{Giveaway+Interview} Lies We Tell Ourselves: Robin Talley

Rating: 92%
Series: None
Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance, LGBTQ+, Young Adult, Fiction,
Publisher: HarlequinTeen
Publication Date: September 30, 2014
Page Count: 368
Format: Physical ARC
Source: HarlequinTeen via My Heart Hearts Books

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Goodreads Synopsis: In 1959 Virginia, the lives of two girls on opposite sides of the battle for civil rights will be changed forever.

Sarah Dunbar is one of the first black students to attend the previously all-white Jefferson High School. An honors student at her old school, she is put into remedial classes, spit on and tormented daily.

Linda Hairston is the daughter of one of the town’s most vocal opponents of school integration. She has been taught all her life that the races should be kept “separate but equal.”

Forced to work together on a school project, Sarah and Linda must confront harsh truths about race, power and how they really feel about one another.

Boldly realistic and emotionally compelling, Lies We Tell Ourselves is a brave and stunning novel about finding truth amid the lies, and finding your voice even when others are determined to silence it.

Disclaimer: I received this book from HarlequinTeen via My Heart Hearts Books in exchange for an honest review.

*My guest post on My Heart Hearts Books hasn't been published yet, but when it is, the image above will have a link leading to the review*

GIVEAWAY

(10/22-11/5)

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Interview With Robin Talley

1. The LGBTQ genre has had quite a breakout in 2014 in terms of how many books have been released dealing with these issues and how they are becoming more widely accepted. Each author has their own story of why they write LGBTQ fiction, maybe a family member, close, friend, or even themselves has fallen in the LGBTQ spectrum. Why did you start writing in this genre and when did you become interested in it?

In every book or short story I’ve written so far, my protagonists have always been LGBTQ. Partly that stems from my own life experience, since I’m gay, but it also stems from what I see as a need for greater representation for LGBTQ characters in fiction, especially young adult fiction. Malinda Lo’s statistics show that despite recent gains, this representation is still far below where it should be in YA. 

Also, for the most part, my brain tends to generate stories that focus on LGBTQ characters. So it all works out nicely!

2. Because some people aren’t always accepting of LGBTQ people and many books in this genre have been banned, was there ever a time when you were scared to put Lies We Tell Ourselves out in the world because of this added factor of stress? Instead of just being afraid if people would like/not like your book, was there ever a fear that you would be ostracized because of it or that your book would even be banned in some conservative communities?

This actually hasn’t been something I’ve worried about. Which is good, because there are plenty of other things for a debut author to stress over! :)

3. What inspired you to write this story and come up with such an outrageous premise for this time period? An African American and white person talking to each other civilly, let alone falling in love, let alone the situation being between a GIRL and ANOTHER girl. Did you ever think of your readers would find this unrealistic, or did it just add to the story?

From the moment I first started thinking about the story for Lies We Tell Ourselves, I knew I wanted to explore the question of not just how someone would deal with living through a horrible period in history, but also how it would feel to be living with that and to be dealing with something a slice of the population has always dealt with for all of history, too: having a sexual orientation that doesn’t match the majority’s. 

For millennia, people have been forming across traditional societal lines ― race, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, background, etc. Sometimes those connections are friendships, sometimes they’re romantic, sometimes they’re something else entirely. 

So I don’t think it’s outrageous for two people like Sarah and Linda to form a connection in 1959, despite the boundaries that separate them. Nor do I think it’s unrealistic that they’re both interested in girls. I think there’s a tendency to view the idea of “LGBTQ issues” as a new thing, because only in the past couple of decades have openly queer people have been discussed much in mainstream media. But there have been queer people for as long as there have been, well, people. There were just as many queer people in 1959 as there are in 2014. There just weren’t as many openly queer people.

4. While writing Lies We Tell Ourselves, was there ever a time that you felt a scene was hard to write because of the amount of torment you had to put your characters through, because of research that needed to be done surrounding the circumstances, or to get into an individual character’s head?

