False Memory by Dan Krokos ARC Review + Interview

Source: Hachette Book Group Canada

Author: Dan Krokos

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Genre: Thriller

Format: Floppy Cover

Subformat: Young Adult

Release Date: August 14th, 2012

Description: 

Miranda wakes up alone on a park bench with no memory. In her panic, she releases a mysterious energy that incites pure terror in everyone around her. Except Peter, a boy who isn’t at all surprised by Miranda’s shocking ability.

Left with no choice but to trust this stranger, Miranda discovers she was trained to be a weapon and is part of an elite force of genetically-altered teens who possess flawless combat skills and powers strong enough to destroy a city. But adjusting to her old life isn’t easy—especially with Noah, the boyfriend she can't remember loving.

Then Miranda uncovers a dark truth that sets her team on the run. Suddenly her past doesn’t seem to matter...when there may not be a future.

Chaos' Review:

   Now that we're back on track, lets start with the cover as per tradition. I LOVE it! Simply gorgeous, and its B L U E, which is my favourite colour! Plus its all dark and mysterious and doesn't give away the story at. all. Lets just say that it's my way of saying PERFECT! Props to the designers! 

    Time to dive in on the explanation of what I thought of the story! It jumps right in on Miranda waking up with no memory whatsoever. She's freaked, panicky, and lost. Then it also turns out that she has this wicked power in which she can INDUCE fear into people surrounding her. I gotta say, this was probably the first chapter and I was gawking at how interesting the story already was! I HAD TO KEEP READING! Peter pops on in, and DANG! I liked this dude already. Then things are just going insane, and as in the description it says "Miranda discovers she was trained to be a weapon..." well, Miranda can kick some butt! I always love protagonists that can fend for themselves PLUS protect the ones around them. ITS JUST SO COOL! *fangirls* Sorry, I am a total nerd for crazy things like this. 

  Anyways! back on topic,  Noah is hilarious, so he turns serious situations into something much lighter, no doubt, he's that guy that can piss you off with all the snarky comments he makes non stop. He's still funny though. 

  Man, this book was not predictable at all. So many twists and turns. Just whoa. This is one of those books that you just can't describe. Calamity asked me to put the story into words without spoiling it, and all I could say was "Go read it. like, now". 
  One negative I would say that countered the extreme enjoyment of this story is probably because of how the main character wasn't as interesting as the characters around her, it seemed like her personality was clearly being out-shined, but I still really enjoyed it overall. 
  This was totally a unique and thrilling read filled with action, romance, and mystery! Lets just say this book was

 -Awesome- and leave it at that without revealing anything else. 

About the Author

After pumping gas for nine years to put himself through college, Dan Krokos, now twenty-six, dropped out to write full-time. He enjoys watching TV, playing MMORPGs, and drinking coffee. Currently, he’s hard at work on the next book in Miranda’s journey. Follow his antics on twitter (@DanKrokos)

Interview

What inspired you to write False Memory?

I’d been writing a lot of the same stuff for a while. Really gritty adult crime novels. I was

getting rejections that said my stuff was too masculine, or that it wouldn’t appeal to female

readers. I started to get worried that I could only do one thing. Around that time I read

Twilight and The Hunger Games, and yes, I loved them both. They were fun.

I started reading more and more YA, and decided to challenge myself by switching gears

entirely. I grew as a writer because of it.

Once I decided to go this route, I just applied all the things I loved about books growing up.

Action, adventure, and yes, romance.

Did you base any of your characters identities/personalities on people you’ve met or

passed by?

All writers take their experiences with people and distill them into fiction, but I never

go “Okay this character is going to be just like so and so.” I think characters have to be more

interesting than real people. Let’s face it—a lot of us are pretty boring.

What is one of the wackiest things you’ve ever done?

I really can’t say without incriminating myself : )

What is one of your favourite things to do while not writing?

Watch movies. They are my favorite thing. Or certain TV series.

Anything you can reveal about the sequel?!?

Maybe after the first book is out! I can say that it is a bit scarier than the first one.

What’s it like to write from the POV of a girl? Is it difficult?

Extremely. I doubt I’ll do it again. It’s definitely a lot easier now that I know Miranda, but in

the beginning it was really frustrating. I couldn’t really base any of the character on myself,

which always makes things easier…but maybe that’s a good thing?

I was lucky enough to get a lot of female advice on Miranda’s voice though, something I’m

very grateful for.

Favourite snack while writing? Or just in general?

I’m not much of a snacker. Does ice cream count as a snack? I definitely don’t snack while

writing. I’m a little OCD about keeping my keyboard clean, so I wash my hands every time

before I sit down to write. Yeah. I really only keep coffee and water nearby.

Any words of advice to aspiring writers?

I’d say don’t give up, but if you’re really a writer, you’re not going to anyway. So I guess I

would say to get off the social media stuff, for now. You can come back. But for now, focus

100% on writing and reading. Every spare moment, you can be learning. Right now I waste

so much time on the internet (as you’ll see in the question below), and I’m trying to do a

slow rollback. It’s so easy to distract yourself when a scene gets tough, so avoid that now

before the habit becomes ingrained.

Do you have any pre-writing things you do to get into your -zone-?

