WITHER by Lauren DeStefano ARC Giveaway

WITHER is about what happens to our government and society when scientists fuck everything up and the life-expectancy rate drops tremendously.  This is one of the best books I’ve read in a while.  The brilliant concept behind WITHER is matched only by Lauren DeStefano’s beautiful writing. 

In other words:  OMG YOU WANT THIS BOOK LIKE RIGHT NOW. 

And because I already ordered my finished copy of WITHER, and because we’re getting closer and closer to Naughty Book Kitties’ first blogiversary, I thought I’d give away ONE ADVANCE COPY OF THE RECTANGLE OF GENIUS (AKA WITHER).

Giveaway information:

• To enter, fill out the form below
• Open to entries until March 4th, 2011
• One entry per person
• US residents only
• One winner will be randomly chosen to receive an ARC of WITHER a whole THREE WEEKS before its release

Dystopian Novels And Why They’re So Fucking Amazing

If you know anything about anything, you know about the rise of dystopian fiction.  Ever since Suzanne Collins’ THE HUNGER GAMES, readers have been drawn to dark stories about the future.  Just like 2009 was the year of the vampire, and 2010 was the year of the angel, 2011 is the year of dystopian.  

I love trends.  Especially in YA.  I like seeing how different writers can take a genre and make it their own.  I am so, so thrilled dystopian is trending.  In dystopian, there’s so much possibility and opportunity to make a story unique and original.  Dystopian is becoming an umbrella, with many different subgenres.  Like, you can write a dystopian-thriller or a dystopian-love story.  You can write a dystopian novel based on a totalitarian society, or one where the government has completely collapsed. 

When vampires were popular, I was in on the Twilight-love.  I bought every single vampire book out there, just like everyone else.  Now, it seems kind of silly.  But vampires were THE SHIT back in 2009.  There were so many of vampire novels . . . and they were all pretty much the exact same thing.  Human girl meets hot sexy vampire dude and they fall in love but he wants to eat her because he is a vampire and she is a human and omg there you go you have a plotline blah blah blah fantastic writing five stars oh look a movie deal.

I’ve never read two dystopian novels alike.  I think that’s why I’m loving the genre so much.  Each book is different than the last, and the thrill of reading and being in a completely new world is there every single time I read a dystopian story. 

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

♦  March 2011/S&S  ♦

Wither is about what happens to our government and society when scientists fuck everything up and the life-expectancy rate drops tremendously.  This is one of the best books I’ve read in a while.  The brilliant concept behind Wither is matched only by Lauren DeStefano’s beautiful writing. 

Divergent by Veronica Roth

♦  May 2011/HarperCollins  ♦

Divergent is that badass dystopian novel that makes your adrenaline pump.  It’s about a girl who lives in a society where you’re given five choices, and what happens when people start to realize that they shouldn’t be confined by the choices the government gives them.  This is the book that makes “Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God” play like a mantra in your head while reading.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver
♦ February 2011/HarperCollins ♦

In Lauren Oliver’s dystopia, love has been declared a contagious disease, and the government says it’s illegal. Scientists have found a cure, and the government has issues it out to each citizen as they turn eighteen. I loved Lauren Oliver’s debut novel, Before I Fall, but supercalifragilisticexpialidociously loved Delirium. It's romantic and tragic, epic and beautiful.

Blood Red Road by Moira Young

♦  June 2011/S&S  ♦

Blood Red Road is one of my favorite books.  It’s what I’d call literary dystopian.  It’s written in a poetically minimal style that made me swoon the first time I read it. (Yes, I said first time.  Since December, I’ve read it three times.  That’s how amazing this shit is.)  There are no words to describe why I loved it.  The writing is beautiful and visionary, and the romance tugs at your heart.   Reading Blood Red Road reminded me why ezzackly I love books so much. It put that deep and wrenching nervous feeling in my stomach that didn’t go away until I flipped the last page. 

Interview with Kimberly Derting

Kimberly is the author of THE BODY FINDER and it's follow-up, DESIRES OF THE DEAD. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, the ideal place to write anything dark or creepy...a gloomy day can set the perfect mood. She lives with her husband and their three beautiful (and often mouthy) children who provide an endless source of inspiration. You can visit her at http://kimberlyderting.com/

NBK: Tell me about your writing rituals. Do you write at a certain time of the day, season of the year? Do you listen to hard-core rap and watch Lifetime movies in between chapters?

