fantasy

Delightful Interview with Roshani Chokshi, Author of The Star-Touched Queen

/ Eve Messenger / 5 Comments

In honor of this week’s release of the gorgeous new YA novel, The Star-Touched Queen, I am re-Roshani at ALA Midwinter Conferencerunning a delightful interview I did with author Roshani Chokshi back in February.

 

Why The Star-Touched Queen is a Must-Read:

The Star-Touched Queen is one of the most talked-about YA debut novels of 2016 for good reason. Sarah J. Maas calls Rokshani Chokshi’s writing “flawless.” Then there’s Indian mythology, great world-building (trees that bear memories instead of fruit!?), a unique protagonist you want to root for, plus a cover so beautiful it makes you feel like you’re stepping into a dream.

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Interview with Rokshani Chokshi

Eve:   Roshani, YA fans are already talking about your gorgeous Pinterest page. Where did you find such beautiful pictures to represent The Star-Touched Queen?

RC: Thank you! I guess I got ridiculously lucky on Pinterest. But I also typed in strange things in the search box, like, “gothic jeweled fruit” and “bloody hands.” You’ll get some interesting stuff…

Eve:  What made you fall in love with your novel?

RC: I love this question! I fell in love with it because of its ease. It’s not a new story. It’s threaded with a thousand and one familiar tales, from fairytales to folklore all across the world. But what made me so excited about writing it was tweaking little things and pushing the worldbuilding farther.

Eve:  Are you planning a book tour? If so, what is a question you hope someone asks?

RC: Not sure yet! I know we’re doing a blog tour, and I’m very excited for that. I hope someone asks me what my job would be in the wizarding (and witches!) world of Harry Potter.

Eve:  Now I have to ask. . . What would your job be in the wizarding world of Harry Potter?

RC: I would love to be MINISTER OF MAGIC!!!  Thank you for asking. 🙂

Eve:  The publishing industry is a notoriously slow-moving machine. From writing to publication, how long was the “birthing” process of your book? What have some of the highlights been?

RC: From writing to sale…about two years. The highlights have been working with my agent and editor who have been incredible champions throughout all my doubts, rewrites and crazy revision ideas.

Eve:  Many YA writers also seem to be music lovers. Did you create a playlist for your novel and, if so, what are some of the songs on it?

RC: Yes! “Satellite” by Guster, “Nagada Sang Dhol” from the Bollywood film Ram-Leela and, don’t laugh, “679” by Fetty Wap. My brain is a many-fangled beast…

Eve:  Your eclectic song choices make me want to read the book even more! Speaking of music, YA authors Libba Bray, Natalie Standiford, Barnabas Miller, and Daniel Ehrenhaft have been known to perform at publishing industry events with their band, Tiger Beat. If you were in an authors band, what instrument would you play?

RC: Glass harmonica. It’s just so strange. I must possess it.


Eve:  I LOVE the glass harmonica. Great pick. . .  What are some books you recently read that you loved?

RC: UPROOTED by Naomi Novik recently ate my soul (in the best way possible) and I also loved RADIANCE by Catherynne Valente.

Eve:  Having an online presence is a big deal for writers. How do you balance writing and social media?

RC: I think putting my phone on Do Not Disturb has been the most helpful. Maybe it’s just me, but I  can get anxious on social media. So, if I’m not careful, it can take up way more hours of my day than it should.

Eve:  In the early days of crafting your novel, were you shy about sharing what you’d written with others?

RC: Very much!!! But that’s part of the beauty of writing. We want it to be read, seen and felt. So taking that first step with beta readers and critique partners is a wonderful and terrifying moment.

Eve:  Do you have a critique group and, if so, how did you find them?

RC: Yes. I found them on sites like Ladies Who Critique or Twitter!

Eve:  Your novel has such an evocative title. Who came up with the title, The Star-Touched Queen? Was this the same title you used when querying agents?

RC: When I queried agents, I used the title “THE GLASS GARDEN.” After signing with my agent, we sold the book when it was titled THE BRIDE OF DUSK AND GLASS. AFTER selling, we changed it to THE STAR-TOUCHED QUEEN thanks to the geniuses over at MacMillan.

