Presenting a Blogger: Lauren @ Love is not a triangle

I realized when I started blogging that I like to do two things: interview and meet/introduce bloggers. Interviewing allows us to get to know a person better and I don't think anyone can meet too many bloggers. In addition, when I love a blogger and their work, I want to treat them like a book by showcasing them whenever I can. So today, I have the pleasure of interviewing a great blogger, Lauren from Love is not a triangle. 

Hey Lauren! I'm so happy that you're here. Please introduce yourself and your blog.

Hi Sunny! Thank you so much for inviting me onto your blog. I feel incredibly honored. 

Hi, my name is Lauren, and I don't do crafts. I read. (I feel like I'm in a support group, with that intro). My blog name is Love is not a triangle, because while I love to read, I do not like love triangles. At all. However, I do have friends who like them. Triangle dislike is not a requirement to be my friend or read my blog. I do include a Love Triangle Factor and a Cliffhanger Scale in my reviews, though. Just in case you're like me and what to know whether a book has a triangle or a cliffy before you start it. 

Can I add in here how I love that? I think bloggers should have a support group! I also love your Love Triangle Factor and Cliffhanger Scale. 

Why or how did you decide to start blogging? 

I've always been a reader and have been active on Goodreads for several years, though I didn't start officially blogging until the end of July last year. I like that writing a review is a way for me to physically track my reaction to a book. I read so much that sometimes I forget the details. Reviewing books also allows me to keep up with my analytical and critical thinking skills in a way that I don't get in my daily life.

[Note: Book blogging group hug!]

It wasn't until I participated in a read-along for the book Outlander by Diana Gabaldon last summer that I actually made blogging happen. To join the read-along, you were supposed to be a blogger, because of weekly questions posts. Thankfully, the kind and generous Asheley @ Into the Hall of Books allowed me to post mine on her site. Through the event, I met so many other bloggers who like to read and discuss the same types of books that I do. And who read as much as I do. It was an exciting and refreshing experience to find people out there just like me. I really wanted to become an active member of that community. 10 months later, I'm loving being a part of the awesomeness that is book blogging. I'm even going to BEA this year. 

Yes! It's amazing how great this community is. BEA! *sniff*

[Note: BEA has started and I am looking at every tweet, living vicariously through you all]

What genres do you love reading and/or reviewing the most? 

Hmmm. I'm not sure if I have a favorite genre. Also, sometimes I read a book and compose a review in my head as I'm reading, and then I write it very fast. But sometimes I finish a book and think "I have no idea what to say!" But it's not genre based. I can't read too much of one genre at a time. If I read a lot of contemporaries, I need to throw in fantasy or paranormal to balance myself out (and vice versa). Also, I'm terrible at categorizing book genres. I get contemporary, but everything else sits in one big lump o' speculative fiction in my head. And now authors like to mix up genres, which confuses me more.  

That doesn't actually answer your question. I read mostly young adult fiction of all genres, but I'm pretty flexible and willing to try new types of books. I do have trouble with alternate realities/parallel worlds for some reason. They don't always work for me. But maybe I'll find a book that I LOVE that fits within that category, and change my mind completely. 

Top three favorite authors? 

I am not very good at these top questions, so I'm going to give you four of my favorites: Melina Marchetta, Maggie Stiefvater, Jane Austen and Harper Lee. I love that Harper Lee wrote one book and was like "this is everything I wanted to say, and now I'm done."And it's still a masterpiece, and my favorite book!

Rebel. 

Who is your favorite YA couple? 

Another question I have such trouble answering. This changes a lot, but today I'll say Jonah Griggs and Taylor Markham from Jellicoe Road or Perry and Aria from the Under the Never Sky series. 

Perrrrry! 

Obviously, you hate love triangles (who doesn't nowadays?), but what would be some of your other bookish pet peeves? 

First I will say that my love triangle quirkiness is so huge and massive that I try not to have too many other pet peeves when I read. Because whether or not a book has a love triangle, and the severity of it, greatly affects my reaction to books. 

I prefer slow burn romances to insta-love. But I don't mind instant attraction if it's realistic, and as long as the characters don't jump immediately to "I love you." I've found with me, a lot of pet peeves are more about how an individual author approaches a topic, than an across the board turn-off. Sometimes a character will do something in one book that I think is incredibly annoying and off putting. But I'll read a different book with a a different character who does something similar, and it doesn't bug me as much, because it wasn't handled the same. Does that make any sense? I can't think of an example at this moment.  

