Luca ran his fingers through his sandy-colored hair andgrimaced. “We ran into some difficulty en route home, m’lady.”

“Difficulty?”

“A Fiorentini patrol. We’d parted from our men—”

Marcello moaned. I rose. “Marcello? Marcello.” I said,holding his head in my hands. But he was out again.

Lia brought a blanket into the room and spread it out onthe floor. Rodolfo and Luca lifted Marcello and placed him on it. “Quickly,” Isaid to the men. “Help me find his wound.”

With trembling fingers, I pulled up Marcello’s tunic andgasped. His belly was covered with purple, red, and green bruises. I looked toLuca.

“As I started to say…it happened a few hours ago,” he saidgrimly, easing his cousin onto his side to look at his back. Mom knelt next tohim. His green eyes met mine, and his anxious, lowered brows made my heartstop.

Nothing scared Luca.

* * *

I apologize if I put a line break in a weird spot. Blogger is eating all of the tabs. The formatting will look perfect when you read the novella!

* * *

BOURNE will be available atmonth-end on all major e-reading formats, including Kindle, Nook and more. Tofind out more, see Lisa’s web site.

* * *

Lisa Bergren is also offering 3KINDLES and 20 BOOKS as prizes for her RIVER OF TIME Blog Tour Scavenger Hunt,which ends this weekend! Check out her post to find out how you can take partand have a chance to win!

Interview with HERE author Denise Grover Swank

2012-02-15T11:22:00.000-05:00

A Backwards Story is happy to be a part of The {Teen} Book Scene's tour for HERE! Check out the tour schedule to see the list of events. Check back next week for my review of this book!

Priced at only $2.99, HERE is an e-book steal of a deal!

HERE, previously titled TORN, is Denise Grover Swank's fifth novel. She is also the author of THE CHOSEN series and the ROSE GARDNER mysteries. The sequel to HERE, titled THERE, is tentatively scheduled to come out in Fall 2012.

Check out her blog and follow her on Twitter!

Also be sure to check out HERE's fan-made book trailer to learn more about this book:

An interview with Denise Grover Swank

HERE sounds very mysterious. Can you tell us a little more about what sort of journey we're in for? (Mystery, paranormal, psychological, etc.)

HERE is a mix of paranormal, science fiction, dystopian and a thriller. That sounds a bit odd, but I’m known for my genre mixing with my two other adult series. (My humorous southern mystery series has a touch of paranormal and my urban fantasy is part thriller.) Most readers say that they don’t know where HERE is going until halfway through but it exceeds their expectations.

HERE was originally entitled TORN. What led to a title change so close to your novel's release?

I didn’t come up with a title for HERE until I was about three-fourths done with my first draft. I texted my critique partner and said “This is ridiculous. This book needs a title.” So we brain storm texted for about fifteen minutes until Trisha came up with TORN. It fit on so many levels. It was perfect. But months before release, I realized that TORN wasn’t going to work. Another YA novel had recently been released with the same title and even though the two books were very different, I didn’t want there to be any confusion. The problem was that I couldn’t come up with anything else. So another brain storm session was called, this time over the phone. Once again Trisha came through and not only came up with HERE but also the title of the second book, THERE. (Which will make total sense once you read HERE.)

How did you come up with the idea for HERE? It sounds quite unique!

I wrote HERE because my then thirteen-year-old daughter asked me to write a book she and her friends could read. I had written two adult novels, but I read a lot of YA so I figured, why not? However, I had no idea what to write. Usually the idea comes to me first, so HERE was different than how I was used to doing things. But I started thinking about books, TV shows and movies I love and why I love them. Ultimately, I went back to my all time favorite TV show, LOST, pulled a tiny piece and HERE was born. Once I had that idea, it grew from there. The biggest issue in the beginning was research. I researched for a month and a half while I finished the first draft of HUNTED, the second book my adult urban fantasy series.

Who was your favorite character to write and why?

Oh, hard one. Believe it or not, it’s a tossup between Evan and Reece. I love Evan because he’s really a straight forward guy who’s hopelessly in love with Julia. But by the end of the book, Julia and the reader see Evan differently than they did at the beginning. Evan didn’t change but their filter for viewing him shifted. Reece was fun because he has a hint of bad boy in him.

Is HERE part of a series or a stand-alone? What projects are you working on now?

HERE is the first book in the On the Otherside series. The next book, THERE, will be released in October 2012. I’m currently finishing up the first draft of TWENTY-NINE AND A HALF REASONS, the second book in my adult humorous southern mystery series. SACRIFICE, the third book in my adult urban fantasy series will be released in a few weeks.

Denise, thank you so much for stopping by and treating us to a behind-the-scenes look at what went into writing HERE.

Bookworms, stop back at A Backwards Story next week as I continue on with The {Teen} Book Scene's blog tour by reviewing HERE on Thursday the 23rd!

Waiting on Wednesday: RENEGADE by J.A. Sounders

2012-02-15T11:21:00.002-05:00

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine. This event highlights our most-wanted upcoming releases!

Title: RENEGADE
Author: J.A. Souders
Release Date: Sept. 2012
Publisher: Tor Teen/Macmillan
Add it: Goodreads

WHY?

The summary sounds AMAZING. I love, love, LOVE underwater books. They don't even have to be about mermaids. I just LOVE them.

This one sounds so fresh and unique. It also feels a bit dystopian.

It sounds so, SO good and I really want it right this second!!

SUMMARY:

Since the age of three, sixteen-year-old Evelyn Winters has been trained to be Daughter of the People in the underwater utopia known as Elysium. Selected from hundreds of children for her ideal genes all her life she’s thought that everything was perfect; her world. Her people. The Law.

But when Gavin Hunter, a Surface Dweller, accidentally stumbles into their secluded little world, she’s forced to come to a startling realization: everything she knows is a lie. Her memories have been altered. Her mind and body aren’t under her own control. And the person she knows as Mother is a monster.

Together with Gavin she plans her escape, only to learn that her own mind is a ticking time bomb... and Mother has one last secret that will destroy them all.

What are you anxiously waiting for this Wednesday?

Read HANA, a DELIRIUM novella from Lauren Oliver, FREE! 4 Days Only!

2012-02-15T10:28:00.002-05:00

Hey bookworms!

I'm pretty sure I forgot to cross-post here, but if you follow Lauren's Deliriously Falling blog, I posted there as well. You may have also seen the news if you follow Lauren's personal blog or seen all the frenzy on Twitter or various other blogs.

Lauren said that if 5,000+ people pre-ordered PANDEMONIUM, she'd gift us with her upcoming DELIRIUM novel HANA in its entirety.

You can read it right here on MTV for free...but only for four days!

Are you excited? I know I am! HANA had been going to tide me over until PANDEMONIUM came out...and then we got an ARC it at work. So now it will hold me over until REQUIEM comes out!

For those who don't remember, Hana is Lena's best friend from DELIRIUM...and she'll be in REQUIEM in a big way!

....You're still here? What are you waiting for? Go, read. NOW! ^.~

Haunting Lead HUNGER GAMES music video debuts featuring Taylor Swift and The Civil Wars!

2012-02-14T09:45:00.003-05:00

News about THE HUNGER GAMES movie is coming at a fast, frantic pace now as the premiere draws closer.

Last night, MTV debuted the lead music video "Safe and Sound." Taylor Swift penned the song, which features The Civil Wars.

It's haunting and somber. In a sit-down interview with Swift, she states:

She also revealed that when she was first asked to pen a song for the soundtrack, she thought she'd be writing something encouraging and upbeat. "When I got the call, I thought from what I'd heard about the movie, 'It's an action movie, right? We're probably going to be writing a song that's like, "We're going to win!" ' And then I read the book, and I thought, 'No, we're going to have to write sort of a death lullaby, it's so different from what I thought.' "

Have you seen the music video yet? If the embedded video doesn't appear or is removed, this is the link!

So, what do you think? Discuss! :)

Happy Book Day to Four Anticipated Books!

2012-02-14T09:20:00.002-05:00

(This will be one of only two scheduled non-Cinderella-themed blog posts this week!)

What new releases are you most excited about this week? For me...

Happy Book Birthday to four amazing books this week:

ABOVE WORLD by Jenn Reese

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this one and I LOVED the book. I can't wait for my finished copy to arrive in the mail this week.

Daisy Whitney is such a strong new voice in YA contemporary fiction and it devastates me that so many people have overlooked her. THE MOCKINGBIRDS was one of my favorite books of 2010 (my review).

You don't need to read THE MOCKINGBIRDS to read THE RIVALS, but it will explain a lot of things that are brushed over in the new book!

GRAFFITI MOON by Cath Crowley

Honestly, I don't know overly much about this one. I kept hearing about it in November on everyone's Just Contemporary posts, though, and what little I heard intrigued me. I was lucky enough to snag an e-ARC, but unlucky in that I haven't had time to read it yet!

GRAFFITI MOON has had a lot of award buzz around it and I'm really glad that it's finally coming to the US today! I can't wait to find out more about this book!

THE FINE ART OF TRUTH OR DARE by Melissa Jensen

I've wanted to read this one since hearing that it resembled the love child of ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS and the movie PRETTY IN PINK. I was even more intrigued after finding out that Melissa Jensen is a semi-local author.

I was honored to participate in Melissa Jensen's (still-ongoing) blog tour with The {Teen} Book scene last week. If you haven't seen my interview with her to whet your appetite, check it out!

SCARLET by A.C. Gaughen

This one had me at "Robin Hood." Yes, yes, yes please! Not to mention, I love it when the girl disguises herself as a guy in order to live life (Should I blame Tamora Pierce and her Alanna books during my fundamental years? I probably should...).

