Oh So Epic — A Chat With The EpicReads Girls + Awesome Giveaway!

November 16, 2012 by · 87 Comments


The best thing to happen since I was laid off from work? Discovering my new favorite thing – Tea Time with the EpicReads girls (Margot & Aubry) on Wednesdays at 3:45 (but they record it for those of you who can’t watch!). I’ll set the scene — obviously while I’m looking for a job I’m on Twitter. OBVIOUSLY. So one day I see the EpicReads team tweet about their live stream chat happening in 10 minutes. So I clicked through not knowing what it was (and Ellen was on commericial) and OH MY GOODNESS. It’s a 15-20 minute-ish chat where Margot and Aubry talk all things books and we can tweet at them/chat in the forum. Instantly I wanted to be besties with these girls — they are MY KIND OF PEOPLE. They love YA books, have some incredible dance moves and basically fangirl the way so many of us do. Their passion, enthusiasm & creativity is infectious and I’ve slowly seen Tea Time just grow and grow with more participants.  I know it’s a lot to do with the book talk and some awesome giveaways BUT I know that a lot of it is to do with the fact that Margot & Aubry are super fun and will instantly make your Wednesday afternoon a little bit better! The books are beyond great but the reason we all tune in every week is to hang out with these two!

I decided it was time we get to know this dynamic duo a little bit better and BOY was this the best interview on this blog to date. Their answers = AWESOME.

 

Tell us a little bit about yourselves — how long you have been working at HarperTeen and what your role is.

Margot: Officially? My title is Epic Reads Community Manager. Unofficially? My title is Master of the Universe and Protector of all things Soft and Fluffy. I was brought onto the HarperTeen over 6 months ago, just before the launch of Epic Reads and it is my job to keep the community updated with fun content and to connect with readers one-on-one.

My day is spent writing blog posts, tweeting, coming up with silly ideas for our Tea Time chats, sneaking in reading sessions under my desk when I should be working and entertaining Snarkles. He can be so demanding sometimes.

Aubry: I’m the Digital Marketing Manager at HarperTeen. I spend my days on the internet figuring out the best ways for people to learn about our books. So if you’re tweeting/pinning/facebooking/youtubing with @HarperTeen, I’m the face behind it pushing send J

To be honest, outside of required reading in high school, Divergent was the first ya book I read. I’m a #yalit convert. Obliviously, I got hooked pretty quickly. The energy of the all HarperTeen/Epic Reads fans is so infectious and the dystopian genre is everything in pop culture I love (aka sci-fi and hot boys). The Pringles slogan fits best here: “Once you pop, you can’t stop”

Overall: I still eat string cheese on a regular basis, cat videos make me laugh and my friends have compared me to the subject of this video.

Let’s play a little game of Fill In The Blank:

When I wake up in the morning I ______
A: hit the snooze button.
M: Pee.

I could not live without _____
A:Tea.
M: Snarkles.

I’m terribly afraid of ____
A: Komodo Dragons
M: the zombie apocalypse (we all know it’s coming)

My worst habit is ______
A:I leave my cups everywhere.
M: Ditto.

2. Describe each other in 5 words or less.

Aubry describes Margot => Nothing faux about her awesomeness.
Margot describes Aubry => Lord of the dance.

3. I am a HUGE fan of Tea Time on Wednesday. It’s super fun and really gives us a great behind the scenes look! Tell us a little about why you started Tea Time and what you hope to accomplish with it as it’s really started to take off more and more every week.

Margot: We started Tea Time because we wanted a way to peel back the curtain on Epic Reads and the publishing industry a little bit. We wanted readers to see who was behind the site and see that we love the books just as much as you do. This is our way of keeping everyone informed in a fun, silly way that gets everyone involved.

4. You guys are becoming quite popular for your shimmies! What’s your favorite dance move)?

 

 

Aubry: “Hands in the air.” It’s my own move.
Margot: Just one???? My go to move is the robot.

5. I don’t know about you guys but sometimes I have occasional brain lapses and act like I’m a crazy person when in the presence of my favorite authors. Have you ever had any embarrassing moments or entertaining stories to share about any author encounters?

Margot: When I first met Rae Carson she went to give me a hug and I got so nervous that I put my arms out in front like a T-Rex….so I ended up giving her a T-Rex hug. She went with it though and did it back. Now are bonded for life.

