Becky's View: Neptune's Tears by Susan Waggoner

Neptune's Tears by Susan Waggoner
♦publisher: Henry Holt & Company BYR
♦release date: June 25th, 2013
♦hardcover, 224 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦series: Timedance, book 1
♦source: from publisher for honest review

London, 2218 A.D. Seventeen-year-old Zee is an intern empath. She’s focused on her job, poised for a great career—until one day an attractive patient undoes her hard-earned calm. As an empath, she cannot afford such distractions, but neither can she stay away from David, even when she discovers he’s one of a mysterious alien race. As London comes under attack by anarchist bombings, and as Zee struggles to get a handle on her unusually strong psychic abilities, David starts pulling away. Although Zee’s sure he’s attracted to her, David has secrets he cannot share. But it’s too late for Zee. She’s losing her heart to the gray-eyed alien boy, and she’s determined to follow him—no matter how far it may take her.

Review: Every once in awhile, it is nice to depart from the 400-500 page epic tales and dive into something that’s a quick read.  While shorter books are a nice break, there is always a danger that the story itself will end up feeling like it’s been shorted, and unfortunately that’s the feeling I got from Neptune’s Tears.

The story was enjoyable and entertaining.  Zee is an empath with a promising career ahead of her.  She meets David and instantly feels a dangerous attraction there---dangerous because love can derail an empath’s powers and because he is of the alien race that is visiting Earth.  Despite her fears, their relationship blossoms.  After they fall in love, the idea that her powers would be compromised seemed to go by the wayside; as a matter of fact, they seemed to become even more developed. The writing has a stark quality that sets an intense mood but sometimes feels ironically cold for a story about a girl who works with feelings and emotions.

I would have loved to get to know the supporting characters a bit more; Rani, Mia, Jasmine, Mrs. Hart---there are tons of interesting people who are part of Zee and David’s story but again, they pop in and out and we barely get to know them. Especially Zee’s best friend, Rani---she ends up being such a huge part of the ending, but I think fleshing out her character and their friendship a bit more would have given that a bit more impact. I really enjoyed each subplot: Zee’s relationship with the elegant and proud Mrs. Hart, her family that she’s grown apart from, the mystery behind what David and the aliens are really on Earth for, and a futuristic London that is constantly threatened by anarchist attacks.  I just wish all of these elements had been expanded on---I felt like we really just skim the surface of the story’s potential in favor of centering it around a story of forbidden love.

With the big twist at the end, I am interested to see where this story goes next. I’ll likely pick up the second book and see if I can delve a little deeper into this mysterious futuristic world!

Find Susan Waggoner online:  Facebook

Purchase Neptune's Tears: Amazon  •  BookDepository  •  Indiebound

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for.

 

Ashes to Ashes 

by Melissa Walker

hitting shelves December 23rd, 2013 from Katherine Tegen books

description:

If I Stay meets the movie Ghost in this first book in a teen duology about a teenage-girl-turned-ghost who must cling to the echoes of her former life to save the people she left behind.

Ashes to Ashes is author Melissa Walker's sweeping, romantic, and emotionally rich story about the things that torment and tempt us, even from the Great Beyond. This book is perfect for fans of Die for Me and Imaginary Girls, and its breathtaking ending will leave readers anxiously awaiting the series conclusion, Dust to Dust.

When Callie's life is cut short by a tragic accident, she expects to find nothingness, or maybe some version of heaven.

Instead, her spirit travels to the Prism, an ethereal plane populated by the ghosts she thought were fictional. Here she meets a striking and mysterious ghost named Thatcher, who is meant to guide her as she learns to haunt and bring peace to the loved ones she left behind.

However, Callie uncovers a dark secret about the spirit world: The angry souls who always populate ghost stories are real, dangerous, and willing to do whatever it takes to stay on Earth, threatening the existence of everyone she ever cared about.

As she fights to save them, Callie will learn that while it may no longer beat, her heart can still love-and break.

 

My thoughts: Love ghost and afterlife, and stories about people in the afterlife bringing peace to those they left behind always make me cry. :)   I'm also intrigued by the "ghosts she thought were fictional" concept! Gorgeous cover, too!

