Interview: Amy Jones, author of Soul Quest

I'm very excited for this interview!!
Please welcome Amy Jones, debut author of  Soul Quest (part one of Soul Quest trilogy).

E: Evie
AJ: Amy Jones

E: Welcome to Bookish Amy! Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

AJ: I am a 1993 graduate of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro where I received a Bachelor of Science degree in Dance Education. I have seventeen years of experience in education and currently teach Dance and Theater Arts to high school students in the small yet distinctive southeastern North Carolina town, Tabor City. I was born a Yankee but was converted into a Rebel fairly easily when I met my own Edward Cullen (hubby, Kelly Jones) in college. I led a very happy childhood in York, Pennsylvania, being blessed with loving parents. I am a mother of two gorgeous and brilliant children, Olivia (named after a character in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night) and Keaton (named for the silent film great, Buster Keaton).  In addition to being a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, teacher, dancer, director and writer I have been a girl scout, acrobat, violinist (very briefly), cheer leader, painter, singer (not a very good one, admittedly) and a summer park director.

E: Who or what inspired you to write Soul Quest?

AJ: Soul Quest was inspired by a really weird dream. My hubby is a night owl and loves to stay up late watching the History Channel. I had this dream about a little boy standing in the middle of mirrored room. The little boy looked just like my son when he was 3 years old. He had cute chubby cheeks, curly blond ringlets and beautiful hazel green eyes. Anyway, the little boy was watching images flicker on the mirrored walls in the room. They showed images from historical disasters such as Hitler's dictatorship, Martin Luther King Jr. and Kennedy's shootings and Nine Eleven... you get the gist. Anyway, it had a major impact on me. The next day I asked my husband what he was watching on TV the night before. He said it was a special episode on the History Channel dedicated to the worst events in history. He acknowledged all of the above mentioned tragedies were a part of the episode. I suppose as a mother the dream was symbolic of the wrath of the world posing a threat against my children. Anyway, I decided to turn it into a positive thing. In this effort my little boy became Hala, the Great Spirit. Hala is a being as old as time, a spirit who resembles a child in physical form.  Before I knew it, a quest for justice against evil began. Since I work with teenagers it was only natural that they become the heroes in the plot. The basis of the book is good verses evil but I tried to weave into the underlying tone that life is about choices, good and bad.

E: Would you mind telling us how long did it take for you to write it?

AJ: I’m a public school teacher and much of my time during the school year gets divided between my family (care taking, homework, fun time, etc…) and my students (after school plays, concerts, festivals, game duty, etc…).  I began writing Soul Quest in late October of 2009.  I had finished about 1/3 of the book by school’s end in June.  During the summer break had a steady flow of time to write and I completed the manuscript in early August of 2010.  I can’t give an exact timeline for the writing because it was so sporadic.  October to August is ten months, but I wasn’t writing steadily prior to June.

E: Are any of your characters or scenes based on people/events in your own life?    

AJ: Yes, Laith Lightfoot, Brayan Akin, Meena Sodden, Druesilla Sommers and Amber White strongly resemble five of my Theater students (Alex (Laith), Tyler (Brayan), Andrea (Meena), Shaneice (Druesilla) and Amber (Amber) – Amber’s first name is the only name I kept the same).  I didn’t intentionally write about them.  They all have very unique and wonderful personalities that just kind of snuck their way into my writing.  You’ll notice the main character is not listed above, this is not coincidence.  She has an inspiration too, a very unexpected and surprising one, me (granted, a much younger me)! I didn’t plan that either. 

E: If your book was made into a movie who would you cast for it?

AJ:

Liv – Miranda Cosgrove

Laith – Alex Pettyfer

Brayan – Logan Lerman

Meena Sodden – Emma Roberts

Amber White – Selena Gomez

Druesilla Sommers – Erica Hubbard

E: Soul Quest is the first part of the trilogy, when can we expect the second book?

