INTERVIEW: The Flame Never Dies by Rachel Vincent Pre-Release Blitz + Giveaway!

I am super excited to be a part of this pre-release blitz to help spread the word that THE FLAME NEVER DIES, the second book in Rachel Vincent’s The Stars Never Rise series, is releasing on August 16th!

For those that are already caught up on this series, the wait is (almost) finally over! For those that haven’t yet met Nina Kane or discovered the dark and dangerous world she lives in, there’s still time to catch up - and a really sweet deal (details below) that will make you want to move this series to the top of your reading pile!

Scroll down to learn more about THE FLAME NEVER DIES and THE STARS NEVER RISE, the author, Rachel Vincent, and to enter the giveaway for a chance to win a signed hardback set of these two amazing books!

And for even more peeks at the fab content being shared throughout the blitz - shareable quotation graphics and excerpts - look for other blogger participants now through August 15th on social media #TheFlameNeverDies.

AND...

THE STARS NEVER RISE goes on sale!

In anticipation of the upcoming release of THE FLAME NEVER DIES, the publisher is dropping the price for the eBook version of the first book in the series - THE STARS NEVER RISE! So if you haven’t yet discovered this series, now is the perfect time!

Just head over to your favorite online e-tailer to look for THE STARS NEVER RISE with its newly lowered price or visit one of these online stores: 

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | iTUNES | GOOGLE PLAY | KOBO.

Please note that at the time of this post some stores may not yet have updated their sites to the promotional pricing. If they haven’t, be sure to check back for this awesome not-to-be-missed deal!

About THE FLAME NEVER DIES

 THE FLAME NEVER DIES (The Stars Never Rise #2)

by Rachel Vincent

August 16, 2016

Delacorte Press

352 pgs

Hardcover, eBook

For fans of Cassandra Clare and Richelle Mead comes the unputdownable sequel to The Stars Never Rise, a book Rachel Caine, author of the bestselling Morganville Vampires series, called “haunting, unsettling, and eerily beautiful.”

ONE SPARK WILL RISE. Nina Kane was born to be an exorcist. And since uncovering the horrifying truth—that the war against demons is far from over—seventeen-year-old Nina and her pregnant younger sister, Mellie, have been on the run, incinerating the remains of the demon horde as they go.

In the badlands, Nina, Mellie, and Finn, the fugitive and rogue exorcist who saved her life, find allies in a group of freedom fighters. They also face a new threat: Pandemonia, a city full of demons. But this fresh new hell is the least of Nina’s worries. The well of souls ran dry more than a century ago, drained by the demons secretly living among humans, and without a donor soul, Mellie’s child will die within hours of its birth.
Nina isn’t about to let that happen . . . even if it means she has to make the ultimate sacrifice.

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | iTUNES | INDIEBOUND | GOOGLE PLAY | KOBO | GOODREADS

The Interview

Interview with Rachel by her sixteen-year-old daughter (Codename: Melody), who’s thinking about actually reading her mother’s book.

Melody: So, this is a series is about demons, right?

Rachel: Sort of. Not really. A century ago, Nina’s world was invaded by residents of another reality who can only remain in our world by taking over a human body. People called them demons, because that’s the only association they had for the concept of possession.

Melody: So these “demons” aren’t actually bad?

Rachel: Oh, no, they’re totally bad. They’re entertained by the suffering of humanity. They’re just not the residents of hell most people think of when they hear “demon.” But that’s all I can say without spoiling anything from THE STARS NEVER RISE!

Melody: Okay. But if they’re not religious demons, why is the government in this world run by the Church?

Rachel: Because people assumed that only the Holy could fight the unholy. So a fictional “Church” stepped in to do just that. To fill the power vacuum, when secular government couldn’t protect the people.

Melody: So THE STARS NEVER RISE is a book about faith?

Rachel: No. It’s a book about false faith. About the frailty of untested beliefs. About how accepting everything you hear as the truth can mean living a lie. That’s true with every predatory situation, from abusive relationships to investment scams. I just chose to tell that story on a larger scale, where the entire world has accepted a lie because it was easier to believe a hero has come to save us than to stand up and fight our own battles. Take from that what you will… ;)

Melody: Wow, Mom. That was deep. (Teenage eye roll.)