The other thing that causes me a lot of problems is seeing the same storyline or plot flow in multiple books. If I start to notice a pattern, it makes the individual stories feel less real, and more contrived. For instance, I went through this whole period with contemporaries where I couldn't stand that almost all of them seemed to have this chaotic moment around 80% where the couple would have a massive falling out, and there would be tons of drama and stress for a while, before the happy conclusion. It happens in a lot of books, though recently it hasn't been bugging me as much, so maybe it's going away, or I'm not freaked out by it as much. 

Yes! Insta-love is blech as well as repetitive plots. 

What is one book that you recently read and loved? 

I LOVED The 5th Wave, though I'm not sure what I think about the last two pages. I also really liked Wild Awake by Hilary T. Smith, which is a little out there, and won't appeal to everyone. But I thought it was an amazingly accurate picture of mental illness and had a fantastic romance. I'm currently reading The Bitter Kingdom, the final book in Rae Carson's Fire and Thorns series, and I can already tell that it is going to be epic and amazing!

You're killing me. All books that I'm DYING to read! 

Anything else you would like to add?

I'll probably think of something important to write here, once you publish this...Oh I know, I'm hosting a Summer Series Challenge with some blogging friends this June - August. It's to encourage people to finish the series they've already started, or read through some from start to finish. Stop by my blog if you're interested in learning more about it. It's going to be easy and stress free, and we want everyone to join! (I apologize for the shameless promotion.) 

No apologies needed! I'm glad you mentioned it because I forgot to ask! To go sign up or learn more, click here. 

This or That: 

Chocolate or vanilla? Vanilla always.

Ebook or paperback? I switch between these a lot. Ebooks are better on the go, but I'd prefer to own a paperback that I can hold in my hands or lend to friends. 

Star Wars or Star Trek? Star Wars definitely. Or maybe it's just Harrison Ford, definitely. 

Brunette or blonde? (of the boy variety) Brunette for sure! I'm a blonde though.

Winter or Summer? SUMMER! I get so depressed about where I live in the winter, but love the summers and falls here. 

~*~

There you have it, folks. Now do me proud by hopping on over to say hi to Lauren on her blog, sign up for the Summer Series Challenge, and love her blog like I do. 

Blog: http://www.loveisnotatriangle.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurayjames

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1714237-lauren

Wishlist Wednesday #17

Hosted by Pen to Paper

Wishlist Wednesday is a meme hosted by Pen to Paper where bloggers can show every Wednesday what book they are lusting over wanting that is on their TBR list. 

Title: The 5th Wave

Author: Rick Yancey

Publication date: Math 7, 2013

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile

The Passage meets Ender’s Game in an epic new series from award-winning author Rick Yancey.

After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.

Why I want: 

This one is actually out already, which is unlike the books I usually put on Wishlist Wednesday. However, I haven't heard one bad review for it. Hearing all good reviews make me excited, but also nervous because that's a lot of expectations to put on one book. Whenever someone talks about it, they say how it's the next "big thing." Can I have this in my hands already please?

What are you wishing for this Wednesday? ...although most of you are probably at BEA and are getting those things RIGHT NOW *grumble*

Top Ten Tuesday: Nicest Authors

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Today is a Top Ten Tuesday freebie so that means I get to pick. Instead of praising certain books, I'll praise certain authors. Thanks to Shelver and her post about author behavior, I started thinking about some of the authors that I have witnessed to be nice. In no particular order, here are ten authors that I think are nice and deserve to be recognized. It doesn't hurt that they have great books either.

Robin LaFevers

Books: His Fair Assassin series

You know what I love? When an author takes time out of their life to talk to fans on Twitter. We had a whole conversation about having a Mexican night where I could wrangle details out of her. She also responded very quickly when I asked for an interview. Awesome author award goes to her! 

Elizabeth Eulberg

 Books: Prom & Prejudice, The Lonely Hearts Club, Take a Bow...

Once again, another author who actually tweeted me back via Twitter and complimented my blog in reference to what I said about her book. 

Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Books: The Naturals - okay, I really can't list anything after that because that book is AWESOME.

She tweeted me back and I really had to resist from giving her a big virtual hug because her book is amazing. 

Trish Doller

Books: Something Like Normal, Where the Stars Still Shine

My interaction with her was quite a while ago, but I still remember feeling like I just talked to one of the nicest authors on the planet. It was also in my very early blogging days where I realized that authors were people too. She was just super nice.