AJ: I am a little over 38,000 words into the second book, Guardians of Souls.  I anticipate publishing it in August of 2011 (cross your fingers).

E: What genres do you like to read in your free time?  

AJ: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Thrillers, Romance

E: Which of your favorite books would you recommend everybody to read?

AJ: Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instrument series

E: Do you have any role models?  

AJ: My mom and dad, my high school cheer leading coach, my high school English and Creative Writing teacher and a gazillion amazing artists and writers.

E: What are your biggest pet peeves?   

AJ: Laziness and mean people

E: Tell us five random facts about yourself.

AJ:

• Most of my acquaintances don’t know I’m a writer.
• I love chocolate!
• When I was little my first grade teacher thought I was deaf because I was too shy to respond to her when she spoke to me (now no one can get me to shut up).
• I am afraid of clowns.
• I have two rare connective tissue disorders (Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, Hyper Mobility Type and MASS Phenotype).  One in five thousand people have one of these disorders.

E: If you could have a dinner with three people/characters (real, imaginary, famous or not, even dead!) who would you choose?  

AJ:

• Carlisle Cullen, because he is so darn smart! 
• Martha Graham, because she is my modern dance idol.
• My husband (alone), because our lives are so crazy I miss him all of the time   (even though we live under the same roof).

Random Questions:

- White or dark chocolate? Dark chocolate
- Coffee or tea? Coffee
- Favorite fictional character? Today? My favorite female character is Bridhid from P.C Cast’s Partholon series. My favorite male character is Jace from Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series. This information could charge tomorrow depending upon what book I pick up next.
- Favorite movie? Blade (1998) with Wesley Snipes
- Favorite song? Anything by Michael Jackson
- Favorite TV show? Bones
- Vampires or Werewolves? Vampires… sorry Jacob.
- Harry Potter or Twilight? It’s too close. I love them both and can’t choose.

Amy, thank you so much for joining us today!  

I'm looking forward to reading and reviewing your next book!

I hope you guys enjoyed the interview, for more information about Amy and her books, please visit her website: Amy Jones Young Adult Fiction or/and read my review of Soul Quest 

If you're wondering where to get Soul Quest, here are the links:
Smashwords 
Amazon
Goodreads

Soul Quest - Amy Jones (review)

Genre:                           Young Adult
Year:                              2011
Word count:                 71,749
Part of:                         Soul Quest Trilogy (book #1)
Followed by:                The Guardians of Souls 
                                       (to be published in August of 2011)
Where to get:               Smashwords,  Amazon
Author's Website:       Amy Maurer Jones

Do you remember how horrified you were about the idea of attending high school? I remember ticking off those last miserable days of my summer vacation following my eighth grade year. Maybe you don’t, maybe you were one of 'those people.' You know who I’m talking about, people like Melissa Small, the distinguished District Attorney, Larry Small’s daughter, popular, gorgeous... and absolutely terrifying to someone like me, Liv Glyn. No, I am far from measuring up to the standards required to make Melissa’s crowd. I’m not even close. I’m just a simple man’s daughter, mostly tolerated by my peers with average looks. If this isn’t depressing enough for you, stay tuned, it gets worse. I was commanded with Spirit at birth by the Great Spirit, Hala. I know, it sounds crazy but it’s true. If you think it's difficult being a teenager, try being a teenager who was born destined to save the world from soul sucking Daevas and their mutant progeny Aengels. There are four of us. My companions of Spirit are Laith, Brayan and Meena. Melissa Small is Laith’s step sister and she is always meddling where she doesn’t belong, further complicating our lives. To make matters even worse, my best friend Jedd is apparently aware of things that are typically undetectable to ordinary humans. So, I have to lie to Jedd, the boy who has been my constant standby since the third grade, to shield him from the horrible and very dangerous truth. Did I mention that I think I’m falling in love with him? The term awkward doesn’t even begin to cover it, trust me. Welcome to the mess that is my life.  

(goodreads.com)

"Hey Mom, how can dead people walk around New York like that?" Liv asked her mother from the passenger seat of their mini van.