This is another e-ARC I have to make time for. I think I'll be spending quality time with my nook very soon. (I just have to, um...pick up a book. I haven't read anything in a week!)

Did I miss something amazing that I must know about? Let me know!

Cover Crazy: ORDINARY MAGIC by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway

2012-02-13T07:12:00.001-05:00

ORDINARY MAGIC by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway:

This cover reveals the REAL reason for using/loving NetGalley. How else would I hear about this awesome-sounding book...or discover how much I love the illustrated cover?

To me, the illustrations look a lot like something Brandon Dorman would do. First, THE SUMMER OF MOONLIGHT SECRETS by Danette Haworth came to mind. Then I scouted out Brandon's awesome portfolio of titles and saw more books that's he done. He's even designed Brandon Mull's FABLEHAVEN books!

Ahh, I want to know who the designer IS. Does anyone know??

I really like the illustrations, and the way the school is featured in the background. The school has a unique character in and of itself. I also like the way the trees are twisting, the ground the girl is standing upon, the way she looks like an academic. I'm loving the birds in the background and the way the sky seems full of magic and light, highlighting this (supposedly?) magic-less girl.

I really want to read this one! *Come on and approve me, Netgalley/Bloomsbury! LOL!! I'm not patient when it comes to waiting...*

IMM & Week in Review: Book Love/Happy VDay Edition!

2012-02-12T08:39:00.003-05:00

IN MY MAILBOX: 02.05.12

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi at The Story Siren because:

I find the same thing happening at A Backwards Story. I'm so backed up on reviews atm... That's why I like these videos!

CURRENT GIVEAWAY:

*I THINK I have a new one starting this week, but I don't have all my tour stop information yet, so that might have changed. Don't quote me!

**I'm behind on choosing new giveaway winners. I'll catch up this week. So you still might have won CINDERS or INCARNATE or EVERNEATH!!! (But entering IS officially over, sorry!)**

READING NOW:

*THE DRAGON HEIR by Cinda Williams Chima (At least...Goodreads SAYS I started reading it a few days ago. Did I actually start reading this yet? No.... ^^;;;)

[link to my GoodReads account so you can see my blurb feed as I read]

READ THIS WEEK:

*THE WARRIOR HEIR by Cinda Williams Chima (My first time reading this highly-praised book/author!)
*THE WIZARD HEIR by Cinda Williams Chima (My first time reading this highly-praised book/author!)

REVIEWED THIS WEEK:

*coughs* I meant to review. I really, truly did. And yet...moving the PS3 into my bedroom is the worst decision I ever made. It's like a siren's song, and I just can't.stop.playing. ^^;; I blame FFXIII-2, of course.

Has anyone else been sucked in?

(And if you have a PS3, we should totally be PSN friends! Here's my ID:

Get your Portable ID!

(Feel free to leave your HTML code in the comments by clicking the above link like I did if you don't want a SpamBot to read it! Plus, it shows off your stats, which is cool! Though I don't know where my avatar went...)

FEATURES THIS WEEK:

*Cover Crazy: GREEN HEART and NEVERMORE
*Happy Book Day to THE RIVALS, SIREN'S DESIRE, and HEAVEN
*Author Interview with Melissa Jensen (THE FINE ART OF TRUTH OR DARE)
*Happy 2-year Birthday, A Backwards Story!

RECEIVED THIS WEEK:

YouTube Link

Loot:

The "Book Love: Happy VDay" edition!

Granted, I still think I'll re-format/re-install everything when I have a few days off this week and can think and fuss around, but for now, I have a real computer. Which means real blog posts. Huzzah!

PURCHASED:

*BRAVE NEW LOVE: 15 Dystopian Tales of Desire by Paula Guran (Editor), Jeanne Du Prau, William Sleator, Carrie Ryan, Diana Peterfreund, Carrie Vaughn, Elizabeth Bear, Jesse Karp , Kiera Cass, Seth Cadin, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Steve Berman, John Shirley, Amanda Downum
(That line-up is I KNOW, right?? I'm not big on anthologies, but MUST HAVE!!)
*THE RIVALS by Daisy Whitney
(Yay, my shiny finished copy is here!! I've already read the ARC and can't wait to review this for you!)

ARCs:

*THE HERO'S GUIDE TO SAVING YOUR KINGDOM by Christopher Healy [Out May 01, 2012]
(Thank you to Walden Pond Press!)
*TOUCHSTONE by Melanie Rawn [Out Feb. 28, 2012]
(Thank you to @torbooks for the giveaway!)
*MASTERS OF THE VEIL by Daniel A. Cohen [Out March 01, 2012]
(Thank you to Spencer Hill Press!)

What did you get in your mailbox this week?

Happy 2-year Birthday, A Backwards Story!!

2012-02-09T10:00:00.001-05:00

Today marks the TWO-YEAR anniversary of this blog.
A Backwards Story, Happy Birthday!!!

A lot has changed in the last year. In my first year, I had 30-odd posts for the entire YEAR. Now, I tend to have that many posts in a single month. Last January, my New Year's Resolution was to blog more. I signed up for various memes to keep me on track, etc.

This time last year, I had less than 20 followers. Today, I have 640 people following me--and that's just what I can see. Every one of you leaves me breathless and humbled. I can't believe so many of you like and follow what I have to say! It amazes me every time.

My blog has come so far in the last year. I've signed up with Twitter, become active on Goodreads, and met some amazing bloggers and readers that I wish lived near me for real! I've participated in events such as Fairy Tale Fortnight and created my own events. I'm especially proud of Splash into Summer, which will re-occur this coming June/July, and the recent A Week of Cinderella. We'll have to do that again with another fairy tale! I've also sporadically hosted my own features such as Mythological Mondays and Word Count Wednesdays (Um, where did that one go...??). I've also developed more of a style in creating my reviews, from the way I post the summary to the way I do a more detailed look at cover design.

Thank you to all of the readers, bloggers, authors, and publishers who have made the last year possible. A Backwards Story has grown in leaps and bounds, and I can't wait to see what lies in store for the toddler years!!

Author Interview with Melissa Jensen (THE FINE ART OF TRUTH OR DARE)

2012-02-09T10:00:00.000-05:00

A Backwards Story is happy to be a part of The {Teen} Book Scene's tour for THE FINE ART OF TRUTH OR DARE! Check out the tour schedule to see the list of events. Check back later this month for my review of this book, which I've been highly anticipating ever since hearing that it's ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS meets PRETTY IN PINK!

THE FINE ART OF TRUTH OR DARE is Melissa Jensen's second novel. It's been getting a lot of buzz and will release officially on February 16, 2012.

Her debut novel is entitled FALLING IN LOVE WITH ENGLISH BOYS and is another contemporary YA romance.

Check out her website and follow her on Twitter!

An interview with Melissa Jensen

THE FINE ART OF TRUTH OR DARE sounds like such a fun romance. What inspired you to write it?

I guess the best way to explain it is that ToD is kinda my Frankenstein. (Oh, that sounds appealing and romantic, right?). I had this idea about a scarred girl who repaired vintage clothing and avoided mirrors, and one about an arty girl who was obsessed with a famous French painter. Another about a boy who dreamed of writing/drawing manga. I wrote pieces of all three separately and they didn’t work. Until I realized that, with some changes, they were all part of the same story. It’s probably a good thing that I didn’t add the idea involving a lobster boat in Maine.

I love the title and the way there's a piece of art on the cover. How much of a role does art play in the novel?

Art plays a big part. Ella, the protagonist, is a talented and confident artist. In fact, that talent is one of the few things she’s confident about. It’s also what draws her to her two objects-of-desire: Edward Willing and Alex Bainbridge, both of whom have ties to art.

It sounds like Ella and Alex try to keep their relationship under wraps beneath the radar of everyone at school. Can you tell us more about why they're being so secretive?

How many teenagers do you know who are completely and totally honest with their best friends and the people they date? For a lot of us, part of being young is worrying desperately about what other people think or will think of you if they knew the whole truth. And part of that is frequently being misguided or flat-out wrong. I know that’s a seriously obtuse response to the question, but I don’t want to give too much away. Let’s just say that Alex, while a smart guy, sometimes just doesn’t get it, and Ella is not particularly trusting.

Describe the perfect writing day.

Perfect writing day: I’ve finished writing the book the day before and am Tweeting about really important topics, like cheese… But, seriously. I love being able to have the first hour or two of my workday evenly divided between (pleasant, not painful) exercise and (slothlike) Still Life with Coffee. Then I work for a few hours until I need either more coffee or food. If I’m lucky, I have a lunch date with a friend or my husband. Then, barring food comas or caffeine crazies, I work a few more hours. Close to deadline: add more hours and an IV coffee drip.

What other projects are your working on now? Will you return to the Willing School?

I just finished my first screenplay, a college music/love story written with a fab and crazily talented friend. I’m also trying to finish a YA love/ghost story set in Maine (see above: Lobster Boat) and working the bugs out of a light-fantasy middle reader book set in Regency England. I don’t know if I’ll ever come back to the Willing School as a primary setting, but I would absolutely love to write a book about Daniel Hobbes, Frankie’s brother. He’s more likely to break into the Willing School than attend classes there, but, oh, Daniel…

Melissa, thank you so much for stopping by and teasing us with tidbits about your new novel. Is it next week yet?? *like a kid at a candy store* It's always nice to see buzz around a local author, and I wish you all the best!

Bookworms, stop back at A Backwards Story later this month when I have time to read and review this book that I've been anticipating!!

Happy Book Day to THE RIVALS, SIREN'S DESIRE, and HEAVEN!

2012-02-07T12:33:00.002-05:00

(This will be one of only two scheduled non-Cinderella-themed blog posts this week!)

What new releases are you most excited about this week? For me...

