In My Mailbox #42

Hey, everyone! I've been MIA in the blogosphere in the past few days as sadly I was so busy again that I just didn't have time to blog or sadly - I haven't read a single page the whole week, things were that crazy every day! I also got only like 5 hours of sleep per night max so I had to catch up today and I slept for 12 hours straight, lol. Yay for weekends! But I still have a lot of catching up to do in terms of reading, blogging and replying to emails, eek!

Aaaanyway, it's time for another installment of IMM (hosted by The Story Siren). I was expecting a looot of books this week, but only two showed up so I'm hoping the rest will be here next week. Here's what I got:

THE CLEARING by Heather Davis - I saw this one on several other blogs and I was instantly intrigued by the story. As someone else pointed out somewhere (can't remember who, sorry), it sounds quite a bit like The Time Traveler's Wife, which is one of my all time favourite books, so how could I resist getting this one? Can't wait to read it!

DELLA SAYS: OMG! by Keris Stainton - Yay, finally! Got this one for review from Keris and it jumped straight to the top of my TBR pile! I'm hoping to read it this weekend so expect a review soon!

That's it from me - what did you get? I can't wait to find out! :)

Waiting On Wednesday: THE TENSION OF OPPOSITES

Waiting On Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.

This week I'm looking forward to the release of THE TENSION OF OPPOSITES by Kristina McBride, which comes out on May 25. I don't really read thrillers and such, but this one intrigues me, plus I quite like the trailer!

It’s been two years since Noelle disappeared. Two years since her bike was discovered, sprawled on a sidewalk. Two years of silence, of worry, of fear.
For those two long years, her best friend Tessa has waited, living her own life in a state of suspended animation. Because how can she allow herself to enjoy a normal high school life if Noelle can’t? How dare she have other friends, go to dances, date boys, without knowing what happened to the girl she thought she would share everything with?
And then one day, someone calls Noelle’s house. She’s alive.
A haunting psychological thriller taken straight from the headlines, The Tension of Opposites is a striking debut that explores the emotional aftermath of a kidnapping on the victim, and on the people she left behind.

Review: SWAPPED BY A KISS by Luisa Plaja *****

Rachel hates her life and everyone in it - she even has suspicions that her on/off boyfriend David might not be entirely trustworthy. However, when David invites her to a music festival in England featuring their friend's band, she jumps at the chance for an overseas adventure. Hoping to surprise David, Rachel arrives at the festival early, where she runs into a nasty surprise of her own - she sees David kissing their friend Jo.
Distraught, Rachel runs off, wishing she could leave her life behind...the next thing she knows, she's back with David. But not as herself...She's now in Jo's body! Can she keep the swap a secret from David until she can work out exactly what's going on and get her revenge?
Over the course of a very weird weekend, Rachel puts herself in someone else's shoes and finds that her own maybe weren't as uncomfortable as she'd always thought. But can she ever be herself again?

This is a sequel (well, sort of) to Split by a Kiss, but instead of by Jo(sie), this book is narrated by her (gothically inclined) friend Rachel. She's decided to surprise her boyfriend David at the music festival in England, but when she turns up, she sees him kissing their friend Jo (from Split). Rachel's been through some tough times recently, both with David and her family - she's had enough of her life and she wishes she was Jo, thinking her life would be perfect then. The next thing she knows, she finds herself in Jo's body and it takes her a while to figure out she actually got her wish!

So this book is mostly narrated by Rachel (in Jo's body!), who's learning to have fun at the music festival while trying to get her revenge on David and trying to find out if he really is the cheating 'dastard' she takes him for. At the same time, she also learns some surprising things about why Jo's boyfriend Albie has suddenly disappeared and learns that being in Jo's shoes/body is hardly as fun as she imagined, but at least it helps her let her hair down for the first time in her life (since she doesn't have to pretend to be tough) as well as put things into perspective ...

What about our girl Jo, you ask? Well, when she unexpectedly finds herself in Rachel's body, she's so confused that people around her think she's taken some serious drugs or really gone crazy so she's taken to the hospital for some tests. She's soon transfered to a posh private hospital where she visited by her (err, Rachel's) mum and no one else. We learn about her part of the story through the (hilarious) diary she keeps to cope with her (err, Rachel's) supposed 'anger issues'. Being alone, she has plenty of time to think about her life and relationship with Albie (have they broken up or not?) and at the same time she also learns a lot about Rachel ... But gosh, pretending to be mean like Rachel is exhausting work, heh ...