"Whoa Brayan, what are you saying? Are you some kind of lie detector in human form?" she asked in amazement.
"Yeah, I guess so." he acted as if it was no big deal.
"Ok. So, for example, if someone is lying you are able to detect it because their heart rate speeds up or because their palms get sweaty?" she clarified. She still couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Pretty much." he agreed.
"Wow, Brayan. This is really cool." she smiled, proud of him.
"Yeah." he sighed."It's great to be able to know when everyone is lying to you when they tell you thinks like...You are a great kickball player Brayan... Lie... You're fun to be around Brayan.. Lie... You're story was really interesting Brayan... Lie... You're my best friend Brayan... Lies, lies, lies! I hate it!" he finally broke down and began to cry.

Soul Quest by Amy Jones totally made my week! Yesterday I ended up staying up till 4 am, just so I could finish it and find out how the first book ends. I just couldn't bring myself to put it down. How could I possibly go to sleep, when this book is so amazing! And you must know that I am a very slow ebook reader, I really don't like spending my time looking at the computer screen (or iPhone screen, depending if I'm currently outside of the house) so this was quite an accomplishment on Amy's part to keep me so captivated. (Thank you Amy, thanks to you I look like a zombie today!)

For the most part of the book the narrative voice belongs to Liv. At first glance you could think she's just an ordinary girl, preoccupied with normal teenager day-to-day problems and dramas, like figuring out whether her feelings for her best friend are anything more than a friendly affection or doing her best to fit in at her new school. Pretty much all the things we all could relate to. But Liv is no ordinary teenager, she is an Oracle of Earth, one of four human-born Oracles, who's duty is to save the Earth from destruction. Her companions of Spirit are: athletic and super handsome Laith (Oracle of Fire), adorable computer geek, Brayan (Oracle of Wind) and knowledgeable and organized Meena (Oracle of Water). Each of them has unique gifts and charms, that will help them fight the evil Aengels and Daevas and try and stop them from stealing human souls.

I absolutely loved the first part of Soul Quest trilogy. I got sucked into the story from the very first pages of the book and I often found myself thinking about it even when I wasn't reading it. It's such a pleasurable read! At first I was a little bit overwhelmed by the magnitude of the world Amy created, but after a while it all come together, every piece fell into the right place. I'm deeply amazed at how much work the author put into creating a whole new mythology for the purpose of the story, it's jaw dropping.

Amy Jones does a superb job of drawing you in. She created an amazing, unique and fascinating world, filled with fantastic, well developed and likable characters. If you liked Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series then I can guarantee you will LOVE Soul Quest!

My blog has been awarded! yay~!

Today I got my first award ever :)

 

Huge thanks goes to: Ridiculous Reviews  Thank you for picking me :) I really appreciate it! 

Everyone -> make sure to check out this blog, ok? It's really awesome! 

For this award, I must link to the person who awarded me Ridiculous Reviews , post 7 things about me, and pass it to 7 other bloggers! Here are 7 things about me:

1) I'm a huge fan of Asia (especially Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Thailand). I love Asian food, movies, music, history, mythology, people.. and books of course!

2) I live far from my family (they live in Poland, I live in Canada, oceans apart) so I created a photoblog especially for them to see what I'm doing, where I'm traveling and so on. You can see it here: Evie's Travels - unfortunately it's mostly in Polish, because like I said, I started it for my parents and grannie.

