Today I welcome the fabulous Jess Shirvington to the blog as part of the blog tour for her latest contemporary-sorta standalone novel, Between the Lives, which came out in stores on the 1st of this month (May, 2013). I for one was excited for Between the Lives as Jess is one of those authors that I will read anything of – that was truly after the magnificence that was Endless, book four in the Violet Eden Chapters – and when I saw that work had received an uncorrected proof… I just had to pull a sneaky and take it. Anything to read something by Jess, and like I said: Blame Endless.

Jess will be discussing the “science” or rules behind the shifting of lives that Sabine experiences in Between the Lives, with explanations for why Jess decided to use such a device and difficulties or achievements she encountered. For a list of other blog stops on this tour click on the banner above and you’ll be directed to Jess’s blog post with the information and links for the other blogs and posts.

• • •

The Rules of Shifting

The concept of having two lives developed more from the themes and content I wanted to include than specifically wanting to have an otherworldly element. In many ways, I view this book as a psychological thriller/contemporary fiction though I know others would describe it as sci-fi because of the dual realities.

When I first came up with the idea of moving between two lives I spent a lot of time working out what all the rules would be. I considered absence in one world, time replay (as in she has the exact same reality but she just rewinds within it – like a groundhog day). I considered the exact same world and two different families where she actually existed twice within the one world. Basically, my mind ran amuck with all the possibilities. But in the end I chose two separate realities of which neither is dissimilar to our own world – the same, same, different approach. Part of the reason why I chose this was because I didn’t want the sci-fi element to overtake the more important story thread: Sabine, her choices and what is happening in her lives when she is not paying attention.

Once I had decided this, it was just a matter of looking at all the angles and setting the rules – what would cross over? What wouldn’t? Will she have perfect memory? Will she look the same? Will she feel or experience anything during the shift? Is it painful? Can she move things between her worlds? What elements of her two worlds are similar? Is the weather always the same? It was a long list!

At the same time, I was aware that there was always a question mark. The story is written from Sabine’s point of view. She appears trustworthy as a narrator, and yet, there are times readers will consider questioning her in the same way other characters do within her story. Is she really shifting between worlds? Why doesn’t anyone else? Is it possible that they are right, that Sabine is actually insane?

It was important to me as a writer that within the rules of her shifting that there was this possibility. Sabine is sure of her existence – both of them – but are we? Does she do enough to prove beyond any doubt that she is living this fantastical life? Could Dr Levi’s diagnosis be correct? One of the best things about this story is that by writing it from Sabine’s point of view, I only ever had to explore it through her mind so in the end, even I can’t answer those questions completely.

• • •

So there you have it. Wasn’t that interesting? I sure wouldn’t want to be Sabine, that’s for certain.

.

Above all else, though I try not to think about it, I know which life I prefer. And every night when I Cinderella myself from one life to the next a very small, but definite, piece of me dies. The hardest part is that nothing about my situation has ever changed. There is no loophole.

Until now, that is…

For as long as she can remember, Sabine has lived two lives. Every 24 hours she Shifts to her ′other′ life – a life where she is exactly the same, but absolutely everything else is different: different family, different friends, different social expectations. In one life she has a sister, in the other she does not. In one life she′s a straight-A student with the perfect boyfriend, in the other she′s considered a reckless delinquent. Nothing about her situation has ever changed, until the day when she discovers a glitch: the arm she breaks in one life is perfectly fine in the other.

With this new knowledge, Sabine begins a series of increasingly risky experiments which bring her dangerously close to the life she′s always wanted… But just what – and who – is she really risking?

Find BETWEEN THE LIVES at:
Goodreads | Booktopia | Fishpond | Bookworld

Follow Jessica Shirvington at:
Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

HI SCAVENGERS! Why am I here? Specifically today?

It’s exciting to be participating in the cover reveal for Jay Kristoff’s KINSLAYER, the sequel to the god-fucking-awesome STORMDANCER – oh, and synopsis, must not the forget the kinslaying synopsis. (Sadly some peeps at Macmillan jumped the gun, most likely jizzing in their pants like I did at Supanova amidst people cosplaying with Sir Jay Kristoff standing right in front of me. Glad it didn’t seep through my red chinos. Would’ve been a seriously embarrassing – no, autocorrect! not embracing!!! – dilemma. And this is a seriously detailed parentheses.)

So yeah. The US cover for Kinslayer. IT’S. EPIC.

At Supanova last month Sir Kristoff handed me his phone… obviously I should’ve pretended I was looking at the cover and went through his emails instead, looking for the email to his editor of the Kinslayer draft and forwarded it onto myself. If only I was smarter. IF ONLY! Anyway, I digress. I stood staring, staring, staring, gazing at the beauty, at the lushness of the water, at the monstrosity of the sea dragon and the possessiveness of Buruu. At the left brown eye of Yukiko, at the left eye hiding behind her mop of shiny black hair ready to pounce, at the samurai sword she’s about to… SLICE AT ME! HOLY MOTHER OF *BEEP* *BEEEEEPP* I love her. I love it – this cover. …………….

……

***ATTENTION: THIS POST HAS BEEN INTERRUPTED BY SOME UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES DOWN——-**

We’re back. Sorry about that. I told him not right now. … Yes, my griffin, Optimus *diverts eyes*

Maybe I should get into the cover reveal? First I’ll share the synopsis!