Eve:  What’s your typical writing schedule? Do you reward yourself for meeting writing goals?

RC: I try to get most of my writing done in the morning-early afternoon. The light in myRoshani Chokshi fave reward cadbury bar favorite room is at its softest, and it makes me feel deliciously inspired. I do reward myself! Every 1k gets me half a Cadbury bar. I do, however, frequently break these rules…what are rules for after all…

Eve:  Many writers have dark moments while working on their novels, times when they’re not sure they’ll ever finish. If you encountered hurdles like this, how did you overcome them?

RC: When I get this way (and it does happen), I read my favorite books. I return to the worlds of Neil Gaiman, Laini Taylor and Catherynne Valente. I let them guide me back to why I love writing.

Eve:  Was there any particular epiphany you had while writing your novel when you said to yourself, “Hey, I can do this. I’m going to publish this thing.”

RC: No, actually! And I WISH I DID! When I finished TSTQ, there was a great surge of “wow. I did the thing!” But that was what I was celebrating. Not the idea that I could actually find it on bookshelves one day.

Eve:  Lately, YA book lovers seem to be saying there is an overemphasis on romance in YA fiction. What are your thoughts on this?

RC: I love reading romance in YA. But I don’t think it’s critical to a plot. There are some books, like SIX OF CROWS by Leigh Bardugo, which deftly handle characterization and takes the focus away from the characters’ romantic entanglements. Other beautiful books, like ALL OUR PRETTY SONGS by Sarah McCarry, have romance but focus on the friendship and the experience of growing. I have no problem with romance, but I personally prefer books where romance is not the ONLY motivation for the character.

Eve:  Who are some of your favorite fictional characters and why?

RC: Howl, from HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE because he was vain and wonderful and my first serious book boyfriend.    Howl from Howl's Moving Castle

Kaye, from Holly Black’s TITHE because she was fierce and gritty.      Kaye from Tithe

Razgut, from Laini Taylor’s DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE trilogy because he was pitiful and deranged and wildly funny.

Eve:  What’s something you really hope people say after they read your novel?

RC: I hope they forget they were reading. I hope they think they’ve tasted fairy fruit and fallen in love and spent time wandering through Otherworldly palaces.

Eve: Best of luck to you, Roshani. Ever since I read your short story, The Star Maiden, in Shimmer magazine, I knew you’d be a great success. Thank you for all your fantastic answers to my questions.

RC: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk about writing. I deeply appreciate it.

Eve: Where can your fans reach you?

RC: Pretty much everywhere!

 

 

The Bookish Academy Awards of the Past 12 Months

/ Eve Messenger / 13 Comments

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Cue the spotlights, it’s time for the Bookish Academy Awards. Out of all the books I’ve read in the past 12 months, these are the winners. Thanks to Brittany @ The Grisha Lieutenant for tagging me and for having such spectacular taste in books.

Best Male Protagonist

Kell from V.E. Schwab’s A Darker Shade of Magic because he’s sympathetic and unique, with a mysterious past that I want to learn more about. (Note: Will and Jem from Infernal Devices were close runners-up in this category.)

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Kell by Victoria Ying

Best Female Protagonist

For her curiosity, bravery, fierce talent for magic, and strong moral compass, I choose Celia Bowen from The Night Circus. Even as a little orphaned girl of six, Celia refused to allow the fearsome magician to intimidate her and speak badly about her mother.

Celia Bowen by mockingbird465

Best Plot Twist

Everything about The Knife of Never Letting Go is twisted, especially the plot.

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Best Book Cover

I haven’t read The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson yet, but for some reason I am really drawn to the cover.

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Best Supporting Character

Kenji Kishimoto in Unravel Me. He’s an accomplished fighter with a sympathetic history, and what I love about him most is his sense of humor and fun-loving nature.