How fantastic was this book?! Let me tell you - VERY fantastic! I adored everything about it and I have no complaints whatsoever!
The plot itself was great - I mean, doesn't everyone get tired of their lives and wish they could be someone else, someone less flawed and with a supposedly perfect life? And since this isn't possible in real life, I found it immensly enjoyable to read about in this book - even if the ending is half expected, the story itself was still fantastic. It was just the right mix of hilarious scenes (the Glow Pants Girl thing had me in stitches, LOL) and tackling some more serious topics, and it all connected and it worked!

The writing and the dialogue were brilliant and both narrators were fabulous - I loved Rachel's snarkiness and Jo's (private!!) diary entries were downright hilarious! I found myself relating to Rachel quite a bit, seeing how I was also very angry and appeared tough and wore nothing but black when I was her age. I know how difficult it is to drop that 'image' and Rachel got a perfect chance to let her hair down without worrying about what people would say.
In my review of Split, I said I found some of the characters (mostly the meanies) slightly stereotypical - well, luckily I cannot say the same for this book as I thought ALL the characters were really well portrayed and had dimension, even the side ones (Clyde, Tamber, Hailey, Tori, Stumpy Braids, Heavy Lids et al.).

Lastly, the cover is gorgeous and it makes me want to hug the book, it's just too cute. Oh and there's a special treat in it for Jenny from Wondrous Reads - she gets a special mention on the Dedications page and even a small shoutout in the book - how cool! :D

Anyway, can't you tell I loved this book? I really enjoyed reading it and it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, it was fantastic! If you've enjoyed Split by a Kiss, then you're going to love this one - and if you haven't read either, then what are you waiting for?! ;)

overall rating:
plot: 5/5 | writing: 5/5 | characters: 5/5 | cover: 5/5
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Interview: KERIS STAINTON, the author of DELLA SAYS: OMG!

As a part of her blog tour, I had the pleasure of interviewing Keris Stainton, the author of Della Says: OMG!, which is her debut novel and it comes out on 6 May 2010!

To see what the first readers thought of the book, please visit Chicklish, Novelicious and Rhiana Reads. I'll be reviewing the book soon (cannot wait!!!) and in the mean time please enjoy the interview below. :)

Q: You're a debut novelist so please do tell us a bit about yourself. I also love your name, it's fabulously unique! Is there a story behind it and how is it pronounced properly?
A: Okay. :) I'm 38, which I can't quite believe since I feel about 25. I'm married with two little boys and I live in Lancashire, which is lovely. I spend WAY too much time on Twitter and I love YA fiction and American TV shows like The West Wing, Glee, Gossip Girl, Friends... My name rhymes with "ferris" - like ferris wheel or Ferris Bueller. The name itself is Welsh and the proper spelling is Cerys (Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas have a daughter named Cerys), but I was actually named after a friend of my mum and she spelled hers Kerris. Yes, with two Rs. I changed it to Keris (with one R) because I think it looks better that way.

Q: Have you always wanted to be a writer? What was your road to publication like?
A: I've always written, yes, but I didn't really think seriously about being a writer until a few years ago. I didn't have the confidence, I don't think. My road to publication was actually pretty smooth, but it was slow. It's taken four years from signing with my agent to seeing Della in the shops (actually, I haven't seen it in the shops yet, but I know it's there!).

Q: Is there a particular reason why you've decided to write YA instead of adult novels? Also, what authors do you look up to?
A: No. I just had an idea for a story about a teenager and so I wrote it. But I absolutely love YA and probably read more YA than adult fiction these days. (Although I have also written an adult novel, but I don't have a publisher for that... yet *crosses fingers*). And there are LOADS of writers I look up to. Meg Cabot is the YA goddess, of course. I also love E Lockhart and Maureen Johnson. For adult fiction, I'm a huge Marian Keyes fan and I really love Lisa Jewell too.

Q: What does an average day in your life look like?
A: I take my eldest son to school and then either drop the baby off with my (very kind!) in-laws or put him in bed and then I get to work. Or rather to Twitter. Then I answer emails, blog, tweet and generally faff about on the internet, all the time worrying about the fact that I haven't even opened my writing file. I'll do this every day for weeks until it all becomes too much and I force myself to do some novel writing. And then I feel much better and promise myself I'll write regularly in future. And then I do the same again. Maybe I should go to a hypnotist or something...

Q: How long did writing Della take? What inspired the book?
A: It took about four months, I think. The book was due at the same time as my son, Joe, so I knew I had to get on with it. It was inspired by my own experience. When I was a teenager, my sister had a party and my diary went missing. I started thinking about how much worse that would be if it happened now - with social media and mobile phones, etc.

Q: Tell us a bit about Della - how would you introduce her to your potential readers? In what way can she be a role model to the young girls today?
A: Della's quite insecure and self-conscious. Her mum and sister are both gorgeous and so even though Della is too (but in a different way) she can't see it. She also worries about revealing too much of herself because she's afraid people won't like her if they know the real her. So of course having people read her diary - her most intimate secrets - is horrifying to her. I think she's a role model because she learns to be honest, to be herself and not to worry too much about what other people are thinking about her. I was terrible for that when I was a teenager. What I didn't understand then is that no one is that bothered about anyone else because they're too busy worrying about themselves!

