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

Title: The Darkest Minds
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Publication: December 18th, 2012 by Disney Hyperion // December 11th, 2012 by HarperCollins Australia
Format, pages: Hardcover, 488 // Paperback, 496
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopia
My Rating:  

From Goodreads:

When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that’s killed most of America’s children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.

Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.

When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she’s on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can’t risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents.

When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living.

The Darkest Minds was my first Alexandra Bracken book and I was pleasantly surprised. Despite the length of the book, which did cause a few difficulties while reading, The Darkest Minds had characters that you couldn’t help to fall in love with. This book took me over a month to get through and that was solely because of the length. I felt it didn’t need to be that long and some things could’ve been cut out. It was about halfway in which my interest was fading, so I took a break, and then after a few weeks I returned full force, determined to finish it. Surprisingly, I jumped back into Ruby’s story with ease and swept all the way to the end without any struggles. The outcome of this book was satisfying, so I’m eager to see where Ruby’s and Liam’s journeys continue and where Bracken develops this society next in the series.

Children in America are becoming affected with the Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration (IAAN) disease from the age of 10. There is no cure yet for this disease, which triggers a number of symptoms, and the cause of it is unknown. Families do not know what to do so they turn their kids towards rehabilitation camps – if they haven’t already died – in large numbers. Ruby was one of those kids, who, upon learning that she was not immune when she turned 10, frightens her parents and is sent to a rehabilitation camp, Thurmond, joining a multitude of other children in the same circumstance with similar symptoms of the disease. Families and the government is so against this disease because when children discover they’re affected with IAAN they also discover they have abilities, special abilities – abilities that are a hazard to the running of the world that the adults knew before. These kids do not know how to control these abilities that they now possess.

Six years on and things are slowly evolving, becoming different, changing in this society regarding the government, the camps, and the world at large. For six years at Thurmond Ruby manages to keep in check, but when the chance of escape presents itself with the help of an secretive agency called The League, Ruby takes it and soon after a few revelations, finds herself on the run from anybody that would stop her. In the process she finds company in a small group of Psi generation kids still learning to control their powers and trying to survive in their bleak present world on their own. Along with Chubs, Suzume, and Liam, they search for a camp that was everything they could ever need at this time in their lives, where everything was a struggle and protection was what they sought, no matter the cost to get there. Was it all that it was rumoured to be once they got there? Surely not. Ruby learns the hard way whether trust or secrecy is the only option to stand by in order to survive.

If anything, The Darkest Minds is a character driven book. It was not the society and Bracken’s world building that struck a chord with me to make me return but the characters. The characters of Ruby, Liam, Chubs, and Suzumi would be the main reasons to return if you didn’t enjoy The Darkest Minds as a whole. Their characterisations are blissful individually as well as their dynamics together. The relationship between Ruby and Liam was enticing and full of colours – like the colours to categorise the different symptoms and abilities of IAAN. I found no flaw in the development of their connection as friends and their relationship as young teens in love. And the protectiveness that builds between Ruby and Liam over Suzume and Chubs with whatever threats came their way was endearing. I have so much admiration for Ruby and Liam; they remain themselves throughout everything. I looked up to Liam, confident in his ability to help those around him – with zero help from his powers – and his understanding of others, especially of Ruby. Chubs was a modern-day Piggy from The Lord of the Flies, who will win readers’ hearts, and so will Suzume, our mute little Japanese girl, so scared of her ‘shocking’ powers that it has dominated her ability to connect and express with those around her.

I say: pick up The Darkest Minds and make your own judgement about it. Alexandra Bracken has written something that contributes to the number of books and series, such as William Golding’s classic The Lord of the Flies and Michael Grant’s Gone series, in a way that expresses the true nature of human beings, and especially teens, when put in harsh circumstances of survival, where a battle for life and the imminence of death is present, whether set in the real world or in a fantasy and sci-fi set society. These are my favourite types of stories, where humanity is stretched to impossible ends, where innocence is lost, and where self-preservation fights against self-corruption in a raw battle of good and evil.