KD: Since I’m an early riser (practically farmer-like), I usually start right away.  Although, by “start” I mean, checking email, Facebook, Twitter, and my blog.  By about 10AM, I’m actually working and will work the rest of the day, usually until someone’s complaining that it’s past dinnertime and they’re starving (kids—and husbands—like to be fed).

As far as hard-core rap, how did you know???  When I find myself with a touch of writer’s block, I usually need to hop in the car and go for a drive to clear it up.  Listening to music helps too.  You probably think I’m joking about the rap, but I have a 17-year-old son so I frequently listen to Wiz Khalifa, Lil Wayne, or Eminem, pretty much whatever happens to be in the CD player.  That, or Justin Bieber.  What can I say, I have a 9-year-old daughter too! ;)

NBK: I read on your blog that while THE BODY FINDER was your first published novel, it wasn’t the first you ever wrote. How important was it to write that novel, even if it did never get published? What did you learn about your own unique writing style and voice?

KD: I think it was incredibly important, because although it never made it to publication (thank god!), it was really great practice and gave me my first taste of the tough world of agents, submissions and rejections.  I learned so much from that whole experience, which I hope has made me a better writer.   

NBK: What’s the best part of being published?

KD: I know it sounds cliche, but I’d have to say it’s the readers. I love knowing that other people (you know…besides just my mom and my husband) are reading my books.  And I love it even more when someone takes the time to email, Tweet, or Facebook me to say they liked it. 

NBK: Is there anything you’d go back and change, if you could, in your novels?

KD: Honestly, I don’t think so.  I’ve been so happy with the reader’s responses so far, and with how the series is progressing.  I have two beautiful covers, wonderful editors, and I’m being interviewed by The Naughty Book Kitties!  What more could a girl want?

NBK: There’s a sequel to THE BODY FINDER, called DESIRES OF THE DEAD, and you wrote it! Was it more hard writing the sequel than writing THE BODY FINDER?

KD: Hey, what do you know, I did write it!  And, yes, it was way harder writing a sequel. I’m not entirely sure why, but I think it was partly the whole writing-under-contract thing, which I didn’t experience with THE BODY FINDER.  I felt a certain amount of pressure to perform at first, both for my editors and for my readers, and it definitely weighed on me.  Obviously, I ultimately got over it, but it took a whole lotta Skittles and tea to conquer that fear!

NBK: Did you know, when first starting to write Violet’s story, that there would be more than one novel to span the entire story?

KD: I always had more than one book in mind, so that part of writing the sequel wasn’t tough at all.  I had a very clear idea of where I wanted Violet’s ability to take her and what obstacles she needed to face. 

NBK: What’s the biggest difference between THE BODY FINDER and  DESIRES OF THE DEAD? I mean, obviously the crazy Violet-Jay-please-dear-God-make-them-kiss tension is gone, but anything else?

KD: There’s all kinds of new tension in DESIRES OF THE DEAD, I couldn’t just let Violet and Jay live happily ever after, could I?  As a writer, I enjoy poking a stick at my characters and watching them squirm.

NBK: Can we expect more of Violet’s story in the future? Are you writing a third book about Violet & Co.?

KD: Hmm…*taps finger on chin innocently*…how to answer that...
Let me just say that the publishing world is riddled with secrets, and IF there’s news about more books, I will be posting it on my website, blog, Facebook, Twitter…and possibly even tattooing it on my some part of my husband’s body.  Stay tuned!

NBK: Thanks so much, Kimberly, for stopping by! DESIRES OF THE DEAD was fantastic, and I can’t wait for the readers of my blog to get a chance to read it! Is there anything else you’d like to add, before leaving?

KD: Just thanks so much for having me here, Brent.  And of course, The Naughty Book Kitties rule!!!

Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting

Published February 15th, 2011

Desires of the Dead | Kimberly Derting

HarperCollins

Hardcover | 368 pp.