Rachel:  (shrugs) There’s also lots of fighting, kissing, and setting demons on fire.

About Rachel Vincent

Rachel Vincent is a former English teacher and an eager champion of the Oxford comma. She shares her home in Oklahoma with two cats, two teenagers, and her husband, who’s been her # 1 fan from the start. Rachel is older than she looks and younger than she feels, and she remains convinced that writing about the things that scare her is the cheapest form of therapy—but social media is a close second.

WEBSITE | BLOG | TWITTER | TUMBLR | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | GOODREADS

About THE STARS NEVER RISE

THE STARS NEVER RISE (The Stars Never Rise #1)

Rachel Vincent

June 9, 2015

Delacorte Press

368 pgs

Hardcover, paperback, eBook***

***See above for details on the promotional pricing of the eBook

Sixteen-year-old Nina Kane should be worrying about her immortal soul, but she's too busy trying to actually survive. Her town's population has been decimated by soul-consuming demons, and souls are in short supply. Watching over her younger sister, Mellie, and scraping together food and money are all that matters. The two of them are a family. They gave up on their deadbeat mom a long time ago.

When Nina discovers that Mellie is keeping a secret that threatens their very existence, she'll do anything to protect her. Because in New Temperance, sins are prosecuted as crimes by the brutal Church and its army of black-robed exorcists. And Mellie's sin has put her in serious trouble.

To keep them both alive, Nina will need to trust Finn, a fugitive with deep green eyes who has already saved her life once and who might just be an exorcist. But what kind of exorcist wears a hoodie?

Wanted by the Church and hunted by dark forces, Nina knows she can't survive on her own. She needs Finn and his group of rogue friends just as much as they need her.

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | iTUNES | INDIEBOUND | GOOGLE PLAY | KOBO | GOODREADS

The Giveaway

Courtesy of the author, there is a blitz-wide giveaway for…

• ONE (1) winner will receive a SIGNED hardback set of THE STARS NEVER RISE + THE FLAME NEVER DIES

Giveaway is US only. Must be 13 or older to enter. Giveaway ends on August 14th at 11:59 PM Pacific.

Enter in the Rafflecopter below...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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This is the Story of You by Beth Kephart [Review + Interview + Giveaway]

Title: This is the Story of You
Author(s): Beth Kephart
Edition: HC, 264 pages
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Publication Date: April 12, 2016
Source: Chronicle Books - Part of Blog Tour
Buy: Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Book Depository

Tour Schedule

5/31/2016 - Actin' Up with Books

6/1/2016 - Cracking the Cover

6/2/2016 - Stuck In YA Books

6/3/2016 - Eli to the nth (ME!!!!)

6/4/2016 - Middle Grade Mafioso

6/5/2016 - Read Now Sleep Later

6/6/2016 - The Reading Date

6/7/2016 - Emilie's Book World

The Summary

On Haven, a six-mile long, half-mile-wide stretch of barrier island, Mira Banul and her Year-Rounder friends have proudly risen to every challenge. But when a superstorm defies all predictions and devastates the island, when it strands Mira’s mother and brother on the mainland and upends all logic, nothing will ever be as it was. A stranger appears in the wreck of Mira’s home. A friend obsessed with vanishing is gone. As the mysteries deepen, Mira must find the strength to carry on—to somehow hold her memories in place while learning to trust a radically reinvented future.

Gripping and poetic, This Is the Story of You is about the beauty of nature and the power of family, about finding hope in the wake of tragedy and recovery in the face of overwhelming loss.

(Goodreads)

My Opinion

This is the Story of You is one of those stories that stick with you after you finish the last page.  The story of Mira and her small island community going through a storm as horrible as Hurricane Sandy, in which this story pulls inspiration from, is pulse-racing.  And it is not the moments within the storm, weathering the wind and rain and floods, it is the aftermath that is truly devastating.