Becky's View: The Theory of Everything by Kari Luna

The Theory of Everything by Kari Luna
♦publisher: Philomel
♦release date: July 11th, 2013
♦hardcover, 320 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦stand-alone
♦source: from publisher for honest review

Sophie Sophia is obsessed with music from the late eighties. She also has an eccentric physicist father who sometimes vanishes for days and sees things other people don’t see. But when he disappears for good and Sophie’s mom moves them from Brooklyn, New York, to Havencrest, Illinois, for a fresh start, things take a turn for the weird. Sophie starts seeing things, like marching band pandas, just like her dad.

Guided by Walt, her shaman panda, and her new (human) friend named Finny, Sophie is determined to find her father and figure out her visions, once and for all. So she travels back to where it began—New York City and NYU’s physics department. As she discovers more about her dad’s research on M-theory and her father himself, Sophie opens her eyes to the world’s infinite possibilities—and her heart to love.

Review: The Theory of Everything is one of those special stories.  Main character, Sophie Sophia, and her surprising mind instantly caught my heart and sent my brain reeling!

One of the most unique things about this reading experience is that you literally don’t know in any concrete manner if Sophie is really having “episodes” or if she really is falling into some parallel universe.  This story could be Sophie's determined psychological quest or it could be a light and quirky sci-fi.  But more than anything, it’s a touching story about Sophie’s journey to find answers about her father and the very bizarre things that are happening to them both. Her life is so disrupted by these crazy hallucinations, hallucinations that her father experienced, too.  Her mom loves Sophie and it shows, but she also does her best to ignore the fact that her daughter may be following in her father's footsteps and that scares her.

So to prove she doesn't belong in a mental ward, Sophie and her fabulous friend, Finn set off an a New York adventure---both so physics-obsessed Finn can get a taste of city life and so Sophie can, with the strong support of her friend and few wise words from her Shaman Panda (yes!), find out the mystery behind her Dad's reasons for disappearing and hopefully get to the bottom of the hallucinations so she can gain some normalcy.  And on her travels,  she definitely finds both more and less than she bargained for.  I often felt Sophie acted beyond her age, but with everything she'd had to deal with in her life, it made sense.   She was funny, clever, and original.  I loved the importance placed on music throughout the story; it was an unbreakable connection between Sophie and her dad.  Each chapter starts with lyrics from an 80's song---that alone gained it a special place in my heart!

What I love about the ending is that it doesn’t tie up in a happily-ever-after, tidy little package.  At 14, Sophie has a ways to go---she grows a ton in this book, learns a great many things about herself and her dad, but she acknowledges that she’s not done yet.  I loved that.

The Theory of Everything is a story chock full of musical nostalgia (for me, at least LOL), wildly enchanting characters, science that is not an exact science,  a healthy dose of imagination, and a lesson in the importance of love of all kinds. 

Find Kari Luna online:  Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Purchase The Theory of Everything:  Amazon  •  BookDepository  •  Indiebound

New Shelf Goodies & The Weekly Nutshell {56}

For New Shelf Goodies, I'll be showing you what lovely books I acquired this week, whether from publishers, or the library, or from whatever half-crazed book-buying binge I happened to go on. :D (Inspired by Tynga's Stacking the Shelves) The Weekly Nutshell will be just that...my week here at Stories & Sweeties, in a nutshell. (inspired by Ginger @ GReads and her recaps at the end of the TGIF posts)

Only one for me this week, but it's one of my most anticipated reads of the year!!  Wooo!

 For Review:

Of Beast & Beauty by Stacey Jay

 SUPER excited for this book, and I'm going to a signing for it in a few weeks! Check back later this month, I'll be giving away a signed copy! :D

Thanks so much to Delacorte books for this!

The Weekly Nutshell:

  {Monday} Becky's View: Ashes on the Waves by Mary Lindsey

{Tuesday} Waiting on Wednesday: Vengeance by Megan Miranda

{Wednesday} "What's New" August YA Releases & Giveaway

{Thursday}  Blog Tour: Top Ten Murder Mysteries with Bryony Pearce!
{Friday} Authors are Rockstars featuring Kim Harrington!