The missing dead call to Violet. They want to be found.
Violet can sense the echoes of those who've been murdered—and the matching imprint that clings to their killers. Only those closest to her know what she is capable of, but when she discovers the body of a young boy she also draws the attention of the FBI, threatening her entire way of life.
As Violet works to keep her morbid ability a secret, she unwittingly becomes the object of a dangerous obsession. Normally she'd turn to her best friend, Jay, except now that they are officially a couple, the rules of their relationship seem to have changed. And with Jay spending more and more time with his new friend Mike, Violet is left with too much time on her hands as she wonders where things went wrong. But when she fills the void by digging into Mike's tragic family history, she stumbles upon a dark truth that could put everyone in danger.

Brent’s opinion of the novel:
     Kimberly Derting’s debut novel, THE BODY FINDER, was one of my favorite books of 2010.   Her follow-up sequel, DESIRES OF THE DEAD, is one of my favorite books of  2011.  The whole story is:  She and her books are awesome.
     In DESIRES OF THE DEAD, Violet and Jay are finally dating, and she’s starting to recover from that crazy dude who tried to kill her in THE BODY FINDER.  Being with Jay feels right.  Her life feels right.  Everything is almost normal . . . until it isn’t.   On a trip to Seattle, she finds the dead body of a missing boy.  And the FBI wants to know how.  Violet is in a frenzy, trying to keep her secret, well, a secret.  It doesn’t help at all that she can never find her boyfriend without being attached to the hip with his new and mysterious friend Mike.
     All of the things that made me fall in love with THE BODY FINDER were present in DESIRES OF THE DEAD.  The suspense, the secrets, the creepiness, the insane chemistry between Violet and Jay.  I don’t remember enjoying Kimberly’s first novel as much as I did DESIRES. 
     I’m like that crazy obnoxious lady who screams at the characters of scary movies right before they get killed.  In those tense moments before Violet makes key discoveries, I’m always yelling, “HOLY SHIT.  Violet, there is a MURDERER right behind you.  RUN.”  Warning from the Naughty Kitty:  Don’t read these books in public.

City of Fallen Angels Chapter Shadowhunt + Giveaway

I know you guys are huge fans of the Mortal Instruments series, and that you’d all sell your first-born children on the black market to get a sneak peak of City of Fallen Angels.

Today I have the first chapter of City of Fallen Angels (with a few redacted bits) to share!  And you don’t even have to sell me your first-born children.  Sweet deal, right? 

Click HERE for Chapter One of City of Fallen Angels.

Be sure to follow up with the hunt tomorrow at The Story Siren.  By tomorrow, using each version of the chapter from each of the blogs listed here, you’ll be able to piece the full thing together!

I also have one finished copy of City of Fallen Angels to give away, thanks to those awesome S&S people.  I’ll be using a random number generator to draw a name, and a copy of City of Fallen Angels will arrive on your doorstep right on April 5th!

Rules:  (Eeeee, don’t nobody like rules.)

• You must be a follow of Naughty Kitties to enter
• US mailing addresses only
• ONE entry per person
• Entries open until February 24th, 2011

Fill out THIS FORM to enter!

To Order A Copy Of This Book, Email HexyLady@hecate.edu Or Call 1-800-Blow-My-Wand

Published March 1st, 2011

Demonglass | Rachel Hawkins

Hyperion Books

Hardcover | 368 pp.

Sophie Mercer thought she was a witch.
That was the whole reason she was sent to Hex Hall, a reform school for delinquent Prodigium (aka witches, shapeshifters, and fairies). But that was before she discovered the family secret, and that her hot crush, Archer Cross, is an agent for The Eye, a group bent on wiping Prodigium off the face of the earth.
Turns out, Sophie’s a demon, one of only two in the world—the other being her father. What’s worse, she has powers that threaten the lives of everyone she loves. Which is precisely why Sophie decides she must go to London for the Removal, a dangerous procedure that will destroy her powers.
But once Sophie arrives she makes a shocking discovery. Her new friends? They’re demons too. Meaning someone is raising them in secret with creepy plans to use their powers, and probably not for good. Meanwhile, The Eye is set on hunting Sophie down, and they’re using Archer to do it. But it’s not like she has feelings for him anymore. Does she?

