Cover Reveal: The Best Things in Death by Lenore Appelhans

Exciting news! On May 27, 2014, Simon and Schuster will publish the Memory Chronicles ebook original short story collection THE BEST THINGS IN DEATH.  Here's the cover!

Preorder on amazon, barnes & noble, other platforms (note: last time I checked, the description of the book was outdated, so please disregard if that's still the case)

Add to Goodreads

THE BEST THINGS IN DEATH is best read after THE MEMORY OF AFTER (aka LEVEL 2), though the stories can also stand alone outside the series. It can be read before or after CHASING BEFORE (no spoilers for the sequel). A reminder: CHASING BEFORE comes out on August 26, 2014. More info.

The stories are from the points of view of the following characters:

Neil -- A week before his car crash with Felicia, Neil spends a perfect day at the swimming hole. He and Felicia have never been happier. But can he work up the courage to tell her that he loves her?

Julian -- Months before the events of THE MEMORY OF AFTER, Julian and Mira spy on Felicia and Autumn during a trip to Iceland.

Libby -- Character first introduced in CHASING BEFORE. Libby and her boyfriend Jeremy head off on a road trip to Las Vegas and stumble upon truths potentially deadly to their relationship.

Brady -- Character first introduced in CHASING BEFORE. An unexpected encounter with the charming Oliver brings cancer-patient Brady out of his shell.

Hope you enjoy it! (My agent did)

Reading a new ms. from @lenoreva, "The Best Things in Death." What a writer, what an imagination! So excited for others to read this. (May).
— Stephen Barbara (@Stephen_Barbara) February 10, 2014

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Book Review: Cured by Bethany Wiggins

Last year, STUNG was a favorite dystopian read of mine (see my review) so I couldn't wait to devour the sequel CURED.

CURED switches narrators, so we're no longer following Fiona but another girl named Jacqui instead. Considering how much I enjoyed Fiona's narration in STUNG, this switch put me off at first, but I soon grew to appreciate what Jacqui brought to the table as well.

Ever since the bee flu broke out, Jacqui has had to masquerade as a boy because being a woman is not safe in this dangerous new world. She goes by Jack, runs on the treadmill for hours every day and never, ever leaves the safety of her home. That is until she sets off to find her brother, rumored to be in a safe zone in Wyoming, enlisting the help of Fiona, Bowen and Jonah.

Of course, they run into trouble pretty quickly and are saved by Kevin, a guy who (just like Jacqui) isn't all he seems to be on the surface. Who can one trust in this brave new world?

CURED brings a second helping of inventive worldbuilding, romance, intrigue and exciting action scenes.

CURED is out in hardcover now. Find out more about it at the author's website.

FTC disclosure: NetGalley

See index of all dystopian reviews on Presenting Lenore

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Series Review: Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

UNDER THE NEVER SKY is one of my favorite recent series starts (see my review). I bought THROUGH THE EVER NIGHT when it came out, but I waited to read it until INTO THE STILL BLUE was in my hands. This turned out to be an excellent idea because I didn't forget half the details between books. I need to do more of this back-to-back series reading!

Whereas UTNS focused on the opposites-attract romance between Aria and Perry, the following books detail the problems they have trying to stay together. It's an understatement to say that Perry's tribe doesn't approve of Aria or trust her and this causes a lot of the tension. Of course there's still the aether to deal with and the fact that everyone will die if they don't get to the still blue.

In TTEN, Aria and Roar go on a journey to try to figure out the location of the still blue, and then in ITSB, the goal is to get all the pieces in place to move everyone there. While the plot is straightforward, Rossi excels at character twists, especially in regards to the secondary characters. They often start out seeming one note but gradually become more complex and have some surprises up their sleeves. It's an action-filled, character-driven ride to the end.

 Find out more about the series at the author's website.

See an index of all dystopian reviews on Presenting Lenore.

FTC disclosure: Bought TTEN and review copy from Edelweiss for ITSB.  

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Spring Reads

I'm currently reading THE GLASS CASKET by McCormick Templeman (creepy fairytale time) and DON'T LOOK NOW by Michelle Gagnon (sequel to the impressive action thriller DON'T TURN AROUND).

This spring I hope to get to all the books on this Goodreads bookshelf: Next Up. Let's see how I do!