All of the above! Lies We Tell Ourselves was by far the most difficult story I’ve ever written for all of those reasons and more. The most challenging part of the writing process was getting into Linda’s head. Linda has held a set of beliefs for her entire life that is abhorrent and that also completely defies logic, so it took a huge amount of intellectual twisting and reaching to try to understand where she was coming from well enough to write from her point of view. 

5. I know that I greatly appreciated the fact that Lies We Tell Ourselves was written in two points of view and then the added third at the end. What was your reasoning for this? Why not write the story from just one point of view? And what made you decide to divide the points of views into parts versus every other chapter?

I tried writing Lies We Tell Ourselves in many different ways. I wrote a draft just from Sarah’s point of view, and I wrote the beginning of a draft in alternating chapters. Neither of those worked at all. With just Sarah’s point of view, there wasn’t enough forward momentum to drive the story and provoke Sarah to change. Alternating chapters caused the opposite problem ― it broke up the momentum of the first day of school that makes up most of the first part of the novel, where the story really belongs to Sarah alone. So I tried splitting the difference with an alternating act structure instead. 

6. Lies We Tell Ourselves seems like the type of story that you would need to know from beginning to end, and because NaNoWriMo fever is in the air, I am dying to know this. Are you a pantser or a plotter?  

I’m a plotter, but I didn’t actually know the story of Lies We Tell Ourselves from beginning to end when I first started writing it. That’s usually how it goes for me when I’m working on a new project. I always make an outline before I start writing, but usually the outline either doesn’t have an ending at all or I realize halfway through the draft that the ending I’d originally envisioned won’t work at all. So although I depend on my outlining process to get me from point A to point B, I usually have to rework my original conception to figure out how I’m eventually getting to point Z. 

{Book Review} Kiss of Broken Glass: Madeline Kuderick

Rating: 77%
Series: None
Genre: Contemporary, Realistic, Poetry, Fiction, Young Adult,
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publication Date: September 9, 2014
Page Count: 224
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library

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Goodreads Synopsis: Madeleine Kuderick’s gripping debut is a darkly beautiful and lyrical novel in verse, perfect for fans of Sonya Sones and Laurie Halse Anderson. Kiss of Broken Glass pulses with emotion and lingers long after the last page.

In the next seventy-two hours, Kenna may lose everything—her friends, her freedom, and maybe even herself. One kiss of the blade was all it took to get her sent to the psych ward for seventy-two hours. There she will face her addiction to cutting, though the outcome is far from certain.

When fifteen-year-old Kenna is found cutting herself in the school bathroom, she is sent to a facility for mandatory psychiatric watch. There, Kenna meets other kids like her—her roommate, Donya, who’s there for her fifth time; the birdlike Skylar; and Jag, a boy cute enough to make her forget her problems . . . for a moment.

Who Would I Recommend This Book To?

Fans of Audacious (Gabrielle Prendergrast), any Ellen Hopkins novel, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Michelle Hodkin)

Background & Backstory

I am a huge fan of novels in verse, so I take the opportunity to read any YA book by multiple authors at any time possible. The reigning queen of novels in verse is Ellen Hopkins, but I always like to see if any novels can compete. Naturally, I wanted to pick up Kiss of Broken Glass. 

Something that took me back when before I started reading Kiss of Broken Glass was the fact that this novel had 225 pages. If you have ever seen, let alone read an Ellen Hopkins novel, you will know they are 500+ pages of thick chunkster. I had no idea if I would even get a story when reading this book because of the free verse and freakishly short page count.

What Was My Reaction After I Finished This Book?

That was incredibly short.... but there was a clear plot.

***I haven't done a quote review in FOREVER***

"The same way an acorn holds a full-grown oak tree inside its tiny shell. 

I want to put it in my pocket.

But what if the idea sprouts?

What if it gets pink and purple with promise but instead of growing strong...is just flops over and dies."