Brent’s opinion of the novel:
     Rachel Hawkins has the amazing, dangerous ability to make me giggle like a 5-year-old girl.  She did it with HEX HALL, when I was at a funeral.  It was a sad, sad day, and I knew I’d be at the funeral home for 6+ hours.  So I grabbed any book I could find.  HEX HALL was one of them.  I read the entire thing there, unable to control my wild laughing.  Everyone thought I was a heartless psycho.  You’re not supposed to laugh at those kinds of events.  (Thanks, Rachel!)
     When Sophie Mercer first came to Hecate Hall, she felt as though she finally found her home.  But now, six months later, she sees Hecate Hall for what it really is:  absolutely ridiculous.  The administration won’t even let her get her own hot-tub! 
     Her absolute need for a hot-tub drives her to the decision of traveling to London to go through the Removal, so she can get her powers taken away.  Oh, and she finds out she’s a super-badass, uncontrollable demon chick who could one day unconsciously kill everyone she knows.  I think that might have played a role in Sophie deciding to go through the Removal.  Maybe.  Probably not.  More than likely, she just wanted her damn hot-tub. 
     So, the book goes on, Sophie travels to London, meets her father, talks a little with Archer (the insanely hot dude that Sophie likes but isn’t allowed to like because he kinda wants to kill her but who cares, ya know, ‘cause they’re teens in love and they’re cute together and I’m so effing sick of people telling other people who they can and can’t love because it’s not that person’s decision I mean can’t they back the freak off????), and there’s mad fight scenes.  It’s basically 368 pages of awesome.
     You have got to read these novels.  Even though this is only her second book published, Rachel Hawkins is one of my top five favorite writers.  She writers books that are the perfect mix of silly and serious, sexy and sweet, badass and fun.

Related:  Lesbian Vampire Roommate <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

WARNING: No matter how many threatening tweets you send Rachel Hawkins (see:  http://bit.ly/heJk8w), she is unable to write 18 hours a day. So if you finish reading DEMONGLASS and absolutely need to find out what happens in the next book just like I do, too bad.  You have to wait an entire year A.K.A. an eternity.

AND ALSO:  If you’re one of those bitches that doesn’t believe a word I say and thinks I write my reviews under-the-influence, then read my pal Julie’s review, here:  http://bit.ly/eVlppm.  She sums it up pretty well.

GUESS WHAT, YOU GUYS! GUESS WHAT!

Naughty Book Kitties is participating in a super-awesome CITY OF FALLEN ANGELS event:  Chapter Shadowhunt!

Next Monday, the 14th, one blog will post a link to an exclusive excerpt of CITY OF FALLEN ANGELS  (Margaret K. McElderry, 432 pages, on-sale 4/5/11) by Cassandra Clare. These are the only sneak peaks released until April 5th.

You can see Cassandra Clare’s announcement on her blog: http://bit.ly/g5IvNV

And on the Mortal Instruments website: http://bit.ly/gBZ6Xe

“Each day during the week of Feb. 14th, one of the below blogs will reveal a version of the same chapter with some key pieces redacted.  By the end of the week, you will be able to piece together the full chapter!”

Monday	Mundie Moms
Tuesday	Wondrous Reads
Wednesday	Novel Novice
Thursday	Naughty Book Kitties
Friday	Story Siren

Make sure you visit each of the bloggers (especially me!) and follow the stops!

Blog Tour Review: Tell Us We’re Home by Marina Budhos

Published May 1st, 2010

Tell Us We’re Home | Marina Budhos

Athenum

Hardcover | 304 pp.

Jaya, Maria, and Lola are just like the other eighth-grade girls in the wealthy suburb of Meadowbrook, New Jersey. They want to go to the spring dance, they love spending time with their best friends after school, sharing frappÉs and complaining about the other kids. But there’s one big difference: all three are daughters of maids and nannies. And they go to school with the very same kids whose families their mothers work for.
That difference grows even bigger—and more painful—when Jaya’s mother is accused of theft and Jaya’s small, fragile world collapses.
When tensions about immigrants start to erupt, fracturing this perfect, serene suburb, all three girls are tested, as outsiders—and as friends. Each of them must learn to find a place for themselves in a town that barely notices they exist.
Marina Budhos gives us a heartbreaking and eye-opening story of friendship, belonging, and finding the way home.