Stacey Kade

Books: The Ghost and the Goth trilogy, The Rules

This woman gave me my first ever author interview. She was beyond nice, gracious, and wonderful. I also received an ARC of the fantastic The Rules after I interviewed her. I don't know her on some personal level, but although she's an amazing author, she seems like an amazing person as well. 

Veronica Rossi

Books: Under the Never Sky series

I remember having a Twitter interaction with her and thinking, "She is SO nice!" 

Marissa Meyer

Books: The Lunar Chronicles

I emailed her for an interview and she replied saying that she was really busy, but would get back to me as soon as possible. So not only did she actually reply, but throughout her busy schedule, she sent back the email full of interview answers. 

Leigh Bardugo

Books: The Geisha series

She writes wonderful books and also participates in the Twitter author niceness. I had a very small interaction with her, but I follow her on Twitter and see she's very nice to a lot of her fans.

 I WILL BE SEEING HER THIS YEAR! YAY!!!! From now until then, I will be training my self-control so that I will not tackle her for a hug. I like hugs. 

Katie Sise

Books: The Boyfriend App

I have her book in my library book pile which really resulted in my conversation with her. We had a short conversation about her book and my library and then she went inside HER library and gave a copy to them. Yeah, it's her book, but she didn't have to give them a copy, which is really nice and generous.

Suzanne Woods Fisher

Books: Lots and lots of Amish titles

My mom reads lots of Amish books and while I can never keep track the titles, I like them as well. Way back when, my mom and I emailed her and I had a whole exchange with her and she REMEMBERED us! You win, Mrs. Fisher.

Megan Whalen Turner

 Books: The Thief series

 She's the object of my sister's affection and way back when, I sent an email to her which she replied to. Replying to emails is something I love in a person.

Ally Carter

Books: The Gallagher Girls. Heist Society series

I can rave about her all day long, which I probably do on a weekly basis anyways. However, I met her at a reading festival this year and I was so tongue tied, but I witnessed a great exchange between her and my sister. She also waved "hi" to us and told us to have a good day later when we walked by her. I really wanted to give her a hug...but did the whole "self-control" thing that I mentioned earlier. 

Honorable mentions: Gail Carson Levine (author of Ella Enchanted and many others) when I met her at the reading festival, Victoria Schwab (author of The Archived) for more Twitter niceness, J.J. Howard (author of That Time I Joined the Circus) for being so nice on Twitter, Robin Benway (author of Audrey, Wait! and others) for more Twitter loving, and many other authors. 

Who are some authors who have been nice to you? 

Review: THE LONELY HEARTS CLUB by Elizabeth Eulberg

Title: The Lonely Hearts Club

Author: Elizabeth Eulberg

Publication date: January 1, 2010

Publisher: Point

Love is all you need... or is it? Penny's about to find out in this wonderful debut.

Penny is sick of boys and sick of dating. So she vows: no more. It's a personal choice. . .and, of course, soon everyone wants to know about it. And a few other girls are inspired. A movement is born: The Lonely Hearts Club (named after the band from Sgt. Pepper). Penny is suddenly known for her nondating ways . . . which is too bad, because there's this certain boy she can't help but like. . . .

Review:

I can sum this book up in one word: CUTE.

Penny Lane is, yes, named after a Beatles song. All of her sisters are actually, but she considers hers to be the weirdest. Instead of rebelling and getting sick of anything Beatles, she turns to them for comfort or enjoyment of any kind. Thanks to her parents, she knows every Beatles song and probably knows every Beatles fact. Then comes the heartbreak. After catching her longtime crush and short-time official boyfriend cheating on her in her own home, she vows to be off of boys. The only boys allowed are, of course, the Beatles. She calls herself the Lonely Hearts Club and decides to stop dating until she gets out of her high school, which, to her, is filled with brainwashing pigs as guys.

In the amiss of all that, we meet her best friend Tracy, who is so obsessed with getting a boyfriend that she makes a huge list of potential candidates every year. Unlike Penny, Tracy has never had luck with capturing a guy and is a bit desperate. However, that's what made her likable. She wasn't perfect. She was acting like a normal teenager girl (which is pretty sad actually) with a sprinkling of weird. However, I did not like her saying, "What to the evs." It made me twitch.