Thank you to HarperCollins Australia via NetGalley for providing a copy to review.

What others said about this book:

Anna @ Literary Exploration:

I can’t tell you how much I needed a hug by the time it was over, and how badly I want to get my hands on whatever Bracken has in store for me next. If you haven’t already considered reading Darkest Minds you’ll definitely want to add this one to your TBR.

Erin @ Tales of an Inner Book Fanatic:

…The Darkest Minds sets up a fantastic start to a YA trilogy. Containing all of the right elements including action-oriented sequences, an intriguing set of characters and some pretty cool superpowers that all readers will love to have themselves…

Others books in this series:

1. Darkest Minds (December, 2012)
2. Never Fade (November, 2013)
3. Untitled (December, 2014)

Title: Hallowed, Unearthly #2
Author: Cynthia Hand
Publication: January 1, 2012 by Harper Collins Australia
Format, pages: Paperback, 448
Source: From publisher
Finished on: February 18, 2012
My Rating:  

Clara Gardner knew that as a part angel she would one day have to fulfill her purpose, rescuing Christian from a forest fire…what she never considered was what might happen if she were to fail.

Now, torn between her increasingly complicated feelings for Christian and her love for her boyfriend Tucker, Clara must deal with the repercussions of what happened the day of the fire as the two boys vie for her heart. And, as she is drawn further into the world of angels and part angels and the growing conflict between White Wings and Black Wings, Clara learns of the terrifying new reality that she must face: someone close to her will die in a matter of months. With her future uncertain after a shocking revelation, the only thing Clara knows for sure is that the fire was just the beginning…

Goodreads || Book Depository

I enjoyed Unearthly immensely when I read it just as it came out at the beginning of last year. Hallowed was a fantastic sequel, although I found there were a few things which took away that five stars. The only worry I did have was that you find out who is dying before halfway through the book and although you are mislead for the first quarter or so, it still dragged on for the rest of the book. And because of this, there was really no big climax towards end of the book – and definitely did not end in a cliffhanger. However, I guess being anticlimactic does make this sequel one to stand out from the rest as it is not a filler but rather provides you with a lot more information about Samjeeza, Clara’s mother, her father, her purpose, and answers quite a lot of the unanswered questions and events from Unearthly.

What I did love the most about Hallowed however, was that it practically was all about family. Many novels disregard the family aspect of these teens’ lives but Cynthia Hand gave us a family to look to for support and guidance although they may be formed on the supernaturals. If I had a very close friend or relative pass away, then Hallowed would’ve impacted and toyed with my emotions a whole lot more. I did not though, so it did kind of be a bit of a hit-or-miss type of story which may-or-may-not resonate with the readers and their experiences.

Hallowed was a fantastic sequel and I’m looking forward to how Cynthia Hand concludes this trilogy. And the love triangle in here was one I can deal with anytime, anywhere, any day of the week.

____________

Title: Bloodrose, Nightshade #3
Author: Andrea Cremer
Publication: January 3, 2012 by Philomel (Penguin)
Format, pages: Hardcover, 406
Finished on: February 14, 2012
My Rating:  

Calla has always welcomed war.

But now that the final battle is upon her, there’s more at stake than fighting. There’s saving Ren, even if it incurs Shay’s wrath. There’s keeping Ansel safe, even if he’s been branded a traitor. There’s proving herself as the pack’s alpha, facing unnamable horrors, and ridding the world of the Keepers’ magic once and for all. And then there’s deciding what to do when the war ends. If Calla makes it out alive, that is.