KINSLAYER SYNOPSIS

A SHATTERED EMPIRE

The corrupt Shōgun Yoritomo has been assassinated by the Stormdancer Yukiko, and the threat of civil war looms over the Shima Imperium. The Lotus Guild conspires to renew the nation’s broken dynasty and crush the growing rebellion simultaneously – by endorsing a new Shōgun who desires nothing more than to see Yukiko dead.

A DARK LEGACY

Yukiko and the mighty thunder tiger Buruu have been cast in the role of heroes by the Kagé rebellion. But Yukiko herself is blinded by rage over her father’s death, and her ability to hear the thoughts of beasts is swelling beyond her power to control. Along with Buruu, Yukiko’s anchor is Kin, the rebel Guildsman who helped her escape from Yoritomo’s clutches. But Kin has his own secrets, and is haunted by visions of a future he’d rather die than see realized.

A GATHERING STORM

Kagé assassins lurk within the Shōgun’s palace, plotting to end the new dynasty before it begins. A waif from Kigen’s gutters begins a friendship that could undo the entire empire. A new enemy gathers its strength, readying to push the fracturing Shima imperium into a war it cannot hope to survive. And across raging oceans, amongst islands of black glass, Yukiko and Buruu will face foes no katana or talon can defeat.

The ghosts of a blood-stained past.

 FUCKING MONKEYS I NEED THIS BOOK NAOW!!!!

(I have adopted ‘fucking monkeys’ from Sir Kristoff)

I guess now for the cover reveals?

First I’ll share the UK/AUS cover. I came across this one a couple months ago since Tor peeps jizzed a bit too early, and I guess a blob projectiled straight onto the ‘enter’ key weighing it down and posting the cover reveal two months early. So here it is now in it’s glory (before it gets outshined by the US cover).

I must admit – it’s still pretty, and the yellow leaves are pretty, and Yukiko is… mhmmmm… not as pretty as illustration-Yukiko, especially with that stance and her doing it on water and all. If it were me, I would’ve slipped and ended up dead at the bottom of the waterfall, with the sword piercing right through my gut.

And now the US cover…

AHHH.

AHHH.

AHHH.

AHHH.

BURUU! ATTACK! ATTACK! ATTACK!

THOUGHTS?!

LOOK AT THAT MOTHERFUCKING SEA DRAGON MOTHERMOTHERMOTHERMOTHER!

But I must say, this cover illustrates a bit of a spoiler for Stormdancer. *points at Buruu’s wings*

BUT WHO CARES? There’s my fierce Yukiko. Ready for round two, Yuki? I’ll be waiting…

Oh, yeah. The question.

Sorry. I totally forgot about the question. Too eager to share the covers that I almost forgot about the question. Almost. But you had to scroll through all that to get to the question.

Here’s the question for the uber quiz:

8. What special power does Yukiko have?

Pathetically easy question… But you’re the one answering it so good luck!

What you have to do:

On the ten blogs participating in this cover reveal there will be a question like ze one above (you will be able to find a list of participating blogs on Jay’s blog here). When you think you have all the right answers email them to Jay at <misterkristoffATgmailDOTcom> to be able to enter into the running for a major prize pack.

HOWEVER!

On each of the participating blogs you will be able to win an ARC of Kinslayer! Meaning one from this blog. My blog. SQUEEE!

This giveaway is international, it will end one week from today, you don’t have to follow me or anything like some other blogs participating because why should I force motivate someone to follow my blog just because I’m hosting a fully sick giveaway – all you have to do is leave a couple comments (they can be in the same ‘comment’), share this giveaway on twitter, and follow Jay Kristoff on Facebook and twitter. That’s all there is to it.

If you are kind you might also subscribe to Book Probe – but like I said, I don’t want to force you.

Additionally, don’t forget to preorder your copy of Kinslayer, which will be published on September 17th, 2013 – I seriously thought it was August *cry*. You can preorder at any of the online links below or, and what I recommend, is preordering through your local independent bookstore.

Find KINSLAYER at:
Goodreads | Fishpond | Bookworld
Book Depository | Amazon

Follow Jay Kristoff at:
Website | Goodreads | Blog | Facebook | Twitter

So that is it? I’ve winded down. Have you yet? I need this shiny book with its beautiful cover in my hands and on my shelf now. IMA!

Thanks to you for visiting my blog. I hope I didn’t offend anyone. I probably did much less than what Jay would do to you on his blog.

And a big thanks to Jay for allowing me to take part in the cover reveal and for trusting me with his life phone and sharing the cover with me early. And thanks also to Tor and Macmillan for being a bit too excited in their pantyhoses All good, folks!

You’re welcome back here anytime. Yukiko and me are now hand in hand.

Goodbye. For now.

Kubicki, the artist of the art that Random House Australia originally used for the trilogy’s covers, and Marianne have come to an agreement to share these amazing covers with the world (check out Kubicki’s site here). But as RHA had copyright with the titles and other details, they had to be altered a little bit, but they’re still pretty cool. I’m incredibly happy international folks are able to have the same cover art in addition to the goodness that the books hold.

BEHOLD! The covers for the international paperbacks:

Wait. What? Is that my blog and a quote from my review on the back of Shine Light?

WHY, YES IT IS!

*flails around the house at uni*

So what do you think? EXCITED?! I know I am!

The books are going to be available next week some time on Amazon so make sure you’re one of the first to purchase this awesome trilogy!

I just wanted to post this so that you are aware where I will be if I do not post in a while.

