Waiting on Wednesday: Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

I know I haven't done a WoW post in a couple of months (Really? It's been that long?) but I saw the cover of Sisters Red and died! Not only does is sound amazing but the cover is making me squeal with anticipation!

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

Scarlett never believed in the Fenris—werewolves drawn to the delectable charms of young girls. That all changed when in one swift attack, a Fenris murdered her grandmother and left Scarlett half-blind and horrifically scarred. Only her younger sister, Rosie, escaped unharmed as Scarlett shielded her from the Fenris’s jaws.

Now eighteen, Scarlett’s life’s mission is to destroy the Fenris and save other girls from her fate—a mission she’s grown to love, despite herself. Armed with red cloaks and hatchets, Scarlett, Rosie, and a young woodsman, Silas, move to the city in search of answers—and vengeance. If they can find a Potential Fenris, tainted by the pack but not yet consumed by it, they can unlock the mystery that transforms them- but better yet, use him as bait.

But unlike Scarlett, Rosie doesn't feel the thrill of the hunt in her blood. Longing for a life away from heavy responsibility and something sweeter than steel determination, Rosie finds herself drawn to Silas. More and more often, they find themselves abandoning the search for the Potential, stealing kisses, sharing secrets.

When Scarlett discovers the romance blossoming in her midst, she abandons her sister to the woodsman, certain that her own heart has no room for love, not when it's filled with her mission, her purpose. Still, the bond between Scarlett and Rosie is too deep to truly sever, and when Scarlett discovers a way to bring her sister back to her side for good- even if it means destroying Rosie’s happiness—she is forced to make a decision that will change the course of both their lives.

A modernization of Little Red Riding Hood, SISTERS RED is told in alternating viewpoints of Scarlett and Rosie as the sisters struggle to find the Potential, destroy the Fenris, and unwind their own tangle of romantic complexities and the deeply rooted bond between them.

Ah-mazing, right?

(P.S. I know I haven't posted in awhile but my dad has been out of town and it's been a very long "girl's week" and I haven't been reading much either. I did just finish Iris and Beautiful Creatures though, so hopefully I will have a review for those two up soon! Sorry guys!)

Blog Tour: Thomas Randall Interview

1. Why did you choose to set the book in Japan?

TR: I've been fortunate enough to do a lot of traveling in my life, but I've never been to Japan and would truly love to have that opportunity. I've been interested in Japanese pop culture and Japanese legend and folklore for as long as I can remember. Strangely enough, however, I think it was a matter of choosing the folkore first. Modern readers, especially younger readers, tend to think of vampires really in only one or two different ways. Either they're the evil vampires Bram Stoker made famous, or they're the tragic romantic figures midwifed into the world first by Anne Rice, which spawned an entire subgenre. I wanted to introduce an older, more exotic, less familiar vampire mythos to modern readers. Japan has no real vampire legend but there are vampiric creatures, and in each book of THE WAKING, Kara encounters one of those very creepy variations.

2. Did you have to do a lot of research on their language and culture?

TR: Absolutely. And I must say, it was the most pleasurable research I've ever done. Every book I looked at or essay or blog or web page, I learned something new and interesting. Most of the research involved culture and folklore rather than language. There are only smatterings of Japanese language in the first book, but I did run it by a couple of people before publication to make sure of its accuracy.

3. How did you come up with the idea of Dreams of the Dead?

TR: Once again, it all sprang from the folklore. The concept of Kara and her father moving to Japan was a natural one, not just because I wanted to give American readers someone to identify with--someone who would be discovering this new place with them--but also because I think we can all relate to the idea of being a stranger, being the new kid. But the supernatural elements, that part of the plot, sprang out of existing Japanese folklore. The story of Kyuketsuki is so wonderfully, creepily bizarre that I knew that would have to be the first of the supernatural things Kara encounters. My research into Japanese legend produced some really unsettling stuff, and I wanted to use it all, but just like the setting or the cultural elements, I warped it to my own purposes so that it served the story in the best way possible.

4. How difficult was it for you to write a character of a different sex?

TR: I actually did a whole guest blog about that last week. Honestly, I never really think about it. I know, intellectually, that men and women have different psychological wiring, but I think the fundamentals are the same. We all love who we love and are ferocious in protecting them. We are all full of self-doubt. We all want to fit in. My parents were divorced when I was young and my brother and I were raised by our mother, but often left in the care of our older sister and her friends. In school, though I had close guy friends, I always felt as comfortable if not more comfortable around the girls. I write smart, courageous, formidable females because that's the way I see them, and that's the way I want young girls to see themselves.

Click here to read guest blog.

5. Can you give me some information on what happens in the sequel???

TR: Book two is called SPIRITS OF THE NOH and book three is A WINTER OF GHOSTS. A lot of things change over time. Enemies become allies. Kara's relationship with her father is strained. And the curse of Kyuketsuki brings death and evil to Monju-no-Chie school. It's going to be a long and terrifying year.

Thanks for letting me ask you some questions Thomas!

Blog Tour: The Waking: Dreams of the Dead by Thomas Randall Review

Title: The Waking: Dreams of the Dead
Author: Thomas Randall (aka Christopher Golden)
Pub. Date: September 2009

Summary:

Kara’s afraid to go to sleep—until the nightmares come when she’s awake . . . .