Kenji Kishimoto: “You are moody. It’s always ‘Shut up, Kenji.’ ‘Go to sleep, Kenji.’ ‘No one wants to see you naked, Kenji.’ When I know for a fact that there are thousands of people who would love to see me naked—“

Juliette and Kenji by Ice Ridden

Most Unique World

Magonia features a world unlike anything I’ve ever read before.

Best Screenplay Adaptation

Room with Brie Larson. Watching this movie was honestly like seeing the book come to life. I’ve been a huge fan of Brie Larson’s for a while now, and I’m excited to see her getting starring roles. What a great actress.

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A Book You Would Love to See Animated

The Night Circus, except what I’d be most interested in is an animated version of a prequel featuring the story of Tsukiko and Hinata.

Best Author

V.E. Schwab. I love her writing and everything about her.

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Best Collection of Short Stories

Firebirds: An Anthology of Original Fantasy and Science Fiction (2003). I don’t read a lot of short fiction, but I picked up this anthology on a whim at the library and really enjoyed it. There are stories by lots of famous fantasy and sci-fi YA writers. My favorite was “Hope Chest” by Garth Nix.

Best Historical or Historical Fiction

I don’t read much historical fiction, but I’m liking it more and more. Not sure if this book counts, but I’ll go with Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier.

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Best Book of the Year

Applause, please, for the big winner of the night, A Darker Shade of Magic. The characters, the story, the unique and magical world, I loved everything about this book.

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 Tag, you’re it:

Carolyn @ A Hundred Thousand Stories

Beth @ Betwixt These Pages

Jesalin @ Blogging Everything Beautiful

Lila @ The Bookkeeper’s Secrets

Rae @ BookmarkChronicles

Morgan @ Hopeless Book Addict

Jocelyn @ 52 Letters in the Alphabet

Amanda @ Cover2Cover Mom

 

The Surprise Star of the 8 Books I Read in March was. . .

/ Eve Messenger / 16 Comments

March Reads 2016 copy

Oh, look at all the literary worlds I got to visit in March.

Only a Hundred Pages Shorter than Moby-Dick
At 565 pages, The Casquette Girls by Alys Arden was my longest read of the month, with A Gathering of Shadows coming in second at 500 pages. The Casquette Girls was one of those books that had me scratching my head wondering why it kept me so engrossed. I think the biggest reason is that the paranormal characters and events were interwoven with the enchanting, extraordinary world of New Orleans. 4 stars

Transported to a Dream then Sparked with a New ObsessionTsukiko from The Night Circus by CaylaLydon
With tThe Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern transported me to a dream world of magic, a battle to the death, and compelling characters, including my new favorite, Claire Bowen. This book also left me with a dire need for a prequel featuring Tsukiko and Hinata. If you read the  book, hopefully you’ll understand. The Night Circus was published in 2011 as the first in a series, but Erin Morgenstern is still working on the sequel because, apparently, writing this beautiful takes time. 4.5 stars

What’s a Story Without Believable Motives?
The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts by K.C. Tansley
There’s a lot to like about The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts. Of course, there are ghosts, and a girl who can see them, then there’s possession and a sort of time travel with an ancient curse. The biggest issue for me was believability–there wasn’t a compelling enough reason for the protagonist to risk everything to embark on her dangerous journey. Perhaps for that reason, The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts did not pass my “skim test,” meaning I found myself speed-reading through numerous passages that didn’t further the story.  3 stars

Why Friends Don’t Let Friends Write Alone
Beta read-Adult Paranormal WIP by  Tracy L. Jackson
My dear writing friend Tracy calmly talks me down from writing ledges, fangirls with me over The Walking Dead each week, and now has entrusted me to offer honest feedback on her wonderful work in progress, an adult paranormal novel. Since it’s not published yet, I won’t reveal much except to say there are MANY characters to fall in love with, plus an intriguing curse and, again, the amazing city of New Orleans. I want to read more books set in New Orleans! If you have any to recommend, I’d love to hear.

