Blog Tour Stop: If You Find Me

Today I am beyond excited to be taking part in the blog tour for If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch which is brought to you by The Midnight Garden.  This is by far my favorite read of 2013 so far and is a novel that I still think about to this day.  My stop features my review of the novel, an interview with Emily and a chance for US & CAN readers to win a beautiful finished copy of the novel.


TITLE If You Find Me
AUTHOR Emily Murdoch
PUBLICATION March 26th 2013 by St. Martin's Griffin
READ February 17, 2013
SOURCE St. Martin's Griffin via Netagalley for review

There are some things you can’t leave behind…

A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey’s younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and two strangers arrive. Suddenly, the girls are taken from the woods and thrust into a bright and perplexing new world of high school, clothes and boys.

Now, Carey must face the truth of why her mother abducted her ten years ago, while haunted by a past that won’t let her go… a dark past that hides many a secret, including the reason Jenessa hasn’t spoken a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk watching her new life come crashing down.

This review is probably going to be an incoherent jumble of feelings that I can’t translate eloquently into words so there are some things I want to just throw at you in the beginning to make sure that I get my point across. This book. This book is everything that I want in a book; this book is about love and it is so full of heart that I found myself teary eyed pretty much once in every chapter. This book is full of amazing characters and amazing relationships; it is bleak, it is honest, and it is a novel that will definitely stick with me for a long time to come.

Carey and Janessa are girls who have grown up living in a camper in a national forest most of their lives. There they live with their mother, but not really because she is a meth addict who disappears for weeks (sometimes months) at a time leaving Carey in charge of feeding her younger sister & herself and in charge of bringing Janessa up. The way that these girls lived is terrible. They freeze in the winters and often find themselves eating nothing but beans for days, it was shocking to see all the things that they went through growing up. Not only do they live under harsh conditions but the people that their meth addict mother brought into their life and the things she made them do to feed her meth addiction are disgusting and had me so angry that addictions like this exist. The desperation of users to get their next fix is frightening and it puts everyone around them in danger as they are used as pawns. We get most of this part of the story through memories that Carey has throughout the novel, the real story here is when they are found and taken to live with Carey’s father on his farm.

The transition to living in civilization is what really brings these characters to life for me. The bond that Carey and Janessa formed in their years of living in the wild and Carey essentially raising her younger sister is beautiful. Once they are found that bond remains and Nessa really looks to Carey for how to react and deal with everything that is going on. I loved Carey, my heart broke for her situation but she had such a big heart & her undying devotion to her younger sister made everything OK. Even in their dismal situation in the forest their relationship brought light to their life and really got them through it. Nessa was an adorable character and through her mutism we learn that something pretty bad happened that made her lose her voice. What really blew me away here was how Nessa felt like such a developed and well rounded character and for much of the novel the girl didn’t even talk. I loved her and I wanted to cuddle her. We see through Carey how she can read everything about her younger sister without words and it’s really beautiful. I also really liked Carey’s father and his wife Melissa, the effort that they put into helping the girls is so great and you really just felt the love they had for them so much in every page of this novel.

There is no way that this review will ever do this book justice and I don’t even want to think about how many times I used the word love in it but everything I think about this book is love. The characters, the relationships, just everything. There are some pretty shocking scenes, ones that are so hard to read but looking back on it love just conquers all and is what I took away from it. Read this book people, and have some tissues at the ready.

Interview with Emily Murdoch

I had the pleasure of inviting Emily over for a bit of a tea party and before we got going we had a chat about herself and the novel:

Tell us about your book Twitter style, so in 140 characters or less.

That’d be the tagline I came up with for the UK edition:

“What happens in the woods, stays in the woods ... “

If You Find Me is a very poignant and touching story, what was your inspiration behind the novel?

I’m learning as we go along that there are so many answers to this question; some I didn’t even know of consciously at the time of writing If You Find Me.

Such as how easy it was to write a portrait of an abused child, having been one, myself. The psychology of fooling myself in order to write dark and deep, and, as I’m seeing, something so necessary to the world as it stands today …

I’m honored if my darkness can shed some light. This is me paying forward all those books that saved me, as a child.

What character in If You Find Me do you identify with most?

Carey. Most definitely, Carey.

But that’s not to say that Carey is me in disguise. She isn’t. I’d call her an archetype of abused children. Her longing for love and a place to belong. Her uncertainty. Her resourcefulness. Her hero’s journey.

We have a lot in common.

What drew you to the YA genre? Why did you decide that it was the place for you?

Interesting questions! I’m not the color-within-the-lines kind of gal; I’m the by-the-seat-of-my-pants, on-a-wing-and-a-prayer type. I wrote the story I wrote, and ended up with offers from both young adult and adult Big Six publishers.

I guess fate wanted me here. I’ve met the most amazing people, here, too.

Do you have a writing room? If so, what does it look like?