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Book Review: Liv, Forever by Amy Talkington

Even though our main character Liv is murdered halfway in, LIV, FOREVER turns out to be quite a fun and moving novel.

Liv is a new “scolly” (scholarship) student at the prestigious Wickham Hall, admitted due to her promising art portfolio. Though most of the students ignore her, Liv becomes friends with Gabe, a fellow “scolly” who claims that ghosts are talking to him (and the reader knows he’s right thanks to the passages where the ghosts – all female “scollys” – tell us how they died in gruesome ways).

Liv also catches the eye of Malcolm, a legacy student who is a member of the creepy Wickham secret society. Though their relationship is an egregious  case of instalove, I can forgive it because it’s delightfully swoony. For example, Malcolm leads Liv on a campus tour complete with a playlist to go along with the various locations, beginning with Bright Eyes’ “First Day of My Life”. Also, they use each other’s bodies as art canvases. So what if Malcolm is unrealistically perfect? This is a paranormal ghost story, guys.

When Liv dies, Gabe has to convince Malcolm to help him solve the mystery of Liv’s murder, a murder they suspect is connected to his secret society and to all the other ghosts. Hijinks ensue.

Author Talkington uses Liv’s artistic training to great effect to shape her voice. Metaphors including art references abound, and while those readers with less knowledge of art might find their inclusion pretentious, it really helped me to connect to Liv.  For example, Liv describes Malcolm’s eyes as “Yves Klein blue” and that gave me an instant mental picture. Or this passage when Liv talks about her feelings for Malcolm:

I was dying inside. Brain exploding like a Pollock. Heart melting like one of Dalí’s clocks.

What an original way to describe an intense crush. I love it! And I loved this book. I mighthave even been misty-eyed by the end.

LIV, FOREVER is out in hardcover now. Find out more about it at the author’s website.

FTC disclosure: Amazon Vine

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Let Me Be Your Book Fairy

I'm in Benton, KS right now and I'm surrounded by packages.  One box included lots of these:

Isn't it exciting?

To celebrate, I want to make you an offer. How about I fill up a medium flat rate box -  including a copy of CHASING BEFORE as well as ARCs of some of 2014's hottest books* -  and send it to YOU? Or even better how about I do that for two of you?

This has gotta go down before I go back to Germany, so fill out this form by Tuesday night and I'll send the books out on Wednesday.

Good luck!!

*NOTE: This giveaway is US only, but I will be doing an international CHASING BEFORE giveaway later on. If you need a copy of THE MEMORY OF AFTER too, let me know that on the form. Medium flat rate boxes can fit approximately 10 books. Some ARCs may be from 2013. Most or all will be YA.

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57 Lives of Alex Wayfare by MG Buehrlen Blog Tour: Use of Flashbacks

Once in awhile a book comes along that I just fall in love with from page one. The 57 Lives of Alex Wayfare hits so many of my sweet spots: time travel, afterlife, a treasure hunt, twists, and a romance across time. It's a ridiculously good read and definitely a 2014 favorite.

So I'm especially excited to have MG on the blog today for a guest post. Enjoy!

Let’s Talk About Flashbacks, Baby

Today I’m hijacking Lenore’s fabulous blog to talk about flashbacks. Lenore wrote a great post last year about her top ten books featuring flashbacks, and two of those books, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, were direct influences on whether or not I would include flashbacks in my novel, The 57 Lives of Alex Wayfare.

Some readers might lament finding a flashback in a novel, almost as if it’s a no-no or a sign of lackluster talent, but when flashbacks are done well, they can add immense depth to a story, not to mention the characters.

In The Book Thief, Death narrates his story by recalling each time he came in contact with Liesel (the book thief) over the years. Death’s narrative is straightforward from the beginning. At times, the author even goes so far as to tell us exactly what we’re in for at the beginning of each section:

 

I adored Zusak’s use of flashbacks as well as flash forwards in the novel. I don’t want to spoil anything, but his flash forwards concerning Rudy’s fate didn’t ruin the suspense for me. On the contrary, knowing Rudy’s fate beforehand made me keep turning the page, wanting to find out exactly how Rudy’s destiny manifests. I didn’t lose interest. My interest skyrocketed.

Same for the flashbacks. Death’s memories of Liesel are poignant and poetic. Zusak puts the reader into those memories and gives them intense and exciting life. You never feel bogged down by them -- they push the story forward in the most heartbreaking ways.