Brent’s opinion:
     I love books that enable people to experience life through someone else’s point of view.  Absolutely LOVE THEM.  That’s why I was so stoked to be a part of the blog tour for Tell Us We’re Home, a novel about three girls from immigrant families.  I have a few friends who are immigrants, and I’ve always been overprotective of them and the judgments they get from our peers.  Anyway, Tell Us We’re Home really caught my attention.
     After learning that they’re each the daughters of maids and members of immigrant families, Maria, Lola, and Jaya become fast friends. They start to feel like they actually belong in their middle school, in their town.  They feel home.  And then one of the girls’ mother gets accused of stealing, and the girls’ friendship gets unwoven down to thin threads. Each girl struggles with different things as the novel progresses, like falling in love, growing permanently bitter, and trekking through the early teen years alone.
     Reading Tell Us We’re Home gave me more than a few hours of entertainment.  I recommend it to EVERYONE.  This is one of those book I’m proud to showcase on my blog.

Cryer’s Cross by Lisa McMann

Published February 8th, 2011

Cryer’s Cross | Lisa McMann

Simon Pulse

Hardcover | 240 pp.

The community of Cryer’s Cross, Montana (population 212) is distraught when high school freshman Tiffany disappears without a trace. Already off-balance due to her OCD, 16-year-old Kendall is freaked out seeing Tiffany’s empty desk in the one-room school house, but somehow life goes on... until Kendall's boyfriend Nico also disappears, and also without a trace. Now the town is in a panic. Alone in her depression and with her OCD at an all-time high, Kendall notices something that connects Nico and Tiffany: they both sat at the same desk. She knows it's crazy, but Kendall finds herself drawn to the desk, dreaming of Nico and wondering if maybe she, too, will disappear...and whether that would be so bad. Then she begins receiving graffiti messages on the desk from someone who can only be Nico. Can he possibly be alive somewhere? Where is he? And how can Kendall help him? The only person who believes her is Jacian, the new guy she finds irritating...and attractive. As Kendall and Jacian grow closer, Kendall digs deeper into Nico's mysterious disappearance only to stumble upon some ugly—and deadly—local history. Kendall is about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried.

Brent’s opinion:
     Cryer’s Cross is a quick, short read.  It only took me a few hours to breeze through it, but those three hours were nerve-wracking.  Lisa McMann wrote a wonderfully eerie stand-alone novel.  Throughout the book, readers are trying to figure out why, ezzackly, kids are disappearing and mysterious carvings are appearing on Kendall’s desk at school.  Most times, with mysterious books like this, I’m able to guess the plot.  But with Cryer’s Cross, I had no. fucking. clue where the story was going.  The ending came out of nowhere, and I liked that. 
     Cryer’s Cross is more of a plot-driven story.  I always say that characters are my most favorite part of any story, and that great characters can make up for terrible plot or pacing.  I really didn’t feel all that much for the main character of Cryer’s Cross, Kendall, or any others.  In this case, the plot made up for the characters.  And the setting.  Lisa McMann wrote about a town so small that even the reader feels smothered by the closeness of the residents of Cryer’s Cross.
     The whole story is:  This book is creepy.  It freaked me out more than that freshmen (who I didn’t know AT ALL) who knew my birthday and brought me drugged cupcakes for my fifteenth birthday, the mail man who sniffed my book packages a couple of months ago, and the psychic at the Chinese restaurant who told me I was going to die alone. I read this book a few days before Christmas, and it totally killed my jolly mood.  Thanks a lot, Lisa McMann.

In My Mailbox Vlog (February 5, 2011)

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

Author Interview: Marina Budhos

Today I have author Marina Budhos to answer a few questions, as part of the Teen Book Scene blog tour Marina’s doing for her YA debut, TELL US WE’RE HOME, a novel about three immigrant girls and their relationship with each other.

You've been a Fulbright Scholar to India, and given talks throughout the country and abroad. What's your most memorable experience with this?

Certainly the whole experience of living in India (now many years ago) left a deep impression on me.  In fact, because of that experience, I’ve made it a point to go back every few years, watching the country go through breathtaking changes.  One of the events that most affected me had to do political events—I was there in 92-93, when riots broke out in the country between Hindus and Muslims around the storming of the Babri Masjid Mosque. Where I was living at the time—Calcutta (now Kolkata)—it was not nearly as bad as what engulfed other parts of the country.  But I remember being at a party with friends when suddenly we began listening to the BBC radio; and then suddenly there was a curfew and it wasn’t clear any of us could go home.  For the next few days we remained inside, venturing out for a few hours, the city tense, while other areas of the country were exploding.  My friends would stay up night after night talking, debating what was happening.  It was a painful, soul searching time for the country, and it impacted me to be a part of that.