A story of strength, rebuilding, friendship, and family, Beth Kephart manages to express the experience that Mira goes through in precise and lyrical language.  A feast for the eyes, the prose contained in these pages make the story that much more impactful, and manage to add an entire layer to the events of the book.  Each aspect of this book, the plot, the characterization, the setting, are all elevated by Beth's prose.  It is striking, and paints a picture of exactly what Mira sees and does, but also what she feels.  The emotional tone of this book is what makes it so personal while reading.

Beautifully written, and veritable emotional punch, This is the Story of You by Beth Kephart needs to be on everyone's reading list this summer.

Final Rating

Interview with Beth Kephart

First of all, I want to thank you Beth for taking the time to answer my questions.  I really appreciate it.  

Eli, thank YOU so much. Thank you for agreeing to share your virtual home with me.

I’m going to start with book/writing specific questions, then I’ll have some fun ones!

First question, why is one reason readers should pick up This is the Story of You?

This is a mystery set at the Jersey Shore in the wake of a storm like Storm Sandy. It is urgent, an environmental thriller.

Which character do you think is the most important to this story?

I love all my characters, of course; we writers do. But Mira, a teenager who has been left alone in her house when the storm hits, tells this story. We see it all—the fear, the loneliness, the search for her friends, the worry about her brother—through her eyes.

Set in the North Atlantic, the similarities to Hurricane Sandy are there; was there specific inspiration behind the premise of the book?

Yes. I am deeply committed to our Earth, deeply concerned about rising seas, and when storms hit I cannot look away—all of this inspired THIS IS THE STORY OF YOU. Plus, I grew up going to the Jersey Shore and gosh, I love the sea. Finally, a key character in the book has Hunter syndrome, and I have met and been inspired by others with this condition.

When writing, do you always have a specific plan in place for the direction of the book or do you let it come out naturally?  

I begin with voice—with the sound on the page. In this case, I began with the color blue. I vaguely know where I am headed. But I don’t want to know too much. I write to find out what will happen.

Most books are broken into 3 parts, but the typical bell graph format of events doesn’t seem to be in play in this book; instead it seems to be formatted as a wave, with a high crest right at the beginning and then the book flowing out following the curl.  I may be reading to much into this, but was that a conscience decision to structure the events of the book in this way?

I love your thinking about the book this way. I never have one single plot or emotional line, in any of my books. Many things are at play. In this case, the big storm hits about one-third of the way through. But there is also a mystery in the works—a girl who shows up, a stranger. There’s a thief that has been at work. There are missing characters. So while the storm strikes early-ish on, many unknowns must be encountered and resolved. Many after waves, if you will. Ultimately, this book is about family and how we define family. Mira learns the biggest lessons right at the end.

Most of your books deal with big emotions and, often, traumatic events; what about these things attract you to write about them?

I’m interested in the real things that have and can happened. The Berlin Wall and the legacy of graffiti artists (GOING OVER). Teenage pregnancy and the Spanish Civil War (SMALL DAMAGES). A flood in Florence and neuroscience (ONE THING STOLEN). And, in the case of this book, rising seas and genetic conditions. I may write about these things as fictions. But because the situations are grounded in truth, I write these fictions with the urgency of truth. I teach and also write memoir. I write my novels with the same degree of memoiristic passion.

Thank you so much for those insightful answer!

Okay, now it’s rapid-fire time!

1      Fall, Spring, Summer, or Winter?

2    

Fall! Leaf colors. Chimney smoke. A blanket under which I read.

Hardcover, paperback, or e-book?

Hardback for my shelves, paperback for my travel, e-book for night.

Bookmark or dog-ear?

I write all over the books I love best. I dog ear. I apologize.

Sunrise or sunset?

Both?

Long-hand or type-written?

Long-hand. You better believe it. I have a standing desk now. I’m not going to show up and type here until I’m good and ready.

Beginning, middle, or end?

Beginning at the beginning. Middle when I get there. End when I’m exhausted by all that happened in the beginning and the middle.

Thank you again, Beth!  I so enjoyed the book and I know my readers will too!

About the Author

Beth Kephart is the award-winning author of nineteen books, including Going Over, Handling the Truth: On the Writing of Memoir, and Small Damages. A National Book Award finalist, Kephart is also a winner of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts fiction grant, a National Endowment for the Arts grant, a Leeway grant, a Pew Fellowships in the Arts grant, and the Speakeasy Poetry Prize. Kephart teaches workshops at many institutions, to all ages and creative nonfiction workshops at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a popular keynote speaker and frequent contributor to the Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, and many national journals. 