3) My husband is Korean. I met him in Korea in 2008. He asked me to marry him after 3 days of seeing each other. I said: YES! :)

4) I'm allergic to penicillin and bees. Few years ago I almost died after a penicillin shot! Since then I don't trust doctors anymore :(

5) I'm a HUGE fan or Supernatural (TV show with Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki). I LOVE it!! :D and the coolest part is, they shoot it in Vancouver, so I get to see all the places where the episodes were shot :D

6) I can bake cakes, pies and cookies, but I'm not a very good cook. My husband on the other hand is a master of cooking! You should all come for dinner sometimes ;)

7) They say a picture is worth a thousand words.. how about a video then? :) I made this for our second anniversary in February :

And here are the 7 bloggers I'm awarding: 

Liz @  That's What Liz Read

Ashton @ Saving the World One Review at a Time

Brenda @ Fiction with a Purpose

Deborah @ Deborah's Books

Vy @ Vy's blog

Victoria @ Birdy Books

Alison @ Alison Can Read

Ah, man, it sucks, there is at least a dozen more blogs that I would like to award!! 

I would love for you guys to check out these super awesome, amazing, lovely blogs as well:

Edel @ Room 304

Lu @ Lu's Raves and Rants

Lindsay @ The Violet Hour

Linda @ Silly Little Mischief

GMR @ Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers 

Mindy @ Vampires Werewolves & Faeries Oh My! Succubus Zombies & Witches Oh My!

Britta @ I Like These Books

I could seriously go on forever.. I just love all your blogs! *_*
Spread the love, guys!!

20th Century Ghosts - Joe Hill (review)

Genre:                Short stories, Horror, Fantasy, Mainstream

Year:                   2005

Pages:                 304

Publisher:           PS Publishing

Followed by:     Heart Shaped-Box

          Contents:               

• Best New Horror
• 20th Century Ghosts
• Pop Art
• You Will Hear the Locust Sing
• Abraham's Boys
• Better Than Home
• The Black Phone
• In the Rundown
• The Cape
• Last Breath
• Dead-Wood
• The Widow's Breakfast
• Bobby Conroy Comes Back from the Dead
• My Father's Mask
• Voluntary Committal

Imogene is young and beautiful. She kisses like a movie star and knows everything about every film ever made. She's also dead and waiting in the Rosebud Theater for Alec Sheldon one afternoon in 1945....

Arthur Roth is a lonely kid with big ideas and a gift for attracting abuse. It isn't easy to make friends when you're the only inflatable boy in town....

Francis is unhappy. Francis was human once, but that was then. Now he's an eight-foot-tall locust and everyone in Calliphora will tremble when they hear him sing....

John Finney is locked in a basement that's stained with the blood of half a dozen other murdered children. In the cellar with him is an antique telephone, long since disconnected, but which rings at night with calls from the dead....

The past isn't dead. It isn't even past... (goodreads.com)

“My best friend when I was twelve was inflatable. His name was Arthur Roth, which also made him an inflatable Hebrew, although in our now-and-then talks about the afterlife, I don’t remember that he took an especially Jewish perspective.”

"My head was muddy. I was only half awake. I needed to pee. I had to get warm. I rose and floated to the bathroom through the dark, the smallest blanket thrown over my shoulders to keep the cold off. I had the sleep-addled idea that I was still balled up to stay warm, with my knees close to my chest, although I was nevertheless moving forward. It was only when I was over the toilet, fumbling with the fly of my boxers, that I happened to look down and saw my knees were hitched up, and that my feet weren't touching the floor. They dangled a full foot over the toilet seat."

20th Century Ghosts is an anthology of short stories written by Joe Hill - his first works gathered together and published as a collection. I already read, enjoyed and reviewed his two other novels (Heart-Shaped Box and Horns), so when I reached for this book I more or less knew what to expect and I was very excited to find out if Joe Hill is as good at writing short stories, as he is at writing full length novels. And he is. He really is good.

In 20th Century Ghosts one can find all sorts of short stories. Not all of them are horror stories, by the by. You can find some fantasy stories here, some skillfully written supernatural as well as disquieting mainstream one. Each of them is a masterpiece of some sort. If I were to chose my favorite one of them, I honestly think I would spend the whole life deciding, they're all really amazing, captivating and breath-taking. Joe Hill managed to write really thrilling and unsettling stories without making them horrific or gruesome. As Christopher Golden said in his introduction to Joe Hill's book, "Most of those who practice the art of the unsettling far too often go for the jugular, forgetting that the best predators are stealthy." Well, it's hard not to agree with him, right? In this case however you don't have to worry about the jugular at all, Joe Hill has more than one trick in his bag, he knows exactly which strings to pull to make his readers scared, he's elegant and even tender in his writing, oh-so-very subtle, one stealthy predator indeed.

