Top Ten Tuesday: Books to Pull You Out of a Reading Slump

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl in which we create bookish lists about everything from our favorite characters to love triangles and everything in between!

This Weeks Theme: Books to Pull You Out of a Reading Slump

I seem to always find myself in a reading slump after I finish a good book. I always feel like what I just read could never compare to the others. So along with books that pulled me out of reading slumps, these are also books that put me into reading slumps because of amazing they were.

1. November 9 by Colleen Hoover

2. Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

3. Restore Me by Tahereh Mafi

4. All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover

5. The Art of Losing by Lizzy Mason

6. The fault in Our Stars by John Green

7. I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

8. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

9. If There's No Tomorrow by Jennifer L. Armentrout

10. Broken Beautiful Hearts by Kami Garcia

When I find myself in a reading slump, I can always count on one of these books (or something by that author) to get me out of it. Be sure to share your favorites with us!

Blog Tour: The Raging Ones by Krista and Becca Ritchie (Q&A)

Welcome to THE RAGING ONES book tour! Today we bring you an interview with the authors Krista and Becca who talk about what it was like to write their first young adult novel. I am a huge fan of their Adult and New Adult books so I am really excited for their newest project! 

Interview:

1. Working with another author is hard, let alone WITH YOUR TWIN, what was working together like and how did you address differing opinions on the work? What are your favorite and least favorite things about writing with each other? 

We’ve been writing together since high school, so we’ve been able to really fine-tune our process. Being sisters seems like we’d bicker a ton, but we find our bond a huge strength. We understand each other’s vision and welcome varying opinions and ideas. We always describe what we have as a mini “writer’s room” where we constantly bounce thoughts off one another and try to improve our work. When we have different opinions, it kick-starts discussions, which often ignites better stories. Our favorite part of working together is definitely collaborating. We value our time together and our discussions surrounding our projects. Always having someone equally passionate and invested in the book fuels our love of writing. Least favorite part: honestly, there aren’t a lot of negatives! Maybe our three-minute silent treatments when we’re frustrated, and then we make up almost immediately. 

 2. When did you first get idea for The Raging Ones? What was your inspiration for this book?

 Back in college, one of us (Krista) had this concept about a world where everyone knows the die they’ll die, but three teens don’t die on their deathday. We’re huge fans of science fiction and fantasy, and we’d written several Young Adult novels that never saw the light of day. But we wanted to write a new story together with new characters, and I jumped on board once she agreed to add a fantasy element. While writing THE RAGING ONES, we were really inspired by character-driven stories with science fiction backdrops. From movies like Interstellar to television shows like The 100. 

 3. THE RAGING ONES is your first YA novel. What made you decide to move into the genre, and was the transition difficult? Was writing in a different genre/for a different age group hard? Was your process different? 

Even though THE RAGING ONES is our first published YA novel, it isn’t the first one we’d written together. In our childhood, high school, and college, we mostly only wrote YA. The harder transition for us had been going from writing Young Adult fantasy novels to writing contemporary romance. In a lot of ways, THE RAGING ONES was like returning to something we’d started but hadn’t finished yet. We always attribute our romance books as the reason why we’re better writers, and when we went back to this other genre, we realized how much more we could do and push ourselves. Our writing process is pretty much identical across the map for Young Adult and Adult. 

 4. What is the weirdest thing you had to research for the novel? 

Since THE RAGING ONES takes place on a frozen planet, we had to keep jumping down an Animal Planet rabbit hole. We paid close attention to the animals that could exist. It’s not too weird, but there were a lot of times we had to double-check each other and be like, “Cotton isn’t a fabric here” and “You can’t make them eat chicken. There are no chickens.” 

 5. Did THE RAGING ONES have a certain soundtrack you listened to while writing?

 Yes! We always listen to music while we’re writing, and we complied a public Spotify playlist for the book, which includes songs that were in our earbuds as we were typing. We love the dramatic scores from Gravity and Interstellar, but we always say “Keeping Your Head Up” by Birdy is the essence of the book. 

 THE RAGING ONES Spotify Playlist: Here!

6. What is your dream cast for THE RAGING ONES? 

We love dream casting our books and making Pinterest boards! For THE RAGING ONES, we can imagine Lyrica Okano as Franny Bluecastle, Henry Zaga as Court Icecastle, and Noah Teicher as Mykal Kickfall. THE RAGING ONES 

Pinterest Board: Here!

