Welcome to my stop on the Coral book tour! Thank you to Fantastic Flying Book Club for organizing the tour and allowing me to participate as a tour stop!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: CORAL
Author: Sara Ella
Pub. Date: November 12, 2019
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retellings, Mermaids, Fairy Tales
Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, iTunes, TBD, Kobo, Google Books

Multiple award-winning young adult author Sara Ella reimagines The Little Mermaid in a powerful and unexpected way.

Sixteen-year-old mermaid Coral has always been different, standing out from her stoic sisters in a society where blending in is key. Worse yet, she fears she has been afflicted with the dreaded Disease. Said to be carried by humans, the Disease imposes emotions on its victims, causing them to commit unspeakable acts. The growing illness inside her, while terrifying, fascinates her very core. Where others see danger, Coral sees life. Could it be the colorless merfolk who are truly ill?

Above the sea, seventeen-year-old Brooke Jordan has nothing left to give. A homeless girl abandoned and forgotten, the only thing Brooke can rely on is the ocean. Her aching feet find refuge within the cool and comforting waves, while her broken heart grows harder with each passing day. When Brooke’s and Coral’s worlds collide, everything alters in an instant. From learning to stand alone, to discovering the strength it takes to rely on another, the girls find that living requires taking that first painful breath. Each must make sacrifices, and when it comes to finding true love? Let’s just say the boys in their lives must learn to swim if they’re ever going to survive the storms.

Battling the odds against them, the girls will do whatever it takes to survive. But what must end for love and life to finally begin?

Taking a new twist on Hans Christian Andersen’s beloved fairy tale, this modern-day story explores mental health from several perspectives, questioning what it means to be human in a world where humanity often seems lost.

REVIEW

Coral is a re-telling of one of our favorite stories, The Little Mermaid. However, Coral dives deeper (haha get it?) into the tough topic of mental health. While there is some influence from the classic, Coral is a story of its own. Exploring the topic of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideations/actions, we turn to Coral, Brooke, and Hope to further explain the happenings that led them to where they are today.

Please read the author’s trigger warnings before reading the novel.

True love makes life, even a broken one, worth fighting for.

Coral is a relatable character who experiences things all of us do everyday…heartbreak, isolation, and love. Through her stories and the others experienced in this novel, we learn that we are never truly not alone, even when we may feel like it.

Light always awaited her on the other end.

Ella impressed me with her ability to “mask” but highlight mental health in today’s society through a fairy tale re-telling. It is a story of finding peace, love, and unity in a world where we might not always be perceived in a positive light.

I am not nothing and neither are you.

★★★★

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Follow Sara:
Website | Goodreads |  FaceBook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Pinterest

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Welcome to my stop on The Memory Thief book tour! Thank you to Fantastic Flying Book Club for organizing the tour and allowing me to participate as a tour stop!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: THE MEMORY THIEF
Author: Lauren Mansy
Pub. Date: October 1, 2019
Publisher: BLINK
Formats: Hardcover
Pages: 368
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, TBD, IndieBound

In the city of Craewick, memories reign. The power-obsessed ruler of the city, Madame, has cultivated a society in which memories are currency, citizens are divided by ability, and Gifted individuals can take memories from others through touch as they please.

Seventeen-year-old Etta Lark is desperate to live outside of the corrupt culture, but grapples with the guilt of an accident that has left her mother bedridden in the city’s asylum. When Madame threatens to put her mother up for auction, a Craewick practice in which a “criminal’s” memories are sold to the highest bidder before being killed, Etta will do whatever it takes to save her. Even if it means rejoining the Shadows, the rebel group she swore off in the wake of the accident years earlier.

To prove her allegiance to the Shadows and rescue her mother, Etta must steal a memorized map of the Maze, a formidable prison created by the bloodthirsty ruler of a neighboring Realm. So she sets out on a journey in which she faces startling attacks, unexpected romance, and, above all, her own past in order to set things right in her world.

REVIEW

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Shadows can help her.

I brush the memory of Ryder’s plan away as another replaces it.

They help people who can’t help themselves.