Website | Goodreads | Twitter

Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Terms and Conditions

Open only to US/CA residents!
No entries outside of US or CA! 
Must be 13 years old to enter. 
ONE winner will win a finished hardcover copy of This is the Story of You.
Winner must have a mailing address within the US/CA.
Prize will be mailed out by publisher (Chronicle Books)
Eli to the nth claims no responsibility for lost prizes.
Winner will be contacted by email. 
Winner has 48 hours to respond with mailing address.
Mailing address will be forwarded to publisher (Chronicle Books)

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Love is the Higher Law by David Levithan (Review)

Title: Love is the Higher Law
Author(s): David Levithan
Edition: Paperback, 176 pages
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: August 25, 2009
Source: Owned
Buy: Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Book Depository - Inkwood Books

The Summary

First there is a Before, and then there is an After. . . .

The lives of three teens—Claire, Jasper, and Peter—are altered forever on September 11, 2001. Claire, a high school junior, has to get to her younger brother in his classroom. Jasper, a college sophomore from Brooklyn, wakes to his parents’ frantic calls from Korea, wondering if he’s okay. Peter, a classmate of Claire’s, has to make his way back to school as everything happens around him.

Here are three teens whose intertwining lives are reshaped by this catastrophic event. As each gets to know the other, their moments become wound around each other’s in a way that leads to new understandings, new friendships, and new levels of awareness for the world around them and the people close by.

David Levithan has written a novel of loss and grief, but also one of hope and redemption as his characters slowly learn to move forward in their lives, despite being changed forever.

(Goodreads)

My Opinion

I am a huge fan of David Levithan.  He writes beautiful stories, capturing the human experience with the utmost care and craft.  But none of his books come close to Love is the Higher Law.  This book is heartbreaking and raw, examining one of the worst events in American history, September 11th, through the eyes of three different teens.  Tragically beautiful, this is a book that needs to be included in Young Adult library collections, and classroom libraries.

Levithan picks an appropriate tool to navigate such a hard topic.  Using three different perspectives shapes the book in a concrete way.  The three teens, Claire, Jasper, and Peter, each experience the events of 9/11 differently.  Claire is at school when the planes hit, and she rushes to her brother's elementary school to be with him.  Meanwhile, Peter is waiting at the Tower Records a couple blocks down from the Towers, and feels the impact from the explosions.  And through the whole incident, Jasper is asleep, hungover from a party the night before, and just waking to see the aftermath.  With these three different experiences, characters stories build one within the other as the story progresses.

What I always love about Levithan's writing is the lyrical quality to his dialogue and the beautifully descriptive scenes.  Both transport you into the lives and feelings of his characters; Love is the Higher Law is no exception.  I actually feel that the book is anchored so well in the human experience that it transcends above the physical events, and not in a way that does disservice to the memory of those who were killed.  But this transcendence does allow readers who may not remember 9/11, (they may have been too young, or not even American), to travel with the characters, experiencing the emotions that people felt and still feel.  Overall, Love is the Higher Law is a look on how a human being, in this case three teens, faced with such a horrific event deal with the aftermath.

For a book centralized around such an intense and deeply personal event, being a sensitive and delicate authors is imperative.  For most Americans, September 11th is a scar on the face of our country, one which will last forever.  To write about it takes an author of a high caliber, as well as an author who isn't on the outside of the events looking in.  Levithan lives in New York, and was on of the thousands of people affected by 9/11.  This personal involvement is felt within every word.  Love is the Higher Law is a powerful story about survival, grief, friendship, and life.  But above all it is a book about love.

Extras

Check out David Levithan reading an excerpt of Love is the Higher Law

Part One


Part Two

Here is a really great interview with David Levithan about Love is the Higher Law from the ladies over at Book Divas.

Final Rating

Book Cover: 5/5
Book Title: 5/5
Plot: 9/10
Characters: 9/10
Writing: 10/10
Ending: 10/10
Overall: 48/50: A

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