19 Jul 2015

Round Three: #FAC16

Last week was the #FAC16 chat for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Historical Fiction novels. You can see my post about that one here. This week's chat was all about the Contemporary, Mystery, and Thriller novels and gosh it was so exciting! This post is going to be just as long as the last one, with answers to burning questions via Tweets, and at the end I'm going to tell you which books I made sure I ordered right away! (I keep telling myself that because I haven't spent the money yet it isn't the same as spending too much money on books right now)

Recap
First things first, I want to start by saying I absolutely adore KristenNicola, and Rachel for hosting this and giving these authors a chance to highlight and sell their books to the masses. A huge "You guys rock!" to them. I only wish to be as awesome as the three of you at some point in my life. I am going to give you guys a quick rundown of the chat and I am going to do my best to feature every author that participated! 

There were six questions (plus one of my own), so I am going to highlight three of my favourite answers for each. Feel free to scroll through my favourites on Twitter to read all my favourite answers and see about these glorious books! 

The first question asked was for everyone to introduce themselves! It got the authors and Twitter users talking about the books and a short little blurb about the book itself. Some of my favourite answers were...











Next was asked why the authors wrote contemporary instead of something like fantasy/science fiction. The authors replied with...




Third was did any real life events or experiences spark the idea for the story. My favourite answers were...





The fourth question was about what contemporary novels that had been recently read and what recs were to be had. Some of the best answers were...




Fifth was if they could spend the day with their main character, what would they do (besides Starbucks). Some of my favourite answers were...


The last question was what the main character's ideal lazy day was. The authors responded with...




I asked: What inspired the names for your characters? Did they just come to you or did you look up the meaning before giving it to them? Some of the responses I got were...





My Thoughts
Coming out of it, I have learned quite a bit about the books being published next year that fall into one of the aforementioned categories. I am going to share my thoughts and opinions as well as tell you the books that I am purchasing/preordering IMMEDIATELY (aka I already preordered it and/or it is not available for preorder but once it is I will be buying it).

This in no way should affect what books you like and want to buy and is strictly my opinion.

Already Preordered
These books sounded so intriguing to me on premise alone that I had to snatch them up right away. I am actively seeking their preorder information so I can buy them right meow. 

  1. Firsts by Laurie E Flynn
    Find Laurie on Twitter: @laurellizabeth
    Release Date: January 5th 2016
    Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin

    Summary:Seventeen-year-old Mercedes Ayres has an open-door policy when it comes to her bedroom, but only if the guy fulfills a specific criteria: he has to be a virgin. Mercedes lets the boys get their awkward, fumbling first times over with, and all she asks in return is that they give their girlfriends the perfect first time- the kind Mercedes never had herself.

    Keeping what goes on in her bedroom a secret has been easy- so far. Her absentee mother isn’t home nearly enough to know about Mercedes’ extracurricular activities, and her uber-religious best friend, Angela, won’t even say the word “sex” until she gets married. But Mercedes doesn’t bank on Angela’s boyfriend finding out about her services and wanting a turn- or on Zach, who likes her for who she is instead of what she can do in bed.

    When Mercedes’ perfect system falls apart, she has to find a way to salvage her reputation and figure out where her heart really belongs in the process. Funny, smart, and true-to-life, FIRSTS is a one-of-a-kind young adult novel about growing up.

    Why I'm so taken with it: A girl who is comfortable in her sexuality and sexual experiences? Sign me up. I think it has the perfect premise and I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy

    Preorder: Chapters | Amazon
  2. Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin
    Find Jeff on Twitter: @jeffgarvinbooks
    Release Date: February 2nd 2016
    Publisher:  Balzer + Bray

    Summary:
    The first thing you’re going to want to know about me is: Am I a boy, or am I a girl?

    Riley Cavanaugh is many things: Punk rock. Snarky. Rebellious. And gender fluid. Some days Riley identifies as a boy, and others as a girl. The thing is . . . Riley isn’t exactly out yet. And between starting a new school and having a congressman father running for reelection in uber-conservative Orange County, the pressure—media and otherwise—is building up in Riley’s so-called “normal” life.

    On the advice of a therapist, Riley starts an anonymous blog to vent those pent-up feelings and tell the truth of what it’s REALLY like to be a gender-fluid teenager. But just as Riley’s starting to settle in at school—even developing feelings for a mysterious outcast—the blog goes viral, and an unnamed commenter discovers Riley’s real identity, threatening exposure. Riley must make a choice: walk away from what the blog has created—a lifeline, new friends, a cause to believe in—or stand up, come out, and risk everything.