Sixteen-year-old Kara Foster is an outsider in Japan, but is doing her best to fit at the private school where her father is teaching English for the year. Fortunately she’s befriended by Sakura, a fellow outsider struggling to make sense of her sister’s unsolved murder some months ago. No one seems to care about the beautiful girl who was so brutally murdered, and the other students go on as if nothing has happened. Unfortunately, the calm doesn’t last for long. Kara begins to have nightmares, and soon other students in the school turn up dead, viciously attacked by someone . . . or something. Is Sakura getting back at those she thinks are responsible for her sister’s death? Or has her dead sister come back to take revenge for herself?

Review:

I can usually tell a lot about a book by the opening scene and when I read the prologue for Dreams of the Dead I thought I was in for a treat! I was excited to delve into the book and see what mysteries and scares lie ahead. And it felt like it took a long while for it to happen, even with the strange nightmares that the whole school seemed to be having. I’m not saying that it was dull but it wasn’t fast-paced enough for me. I definitely enjoyed the book, and even got creeped out at times, but it could’ve been better.


It wasn’t until the first person at the school had been killed when things started to pick up. The reader started to get bits and pieces of this tangled web that Thomas so brilliantly weaved. As the book continues we start to understand why these characters are having nightmares, going crazy, and dropping like flies. At first, it seems so…out there, like you’re not sure whether to believe what you’re being fed or chalk it up to a constant stream of coincidences. Of course, nothing seems very strange to me with certain things being released these days, but with Japanese myths they are so difficult for me to comprehend. It seems like so much time and effort was put into them, unlike our myths and magical creatures. It’s like a fine art.

Kara, who had just made her dream move with her father to Japan, wasn’t anything special to me. I really thought so much more could’ve come from her but she fell short of special and landed at average. Like, thinking back on the book now I don’t have much to comment on about her character. She was sometimes too whiney and I wasn’t very sympathetic towards her or her situation.

The ending wasn’t quite right for me either. I didn’t believe that after everything they had just been through that things were ok. It’s like at the end of a slasher movie when the character thinks everything is fine just before they are killed in the end, except there was nothing scary about the ending of the book. I mean, yeah, there was the looming threat that more demons and terrible creatures could be on their way to the school, but it ended on such a happy note! I wanted it to end with a scary cliff-hanger that had me sitting on the edge of my seat, ready to kill someone for the sequel.

Though the book could’ve been better, it was not a bad book. I was actually enjoying it quite a lot while reading it. And I am excited for the sequel, but I won’t be killing anyone for it! I think one of the things that made it so worthwhile was the Japanese myths that the book was created around. I found the entire thing really interesting and after reading this book I find myself wanting to do more research about it. Or just read the sequel.

For more information on this tour, click here.

Traveling To Teens Tour: The Tear Collector

Title: The Tear Collector
Author: Patrick Jones
Pub. Date: September 2009
Publisher: Walker and Company

Summary:

Fans of urban fantasy should prepare for a new kind of vampire–one that feeds off of tears instead of blood. Descended from an ancient line of creatures that gain their energy from human tears, Cassandra Gray depends on human sorrow to live. Only Cass has grown tired of living this life and wants to live like a human, especially now that she's met someone worth fighting for.

Review:

I’ve fallen in love. I’ve fallen in love with a man and his name is Patrick Jones. I’ve never had the pleasure of encountering any of his works before The Tear Collector, but I now know that this won’t be my last time. I thought it was genius the way he took this historical mythical creature and gave them his own unique twist.

I have heard my sister rave on and on about Patrick Jones after she’s finished a book of his and I’ve never known why until now. It’s been really hard for me to enjoy any vampire books of any kind since the Twilight craze started, so I was set for heartbreak on this one. Imagine my surprise when I was hooked only a couple chapters in! Of course, Patrick’s vampires are not normal blood-sucking vampires but more like emotional energy-suckers. Creative, huh? Through crying we release our emotions, which is what they feed off of—hence, The Tear Collector.

Cassandra, the main character, is an only child living with her mother, her grandmother, and her great-grandmother. Her entire family relies on her for their energy kick so she is always in overdrive trying collect tears for them. She volunteers at her local hospital trying to come across grieving families; she started peer counseling sessions at her school; she makes boys fall in love with her and then breaks their hearts, all for the tears.

But then she meets a boy, Scott, who changes everything for her. After meeting him and her best friend dying, she starts to question the state in which she lives. She feels as if she can no longer do these things for her family because they are wrong and she can’t take it anymore. She starts to fall in love with Scott which is forbidden because love is a silly human emotion that her kind isn’t allowed to feel. Actually, feelings are something that isn’t allowed to be discussed at all.

Cassandra starts to become human, which Patrick’s vampires are allowed to do, when she falls for Scott. Once you become human and turn your back on the Family, it’s like you never existed. And Cassandra is trying to make her choice. She doesn’t know whether she should become human for Scott or obey her family. And for her to become human she must take another human’s life.

I closed the book with my mouth hanging open. Wooh, that ending! That was really something. It’s the last line that’s the clincher for the entire book. I read it several times to make sure that I was reading it right because it was so unbelievable!

I’m in love with The Tear Collector from the outside to the inside.