Another reason why Penny thinks that boys are nothing but trouble is how her falling out with former best friend Diane came to be. After Diane started dating Ryan in seventh grade (seriously?) and continued to date him, Diane started ditching Penny, altering her social life around her boyfriend. Even though Penny doesn't particularly like to be around Diane, we are let known through Tracy that Penny has somewhat flirting conversations with Ryan and player Todd with her being unconscientious about it.  In the beginning of the book, Penny and Diane make up thanks to Ryan and Diane breaking up and Diane apologizing profusely.

While I get an old friendship can be picked up quickly, I felt that part was handled unrealistically. They haven't had a true conversation in years, their relationship was abandoned and so was Penny due to a guy, and suddenly Diane wants to be friends...and it happens? Penny definitely was against it at first, but it didn't take her long to declare that it was easy to be best friends again. Huh.

After each girl close to Penny start hearing about her club and coincidentally has their own frustrating experience with a guy, she starts to gain more members. The club becomes a hot topic at school with some people joining for fame or wrong reasons while others turn their noses up at it, thinking that the girls are pathetic and lonely. Of course, it also doesn't set well with the guys in school.

I loved Penny's narrative and how she tries to organize her life, set boundaries with Nate, and make sure she keeps her friends a priority. I love her relationship with her family and sisters, even if we don't see much of them. Sad novels without parents (If I Stay, maybe?) are good too, but I love the feeling of reading a book where the character has a great relationship with her parents, especially if there's some wit in there. With Penny's narrative, there's definitely wit because she made me smile many times. I love how cute it all is. I especially love how each chapter starts with a Beatles song quote because I adore music. This novel received my love. 

My mother was a small woman, but she carried the wrath of God in her. I didn't like to make her angry. You wouldn't like her when she's angry.

BUT I had a couple negatives. One was the overall boys aspect. Firstly, I disliked how Penny and all the girls claimed that all the boys in their school are jerks/idiots/pigs/etc. Generalizations are unfair and pretty much just suck. It's like picking a couple YA books that treated you badly in the terms of writing or relationships or some pet peeve you had and then declaring that all YA books are the same and that they need to be banned. Ridiculous. I wanted to go walk around Penny's school and find the nice guys that are being lumped into this generalization and give them free ice cream. They didn't deserve it. Thankfully, near-ish the end, Penny realized this as well and tried to mend her wrong ways.

He was a guy. A guy guy. As far as I was concerned, he probably had the dead bodies of small children and puppies hidden in his locker.

On the other side, Todd and some jerky guys were being morons. They guffawed and behaved even worse when the club starting getting popular. I see their indignation, but as a girl, I wanted to spit on them. In addition, I wanted to do even worse to the principal. The principal, who is a guy and I do not think that's a coincidence, was vehemently against the club and claimed that Penny was causing trouble and disrupting the order of things, blah blah blah. Just because you're a guy and a principal gives you no excuse to interfere on a non-school club and try to punish her. I wanted to applaud for her parents who didn't even hesitate to stick up for their daughter.

For the actual jerks who were horrible to their dates/girlfriends.
LOSERS

The last issue I had was I felt that the club was unrealistic. I might be wrong, but I don't see it all rapidly happening like that in a high school. There were a few other instances that was cheesy movie-worthy. You know, where everyone forms together and cheers on someone and miraculously, the person overcomes some obstacle because she had people cheering her on. Whatever. I'll excuse it, Ms. Eulberg, because I enjoyed your novel.

The family closeness, cuteness, song references, and the fun aspect of this book made up for the unrealistic elements, jerks, and eye-roll-worthy actions and statements. Like I said, it was cute.

Verdict: a fun, cute novel that sucked me in with a couple irritations, but was a really great break from reality. 

Cover Love #14

Hosted by Bookshelvers Anonymous

Title: United We Spy

Author: Ally Carter

Publication date: September 17, 2013

Publisher Disney-Hyperion

Cammie Morgan has lost her father and her memory, but in the heart-pounding conclusion to the best-selling Gallagher Girls series, she finds her greatest mission yet. Cammie and her friends finally know why the terrorist organization called the Circle of Cavan has been hunting her. Now the spy girls and Zach must track down the Circle’s elite members to stop them before they implement a master plan that will change Cammie—and her country—forever.

Why I love: 

WHY WOULDN'T I LOVE THIS?