One day I will have a writing room; I describe it in a recent interview on Imaginary Girls author Nova Ren Suma’s blog (Nova’s amazing new novel, 17 and Gone, releases March 21st!).

In the meantime, I write at the kitchen bar, quite happily. When I write, I enter a state of flow so complete, I have no idea what’s around me, anyway.

Who are your favorite authors?

Ooooo, love this question! I’m very old fashioned:

Frances Hodgson Burnett
Louisa May Alcott
Lucy Maud Montgomery
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Charlotte Bronte
Madeleine L'Engle
Charles Dickens
Judy Blume
Madeleine Brent
Anne Frank
Rumer Godden
Carlo Collodi
J. M. Barrie
Roald Dahl
Rudyard Kipling

If you were stranded on a desert island and you could only have one book with you, what book would it be?

Merlin’s Keep by Madeleine Brent

What are some of your early influences that shaped your writing style? (novels, movies, music, etc)

Besides the authors mentioned above, I’d have to blame it on my ferocious diary and journal keeping. There’s just a place you learn to go inside, and when you write from there, your arrow flies true.

Thank you so much, Jenni, for inviting me over! It was such a pleasure chatting with you! Now for that tea party. How many lumps in your tea? Cream? I sure hope you like cupcakes!

The tea & cupcakes were great, but the company was even better. Thanks for stopping by, Emily!

Giveaway

St. Martin's Griffin has been kind enough to offer up one finished hardcover copy of If You Find me for one lucky reader.

This giveaway is open to US and Canadian addresses only.

Fill out the Rafflecopter below to enter

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Be sure to check out all the other great stops on this tour:

3/18 The Midnight Garden
3/19 Alluring Reads
3/20 Live to Read
3/21 YA Romantics
3/22 Winterhaven Books
3/23 Once Upon a Prologue
3/24 Hobbitses
3/25 ExLibris Kate
3/26 Xpresso Reads
3/27 Bookish
3/28 Great Imaginations
3/29 Good Books and Good Wine

Book Girls Don't Cry - New Adult

HI!

It's another week for us book girls and this week we are finally venturing into talking about New Adult genre! Nick from Nick's Book Blog submitted this into the suggestion form: "You know how some people say that New Adult is simply Young Adult with lots of sex and that's all. What do you guys think of it?"  Now, I admit I haven't read enough NA to be a master at knowing about it but I decided to talk about what draws me to the genre and why I feel it leaves me much more satisfied than YA. So watch on to find out why...

So, what do you think of the New Adult genre? Is it just kids having all the sex? Let me know what you think!

Don't forget that we are always looking for topic suggestions. If you want to see us talk about something GO HERE and submit your recommendation. 

Stacking the Shelves (47)

Books mentioned (click title for Goodreads):

A Long Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

A Little Wanting Song by Cath Crowley

Bloggers mentioned:

Christina of A Reader of Fictions

eBook Haul:

Big thank you's this week to Christina, Grand Central Publishing, Simon Pulse, AToMR Tours, Plume, Xpresso Book Tours and Soho Teen. 

17 & Gone Review

TITLE 17 & Gone
AUTHOR Nova Ren Suma
PUBLICATION March 21st 2013 by Dutton Juvenile
READ March 02, 2013
SOURCE From Penguin Canada for review

Seventeen-year-old Lauren is having visions of girls who have gone missing. And all these girls have just one thing in common—they are 17 and gone without a trace. As Lauren struggles to shake these waking nightmares, impossible questions demand urgent answers: Why are the girls speaking to Lauren? How can she help them? And… is she next? As Lauren searches for clues, everything begins to unravel, and when a brush with death lands her in the hospital, a shocking truth emerges, changing everything.

With complexity and richness, Nova Ren Suma serves up a beautiful, visual, fresh interpretation of what it means to be lost.

After reading Nova Ren Suma’s Imaginary Girls last year she fast became an author to watch for me. After reading 17 & Gone she has solidified herself as an author that I will buy & read anything that she does. Her writing is remarkable; the eerie, dreamlike quality of her prose sucks you in and leaves you questioning everything that you read. 17 & Gone is a novel about missing girls, not only girls that are taken but also ones who have run away from their life.

Lauren was someone that I really connected with. She struggled with what was happening to her and she wasn’t afraid to put what she needed to do ahead of the boy in her life. This was such a refreshing aspect to her personality because so often in YA the girls put the boys first, it was a breath of fresh air to see a girl who wasn’t afraid to throw her relationship in the back seat and do what she needed to do for herself. That being said, I also really did like her boyfriend Jaime. He was super supportive and I loved how he would go along with her and have very little questions. Their relationship was really sweet and as Lauren reflected on the path they had taken together and how they had opened up to one another I became invested in the relationship and where they would go. The real gem in the relationship department in this novel is between Lauren and her mother. I loved how her mother was portrayed as a completely unconventional mom; an ex stripper covered in tattoos who was always there for her daughter and really took an interest in the goings on in her life. The mother daughter relationship was fantastic and their openness with one another was exactly as it should be.