Goodreads || Book Depository

I had a few qualms with Wolfsbane but I forget about them now because… BLOODROSE WAS FREAKING AMAZING!! I mean it – This. Book. Blew. Me. Away (It really did blow me… away. I can’t say it any better than how I just did hehe.) And I know from reading others’ reviews – such as those on amazon.co.uk – that they had qualms with this one instead. But how could they? Just because Bloodrose didn’t end in a happily ever after? Because someone that was a dominant figure throughout all three books, and who also had a following, got killed? Because it wasn’t raining chocolate and sprouting fairy floss for the entire length of the book? Because this story didn’t end the way they wished it did, the way they wanted it to? THESE WERE THE REASONS WHY I LOVED THIS BOOK – it is now my favourite of the trilogy. After Bloodrose, Andrea Cremer has now stamped herself in my “books-by-this-author-I-need-to-buy-always-and-always-and-immediately” book. She has cemented herself in YA – and on my shelves – as one of my favourites. And mostly because of how this trilogy ended to be honest.

Unsuspecting endings and unexpected events in books are what makes that said book one to remember. And Bloodrose stamped itself as one of them. I don’t want to give away anything as it is one you just need to read and  experience to believe it. But be prepared to get emotional. Put tear-catchers beneath your eyes so none fall onto the pages of the book.

In Nightshade I was Team Shay. In Wolfsbane I hated Shay and became a Ren fan. But in Bloodrose, Ren still won my heart however Shay wasn’t hated at all. In fact, they both became equals throughout the book with no dislikes for either of them. It was great to not be swayed.

The disappointed fans can stay disappointed and frustrated for all I care. There’s no reason to begin disparaging this book if you didn’t enjoy it as much as you wanted to. Just don’t ruin it for those who have not yet read it and will possibly enjoy it way more than you.

On the evening of 29th November, I attended the State Library of Victoria’s Centre of Youth Literature’s Publisher’s Showcase for 2011 in which spokespeople—be they the publicists or authors—of nine publishing houses in Australia gave insight and “showcased” two of their favourite and beloved books of 2011, as well as two books in the upcoming year of 2012 in which we must set our eyes upon. At this showcase a variety of people attended including librarians, teachers, booksellers, bloggers, and authors. It was a great night to be had in which I was re-acquainted with books I have already read or know about, and acquainted with books that I myself must read (even books that I had been sent for review but thought I wouldn’t enjoy it–now I know).

I did meet a couple of librarians which were lovely and friendly to talk to in which I also managed to hand out a few of my mini-cards for the blog that I received in the mail on Monday (I know, just in time!). We also got a goodie bag for attending which had copies of Shatter Me, Divergent, and Glow (books I already own copies of), pamphlets and bits and pieces of information regarding to the books, and also some swag (one being a cover foldout of Beautiful Malice by Rebecca James <3).

The following includes the books that each publishing house has recommended to check out and their bests of these years. By clicking the title it will take you to the book’s page on the publisher’s site, and then the link in the brackets will lead to Goodreads for you to add to your lists.

Bloomsbury
• A Beautiful Lie by Irfan Master (Goodreads) [2011]
• Sektion 20 by Paul Dowswell (Goodreads) [2011]
• The Hidden Trilogy by Marianne Curley (first book coming in 2012)
• In Darkness by Nick Lake (Goodreads) [2012]

Pan Macmillan
• Six Impossible Things by Fiona Wood (Goodreads) [2011]
• Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley (Goodreads) [2011]
• Kiss Chasey [Working Title] by Fiona Wood [2012]
• The Howling Boy by Cath Crowley (Goodreads) [2012]

Ford Street Publishing
• In The Beech Forest [picture-book] by Gary Crew, illustrated by Den Scheer [2012]
• Trust Me Too [anthology] [2012]
• Mole Hunt by Paul Collins (Goodreads) [2011]
• Changing Yesterday by Sean McMullen (Goodreads) [2011]

Walker Books
• Other Brother by Simon French [2012]
• Wrong Boy by Suzy Zail [2011]
• Broken by Elizabeth Pulford [2012]
• Blood Brothers by Carole Wilkinson [2012]

Random House
• The Extraordinaires: The Extinction Gambit by Michael Pryor (Goodreads) [2011]
• 10 Futures by Michael Pryor [2012]
• Wonder by R.J. Palacio (Goodreads) [2012]
• Blood Song by Rhiannon Hart (Goodreads) [2011]