So I may be bias in my thinking that this cover is absolutely wonderful considering that I am Ally Carter's biggest fan and would read her grocery lists and clean up any pet poop in her yard just for her. Does that sound too creepy and out there? I have read all of the Gallagher Girls, introduced them to Shelver and my other sister as well as friends and people on the internet.

Cammie is now in a graduation gown on the cover with a really nice red for the background (I knew it! Ally mentioned red in her interview as an "example"). The spine is also really pretty and I love how they have different colored spines for each book in the series. The title is cute, the outfit is cute, everything on the cover is cute.

Excuse me as I go fan-girl in the corner and wipe a tear.

What cover are you loving this week? 

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Book Covers That I've Read

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

With Cover Love, I usually show off covers of books that I haven't read yet. So now here's my chance to boast the covers that I have read. Whether they just catch my eye, are pretty, creepy, or just great, here are only ten (or so) covers that I love of books I have read.

Lunar Chronicles

These covers always catch my eye. They're simple, but always make me want to reread because they're fantastic retellings and they convey that.

The Selection

Pretty girls with pretty dresses, I know. But it seems so mysterious and the covers are quite beautiful. 

Robin Benway

I love all of Robin Benway's covers! Vibrant and fun, they make me happy. 

Jennifer E. Smith

I question your romantic side if you don't think This Is What Happy Looks Like's cover doesn't look adorable (even the SPoLaF's cover as well). Besides, I'm always a fan of tastefully done yellow.

Everneath

The powerful way she walks, the black turning into swooping gray. Why wouldn't I love this cover? 

Grave Mercy

I don't know why anyone wouldn't like this cover. I just don't. 

The Uglies

It feels very haunting to me. Considering The Uglies is about plastic surgery and the such, it fits well. I also really like the girl's nails. 

Going Vintage

Can you say fun? 

Shadowlands

Mysterious, creepy, alluring. I especially like the birds and the clouds over the font is a nice touch. 

Croak

She looks tough. It also doesn't hurt that she has an awesome scythe. 

And here are some books that are on my shelf ABOUT to be read. That counts, right? 

Lucid

Okay, this one is a library book, but I'm about to read it! The rest are on my shelf, I swear. Anyways, this is so pretty, I can't stop looking at it. 

These Broken Stars

I'm such a fan of the color blue, I saw a post about redheads with blue and I really think it works. The dress is gorgeous and, of course, the stars are a really great touch. I can't wait to start this one! It just looks so pretty on my shelf. 

The American Heiress

I think this is an adult book, but I don't know for sure. Looks very regal. Simple, yet elegant. I think Downton Abbey.

Okay, I had to limit myself. I went through my bookshelf and then all through my tiny Goodreads shelf. I didn't even want to think about brainstorming or this post would be a million times longer. But to all the artists/publishers/authors/book people out there who have a hand in making book covers: BRAVO!

What are some of your favorite book covers?

Review: UNRAVEL ME by Tahereh Mafi

Title: Unravel Me

Author: Tahereh Mafi

Publication date: February 5, 2013

Publisher: HarperCollins

Source: Thanks to the amazing Ems for trading this with me via YA Book Exchange!

tick
tick
tick
tick
tick
it's almost
time for war.

Juliette has escaped to Omega Point. It is a place for people like her—people with gifts—and it is also the headquarters of the rebel resistance.

She's finally free from The Reestablishment, free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch.

Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible.

In this exhilarating sequel to Shatter Me, Juliette has to make life-changing decisions between what she wants and what she thinks is right. Decisions that might involve choosing between her heart—and Adam's life.

Review: 

The most frustrating books to review are books like this one. It's taken me forever to process my thoughts and I still don't have anything. I really wish I would have recorded myself when I talked to my sister about it because that was the clearest moment I had. Let's begin.

Warning: 

This is a SEQUEL. 

It may or may not contain spoilers for the FIRST book. 

Continue at your own risk. 

Or you could just go read Shatter Me and then read this review.

We find Juliette where we last left her in the underground rebellion. However, instead of being the determined and positive girl from the end in Shatter Me, she's now depressed and wallowing in self-pity. Seriously. Pity party for one, please. 

I could go on forever about how annoying Juliette was for the whole beginning of the book and maybe even for the whole thing. Whine, whine, whine. That's all I heard from her. She would go in a cycle of whining and being depressed then Kenji would say something to snap her out of it and she would agree and cry, saying how she really does need to be better. But what does she do? Only a few chapters later and SHE'S BACK AT IT. I want to point out that I love Kenji. He was the only redeeming factor in the whole book first half of the book. I kept picturing Edna from The Incredibles. 