In a world where memories are transferred as money, we follow Etta, a 17-year-old girl living in the shadows and trying to keep her secret safe from those around her: she is a “Gifted” labeled as an “Ungifted”, but the catch is that people only see blankness when they look into her mind. Under a corrupt government, the “Gifted” have all of the power. Four years ago, Etta made a deal with Madame (her enemy at the time) and betrayed her allies in order to have a place for her mother to stay in the asylum. Now, with the Auction day upon her, she realizes that her mother is up for auction and all deals between herself and Madame are off. When a person is put up for auction, the memories are put up for sale until the person has nothing left of value and dies. In order to save her mother once again, Etta is forced to confront the people she betrayed to ask for her. But the only way to save her mother is to embark on a mission to save the “Shadows'” leader.

“Gifteds” can transfer memories between people by touch.
“Ungifteds” have no special powers.
“Sifters” can transfer memories without touch.
“Shadows” are the “protectors” of the realm, but are thieves and contribute to a black market of memories.
“Ghosts” give unpleasant memories in order to make people suffer.
“Hunters” take the memories of animals.

The idea of memories being a form of currency is a unique and intriguing idea. It slightly reminds me of the pensieve from Harry Potter. Ryder, Etta’s sidekick reminds me of Rue from The Hunger Games. She is comical, brave, and loyal to a fault. She looks up to Etta as an older sister. I wish we learned a little more about the backstory of the other people in Etta’s life, specifically the ones she has the leather bracelets of.

The one thing I had a hard time with was the instance romance. I thought I missed reading 100 pages all of a sudden. Also, I wish Etta wasn’t as gullible as she is made out to be. She wasn’t exactly the easiest to relate to. With a few tweaks to the story and the pacing, I think this novel has a real chance to be a star since the concept is so gripping.

The Memory Thief was a concept unlike anything else: memories being used as currency in a corrupt government, where the removal of memories can truly change someone’s life. The Memory Thief is a story of loss, grief, lies, deceit, and the ability to forgive oneself for mistakes.

★★★

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lauren lives in the Chicago area, where she’s spent years working with youth, from young children to high schoolers. When she’s not writing, Lauren is usually with her family or exploring the city to find the best deep dish pizza. The Memory Thief, which was inspired by Lauren’s own journey with her mother, is her first novel.

Follow Lauren:
Website | Twitter | Instagram

Q & A

Q: What was the hardest scene to write? What was the easiest?
LM: The scene where Etta visits her mother in the asylum was actually both the hardest and the easiest to write. Because this book is based off memories that I share with my mom, that scene was very cathartic yet difficult to put down on paper. It caused me to revisit a lot of my memories of when my mom was in the hospital, and it was very uncertain if she would survive. I remember how vulnerable my mom had been yet she never stopped fighting to get better. Ultimately, it was her ability to cling to hope even in hardship which made me want to share this story, so writing that scene will forever have a big impact on me.

Q: Did you hide any secrets in your book? (names of friends, little jokes, references to things only some people will get)
LM: What a fun question! When I was drafting, quite a few characters were named after family members, all of whom actually ended up being cut during my revision stage! Since none of the characters made it onto the final pages, I like to joke that the famous writers’ phrase “kill your darlings” took on a whole new meaning for me 🙂

Q: What do you hope people remember about The Memory Thief?
LM: The main thing that I hope people take away from TMT is that it isn’t the hardships of the past which define us but the strength we find in overcoming them. Etta is a character who struggles with a lot of regret and has lost hope that things will ever get better. But on Etta’s journey to save her mother, she begins to realize that she’s believed a lot of lies, not only about the world around her but about herself, as well. I hope Etta’s story might inspire readers to never give up fighting for what you believe in, even in the midst of impossible odds.

Q: Did The Memory Thief have a certain soundtrack you listened to while writing?
LM: I was all about the Jurassic Park soundtrack while drafting TMT! I adore movie soundtracks, and John Williams is a favorite composer of mine. I’d highly recommending listening to “Remembering Petticoat Lane”. It’s hauntingly beautiful and was on repeat for about 95% of drafting TMT!