About THE RAGING ONES:

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Publication Date: August 14th, 2018

Summary:

In Altia, everyone knows the day they’re going to die from the moment they’re born. But what happens when that day passes and you’re still alive? THE RAGING ONES follows three teens who should have died young: Franny Bluefort, a young orphan who lived fast and hard, only to wake up the next morning after her death day in the cold, unforgiving city streets; Mykal Kickfall, who was meant to die at 8 but instead was forced to flee his rugged home to avoid questions of his survival; and Court Icefort, the mysterious boy who acts like an Influential, but has a terrible secret. And, for some inexplicable reason, they can feel each other's emotions as if they were their own. With the threat of people learning the teens have dodged their deathdays, they must flee their planet, Saltare-3, to survive. Who knows what will happen if people suddenly think they might be able to escape death? But to do so, all three will have to hide their shared bond as they vie for a highly sought after spot in the newest mission to space. Against thousands of people who are far smarter, will live longer, and will never fear death the way that they do.

Buy it:

Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | Indigo | Indie Bound

About the Authors:

Krista & Becca Ritchie are New York Times Bestselling Authors and identical twins, one a science nerd, the other a comic book geek. With their shared passion for writing, they combined their mental powers as kids and have never stopped telling stories. Graduates from the University of Georgia in Biology and English & Journalism, the twin writing duo now lives in Atlanta. The Raging Ones is their first young adult novel.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest

Guest Review: Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner

Title: Goodbye Days
Author: Jeff Zentner

Rating: 5/5 Stars
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Hardcover, 405 Pages
Published March 2017

Summary: One day Carver Briggs had it all—three best friends, a supportive family, and a reputation as a talented writer at his high school, Nashville Academy for the Arts. The next day he lost it all when he sent a simple text to his friend Mars, right before Mars, Eli, and Blake were killed in a car crash. Now Carver can’t stop blaming himself for the accident, and he’s not the only one. Eli’s twin sister is trying to freeze him out of school with her death-ray stare. And Mars’s father, a powerful judge, is pressuring the district attorney to open a criminal investigation into Carver’s actions. Luckily, Carver has some unexpected allies: Eli’s girlfriend, the only person to stand by him at school; Dr. Mendez, his new therapist; and Blake’s grandmother, who asks Carver to spend a Goodbye Day with her to share their memories and say a proper goodbye to his friend. Soon the other families are asking for a Goodbye Day with Carver, but he’s unsure of their motives. Will they all be able to make peace with their losses, or will these Goodbye Days bring Carver one step closer to a complete breakdown or—even worse—prison?

Today on the blog we have a guest review from Taylor over at taylorelizareads! They were kind enough to stop by and review Goodbye Days and share their thoughts on it, and we couldn't be more excited to have them here as our guest reviewer for today! So without further ado, let's get into it!

This summer, I’ve been filling my TBR pile with contemporaries with a serious bent. Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner was no exception. When I read the synopsis I knew that it would be a serious character study, but this book absolutely blew me away. It’s a beautiful journey through trauma, survivor’s guilt, friendship, and family that hit me so deeply. 

Goodbye Days is about Carver Briggs a high school student at Nashville Academy for the Arts, where he is a writing student. Recently, his three best friends Eli, Mars, and Blake were killed in a car accident, and he blames himself because of the text he sent to his best friend Mars right before the accident. Carver blames himself and so do some of the family members left behind. With the help of Blake’s grandmother, his new therapist, and the girlfriend of Eli, he is able to complete goodbye days with all three families to begin to grieve their loss and say goodbye. 

There are many books about teenagers going through grief, but few if any others I have read portray it in such a raw and honest way. Throughout this book you are exposed to the messiest parts of grief, and the way it impacts different people in various relationships with the three deceased. The emotional arc of this book is heart-wrenching at times, but allows you to see that grief is not static, nor is the worst of it going to always be there. The way in which Carver must deal with the survivor’s guilt of being the only one to survive is somehow so universal in the weight of being someone left behind. 

Not only does this book do an excellent job of dealing with grief, but it also tackles trauma. Seeing a character forced to deal with the aftermath instead of the lead-up, and the discussions about the way that trauma shapes us were really powerful. That’s something I rarely see in YA, and part of what drew me to this book. Personally, what really impacted me was seeing Carver to go therapy and discuss everything he’s going through with a professional. In the books I’ve read professionals are so often left out of the conversation and it was refreshing to see a therapist be brought into the fold in that way. The conversations that occur surrounding medication in this book also felt really important and the kinds of things I had needed to hear at sixteen. 