Penguin
• Legend by Marie Lu (Goodreads) [2011]
• Matched/Crossed by Ally Condie (Goodreads) [2011]
• Disharmony by Leah Giarratano [2012]
• The Reluctant Hallelujah by Gabrielle Williams (Goodreads) [2012]
• The Fault In Our Stars by John Green (Goodreads) [2012]

Text Publishing
• All I Ever Wanted by Vikki Wakefield (Goodreads) [2011]
• The Bridge by Jane Higgins (Goodreads) [2011]
• Queen of the Night by Leanne Hall (Goodreads) [2012]
• Shadows by Paula Weston [2012]

HarperCollins
• Act of Faith by Kelly Gardiner (Goodreads) [2011]
• Silvermay by James Moloney (Goodreads) [2011]
• The Industry by Rose Foster (Goodreads) [2012]
• Mountain Wolf by Rosanne Hawke [2012]

Allen & Unwin
• Ship Kings: The Coming of the Whirlpool by Andrew McGahan (Goodreads) [2011]
• Only Ever Always by Penni Russon (Goodreads) [2011]
• Erebos by Ursula Poznanski (Goodreads) [2012]
• The Ink Bridge by Neil Grant [2012]

So now I ask you; If you’ve read any of the 2011 books above what have been your favourites? Or what of these 2012 books are you looking forward to reading?

In other questions; What books besides these have been your favourite books from Australian publishers in 2011? What are books you are looking forward to in 2012?

“…we neglected to see what was right before our eyes.”

Title: The Death Cure, The Maze Runner #3
Author: James Dashner
Publication: October 11, 2011 by Delacorte Press
Format, pages: Hardcover, 384.
My Rating:  

Thomas knows that Wicked can’t be trusted, but they say the time for lies is over, that they’ve collected all they can from the Trials and now must rely on the Gladers, with full memories restored, to help them with their ultimate mission. It’s up to the Gladers to complete the blueprint for the cure to the Flare with a final voluntary test.

What Wicked doesn’t know is that something’s happened that no Trial or Variable could have foreseen. Thomas has remembered far more than they think. And he knows that he can’t believe a word of what Wicked says.

The time for lies is over. But the truth is more dangerous than Thomas could ever imagine. Will anyone survive the Death Cure?

Goodreads || Book Depository

The Death Cure was a book I had pre-ordered well in advanced, mainly because I was itching to find out how this trilogy will end. And I absolutely loved how it did. James Dashner is excellent at pushing his characters to the most emotional extremes (i.e. when one has to make the choice to kill another). The plot continues to be riveting, and although some questions were left unanswered—the key word being “some”—it gave room for you, the reader, to answer them yourself. And the greatest question of all: Is W.I.C.K.E.D. really good? That is definitely answered within these pages. This is one action fulfilling conclusion and I am waiting impatiently for the release of the recently announced prequel to this trilogy, The Kill Order. If you enjoy reading survival-type dystopians like The Hunger Games, then this is a series you most definitely have to read.

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“How could you tell children they were playing with fire if they´d never had the experience of being burned?”

Title: Hades, Halo #2
Author: Alexandra Adornetto
Publication: September 1, 2011 by HarperCollinsAU
Format, pages: Paperback, 496
Source: Publisher
My Rating:  

Jake Thorn and his demons have been banished and Xavier and Bethany settle down to resume a normal life. But on the night of Halloween, a childish prank goes terribly wrong and Jake is summoned back to the sleepy town of Venus Cove. Bethany is deceived and like the mythical Persephone she finds herself dragged into the nightmarish underworld of Hades.

While the angels call on higher powers to help recover Bethany, Hell decides to play dirty and goes after the one thing she loves more than anything. But to spare Xavier′s life, Bethany must make the ultimate sacrifice.

Will she make a deal with the Devil? And what will happen to an angel in Hell?