He gives her necessary reality checks and tells it how it is, but not in a rude way. He's a sweetheart, a hilarious one, but he won't watch Juliette moan about her life like a dying dog. 

"All you do is sit around and think about your feelings. You've got problems. Boo-freeking-hoo," he says.

Kenji even made me fired up while I was reading on the treadmill. It felt like I was rolling my eyes every other minute and then Kenji would appear and my fist was suddenly pumping in the air with redemption. 

"As far as I can tell, you've got food in your mouth and clothes on your back and a place to pee in peace whenever you feel like it. Those aren't problems. That's called living like a king. And I'd really appreciate it if you'd grow the hell up and stop walking around like the world crapped on your only roll of toilet paper. Because it's stupid," he says, barely reining in his temper. "It's stupid, and it's ungrateful. You don't have a clue what everyone else in the world is going through right now. You don't have a clue, Juliette."

Do you want to go back and reread that last quote? I especially loved the toilet paper line and the last sentence. I walk to the treadmill anticipating a better Juliette, more Warner, and a funny Kenji. I start reading and I feel like my eyes are getting a workout from all the eye rolling at Juliette. I'm just about tired of it until Kenji appears. So I return sighing and smiling at my sister, grateful for Kenji. 

However, there is no possible way that Kenji will end up with Juliette. NO. To all those fans who are being silly and saying, "TEAM KENJI!" No. Stop looking foolish, you're just embarrassing yourself. Not only would that be weird, but Juliette honestly doesn't deserve him. I get that Kenji might seem promising, but I'm actually pulling for him to be with one of the healer twins. 

Kenji nods very slowly, looks a little solemn. You're right. I'm sorry. I get it."
"Thank you."
"Adam is jealous of our love."

(Guys, he's joking.) 

He even calls Adam on his BLECH-ness. Personally, I don't see how anyone can be on Adam's side. She knew him longer, they have history, he was there for her, he has a little brother, and so on. Whatever. If a guy read this book, he would joke and say that Adam was behaving like a woman on PMS. Not only is that insulting to women everywhere, but that wouldn't come close to how Adam was behaving in my eyes. 

“I am not moody—”

“Yeah, bro.” Kenji puts his utensils down. “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—” 

Kenji was a constant love for me. I know I have spent not nearly enough too much time talking about him. But I'm actually really afraid of giving anything away. 

We have Warner again, who is a definite plus. Before you read Unravel Me, it's mandatory that you read Destroy Me. Please. There were surprises and twists along the way, which I loved, so bravo, Ms. Mafi. Things get a bit sizzling with Warner in the book, another plus. 

One of the things I understood that it had to happen, but was in absolute annoyance over was the fact that Juliette kept going back and forth with Adam and Warner (seems to me like it resembled what everyone keeps saying about America in The Elite). Of course, she always has one foot planted on Adam's side. Her other foot keeps jumping back and forth though, making me want to push her all the way to Warner. 

There were many enjoyable, and aggravating things, in this book. All in all, I enjoyed it. Kenji was the only redeeming factor in the first half of the book and Warner helped him out in the second half. If you're expecting a strong heroine, I suggest you ditch that idea or be prepared that Juliette has major fluctuating attitude issues. The fact is, though, that this book delivered excitement, swoon-worthy scenes, a few lovable characters, and twists.

Basically, if you want your emotions amplified, then you will get that, at least it did it for me. When I was frustrated, it was known. When I was thrilled to bits, I felt it all over. Unlike other books, your emotions aren't lukewarm. You feel things, good and bad.

Verdict: A sequel that left me with annoyance AND pleasure and making me stand stronger than ever for Warner. 

Author Interview with Marissa Meyer, author of THE LUNAR CHRONICLES

Today, I have the great honor of having Marissa Meyer here, author of The Lunar Chronicles. You can see my review of the second book in the series, Scarlet, here. 

Hello, Marissa! Please introduce yourself with a short bio. 
 

Hello! I'm Marissa Meyer, the author of The Lunar Chronicles and about 18 billion Sailor Moon fanfics from back in the day. I love wearing pajamas and costumes and I could eat peanut butter for every meal. 

Peanut butter addicts unite! 

The Lunar Chronicles are all retellings, but how did you come up with the idea? Having who we know as "Cinderella" be a cyborg is awesome, in my opinion. Not to mention the fact that it's placed in a dystopian world where Earth and the moon are enemies.