In Code Name Verity, the narrator of the first half of the book has been captured by the Nazis. As they interrogate and torture her, she recounts all the memories that got her to that point by documenting them on paper as though she’s writing a story. Some of the memories aren’t even her own, they belong to her friend Maddie, but she does her best to embellish and make each flashback just as exciting as if it were happening in real time. I devoured each one.

Those are the kinds of flashbacks I love to read, and those were the types of flashbacks I wanted to include in The 57 Lives of Alex Wayfare.

While there are only a handful of flashbacks at the beginning of the book, they were necessary in establishing my main character’s core dilemma. Alex had been suffering from crazy visions of the past that were affecting her school work and her family life. She wanted to get to the bottom of them (or just get rid of them by popping some pills). The book opens with Alex relaying these visions to a psychiatrist. This was the first time Alex ever divulged her secret of the “visions” to anyone. 

Soon after, the reader discovers that Alex’s “visions” were actually moments when she traveled back in time to her reincarnated past lives. From then on out, there are no more flashbacks in the novel. Even when Alex learns to travel back in time and does so willingly, she lives those scenes out in real time instead of simply remembering them like she would in a flashback. Her modern day self actually slips into her past life’s body, and she is able to walk around in the past, perhaps changing history bit by bit in the process... Eeep!

So, as you can see, I certainly love a good flashback novel (so much so that I wrote one). I also enjoy flashbacks in television and film. In my experience, most people don’t seem to mind flashbacks in TV and film as much as they do in literature. It could be that flashbacks lend themselves more naturally to the visual format than the written. With the use of different camera angles or filter colors, it’s easier to know when we’re watching a scene from the past, and therefore we’re less confused.

I love the use of flashbacks in the TV version of The Vampire Diaries, especially those with The Originals and how they became vampires all those centuries ago. I also loved seeing flashbacks of Steffan when he was The Ripper. Those flashbacks helped solidify the characters for me, giving them more depth. I could understand their present-day choices much better knowing where they came from.

Another great example is the BBC’s Sherlock. That series uses so many flashbacks that it’s become an integral part of the show’s storytelling. If you’ve seen the wedding episode from Season 3, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

The entire episode was a montage of flashbacks based on Sherlock’s and John’s cases -- cases we didn’t get to see play out in full episode format. Judging from the episode’s success, viewers certainly didn’t mind the use of flashbacks. Just like in The Book Thief and Code Name Verity, the flashbacks were entertaining and helped push the story forward.

What are some of your favorite novels, TV shows, or films that use flashbacks? Let us know in the comments!

Thanks so much for having me on the blog today, Lenore!

***********************************

Official book summary:

One girl. Fifty-seven lives. Endless ways to die.

For as long as 17-year-old Alex Wayfare can remember, she has had visions of the past. Visions that make her feel like she’s really on a ship bound for America, living in Jamestown during the Starving Time, or riding the original Ferris wheel at the World’s Fair.

But these brushes with history pull her from her daily life without warning, sometimes leaving her with strange lasting effects and wounds she can’t explain. Trying to excuse away the aftereffects has booked her more time in the principal’s office than in any of her classes and a permanent place at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Alex is desperate to find out what her visions mean and get rid of them.

It isn’t until she meets Porter, a stranger who knows more than should be possible about her, that she learns the truth: Her visions aren’t really visions. Alex is a Descender – capable of traveling back in time by accessing Limbo, the space between Life and Afterlife. Alex is one soul with fifty-six past lives, fifty-six histories.

Fifty-six lifetimes to explore: the prospect is irresistible to Alex, especially when the same mysterious boy with soulful blue eyes keeps showing up in each of them. But the more she descends, the more it becomes apparent that someone doesn’t want Alex to travel again. Ever.

And will stop at nothing to make this life her last.

Author bio:

When she’s not writing, M.G. moonlights as a web designer and social media/creative director.

She’s the current web ninja lurking behind the hugely popular website YABooksCentral.com,

a social network for YA (and kids!) book lovers. The 57 Lives of Alex Wayfare is her debut novel. M.G. lives nestled away in Michigan pines, surrounded by good coffee and good books, with her husband and son and three furbabies. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr.

Order links:

Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million | Amazon | Indiebound | The Book Depository | Waterstones

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