Aubry: I followed Veronica Roth around all day, and all I could say to her was “I like your book.”

6. Tell us one sequel you are looking forward to in 2013 and one debut that you are looking forward to in 2013?

Margot: Sequel is Requiem by Lauren Oliver
Margot: Debut is The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepherd

Aubry:The sequel to Defiance by CJ Redwine
Aubry: In the After by Demitirua Lunetta

7. What’s one book that you really loved that you feel is underrated?

BOTH: Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson!!!!!!!! (You GUYS I SO AGREE WITH THIS!!)

8. If you could do a mashup of any two books, movies, or tv shows what would it be called and describe the premise of it?

Margot: I want a mashup of The Iron Chef where every week they have to create a meal inspired by a different young adult book. Oh and Team Epic Reads gets to be a judge and eat ALL the food.

Aubry: Agreed.

9. Give me the dish on one fictional character who makes you swoon!

Aubry: Asher from A Beautiful Dark. I’m a sucker for brazen confidence and charm.

Margot: Hector from The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson. Oh I would let that hottie smooch me in a sewer any day.

Let’s end with a  fun game of Kiss, Marry, Kill!

Warner, Adam, Kenji
Aubry: Kiss Warner, Marry Kenji, Kill Adam. (Sorry, someone’s got to go!)

Perry, Roar, Soren
Margot: Kiss Roar, Marry Perry (mostly because it rhymes) and kill Soren.

Damon, Stefan, Klaus
Margot: Kiss Klaus, Marry Damon, Kill Stefan (Love me some bad boys, sorry Stefan. You are waaaaay to whiny.)

Peeta, Gale,  Finnick
Aubry: Kiss Finnick, marry Peeta, Kill Gale (Sorry Gale, sucks to be you…like always.)

 

Thanks so much ladies for doing this! I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know you better and hope everyone else did too! Make sure you guys check out the livestream & follow them on Twitter for book updates, random giveaways & more!

 

BUT WAIT…THERE IS MORE! (Do I not sound like an infomercial?) — A Giveaway!

The prize will be a giveaway of a SURPRISE box of HarperTeen ARCs donated by myself and the very generous ladies at Epic Reads!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Few things:

- US & Canada only, sorry! It’s a big box & I am one broke girl.
-  Giveaway ends November 24!

 

Filed Under: Giveaway, giveaways, Interview Tagged With: , , , ,

Cover Reveal: This Strange And Familiar Place by Rachel Carter + Giveaway For So Close To You

October 25, 2012 by · 20 Comments

If you remember back earlier this summer I read, enjoyed immensely & reviewed So Close To You by Rachel Carter AND had the pleasure of interviewing Rachel. I loved the mix of time travel, historical fiction & romance and was just floored by the ending and couldn’t wait for the next installment.  I’m so excited to be able to reveal the cover for the second book in this series because I’m SO EXCITED!!

But first…how about a giveaway for So Close To You if you haven’t had the chance to read it or don’t own a copy! One lucky person will win a signed copy of So Close To You PLUS a secret bookish prize that even I don’t have the privilege of knowing what it is!

book cover

Lydia Bentley has heard stories about the Montauk Project all her life: stories about the strange things that took place at the abandoned military base near her home and the people who’ve disappeared over the years. Stories about people like her own great-grandfather.

When Lydia stumbles into a portal that transports her to a dangerous and strange new reality, she discovers that all the stories she’s ever heard about the Montauk Project are true, and that she’s in the middle of one of the most dangerous experiments in history.

Alongside a darkly mysterious boy she is wary to trust, Lydia begins to unravel the secrets surrounding the Project. But the truths behind these secrets force her to question all her choices–and if Lydia chooses wrong, she might not save her family but destroy them . . . and herself.

 

 

 

GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rules:

* US Only.
* You must be 13 years or older.

And without further ado…here is the cover for This Strange And Familiar Place by Rachel Carter — out Summer 2013!

 Oooh! AHHHH! Look at the pretty! What do you think of the cover? Have you read So Close To You? Are you EXCITED for This Strange And Familiar Place??

Filed Under: Giveaway, giveaways Tagged With: , , , ,

Review Of Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

October 18, 2012 by · 35 Comments

YA dystopian for Hunger Games fanBook Title/Author: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
Publisher/Year: HarperTeen 2011
Genre: YA Dystopian
Series: YES!
Other Books From Author: None!