    Why I'm so taken with it: I don't even need to explain this in my opinion, this sounds like the best LBGTQ+ book I've ever read the summary for ever.

    Preorder: Chapters | Amazon

  3. The Year We Fell Apart by Emily Martin
    Find Emily on Twitter: @thatEmilyMartin
    Release Date: January 26th 2016
    Publisher: Simon Pulse

    Summary:
    In the tradition of Sarah Dessen, this powerful debut novel is a compelling portrait of a young girl coping with her mother's cancer as she figures out how to learn from - and fix - her past.

    Few things come as naturally to Harper as epic mistakes. In the past year she was kicked off the swim team, earned a reputation as Carson High's easiest hook-up, and officially become the black sheep of her family. But her worst mistake was destroying her relationship with her best friend, Declan.

    Now, after two semesters of silence, Declan is home from boarding school for the summer. Everything about him is different - he's taller, stronger...more handsome. Harper has changed, too, especially in the wake of her mom's cancer diagnosis.

    While Declan wants nothing to do with Harper, he's still Declan, her Declan, and the only person she wants to talk to about what's really going on. But he's also the one person she's lost the right to seek comfort from.

    As their mutual friends and shared histories draw them together again, Harper and Declan must decide which parts of their past are still salvageable, and which parts they'll have to let go of once and for all.

    In this honest and affecting tale of friendship and first love, Emily Martin brings to vivid life the trials and struggles of high school and the ability to learn from past mistakes over the course of one steamy North Carolina summer.

    Why I'm so taken with it:
     
    This sounds like the perfect beach read and if it is anything like a Sarah Dessen novel, I know it is going to be fantastic.

    Preorder
    : Chapters | Amazon
  4. How it Ends by Catharine Lo
    Find Catharine on Twitter: @CatharineELo
    Release Date: June 7, 2016
    Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

    Summary:

    How it begins…
    “You’re in my English class, right?"
    I almost checked behind me to make sure she wasn’t talking to someone else.

    How it unravels…
    “You can be my best friend without being my only friend.”
    Her words were knives raked along my skin. I could hear the goodbye in every syllable.

    How it Ends...
    Why should I keep her secrets when she didn’t keep mine? All it would take was one little click and a carefully worded message.
    How it Ends is an honest, heart-wrenching tale of a friendship from first meeting to breakup. Told through alternating points of view, it is about two best friends’ tumultuous sophomore year of bullying, boys and backstabbing and what can happen when friends choose assumptions and fear over each other.

    Preorder: Chapters | Amazon
  5. Suffer Love by Ashley Herring Blake
    Find Ashley on Twitter: @ashleyhblake
    Release Date: 2016
    Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers

    Summary:
    Elizabeth Bewley at HMH has acquired world rights to Suffer Love by poet and debut novelist Ashley Herring Blake. The book, a modern-day take on Romeo and Juliet, tells of two teens brought together by attraction, only to be torn apart by their parents’ choices. It will pub in spring 2016; Rebecca Podos at Rees Literary brokered the deal.

    Preorder: Chapters | Amazon
  6. My Kind of Crazy by Robin Reul
    Find Robin on Twitter: @Robinreul
    Release Date: April 2016
    Publisher: Sourcefire Books

    Summary:
    Pitched as Freaks and Geeks meets The Spectacular Now. After his promposal goes up in flames (literally), down-on-his-luck Hank strikes up an unusual friendship with a budding pyromaniac, who is struggling with her own darkness and thinks he may be a kindred spirit.

    Preorder: Chapters | Amazon

To find out more about all the books that are debuting in 2016, check out Kristen's post! It has the summaries of the books as well as the Goodread links and any other information you may want to know about when they will be published, who by, etc. 

Thanks again to all the authors for participating and to Kristen, Nicola, and Rachel for being such lovely hosts. I cannot wait for 2016, even though I am sure my bank account can! Don't forget to join in next Sunday (July 26th) for the LAST #FAC16!


What books from the #FAC16 are you guys checking out?! Sound off in the comments! Lots of love and happy reading! xx 

2 comments:

  1. That FAC was great <3 So many good books! I really wish I was there for the sci fi and fantasy FAC since that's my genre lol

    http://tayloramartin.blogspot.com/

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    Replies
    1. That one was really good too! I have a link in my post to my recap of it! I would highly suggest going through the list that Kristen has of all the sci fi/fantasy books to just read some of the blurbs! They all sound so so good!

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