Do you know when you have to put aside your feelings for something in order to enjoy something with similar qualities because you know your enjoyment will be tainted otherwise? That is exactly what I had to do with Kiss of Broken Glass. There is no way I could have judged this book on the same scales as I judge any of Ellen Hopkins novels. Dark subject matter and free verse are the only things the two authors have in common. So, when rating, I judged KoBG as if I had never read another book in verse before.

"I am the shadow that waits in dark places, silent and patient, to follow you home.

I am the tiger that eagerly chases, racing and running, wherever you roam.

I am the hunger that feeds on your madness, biting and clawing, to swallow you whole.

I am the silver that soaks up your sadness, body and spirit and all of your soul."

As usual with books in free verse, the prose was gorgeous and heart-wrenching. While I did not have to whip out the tissues to dab my moistening eyes, I was touched and could relate to many of the quotes in this novel. 

"I don't have any deep, dark secrets. 

My lifes not some riveting novel when you rush through the pages

to get to the end and find out what horrific, repressed memory caused me to cut

The fact is, I've had a pretty ordinary childhood.

So I guess that brings me to the real secret.

I've been cutting for absolutely no reason at all."

You may know this from the synopsis, but this book only covers a short 72 hour period of observation under psychiatric watch. Yet, in that short time, we learn so much about Kenna and the mentality towards cutting. My personal views are that cutting is horrible and shouldn't be done. For one, it hurts. For another, it scars both yourself and other, serving as a permanent reminder - like a tattoo, but worse. Yet, it was fascinating to see how Kenna described it as a fad for the popular and not a horrible act done by those who are depressed. 

"All I want is scalding water to sear down my spine like a hot blade,

to blister my back, to char my chest, to melt me to pieces 

so I can dissolve down the drain; evaporate into steam, and disappear."

Something that obviously could have been better were the relationships Kenna developed with those under psychiatric watch. A hint of a romance was going on between her and a boy she just met. It wasn't even insta-love, it was just like, "You're a boy. You're cute. I'm going to start liking you." There was also this friendship that developed between her and a long-term patient that seemed extremely strong and powerful, but I personally couldn't see where it stemmed from and didn't feel for them.

"So I wedge myself by the window and I watch....

It's like there are two worlds now.

The In Here. And the Out There.

The suspended animation. And the full speed ahead."

My feelings on the ending AGAIN refer back to the length of this novel. Of course the ending wouldn't be closure-giving with how short it was. Yet I wished it had ended differently. I wish I had gotten more time to know Kenna and the other patients. I wish there had been more story and more to know and feel for. 

How Likely Is It That I Will Read Another Book By This Author?

80%
Considering how much I enjoyed the story in comparison to how little the page count was, I will definitely read another book by Madeline Kuderick in the future. 

Conclusion: Concise. Poignant. Beautiful. A snippet of perspective into the misunderstood's head.

{ARC Review} The Jewel (The Lone City #1): Amy Ewing

Rating: 77%

Series: The Lone City Trilogy #1

Genre: Dystopian, Romance, Young Adult, Fiction, Magic,

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication Date: September 2, 2014

Page Count: 358

Format: Physical ARC

Source: HarperTeen via giveaway from Aly @ My Heart Hearts Books

Barnes & Nobles ~ Goodreads ~ Amazon

Goodreads Synopsis: The Jewel means wealth. The Jewel means beauty. The Jewel means royalty. But for girls like Violet, the Jewel means servitude. Not just any kind of servitude. Violet, born and raised in the Marsh, has been trained as a surrogate for the royalty—because in the Jewel the only thing more important than opulence is offspring.

Purchased at the surrogacy auction by the Duchess of the Lake and greeted with a slap to the face, Violet (now known only as #197) quickly learns of the brutal truths that lie beneath the Jewel’s glittering facade: the cruelty, backstabbing, and hidden violence that have become the royal way of life.

Violet must accept the ugly realities of her existence... and try to stay alive. But then a forbidden romance erupts between Violet and a handsome gentleman hired as a companion to the Duchess’s petulant niece. Though his presence makes life in the Jewel a bit brighter, the consequences of their illicit relationship will cost them both more than they bargained for.