Happy Book Birthday to three amazing books this week:

THE RIVALS by Daisy Whitney

SIREN'S DESIRE by Devyn Quinn

So...I've never read this series, though I was given the first two books. I have them on my mermaid shelf to read this year for my Splash into Summer event.

But...seriously, the books are about MERMAIDS. And the summary of Quinn's third book sounds like it's about merMEN.

So...I should check this out, yes?

HEAVEN by Christoph Marzi

I've wanted to read this one since seeing its beautiful cover and hearing the synopsis. It didn't matter that this book was being released in the UK and might never come to the USA. Thanks to Book Depository with their great prices and free world-wide shipping, I can have my cake and eat it, too! Normally, it takes a while for the book to arrive, but this Feb. 2nd release must have shipped early, because I received my copy in late January!

I, for one, can't wait to dive in! I'm so glad this one was translated into English from its original German!

Did I miss something amazing that I must know about? Let me know!

Cover Crazy: GREEN HEART and NEVERMORE

2012-02-06T06:58:00.001-05:00

To celebrate a week of Cinderella, here are some fun Cinderella-themed covers!

GREEN HEART by Alice Hoffman:

This is a bind-up of GREEN ANGEL and GREEN WITCH that I've been seeing around as a Goodreads ad recently.

I really like the new design! To me, it's much more eye-catching than the original design (I have GREEN ANGEL around here somewhere...) I love the way all the flowers are springing to life in such a pretty variety of colors. I also like the perfectly centered heart with flowers springing from it out of the girl's hand, letting you know that she's at the epicenter of all this beauty.

The lighting is well done, with the brightest components in the middle of the cover and fading out until you have black edges.

NEVERMORE by James Patterson:

This is my favorite of all the MAXIMUM RIDE covers. Some of them are...not my favorite covers in the world. I really like how slick this one looks.

The colors are perfect; I love that slate gray-blue color. Max reminds me of a stone angel springing to life! (Even her hair!)

I also like the way the title is partially-transparent, making it more eye-catching.

I'm still really annoyed that NEVERMORE has been postponed until August since I've been looking forward to finally finishing the MAXIMUM RIDE series this month once and for all, but what can you do...?

What do you think? What cover are you crazy about this week?

Week in Review & IMM: The "I have a functioning computer again!" edition!

2012-02-05T08:54:00.000-05:00

IN MY MAILBOX: 02.05.12

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi at The Story Siren because:

I find the same thing happening at A Backwards Story. I'm so backed up on reviews atm... That's why I like these videos!

CURRENT GIVEAWAY:

*INCARNATE by Jodi Meadows Swag and a chance to win the grand prize in the INCARNATE Theater Treasure Hunt, including an annotated copy of INCARNATE from the author! (Ends 02/06)

**I'm behind on choosing new giveaway winners. I'll catch up this week. So you still might have won CINDERS or INCARNATE or EVERNEATH!!! (But entering IS officially over, sorry!)**

READING NOW:

*THE WARRIOR HEIR by Cinda Williams Chima (My first time reading this highly-praised book/author!)
*WINTERLING by Sarah Prineas

[link to my GoodReads account so you can see my blurb feed as I read]

READ THIS WEEK:

*RIVALS by Daisy Whitney
*FIVE FLAVORS OF DUMB by Antony James

REVIEWED THIS WEEK:

*FIVE FLAVORS OF DUMB by Antony James
*Why A SMILE AS BIG AS THE MOON and Sharon Draper's OUT OF MY MIND are so inspirational

FEATURES THIS WEEK:

*Movie Adaptation of BEAUTIFUL CREATURES by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl finally commences!
*THE SELECTION: Coming to a TV Screen Near You?
*Happy Book Day to Jodi Meadows, Shannon Hale, Diane Zahler, and FFXIII!
*Things always come in Threes!
*INCARNATE Theater Treasure Hunt!

RECEIVED THIS WEEK:

YouTube Link

Loot:

The "I have a functioning computer again!" edition!

PURCHASED:

*FINAL FANTASY XIII PS3 game, strategy guide, and episode i novella (Best Buy pre-order bonus gift)
*INCARNATE by Jodi Meadows (which I loved, loved, LOVED and you have a chance to win just by entering the INCARNATE Theater Treasure Hunt here on A Backwards Story!
*MIDNIGHT IN AUSTENLAND by Shannon Hale

ARCs:

*EMBRACE by Jessica Shirvington (Which you may recall I snagged at work last week, afraid I wouldn't get the ARC from Sourcebooks for the tour in time...and yet, here I am!! So to another fortunate person it goes ^_^ And check out my tour stop in March!)
*LOSS by Jackie Morse Kessler (Thanks to the author, her publicist, and NetGalley. Look for my blog tour stop in March! I was lucky enough to participate in the RAGE Tour last year, and have reviewed both HUNGER and RAGE on A Backwards Story. Check it all out!)
*FROI OF THE EXILES by Melina Marchetta (Thanks to Netgalley!)
*SIRENZ: BACK IN FASHION by Charlotte Bennardo and Natalie Zaman (Thanks to Netgalley!)

And Introducing...

*My new betta! Some of you may recall that my female betta, Aria, passed away during A Week of Cinderella. (Here's a brief video starring her!) Here's my new little boy! He doesn't have a name yet (Want to help me name him?)

He swam out of the picture as I tried to take it. (EVERY TIME....he's camera shy...), but doesn't this look like he has a mermaid tail? Check out the end of my video to see him in better quality. I'd love help coming up with a name! ^_^

What did you get in your mailbox this week?

FIVE FLAVORS OF DUMB by Antony John (Review)

2012-02-03T11:00:00.000-05:00

Title: FIVE FLAVORS OF DUMB

Author: Antony John

Release Date: Out now (Nov. 11, 2010)

Publisher: Speak/Penguin

Received: Purchased after seeing Ashley from Basically Amazing's fantastic review!

Goodreads

SUMMARY:

The Challenge: Piper has one month to get the rock band Dumb a paying gig.

The Deal: If she does it, Piper will become the band's manager and get her share of the profits.

The Catch: How can Piper possibly manage one egomaniacal pretty boy, one talentless piece of eye candy, one crush, one silent rocker, and one angry girl? And how can she do it when she's deaf?

Piper can't hear Dumb's music, but with growing self-confidence, a budding romance, and a new understanding of the decision her family made to buy a cochlear implant for her deaf baby sister, she discovers her own inner rock star and what it truly means to be a flavor of Dumb.

With a title like FIVE FLAVORS OF DUMB, Antony John captures a reader's attention from the very beginning. This week on two separate occasions, I was reading this at work and had two people want to know more based on the title alone. It's attention-grabbing, which is perfect for a novel about a band trying to propel itself into the music world. It's also a deeper title than you might expect on first glance. "Five Flavors" is a term with many meanings. I first realized this when I came across this passage:

"I watched Josh strutting, Ed practicing, Kallie hiding, Will spacing, and Tash gazing at Will, and realized that Baz was right. This wasn't a group at all. There was no togetherness, no blending--just five separate flavors of an indigestible dish called dumb." (pg. 100, US paperback edition)

In addition, the main character, Piper, is moderately severely deaf. With hearing aids, she can hear some things, but usually only in quiet areas with few people around. She often relies on lips and prefers sign language. As you may know, when a person is lacking in one of the five senses, at least one of the remaining five tends to be stronger to make up for this deficiency. Its nature's way of giving another means of survival. I know this myself: I have slight hearing loss, and my eye sight is abnormally good to make up for this. To me, the Five Flavors can also represent the five senses. Aside from all that, the title can represent the five flavors of the band Dumb as it peels away each layer and discovers itself as a band.

Dumb may not be the best thing to call yourselves when forming a band, but at least Dumb was smart in allowing Piper a trial run as band manager despite the fact that she's deaf. While the motivation for doing so wasn't pure, it quickly becomes obvious that Dumb could never have grown in leaps and bounds the way it does without Piper's help. She is the glue that holds everyone together. On their own, Dumb is a mess. When they work together, they make magic happen. Likewise, Dumb is good for Piper. She feels secluded from the world of hearing people and goes out of her way not to stand out. All she wants is to blend in and hide so that people don't stare at her. Her homelife is deteriorating because her parents have raided her college fund to pay for a cochlear implant for her eleven-month-old sister despite the fact that Piper is still wearing the old, Barbie-doll pink hearing aids she's had for the last seven years. They don't work as well as people assume, and she resents the fact that her baby sister already hears better than she does...on her dime, no less. Her dad has never felt the need to learn sign language an her mother no longer gets her. Even the relationship with her younger brother is dysfunctional. Dumb helps make Piper discover herself as a person. She becomes stronger, spunkier, more accepting of who she is and who she can be. She's less afraid to take chances and no longer feels the need to hide all the time. Dumb even strengthens the family's bond in ways I never saw coming, building new bridges and bringing them together in unexpected ways. It's easy to root for Piper and Dumb as they rise above the adversity around them and come into themselves.

John is adept at twining together sentences that bring the story home to readers. He packs a powerful message into his story, but never in a way that feels preachy. His talent at fleshing out characters is superb. At first, it seems like the band is full of cliched members, but John fleshes them out and allows readers to care about each one, whether they love or hate them. He also fleshes out Piper's family in a way I wish more authors would do. Not enough YA novels feature the home unit or develop what happens at home in the way John does. For me, the story that occurs at home was my favorite part of the entire novel. John is so skilled that I wound up loving characters I never though I could early on in the novel and disliking ones I thought I'd like more by the end. FIVE FLAVORS OF DUMB is about family, about life, about friendships, about the way people can change you. Reading this book really resonates and sends its messages home.