Carver’s character is a difficult perspective, but an unflinchingly honest one. Part of what makes his character so powerful is the dichotomy between the empathy of the tremendous grief he’s undergoing, coupled with whether or not you feel he is to blame for the accident and death of his friends. 

Something I love about this book is the way it doesn’t give any easy answers. There’s a rich complexity to everyone Carver interacts with that doesn’t allow him to ever get out of a situation easily. The parents and families of the three boys ask Carver and each other the tough questions, which then in turn allows you the reader to ask the same things of yourself. 

Despite being dead from the beginning of the book, Zentner never allows you not to know the three boys who died in that car. He allows Carver’s living memories to be the way you experience them, creating a conversation around the ways in which we remember people being their legacy. Many times Carver is unable to distinguish his flashbacks from reality, allowing the reader insight into Carver’s anxieties, and exploring the negative aspects of flashbacks. 

In the book being written this way, it allows some respite for the reader, while also hitting hard emotionally when both Carver and the reader remember the reality of the situation. 

This book comes together to create meaningful conversations, and important representation of grief and trauma that did not disappoint when reading. The complexities woven into the grief being dealt with in this book felt so genuine and as if Carver was someone you might have come across in the halls of your high school. 

In the end, this book surprised me, in what it was able to talk through, and the ways in which it impacted me while reading it. The conversations this book brought up are ones I hope to have in person, and discuss with others. I will definitely be picking up a copy for my personal library, so I can recommend this and lend it out to everyone.

We'd like to once again thank Taylor for stopping by The Book Bratz today to post this guest review. You can read the original review over on their blog!

** Psst! Interested in guest reviewing on The Book Bratz? Shoot us an email at thebookbratz@gmail.com or DM us on Twitter (@thebookbratz) and we'd love to have you!

ARC Review: The Art of Losing by Lizzy Mason

Title: The Art of Losing
Author: Lizzy Mason

Publisher: Soho Teen
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Hardcover, 336 Pages
Publication Date: February 19th, 2019

Summary: When 17-year-old Harley’s boyfriend drives drunk, an accident leaves her sister Audrey with amnesia. Audrey has no memory of what she did with Harley’s boyfriend or of how they betrayed her. But Harley can’t forget it. While Harley tries to forgive her sister, she reconnects with Rafael, an old friend who’s fresh out of rehab and full of advice. With his help, Harley starts to understand addiction as she works through her feelings and tries to let go of what happened. But when Rafael disappoints her too, Harley learns when to accept the things she can’t change…and when to fight for what she wants.

I met Lizzy Mason and got a signed ARC of The Art of Losing during BookExpo this year, and I'm so glad that I did, because this book ended up being one of the best that I read this summer, and I've been recommending it to everyone I know!

As the summary explains, Harley's little sister, Audrey, ends up in a coma after getting in the car with a drunk driver and getting into an accident. The driver is Harley's (now) ex-boyfriend, Mike. Why were they driving together? Because Harley caught the two of them hooking up at a party. So Harley is already heartbroken after what happened between Mike and Audrey, but then she's struggling to handle her anger at her sister when she's laying in the hospital and fighting for her life. In addition to those struggles, Mike doesn't want to admit he's an alcoholic. Harley's neighbor, Raf, is almost in the same boat, having been sent to rehab for addiction. But although Raf and Mike have the same struggles at their roots, the way they choose to acknowledge and handle them is different in each boy, and Harley witnesses it all while also trying to help her younger sister fight for her life.

So, yeah. Definitely some heavy stuff.

What I loved most about this book was Harley's character and the way that she interacted with the people around her. Her strength is something that I admire and always strive to have, and seeing it in her character definitely inspired me to pursue it further. I really appreciated the way she didn't brush Mike's wrongdoings under the rug and just let it be after him getting out of the hospital. While she acknowledges the fact that she's grateful he's okay, she's still not giving him a pass for the terrible things he's done, which definitely would've frustrated me if I read that. So seeing her not do that had me cheering her on even harder. Especially through all of the shit Harley's been through, she manages to keep a level head and keep pushing forward.