Q: The original title of your debut novel was Della Says: OMG! WTF? - is there a particular reason why the last part was removed?
A: Some of the shops thought it was a bit too rude, which I'd been worried about too. It was an eye-catching title, for sure, but I prefer the new title. What about you?

Q: The book comes out next week and the rumour has it that you're planning a launch party - can you tell us more about that? And most importantly, what will you be wearing??? (Joking about the last part as I know you've been stressing over it, hehe.)
A: I'm having two launch parties! Argh! One in London - where I lived for 10 years and a lot of my friends and publishing industry people are - and one in Manchester, near where I live now. I don't know what I was thinking of. I'm promised they'll be the best nights of my life, but I'm in denial about them. I'm even more in denial about what I'm going to be wearing. I've got some amazing shoes, but not much else. I really wish they were pajama parties. I can manage pajamas. :)

Q: What's next for you? Are you already working on a new book? If so, do tell us ALL about it!
A: I'm supposed to be working on one, yes. :) It's about a British girl named Jessie who goes to New York following a horrible break up, and Finn, an American boy who's in love with his best friend's girlfriend. They're perfect for each other. But first they have to meet... and there are 8 million people in New York.

***

Ooh, sounds intriguing - I look forward to learning more about it as time goes by!
Thanks for stopping by and answering my questions, Keris - and good luck with the launch, I'm sure it'll be a success! :)

To learn more about Keris Stainton, visit her website or her book related blog. You can also find her on Twitter or Facebook.

You can get your own copy of Della Says: OMG! at Amazon, Book Depository or WHSmith.
The tour continues tomorrow at chicklittings.blogspot.com so don't forget to drop by.

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In My Mailbox #41

I only got three books this week, but they're all fantastic and they nicely represent the three genres I favour, ha! Look, aren't they gooorgeous? :)

THE HIDDEN DANCE by Susan Wooldridge - I got this for review from Alison & Busby. I've been wanting to read it for aaaages (ever since it came out in hardcover) and once the paperback finally arrived, I read it immediately. It was just as great as I expected it to be - review coming soon!

SWAPPED BY A KISS by Luisa Plaja - I pre-ordred this straight after I read Split by a Kiss, which I loved! It arrived bang on the release date looking all pretty & shiny and I just finished it actually - as it turns out, I thought it was even better than Split! I absolutely loved it - expect a review soon!

MIDNIGHT GIRLS by Lulu Taylor - I pre-ordered this ages ago just because it sounded great. I haven't read anything by this author yet, but I do have a copy of Heiresses, which I also can't wait to read.

So that's it for me - what did you get? :)
Lastly, thanks to The Story Siren for hosting this awesome meme every week!

Lauren Barnholdt cover change + Book Blogger Hop!

Well, this may be oooold news as I've been completely out of the loop lately, but I've just found out that the two books by Lauren Barnholdt that I'm looking forward to (One Night that Changes Everything & Watch Me) have gone through a major cover change!

Here are the NEW COVERS:

And to refresh your memory, these are the OLD COVERS:

Now tell me, which do you prefer?

In the case of One Night, I think I prefer the new cover, which looks more fun(ky), but the old one had this air of mystery around it and it felt more sinister, which was intriguing ... But the new one's fine by me!
As for Watch Me, I really really reeeeally like the old cover and even though the new one may be more fitting, I still prefer the old one. The new one's not horrible or anything, but it's no match for the old one, bah!

ETA: I just found out that the author explained all the reasons for the cover changes on her blog - see here & here. Fascinating!

ps: It's Book Blogger Hop day - don't forget to join in the fun @ Crazy-for-Books.com! And HELLO to all the lovely bloggers who are visiting from the Hop - hope you'll be sticking around! :)

Review: SPOTLIGHT by Ilana Fox *****

A fallen star. A runaway bride. They're about to be pitted against each other by a very powerful man.
Madison Miller has everything - beautiful, talented and just a little bit naive; she's the small-town girl who swept to victory on America's hottest talent show to become the nation's sweetheart. She's also head-over-heels in love with the man who's masterminded her career - the head-spinningly powerful, lethally attractive Beau Silverman. But there's trouble in paradise...
Jess has bolted from her approaching wedding and a dead-end job in London to chase dreams of being a fashion designer in New York. But she's finding life in the Big Apple tough, until she meets a man who makes her an offer she can't refuse. It means a taste of a life she's never had - glamorous parties, paparazzi, haute couture - but at what price?
Sweeping from the hotspots of LA to the coolest bars of New York, SPOTLIGHT cuts a gloriously fun swathe through the world of celebrity and glamour, with a page-turning story at its heart.