Today we were given access to information regarding what the requirements are to be successful applicants for the Postgraduate Diploma of Psychology and Honours. And since I’m in my third and final year of my undergraduate this information was more important than ever. If I had known this or researched into it more last year then I would be fine now, I believe, and able to continue my leisure and education the same as it was.

But this semester for my Psychology of Personality and Psychology Project A units and next semester in my Abnormal Psychology, Abnormal Psychophysiology and Social Psychology units I need at least a mark of 87, a high distinction, to be safe in obtaining a placement in the 30 each being taken in for the PGDP and Honours. Getting around 90 on each of those above units and then with Design & Measurement 3 from last semester to get an average and then combined with the average of three of my units I completed last year in second year will hopefully give me a score that will help me get into PGDP or Honours. For Honours you need 80% and Postgraduate 75%.

Psychology is a pretty tough field while studying and quite competitive advancing onto further education. At the end of this year I become an Australian accredited psychologist. But as I want to specify in clinical psychology so that I can further work with autistic children as well as children with Asperger’s, schizophrenia and a range of other abnormal disorders, getting into Honours and then onto Masters is what I want to do. It seems though I had not looked ahead to what I need and only to the immediate and the days counted down until I complete my undergraduate.

In terms of the blog, I will try HARD to get a post or a review in here or there if I have free time – which I probably won’t – but Facebook would still remain sort of active ,as sharing news or communicating with you, my readers and followers, is easier and more immediate than the blog. Same with twitter.

If worse comes to worse and I don’t get the marks I need with this year’s units to get into Honours or Postgraduate, I could always do a Postgraduate or Honours in Psychophysiology, which has been my co-major for my undergraduate. In my thesis for this I could always research into autism spectrum disorder and other abnormal brain functioning, which still relates to what I have wanted to do as a career. Though I won’t be able to become a ‘clinical psychologist’ in which I had dreamt of becoming ever since I first studied psychology in secondary school.

In the end, life sucks and you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do, what will make you succeed, what is most important at this time in your life.

I love blogging. I love everything that comes with this hobby. And although it kills me to say it, but, blogging is insubstantial to my education and future career. In writing this post I feel as though I’ve put reading and blogging above all else, in which I think I have, even though I have done well at university – just not well enough in the long run.

Like I said, I’ll try to post something here and then to show you that I’m still here, but it will be irregular and only if a review or post is warranted.

Please.

And thank you.

Braiden.

BEEPnews is a feature I post ever Sunday to keep you up to date on any book, event, entertainment, publishing, or other news that you may have missed in the past week.

LATEST COVER REVEALS

  
  
  
  
  
 

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DESIGN PROCESS OF SCHWAB’S ‘VICIOUS’ COVER

Tor recently revealed the cover for Victoria Schwab’s Vicious, a tale of an experiment gone wrong involving extraordinary abilities. This novel has me definitely intrigued. But Tor increases that interest by posting how the cover designer and illustrator came about to get the finished cover that you see on the left. Victo Ngai was the illustrator, the first name that came to editor Miriam Weinberg’s mind when the time to begin work on the cover came.

The last of these posts I read was for Jay Kristoff’s Stormdancer, which was fascinating. I like what Tor does, and they’re a publisher that fits right with my fantasy and science fiction devoting side. Their covers are equally amazing. And I absolutely love when covers are illustrated as there is a uniqueness and possession that that book holds that covers with stock images do not.

If I ever have my science fiction or fantasy works published I want them to be published by Tor with illustrations on the covers like these.

Read the post on Tor.com here, which at the end has Victoria Schwab discussing her thoughts on the cover, too.

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MILA 2.0 TRAILER

EW’s Shelf Life had the honour of revealing the book trailer for Debra Driza’s young adult debut Mila 2.0, which is published by Katherine Tegen Books and released in a few days time on March 12th, 2013.

Debra Driza’s MILA 2.0 is a high concept sci-fi thriller about a teenage girl who discovers that she is an android who was created in a U.S. government lab. If the title sounds familiar, it might be because a television drama based on the book is already in development with ABC and Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes.

I had not known that this book is being adapting for TV, and by Shonda Rhimes, too! I love Scandal, which was created by Rhimes, and so I’m definitely looking forward to the adaptation of Mila 2.0. I had an eARC but I didn’t get around to it. Will check it out though.

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DARK DAYS BEHIND THE SCENES

HarperTeen posted on YouTube a behind-the-scenes look and a culmination of recordings filmed during the latest Dark Days winter tour, featuring Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, Tahereh Mafi, and Veronica Rossi, as they travel across US states with early morning plane flights and lots and lots of book signings.

BEA BUZZ BOOKS ANNOUNCED

BEA has announced its adult’s, young adult’s and children’s buzz books for the 2013 expo. Are you going to BEA and want to know which books are going to be buzzing endlessly for the duration of the expo? Check out the list of books at Publisher’s Weekly here.

For the young adults books the only one I recognise is Anna Jarzab’s Tandem, coming October 2013 from Delacorte Press.

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CATCHING FIRE PORTAITS

Over the past week a number or character portraits for the Hunger Games: Catching Fire film were released featuring the dazzling costumes designed by Trish Summerville.

The faux-magazine for The Hunger Game‘s setting Panem (a.k.a. the dystopian future version of North America), Capitol Couture, has begun unveiling a series of “Victory portraits” that showcase various main characters in new fancy attire – as should be featured in the actual Catching Fire movie.

The characters include Katniss (on the left), Peeta, Gale, Joanna, Finnick, President Snow, Cinna, Beetee, Effie, and Haymitch. Check out a gallery of all these portraits at Screen Rants here.