Q: What is your dream cast for The Memory Thief?
LM: Oooh, great question! I love movies, tv shows, plays, and musicals, and I have such a huge amount of respect for those who are able to visually bring stories to life. Whenever I’m drafting, the characters always embody their personalities, which results in a feeling for me rather than an actual face. So while I don’t have any specific actors in mind, I’d say that my dream cast would be filled with individuals whose passion for storytelling really shines through – a trait actors express so wonderfully. It’d be such an honor to see The Memory Thief brought to life in this way!

GIVEAWAY

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October 21

Welcome to my stop on the Six Goodbyes We Never Said book tour! Thank you to Wednesday Books for organizing the tour and allowing me to participate as a tour stop!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Six Goodbyes We Never Said
Author: Candace Ganger
Pub. Date: September 24, 2019
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Formats: Hardcover
Pages: 384
Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, TBD, Kobo

This is no love story; in fact, it’s not even really a “like” story. In Candace Ganger’s sophomore novel, SIX GOODBYES WE
NEVER SAID (Wednesday Books; September 24, 2019), two teens meet after tragically losing their parents and learn about love, loss, and letting go. Deftly tackling issues of mental health and grief, Ganger’s #OwnVoices novel brings vibrant characters to life as they figure out how to say goodbye to the people they love the most.

Naima Rodriguez doesn’t want your patronizing sympathy as she grieves her father, her hero—a fallen Marine. She’ll hate you forever if you ask her to open up and remember him “as he was,” though that’s all her loving family wants her to do in order to manage her complex OCD and GAD. She’d rather everyone back the-eff off while she separates her Lucky Charms marshmallows into six, always six, Ziploc bags, while she avoids friends and people and living the life her father so desperately wanted for her.

Dew respectfully requests a little more time to process the sudden loss of his parents. It’s causing an avalanche of secret anxieties, so he counts on his trusty voice recorder to convey the things he can’t otherwise say aloud. He could really use a friend to navigate a life swimming with pain and loss and all the lovely moments in between. And then he meets Naima and everything’s changed—just not in the way he, or she, expects.

Full of tender, funny, and downright heartbreaking moments, Ganger’s second novel will have you cheering and crying all on the same page. Don’t miss out on this YA powerhouse standalone!

“Two teens maneuver painful routes through profound grief as well as the complex quagmire of severe mental illness…Ultimately hopeful, and readers will connect with the messy, visceral lives simmering on the page. Profoundly emotional and truthful.”
– Kirkus Reviews

“Six Goodbyes We Never Said is a knowing tour de force filled with crackling wit, pain, and mini, freeze-dried marshmallows. Original and funny, the best parts may be found in the small moments, especially Ganger’s hilarious, spot-on dialogue, as well as tucked within the brilliantly-placed parentheticals. All that and a bowl of Lucky Charms. Or maybe six boxes.”
– Gae Polisner, award-winning author of The Memory of Things and In Sight of Stars

“Naima is diagnosed by the author with obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder, while Dew is diagnosed with social anxiety. These issues are explored with humanizing examples that invite empathy. Sure to be reassuring to those working their way through grief.”
– Publishers Weekly on Six Goodbyes We Never Said

“Candace Ganger weaves a beautiful story of loss, grief and the struggle to move on in Six Goodbyes We Never Said. One of the realest voices of our generation, Ganger infuses this story with relatable, flawed teens who must learn how to cope in this world or be lost forever. I laughed and cried while reading and this book will stick with me for ages.”
– Jessica Burkhart, editor of Life Inside My Mind: 31 Authors Share Their Personal Struggles on Six Goodbyes We Never Said

“Smart, raw, often biting in its reflections of the haves and have-nots, this debut will appeal to fans of John Green’s An Abundance of Katherines…You’ll find yourself not only wanting to (re)study chemistry but learning what you get in life isn’t always what you deserve—sometimes it’s more. [A] must-have for every shelf.”
—Patty Blount, award-winning author of Some Boys

“A stunning and brilliantly crafted debut that peels back layers to the raw and the real. Birdie + Bash = 2 characters impossible not to fall in love with.”
—K.M. Walton, author of Empty and Cracked