On a lighter note, one of my strangest experiences was giving book readings for my prior novel, Ask Me No Questions, in Germany.  I went to several schools, and somewhere along the way, I lost my voice to laryngitis! There I was, squeaking away to the students, who themselves were just solidifying their English.  And yet somehow we managed to communicate.

What inspired you to write a story about immigration? Were the hardships your characters in TELL US WE'RE HOME in any way based on your personal experiences?

This story was inspired by my ongoing interest in immigrants, and particularly, the lives of young immigrants. Years ago, I had gone around the country interviewing teenage immigrants, and their stories, their perspective really changed me.

This book came about in a slightly roundabout way.  I had originally thought I would do a nonfiction book about the relationship between mothers and nannies.  I had recently become a mother, had hired a nanny who felt like a kind of sister to me, making for complex emotions between the two of us.  So I began to interview both mothers and nannies.  Over time, though, I became more drawn to the nannies, and their stories.  And finally, it was the stories just glimpsed, between the lines—that of their own children, who were sometimes calling them while we sat in the park, while their mothers tended other children. Then I moved to the suburbs (which for me was a kind of immigration, since I am a city person, through and through).  My eyes were opened to the fact that immigrants are now much more in the suburbs—they are really what makes these places hum, the invisible corps that make our lives possible.  And so I began to conceive of a book in a kind of typical, well-to-do suburb, but seen from the other side.

Once I had my characters, I would say there were aspects of them that were drawn from myself—in each of the girls there’s a little bit of me.

Have you always been a writer? Even as a kid?

I don’t know if you could say I’ve always been a writer, but I’ve always written.  As a child, I wrote and drew constantly—my own TV shows, novels, stories.  I’ll never forget that when I went away to sleep away camp, I used to sneak off to particular stream where I would sit and work on my novel-in-progress.  After I graduated from college, though, I was a bit nervous about this whole notion of becoming a writer. My father was an immigrant, and though he was very supportive, it seemed like an irresponsible thing to do.  Then I applied to graduate school in creative writing and received a scholarship and living stipend.  So, dutiful as I was (and still feeling guilty about my career choice) I told myself I would write every day, as if it were a job.  The good thing about that is it established a pretty fierce discipline and set of habits that continue to this day.

What was the hardest part to  write in TELL US WE'RE HOME? The easiest?

The hardest was finding the structure of the novel.  Because this is a novel ‘told in the round’ with three characters’ perspectives, I had to do justice to each of their stories, let the reader get to know each one (though I consider Jaya the main character), while moving the story forward.  The novel has actually been criticized for this, but I felt strongly that this was a book that needed all three, especially since it is a novel about friendship, and that it would have been a much less rich novel if I had isolated it down to only one character.

 
What do you want readers to walk away with after reading TELL US WE'RE HOME?

I guess I would like readers to see their own world, their own town and school, from another point of view.  To see what they take for granted through new eyes. 

Desires of the Dead Giveaway!

Kimberly Derting’s amazing second novel, DESIRES OF THE DEAD, releases in just a few weeks, so I thought a giveaway for fans of Kimberly’s first novel, THE BODY FINDER, would be cool!

I have tons—no really, tons—of goodies!

• One finished copy of THE BODY FINDER and one advance reader’s copy of DESIRES OF THE DEAD.
• Seven signed DESIRES OF THE DEAD bookmarks.
• Four DESIRES OF THE DEAD stickers and two pins.
• Two signed DESIRES OF THE DEAD posters.  (Isn’t my shirt—at the bottom of the picture—so cute?)
• Two THE BODY FINDER and DESIRES OF THE DEAD bracelets.   

US addresses only.

Open to entries until February 11th.

Fill out THIS FORM to enter.

Delirium

Published February 1st, 2011

Delirium | Lauren Oliver

HarperTeen

Hardcover | 448 pp.

Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -the deliria- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.
But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.