These portraits make me so giddy about Catching Fire. I WANT IT NOW! (By the way, do you notice the mocking jay on the top of Katniss’s dress?)

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MAZE RUNNER LEAD OFFERED

Will Poulter, best known for his role as the annoying Eustace in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader film, has been offered a leading role in the film adaptation of James Dashner’s The Maze Runner, in cinemas February 14th, 2014 and directed by Wes Ball.

It is not known which role Poulter has been offered but fans of the books have announced their thoughts on James Dashner’s Facebook posts such as this and this. Many are against him playing Thomas, and I too don’t think he fits the part. But in my opinion I think he could be good as Newt or Alby.

As this is the first of the casting news for The Maze Runner we will surely get more announcements within the next few months.

Read the article at Deadline here.

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]]> http://bookprobereviews.com/?feed=rss2&p=3667 2 http://bookprobereviews.com/?p=3667 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bookprobereviews/~3/Fs7rsw6Cu-A/ http://bookprobereviews.com/?p=3566#comments Thu, 07 Mar 2013 23:51:06 +0000 Braiden http://bookprobereviews.com/?p=3566 This review WILL contain spoilers for previous books in the series, so if you haven’t yet begun this series I urge you not to continue.
It MAY/WILL contain spoilers for LIGHT.

BEWARE OF EMOTIONAL OUTBURSTS, TOO.

‘Turn out the light, Sam.’
Sam reached for the switch and turned out the light.

Title: Light, Gone #6
Author: Michael Grant
Publication: April 1st, 2013 by Egmont Books
Format, pages: Hardcover, 576
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction, Apocalyptic
My Rating: ★★★★★ 

IT’S THE END OF ONE OF MY FAVOURITE SERIES!

From Goodreads:

It’s been more than a year since every person over the age of fifteen disappeared from the town of Perdido Beach, California. In that time, countless battles have been fought: Battles against hunger and lies and plagues and worse, battles of good against evil, and kid against kid. Allegiances have been won, lost, betrayed, and won again; ideologies have been shattered and created anew, and the kids of the FAYZ have begun to believe that their new society is the only life they’ll ever know. But now that the Darkness has found a way to be reborn, the tenuous existence they‘ve established is likely to be shattered for good. Will the kids of Perdido Beach even survive?

Light, the sixth and final book in the New York Times bestselling Gone series (which has spanned more than 3,000 pages!) asks as many profound and provocative questions as it answers, while bestselling mastermind and author Michael Grant creates an unforgettable, arresting conclusion that readers won’t able to stop talking about.

For the past four years I’ve followed Michael Grant’s Gone series. I’ll admit I came to this party almost three years late. One day browsing Borders I stumbled upon this book with blue-edged pages. That book was, of course, the UK hardcover of Lies, the third book in the series, which had just been released. On impulse, and being ignorant of the fact that it was the third in a series, I bought it. I liked the blue. But I had no idea that that impulse buy, sheerly on the colour and design of the book, would introduce me to a series of impressively written teenage characters, many whom to fall in love with, a series to follow and be apart of until the end in years to come (e.g., now), and a series to call one of my favourites.

This series also made me a fan of Michael Grant, an author who consistently pushes the boundaries of reality, of fiction for teens and young adult, producing a world such as the FAYZ that could very well happen, and a diverse range of characters, of young people, that could very well attend your school, or even be in your class, with crippling secrets and haunting pasts, with feelings and fears and desires that you would otherwise never had known they possessed if you did not take the chance to meet them, follow their stories, experience what they experienced, how they changed, for the better or for the worst. For the past six years, six books, three thousand pages, from Gone all the way to Light, that is exactly what we, the readers, did. We took a chance and met Michael Grant’s characters – Sam, Caine, Astrid, Diana, Pete, Quinn, Edilio, Lana, Brianna, Jack and all those others. Even Drake and Brittany and the gaiaphage/Gaia. We took the plunge into Michael Grant’s story, followed it from beginning to end, because we found something special within it, grew an attachment to it – whatever ‘it’ was. For me it definitely was the characters, their struggles and triumphs, their fears and doubts, their beginnings and ends, that made me keep returning. After reading the conclusion, the finale, the endgame, it was sad to say goodbye. It truly was.

So thank you Michael Grant. For this series. For these characters. For a story and message(s) that will linger, forever, deep within, and whenever I look upon my shelf and see those books I will remember what they hold: the power to choose – the power to choose good, be good, wield good. To not be afraid. To be someone that chooses wisely, someone who uses their power – whatever that power may be – for good in changing and making the world a much better place to live in. Every teenager that reads these books will understand, despite whatever they’re battling – depression, illness, failure, suicide, heartbreak, loss, addiction, sexuality, among others – that the power lies in their hands, and we can only hope that they discover that power and use it to emit light, guidance, strength – a future to look forward to. And just like what I deduced from Fear, it’s up to ourselves to transcend our deepest and darkest fears.

Michael Grant understands his readers, the modern teenager, and enhances his stories with this understanding. After all, we need to battle through darkness to discover a world of light. Adults censoring or banning such works like Michael Grant’s from their children could learn a thing or two, with the adults doing much more harm to those their “protecting” than these books could ever do: none and quite the opposite.