“THE INEVITABLE COLLISION OF BIRDIE & BASH is part love story, part page-turner, and part intricate character study. Ganger writes her characters with great care, and the beautifully structured story is filled with giant truths and tiny, perfect details. Falling for this book was quick, thrilling and, yes, inevitable.”
―Corey Ann Haydu, author of OCD Love Story and The Careful Undressing of Love

“Smart, emotionally rich, and beautifully written, THE INEVITABLE COLLISION OF BIRDIE & BASH is an unforgettable, heartfelt novel―realistic YA at its best.”
―Jamie Kain, author of Instructions for the End of the World and The Good Sister

Buy the novel here.

REVIEW

What I loved about this novel was the introduction into the life of young adults struggling with depression, anxiety, and OCD. A lot of times we experience “perfect” characters…perfect looks, perfect personality, you get the picture. Having experienced some of the same struggles that our protagonists go through, I felt this was a real and accurate depiction of someone encountering depression, anxiety, and OCD.

The author brings in a very diverse character set. The relationships and struggles are genuine to how “real life” is experienced…the fights, the emotions, the heartbreak. Although, sometimes I felt like the protagonists were a little juvenile and disrespectful to the other characters. Yes, we all have problems and some people might not understand, but we should still treat others respectfully.

Another unique aspect of the novel is the voicemails and recordings. I loved that! It helped break up the more trying scene and was a creative way to depict the personalities of some of the characters.

The only downside I had was that the plot wasn’t clear. This isn’t your typical novel. This book is more about being able to let yourself rely on others to help you through your struggles. It is a story of growth and healing.

Ganger does a great job of providing insight into the life of people struggling with depression, anxiety, and OCD. With a little humor and a lot of personality, Six Goodbyes We Never Said is a story of healing, dealing with love and grief, and growing with the help of family and friends.

★★★

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

CANDACE GANGER is a young adult author, contributing writer for Hello Giggles, and obsessive marathoner. Aside from having past lives as a singer, nanotechnology website editor, and world’s worst vacuum sales
rep, she’s also ghostwritten hundreds of projects for companies, bestselling fiction and award-winning nonfiction authors alike. She lives in Ohio with her family.

Follow Candace:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads  | Wednesday Books Twitter

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Hello, dear reader.

I think it should be known that, while Six Goodbyes is a work of fiction, I share the many characteristics, fears, and pains, in both the delicacy of Dew, and the confused ferocity in Naima. Please let this brief note serve as a trigger warning in regards to mental illness; self-care is of the utmost importance. And while I hope Six Goodbyes provides insight for those who don’t empa- thize, or comfort for those that do, I also understand everyone reacts differently.

Dew’s social anxiety is something I, and many others, struggle with. We carry on with our days and pretend it’s not as hard as it feels inside. Others can’t quite see how much it hurts but we so wish they could. Naima is the most visceral interpretation of all of my diagnosed disorders combined. Her obsessive-compulsive dis- order (OCD) and related tics, her intrusive thoughts, her utterly devastating and isolating depression, her generalized anxiety dis- order (GAD), which makes her so closed off from the world, and her post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from losing the biggest portion of her identity—those are all pieces of me. Very big pieces. They don’t define me, but it would be misleading if I didn’t ad- mit they sometimes, mostly do. I’m imperfectly complicated like Naima. And though I’ve written extensively on both my mental illnesses and living biracial, between two worlds—never enough of one or the other; always only half of something and never whole or satiated—I often still feel misunderstood. Hopefully Dew and Naima’s stories will provide a little insight as to what it’s like inside their heads, and inside mine.

Both Dew and Naima want to hold on to the roots that have grounded them in their familiar, safe spaces. But once their meta- phorical trees are cut, and all the leaves shielding them from their pains have fallen and faded away, not even photosynthesis could bring them back to life. Those roots, Naima and Dew feel, will die off, and everything they had in their lives before will, too. There are many of you out there who feel the exact same way, but I assure you, Dew and Naima will find their way— they will grow new roots that flourish—and you, my darlings, will, too.