Hope everyone has a great week!  

Authors Are Rockstars Tour: KIM HARRINGTON Interview + Giveaway!

Today I am super excited to be participating in the second annual Authors Are Rockstars tour!  Not only that, but I get to feature one of my favorite authors, Kim Harrington!!

Kim is a ROCKSTAR

Kim Harrington, now on her fourth book for Young Adults, is one of those writers that I truly admire.  Her stories and characters draw you in, take them with you on an enthralling, sometimes creepy journey, and stick with you long after you turn the last page.  But what makes her books stand out to me is something that is surprisingly hard to come by in the YA world these days. Her books speak to all ages, the whole range of the young adult genre, and are even fun to read for adults like me!  Her stories are still sophisticated and are generous with the spine-tingling  moments, but you never have to worry as a parent or a teacher or a librarian about handing over one of her books to even the youngest YA readers of 11 or 12.  It’s a challenge these days, I’d say that more than half of the YA out there is only appropriate for 15 and up.  Kim Harrington is a master at giving us fun stories that everyone can enjoy. For me, that is definitely a big part of what makes her a rockstar.

Q & A with Kim Harrington:

Which of the characters that you've written is your favorite?

I tend to adore whichever main character I’m working with at the time. And I can’t wait for you guys to meet Morgan from FORGET ME (coming Summer 2014). But I have to admit that no matter how much time passes and how many other books I write, there will always be a special place in my heart reserved for Clarity Fern. I miss her.

What are you usually doing when a story idea strikes you?
Story ideas never hit when I’m trying to think of one. They usually spring up when I’m doing something automatic that doesn’t require too much focus—exercising, showering, cleaning. My mind wanders and then BAM! An idea is born.

Do you know how a story is going to end before you sit down to write it?
I have to know. I found this out the hard way with starts and stops and incomplete manuscripts years ago. Before I start writing, I have to know the beginning and the end. The middle can grow organically. And the end can change, of course, but I have to have some idea of it before I can begin.

What kind of books did you love to read as a teenager?
I was a teen in the late ‘80s, early ‘90s—horror’s heyday. It seemed like every publisher had a mass market paperback horror line, and I spent all my 

part-time job money on those books. I loved them.

 What is the best writing advice you’ve ever been given?

To write, first and foremost, for yourself. I write books I would want to read. I write to entertain 
myself.

Favorite snack while writing?

Sour Patch Kids, especially Sour Patch Fruit Salad

Favorite movie?
Poltergeist (weird, I know)

Favorite color?
Purple. I’m kind of obsessed with purple.

Favorite band and song right now?

Radioactive by Imagine Dragons

Favorite teacher from your school years?
My eighth grade science teacher. That was a pretty miserable year for me, but he made science exciting and fun, and introduced me to astronomy, which I still find fascinating.

And everyone who visits Stories & Sweeties answers this one:  Do you like cupcakes? Frosting or cake better?
YES! I looooove cupcakes. Especially yellow cupcakes with a lot of sugary frosting. What I like to do is break off part of the bottom cake part, then put it on top and squish it down so the frosting is in the middle, like a sandwich. That way I get frosting in every bite.

Thanks for having me!

Find Kim Harrington online:

WEBSITE  •  TWITTER  •  FACEBOOK  •  GOODREADS

Stories & Sweeties reviews:

CLARITY  •  PERCEPTION  •  THE DEAD AND BURIED

GIVEAWAY!!

I'm giving away one winner's choice of any of Kim's books!
 Open internationally  •  Ends 8/16/13

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Weight of Souls Blog Tour: Bryony Pearce's Top Ten Murder Mysteries

Today I am happy to welcome Bryony Pearce, author of The Weight of Souls, releasing from Strange Chemistry on August 6th!