I was deeply impressed by Hill's writing style. The stories he tells are deep and engaging, they resonate deeply. His purpose is not only to scare his audience, but to give them the opportunity to actually feel the story, providing the emotional response necessary for the story to really be successful.
I enjoyed every word, for every word in this book had a meaning. There was no pointless blabbing, no long and useless description, not a single page was a waste of paper and ink.

Every story in this collection was like a strong punch in the jaw, delivered by highly trained fighter of words. By the end of the book I was totally knocked down, left gasping for air, wanting more..

Quote of the Week - March 21st

Bookish quote of the week is a weekly BOOK HOP hosted by me. It will be posted every Monday on my blog and it's purpose is for people to share their favorite quotes. It will also give you a great opportunity to connect with other bloggers, visit their sites and find out which quotes are their favorite!

Let's stay connected fellow book lovers!!

Rules: 

1) You need to have a book-related blog.

2) Create a post on your blog and share your favorite quote with us! Grab a "Bookish Quote of the Week" button and link back to my blog in your post.

3) Leave a comment, including a link to your Quote of the Week post, so that we could all visit your blog and check it out!

Quote for Monday (March 21st):

"According to Aristophanes in Plato's The Banquet, in the ancient world of legend there were three types of people.
In ancient times people weren't simply male or female, but one of three types : male/male, male/female or female/female. In other words, each person was made out of the components of two people. Everyone was happy with this arrangment and never really gave it much thought. But then God took a knife and cut everyone in half, right down the middle. So after that the world was divided just into male and female, the upshot being that people spend their time running around trying to locate their missing half. "

 

Source: Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Full Dark, No Stars - Stephen King

Genre:                Short stories
Year:                   2010
Pages:                 368
Publisher:           Scribner
Preceded by:     Just After Sunset
Stories:               

• 1922
• Big Driver
• Fair Extension 
• A Good  Marriage

A new collection of four never-before-published stories from Stephen King.

1922
The story opens with the confession of Wilfred James to the murder of his wife, Arlette, following their move to Hemingford, Nebraska onto land willed to Arlette by her father.

Big Driver
Mystery writer, Tess, has been supplementing her writing income for years by doing speaking engagements with no problems. But following a last-minute invitation to a book club 60 miles away, she takes a shortcut home with dire consequences.

Fair Extension
Harry Streeter, who is suffering from cancer, decides to make a deal with the devil but, as always, there is a price to pay.

A Good Marriage
Darcy Anderson learns more about her husband of over twenty years than she would have liked to know when she stumbles literally upon a box under a worktable in their garage. (stephenking.com)

"Life is fair. We all get the same nine-month shake in the box, and then the dice roll. Some people get a run of sevens. Some people, unfortunately, get snake-eyes. Its just how the world is."

"He supposed that even in Hell, people got an occasional sip of water, if only so they could appreciate the full horror of unrequited thirst when it set in again."

There are 4 trailers, one for each story, and you can find them all on youtube. I included one to A Good Marriage because this is the story I liked the most!

We don't fully know anyone.

Least of all ourselves.

In his brand new set of never before published novellas, Stephen King skillfully performs a deeply disturbing vivisection of the human soul.

I am a HUGE Stephen King  fan. I read almost everything this brilliant man published so far (with few exceptions that are still on my TBR list). I love his writing style, his wittiness and darkness. I don't think I ever read anything by SK that I wouldn't enjoy. So be informed, that my review might not be fully objective. I will do my best, though, I promise. 

This being said, let's talk about Full Dark, No Stars.

