Waiting On Wednesday: Restore Me (Shatter Me #4) by Tahereh Mafi

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking The Spine where we highlight some of the upcoming books we can't wait 

Emily's Waiting on:

Title: Restore Me (Shatter Me #4)
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Genre: SciFi 
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: March 6th,2018

Summary: Juliette Ferrars thought she'd won. She took over Sector 45, was named the new Supreme Commander, and now has Warner by her side. But she's still the girl with the ability to kill with a single touch—and now she's got the whole world in the palm of her hand. When tragedy hits, who will she become? Will she be able to control the power she wields and use it for good?

When I first heard the news that this was being written, I was basically shocked. I also wish that after a series ends the author would decide to continue it at a later point and my wish finally came true. I'm overly excited to read this book and I'm sure were all wondering the same thing; will we get more Juliette and Warner or will Adam make a reappearance? Let us know what questions you hope will be answered in the comments below!

What are you waiting on this week? Leave your links so we can stop back!

Review: Still Life With Tornado by A.S. King

Title: Still Life With Tornado
Author: A.S. King
Publisher: Dutton Books
My Rating: 4/5 Stars
Hardcover, 295 Pages
Published October 2016

Summary: “I am sixteen years old. I am a human being.” Actually Sarah is several human beings. At once. And only one of them is sixteen. Her parents insist she’s a gifted artist with a bright future, but now she can’t draw a thing, not even her own hand. Meanwhile, there’s a ten-year-old Sarah with a filthy mouth, a bad sunburn, and a clear memory of the family vacation in Mexico that ruined everything. She’s a ray of sunshine compared to twenty-three-year-old Sarah, who has snazzy highlights and a bad attitude. And then there’s forty-year-old Sarah (makes good queso dip, doesn’t wear a bra, really wants sixteen-year-old Sarah to tell the truth about her art teacher). They’re all wandering Philadelphia—along with a homeless artist allegedly named Earl—and they’re all worried about Sarah’s future. But Sarah’s future isn’t the problem. The present is where she might be having an existential crisis. Or maybe all those other Sarahs are trying to wake her up before she’s lost forever in the tornado of violence and denial that is her parents’ marriage.

 

I was assigned this book in my Young Adult writing class, and I'm so glad I did because it introduced me to A.S. King! I was also assigned another book of hers for a summer reading project this year, Ask The Passengers. (You can read my review of that book by clicking here.) 

Still Life With Tornado tells the story of Sarah, a sixteen-year old girl who finds herself obsessed with the idea that nothing is original. In the middle of feeling stuck in her own struggles, she's also unaware of her parents' failing marriage and the struggles with her mysteriously gone older brother Bruce that they aren't allowed to talk about anymore. Confused and alone, Sarah suddenly finds herself visited by a ten-year old version of herself, and later on by twenty-three and forty-year old versions as well. She's completely convinced she's hallucinating...until other people can see them too. And these past and future Sarahs help her come to terms with things she hadn't ever stopped to consider before, and the truth opens up an entire whirlwind of struggle, secrets, pain, and disaster. 

I really enjoyed reading this book. I wasn't sure what to expect when I first started reading it, because the book seemed to pretty much be realistic fiction, and then all of a sudden there was a ten-year old version of Sarah sitting around. Not only that, but other characters in the story were openly acknowledging her, so you know that Sarah wasn't just making her up. And the more Sarahs that appeared, the more confused I was getting. And Sarah is also incredibly apathetic and numb in the beginning of the story, seeming to go through the day-to-day motions, skipping school, making up scenarios in her mind at her "new school," and just generally seeming lost and unhappy. The first few chapters of the book were definitely difficult for me as I struggled to grip what Sarah's purpose in the story was and where the narrative was going to take me.

However, as the book went on, I found myself delightfully surprised. As the story moves forward, Sarah remembers more and more of her fateful past and you even get some chapters from her mother's perspective, and you learn a lot about her family history that starts to unravel and make a huge mess. The reader even gets a lot of this information before Sarah does, so there are those highly tense moments where I knew something that Sarah didn't and I was just urging her to hurry up and put two and two together before things exploded.

My favorite part of this book was definitely Sarah's love affair with art. I've been on both sides of the fence with her struggle, torn between loving a craft so much that it's all you ever want to do and sometimes feeling so lost and helpless and uninspired that you think you're better off dropping it forever. As a writer, I feel like this is a struggle I am constantly battling with and to see it put out on the page in a totally different way -- but with the scenario still the same -- was both refreshing and reassuring to see.

Overall, I really enjoyed Still Life With Tornado. I'm really glad that I was assigned to read this book in my class because I may not have known about it otherwise, and I would've been missing out on an incredibly touching, heart-wrenching, confusing-yet-clear story. I enjoyed how King pushed the boundaries with this one and did a few nonconventional things that I wouldn't expect as a reader or a writer, and these things actually ended up working for the novel and kept things refreshing and interesting. After reading this book and Ask The Passengers, I'd definitely be open to reading more of A.S. King's work in the future -- so it's time for me to go on Goodreads and update my TBR!

Event Recap: Lecture By YA Author A.S. King

Author A.S. King

Hi guys! I'm here with you today for a somewhat unusual post. I received an incredible opportunity through my school recently that I just had to share and I figured a lot of you would appreciate. So here we go!

Earlier this week, I had the privilege of going to a talk hosted by author A.S. King at my school. It was such an awesome time listening to her talk about her writing process, her editing process, and even her publishing process. She answered a lot of great questions from the audience and really gave some interesting facts and tidbits about her previously published books (and even her upcoming one!), and I was honestly just so happy and excited to have the chance to get to see her.

