Author Interview: Christina Henry (Alice)

See my review for this book here.

Interview with Christina Henry:

Tell us a little about yourself… Are you a fan of horror movies? What makes your day? Is being an author the only profession you’ve ever practiced?

I am a fan of certain kinds of horror movies. I’m not a huge fan of modern slasher films but I do love monster movies and anything suspenseful and atmospheric.

As an example, three of my favourite movies of all time are JAWS, ALIEN,

and THE THING. All three movies have very strong atmospheres that shape the tension of the films. I also love Alfred Hitchcock, especially REAR WINDOW.

A good writing day definitely makes my day. By that I mean the writing is flowing smoothly and it doesn’t take me all afternoon to write one paragraph (it feels like it does sometimes).

I’ve done lots of things besides write, including teaching writing, working for an insurance company and selling books. I always wanted to be a writer, though, ever since I was 12 years old.

Taking the Sorting Hat House Quiz for the First Time!

Hey, guys!

I finally took the Sorting Hat House Quiz, which I never did before. I’m super excited to share this video with you, because I never took this kind of Harry Potter related quiz before.

Click to see what house I got in and how!

What’s your house? Do we share the same?

(Unconventional) Review: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Received: Bought
Publication Date: March 27th 2007
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Point of View: 3rd Person
Recommended Age: 12+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, Demons, Vampires, Angels, Romance

BLURB:

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder― much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing―not even a smear of blood―to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know…

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare’s ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

Review: Princeless Volume 1: Save Yourself by Jeremy Whitley

Princeless Volume 1: Save Yourself by Jeremy Whitley

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: Bought
Publication Date: May 23rd 2012
Publisher: Action Lab
Point of View: 1st Person Feminine
Recommended Age: 12+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Comics, Fairy Tales, Feminism, Princesses, Princes and Knights.

BLURB:

Princeless is the story of Princess Adrienne, one princess who’s tired of waiting to be rescued. Join Adrienne, her guardian dragon, Sparky, and their plucky friend Bedelia as they begin their own quest in this one of a kind, action packed, all-ages adventure!

Graphic Novel. Collects issues 1-4 of Princeless.

MY NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Hi everyone, I am writing to you today because I recently created a Youtube channel on which I (will) review books, do book hauls and other bookish videos! I would love for you check it out if you have time and maybe give me feedback if you have some more time.

Also, you can leave the link to your own Youtube channel below and I will check it out. I’m excited! This is something new for me, seeing that I’ve never done anything of the like. I’m not even used to making video, so please imagine that my first video is not perfect! If you have any tips and suggestions, I would love to hear them!

Thank you!

Lola xoxo

Interview: C.S. Pacat (Kings Rising)

Would you say that writing the third and final book in the Captive Prince trilogy was more arduous than writing the first two ones?

It was the most enjoyable to write, but simultaneously the most technically demanding. The greatest challenge was making certain that the book hit all of the right notes, and was a satisfying conclusion to the series. But I loved writing it. It was incredibly exciting for me to have reached that point–there are so many climactic scenes in Kings Rising that, for three books, I had been yearning to write.

Review: The Square Root of Summer by Harriet Reuter Hapgood

The Square Root of Summer by Harriet Reuter Hapgood

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Received: Raincoast Books
Publication Date: May 3rd 2016
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Point of View: 1st Person Feminine
Recommended Age: 12+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Time-Travel, Romance, Family

BLURB:

This is what it means to love someone. This is what it means to grieve someone. It’s a little bit like a black hole. It’s a little bit like infinity.

Gottie H. Oppenheimer is losing time. Literally. When the fabric of the universe around her seaside town begins to fray, she’s hurtled through wormholes to her past:

To last summer, when her grandfather Grey died. To the afternoon she fell in love with Jason, who wouldn’t even hold her hand at the funeral. To the day her best friend Thomas moved away and left her behind with a scar on her hand and a black hole in her memory.

Although Grey is still gone, Jason and Thomas are back, and Gottie’s past, present, and future are about to collide—and someone’s heart is about to be broken.

With time travel, quantum physics, and sweeping romance, The Square Root of Summer is an exponentially enthralling story about love, loss, and trying to figure it all out, from stunning debut YA voice, Harriet Reuter Hapgood.

Review: The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry

The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Received: Borrowed
Publication Date: January 26th 2016
Publisher: Razorbill
Point of View: 1st Person Feminine
Recommended Age: 12+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Contemporary, Soulmates, Time-Travel, Family, Ghosts

BLURB:

Natalie Cleary must risk her future and leap blindly into a vast unknown for the chance to build a new world with the boy she loves.

Natalie’s last summer in her small Kentucky hometown is off to a magical start… until she starts seeing the “wrong things.” They’re just momentary glimpses at first—her front door is red instead of its usual green, there’s a pre-school where the garden store should be. But then her whole town disappears for hours, fading away into rolling hills and grazing buffalo, and Nat knows something isn’t right.

That’s when she gets a visit from the kind but mysterious apparition she calls “Grandmother,” who tells her: “You have three months to save him.” The next night, under the stadium lights of the high school football field, she meets a beautiful boy named Beau, and it’s as if time just stops and nothing exists. Nothing, except Natalie and Beau.

Emily Henry’s stunning debut novel is Friday Night Lights meets The Time Traveler’s Wife, and perfectly captures those bittersweet months after high school, when we dream not only of the future, but of all the roads and paths we’ve left untaken.

Review: Alice by Christina Henry

Alice by Christina Henry

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Borrowed
Publication Date: August 4th 2015
Publisher: Ace
Point of View: 1st Person Feminine
Recommended Age: 14+
Genres & Themes: New Adult, Fantasy, Horror, Retellings, Alice in Wonderland

BLURB:

A mind-bending new novel inspired by the twisted and wondrous works of Lewis Carroll…

In a warren of crumbling buildings and desperate people called the Old City, there stands a hospital with cinderblock walls which echo the screams of the poor souls inside.

In the hospital, there is a woman. Her hair, once blond, hangs in tangles down her back. She doesn’t remember why she’s in such a terrible place. Just a tea party long ago, and long ears, and blood…

Then, one night, a fire at the hospital gives the woman a chance to escape, tumbling out of the hole that imprisoned her, leaving her free to uncover the truth about what happened to her all those years ago.

Only something else has escaped with her. Something dark. Something powerful.

And to find the truth, she will have to track this beast to the very heart of the Old City, where the rabbit waits for his Alice.