I can honestly say that King's recently published stories are so far my favorite short stories ever. It's Stephen King at his best. You know these dark, shadowy places hidden deep in the human soul? Well, King finds them all, carefully examines them, pokes around and then drags them into light to share the findings with his readers. 

The novellas are dealing with the theme of retribution. These are stories of complicity. Skillfully crafted, with just a tasteful pinch of paranormal, enough to keep us interested, but not as much as to distract us from the core of the story - humans and their crimes, their good and bad decisions and the consequences that follow.

King plays with the idea that everyone of us has an "outside me", the face we put on like a mask, to live through yet another day without revealing our true selves and whatever lies underneath. He digs deep, in search of the ugly, nasty and often horrifying truth that we try so hard to keep from others. He then brings whatever he dug up, holds it up to our eyes in a palm of his hand and says with a crooked smile: "look what I found... What do YOU think about it?"

I loved it. I enjoyed it a LOT, I had a huge kick out of reading it. 

The cover might not be the best I've ever seen, but the title reflects the content of the book in 100%. When you pick up this book and start reading, the night is very dark, and there are definitely no stars that could lighten it up.

News - Hunger Games Movie Adaptation (1)

Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone) will play the role of Katniss in The Hunger Games, based on the bestselling novels by Suzanne Collins, the Wrap reported. Lionsgate "plans the franchise as a trilogy which will include The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay. Gary Ross (Seabiscuit) is directing the film, which will debut on March 23, 2012."

Several actors are rumored to be under consideration for the role of Peeta Mellark, including Alex Pettyfer (I Am Number Four), Josh Hutcherson (The Kids Are All Right, Bridge to Terabithia) and Hunter Parrish (Weeds), the Wrap wrote.

What do you think about the choice of main actress, my fellow bloggers? I would really like to know your opinion! 

Personally I have mixed feelings. Jennifer Lawarence is a good actress and she proved this in Winter's Bone (even though, I admit, I fell asleep while watching the movie... u_u) but I am not sure if this is how I imagined Katniss to look like. But then again, who would fit the role better? 

So, who in your opinion should play Peeta? What about Gale? 

Please leave your opinion in the comments below, I would love to know what you all think!

The Snowflower and the Secret Fan - Lisa See (review)

Genre:                 Novel, Historical Fiction

Year:                    2005

Pages:                 253

Publisher:            Random House, Inc

Preceded by:      Dragon Bones

Followed by:       Peony in Love

In nineteenth-century China, in a remote Hunan county, a girl named Lily, at the tender age of seven, is paired with a laotong, “old same,” in an emotional match that will last a lifetime. The laotong, Snow Flower, introduces herself by sending Lily a silk fan on which she’s painted a poem in nu shu, a unique language that Chinese women created in order to communicate in secret, away from the influence of men. As the years pass, Lily and Snow Flower send messages on fans, compose stories on handkerchiefs, reaching out of isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments. Together, they endure the agony of foot-binding, and reflect upon their arranged marriages, shared loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. The two find solace, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding arises, their deep friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart.
(Goodreads) 

"For my entire life I longed for love. I knew it was not right for me — as a girl and later as a woman — to want or expect it, but I did, and this unjustified desire has been at the root of every problem I have experienced in my life."

"When I knew I couldn't suffer another moment of pain, and tears fell on my bloody bindings, my mother spoke softly into my ear, encouraging me to go one more hour, one more day, one more week, reminding me of the rewards I would have if I carried on a little longer. In this way, she taught me how to endure — not just the physical trials of footbinding and childbearing but the more torturous pain of the heart, mind, and soul."

"Anyone who says that women do not have influence in men's decisions makes a vast and stupid mistake."

I wasn't able to find a trailer for the book, so instead check out this trailer for it's movie adaptation coming up this Summer!! :) I am actually very excited about this release, because one of my favorite Korean actresses (Jeon Ji Hyun) got one of the lead roles!!