Sixteen year old Taylor Oh is cursed: if she is touched by the ghost of a murder victim then they pass a mark beneath her skin. She has three weeks to find their murderer and pass the mark to them – letting justice take place and sending them into the Darkness. And if she doesn’t make it in time? The Darkness will come for her…

She spends her life trying to avoid ghosts, make it through school where she’s bullied by popular Justin and his cronies, keep her one remaining friend, and persuade her father that this is real and that she’s not going crazy.

But then Justin is murdered and everything gets a whole lot worse. Justin doesn’t know who killed him, so there’s no obvious person for Taylor to go after. The clues she has lead her to the V Club, a vicious secret society at her school where no one is allowed to leave… and where Justin was dared to do the stunt which led to his death.

Can she find out who was responsible for his murder before the Darkness comes for her? Can she put aside her hatred for her former bully to truly help him?

And what happens if she starts to fall for him?

The Weight of Souls is a ghostly murder mystery with a supernatural twist, so I asked Bryony what her top ten murder mysteries of all time were.  Here's what she had to say:

My top ten murder mysteries by Bryony Pearce
I had a ‘murder mystery’ phase when I was a teenager (it was in between my Thomas Hardy phase and my Stephen King phase).  During this time I read everything by Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie. 

The books that I reread the most often and therefore have the fondest memories of are The Hound of the Baskervilles, Curtain: Poirot’s Last Call, The ABC Murders and Murder on the Orient Express.  I loved the writing, the twists and turns and the characters of the detectives in these stories.  There is a reason that Poirot and Holmes have lived over and over again in various incarnations.  From Rathbone to Miller, from Ustinov to Suchet; these characters are infused with fascination for the reader, they are deliciously flawed, superhuman and yet missing some essential elements of humanity which means that they need to be counter-balanced by their all too ordinary assistants (Watson and Hastings).

After watching and being drawn into Hitchcock’s Rebecca I got Daphne Du Maurier’s book from the library and loved it, so dark and creepy.  I adored the psychological side of Rebecca.

Another film that led me to a book was The Name of the Rose with Sean Connery and Christian Slater (I was such a fan of Christian Slater years ago).  After seeing Christian Slater’s monk lose his virginity I bought the book and read both The Name of the Rose and Foucault’s Pendulum.  The Name of the Rose remains with me to this day.

Although it feels a little like cheating because these books are funny, they are officially crime and have won awards, so I’m going to mention Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum novels.  I particularly like Two for the Dough, Three to Get Deadly and Four to Score.  Evanovich’s portrayal of character is laugh out loud true.  I love the early Plum novels.   

And if I’m permitted comedy, I think I should be allowed Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels based on Sam Vimes.  They are crime novels too and utterly brilliant.  Sam Vimes is another of my favourite literary characters.  For him I’m going to add Jingo and Feet of Clay.

Finally I will include JD Robb’s Eve Dallas series, in particular Naked in Death.  It is set in the future, which makes it very different.  It is sexy and again populated with great, memorable characters.

What I love about all these books, which range hugely in publication date and style, is that all have fantastic characterisation and that is something I seek in all my reading and what my favourite books all have in common.

The enjoyment I had when reading these murder mysteries was a huge influence on The Weight of Souls which has, at its heart, a murder mystery.  Yes, it is a paranormal thriller which includes ghosts, Egyptian curses and an army of zombified killers (what good book doesn’t?), but it is the murder mystery that absorbs us and keeps the story moving forward.  Taylor has to find out who killed Justin and bring his killer to justice.  I had a great time ‘killing’ Justin, working out who did it and how.  My early ideas were crazy.  In one version is it his mother who kills him by making him drink Anbesol (a children’s liquid antiseptic which should not be drunk as it paralyses the muscles of the throat).  Needless to say that version did not get past the first edit.  I won’t tell you how the final murder ended up, obviously you need to read the book to find out, alongside Taylor.
I hope you enjoy it.

Find out more about Bryony Pearce and her writing:
      WEBSITE  •  TWITTER  •  FACEBOOK

Bryony is holding a really big contest on her blog, so be sure to check it out here!  To enter, you'll need to check out the rest of the tour stops on her tour!
In the meantime, check out this excerpt from The Weight of Souls!