One of my favorite moments of the night was when A.S. King was talking about her editing process and getting into specific detail about each of the steps she uses. My personal favorite was the "HOLY SHIT CHAINSAW REVISION" round of edits, which I can totally relate to. She even put it on her presentation slides!

The rest of the conversation was about all sorts of things. She discussed her writing process, which is the total opposite of mine but still incredible based on all of the amazing work she puts out -- it turns out that she's a pantser rather than a planner! She also gave some little pieces of information about her book that she just recently handed in to her editor, which means I'll be routinely checking the bookish news feeds for word of this story soon. She's also so freaking funny, and some of her jokes and little asides had me laughing so hard I could barely breathe.

It was just such an incredible night to be surrounded by so many writers, which is something that I don't get very often. It was refreshing to hear an author make writing related jokes and speak with literary jargon that everyone in the room understood without needing additional explanations. As I always say, book peeps are the best peeps! And being surrounded by them while listening to such an incredibly amazing and professional writer give a presentation gave me such a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Like I said, I'm super glad that I got a chance to go to this event. A.S. King is a spectacular author and speaker, and she really made me that much more excited to go sit in bed and write until sunrise that night. (I tried to do that, but my exhaustion got the better of me. But the attempt was definitely there!) Now I'm also going to be super fortunate to have her be leading my YA Fiction Writing class in school later this week, so I'm looking forward to another opportunity to pick her brain about her writing process.

And if you haven't read any of A.S. King's books, I definitely recommend you give them a shot! The two I've read (and loved!) so far are Still Life With Tornado and Ask The Passengers, but I'm super eager to pick up some more. Add her books to your TBR recently! You can check out her books and her Goodreads author profile here.

Who are some authors that you'd love to experience an opportunity like this with? Comment down below and let me know!

Waiting On Wednesday: Here We Are Now by Jasmine Warga

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking The Spine where we highlight some of the upcoming books we can't wait to read!

Jessica's Waiting on:

 
Title: Here We Are Now
Author: Jasmine Warga
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: November 7th, 2017

Summary: Despite sending him letters ever since she was thirteen, Taliah Abdallat never thought she'd ever really meet Julian Oliver. But one day, while her mother is out of the country, the famed rock star from Staring Into the Abyss shows up on her doorstep. This makes sense - kinda - because Julian Oliver is Taliah's father, even though her mother would never admit it to her. Julian asks if Taliah if she will drop everything and go with him to his hometown of Oak Falls, Indiana, to meet his father - her grandfather - who is nearing the end of his life. Taliah, torn between betraying her mother's trust and meeting the family she has never known, goes. With her best friend Harlow by her side, Taliah embarks on a three-day journey to find out everything about her 'father' and her family. But Julian isn't the father Taliah always hoped for, and revelations about her mother's past are seriously shaking her foundation. Through all these new experiences, Taliah will have to find new ways to be true to herself, honoring her past and her future.

I've been a fan of Jasmine Warga ever since she tore my heart out with My Heart And Other Black Holes (and my review can be read here). This book seems to be filled to the brim with everything I love in a story -- a mysterious father, an epic adventure, and learning secrets that have been hidden in plain sight for years? Count me in!

And that cover -- I just love the color scheme. (If our blog layout is any indication!) I can tell that this is going to be a great book that I'll end up loving -- I can just feel it. So here's to crossing my fingers and hoping I get a copy soon to check it out for myself!

What are you waiting on this week? Leave your links so I can stop back! 

October Book Recommendations!

OCTOBER RECOMMENDATIONS!

It's officially the spookiest month of the year!! Let's get excited! To celebrate the beginning of October, I'm here with another installment of my monthly book recommendations. While none of these books are new releases, they're still super interesting and chilling reads that are perfect for Halloween month! 

So without further ado, here are my recommendations for October!

Book #1: Roseblood by A.G. Howard

Title: Roseblood

Authors: A.G. Howard

Publisher: Harry N. Abrams 

Why I'm Recommending It: I am a huge Phantom of the Opera fan, which is exactly what this book is centered around. Imagine going to a school that believed he was still around and haunting everyone -- this book is all the right amounts of chilling, creepy, and even (at times) romantic. And if you're a huge Phantom fan like I am, then this is the perfect season to enjoy a book like this. If you want to read my review, you can click here!

Book #2: Hotel Ruby by Suzanne Young

Title: Hotel Ruby

Author: Suzanne Young

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Why I'm Recommending It: It's been several years, but this is still one of my favorite books of all time. It tells the story of a girl who is traveling with her family and suddenly winds up in a hotel that seems really luxurious and awesome at first...but then things start to go wrong, and things aren't adding up, and no matter how hard she tries, she cannot leave. And then she finds out that the hotel stands for something scarier than she could've ever imagined...gosh, I'm getting chills just thinking about this book again. You can read my review here.

Book #3: (Don't You) Forget About Me by Kate Karyus Quinn

Title: (Don't You) Forget About Me

Author: Kate Karyus Quinn

Publisher: HarperTeen

Why I'm Recommending It: I reviewed this book a really long time ago, but it's still stuck with me and I tend to recommend this book for all different scenarios because it's just that good. It's the story of a creepy town that has a time of year where all the teens are driven to do dangerous, destructive things -- sometimes even resulting in their deaths. But one girl sees through it all and knows that she has to stop the murderous cycle before it can continue yet again...but when she discovers is worse than she could've ever imagined. If you want to read my review, you can click here.

I hope everyone enjoyed my October book recommendations! Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Do you have any spooky recommendations of your own? Comment them down below!

If you want, check out my book recommendations for previous months in 2017!
January Recommendations
February Recommendations
March Recommendations
April Recommendations
May Recommendations
June Recommendations
July Recommendations
August Recommendations
September Recommendations