Yes, but really I’m just procrastinating. I look at stuff on the internet, sometimes hours

before starting, just to put it off. I like to have a cup of coffee first to get in the zone.

What would you do if one day you woke up and had the superpower you have forever

been dreaming of having?

I would give up the writing gig and become a full time superhero. Seriously.

Find False Memory at a bookstore near you on August 14th, 2012! Or Pre-Order online!

 Chapters Indigo 

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In My || Our || Mailbox #4

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren. It's pretty much just an awesome way for blog followers know of some of the books that we got this week :D

So here are the books we got during the month of June and have been working on completing + reviewing! They're some pretty sweet titles so, look forward to seeing our opinions on them VERY soon!

Number 1. 

False Memory by Dan Krokos

Source: Hachette Book Group Canada

Number 2. 

The Darkest Minds By Alexandra Bracken

Source: Hachette Book Group Canada

Number 3. 

Break My Heart 1,000 Times By Daniel Waters

Source: Hachette Book Group Canada

Number 4.

Dark Star By Bethany Frenette

Source: Hachette Book Group Canada

Number 5. 

The Golden Lily By Richelle Mead

Source: Bought

Post a comment or a link to your blog so we can see/know what you guys got in your weekly or monthly book haul! XP

Summer Here We Come

As you guys may have noticed...WE HAVEN'T REVIEWED ANYTHING FOR A WEEK!! 

We sincerely apologize, and now we shall bore you all with our completely lame excuse....

Exams.

Its been a pretty Strigoi few weeks with school ending and stuff, crambing in as much as we can, and studying our heads off for these completely *lame* exams. 

But guess what! Our exams and simply everything school based is almost officially OVER! So we'll be back on track and amuse you all with our weirdly entertaining reviews! 

The past week, we suffered so much. Here's a few torturous things that happened,

Loss of SLEEP

No READING time

Headaches

Boredom

Anxiety

Not having to clean (WAIT...that's probably the only good thing)

and the list CONTINUES!

Oh heaven forbid! This is probably the worst time of the year! IT DRIVES YOU INSANE! 

Enough of our excuse now, please continue with whatever book you were reading

Message from Calamity & Chaos😜

Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris Review

Source: Gifted

Author: Elizabeth Norris

Publisher: HarperCollins

Genre: Thriller 

Format: Hardcover

Subformat: Young Adult



Description: 
  Two days before the start of her junior year, seventeen-year-old Janelle Tenner is hit by a pickup truck and killed? As in blinding light, scenes of her life flashing before her, and then nothing. Except the next thing she knows, she''s opening her eyes to find Ben Michaels, a loner from her high school whom Janelle has never talked to, leaning over her. And even though it isn''t possible, she knows? With every fiber of her being? That Ben has somehow brought her back to life.

  But her revival, and Ben''s possible role in it, is only the first of the puzzles that Janelle must solve. While snooping in her FBI agent father''s files for clues about her accident, she uncovers a clock that seems to be counting down to something? But to what? And when someone close to Janelle is killed, she can no longer deny what''s right in front of her: Everything that''s happened?the accident, the murder, the countdown clock, Ben''s sudden appearance in her life?points to the end of life as she knows it. And as the clock ticks down, she realizes that if she wants to put a stop to the end of the world, she''s going to need to uncover Ben''s secrets?and keep from falling in love with him in the process.

Chaos' Review

Lets get straight into this. The cover is filled with awesomeness. The title confuses you, the people on the front make you wonder, and the description on the back is just icing on the cake. If this book was a slice of cake, I would devour it within the minute no doubt.

  On to the story! It starts right off into the protagonist's aka Janelle's, daily routine during the last few remaining days of summer vacation, which is exactly 2 days in counting for her junior year! She's a lifeguard and is a bad-ass swimmer, is dating the oh so deliciously popular senior at school, has a smart-ass best friend named Alex, and it basically seems like shes surfing through a fantastic life. Not. At. All. She gets picked on by her ex-best friend and her "boyfriend's (not technically because they're still dating and aren't official)" ex-girlfriend, her mother is bipolar, her Father is barely ever at home, and she is forced to mother her younger brother Jared. Then BAM! she's hit by a freaking TRUCK! Then things get crazy as this loner yet hottie guy named Ben Michaels enters her life and "possibly" plays a role in Janelle's revival. 

  As the story proceeds and you jump into Janelle's history and understanding of the current situation, dead literally melted to the bone, bodies appear and there's a countdown to something no one can figure out and everything is just pure stress and craziness GAHHH!!!!  I have to admit. This book was mind-blowing for me because I could relate to Janelle SO MUCH! This book brought me to tears, and honestly, this is probably my favourite book of the YEAR. I simply loved it inside out. This story isn't just based on the protagonist's love life, but also her family life, and it just literally was so HEART BREAKING! I know for sure that it's going to be an agonizing wait for book 2, which is called Unbreakable. I send all high praises possible to the author, Elizabeth Norris, I LOVE LOVE LOVED Unraveling! Being a teenager myself, this book honestly called out to me. I know the older crowd is judging this book immensely, but screw them, I am a YOUNG ADULT and I damn well loved this book. Did I mention I'm in the middle of reading it for a 2nd time?

  And if I could go beyond our 5-star ranking system, I would, but I'll play by the rules today and here we are!