Why I am No Longer a Cassandra-Clare-Book Virgin
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
At last, I read my first Cassandra Clare book. Clockwork Angel was darker than I’d expected, which was a nice surprise. And the characters–Tessa, Jessamine and, oh, I’m enraptured by Jem. I saw certain plot twists coming from a mile away, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying this book and wanting to read more in the series. 4 stars.

Schwab, You Got Me to Read Your Second Book
A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab
I loved, adored, was blown away by the masterful writing of A Darker Shade of Magic, so I had to read the second book, A Gathering of Shadows. Amazing new characters were introduced, notably Alucard and Ojka. Plus, the Element Games were super fun, and Lila still kicks butt. But I enjoyed the first book more, probably because I’m a “discovery” reader, meaning I get the most pleasure out of discovering new worlds, characters, and writers, and it takes a LOT for me to spend more time in a literary world I’ve already experienced. 4.5 stars

Surprise Star of the Month
Pivot Point by Kasie West
I knew I wanted to check out Kasie West’s writing at some point, but Pivot Point wasn’t even on my radar until, on a whim, I picked it up from the library. I’m so glad I did. It was one of those “exactly what I was in the mood for” books. The plot kept me guessing all the way through, and the unique story structure made for a fascinating read. I’m all in for the next book in the series, Split Second. 4.5 stars

The Challenge of Sustaining Magnificence
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
At a hundred pages in, I was completely enamored by this beautiful, achingly bittersweet story. Through the second act, the story got a little same-y and could have used a twist, but the writing was strong, and the dual-POV structure worked really well. All the Bright Places is a moving story with deep philosophical themes and memorable main characters. 4 stars

 –Eve Messenger

 

 

 

 

Interview with Brenda Drake, YA Author & #PitchWars Rock Star #amwriting #amreading

/ Eve Messenger / 5 Comments

Brenda Drake is a rock star of the writing community. In addition to being a fabulous YA writer in her own right, Brenda is known by authors far and wide as the mastermind behind the Twitter writing contest phenomenon known as #pitchwars. This year saw the publication of Brenda’s YA novel, Thief of Lies, which has a concept book lovers everywhere will adore: characters who time-jump between the world’s most beautiful libraries. Brenda was kind enough to take a moment out of her busy schedule to answer questions about the new book.

Brenda Drake Author Photo1

Interview:

Brenda, you’ve interviewed MANY writers and other industry professionals as part of your involvement in the amazingly successful phenomenon known as Pitch Wars. As a writer who has just released her first book, how does it feel to be on the other side?

It feels great! It’s been such a long journey, but I’ve been distracted enough by the contests and celebrating other writers’ successes that it almost flew by. The community has been so wonderful to me, and I love giving back to writers. I’m humbled by the generosity of the mentors and the participants behind Pitch Wars. It’s been a great run!

What made you fall in love with your novel?

So many things made me fall in love with it. First, there’s the libraries and the ability to jump through pages and end up in another beautiful library anywhere in the world. Then there’s the characters, especially Gia. I’ve been in Gia’s head for so long, she feels real to me.

The publishing industry is a notoriously slow-moving machine. From writing to publication, how long was the “birthing” process of your book? What have some of the highlights been?

This story has taken a long journey. Full of mistakes that took me off the path and on detours before bringing me back to the right road. I started writing this book in 2009. It’s seen me through changing agents and publishers. There were heartbreaking moments and many highlights. I think going through editing and molding the story to what it is today was definitely a one highlight. And when a reader loves your work, that’s a wonderful feeling. I try to tune out the negative now, though it’s hard. I have to say, my journey is what it was supposed to be. It’s what molded me into who I am today. And I couldn’t be more thankful.

The best writers are also huge readers. What are some books you recently read that you
loved?

I’ve been reading many of the Pitch Wars mentors’ books lately. Everyone should try them. They are so good! If you want to try them, they’re listed on my website on the sidebar. You’d be happy you did. A book other than from my Pitch Wars friends? I finished Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. Loved it! It was so amazing. You all should read it.

Having an online presence is a big deal for writers. How do you balance writing and social media?