Brent’s opinion of the novel:
     If you know any about anything, you know Lauren Oliver’s debut novel BEFORE I FALL was a hit among YA readers.  It was smart and complex, pretty and sad.  I thought it was a beautiful story.  Lauren Oliver’s sophomore novel, DELIRIUM, was all that and more.  I loved BEFORE I FALL, but I really, really, supercalifragilisticexpialidociously loved DELIRIUM.
     In Lauren Oliver’s dystopia,  love has been declared a contagious disease, and the government says it’s illegal. Scientists have found a cure, and the government has issues it out to each citizen as they turn eighteen. 
     Lena Haloway is ready as she’ll ever be to get the Cure.  After just graduating high school, she’s looking forward to starting a safe, measured, predicted life.  She’s terrified of love, after seeing what it did to her mother—made her commit suicide.  Yeah, Lena’s ready for the Cure, positive it is the key to a happy and prosperous life.
     Until she meets Alex, a boy who lives in the Wilds, the mysterious surroundings of the closed-off cities.  Lena falls in love with him, ninety-five days before she’s scheduled to get the Cure. 
         Lauren Oliver developed these characters and their relationships with eachother so well, that by the end I didn’t want to see them go.  DELIRUM is about love.  It’s a love story, but it’s theme isn’t confined to, like, the love between a couple.  Lauren Oliver wrote about the love between two best friends, two cousins, family, parents.  The way she touched on every single type and kind of love just blew me away.  There’s this scene where Lena is with her best friend, saying goodbye, and I totally cried my eyes out.  Now that I think about it, there were many scenes where I cried my eyes out!  
      When they say it’s like ROMEO AND JULIET, they’re not playing.  DELIRIUM is freaking tragic. The ending?  Oh, my god.  I don’t know if you all know this about me, but I’m a sucker for tragic endings.  I think all the best books have tragic endings, and I think they pull out the beauty in a story.  DELIRIUM’s ending certainly did that, pulled out the beauty. 
      If you loved BEFORE I FALL as much as I did, you should definitely get this book the minute it comes out.  Even if you hated BEFORE I FALL, you should still get DELIRIUM.  Because it blew me away on so many more levels than Lauren Oliver’s debut novel.  This is a book that, when all of us are dead and gone, kids will be studying in school.  It's just amazing.

The Trust by Tom Dolby

Published February 1st, 2011

The Trust  | Tom Dolby

Katherine Tegen  Books

Hardcover | 368 pp.

Once you get in, you can never get out....
It’s a new semester at the Chadwick School, and even with the ankh tattoos that brand them, Phoebe, Nick, Lauren, and Patch are hoping for a fresh start. Each day, however, they are reminded of their obligations as new Conscripts in the Society. The secret group that promised they would achieve their every dream has instead turned their lives into a nightmare. The teens try boycotting, skipping the gatherings, and avoiding other members and plan to go to the police with details of Alejandro's and Jared’s deaths, but the Society finds sinister ways to keep them in line. While they search for the elusive truth about the Society, they will have to work against it from within.
The Trust is an alluring glimpse behind the facade of a life of entitlement, where secrets aren’t merely fun—they’re deadly.

Brent’s opinion of the novel:
     The first book in Tom Dolby’s series for teenagers, SECRET SOCIETY, was one of my favorites of 2010.  The plot was rich with twists and turns, the characters were perfectly relatable, and it kept me flipping the pages so fast I neared the end in only four hours.  Its ending left me with a huge need for the sequel, THE TRUST, and I squealed when I saw this book pop in my mailbox.
     THE TRUST opens where SECRET SOCIETY left off.  Phoebe, Nick, Lauren, and Patch have just been initiated into the secret society their ancestors started.  And they want out.  But letting a group of people out of the society has never been done before, so they have to work a little to find a way out…
     I loved this book way more than the first.  THE TRUST opened right in the middle of the action, and held my interest till the last page.  There was so much suspense, with turns and twists every other chapter.  I don’t remember liking SECRET SOCIETY as much as I did this one!
     In SECRET SOCIETY, I liked all four main characters. In THE TRUST, I loved them.  They were so much more relatable.  In SECRET SOCIETY, I thought they were a bit cliché.  THE TRUST shows the characters in more extreme situations, and we’re able to see how the four main characters handle all this stress and craziness.  New relationships and old friendships were developed wonderfully in this sequel.  I’m stoked to see where the characters are headed in book three.
     If you haven’t already gotten a taste of Tom Dolby’s luxurious, suspense-filled novels for teens, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE?  Go get them.  Now.