Another character that I really enjoyed in this story was Raf. He was sweet and kind and artistic, and I really enjoyed his interactions with Harley. (Well, most of his interactions -- I'll leave you to figure that out when you pick up the book yourself!) The fact that he's also struggling but handling it in a totally different way than Mike does made me appreciate him even more. It definitely demonstrates the fact that there is no one type of addict, and even if they seem to be the "better" addict and making good changes, relapses are absolutely possible, and people are far from perfect. 

One of the most inspiring parts of this entire book was the opening author's note. In it, Lizzy Mason explains that she was an addict herself growing up, and then she had a lot of struggles that she needed to work through in order to get to the position that she's in today. This book isn't just an author trying to pretend what addiction or pain is like, writing from the outside. Lizzy makes it clear (in completely blunt words, which I appreciated) that she's lived it. She's experienced it. She knows what those types of struggles are. And as someone who has never been in that position, I really appreciated the insight and knowledge that I learned and was exposed to in this book.

Overall, I absolutely loved this book and I've already gone through on Goodreads and recommended it to everybody that I know in my contacts list. I gave it to my sister to read right after I did, and she stayed up all night to finish the entire book in one sitting. This book was absolutely one of my favorites this summer, and I wish I could read it all over again and experience it again for the first time. I don't come across a lot of books that touch me in this way, so it was such a refreshing and amazing feeling!

If this book isn't on your TBR yet, I can definitely confirm that you're missing out. I'm definitely excited to read more of Lizzy Mason's work in the future, because her writing in The Art of Losing definitely has me hooked!

Review: An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Title: An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes #1)
Author: Sabaa Tahir
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Razorbill
Publication Date: April 28th 2015

Summary: 

Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free. Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear. It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do. But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy. There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

So I am 3 days post reading An Ember in the Ashes and I'm still a little numb at the ending. (I will explain below when I explain my character ships.) I never really understood the hype for this book, meaning: it sounded amazing, it got raving reviews the original cover is stunning, ect. Books get such big hypes sometimes and it makes me hesitant. I've always been meaning to read this but I just never got around to it. I currently have a TBR pile about a mile high but I decided to finally read this one. OH. MY. GOD. It lived up to the hype and now I am obsessed and feel shitty for not reading it sooner. I'm not even joking when I say I devoured this book in two sittings (first time I read 120 pages, second time I read the remaining 330.) Sabaa created a beautiful story and world the shows sacrifice for the ones we love and that the most unlikely faces can turn out to be your allies. 

Laia is a Scholar who lives a quiet life with her grandparents and brother until one day a Mask kills her grandparents and captures her brother. Racked with guilt about running rather then saving Darin, Laia seeks out help with the group she is convinced is to blame about the horrid events: The Scholar Resistance. In their agreement to break her brother out of prison Laia most pose at the Commandant's slave. The Commandant is the head of the Blackcliff school for the brutal training of Masks. The Commandant is brutal woman devoid of human emotion and will kill with out a second thought. Laia soon meets Elias a Mask who is suppose to have nothing to do with the slave. Elias has struggles of his own, he is in a deadly competition with his best friend Helene and two other Masks to become the next emperor of the Martials. Full of sacrifice and in finding who you are An Ember in the Ashes is a thrill ride from the first page and doesn't stop until the last. 

An Ember in the Ashes is told in dual perspective which I love. Elias and Laia each have their own voices and it is amazing to see the ends of the same issues from supposed enemies. I admire Laia's strength and courage where so many have given up, her love and dedication to saving her brother, endured her to go through horrific forms of torture under the hand of the Commandant and she did not give up. Elias is on the side of the enemy, but in the first chapter we learned that he originally planned on deserting his life as a Mask and being a wanted man the rest of his life. With him staying behind you are able to see his struggle between what is moral and what isn't. 

Now, I love Helen and Elias together BUT I love Elias and Laia together BUT I wouldn't mind Laia and Keenan together either. See my dilemma? My Elias and Helene ship is what made the ending to An Ember in the Ashes so painful. I have so many different ships for this book and I have a feeling my heart is going to be shredded by the end of this series. The romance does play a part in the book. But it really helped the story come to life. I am really eager to see where Sabaa is going to take these characters and their relationships in the next three books. 

In the end I love this book and Sabaa very much. She is a beautiful writer and created a beautifully story that is well loved by many readers. I am really eager and excited to see the places she is going to bring this series. All in all this is one of my favorite books that I have read this year.