Lately? Poorly. I’m sort of all over the place nowadays, and I just hop on social media during breaks. When I don’t have so much going on, I schedule my day. In the morning, I grab coffee and do social media while I’m waking up. Then I write, hop on social media during lunch, run errands, or clean if I have to. When I’m done, I write until dinner. I’ll usually hop on again at night if there’s nothing going on or haven’t passed out.

In the early days of crafting your novel, were you shy about sharing what you’d written with others?

I was terrified about sharing my work with others. I would take critique personally and want to give up. It was horrible. Then I grew up. Now, I tell my critique partners not to sugar coat their critiques of my work. I take it with a shot of whiskey and dive in.

Do you have a critique group and, if so, how did you find them?

I have a small group of critique partners. I found them online. I met one during NaNoWriMo and the others during my contests. I don’t meet with a group here where I live. It’s all online. I have met my critique partners in person at conferences. They are my writer soulmates and I feel like I’ve known them all my life.

Many writers have dark moments while working on their novels, times when they’re not sure they’ll ever finish. If you encountered hurdles like this, how did you overcome them?

I’ve been through many dark times. I can fall into a depression that will take me time to get out of, so I’m careful. I change my setting – go to a Barnes and Noble or Starbucks to write. If that doesn’t work, I reach out to my writing friends who understand what I’m going through. After I talk it out and get in a better mood, I can jump (pun intended) over those hurdles and plow through what I have to get finished.

Bio:

Brenda Drake is the author of Thief of Lies (Library Jumpers Book 1) and Touching Fate (Fated Series Book1) both available now from Entangled Teen. She grew up the youngest of three children, an Air Force brat, and the continual new kid at school. Her fondest memories growing up are of her eccentric, Irish grandmother’s animated tales, which gave her a strong love for storytelling. So it was only fitting that she would choose to write stories with a bend toward the fantastical. When she’s not writing or hanging out with her family, she haunts libraries, bookstores, and coffee shops, or reads someplace quiet and not at all exotic (much to her disappointment).

Links:

brenda-drake.com
Twitter: @brendadrake
Instagram: @brendadrakeauthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrendaLeeDrake
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7012713.Brenda_Drake

 

Welcome to my 100th blog post. . . #amwriting #amreading

/ Eve Messenger / 43 Comments

Hello, and welcome to my 100th blog post! Apparently, on 100 different occasions over the past ten months I have attempted to come up with something worthwhile to say in this blog. The shocker is that sometimes other people read and comment, which makes me happy. Thank you!
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What I’ve Been Up to:

Well, I’ve been blogging a lot lately about reading YA books but haven’t talked as much about books I’m writing. For the record, writing is going well. I’m working on a dark, modern YA fantasy that I’m pretty excited about. Ideas are brewing, the main characters have life (if not set-in-stone names yet), and plotting is about 50% complete. I look forward to sharing more with you about this new novel-baby as it grows and decides what it wants to be.

Of the 100 posts I’ve written for this blog, the one with the most likes is:

How to Tell If You’re a Book Junkie

My personal favorite is:

When a Writing Dream Becomes a Mission

Random fact: April 10 is the 100th day of the year.

Another random fact: I’m kinda crazy good at Scrabble. 

 

And now we’ve reached the end of my 100th blog post. Thank you for being part of the ride!

 

 

–Eve Messenger

We Have a Winner! @amreading @kathrynpurdie

/ Eve Messenger / 4 Comments

Congratulations to Erika @ The Book’s the Thing!Swag Winner Erika cropped

Erika is the lucky winner of book swag from Kathryn Purdie’s book, Burning Glass, which was featured last week in my “Best YA Debut Novels” interview series. By “liking” that post, Erika was entered to win Burning Glass book swag kindly provided by the author.

Erika, if you’ll message me with your mailing address I’ll be happy to get your prize out to you.

–Eve Messenger

 

My First Time Couldn’t Have Been More Perfect @amreading @amwriting

/ Eve Messenger / 24 Comments
VE Schwab trio of authors

Marie Lu, V.E. Schwab, Gretchen McNeil  – photo by Eve Messenger

Within a week of reading (and loving!) my first V.E./Victoria Schwab book, A Darker Shade of Magic, the author tweeted that she would be doing a book signing 15 miles from my home. My first book signing? With my new favorite author? Sign me up!