Disclaimer: I received this book from HarperTeen as a giveaway prize from Aly @ My Heart Hearts Books and the fact that this was an ARC copy did not effect my honest opinion in any way.

Who Would I Recommend This Book To?

Fans of the Selection (Kiera Cass)

Would I Buy It?

35%
Because I was not in love with the novel, I don't think I would purchase it at full price, but I would definitely ask for The Jewel as a gift because I did enjoy it and the cover is simply gorgeous enough to want to own the finished, hardcover copy.

Background & Backstory

As you may know, The Jewel is probably THE most anticipated Young Adult Dystopian debut release of September. I had put the book on hold at my local library so I could be on of the first readers when they ordered it in, but I won a giveaway and had the book sent to me instead. I mean, how could I pass up an opportunity to read The Jewel?

What Was My Reaction After I Finished This Book?

I had three thoughts: first, that was a cop-out; second, I knew I liked that guy; third, sequel, NOW!

The Jewel was marketed as "The Selection meets The Handmaid's Tale" while I have not read The Handmaid's Tale, I have read the entire Selection Trilogy (in terms of all the books out to date), and that series was marketed as "The Hunger Games meets The Bachelor." I understand where the publicist got both pitches for The Jewel, but I sincerely think it should have been pitched as, "The Hunger Games meets pretty dresses and an intriguing dystopian premise." Then again, I am not, nor do I claim to be a book marketer.... so some might disagree with that statement. 

There were so many indirect Hunger Games references and parallels to a point where it got on my nerves. The most prominent (and most annoying) parallel between the two was Lucien who is Violet's prep artist before the auction took place. And guess what? He chose to be her prep artist AND helps her throughout the story AND says some cheesy line before the auction, proving that he believes in her. That doesn't sound at all like Cinna from the Hunger Games and "I'm still betting on you." I know there was  reason I was so hyper-aware of the similarities, but it got to a ridiculous point where so many the customs, preparations, and guidelines of The Jewel's world was like THG.

I can take a lot from a story before I get annoyed, my taste is not on par with the classics. Yet, the poor excuse for a "relationship" between Ash and Violet was the most insane form of insta-love I have EVER seen. I've read books where the two protagonists have an instant connection or some kind of bond between them that immedieatly draws the two of them together. However, it's even more pathetic than Shatter Me, where Juliette falls in love with the very first guy who ever talks to her, because at least they have a childhood connection. In The Jewel, Ash talks to Violet for a page and she's already talking about being in love with him. In terms of chemistry, I felt Violet cared more about characters we saw for a single chapter, rather than a large portion of the story.

I know this comes from me being a teenager who has not experienced all the world has to offer, so she doesn't have the respect for great works of literature (look, I'm talking in 3rd person), but fast-pace is one of the most enticing elements of writing, as well as one that will make me stay in the long run. The Jewel's pace was break-neck, and I could have read it in one sitting.... you know, if I didn't have that pesky thing called school. 

The best, defining quality of The Jewel was its premise. In terms of dystopian, this one outshone all of the others. It was extremely innovative and the execution followed through. The ending, on the other hand was predicable and the one time I wasn't loving the story (besides the romance). 

How Likely Is It That I Will Re-Read This Book?

20%
As I described it, The Jewel, is a lot like The Selection Trilogy in terms of my enjoyment, pacing, and engagement as a reader. With that said, I don't think I will be re-reading it any time soon because of the aggravating characters (What book does that sound like? *hint*), I think I may have to so I can read the sequels.

How Likely Is It That I Will Read The Sequel To This Book?

80% 
The Jewel was a fun, exciting, light, suspenseful read that left off with a cliffhanger ending. My brain will certainly crave a "guilty pleasure book" such as the sequel to The Jewel in a year or so when I need some comic and stress relief after starting school.

Conclusion: If you're in the mood for a fast-paced, intriguiging, innovative dystopian read, The Jewel will not disappoint.