Having loved Ms Fox's debut, The Making of Mia, I could not wait to get my hands on her second book, Spotlight, which is actually OUT TODAY! I got my ARC a while ago and as irresistable as it was, I decided to save it and read it closer to the release date. Once I started it, I couldn't put it down! I loved pretty much everything about this book so I hardly know where to begin praising it, heh!

Firstly, the plot was gripping! Okay, I'll be the first to admit that it was slightly far fetched, but it was still a fantastic read!
We have two girls, one ex-stripper turned mega popstar (Madison) and a runaway bride from the UK (Jessica). What they have in common is that they were both manipulated by the same man - Beau Silverman, the music mogul and a ruthless businessman. He's the owner of a music company and a talent show Teen Star USA, and he's determined to produce the best popstars ever, no matter the cost. After winning Teen Star, Madion becomes a worldwide superstar and a massive celebrity overnight. After the press get wind of her relationship with Beau, the latter gets furious and blames her for putting their careers at stake. Consquently, he bans Madison from her pre-tour appearances, almost imprisons her, and finds another girl to represent her - Jessica. He manipulates her into thinking that by posing as Madion's double, she'd only be helping her, and Jessica can't help but buy his lies ...
I was really quite gripped by the story and kept wondering what will happen when the truth comes out ... There were indeed a few twists & turns and the ending was nicely dramatic too, I loved how things were wrapped up and the story itself was honestly fantastic. I loved reading about the glamourous showiz world as well as about what really goes on behind the scenes - I do wonder where the author got all the inside scoop. ;)

On top of the great plot, the book also features a strong set of characters. The one that really stands out on the negative is Beau, the ruthless music mogul. He is incredibly manipulative and evil and just overall a horrible, selfish person. However, he can also be the most charming man on the planet and he's a very talented liar so he can easily wrap people (especially women) around his finger. I thought both of his sides were portrayed really well and thus he made a great antagonist - goodness knows I wouldn't like to mess with him, heh.
Then we also have the two girls, Madison and Jessica. At the beginning of the book, they're both shy and naive, and I was slightly annoyed by how doormat-y they both were around Beau at first - but I suppose I can't really blame them as he really was a master schemer and knew which strings to pull. But later on, both girls become stronger and learned to stand on their own two feet. I grew rather fond of them and admired them for how they solved their seemingly hopeless situation.

The writing itself doesn't particularly stand out, but it's fitting enough and makes the novel very easy to read. What definitely stands out though is the gooorgeous cover, which I absolutely love and I'd definitely pick it up in a book shop.

In conclusion, I thought this was a fantastic light read, set in the showbiz world, with a gripping plotline and great characters. Not typical chick lit, but definitely recommended if you're looking for some escapism!

overall rating:
plot: 5/5 | writing: 4/5 | characters: 5/5 | cover: 5/5

Waiting On Wednesday: REVOLUTION by Jennifer Donnelly

I must confess I own all the Jennifer Donnelly books (Tea Rose, Winter Rose, Northern Light), but I haven't read any of them yet - although I really, really want to as they sound fantastic! The same goes for her next book, REVOLUTION, which is due in September! Moreover, I love the cover - I think it's her best one yet and it would definitely catch my attention in a bookshop!

REVOLUTION
by Jennifer Donnelly
[28th September 2010]

BROOKLYN: Andi Alpers is on the edge. She’s angry at her father for leaving, angry at her mother for not being able to cope, and heartbroken by the loss of her younger brother, Truman. Rage and grief are destroying her. And she’s about to be expelled from Brooklyn Heights’ most prestigious private school when her father intervenes. Now Andi must accompany him to Paris for winter break.

PARIS: Alexandrine Paradis lived over two centuries ago. She dreamed of making her mark on the Paris stage, but a fateful encounter with a doomed prince of France cast her in a tragic role she didn’t want—and couldn’t escape.

Two girls, two centuries apart. One never knowing the other. But when Andi finds Alexandrine’s diary, she recognizes something in her words and is moved to the point of obsession. There’s comfort and distraction for Andi in the journal’s antique pages—until, on a midnight journey through the catacombs of Paris, Alexandrine’s words transcend paper and time, and the past becomes suddenly, terrifyingly present.

Jennifer Donnelly, author of the award-winning novel A Northern Light, artfully weaves two girls’ stories into one unforgettable account of life, loss, and enduring love. Revolution spans centuries and vividly depicts the eternal struggles of the human heart.

Aah, how awesome does this sound?! I can't wait that long, I need this book in my life *now*! :D

Waiting On Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.