A Darker Shade of Magic

Though I was crazy nervous, I got myself to the event without hyperventilating. Alas, I had to go alone because I couldn’t find anyone else who was available.

My First Book-Signing Event was. . .

PERFECT

Perfect even though the meet-and-greet line was super long and slow-moving (over a hundred fans were there!) But here’s thing, the REASON the lined moved slowly was that fabulous Victoria Schwab spent lots of time talking with each and every fan. I LOVED watching fans step away from the authors’ table carrying freshly-signed books in their hands and HUGE GRINS on their faces.

Perfect because Marie Lu and YA horror writer Gretchen McNeil were there, too! Marie Lu signed my copy of Legend. 🙂 All three super-talented authors were friendly, enthusiastic, smart, and super fun. They were obviously good friends, and their banter created a positive vibe for the entire event. (Note to self: Someday, when I have my own book signings, I will ask author friends to join me.)

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Perfect because, even though I THOUGHT I didn’t know anyone there, I ended up running into and chatting with a writer I’d met through NaNoWriMo. Unbeknownst to me at the time, writer/reader/blogger, Jennifer F. Santucci, was also there. And SHE noticed that Nicola Yoon (Everything Everything) was there as a fan, too!

VE Schwab picture cicled

Author/fan Nicola Yoon is on the left. The top of a blonde head in the back is me. 🙂 Photo by V.E. Schwab.

Meeting Victoria Schwab

Okay, so I mustered up the courage to ask Victoria Schwab if–since I am an aspiring writer–she might write something inspirational in my copy of the first book of hers I’d read. She wrote something nice in all three books. 🙂 Thank you, Victoria Schwab!

Interesting Things the Authors Said

Victoria, Marie, and Gretchen have known one another since before they were published, as members of a writers’ group called “YA Rebels.” They initially “bonded over all things evil.”

Victoria Schwab calls herself a “chipmunk author,” or a “connect the dots writer,”gathering little pieces for a year and a half until she has enough for a story. Darker Shade of Magic started with an image of a boy walking through a door covered with blood and then running into a girl dressed as a boy. Once she has images for her story, she asks herself questions about them to fill out the plot. Before she starts writing, she needs to have five to ten moments, one of which must be the ending.

Gretchen McNeil’s microphone kept cutting out, so she said, “No problem. I can project because I used to be an opera singer.”

Marie Lu said that when she was a little girl there were two things she wanted to be, a writer and a fighter pilot.

Marie Lu said that her agent, Kristin Nelson, is so blunt that when Marie sent Kristin the first 100 pages of her early draft of Young Elites, Kristin asked,“Marie, when you sent this to me, did you think it was good?” Ouch. Marie ended up completely rewriting Young Elites from the villain’s point of view.

All three authors agreed that every single book is, in its way, painful to write.

Victoria said she bought an audio version of her own book, A Gathering of Shadows, so she could repeatedly listen to pp. 307 to 308– a super hot scene between Prince Ry and his ex-boyfriend. 😉

One of My Favorite Author Questions: Do You Listen to Music While Writing?

Victoria said she listens to a lot of music–but never while writing. Because she started out as a poet, listening to music messes with the rhythm of her words. Instead, she listens to white noise and uses a site called noisli to build her own white noise with sounds of rain, static, coffee shop sounds, etc.

Marie Lu said she has to listen to music while writing because the “silence gets too loud.” She splits up her playlists by mood, e.g., exciting, evil, happy (which she says she never uses, haha).

Writers are fangirls, too.

YA fangirl

All three authors talked about writers they get totally starstruck around. Victoria is a huge Neil Gaiman fan and wears her WWNGD (“What Would Neil Gaiman Do?”) bracelet every day. Why? Because Neil Gaiman was the first writer to teach her that she didn’t just have to write one thing, that no matter what genre she writes, her voice will still come through.