Thank you! The idea started when I entered a writing contest in which the host had listed about ten random prompts and writers had to choose two of them to include in their stories. My two prompts: set it in the future and include a fairy-tale character. My contest entry was a sci-fi version of Puss in Boots and I had so much fun writing it that I thought I would try to do an entire series of sci-fi fairy tales. So a couple months go by and then one night as I was drifting off to sleep I had a dream about Cinderella… as a cyborg! I crawled out of bed and spent about an hour brainstorming and jotting notes. Thus, The Lunar Chronicles was born.

I love that it not only came from a contest, but that it came from a dream. I personally believe dreams are some of the greatest story sources.

Did you have a hard time retelling these classic and well-known fairytales?

Sometimes it can be difficult trying to decide how far to deviate from the original tales. I've definitely taken a lot of liberties, what with the plague and the Lunar society and all. But I hope readers will recognize all their favorite iconic elements from the stories - Cinderella's slipper, Little Red's hood, and of course some of the major plot points - while still being surprised by some of the changes I've made.

Ha! I love knowing how different the original ones are than the ones we know. Cannibalism, how lovely. 

What is your favorite fairytale...and why? 

It's so impossible to pick just one! I tend to like the tales that people THINK they know, but they're not familiar with their darker, gorier sides. It makes for excellent cocktail party conversation, "i.e., Did you know that the original Little Red Riding Hood featured cannibalism?"

Would you like to live on the moon if possible?

The Lunars have it pretty nice up there (readers will get to see more of Luna in the coming books), but in all honesty, I can't see a colony ever being quite so grand as I've made it out to be. So, no, I think I'm pretty content down here on Earth. I like oceans and stuff.

Ah, I can't wait to see more of Luna!

Was it hard to go back to Scarlet, a character in the same series who didn't know what was going on, after having the breakthrough with Cinder? 

Every book has its own challenges, but usually getting started isn't one of them. By the time I finish with one book, or have wrapped up one character's storyline, I'm eager to move on to the next one. It's helpful that I had the entire series plotted out from the beginning, so I've always had a good idea of what was coming up next.

Between the two, who would be your favorite: Cinder or Scarlet? 

I would probably get along better with Cinder - we share a sense of humor, and I like how laid back she is about stuff. But Scarlet is a lot of fun to write about, in part because she's very different from me, and it's nice to put myself in someone's shoes who isn't afraid to speak her mind.

Of course, I have to mention Cress and Winter, both of which have such far away release dates. When do you think we'll be able to see Cress's cover reveal? 
 

Soon, I hope!! June, maybe? I haven't seen anything yet myself, but I know they're working on it.

YAY!

Any chance we get to have a three-word description on either of them? 
 

Cress: Hacker, Mission Impossible, War.

Winter: Luna, Revolution, Nothing could possibly go wrong...

I wasn't getting my hopes up that you would be able to give me short descriptions, but this made me incredibly happy. I jumped up and down in my seat and couldn't stop smiling like a fool.

Although Iko is a secondary character, will she have a romance or any "happily ever after" of her own?

You'll just have to wait and see!

I'll just take that as a yes ;) 

I also was stalking Goodreads and saw speculations of there being a possibility between Cress and Thorne. Please tell my romantic heart it's true! 
 

*zips lips*

IT IS! *pumps fist*

What's one book you have recently read that you loved?
 

This is a strange one for me, because I'm usually all-YA-fiction all-the-time, but I just finished "Drop Dead Healthy" by A.J. Jacobs, which is a nonfiction book about a guy trying a bunch of different (sometimes contradictory) health tips over the course of two years. It's hilarius and informative at the same time. I'd forgotten how much I enoyed non-fiction, so I think I'll be picking up more of it in the coming months.

Hmm, non-fiction. I wouldn't have guessed that, but it does sound interesting!

This or That: 
Chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate
Ebook or paperback? Er - ebook, I guess, but I prefer hardbacks.
Star Wars or Star Trek? Firefly!
Brunette or Blonde? (of the boy variety) Why limit yourself? <--very good point.
Winter or summer? Winter. A rainy season here in Washington. :)

~*~

I would like to thank Marissa for agreeing to the interview and for giving such wonderful answers. If you  haven't read either Cinder or Scarlet, you are missing out big time and can buy them down below: 

Buy, read, enjoy!