{ARC Review} Anatomy of a Misfit: Andrea Portes

Rating: 5/10
Series: None
Genre: Young Adult, Fiction, Contemporary, Romance, Realistic,
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: September 2, 2014
Page Count: 330
Format: ARC
Source: HarperTeen via Once Upon a Time Bookstore

Barnes & Nobles ~ Goodreads ~ Amazon

Goodreads Synopsis: This emotional, hilarious, devastating, and ultimately triumphant YA debut, based on actual events, recounts one girl’s rejection of her high school’s hierarchy—and her discovery of her true self in the face of tragedy.

Fall’s buzzed-about, in-house favorite.

Outside, Anika Dragomir is all lip gloss and blond hair—the third most popular girl in school. Inside, she’s a freak: a mix of dark thoughts, diabolical plots, and, if local chatter is to be believed, vampire DNA (after all, her father is Romanian). But she keeps it under wraps to maintain her social position. One step out of line and Becky Vilhauer, first most popular girl in school, will make her life hell. So when former loner Logan McDonough shows up one September hotter, smarter, and more mysterious than ever, Anika knows she can’t get involved. It would be insane to throw away her social safety for a nerd. So what if that nerd is now a black-leather-jacket-wearing dreamboat, and his loner status is clearly the result of his troubled home life? Who cares if the right girl could help him with all that, maybe even save him from it? Who needs him when Jared Kline, the bad boy every girl dreams of, is asking her on dates? Who?

Anatomy of a Misfit is Mean Girls meets The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Anika’s hilariously deadpan delivery will appeal to readers for its honesty and depth. The so-sad-it’s-funny high school setting will pull readers in, but when the story’s dark foreboding gradually takes over, the devastating penultimate tragedy hits like a punch to the gut. Readers will ride the highs and lows alongside funny, flawed Anika — from laughter to tears, and everything in between.

Disclaimer: I received this book from HarperTeen via Once Upon a Time Bookstore in Montrose, California in exchange for an honest review.

Who Would I Recommend This Book To?

Fans of The Truth About Alice (Jennifer Matthieu), 
Fans of the Protagonists from Before I Fall (Lauren Oliver), Falling Into Place (Amy Zhang), Tease Amanda Maciel, Catalyst (Laurie Halse Anderson), Winger (Andrew Smith).

Would I Buy It?
10%

The only way I would buy Anatomy of a Misfit is if it was on a BIG TIME sale, and I felt that the hardcover version was a must-have addition to my bookshelf (aka. an insanely cool texture with the green being matte and the text, floor, and chairs being shiny). 

Background & Backstory

When Maureen (the owner of Once Upon a Time) so generously allowed me to pick out some ARCs I wanted to read, I IMMEDIATELY gravitated towards Anatomy of a Misfit because of all the release-week buzz going on during Tea Time from Epic Reads (HarperTeen's promotional website). There had been so much praise being handed out about the unique, fresh voice in YA literature, quirky protagonist, and insane plot. 

So by the time I saw it on the OUAT's ARC shelf, my mind had pitched the book to itself as, "Andrew Smith meets Before I Fall," which, of course, sounds amazing.

What Was My Reaction After I Finished This Book?

No! It CAN'T end like that. I won't let it! *crosses arms and pouts*

Neutral Element ~ I normally don't like to put restraints on books, whatever they may be. Yet in the case of Anatomy of a Misfit, I feel that it is fair to warn you about how time-sensitive it is. In my honest opinion, you HAVE to be in the mood for a high-school story featuring a popular girl. This is in the same way you feel the urge to pick up a Stephanie Perkins book after a dark, serious, pulse-pounding psychological thriller. Or how you pick up a fantasy book so you can escape our world when going through a rough patch. I was not in the mood AofM, which greatly impacted my reading enjoyment and rating.