It’s not easy ending a series and Michael Grant ended it with integrity and intrepidity, both of those things I love to see in what I read. There was a lot of horror and pain, torment and loss in Light – all of that belongs to be in the book, rightfully, dutifully. Because, after all, we are human; there’s good and evil in each and every one of us, chances for redemption and atonement if we allow ourselves change in our lives, a chance to love and respect, a chance to live and survive. We have that right if we choose to accept it. There are other times when we are far beyond being given the right to choose, clouded too heavily in darkness. That the choice, if there ever was one, was made without us even knowing, subconsciously, predetermined. This was the case with Drake. He was predetermined to take on a dark role within the FAYZ, and there really was no change in him since the first book other than physically and in his thirst for more power.

Drake barked out a laugh. ‘Do you have any idea how many shrinks have tried their words on me? You think you can do better? It has to be some sickness, some syndrome, right? Put a label on it and everything will be better.’ He laughed at the idea. ‘Are you as clueless as the rest of them, Astrid? It’s simple. Here it is, here’s the answer, Astrid the Genius: it’s fun to hurt people. It’s such… it’s such joy, Astrid. Such joy realising that all that power is yours, and all the fear and pain is right there, in your victim. Come on, smart girl, you know what it’s called. You know the word for it. Come on, say it.’ He cupped his hand to his ear, waiting for the word.
‘Evil,’ Astrid said.
Draked laughed, threw up his hand wide, and nodded his head. ‘Evil! There you go. Good for you. Evil. It’s in all of us. You know that, too. It was in you. I saw it in your eyes as you looked down in that cooler. Evil, hah. We all want to have someone powerless beneath us while we stand over them.’ His voice had grown husky. ‘We all want that. We all want that.’

Interspersed throughout the goings-on within the dome is a few scenes of Connie Temple attempting to communicate with the kids inside the FAYZ in order to reach Sam. During that she encounters Drake’s grandfather, and their conversation ends with Grandfather Merwin talking about Drake. He says that Drake was always a troubled kid after the death of his father, and although it is not said or even glimpsed at, Drake’s “young” stepfather may have further shaped Drake to be who he became to be, before and even during the FAYZ. But that’s not stated and instead has Merwin saying he doesn’t know what has happened to Drake.

‘What happens when we do know?’ she asked in a small voice.
‘I suppose we’ll behave like a bunch of holier-than-thou hypocrites. Because the alternative is to look at ourselves in the mirror and know that we are capable of dark and terrible things.’

The conversation ends with Merwin saying, ‘Dark and terrible things. And the joys they bring.’ Merwin shares a story of his time during the Vietnam War and it presents Merwin as someone that reflects directly in Drake. Merwin said that he would pull the trigger again on a helpless Vietnamese prisoner if it needed to be done again because he took pleasure in the revenge. Drake has exactly the same principles. And throughout Light we see Drake consistently trying to get revenge on those that have annoyed him, tried to kill him, witnessing his psychopathic tendencies and the pleasure he gets out of what he does.

Where one fails, another succeeds. Drake was always one of the bad guys since the beginning; he had no intention to do good whatsoever. Then you have Caine who although was seen as a bad guy for most of the series, he never truly was (depending on how you decide to see him). We understood Caine and why he has always had the urge to control, to be on the top. He never really did anything as evil as what Drake did. But he still progressed and changed slowly as the series progressed. It is in Light where Caine truly shines. Fear forced Caine into a vulnerable state after what Penny did, but he still had his dignity and the objective to rise above everyone despite being stripped of the control he worked so hard to get. Light is where he learns that he was doing it wrong all along, and decides to atone for everything he has done in the FAYZ. And I won’t spoil it because that was one of the major twists of this book that had me speechless, at how much a character could change in my eyes in six books. Diana wants Caine to say that he loves her but Caine believes there’s no point in saying that as it’s all going to end, and the following quote has not a person such as Penny making him vulnerable, but rather the realisation of powerlessness when the FAYZ barrier comes down, as well as losing the love he has with Diana after not having such a sense of devotion in his life at all.

‘What’s the point?’ he pleaded. ‘I’m running away. I’m saving myself and leaving you behind. I’m a rat deserting the sinking ship. I’m a coward holding on to his pathetic life for and extra hour or two. I’m scared to death; I can’t stand up to it any more. I’m done. Why do you want me to say it?’

Where Caine is an example of atonement, Howard – or more widely known as Orc – is a fine example of redemption. Redemption not only within the people around him, from a bully to a near hero, but redemption in himself for overcoming his excessive alcohol drinking and addiction. His transformation internally reflects in his transformation externally from back in Gone, from when he turned into some being composed of rocks and stone and gravel. He went from being in a weak state  to someone strong, a rock for other people if I may say. Orc deserved his ending. But did Caine deserve his?

Astrid smiled at him. ‘You have become one of the good guys, Charles. If there was ever an example of redemption, it’s you.’
She hesitated only a moment out of fear of touching him, but then gave him a hug. How strange he felt. How alien.

Quite a few moments in Light the characters think about life directly after and well beyond the FAYZ. Would any of them be charged with murder, sent to prison? Would any of them see each other again? That all they have gone through will mean nothing in the eyes of the people on the outside, that it was all just a game and they can all just go home and live happy and normal lives. What rights do teens really have in the real world, where their fantasies are almost non-existent? Where what they had in the FAYZ they would not have in the outside. Where what is wanted or desired is overpowered by parents’ and society’s expectations and authority. What reward will they really get for surviving the FAYZ? Was the FAYZ perfect after all? That even within a bleak and disastrous world such as the FAYZ there was still happiness and comfort to revel in. Early on in the book, at page 12 (of the uncorrected proof at least), has Astrid thinking about her relationship with Sam and what it means for them in the future.