Amazon| Goodreads | Tahereh Mafi’s Website
I purchased this book with my own money!

Juliette’s been locked up in solitary confinement for 264 days. She’s been locked away for incident which resulted in murder because her very touch is deadly but nobody knows why. While she’s locked away for being a hazard to the general population, the world as she knew it is deteriorating even more than it had been before. Food is rationed, the weather is strange, birds don’t fly anymore and it seems like trouble is brewing between the Reestablishment and the rebel movements. Juliette doesn’t realize just how important she could be on the outside until she finds out that though she’s been in solitary people have taken notice of her and want her use her power for their gain.

Do you ever have a book that you hear everybody talk about it and rave about it and it just somehow turns you off? Is that weird? I don’t know but that’s the case with this book. I heard too much about it and wasn’t intrigued enough by the summary and I thought I’d be let down. Then a few blogger friends told me I HAD to read it so I purchased it this past April when I went to Chicago for RT Convention and a Dark Days tour stop. It’s been sitting on my shelf ever since until Jen from Makeshift Bookmark demanded recently I read it when I asked for a rec!

I was nervous that it wouldn’t blow my mind like it seemed to do to everyone else. BUT FRIENDS, mind = blown. I mean, it kind of looks like a CSI crime scene around here. Shatter Me was pretty unlike things I’ve read recently and I so enjoyed it — the worldbuilding, the characters, the writing, the romance, the fast paced page-turning nature of the story. It was a book I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning to finish. Something I haven’t been doing lately. You would have had to pry this book from my cold dead fingers before I’d have given it up to go to bed. I mean WHAT IF I DIED IN MY SLEEP AND NEVER FINISHED IT??! Morbid, I know, but I just needed to finish it that bad.

Immediately you know this novel is going to be different from the first page by the writing style. Lots of crossed out sentences, tons of stream of consciousness type writing. It takes some time to get used to. I found that I had to reread some parts again but it was so beautiful and it totally hones in on the state of  Juliette’s mind. I felt like I was there imprisoned with her in solitary confinement. The writing just set the mood really well. You felt kind of crazy like I’m sure she did — never speaking but your brain is a lively dialogue and picture show just barreling along. I knew I was going to like this book within the first few pages. I will say that some of those elements do peter out as we get in the story but it makes sense to me as the story progresses. Juliette changes and gets out of her own head.

I found the characters (even the hateable ones — I’m looking at you WARNER) to be so intriguing and I’m excited to learn more about some of them. I’ve heard a lot of Team Warner’s being thrown around and I didn’t understand it though I’m hearing that my mind will change if I read the novella Destroy Me (which you know I have reservations about novellas) and then Unravel Me (book 2). I don’t know.

I also am incredibly drawn into this world that Mafi created — curious about how it got to the point it is, what’s up with Juliette’s special power, what Warner has planned for Juliette, where Juliette’s family is etc. etc. Everything just made me SO CURIOUS. I had a million thoughts running through my mind and I am even more anxious for Unravel Me!!

Moral of the story: When all of your blogging friends tell you to read a book, just do it. Because it might end up being one of your most memorable, favorite reads of the year! I was getting so series weary but this one is invigorating and worth getting sucked into!

 

I see why this book was SO very popular! It’s addicting and the ultimate page-turner filled with intriguing characters, a completely scary and imaginative dystopian society and a love story that didn’t feel out of place and haphazardly thrown in there like “OH HAI ROMANCE SELLS. GOTTA INCLUDE IT.”  It’s breathtakingly different and some of Mafi’s prose is just enchanting. I’ll say it does take a little bit to take to the style of writing at first but I promise you that you’ll get to a point where you just PLOW through it. Lots of feelings happened while reading this book — rage, hope, sadness, etc.

 

You May Also Like: Touch by Jus Accardo, Under The Never Sky by Veronica Rossi, Legend by Marie Lu, Eve by Anna Carey

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi - teen dystopian

 

Let’s Talky Talk: Have you read this one? Heard of it? What did you think if you have read it? And I have to ask, did you read the novella Destroy Me? Is it worth reading?

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Filed Under: book review, Fiction, YA dystopian, Young Adult, Young Adult Fiction Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,