[And on a semi-unrelated sidenote: I cannot WAIT to read his upcoming 2013 fantasy novel, ELEMENTALS. The launch date feels too far away for me. And I don't even want to read it because it's a dystopian novel, even though I do love dystopians. I want to read it because it reminds me of AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER, and I really loved that show. Plus, as much as I appreciate contemporary, you all know I'm a fantasy girl at heart!]

COVER DESIGN:

This cover has a very "authentic" feel to it. It has just enough grunge and paper collaging to have a vintage feel on the bottom half. On the top half, Piper takes center stage, behind the scenes while Dumb is onstage. She's wearing large sunglasses and has her long hair hanging down, hiding once again from the world even as she steps out in more daring clothing than she's formerly worn. This cover represents many elements of what readers might expect upon picking up this book.

My favorite aspect of the design is actually the interior when a new chapter starts.

Each chapter heading looks like:

This looks like the same peeling poster stripping that reveals the author's name on the book cover.

The bottom of each chapter heading looks like:

It's that perfect grungy texture that lets you know this is new and fresh and different, not quite like the pristine pages of all the other books in your room!

Additionally, do you remember when I was talking about the book's title and the way Dumb doesn't work in harmony until Piper comes along? Check out the awesome spine of this book:

I love the way the words in the title are all disjointed. None of them are aligned and the words FIVE FLAVORS OF are all over the place as they fight to introduce the word DUMB (which is, itself, crooked and not perfectly straight). Even if you can't see the cover of this book, the spine is interesting enough to take off the shelf and look at.

(And if you look carefully at the front cover, the words FIVE FLAVORS OF aren't perfectly aligned there, either, even if your eye tricks you into thinking them are. Plus, they're not in harmony with the word DUMB. The blurbs from The Philadelphia Inquirer [my local paper, hey!] and the tag WINNER OF THE SCHNEIDER FAMILY BOOK AWARD are slanted as well. Everything on this cover works well together despite the differing fonts and arrangements, just like Dumb does in the book!)

Designer Kristin Smith has truly used the story elements to tell a story through design in multiple ways. I'm very impressed with the overall outcome of this novel!

(Sorry, I grabbed my cellphone because it was closest...and it's late at night as I type this, so the lighting isn't great. You get to peek at my bedsheets, though, lol!)

Why A SMILE AS BIG AS THE MOON and Sharon Draper's OUT OF MY MIND are so inspirational

2012-02-02T22:08:00.000-05:00

What, to you, is the definition of inspiration? A book, a movie, a real-life story? What about something that's all of the above? I wasn't expecting much when the Hallmark movie A SMILE AS BIG AS THE MOON aired after ONCE UPON A TIME on Sunday night. In fact, I hadn't been planning to watch it. I'd been too lazy to get up off the couch. One commercial in, and I was a little interested, but also on my way home. I missed the next chunk of the film, but when I returned home, the TV at my house was playing the movie, begging me to watch. So I sat down again. And you know what? It's incredibly inspirational. Granted, it is based on a biography by Mike Kersjes and Joe Layden (Goodreads), and as the saying goes, "The movie is never as good as the book." I haven't seen the book, so I honestly don't know which is better. I would, however, like to think the people experiencing the events and harboring the memories condensed into a book, and then again into the movie, are the best version of all. But I have a feeling this movie is pretty faithful to the book, or at the very least, sums it up well. (Plus, it totally makes me want to read the biography, and I don't read a lot of non-fiction!)

And even if it isn't 100% faithful, well, that's what the book is for, right? I was still inspired by the plight of the students in the movie and the love and dedication of their Special Ed teacher, Mike Kersjes. The students have disabilities that range from autism to dyslexia to ADHD to Tourette's Syndrome. They're kids that society has written off, in a classroom full of underachievers. Many of them struggle with classwork and don't do their homework. They pick fights and leave school trips early because they can't behave. But when these kids have the chance to go to Space Camp, their lives change forever. Mike Kersjes jumps through hoops to get his kids this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and finds innovative ways to get them to learn what they need to in order to succeed, from teaching through board games to borrowing the school swimming pool. Through this experience, the students blossom and discover their own unique, amazing talents. One student is a fantastic artist, the other is a seasoned model-making pro, a third is an excellent swimmer. Everyone is continually surprised and amazed by what these kids can do, especially once they take Space Camp by storm in a real-life upset no one saw coming.

Watching this movie reminded me of a middle-grade novel I adore, OUT OF MY MIND by Sharon Draper. I reviewed it back when it first came out in 2010 and am excited it will find a new audience this May when it re-releases in paperback. The novel follows the plight of a girl named Melody who has a severe form of Cerebral Palsy. She can't talk or write. Everyone thinks she's stupid and she's in a class where she re-learns basic lessons over and over again. Internally, this is killing her because Melody is actually super-smart with a photographic memory. When she gets a special computer that allows her to communicate with the world, everyone is stunned by what she can do. Some people refuse to believe it and think her aide is cheating for her while others are blown away by just what Melody can accomplish. This book was so inspirational when I read it. I wish every classroom had a copy, that every teacher taught it, that every student read it. It breaks the word "prejudice" in two and turns it inside out, making students look twice at the world around them.

I would recommend A SMILE AS BIG AS THE MOON (the movie and/or the book) and OUT OF MY MIND to anyone looking for something inspirational, or for a story about underdogs coming out on top. These are also great materials for the classroom and can have whole units on tolerance planned around them. I hope they both continue to flourish as more people discover what it is that makes these stories resonate so deeply.

[And on a semi-unrelated sidenote: Actress Jessy Schram has tricked me again! When I saw her as Cinderella in ONCE UPON A TIME, I thought she was Brittany Snow. I thought she was Brittany Snow AGAIN when I watched A SMILE AS BIG AS THE MOON. How are these two actresses NOT related when they look and sound so much alike!?]

Movie Adaptation of BEAUTIFUL CREATURES by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl finally commences!

2012-02-02T20:57:00.000-05:00

For those of you anxiously awaiting the news since movie options were picked up for BEAUTIFUL CREATURES by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl back in 2009, your wait is over. The movie has kicked up into high gear and will begin filming this April in New Orleans. The news broke today from Entertainment Weekly. Expect more information to start seeping out over the next two months as casting information is released. So far only award-winning actress Viola Davis has been confirmed.

[And in the interest of full-disclosure? I have yet to read BEAUTIFUL CREATURES, though I did pick up a copy at a library sale last year. I should get on this soon, yes?]

THE SELECTION: Coming to a TV Screen Near You?

2012-02-01T11:00:00.000-05:00

I'm really excited, bookworms!

You guys know that I've been dying to read Kiera Cass' THE SELECTION since hearing about it in 2010. I was even more excited when the beautiful cover debuted last year! I was just peeking in at IMDB and saw that the CW has ordered a pilot episode of THE SELECTION.

The article states:

The CW has ordered three more intriguing drama pilots: One from J.J. Abrams, one that’s a “time-travel musical” (!) and a third that one insider described as “The Hunger Games meets The Bachelor.”

This is a very interesting crop. Here’s how it breaks down:

Title: The Selection

Logline: Based on the forthcoming series of books by Kiera Cass, The Selection is an epic romance set 300 years in the future which centers on a poor young woman who is chosen by lottery to participate in a competition to become the next queen of a war-torn nation at a crossroads.

Can you say EXCITED? I can, especially after confirming the news on Cass' blog. As long as they do it right, I'm in. (Same goes for the time-travel musical if it doesn't turn into a wtf kind of thing. I'm all about GLEE and SMASH!)

Happy Book Day to Jodi Meadows, Shannon Hale, Diane Zahler, and FFXIII!

2012-01-31T23:10:00.001-05:00

(This will be one of only two scheduled non-Cinderella-themed blog posts this week!)

What new releases are you most excited about this week? For me...

Happy Book Birthday to some amazing books this week:

INCARNATE by Jodi Meadows

I both can't wait to review this book for you and live in fear of reviewing this book for you. Because it's so good, so amazing. I'm afraid my review won't do this one any justice!

I loved it so much that I offered up my review copy as a giveaway this past weekend (The contest is now ended and initial winner probes are going out). I'm hoping to receive my finished copy that I pre-ordered in the mail tomorrow!

I'm also thrilled to help celebrate Jodi's launch with the INCARNATE Theater Treasure Hunt. Check it out and win some awesome prizes! Here's what A Backwards Story is doing!

MIDNIGHT IN AUSTENLAND by Shannon Hale

I love Shannon Hale. I've had the pleasure of meeting this lovely lady twice and have all but two books signed by her. The second time I met her, she told us a secret: That she was working on the screenplay for her novel AUSTENLAND. At the time, this wasn't widespread news.

Now, the movie has been filmed and will hit theaters later this year. I can't wait! I'm even more excited to dive into this second book!

PRINCESS OF THE WILD SWANS by Diane Zahler

Let's hear it for the fairy tales! This is Diane Zahler's third middle grade novel. While I don't expect to love this rendition of the tale as much as I do Juliet Marillier's DAUGHTERS OF THE FOREST, I *am* expecting to adore it for all that it is on its own.

I'm also enthralled with the fact that one of the agents I love and hope to query this year, Jennifer Laughran, now represents Zahler (She didn't before).

And belatedly...

Since I had no internet last week to properly list these new releases, the two books that I was most excited about were:

EVERNEATH by Brodi Ashton

The other book I gave away this past weekend. I love the cover for this one and am so excited to have one for my bookshelf. HarperTeen has such pretty designs; how can there be an e-book version of this cover? Maybe if it had animated smoke or something...

I will definitely be featuring this one soon for Mythological Mondays!

THE NEXT FULL MOON by Carolyn Turgeon

This is Carolyn Turgeon's debut foray into YA. She has previously written three novels. Last year, I read and reviewed MERMAID and GODMOTHER for Fairy Tale Fortnight. She also was kind enough to do an interview for the event (and dished some details about THE NEXT FULL MOON!). I haven't read RAIN VILLAGE yet because I would have nothing new left to read by her...but now I do!