My God: she was happy.
The very idea that she should be happy was absurd. It was almost a crime. Things were desperate, but then they had been for a long time. Desperate had long since became the new normal.
If the barrier really did come down… if this really was the endgame… They were fifteen. Out there, out in the world, they had no legal right to be together.
They’d been through hell. They’d been through a whole series of hells, and they were still together. But none of that would mean anything in the eyes of the law. Her parents, or his mother, could snap their fingers and break what Sam and Astrid had built.
It was not the first time Astrid had had the thought that maybe liberation from the FAYZ would be no such thing.

Each book has had their various villains – or not quite villains, just confused individuals. Drake/Brittney has been a force to reckon with throughout the series, never being able to be killed as their body melds itself back together again no matter how many times Brianna slices them in pieces and scatters them across Perdido Beach. But the real villain, the ultimate villain of the FAYZ, the thing that started it all fifteen years ago was the Gaiaphage, the Darkness, some entity that hit Perdido Beach’s Nuclear Power Plant riding a meteorite. At the end of Fear the Gaiaphage slips into the body of Diana’s and Caine’s baby so he can carry on with his plan of “world domination”. In Light he is now known as Gaia, a child growing with speed as every day goes by, becoming more powerful. Gaia possesses the abilities of those who are still alive in the FAYZ. So when she kills one she loses their power. But Sam’s power is something the Darkness desired from the start, so the teen who can stop Gaia is someone Gaia cannot destroy. Gaia is a vicious, demonic creature, and in Light it is pretty obvious that he/she is not of this world, something that only cares for its own succession. And in the end, Gaia truly doesn’t understand humans; you must understand humans in order to defeat them, you must know the chink in their armour.

‘I realised, when I saw the forest burning, how fascinating the firelight is. It’s beautiful, and people stare at it, don’t they? It destroys things and kills people, but humans love it. Is it because they crave their own destruction, Sam? I want to understand your kind. I am going out into the wider world, and I must learn. But first things first. First, to escape this shell, this egg in which I have gestated, all eyes will be on the fire, all eyes blinded by the smoke, and when I walk out of here, out into your large world with its billions, no one will even see. It’s the beauty of light, don’t you see, Sam? It reveals, but it also distracts and blinds. It’s even better than darkness.’

The title of this conclusion is perfect. Light. So many meanings and interpretations taken from one word. That’s what each book title had. They not only meant their literal meanings but metaphorically, too. In Light there was truth, revelations, clarity, in addition to that visual “light at the end of the tunnel” saying. Each character had their defining moments to shine. I couldn’t have expected anything less from Michael Grant, and this series was ended with perfection, a blazing heavenly fire lit across the sky to signal a well-fought victory. You can bet I’ll be going back to the beginning, where it all began to read from start to finish. And even by the time I reach the Aftermath chapters of Light the second time round, the lives of the characters will continue to prosper long after the final page, no matter how many times I return to this book, and this series.

(I may still add more onto this… just… because… I need this review to be perfect.)

A mega huge thanks to Jen at Hardie Grant Egmont for sending me an uncorrected proof to review and cry over. I pestered her for months on end and I think she deserves some hugs of thanks.

Other books in this series:

1. Gone (June, 2008)
2. Hunger (May, 2009)
3. Lies (May, 2010)
4. Plague (April, 2011)
5. Fear (April, 2012)
6. Light (March/April, 2013)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish in which we list our top tens of different topics each week!

This week’s topic is “top ten series I’d like to start but haven’t yet.”

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I will include images later today when I’m free.

1. THE MONSTRUMOLOGIST SERIES by Rick Yancey

I have had the first three books in this series for over a year and I think it’s time that I dive into them. I am about to begin reading Rick Yancey’s The 5th Wave so it’s great that I have his previous works that he is well-known for, and I will pick them up immediately if I love this start of a new series of his (although I’ve been meaning to read The Monstrumologist all along anyway).

2. THE WHEEL OF TIME by Robert Jordan (and Brandon Sanderson)

All right. So this series has finally come to end with Brandon Sanderson writing the final three books after Robert Jordan passed away. There’s 14 books in the series and I have planned to get stuck into this popular fantasy series… finally! The first book The Eye of the World was published in 1990, three years before I was born, so of course I couldn’t stat the series back then. Maybe I should have picked the series up years ago, but ever since I started blogging and reviewing mostly Young Adult books I’ve rarely had the opportunity to read the genre of books I love most, which is Adult Fantasy (and Science Fiction). The Wheel of Time series is one of those fantasy series in which I am pushing myself to read over the coming years – beginning this year.

3. THE MALAZAN BOOK OF THE FALLEN by Steven Erikson

Like The Wheel of Time series, Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen series spans numerous books – I believe there’s 10 so far, in addition to a spin-off. This is another series I have wanted to read. I own the first three books, which is a pretty good indication of my wanting to read them. Like most fantasy books Steven Erikson’s books are pretty dense, but nevertheless, despite my young adult reviewing endeavours, beginning this series is also on my to do list.

4. DEPARTMENT NINETEEN SERIES by Will Hill

With only two books and a third coming out in the next few months Will Hill’s Department 19 series has garnered great reviews from readers young and old. It is a paranormal/supernatural series about a secret organization responsible for policing the supernatural. So I guess it’s along the lines of Kiersten White’s Paranormalcy trilogy, but I must say, Will Hill may have done a way better job with this concept since Kiersten White’s is a paranormal romance and Will Hill’s is a not-so-much romance and with more action and adventure.