Con ~ The Main Character/Perspective 3/10: I had a serious case of, "Should this story be told in the POV of this character?" while reading Anatomy of a Misfit. My best example of this is how Veronica Roth had had a block while writing Divergent because she started off writing from Four's point of view before she settled into Tris. I believe that this story could have been told by multiple characters -similar to Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang- or by an unreliable narrator, such as Cady from We Were Liars. The reason I had these feelings were because Annika seemed too much like a fill-in-the-blank popular girl in YA fiction with the majority of the story told in high school. You may be thinking, "What the heck Sofia! Name three books with that 'type' of character." To answer you, I will reply, "Just look at how many books I have referred to you." 

Annika is deep. 

Annika's life is far from perfect. 

Annika is a troubled soul. 

This is where I will bring up the fact that I didn't understand what people were referring to when they said, "hilariously deadpan delivery will appeal to readers for its honesty and depth." My connection with Annika was so weak, that it was kind of pathetic. I never got a feel for who she was and what she stood for. There was so much tell-and-don't-show going on, as well as a lot of unbelievable aspects of her character. The 3rd most popular girl has never been kissed or gone out on a date. How the heck, in Young Adult Fiction, does that work?

Pro ~ Logan 9/10: Ahhh Logan. The tall, dark, smoking hot nerd, and loner. I never could figure him out, but for once, that aspect of mystery didn't annoy me as a reader. I embraced how little was known about him and the mask that he constantly wore for protection.  He seemed so much like Kurt from The Truth About Alice, and he understood and accepted Annika for who she was. To be honest, she treated him like crap, and that made me root for him all the more. To tell you his fate would be to tell spoil the ending, but I will say that you will love him all the more because of it.  

***This next category could be considered spoilers, but aren't because of what is hinted at in the synopsis is merely confirmed. If you don't want know, continue reading after this category is over***

Con ~ A MC Who Doesn't Have Their Act Together 4/10: I'm sorry I'm making a big fuss over Annika again, but I had to mention this in a separate Con by itself. There is a.... love triangle in this novel, AND there is cheating involved. I have a love-hate relationship with love triangles, and in this particular book's case, it was a hate relationship. I personally felt it was a plot device used by the author to create more conflict.

To be frank, this really peeves me off because of the difference between putting an element into your story because it's needed for flow and consistency versus putting it in because you want certain characters to have friction and clash. 

Cheating is also a subject that a lot of people (myself included) are morally against, especially when a character can't accept the amazing person they have opposed to someone they start getting involved in purely for personal gain and/or status. 

Stealing. Why the frick did Annika have to start steeling from where she worked? As always, the main character justified their actions in order to make them appear not totally unreasonable (yes, I know that's a double negative). Yet why?!? This again comes around to the subject of personal preference, but Annika WAS NOT a martyr who was a symbol of purity for the common good. She lied, cheated, and stole for no reason but her own selfish beliefs.    

Pro ~ Ending/Unpredictability 8/10: I have to hand it to Portes. NOTHING about Anatomy of a Misfit was predictable. Even though AoaM was far from a suspense novel, I had no idea what was going to happen next. There were several random events that came out of the blue, adding more depth to the story. And while I do not want to spoil it for you, I just gotta tell you (I'm sacrificing my grammar, I have to tell you so much) that the ending is heartwrenching. My favorite character has something tragic happen to them and the level of feels were a bit ridiculous at 11:30 at night.

How Likely Is It That I Will Re-Read This Book?

50%
I normally would not even consider a book I didn't think very highly of, but as I have continued to blog and write reviews, my mind has learned to compartmentalize the pros and cons in a novel. With that said, I think re-reading Anatomy of a Misfit, having known what will happen, will give me a whole new perspective as well as appreciation for it.

How Likely Is It That I Will Read Another Book Written By This Author?

75%
While I am not dying to get my hands on another Andrea Portes book, I am sincerely interested with what she chooses to write about next and maybe hearing from a different sort of character. Anatomy of a Misfit had the potential in the Sofia rankings to be a strong debut, just in a "wrong time-wrong place" scenario for my bookish mood.

Conclusion: Unique Voice. Dry Humor. Smoking Hot Guys. Cliff-Hangers. If you like all of those,  as well as a certain type of narrator, this is the book for you.