THE NEXT FULL MOON deals with the daughter of the girl who was the swan maiden (How appropriate with Zahler's PRINCESS OF THE WILD SWANS releasing this week!). This was first supposed to release last August, but postponed until now. I've been waiting quite anxiously to get my grubby hands on this one!

And while it's not a book...

FINAL FANTASY XIII-2

Because it still counts, right? Especially since, um...you can buy a strategy guide book for the game? And if you pre-order at Best Buy like I did, they'll give you a book entitled episode i for FREE!! So it totally counts!

And I, for one, can't wait to get back to the world of Pulse! I know a lot of people didn't like FFXIII because it was too "linear" and didn't really have the towns, but I enjoyed the story. And I liked the sadness of the ending. And I discovered the singer Leona Lewis through her song "My Hands" at the game's end (and shared the song with all of you last year here)

Did I miss something amazing that I must know about? Let me know!

Things always come in Threes!

2012-01-31T22:36:00.001-05:00

And thankfully, for once, this is a GOOD set of threes!

Why, you may ask?

1) My computer nightmare is nearing its conclusion. I managed to get Safe Mode up Sunday night, and I installed the brand-new version of Norton (our old one expired last week, though this isn't why my computer went crazy, since that happened before the expiration date), and my computer loaded into Normal Mode! *CROWD CHEERS* I've since gotten everything onto my external hard drive and I just need to finish making a list of my programs, etc. and re-install my computer to factory settings and I should be good...for now.
But until then? Right this second I am blogging FROM MY COMPUTER and NOT my phone. Oh yeah!

2) I brought home a new betta friend to replace beautiful Aria, who passed away earlier this month. It was too dark to get a good picture tonight... Maybe tomorrow!

3) The new Final Fantasy game is here! Which means that I netted two new books this week (a strategy guide and a special preorder gift in book form from Best Buy!). I can't wait to re-visit the world of Pulse when I have a few days off next week!!

And.........yeah. Fun threes!

Don't forget to check out my ongoing contest to celebrate the launch of Jodi Meadows' amazing debut novel, INCARNATE. Create the winning caption, win an awesome prize, and be entered into Jodi's grand-prize drawing!

INCARNATE Theater Treasure Hunt!

2012-01-29T23:59:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the INCARNATE Theater Treasure Hunt!

This week, 48 bloggers are celebrating the release of INCARNATE by Jodi Meadows by participating in a treasure hunt with clues, activities, and lots of prizes including signed books and handknit fingerless mitts. You've reached an ACTIVITY blog, which means on this page, you can gain extra entries for Jodi's grand prize drawing by completing my activity and filling out the accompanying form. Then head to the next activity for more INCARNATE fun! There are 22 INCARNATE activities around. The more you do, the better your chances of winning the grand prize.

For more information on the INCARNATE Theater Treasure Hunt, check out Jodi's post.

See those cute knit dolls above? Jodi Meadows fashioned them after characters in her debut novel INCARNATE! Aren't they adorable?

Pay close attention to that picture because here's where the fun stuff comes in!

A Backwards Story is featuring a Caption Contest!

What do you think is going on in the above picture? Leave a comment featuring your caption for a chance to WIN!! (You must ALSO fill out the form at the bottom of this post or your comment will not count!)

In addition to being entered for Jodi Meadows' grand prize (which includes an annotated copy of INCARNATE. Oooh, I'm jealous!!), you'll also win some awesome INCARNATE swag if your caption wins!! (And I don't care where in the world you live; the swag can go out internationally! The best caption wins!!)

And don't forget to check out other Activity Bloggers! Here are the next three on the list:

Watercolor Moods

Into the Hall of Books

Good luck! I'm really excited to see what you come up with!!

I also hope you fall as much in love with INCARNATE as I did. It was one of the top three books I read in 2011 and is currently feuding with GRACELING over which book should hold my all-time favorite fantasy slot!

...Yes, it's THAT good!

...So you see why you need to enter to win a copy as well as a ton of other amazing prizes? ^_^

AGAIN: You must fill out the following form AND leave a comment with your caption.

Why both? So that everyone can see your clever sayings, since the form is hidden!!
Good luck!

Week in Review & IMM

2012-01-29T08:40:00.000-05:00

So, this won't be formatted well. I'm blogging from my phone since my computer is still broken.

This, of course, means I haven't done many features or reviews lately! I just realized I can still do IMM with pictures from my phone. I can also do mini flash reviews, which I'd been planning to do anyway, based around books I read a while ago and never got a chance to review! So I'll try that out from my phone this week (and will apologize now for any typos...no clue how to spellcheck via phone!)

I did, however participate in a Giveaway Hop! You have until tonight to enter to win lightly used (by me only) ARC copies of two amazing January debut novels, EVERNEATH by Brodi Ashton, and INCARNATE by Jodi Meadows (which was one of my Top 3 reads of 2011!!!) Enter here!

And to try to keep a semblance of normalcy in template...it's not as fancy, but...

GIVEAWAYS:

INCARNATE by Jodi Meadows
EVERNEATH by Brodi Ashton
**Check back with A Backwards Story tomorrow for a special giveaway and contest! *zips lips*

READING NOW:

THE RIVALS by Daisy Whitney

(But I'll probably be done before this post goes live and reading either WINTERLING by Sarah Prineas or UNDER THE NEVER SKY by Veronica Ross! Haven't decided which of the two yet!)

READ IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS:

(Maybe not in order...and may be forgetting stuff...because seriously, did I really only ready three books? Goodreads is harder to keep up with because it doesn't always load properly on my phone!)

*ALLEGIANCE by Cayla Kluver (Didn't love as much as LEGACY, sadly!)
*CANDLEWAX by C. Bailey Sims (Yes, finally finished! For fans of Kristin Cashore!)
*EVERNEATH by Brodi Ashton

RECEIVED IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS:

(It's too much work to do Goodreads links from my phone. Sorry!!)

Also, here's a picture. I'm also going to attempt to upload a (potentially crappy) phone-cam video to YouTube, but no promises!

Last Week:
*HALLOWED by Cynthia Hand [Purchased; previously read as e-ARC thanks to HarperTeen and NetGalley]
*FATED by Sarah Alderson [Imported from Book Depository from the UK; no US release date]
*LEFT NEGLECTED by Lisa Genova [Bargain Book]
*PARTIALS by DanWells [ARC from work]

This Past Week:

*EVERNEATH by Brodi Ashton [Purchased; previously read as ARC (currently giving away) from HarperTeen]
*HEAVEN by Christoph Marzi [Imported from Book Depository from the UK; no US release date; originally written in German and translated into English]
*FORTUNE'S FOLLY by Deva Fagan [Bargain Book]
*EMBRACE by Jessica Shirvington [ARC from work]

And I surprised myself because the video DID upload...but the quality isn't as great!
YouTube LinkWhat did you get this week? Hopefully for the next IMM, I'll have the computer up and running again! *fingers crossed*

Giving Away 2 Fab Debut Novels!!!

2012-01-27T00:00:00.000-05:00

No, I'm not fully back online! I'm doing this from my phone. Please excuse any typos or weird errors or awkward formatting. I'm hoping that my Blogger app properly uploads the photo I took and embeds code in the correct fashion. Please let me know if anything's amiss!

Be sure to check out all the other sites that are a part of this weekend's Young Adult Giveaway Hop!

(If for some reason the above linky doesn't format/show up, please visit the blogs for our hosts I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and Down the Rabbit Hole for a full list of participants. Good luck!)

What has A Backwards Story chosen to give away? I'm so glad you asked!

You have your choice of EVERNEATH by Brodi Ashton or INCARNATE by Jodi Meadows!

They're both January 2012 debut novels...and they're both fun reads! I liked them so much that I pre-ordered finished copies of both, and I hope you will, too!

You may remember me saying that INCARNATE was one of the best books I read last year (alongside THE NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morgenstern and DELIRIUM by Lauren Oliver). It's one of my all-time favorite fantasy novels and is fighting with Kristin Cashore's GRACELING for first-place at the moment. High praise indeed, especially since I wasn't expecting to love it so much in the first place! I cannot WAIT to gush about it with you!!

EVERNEATH incorporates mythology in a unique way. The Greek myths we all know have SOME basis in fact--but not the fact that has been passed down in stories. Two of my favorite myths are twisted up in this novel along with a fresh, new story revolving around the world of the Everliving. It's so refreshing to discover a new paranormal being and not a rehash of anything in the market right now! I can't wait to review this book for Mythological Mondays once I can do full reviews again!

And now, enter to win! (If for some reason, this form doesn't embed properly, just post in the comments below. Keep your fingers crossed that it works, though!)

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Persevere and Carry On!

2012-01-23T08:28:00.001-05:00

I apologize for how quiet A Backwards Story has been...and will continue to be.

I'm having computer failure issues and have to salvage and restore my hard drive. I might still wind up needing a new computer because mine has been on the fritz since the summer...but it's only three years old and shouldn't be necessary yet.

I will return you to your regularly-scheduled blog as soon as possible, but for now...it isn't easy blogging via cell phone!

Happy Book Day to THE FLAME ALPHABET and HALLOWED!

2012-01-17T09:32:00.003-05:00

(This will be one of only two scheduled non-Cinderella-themed blog posts this week!)

What new releases are you most excited about this week? For me...

Happy Book Birthday to two amazing books this week:

THE FLAME ALPHABET by Ben Marcus

I may have just heard about this one last week, but holy smokes! (Plus, we totally need more dystopian fiction out on the adult floor and not just in YA!)

What would you do if the voice of a child was lethal? Would you force your children to remain silent? What if they didn't, couldn't?

Don't get me wrong, the book sounds disturbing--but it also sounds amazing!

HALLOWED by Cynthia Hand

Wait until you see this gorgeous girl in person! No computer or camera will be able to properly show you how beautiful it really looks. Then again, after seeing the first book, you already know this, right? Especially when it comes to the beautiful shade of blue!

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperTeen, I've already read this one, and I'm already coveting the final book in the trilogy! I can't wait to review it for you!

Did I miss something amazing that I must know about? Let me know!

Mythological Mondays with upcoming releases THE SERPENT'S SHADOW and THE DEMIGOD DIARIES!!

2012-01-16T08:01:00.000-05:00

The cover for THE SERPENT'S SHADOW, the final book in Rick Riordan's Egyptian-inspired KANE CHRONICLES Trilogy, dropped exactly one week ago. I've been really excited to share it, but had to wait until A Week of Cinderella was over!

In addition, Rick Riordan announced some really exciting Percy Jackson news!

I'm pretty darn sure that THE SERPENT'S SHADOW is my favorite of any Rick Riordan cover. It's absolutely GORGEOUS:

(Click this picture to see the full size image! It's HUGE!!)

What do you think? I want in on all that action right now and can't wait until May! This cover already has me shivering with excitement!

When I saw the cover reveal, I wasn't expecting the news that Rick Riordan plans to publish THE DEMIGOD DIARIES on August 14th. Hopefully, this will tide me over until THE MARK OF ATHENA drops in October! This will be a collection of short stories (Though it sounds like it's more focused on the stories than THE DEMIGOD FILES was...I hope so, at least!). This is what Riordan says about the anthology on his blog:

*A story from Luke Castellan's point of view, from the days when he adventured with Thalia and Annabeth. Many people have asked me to write an adventure prequel to THE LIGHTNING THIEF. Here it is!

*A classic first-person Percy Jackson story, the first I've written since THE LAST OLYMPIAN. In this adventure, Annabeth and Percy's date is interrupted by the god Hermes, whose staff has been stolen by a fire-breathing giant. This cannot be good . . .

*A Leo Valdez story, set at Camp Half-Blood. As Leo builds the Argo II, something goes terribly wrong. Now Leo will need the help of Piper and Jason, or the entire camp might be destroyed.

*And, as announced on Rock Center, the anthology includes a debut short story from my son Haley. Since Haley inspired the entire Percy Jackson series, it seemed only right that I asked him to contribute his own original spin on Percy's world for this book. I was amazed at what Haley came up with. His brother Patrick, who's a tough editor, was quick to say, "Dad, his story is better than yours!" Haley ponders the question: "What happened to the demigods who fought with Kronos's army after the battle in Manhattan?" This is the story of one such demigod, and I have to admit, some of Haley's ideas are so good I wish I'd come up with them!

Are you excited? I know I am!!!

Did you do a Mythological Mondays post?

Cover Crazy with designer Peter Mendelsund

2012-01-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

(This week's Mythological Monday post also features a book cover analysis, so jump on over for more book cover love!!)

Funny story: When I took a technical writing course at the community college about a year ago, I had to create a how-to manuscript as the final project in the last series of classes. I chose to focus on book cover design. Good design, bad design, the elements of design, etc. One of the designers I looked at and used as a "Good Example" was Peter Mendelsund. I loved the way that, when I visited his website, it stated that he designed spines first and foremost, followed by book covers.

Mendelsund's style is unique and vast. A lot of his covers utilize geometric shapes or bright colors; they're minimalistic, yet fun and full of clean lines. And his spines!! Oh, his spines!! Because of Peter Mendelsund, I pay so much more attention to spine detail now!! This past weekend, I was at the bookstore and saw someone about to buy A MILLION SUNS by Beth Revis. I kind of squeed and said I'd bought it, too, and was excited to read it. We started talking about books we liked in the genre and she mentioned a book I had actually heard of entitled THE FLAME ALPHABET by Ben Marcus. The book was in stock, and as I looked at it, I thought to myself, "Hmm, this looks a lot like something Peter Mendelsund would design." I flipped to the inside back flap and--wouldn't you know--Peter Mendelsund designed it!! I was incredibly pleased with myself. This is also a sign of how memorable the designer's style is.

I'd like to spend today's Cover Crazy honoring this talented, successful designer with a look at several of his covers (starting, of course, with the most popular ones that had me looking at him in the first place!):

Various Covers by Peter Mendelsund:

The most well-known of Peter Mendelsund's covers! Look at the novel way the design bisects the title and byline.

Did you know that the iconic silver cover we all know wasn't the original design for the third book in this series? Take a peek at what could have been! My guess is that the publisher thought it was TOO dark and gritty for people to pick it up. It's a lot more unique, though, and I like the way the image again bisects the title and byline. The final cover doesn't match the first two before it as well as it could!!

The book that started me thinking this weekend!See what I mean about a similar design? I like the way the image is bisecting everything else. It looks like a craft project!(And the book sounds pretty darn amazing, too. MUST READ!)

These two also reminds me of something crafty! They have the same violent edge the original HORNET'S NEST did, too. Minimalistic, yet telling so much!

I could go on and on because Peter Mendelsund has designed so many great titles, but instead, I'll leave you with two of my personal favorites by him.

For THINGS WE DIDN'T SEE COMING, I love the way the cover continues on both sides (I also love the spine for this one!!) and you have to look at it a few times to take the entire cover in.

For THE INFORMATION, I like how you think the words are repeating over and over again, but then you realize that there are other lines in there you're missing. I also like the way the most important lines are in red, so they jump out at anyone who doesn't think the cover's nearly as witty as I do. :-)

If you want to see more of Peter Mendelsund's designs, check out his awesome blog Jacket Mechanical or follow him on Twitter @mendelsund!

What do you think? What cover are you crazy about this week?

A Week of Cinderella Event Round-Up

2012-01-15T08:29:00.000-05:00

Wow, bookworms. Just...WOW. You slay me. Truly, you do. When I first put together A Week of Cinderella, I thought to review a couple of books, have a few guest bloggers, talk to a couple of authors, and do my tour stop with CINDER's cover designer. I wasn't expecting all of the support and outreach. So many people wanted to take part...or had commitments, but wished they could. A lot of you even mentioned that you'd like to participate in such an event in the future!

I never really considered it before, but a week dedicated to Cinderella was definitely a lot of fun. We really should do this again...though maybe not for a few months! Maybe 2-3 times a year...? What other fairy tales would you like to see featured in their own special weeks?

I'll tell you one thing: If we do this again and it's a heavy-hitter like Cinderella, we should have a two-week event. I was really sad by how many posts got squashed together! I'm hoping you didn't overlook anything, especially at the end. We had some fabulous posts this week!

If you missed anything, please check out the Event Round-Up below!!!

The Giveaways

*CINDERS by Michelle Davidson Argyle [until 01/31/12]
*CINDER by Marissa Meyer [until 01/25/12]

(And while I'm not running them, get more chances to win CINDER from:
Confessions of a Common Reader
Mermaid Vision Books
...and various CINDER blog tour stops!)

The Blog Tours

*GIVEAWAY & CINDER Cover Design! In-Depth interview with designer Rich Deas
*Top 10s with author Julia Karr (TRUTH, XVI)
[Okay, this one wasn't for the event, per say, but since Julia Karr uses the term Cinderella Girl, it magically still counts!]

The Authors

*An Interview with Jim C. Hines (THE STEPSISTER SCHEME)
*Guest Post and Giveaway with Michelle Davidson Argyle (CINDERS)
*Interview with Sarah J. Maas (2012 debut author; THRONE OF GLASS)
*Interview with Zoë Marriott (SHADOWS ON THE MOON)

The Guest Bloggers

*Updating Cinderella into Modern Times (Guest Post with The Flashlight Reader)
*The Ultimate Love Story (Guest Post with The Romance Bookie)
*Learning to Appreciate Cinderella Through EVER AFTER (Guest Review with Mermaid Vision Books)
*CINDERELLA: A TWIST IN TIME (Guest Review with Tamara Felsinger/Uncharted Pages)
*MY FAIR GODMOTHER and CINDER at King's English Bookstore Write-Up! by Janette Rallison (Guest Review with Literally Jen)
*Cinderella and I/CINDER Launch Party (Guest Post with Kristina's World of Books)

The Reviews

*Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books I'd Recommend To Someone Who Doesn't Read Cinderella
*Round-up of TWELVE Cinderella features & reviews over the lifetime of this blog
*Learning to Appreciate Cinderella Through EVER AFTER (Guest Review with Mermaid Vision Books)
*CINDERELLA: A TWIST IN TIME (Guest Review with Tamara Felsinger/Uncharted Pages)

*MY FAIR GODMOTHER by Janette Rallison (Guest Review with Literally Jen)
*PRINCESS OF GLASS by Jessica Day George
*CINDERS by Michelle Davidson Argyle
*SHADOWS ON THE MOON by Zoë Marriott
*CINDER by Marissa Meyer

The Special Features
[There were a few more I wanted to do, too, such as a ONCE UPON A TIME feature, but I just ran out of time!]

*How Cinderella Entered My Life (And refused to leave me alone)
*CINDER's Movie-Style Trailer and Marketing Campaign
*Cover Crazy: ASH, JUST ELLA, THE CINDERELLA DEAL, CINDERELLA SKELETON
*Teaser Tuesday: SHADOWS ON THE MOON by Zoë Marriott
*Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books I'd Recommend To Someone Who Doesn't Read Cinderella
*Waiting on Wednesday: THRONE OF GLASS by Sarah J. Maas
*A Proposal Straight Out of a Fairy Tale (Video)
*CINDER Hits the NYT Best Sellers List!

The Ones I Didn't Get To
[There were a few more books I wanted to read and review, but I ran out of time...and room!!]

*SILVER WOVEN IN MY HAIR by Shirley Rousseau Murphy
*PHOENIX AND ASHES by Mercedes Lackey

The Part Where YOU Come In!!

So, what would you like to see more of? What did you see too much of? What did you like and dislike about the way A Week of Cinderella was handled? If we do another fairy tale-character theme week, it will either be two weeks (for characters with a large repertoire) or organized better...or both! That's a promise!

Week in Review & IMM

2012-01-15T08:23:00.001-05:00

IN MY MAILBOX: 12.18.11

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi at The Story Siren because:

I find the same thing happening at A Backwards Story. I'm so backed up on reviews atm... That's why I like these videos!

CURRENT GIVEAWAY:

*CINDERS by Michelle Davidson Argyle (International) [Ends January 31st]
*CINDER by Marissa Meyer (US/Canada) [Ends January 25th]

(And this week for A Week of Cinderella, I featured giveaways of Marissa Meyer's CINDER being run by Mermaid Vision Books and Confessions of a Common Reader. Keep following Marissa's tour (I've attached the dates/blogs at the bottom of my blog tour stop) for more chances to win!!

READING NOW:

I JUST finished PANDEMONIUM. So NOTHING right this second. But I'm either going to read WINTERLING by Sarah Prineas or EXTRAORDINARY*: The True Story of My Fairygodparent, Who Almost Killed Me, and Certainly Never Made Me a Princess next!!

[link to my GoodReads account so you can see my blurb feed as I read]

READ THIS WEEK:

*PANDEMONIUM by Lauren Oliver
*CINDERS by Michelle Davidson Argyle
*SHADOWS ON THE MOON by Zoë Marriott
*PRINCESS OF GLASS by Jessica Day George

REVIEWED THIS WEEK:

*PRINCESS OF GLASS by Jessica Day George

*CINDERS by Michelle Davidson Argyle
*SHADOWS ON THE MOON by Zoë Marriott
*CINDER by Marissa Meyer
*Round-up of TWELVE Cinderella features & reviews over the lifetime of this blog

GUEST REVIEWS:
*MY FAIR GODMOTHER by Janette Rallison (From Literally Jen)
*CINDERELLA: A TWIST IN TIME (From Tamara Felsinger/Uncharted Pages)
*EVER AFTER (From Mermaid Vision Books)

FEATURES THIS WEEK (A Week of Cinderella event):

*(BLOG TOUR STOP): GIVEAWAY & CINDER Cover Design! In-Depth interview with designer Rich Deas
*(BLOG TOUR STOP): Top 10s with author Julia Karr (TRUTH, XVI)
*Interview with author Zoë Marriott (SHADOWS ON THE MOON)
*Interview with 2012 debut author Sarah J. Maas (THRONE OF GLASS)
*Guest Post & Giveaway with Michelle Davidson Argyle (CINDERS)
*Interview with Jim C. Hines (THE STEPSISTER SCHEME)
*Cinderella & I/CINDER Launch Party (Guest post with Kristina's World of Books)
*The Ultimate Love Story (Guest post with The Romance Bookie)
*Updating Cinderella into Modern Times (Guest Post with The Flashlight Reader)
*How Cinderella Entered My Life (And refused to leave me alone!) (My own post)
*RIP, MERMAID MUSE ;_;
*CINDER Hits the NYT Best Sellers List!
*A Proposal Straight out of a Fairy Tale
*CINDER's Movie-Style Trailer and Marketing Campaign
*Waiting on Wednesday: THRONE OF GLASS by Sarah J. Maas
*Happy Book Day to THE ROOK, A MILLION SUNS, and THE FAULT IN OUR STARS!
*Top Ten Tuesdays: Ten Books I'd Recommend to Someone Who Doesn't Read Cinderella
*Teaser Tuesdays: SHADOWS ON THE MOON by Zoë Marriott
*Cover Crazy: ASH, JUST ELLA, THE CINDERELLA DEAL, CINDERELLA SKELETON

RECEIVED THIS WEEK:

YouTube Link

Loot:

The Cinder(ella) edition!!!

I'm posting a complete event round-up (though you can also see all the posts that hit this week above. There were a TON, more than I ever anticipated! Enough to fill TWO weeks!!!) today as well!

ALSO FEATURED:

*Mockingjay pin (gift, thank you!!)
*RED by Dia Frampton (CD; second place winner of last year's THE VOICE. I normally don't watch such shows, but she's one amazing singer!!)
*Awesome DON'T BREATHE A WORD by Holly Cupala street team swag

PURCHASED:

*THE WIDE-AWAKE PRINCESS by E.D. Baker [My Review]
*A MILLION SUNS by Beth Revis [My ACROSS THE UNIVERSE Review]
*THE FAULT IN OUR STARS by John Green [2 copies; 1 for a co-worker...both copies have the elusive Hankler Fish!!!]

ARCs:

*THE RIVALS by Daisy Whitney (Ahhh, I'm SO EXCITED!!! I loved THE MOCKINGBIRDS!! [Mockingbirds Review]) [Out Feb 06, 2012]
*STARTERS by Lissa Price [Out March 13, 2012]
*THE SONG OF ACHILLES [Out March 06, 2012]
*LIES BENEATH by Anne Greenwood Brown [Out June 12, 2012]

What did you get in your mailbox this week?

(Blog Tour)GIVEAWAY & CINDER Cover Design! In-Depth interview with designer Rich Deas

2012-01-14T11:03:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Tour Stop #12! Today, we're interviewing CINDER cover designer Rich Deas!

Check out the bottom of this post to see the rest of the tour stops!

Welcome to A Week of Cinderella! Grab some promotional buttons for your blog HERE and stop back all week long for fun guest posts, exciting author visits (because, after all, Marissa isn't the ONLY author with a kick-ass Cinderella to celebrate!), giveaways, reviews, and a blog tour stop for CINDER!

Feiwel and Friends Creative Director Rich Deas has stopped by to join in on the CINDER Blog Tour Festivities. He designed the beautiful CINDER cover and gives us an inside look at what it takes to make a book jacket.

On Feiwel and Friends' Meet The Staff page, Rich states,
What inspires me most is music and other artists/designers. There are so many talented artists working in the industry today. I’m mostly inspired by concert and theater poster design. Some great studios have developed over the past few years that specialize in this area. Many of them picking up on styles of the early American pop art and giving it a more modern edge, usually with great hand-lettering, illustration, and the silk-screening process. Personally, I would not be into illustration and design if I didn’t enjoy music so much. I don’t think still lifes and landscapes would have inspired much of an art career for me. Most of my initial drawing skills and hand-lettering come from my obsession with music: mostly rock and jazz. I spent most of my school hours doodling, much to the frustration of my teachers - sorry, Mom and Dad. Basically, every textbook, notebook, and desk I encountered would be covered with my personal taste in music: different band names (ahh, the beginning of hand-lettering), illustrations of guitar heroes to Grateful Dead logos, Rick Griffin designs, etc.

Also check out my review of CINDER by Marissa Meyer right HERE!

And that's not all! Enter to WIN A COPY after this post!!

An interview with Cover Designer Rich Deas

Did you always have the image of CINDER’s final cover in your head? It didn’t change from ARC to finished copy, but did you put together early concept work that took CINDER’s cover in a different direction?

I think from the start, the approach for the series design was to touch upon the classics. We wanted each title to stem from that, but with a futuristic spin- same as the story. Immediately with CINDER (Book 1), we picked up some common elements from Cinderella—the glass slipper—which is fairly synonymous with the story and designed around it. There were numerous preliminary comps and ideas, mostly involving the slipper but as you can see below, some did not.

The other key element was to bring in the futuristic feel and personality of Cinder. The cyborg is such a cool aspect of the story and makes for an awesome design element. Most of the earlier comps included the same elements, but I definitely focused more on the cyborg presence. Ultimately, we scaled back the cyborg aspect to make the cover friendlier and to better resemble Cinder’s character overall. The lower portion of the leg and the glass slipper seem to represent Cinder’s very well: strong, sexy, fragile and most of all,human. The partially visible metal parts give it an edginess that makes her imperfect, threatening, but with a hint of secrecy.

The title treatment was another element that riffs on the classic “Once Upon A Time” feel. The serifs and flourishes seem to give it a strong and slightly wicked vibe as well! I think mixing the new with old creates an interesting contrast that works in a way similar to cyber-punk.

Do you have a rough idea about how the other three books in the LUNAR CHRONICLES books will look? Will you be tying them all together with common elements such as font, or colors such as red, etc.?

I’m actually reading SCARLET now (sorry, but I won’t reveal anything), so I definitely don’t know exactly how each title will look. I’ll meet with Jean Feiwel (Publisher) and Liz Szabla (Editor-in-Chief) soon to discuss initial ideas. We’ll be using the same font and the Lunar Chronicles logo to tie-in the series look. I’d like to continue to keep the design fairly simple with 1 or 2 key art-elements and use a similar background, but the stories will ultimately dictate the overall colors and art..

What was your favorite part about working on the design for CINDER?

Just being involved with a great story is a thrill for me. In many ways the story creates the cover. When I first read CINDER, I was very excited by the futuristic setting and underdog character of Cinder. The fact that I am a fan of classic fairy tales and cyborgs was an added bonus.

If you have an idea of where you’ll take all four covers in the quartet [CINDER, SCARLET, CRESS, WINTER], is there one cover you’re most excited to work on, one that is a potential favorite of the four?