Goodreads || Book Depository

I’m not sure what I should say about Hades. I don’t want to be too critical because I didn’t particularly hate it, and I don’t want to go way over the top as I didn’t love it. It’s not at a ‘like it’ stage either although I’ve given it three stars. This sequel to Halo (which I enjoyed) has some good things within it, but when seen on a whole, I’m not very sure where it should stand. I can recall the highs I came across within Hades but since for a majority of the book I was pushing myself to get through it, I’m not even sure what those highs were—I just know that there were some. This sequel was boring at parts and I was hoping for more of a battle within it instead of a save-the-girl kind of book. Hopefully Alexandra Adornetto delivers a much more outstanding book, and conclusion, in Heaven. What I really can’t wait for is to see what Alexandra does after this series. The subjects she tried to handle in this series just did not play out the way I thought she could have done it. If you weren’t a fan of Halo then I guess there’s no point picking Hades up. I might just save you some time. [Edit]: That epilogue was unneeded. Did nothing for the story.

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“’Stories are important,’ the monster said. ‘They can be more important than anything if they carry the truth.’” 

Title: A Monster Calls

My Rating:  

This is an extraordinarily moving novel about coming to terms with loss. The monster showed up just after midnight. As they do. But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting. He’s been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming. . . .

This monster, though, is something different. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor.
It wants the truth.

Patrick Ness spins a tale from the final story idea of Siobhan Dowd, whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself. Darkly mischievous and painfully funny, A Monster Calls is an extraordinarily moving novel about coming to terms with loss from two of our finest writers for young adults.

Goodreads || Book Depository

It might have been the way it was formatted, or that there were unneeded illustrations by Jim Kay on some pages, or that it seemed to be almost too preachy with its parables which took away the true meaning of why this book was written, but I didn’t feel all that praiseful and charmed by this book by Patrick Ness as I had hoped I’d be like so many other people. By the end I did however understand why the parables and stories told by the monster were used and how they related to the story so I guess it was just a ‘read-it-and-finish-it-and-then-you’ll-know-why’ type of book. It is middle-grade so that might’ve been an influence of how I viewed this book before and after I read it. It was a predictable story but it is one where you want to read and see where it takes you. Connor is a character that young male (or female) kids should look up to for bravery and strength in tough times. He is conflicted young boy who doesn’t know how to express himself properly and that is true to the young male psyche. No matter how tough and strong you think you are, when the impact hits you’ll find out you really aren’t.

While I was writing for NaNoWriMo (yes I am doing it this year, finally) and at 5730 words so far, I got an email for HarperCollins Australia’s Teen Talk which just updates you on all the teen/YA novels coming out. And so I saw this cover which I was itching to see as the covers for US, UK and AU are all different and it was the only cover of Hallowed, the sequel to Unearthly by Cynthia Hand, that had not been released or revealed. So I thought I’d share this beauty with you guys. Tell me what you think about it.

 Isn’t it just amazing! It accommodates the cover for Unearthly amazingly well. From fire to snow = <3. And the red hair is evident. Total adoration.

For months part-angel Clara Gardner trained to face the raging forest fire from her visions and rescue the alluring and mysterious Christian Prescott from the blaze. But nothing could prepare her for the fateful decisions she would be forced to make that day, or the startling revelation that her purpose—the task she was put on earth to accomplish—is not as straightforward as she thought. Now, torn between her increasingly complicated feelings for Christian and her love for her boyfriend, Tucker, Clara struggles to make sense of what she was supposed to do the day of the fire. And, as she is drawn further into the world of part angels and the growing conflict between White Wings and Black Wings, Clara learns of the terrifying new reality that she must face: Someone close to her will die in a matter of months. With her future uncertain, the only thing Clara knows for sure is that the fire was just the beginning.

Described by Richelle Mead as “utterly captivating,” Unearthly received outstanding reviews, garnered accolades from New York Times bestselling authors, and was named an Indie Next Pick. In this heart-wrenching sequel, Cynthia Hand expertly captures the all-consuming joy of first love—and the agony of loss. This beautifully woven tale will appeal to fans of Lauren Kate, Becca Fitzpatrick, and Aprilynne Pike.