Snow Flower and The Secret Fan is definitely one of my favorite historical fiction novels. I'm big on Asian culture and history, so each time I have a chance to read a book related to Asia (history, culture, lifestyle), I'm always very excited. 
I had the pleasure of reading this book last year and it made a HUGE impression on me. Unfortunately at that time I didn't have a book blog to rave about it. Now that I have one, I figured - why not? It's a great, beautifully written book, I think more people should know about it! Especially since there is a movie adaptation coming up soon! 
So let's talk historical fiction and Chinese culture today. Let's talk friendship and love. Let's talk shocking and mesmerizing!

This absorbing and fascinating novel takes place in the XIXth century China, in times of foot binding practice, when girl's worth was based solely on the size of her feet (the smaller, the better). These were very hard times for women, they were kept secluded, they had no rights, no voice. Their only purpose in life was to marry well, securing the position of their families. But to be able to marry well (or to marry at all) they were forced to undergo an excruciating and horrific foot binding process. It could either go well, resulting in an irreversible disfigurement. Or, in most cases, it could go wrong, resulting in a life-long disability or death. 
The process of foot binding was very gruesome and sickening, I cringed while reading the passages describing it. I felt deeply sorry for the women of 19th century China. At the same time I feel I learned a lot from this novel, it broadened my perspective in many ways. It made me reflect upon the lives of Chinese women back then, as well as my own in the modern times. This book is a real eye-opener. 


All that mentioned above is a background to an incredible tale of friendship between two Chinese girls, matched to be each other's "lao tong's" (old sames). They grow up together, build a life-long strong friendship filled with trust and love. They paint letters on the fan, embroider messages on the handkerchiefs. They share their stories, their struggles, fears, hopes and accomplishments. 


Lise See did a really great job with this novel. It's beautifully written, evocative, captivating. The characters are portrayed so well, that we feel like we almost know these women and men, we feel for them and get emotionally attached to them. I found the story deeply disturbing, but also very enthralling and touching.

I highly recommend it, it's worth picking up.

Beautiful Creatures - Kami Garcia and and Margaret Stohl

Genre:                 Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal

Year:                    2009

Pages:                  563

Publisher:            Little, Brown

Followed by:       Beautiful Darkness

Part of:                Caster Chronicles (Book #1)

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.
Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.
In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.
(Goodreads) 

“There's not one word that describes all the people in my family. Is there one word that describes everyone in yours?""Yeah. Lunatics.”

“Just let me give you a ride home. You shouldn't be out here.""No, thanks. I'll wait for the next guy who almost runs me down.”

“No, I'm too busy trying to deflect your Power of Stupidity. But I don't think I'm strong enough.”

“I'm a freak, you're a freak. Your house makes rooms disappear, my house makes people disappear. Your shut-in uncle is nuts and my shut-in dad is a lunatic, so i don't know what you think makes us so different.”

Everywhere I look I see very good reviews of this book. I'm amazed how many people fell in love with it. It makes me feel like I missed something, because it seems I am the only person in the whole world who just doesn't follow the hype. 

Maybe it's the fact that I haven't read all that many YA books in my life, maybe compared to other YA stories out there, this one really stands out? I can't really pinpoint what it is exactly that makes me not like this book. The storyline is good. The writing is solid and skillful, it definitely has a huge potential, and yet when I think about the time when I was reading it, even now I feel tired and unsatisfied. 

I really, REALLY disliked the lead character - Ethan. I wished he was more manly, wished for him not to think and act like a whiny child. As a lead character and narrator of the story, he lacked charisma and his voice was just weak, I found myself comparing him to Todd from Chaos Walking Trilogy  and regretting that he was nothing like that.

The female lead character, Lena, was not any better. I didn't like her passiveness. If someone tells you that in a year or two you're going to turn dark, would you just accept the fact and not even try to do anything to change it, to save yourself? That's just pure ridiculous. 