5. THE BENNY IMURA SERIES by Jonathan Maberry

I have the first book Rot & Ruin after hearing so many amazing things about this young adult zombie series, so, you know, when you hear amazing things about a book you just want to read it yourself and experience that same amazement that others had experienced. I haven’t read many zombie books compared to everything I’ve read, so this may be great (actually, I read Darren Shan’s Zom-B recently but I didn’t enjoy that as much as I had hoped). And let’s hope it is!

6. THE ENEMY SERIES by Charlie Higson

Another zombie series on this list; I guess I feel like I’m missing out on some zombie action. Ever since the first book came out I have had my eye on these books but I just never got the chance to read them despite owning the The Enemy and The Dead. Since I have finished reading the Gone series by Michael Grant, I suppose this would be a series to indulge in as they’re kind of similar with the children of 14 thing.

7. THE CURSE WORKERS by Holly Black

Another series I’ve heard nothing but good things about. I have the first. I want to read the first. I want to read it all! (I also don’t think I’ve ever read Holly Black – *gasp*)

8. THE DEMON CYCLE by Peter V. Brett

I’ve had the first two books The Painted Man and The Desert Spear for close to three years and I think it’s also time to begin them as the third book, The Daylight War, came out last month in February. What also has made me intrigued even more is hearing normal readers (not, say, bloggers and reviewers who constantly read) like my uncle saying to me: ‘Have you read Peter V. Brett’s books yet? They’re fantastic!’ THAT makes me want to read a book, and as I work at a bookstore and getting to be in contact with many many many everyday readers and what they recommend or what book they specifically adore always adds books to my list. This is another fantasy series.

9. THE DUNE CHRONICLES by Frank Herbert 

The classic science fiction Dune Chronicles by Frank Herbert. I have to admit I have not read these yet. I should’ve picked them up in high school as I always saw them in the library but I just didn’t have that urge to back then. But now, NOW, I will definitely attempt to read these six books.

10. THE RIFTWAR SAGA by Raymond E. Feist

Another fantasy series. Yes! Another fantasy series, I know. Along with Robin Hobb’s books, which sadly should be on this list too, Raymond E. Feist’s fantasy books are some that I desperately want to read as well. In time I will. In time.

• • •

Thanks for checking out my top ten this week.

Don’t be afraid to comment and I’ll make sure to visit yours in return.

Let’s see with uni beginning today that I can uphold my reading challenge and stay ahead this month in March.

Oh. Em. Gee. It’s March already?

To read the Praying For Rain novella, visit Jay Kristoff’s site here and then click on ‘Bonus Stage’ in the top right.

Reviews:

When We Wake by Karen Healey
What the Raven Saw by Samantha-Ellen Bound
Shades of Earth by Beth Revis
Song in the Dark by Christine Howe
Praying For Rain by Jay Kristoff - Novella
Cinder by Marissa Meyer – Review Yet to be Posted
The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
Aftermath by Andrea Cremer - Novella
Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead
Light by Michael Grant – Review Yet to be Posted
Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
The Mirrored Shard by Caitlin Kittredge - Review Yet to be Posted
The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness – No Review to Come

BEEPnews is a feature I post ever Sunday to keep you up to date on any book, event, entertainment, publishing, or other news that you may have missed in the past week.

COVER REVEALS

By clicking on the covers you will be taken to that book’s Goodreads page.

  
  
  
  
  
 
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CLOCKWORK PRINCESS FIRST CHAPTER PEAK

The past few weeks saw Cassandra Clare and The Infernal Devices fans tweeting, posting, and sharing via various social medias to reveal the complete first chapter of the third and final book of the Infernal Devices, Clockwork Princess. Clockwork Princess comes out on March 19th, so there’s not much more time until we get to see how this prequel trilogy to the Mortal Instruments series concludes, and if Tessa, Will, and Jem make it out alive.

There was a total of 569, 117 tweets with the hashtag #ClockworkPrincess to help with this chapter reveal.

To read the first chapter of Clockwork Princess visit here.

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BURN BRIGHT AMAZON PRICES

Recently it has been announced that Marianne de Pierre’s young adult Burn Bright trilogy, originally published by Random House Australia, will be having an international release through Amazon. On Friday I helped Marianne reveal the new covers and you can check them out here.

There has been mixed responses to the new covers and their comparison to the original covers. I have to agree that the original covers are incredibly beautiful and some of the best. But Marianne says that “the Australian covers were truly magnificent but the cost of re-using them was way out of my price range. The new covers might not be as amazing but they do speak to the content.” But it doesn’t quite matter on the cover, right, if you’re purchasing it in ebook form? The new covers still suit the books, possibly more in the gothic-sense.

Marianne has also said that ebooks will be priced at $3.99 and $8.99 for paperback.

Release date at end of March will be confirmed soon.

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MUSICIANS AND AUTHORS AT ONE PLACE?

If you’re a Dallas resident or live in Texas or surrounding states, why don’t you go to the 23rd Edgefest on the 27th of April (buy tickets)? A number of young adult/teen authors will be vacating the author tent for the day including Brigid Kemmerer, Kendare Blake, Brodi Ashton, Mary Lindsey, Erin Bowman, Rachel Vincent, Susan Dennard, Victoria Scott, C.C. Hunter, and Mindee Arnett. So why don’t you go along and meet your favourite author? An extensive lineup of musicians, singers, and bands will be performing as well.

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MEET MAGNUS BANE a.k.a GODFREY GAO

MTV.com and Joshua Horowitz meets Godfrey Gao on the set of The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones as he answers some questions and discusses the film, his first American film role, and his first scene wearing no pants in the freezing cold.

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TEEN WOLF‘S DEREK HALE: A DISTRICT 3 HUNGER GAMES TRIBUTE IN THE PAST

Ian Nelson, best known for his role as the district 3 male tribute in the Hunger Games film who had his neck/spine snapped by Alexander Ludwig’s Cato, has nabbed a role in MTV’s Teen Wolf as Young Derek Hale in the tv show’s third season. This role may just make him even more well known within the Teen Wolf fandom, even it is only for one episode. Ian Nelson will portray Young Derek Hale in the flashback episode, which is the eighth episode of the season.

The article on E Online says:

…don’t expect to see  the same intense and broody Derek we all know and love today as Nelson plays Derek at 15 years old, when he was a  popular and charming star athlete; this is Derek before disaster struck his family, turning him into a lone werewolf always in search of a new pack.

In the same episode, viewers will also be meeting Derek’s mother Talia, who is a strong and deadly alpha werewolf, and his older sister Laura, a beautiful beta who has the potential to become an alpha.

That flashback episode is one to definitely be excited for. It’s about time we get flashback episodes or scenes in the season sharing events from the characters’ pasts. But I know that it was impossible to do that in addition to telling the story plot in 12 episodes. Now that the new season is 24 episodes we can hopefully expect more backstory and flashbacks for each of the characters.

Derek Hale is played by Tyler Hoechlin – do you see a resemblance between the two actors?

Photo Credit: Collin Stark // article source

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PERSONAL DEMONS BEING ADAPTED FOR TV

Lisa Desrochers’s YA paranormal trilogy including Personal Demons, Original Sin and Last Rite has been optioned by Ineffable Pictures to adapt for television. John Travis, who wrote The Haunting of Molly Hartley and The New Daughter, will be adapting.

EXCITING NEW DEALS AND ACQUISITIONS

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers has acquired A.S. King’s Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future…

…in which a graduating senior struggles with growing apart from her two best friends as all three of them begin having strange and powerful visions of divergent, infinite futures.

Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future has been schedule for fall of 2014. A.S. King is a Printz Honouree and author of Ask the Passengers, Please Ignore Vera Dietz, and Everybody Sees the Ants. Source.

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Lee & Low Books has acquired rights to the YA fantasy Drift by debut author M.K. Hutchins.

Tenjat decides to save his family from poverty by joining the island’s Handlers, who have the dangerous job of protecting their island – a giant turtle – from the “naga” monsters that surround them.

Publication is set for spring 2014. This sounds like something inspired from World of Warcraft with the nagas and Terry Brooks’s Discworld books with the giant title island. Sounds fun though. Source.

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Penguin’s Kathy Dawson Books has bought rights to Django Wexler’s The Forbidden Library. It’s the first in a three-book children’s fantasy series…

…in which books open new worlds for Alice – literally – when she enters her uncle’s off-limits library.

Publication is scheduled for winter 2014. This sounds like an adventurous read. Source.

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Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers has acquired two middle grade books by Emma Trevayne, author of the upcoming young adult science fiction novels Coda and Chorus, which were recently given deals as well. In the first book, Gearwing…

…a boy accidentally travels from his home in Victorian London to an alternate, fairy-populated, steam-clogged version of the city, and is caught in a web of dangerous politics; his only hope of returning home lies with the legend of an enormous, wish-granting clockwork bird.

Gearwing is being published in summer 2014. Source.

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Scholastic Press has the rights to debut author Sara B. Larson’s Defy, a YA adventure romance pitched as in the vein of Kristin Cashore and Leigh Bardugo.

…the fiercest member of a prince’s elite guard is actually a girl disguised as a boy, who gets embroiled in a deadly game of thrones while keeping her secret, and realizes she has far deeper feelings for the prince than she thought.

Spring 2014 is Defy‘s publication date. Source.

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And that’s the end of this week’s BEEPnews. Return next Sunday and every Sunday after that for more bookish news!

Since I first read Burn Bright back in 2011 and the sequels when they came out I had been pining for these books to be picked up by international publishers, mostly in the UK and the US, so that more readers would be able to share in the same magic of Naif’s travels within her world that I had experienced. I have sent these books to bloggerly friends in the US and UK more than a year ago – I’m unsure whether they’ve gotten around to them yet, and I hope they do – but I want more people, such as Amazon customers, browsers, and ordinary folk, to come across Marianne’s books and decide to pick them up for themselves.

I feel incredibly happy to share with you these new covers. I’m incredibly proud of Marianne, too. I also would like to say a thank you to Random House Australia for allowing the Burn Bright trilogy to be available through Amazon and to tread the international boards, making these books – hopefully – more successful. After all, there are many readers anticipating these books to be published in their country, and now, finally, they are able to.

So what do I say to you now? When Marianne’s Burn Bright trilogy hits Amazon at the end of the month… SUPPORT THEM!

And now the cover reveals:

To view these covers larger click on the following links.

Burn Bright
Angel Arias
Shine Light

So what do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

If you’re interested check out my reviews:

Burn Bright
Angel Arias
Shine Light

And once again: SHOW YOUR SUPPORT!