I am now seriously toying with the idea of getting my own “What Would V.E. Schwab Do?” bracelet. I am so glad I overcame my introverted nature and got up the nerve to attend my first book signing. I honestly don´t think it could have gone any better. I´d love to attend another one, and the only thing I´d change is to find other people to go with next time– there was just too much excitement to keep all to myself!

–Eve Messenger

February Wrap-Up & Flash Reviews

/ Eve Messenger / 16 Comments

Hello, fellow book junkies! In February I’m happy to report I was able to shorten my tower of owned books by four, and I read seven books in all (. . . sort of–see below). My “Rock My TBR Challenge” is looking good so far.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

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This book takes the reader deep into what it must have been like to grow up poor in Brooklyn in the early 20th century. I definitely felt like I was there, and learned a lot about cultural history. There were also some great observations about human nature and family relationships. I’m glad I read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, though I didn’t love it.

Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy

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A heavyset teen girl bucks the system and signs up for her small-town beauty pageant run by her mother, a former beauty queen. Good concept. I expected the main character, Willowdean (a.k.a. Dumplin’) to be a big girl who’s comfortable in her own skin, but she isn’t. . . or is she? The theme is frustratingly unclear. There’s a cute jock who loves Willowdean, but we never get any insight into the nuances of their relationship. The writing is good, and there are cute moments with lots of potential, but overall a disappointment.

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

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A Darker Shade of Magic was the  highlight of my month. I loved the writing, the darkness, the imaginative world-building, the memorable characters, and whoah does Victoria/V.E. Schwab know how to write villains. Her writing is so good that reading it feels as if it´s making me a better writer. Coincidentally, within a week of reading this, my first, V.E. Schwab book, the author tweeted she would be doing a book signing less than 15 miles from my house. Do not pass go, do not collect $200–I had to meet her! In a later post, I’ll share more about what it was like to attend my first book signing event.

Vivian Apple at the End of the World by Katie Coyle

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The title and concept grabbed me–something about a cult, a girl surviving the bizarre disappearance of her mother and father, and the apparent end of the world. This book veered hard into preachy agenda territory, but overall it turned out to be a good, solid read.

Angelfall by Susan Ee

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This plot grabbed me and did not let go until the epic ending. Excellent world-building, and a plot that new exactly where it wanted to go, like a bullet. The only thing I had a hard time with was that a 17-year-old human girl and a 2000-year-old archangel might have a romantic attraction. He’s gorgeous and doesn’t look like an old man, but he is. The angel also had the unfortunate nickname Raffe (pronounced Raffi), which solidly planted in my head an image of an affable guy strumming guitar while singing Baby Beluga to a bunch of kids. That’s just me, folks. The book was really good.

Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

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A girl finds out she has inherited the ability to time travel. Sign me up, I thought, but as I read Ruby Red, I kept wishing more would happen. This book turned out to have good staying power, however, because a few days after finishing, I found myself wanting to  return to this imaginary world. I definitely plan to read the next book in the trilogy, Sapphire Blue. I was surprised to learn that the Ruby Red trilogy was originally written in German, which definitely added interest for a linguistics nerd like me. Translators deserve more credit! Sure, they’re translating someone else’s words, but they’re also WRITING A BOOK, so, kudos to Anthea Bell for doing a great job on the translation–not that I read German (I wish I did so I could read my favorite poet, Rainer Maria Rilke, in his original language), but the story read well.

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

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I just want to start by saying I love author Jenny Han, her personality, her openness, her humor, just everything about her. But wait a minute. Hold up. Cue screech of a needle across record album. I could not finish this book. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before ended up being a DNF. The main character was sweet, the concept was intriguing (letters Laura Jean privately penned to all the boys she’s loved end up mistakenly being mailed to them), but as hard as I tried, I could not get through this book. I may have to face that saccharine,  very-young adult books might not be my cup of tea.

I’m sorry to end on a DNF note, especially re: a book that so many people adore but, all in all, it was a really enjoyable month of reading. I hope you’re getting to read lots of good books, too. 😀

–Eve Messenger