Ahh man, I really hate writing bad reviews, so maybe I should stop now. There are awfully many rants and complains that are just waiting to be poured out here. The story had a big potential, but I think it was mostly wasted. If I were to list the things that I liked about the book, it would be mostly the side-kick characters (especially Melchizedek, Link and Ridley. Oh, and Boo!) and occasional witty jokes scattered throughout more than 500 pages.

To sum it all up - considering that 99% people out there really love this book, there's a big chance you will like it too. So don't be discouraged by my review, if it was on your TBR list already, I say you still give it a chance. 

I, however, won't be reading the next part of the series.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

Genre:                     Comic Novel, Historical Fiction, Horror, Comedy

Year:                       2009
Pages:                     319
Followed by:          Sense, Sensibility and Sea Monsters
Publisher:                Quirk Books, Philadelphia

Description: (from Goodreads)

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains."

So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy.

What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead.

Can she vanquish the spawn of Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry? Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you'd actually want to read.

Quotes: 

"The business of Mr. Bennett's life was to keep his daughters alive. The business of Mrs. Bennett's was to get them married."  

"Elizabeth and Darcy merely looked at one another in awkward silence, until the latter reached both arms around her. She was frozen-"What does he mean to do?" she thought. But his intentions were respectable, for Darcy merely meant to retrieve his Brown Bess, which Elizabeth had affixed to her back during her walk. She remembered the lead ammunition in her pocket and offered it to him. 

"Your balls, Mr. Darcy?" He reached out and closed her hand around them, and offered, 

"They belong to you, Miss Bennet." Upon this, their colour changed, and they were forced to look
away from one another, lest they laugh."

"No ninjas! How was that possible? Five daughters brought up at home without any ninjas! I never heard of such a thing. Your mother must have been quite a slave to your safety." 



My Thoughts: 

       I've been meaning to pick up some classic books from my TBR pile and Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice  was on top of the list. There are always so many great books coming out, especially in YA and paranormal genre, so many amazing stories I want to read.. even though I really WANTED to explore the classic genre   and read all these wonderful, timeless books from 1000 best books ever list, I could never really find enough time to do so! So frustrating! 

        So you can only imagine how delighted and excited I was to find out about this one! Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a mashup of the classic 1819 novel by Jane Austen with elements of modern zombie fiction. 
       I admit, I had mixed feelings when picking this book up. I was intrigued and repelled at the same time! A romance from Regency Period combined with bloodthirsty zombies? The idea fascinated me! As a fan of paranormal genre and a frequent thriller/horror reader I was drawn to this book. I wasn't quite sure how all this is going to work, but nevertheless - I had to read it! 

The Bennet Sisters in a perfect pentacle fight formation.

       
     If you take time to read a few of many hundreds  reviews of this book circulating online, you will find out that many people felt the same way. Some were totally in love with this book, getting a kick out of reading it. Others were complaining, they were enraged and indignant that something like that came to exist! They felt that Seth Grahame-Smith's work was a grotesque and ridiculous "Frankenstein" of the literature world. 

It's the kind of book that you either hate or love, there is no in-between, no so-so. It's not an average creation, it's a daring new idea to "remix" classic novels with modern paranormal/horror fiction. 

 

       I personally enjoyed this book A LOT. It was very refreshing, something totally new, one of a kind! To read a story written with Austen's beautiful language, where every once in a while a zombie pops up and tries to eat someone's brain.. that is just so much FUN!! You can not exactly say that Grahame-Smith wrote a lot.. The text is 85% original + some zombie extras, BUT some of them undeniably ROCKED! (i.e. Lady Catherine being a famous zombie killer and having her own army of NINJAS - how cool is that?! or the match between her Ladyship and Lizzy.. that's just pure awesomeness~!) 
  
       All in all, I loved this book. Reading it made my week and I will definitely read more of the Quirk mashup series :) If you like zombies and your capacity for understanding a satire is somewhat reasonable, then I say: Go FOR IT!!  
       
      ( It was reported on December 11, 2009 that the film adaptation will be financed and distributed through Lionsgate. I am looking forward to watching it! :))

My rating: