Book Review: In Honor by Jessi Kirby

June 20, 2014June 19, 2014Leave a comment

Genre:

Young Adult, this Contemporary, Romance

Pages:

235

Part of a Series?:

Release Date:

May 8th, 2012

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads Summary:

Honor receives her brother’s last letter from Iraq three days after learning that he died, and opens it the day his fellow Marines lay the flag over his casket. Its contents are a complete shock: concert tickets to see Kyra Kelly, her favorite pop star and Finn’s celebrity crush. In his letter, he jokingly charged Honor with the task of telling Kyra Kelly that he was in love with her.

Grief-stricken and determined to grant Finn’s last request, she rushes to leave immediately. But she only gets as far as the driveway before running into Rusty, Finn’s best friend since third grade and his polar opposite. She hasn’t seen him in ages, thanks to a falling out between the two guys, but Rusty is much the same as Honor remembers him: arrogant, stubborn . . . and ruggedly good-looking. Neither one is what the other would ever look for in a road trip partner, but the two of them set off together, on a voyage that makes sense only because it doesn’t. Along the way, they find small and sometimes surprising ways to ease their shared loss and honor Finn–but when shocking truths are revealed at the end of the road, will either of them be able to cope with the consequences?

My Review:

I love a good road trip book. I feel like I’ve been reading a lot of those lately so maybe this is something that I’ve been wanting to read. I love the idea of getting into a car, ready for an adventure and coming back with all these stories and with a sense of change in you. It makes me think of summer. It makes me think of possibilities. The idea of a road trip is very…romantic and adventurous to me. I’ve never actually been on one before so there’s that too.

I think that Jessi tells a sweet, and emotional story and I loved every minute of it. Honor is a really fun character, fumbling, and unsure, but you watch her find her footing as the novel continues on and I think that’s great. It goes along with that idea of change and growing on a road trip. I love that. I think that Rusty is quite annoying at first, but he grows on you, slowly, until you suddenly find yourself madly in love with him and you’re wondering how the hell you reached that point.

What I liked the most about this book was how real it felt. The death of her brother, her struggle with dealing with it, the emotions she felt for the people she came to meet on her death, the way she falls in love. It all feels so real and I think that’s what Jessi Kirby manages to do in all of her books. She creates this beautiful adventure in a grounded sense of reality and some days, that’s exactly what I need.

In the end, the thing that really got me the most was the relationship between Honor and her brother. Though her brother is dead as soon as you read page one, you get a great sense of what their relationship was like before his death. I have a thing for sibling stories. I have three younger brothers and two younger sisters, and a sort of brother-in-law and sister-in-law (My boyfriend and I aren’t married but after nearly 7 years, you start to think of his siblings as yours), and I love all of them immensely and I love the dynamic of the sibling relationship. I think Jessi does it beautifully and I got pulled into the story because of it, definitely.

Rating:

4 out of 5 Stars

Leigh Bardugo’s Ruin and Rising Launch Party at The Last Bookstore!

June 19, 2014June 19, 2014Leave a comment

I’m just going to start off by saying this: Leigh Bardugo and her friends really know how to throw a party. A launch party that is.

The first “real” launch party that I ever attended was Leigh’s last year for the middle book of the Grisha trilogy series, treat Siege and Storm. It was a total blast so when Leigh told me about her party back at the Festival of Books, ambulance I knew that this was something that I could not miss.

I met up with my friends Sylvia and Alex, and we ate some delicious pizza and Slurpees that were literally perfect for the moment. We then drove to pick up my friend Cassandra and made our way to The Last Bookstore.

If you’ve never been to The Last Bookstore in LA before, its an incredible place to go. There are books everywhere, and rooms that are like mazes, and tunnels and really cool doors and its just beautiful. Its one of the most beautiful bookstores I’ve ever seen. Leigh could not have picked a better place to launch her final novel in the Grisha trilogy.

There was lots of food to eat, and drinks too called “The Ruin” and “The Rising.” They were delicious, both the non-alcoholic ones and the ones with a kick ;)

The decorations were SUPER awesome. The entire bookstore was transformed to celebrate the series, and I just wanted to take pictures of everything.

The first pages of Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm and Ruin and Rising

Leigh was introduced, in such a lovely way, and talked to us for a bit. She never fails to both make me laugh and inspire me. She read a bit from a diary that she had when she was about ten years old, and it was SO funny. Then she went through the basic plot line of Labyrinth. Yes, the David Bowie Labyrinth. It was, and has remained, a favorite movie of hers and she talks about why that is. We reach this pivotal moment of the film, where it goes from being a children’s movie to something a bit more, and she believes that it is YA. She talks passionately about YA, about reading it and writing it, and it was just plain beautiful. Leigh is incredibly inspiring.

She also read a very small bit of the beginning of Ruin and Rising, and then we all were dismissed for food, drinks and fun…oh and signing too.

My friends and I immediately departed for the photobooth. I had a TON of fun with it last year, and I was eager to get back into it again, with some of my most awesome friends :)

I also had the guts to get into the booth by myself this time. I SO would not have done that a year ago!

They also had a manicure station as well, but I’m a compulsive nail biter and I tend to stay away from that haha.

We finally decided to get in line to meet Leigh and it was a great time, as always. We talked a bit, and I told her I would see her in Vegas next week for the Fierce Reads stop and she signed my copy of Ruin and Rising. We also got lots of swag, which is always good. I love getting my hands on more bags, and bookmarks and pins.

And I got my special launch party edition sticker too, which my Siege and Storm has, and was MUCH needed for my Ruin and Rising.