I do have some initial thoughts, but I really need to read the manuscript and sit with Jean and Liz to discuss ideas for comps. From afar, I’m most excited to read and work on WINTER because it is based on my favorite fairy tale. My dad took me to my first movie, Snow White when I was about 6 or 7, and I still remember it vividly. It was also the first movie he saw in the theatre, so it’s a nice common link between us.

How do you figure out what fonts fit perfectly with the book jacket you’re working on? How do you go about modifying a purchased typeface, such as the way the “C” in CINDER differs from the Aeronaut font used in the rest of the title?

I usually try several fonts and sketch out type treatments before I narrow it down to a couple that best relate to the story and design.

If I had it my way I would have kept the original “C” as is (see title page), but sales thought it was difficult to read. I totally understand their concerns, but the idea was to let the reader figure it out by looking at the art and sounding out the title - relating it to Cinder/ella. Maybe it was too much of a stretch, but I like design that makes you think a little.

The title treatment was originally based on lettering I found in a book of old ornamental typefaces. I scanned the letters I needed and put together the title: CINDER. It wasn’t until a couple of weeks later that I discovered there was an actual font available based on the same lettering. The font Aeronaut is an homage to the Neogothic typefaces of the late 1800s--a style that combined mediaeval gothic elements with Arts & Crafts influences. The font was inspired by a liturgical alphabet called Kirchengotische Schrift that was found in an 1879 German sample book for lettering artists.

What other books have you done design work for? What are some of your favorites?

I’ve worked on a lot of titles over the years, and some of the more recent include: HALO, ENCLAVE, GET WELL SOON, THE MARBURY LENS, BYSTANDER, THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX, GIRL, STOLEN, THE GIRL WHO CIRCUMNAVIGATED FAIRYLAND IN A SHIP OF HER OWN MAKING.

How do you begin designing a cover? What’s your thought process, what initial stages do you go through?

To begin, I usually read the manuscript and meet with my publisher and editor to discuss any immediate ideas. As I read the manuscript I write down ideas and sketch out thoughts. As the days/weeks go by I continue to think it out and work on comps. When I get to a place where I feel comfortable (or should I say, when time runs out) I show the initial comps to Jean and then we continue from there. It’s definitely a group effort.

What does it take to bring a cover all the way to completion?

1. Patience: a lot of time and thought with much trial and error
2. A supportive team: Publisher, Jean Feiwel and Editor-in-Chief, Liz Szabla are the best, also everyone here in design, editorial and production
3. A thick skin: there are many opinions along the way.
4. Command Z and a big eraser are also required.

And check out the rest of the tour!!

January 2: The Intergalactic Academy

In which I discuss the Awesomeness that is Firefly and how it inspired The Lunar Chronicles.

January 3: Basically Amazing Books

In which I give a brief history of The Lunars.

January 4: The Book Rat

In which I explain how Cinder’s cyborg-ness developed over multiple drafts.

Thursday 1/5: Reading Vacation

In which I share some of the photos and artwork that inspired CINDER.

Friday 1/6: Working for the MANDROID

In which I share a scene that was deleted from the first draft.

Saturday 1/7: The Apocalypsies

In which my friends and I show you how to make shrimp wontons.

Monday 1/9: My Bookish Ways

An interview in which I talk about my writing journey.

Tuesday 1/10: Bookalicio.us

In which I give a gushy account of how I sold my debut novel.

Wednesday 1/11: Mermaid Vision Books

In which Prince Kai is interviewed.

Thursday 1/12: The Fable Faerie
An interview in which Marissa talks about her inspiration and offers advice.

Friday 1/13: Manga Maniac Cafe
An interview in which Marissa talks about her challenges and influences.

Saturday 1/14: A Backwards Story
In which the book designer and Marissa talk about the cover art.

Monday 1/16: Laura's Review Bookshelf
In which Marissa contemplates the symbolism behind a fancy-dress ball.

Tuesday 1/17: Bibliophilic Monologues
In which Marissa shares some songs from the CINDER playlist, and how they inspired the book.

Wednesday 1/18: The Book Cellar
An interview in which the characters get stuck on a desert island and Marissa confesses her karaoke song.

Thursday 1/19: Almost Grown~Up
In which Marissa’s husband, Jesse, is interviewed!

Friday 1/20: Shannon Messenger's blog
In which Marissa eats noodles and crawl under cars. In other words, research.

Saturday 1/21: Novel Novice
In which Marissa shares the query letter that hooked her agent.

And now, a giveaway!!

Enter to win your own copy of CINDERS by filling out the following form!

Contest ends January 25th!

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(Review) CINDER by Marissa Meyer

2012-01-14T11:02:00.001-05:00

Title: CINDER

Author: Marissa Meyer

Release Date: Out now [January 03, 2012]

Publisher: Macmillan/Feiwel and Friends

Received: ARC for review from publisher/also purchased a finished copy!

Goodreads

SUMMARY:

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl....

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Also check out a designer interview with CINDER cover designer Rich Deas for today's CINDER Blog Tour Stop HERE!

Also enter to WIN a copy of CINDER to call your own HERE!!!

I'll admit it now (and you all know it anyway): I'm biased when it comes to CINDER. I did, however, try to be as impartial as possible when reading and reviewing the book, so this review is based on the book's merits and not my love-fest revolving around Marissa Meyer. ^.~

Before CINDER, the only brush I had with a futuristic fairy tale was Anna Sheehan's A LONG, LONG SLEEP (reviewed here). The only truly "sci-fi" (to me, this reads "spacey") books I own are ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis (review here) and various ENDER books by Orson Scott Card. Science Fiction has never really been my thing when it comes to outer space, though I've always been fascinated by the moon. But the idea of a space opera quartet revolving around four fairy tales from the fantastically talented Marissa Meyer? I knew she wouldn't steer me wrong, and I'm happy to say that she didn't! I'll be honest: Going into CINDER, the only thing I knew about cyborgs was the fact that there was a character in the animated TV series TEEN TITANS named Cyborg. I had to have one of my co-workers explain the difference between a cyborg and a robot to me. But even without our discussion, I feel that by the end of CINDER, I still would have understood because Meyer deftly showcases what makes Cinder cyborg and what makes her human (because she IS both. There's no question about that. I don't really understand the people who think cyborgs are robots and not humans, but that's another story).

Cinder wasn't always a cyborg. She was born completely mortal, but an accident when she was young left her with a mechanical arm, foot, and some wicked cool abilities. Cinder makes being cyborg cool. She has a mind that works like Google's search engine, bringing up information as needed for Cinder to process. Her leg also has a cool compartment that lets her tuck her equipment away out of sight. And these are only two of the things that make being a cyborg so interesting. Of course, Cinder doesn't think she's interesting. She'd give anything to be fully human and not a lesser-ranked citizen. She lives with her stepmother and stepsiblings, who treat her worse than dirt and completely own everything about her. She can't keep any of the money she makes as a mechanic, and can't even buy replacement parts when needed (her poor leg is four years old and too small). When tragedy strikes her household, her stepmother sends Cinder off as a research subject to find a cure for the plague that has been ravishing Beijing. While being tested, Cinder discovers secrets about herself that have been carefully hidden over the years and realizes there's more to her than anyone expects. This secret is especially dangerous because she's forged a connection with Prince Kai, who oversees the experiments, and will do anything to keep her cyborg parts hidden from him. Her task grows even harder when the Lunar Queen, Levana, arrives on earth after the king dies. CINDER gets more complex and in-depth as the story progresses and by the end, I was ready to throw my book against the wall because I have to wait a year to continue this four-book series.

While I was expecting an intergalactic battle over the course of four books, I expected all four to be self-contained fairy tales with proper endings. I never expected that Cinder's journey would continue and not wrap up cleanly. (I'm pretty sure I disowned Marissa for about a day after finding out the truth the hard way, but that's another story!) While CINDER is intriguing from the start, it doesn't get impossible-to-put-down-good until a little ways in, and once the story has you in its grasp, it doesn't let go again. While some plot points are fairly obvious and easy to figure out, others come out of right-field and smack you over the head when you aren't looking. This is definitely one of the most unique and creative fairy tale retellings I've ever come across. My only real complaint about the novel is actually a very small one: Knowing the author's roots, I was saddened by the use of the name Selene, though seeing as Selene is one of the Moon Goddess' names, it also makes sense for anyone reading CINDER with eyes fresher than mine. I'm eager to see Queen Levana progress over the series and grow as a villain. I can't wait to see the way four vastly-different fairy tales are brought together, especially since the scope is so large (CINDER is set in Beijing, SCARLET in France, CRESS in the Sahara Desert, and WINTER on the Lunar Moon). I was enthralled that, like with personal favorites EVER AFTER and ELLA ENCHANTED, Cinder knew Prince Kai before the ball. There's reason and motivation, and most of all, feeling. I grew to care a lot for both characters and have become invested in their journey. I loved that Cinderella wasn't a passive girl with one goal in mind. She can save the prince, herself, her kingdom. She's not going to sit back and wait for someone to save her! I can't wait to meet the rest of the Lunar Chronicles characters I've been hearing about for so long. I'm looking forward to discovering more surprises from Meyer and discovering new ways to look at beloved fairy tales that I may have never otherwise thought possible.

COVER DESIGN:

At first, I was iffy about this cover. In person, I really like it. There are layers upon layers that you can't see clearly on a computer screen. The glass slipper is a bright, dangerous shade of red that reminds me of a villain's lips. You can see through it to Cinder's foot. And Cinder's foot--and leg--are also transparent, showing the artificial bone lying beneath the surface. It's mysterious and captivating. I can't wait to see the treatment for the rest of the series!

I also love the font used for the title treatment (Aeronaut), which Rich Deas discusses in his interview! It's embossed in a beautiful shade of silver and manages to feel both futuristic and old-fashioned at the same time! The C also reminds me of a sheet of music, so it has a lyrical feel to it, too.