"What's New" August YA Releases & Giveaway

August already!! Wow. This year is flying by.  My kid goes back to school this month and with that comes a few more hours of quiet reading time! Woooo! :D  But it's been a  fun summer---we have a few more fun day trips to cram in before saying good-bye to another great summer vacation.

So if you're new to Stories & Sweeties, here's a little run-down of this feature: at the start of each month, I do a little thing called the "What's New List & Giveaway" where you'll find a full list of the new releases in YA for the month, and entry to the giveaway. At the end of each month, one lucky winner will get to choose any new release as their prize!

First things first! The winner of July's giveaway was: Sašenka!  Congratulations! :D

August 2013 Releases:
Just like previous months, I've put a little l♥ve by those books that I am really anticipating!

{1}
Canary by Rachele Alpine
Charmed Vengeance by Suzanne Lazear

{6}
Aquifer by Jonathan Friesen
Control by Kim Curran
Elegy by Amanda Hocking
Gated by Amy Christine Parker ♥
The Golden Day by Ursula Dubosarsky
Infinityglass by Myra McEntire
Maybe Tonight? By Bridie Clark
Out of Play by Jolene Perry & Dawn Nyrae
Running Lean by Diana L. Sharples
Second Impact by David Klass & Perri Klass
A Tale of Two Centuries by Rachel Harris
The Uprising by Lisa M. Stasse
The Weight of Souls by Bryony Pearce ♥
When the Stars Threw Down Their Spears by Kersten Hamilton ♥
Wise Young Fool by Sean Beaudoin ♥

{13}
Awoken by Timothy Miller
Dancer, Daughter, Traitor, Spy by Elizabeth Kiem
The Deepest Night by Shana Abe ♥
False Sight by Dan Krokos
Fire & Ash by Jonathan Maberry
Fire with Fire by Jenny Han & Vivian Siobhan
Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick
Hover by Melissa West ♥
If We Survive by Andrew Klavan
Lake Thirteen by Herren Greg
The Meme Plague by Angie Smibert
The Shade of the Moon by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Stalked by Death by Kelly Hashway
Where Beauty Lies by Elle & Blair Fowler

{15}
Between the Devil and Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke ♥
Demonosity by Amanda Ashby
On Little Wings by Regina Sirois

{20}
Asylum by Madeleine Roux ♥
Doon by Lorie Langdon by Carey Corp
Flicker & Burn by T.M. Goeglein
If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan
The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle
My Totally Awkward Supernatural Crush by Laura Toffler-Corrie
This Side of Jealousy by Lili Peloquin
VIII by H.M. Castor

{22}
The Broken Window by Christa J. Kinde

{27}
The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider
Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson
Black Spring by Alison Croggan ♥
Confessions of a Hater by Caprice Crane
Consume by Melissa Darnell
Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Mass ♥
The Dark Between by Sonia Gensler ♥
Deception by C.J. Redwine ♥
Descendent by Lesley Livingston
Don’t Look Now by Michelle Gagnon ♥
Everlast by Andria Buchanan
The Fall of Five by Pittacus Lore
A Fractured Light by Jocelyn Davies
Jumped In by Patrick Flores-Scott
Just Like Fate by Cat Patrick & Suzanne Young ♥
The Liberator by Victoria Scott
The Morning Star by Robin Bridges
Love in the Time of Global Warming by Francesca Lia Block
Origin by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Overpowered by Mark H. Kruger
Rein It In by Georgina Bloomberg & Catherine Hapka
Relic by Renee Collins
Sunblind by Michael Griffo
Taste Test by Kelly Fiore
To Be Perfectly Honest by Sonya Sones
Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan
Unfed by Kirsty McKay

(All links go to Goodreads)
Please feel free to email me if you notice any YA titles missing! :)

Giveaway Details:
One winner will win a YA August release of their choice! *see note below
• Contest ends August 31st, 2013 at 11:59 PM
• Must be 13 or older.
• Open internationally. *International winners will be required to choose a book that is available through BookDepository.com.  a Rafflecopter giveaway