As we were saying goodbye to everyone, and leaving the venue, there were two guys manning the front security desk. We had asked them early if there was a way to get our hands on the giant posters, the ones that I posted earlier, that had the first pages of each novel of Grisha trilogy. We were told that we couldn’t have them, because they were needed the next day at Leigh’s event down in San Diego. I know I was disappointed but it was okay. As we were leaving though, the two guys flagged us down and handed the posters over, making us SO incredibly happy. We ran back into the bookstore and made sure to get these posters signed by Leigh!

All in all, it was a great night, full of a TON of fun, especially the book kind, which is my favorite :) It is always a blast hanging out with my friends and meet new ones, and to see Leigh Bardugo again. She’s brilliant, hilarious and inspiring.

I definitely can’t wait for more launch parties for Leigh in the future!

Oh! I also got to talk to Leigh’s mom again, who remembered me from the last launch party, and a picture was totally necessary. I even put them back to back so you could see. What a sweetheart and so proud of her daughter. I love it!

I have finished Ruin and Rising already so watch out for a review coming VERY VERY soon!

Happy Reading everyone!

Author Spotlight on Victoria Scott

March 27, 2014March 27, 2014Leave a comment

Very recently, seek I discovered the amazingness that is Victoria Scott. About a month ago, her brand new novel, Fire and Flood, was released in bookstores. To celebrate the release, she and Jessica Brody-whose second Unremembered novel, Unforgotten, released the same day as Fire and Flood-did an online video chat. This is the first time that I had really heard of Victoria and Fire and Flood sounded amazing. I picked it up at the bookstore on my birthday, and busted through the book in a matter of hours! You should check out my review, and then run to the store to pick up a copy.

I knew as soon as I read this book, and immediately fell in love with it, that I had to spotlight her on this very blog. So that’s what I’m doing, so sit back, relax and enjoy learning about a really terrific author.

About Victoria Scott

Victoria is a YA author living in Dallas, TX with her husband. According to her website, she’s ridiculously afraid of monkeys, and is obsessed with cotton candy. She has her Dante Walker trilogy through Entangled Teen and of course, Fire and Flood by Scholastic. Another amazing fact about Victoria? She, like me, does not require coffee when writing. Who knew there were others like me out there!

You can find Victoria on these various platforms:

Twitter / Facebook / Good Reads / Website / YouTube

About Her Books:

And yes, this is taken directly from her website!

The Collector (#1 in the Dante Walker Series)

Dante Walker is flippin’ awesome, and he knows it. His good looks, killer charm, and stellar confidence have made him one of Hell’s best—a soul collector. His job is simple: weed through humanity and label those round rears with a big red good or bad stamp. Old Saint Nick gets the good guys, and he gets the fun ones. Bag-and-tag.

Sealing souls is nothing personal. Dante’s an equal-opportunity collector and doesn’t want it any other way. But he’ll have to adjust, because Boss Man has given him a new assignment:

Collect Charlie Cooper’s soul within ten days.

Dante doesn’t know why Boss Man wants Charlie, nor does he care. This assignment means only one thing to him, and that’s a permanent ticket out of Hell. But after Dante meets the quirky Nerd Alert chick he’s come to collect, he realizes this assignment will test his abilities as a collector…and uncover emotions deeply buried.

About Fire and Flood (#1 in Fire and Flood Trilogy)

Tella Holloway is losing it. Her brother is sick, and when a dozen doctors can’t determine what’s wrong, her parents decide to move to Montana for the fresh air. She’s lost her friends, her parents are driving her crazy, her brother is dying—and she’s helpless to change anything.

Until she receives mysterious instructions on how to become a Contender in the Brimstone Bleed. It’s an epic race across jungle, desert, ocean, and mountain that could win her the prize she desperately desires: the Cure for her brother’s illness. But all the Contenders are after the Cure for people they love, and there’s no guarantee that Tella (or any of them) will survive the race.

The jungle is terrifying, the clock is ticking, and Tella knows she can’t trust the allies she makes. And one big question emerges: Why have so many fallen sick in the first place?

Interview with Victoria

Sara: What are the best parts of being a published author?

Victoria: Meeting readers, and using “doing research” as an excuse to do new, fun things.

Sara: Where did you get the idea for Pandoras? What kind of Pandora would you have?

Victoria: I knew I wanted to write a book involving animals, and I think having an animal with a magical ability has always been a dream of mine. I would absolutely have a lion Pandora!

Sara: What advice would you give to an aspiring author?

Victoria: Read as much as you can in your genre. Read books on the craft, too. And finally, writing something that you would want to read.

Sara: Who are some authors that are inspirational to you? Who are some authors that you purely enjoy reading? Or both!

Victoria: Authors that inspire me, and that I enjoy reading, are Rae Carson, Beth Revis, and Andrea Cremer. Oh, and Rick Yancey! I loved the 5th Wave.

Sara: What can we expect from Tella, Guy and the rest of the gang in the future?

Victoria: More danger, higher stakes, and new Pandoras. That’s about all I can share for now. *wink wink*

Sara: I ask this to everyone, because its SUCH a fun question: who is your fictional crush?

Victoria: Oooh, good one. Probably Hector from Girl of Fire and Thorns. So crush worthy!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Thank you VERY much, Victoria, for writing such amazing books and for coming by What A Nerd Girl Says to share!

Now, my dear friends and followers, make sure to go to all the links above and check Victoria and her books out. You will NOT regret it!

What A Nerd Girl Says

Nerd Life is Just So Much Better Than Regular Life

Tag: literature