While reading this novel you don’t only get to meet wonderful characters and experience their relationships, but there is also a mystery going on. Lauren is seeing missing girls not only in her sleep but in her waking hours as well. Throughout the novel I wasn’t sure what was real and what was not and it made reading every page that much more chilling. I was a little nervous that this would be one of those stories that doesn’t really wrap up in the end and leaves a lot for each reader to take from it what they will but I am happy to report that I loved how it wrapped up. I wish I could talk about that aspect of the story a little more but I don’t want to spoil anything.

Much of this tale is Lauren working through the mystery as the elements just keep piling up. She meets more missing girls and as she meets each one we get snapshots of their stories leading up to their ultimate disappearance. Getting each girls story and realizing that no two circumstances are the same kept me absorbed in the story. This novel packs a punch and the writing is absolutely stunning. Once again Suma has come out with a story that I will be recommending to anyone who will listen.

Strength Blog Tour Stop (Excerpt/Giveaway)

Today I have an excerpt and giveaway to share with you for the Strength by Carrie Butler blog tour, which is brought to you by Xpresso Book Tours. First here is a little about the book:

Strength
(Mark of Nexus #1)
by Carrie Butler
Published March 7th 2013 by Sapphire Star Publishing

When college student Rena Collins finds herself nose-to-chest with the campus outcast, her rumor-laced notions are shattered. Handsome, considerate, and seemingly sane, Wallace Blake doesn’t look like he spends his nights alone, screaming and banging on the walls of his dorm room. Hell, he doesn’t look like he spends his nights alone, period.

Too curious for her own good, Rena vows to uncover the truth behind Wallace’s madman reputation--and how two seconds of contact had left her with bruises. Of course, there are a few setbacks along the way: guilt, admiration, feelings of the warm and fuzzy variety…

Not to mention the unwanted attention of Wallace's powerful, supernaturally-gifted family.

They’re a bloodline divided by opposing ideals, two soon-to-be warring factions that live in secret among us. When Rena ends up caught in their crossfire, Wallace has no choice but to save her by using his powers. Now they’re really in trouble. With war on the horizon and Rena’s life in the balance, he needs to put some distance between them. But Rena won’t let go. If fighting is what it takes to prove her own strength and keep Wallace in her life, then that’s what she’ll do--even if it means risking a whole lot more than her heart.

(Upper YA/New Adult)

Excerpt from Chapter 6

After the screaming subsided and the noises stopped, I took a deep breath and pounded on the door again—mentally preparing myself for another bout of waiting. It wasn’t like I had anywhere to go. Gabby was still occupying the room downstairs. I had all the time in the world.

Not that he’d ever answer the freakin’ door.

I was about to retreat to my spot on the sofa, when the door jerked open with a barely-perceptible whoosh of air. My hair fanned at the abrupt vacuum, and I swallowed, feeling everything I’d planned to say disappear with a single glance. “Wallace…”

It looked like he’d just escaped a brutal assault, leaving half of his face swollen, red, and glistening with sweat—his left eyelid lowered at half-mast. “What?” he snapped, swiping the back of his wrist under his nose.

“I…I…” My voice jumped an octave. “Are you okay?”

His narrowed, unfocused gaze met mine. “I’m fine.”

He didn’t look fine. He looked dead.

“I just thought I heard something and wanted to check on you.” My adrenaline fed off of his fearsome exterior, burning my legs with the desire to run. It was like meeting the manifestation of our fears for the first time. He seemed so different from last night. “I-Is there someone with you?”

His austere features darkened, and he shifted from one side to the other. “Sure you wanna ask the crazy guy?”

Ouch. Okay, I deserved that.

He gripped the doorknob and tilted his chin, looking past me. “How about you?”

I turned as Aiden paled and backed away. “N-No,” he sputtered. “I-I mean you’re not crazy. You’re just…” He rubbed his hands on his pants. “Sorry, she just gets worried about…stuff.” Swallowing hard, he jerked his head toward his own door in a gesture for us to go. “We’ll leave you alone now.”

My heart raced. I was petrified, but my mind was reeling with possibilities. If I left, I’d have to forego what little ground I had already gained. Was it worth it? I couldn’t just spout idealistic lectures and then punk out when it came down to it, could I?

“Look, I just wanted to see if you were okay.” Also, please don’t hurt us.

“Well, you’ve done your good deed for the day.” Wallace stepped back and started to close the door. “You’ll sleep well tonight.”

“Wait! That’s not what I—”

“Goodnight.” He shut the door with a soft click.

Giveaway

There is a tour wide giveaway of 5 ebooks of Strength

Giveaway is open internationally

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This post is a part of the Strength Blog tour. Click the banner below to see all the stops on this tour