Thank you for reading, and may Six Goodbyes serve as per- mission to speak your truths—the good and the painful.

Here’s to another six airplanes for you to wish upon.

Q & A

Q: Did Six Goodbyes We Never Said have a certain soundtrack you listened to while writing?
A: You’ll see! Naima frequently mentions songs to note. Her family is old school. Dew’s parents were part of August Moon and the Paper Hearts, which is a play on Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, so there was a lot of “Forever” and “Please Bleed” happening also.

Q: What is your dream cast for Six Goodbyes We Never Said?
A: I’d love a couple of unknowns to take the stage to really make it their own. We need more POC rep so a Six Goodbyes cast could be pretty stellar.

Q: What was your greatest challenge in writing this book?
A: Keeping my own mental health in check. I had a lot of personal struggles which interfered with the writing process, but we made it through.

Welcome to my stop on A Treason of Thorns book tour! Thank you to Fantastic Flying Book Club for organizing the tour and allowing me to participate as a tour stop!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: A TREASON OF THORNS
Author: Laura E. Weymouth
Pub. Date: September 10, 2019
Publisher: HarperTeen
Formats: Hardcover
Pages: 352
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, iTunes, TBD, Kobo, Google Books

Violet Sterling has spent the last seven years in exile, longing to return to Burleigh House. One of the six great houses of England, Burleigh’s magic always kept the countryside well. And as a child, this magic kept Violet happy, draping her in flowers while she slept, fashioning secret hiding places for her, and lighting fires on the coldest nights to keep her warm.Everything shattered, though, when her father committed high treason trying to free Burleigh from the king’s oppressive control. He was killed, and Vi was forced into hiding. When she’s given a chance to go back, she discovers Burleigh has run wild with grief. Vines and briars are crumbling the walls. Magic that once enriched the surrounding countryside has turned dark and deadly, twisting lush blooms into thorns, poisoning livestock and destroying crops. Burleigh’s very soul is crying out in pain. Vi would do anything to help, and soon she finds herself walking the same deadly path as her father all those years before. Vi must decide how far she’s willing to go to save her house—before her house destroys everything she’s ever known.Content warnings are available via the author’s website.

REVIEW

A good Caretaker puts her House first. Before her family. Before her friends.

First off, the cover is beautiful.

The premise of the novel is unique in and of itself: a conscious house, able to perceive and feel things. My initial thought was of the movie Monster House. Burleigh House is in despair after the death of it’s current Caretaker, Violet’s (Vi’s) father. After being put on house arrest after treasonous acts towards the king. The house controls the welfare of the land surrounding it. Animals are becoming diseased, crops are dying, and people are being forced to leave the land unable to survive any longer. But, Vi doesn’t have long herself before she is also killed trying to save the one thing she loves more than anything else: Burleigh.

I was born to look after this land, and to care for Burleigh House.

No matter the cost. No matter the risks involved.

I loved that a “thing” was morphed into a character. I have read novels where the protagonist loves their house in an odd way, but never where the house was a character itself. One of my favorite things about the novel, was the way that history was replayed using memories and the reader slowly piecing together the truth of Burleigh’s journey and history.

Someday, I will die for Burleigh House. It’s only become a matter of when.

I wanted to love this novel and believe there was a little more potential than was executed. As a reader, I wanted to know more about Wyn. Knowing more history of Wyn and Vi’s mother would’ve made the story more well-rounded.

I really did like the story, but I wanted more. With that being said, I think there is potential for a series to arise out of this novel. We know there are more houses that could potentially come to the same result. It could be interesting to learn about the one house that already failed. Could Vi possibly help prevent the other houses from failing?!

★★★

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Laura Weymouth is a Canadian living in exile in America, and the sixth consecutivegeneration of her family to immigrate from one country to another. Born andraised in the Niagara region of Ontario, she now lives at the edge of the woods inwestern New York, along with her husband, two wild-hearted daughters, a spoiledcat, an old soul of a dog, and an indeterminate number of chickens. She isrepresented by the inimitable Lauren Spieller of TriadaUS.

Follow Laura:
Goodreads | Website | Twitter | Facebook  | Pinterest | Instagram |

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