Authors Are Rockstars Tour & Giveaway: Mary Gray

Today I have author of the upcoming young adult novel The Dollhouse Asylum, Mary Gray here at Say It with Books! I'm totally excited for her debut which will be hitting shelves this November! 

So let me tell you why I think Mary Gray is a rockstar....

• Dystopian is my favorite genre-If you haven't read the blurb for The Dollhouse Asylum you should do it ASAP. It sounds so frigging creepy(in this totally AWESOME way of course). It sounds like the kinda book that I won't be able to forget even after I close the book! To put it simply, I NEED THIS BOOK NOW.
• She loves Robin LaFevers’ My Fair Assassins series & Supernatural-Anyone who values the awesome-ness of Ismae, Sybella and Dean Winchester are kickass in my book.
• She can say 'da bomb' and get away with it without sounding like a total dork. She is da bomb.

See I told ya. Creepy in this totally AWESOME way.

Find Mary Gray on:     Facebook    Twitter    Goodreads    Website

So here's a free-hand interview with Mary Gray where she shares 25 fun facts about herself!

•  I have a book coming out! In October! It’s called THE DOLLHOUSE ASYLUM and WEEE!!
• Last year, my husband and I built a pool in our back yard, and it’s the only way to do summers in Texas with little ones. I love my pool. It has a diving board and my husband looks mighty fine diving in or doing his flips.
• I recently joined the YMCA—all for the kid care, endorphins, brainstorming sessions, and chance to work out (notice how I stated exercise last?)!
• Vegetables are da bomb!
• If you ever quote me as saying “da bomb,” I’ll deny it.

Review: Pivot Point - Kasie West

Author: Kasie West
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: Feb 12th 2013
Source: Publisher
Synopsis:
Knowing the outcome doesn’t always make a choice easier . . .
Addison Coleman’s life is one big “What if?” As a Searcher, whenever Addie is faced with a choice, she can look into the future and see both outcomes. It’s the ultimate insurance plan against disaster. Or so she thought. When Addie’s parents ambush her with the news of their divorce, she has to pick who she wants to live with—her father, who is leaving the paranormal compound to live among the “Norms,” or her mother, who is staying in the life Addie has always known. Addie loves her life just as it is, so her answer should be easy. One Search six weeks into the future proves it’s not.

In one potential future, Addie is adjusting to life outside the Compound as the new girl in a Norm high school where she meets Trevor, a cute, sensitive artist who understands her. In the other path, Addie is being pursued by the hottest guy in school—but she never wanted to be a quarterback’s girlfriend. When Addie’s father is asked to consult on a murder in the Compound, she’s unwittingly drawn into a dangerous game that threatens everything she holds dear. With love and loss in both lives, it all comes down to which reality she’s willing to live through . . . and who she can’t live without.

My Thoughts

After reading The Distance Between Us last month(and lovin' it!) I could hardly wait to pick up Pivot Point. As excited as I was to find out that Pivot Point focuses on parallel worlds I have to admit that I felt a little apprehensive when I found out that about the super powers part. But all of that vanished when I started reading Pivot Point. This book was good. Like really really good.

All of us make choices on a daily basis, right? 

What if you were to find out that one of these seemingly minuscule decisions has the chance to change your life forever? 

And what if you knew the consequences that came with making one of these seemingly unimportant choice?

Does being aware of these consequences make it any easier to make that decision?

Review: Reboot (Reboot, #1) by Amy Tintera

Title: Reboot
Author: Amy Tintera
Format: paperback
Website: Author's Website
Published: May 7th 2013 by HarperTeen

Purchase Links: Amazon

 B & N | TBD

Synopsis:

Five years ago, Wren Connolly was shot three times in the chest. After 178 minutes she came back as a Reboot: stronger, faster, able to heal, and less emotional. The longer Reboots are dead, the less human they are when they return. Wren 178 is the deadliest Reboot in the Republic of Texas. Now seventeen years old, she serves as a soldier for HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation). 

Wren’s favorite part of the job is training new Reboots, but her latest newbie is the worst she’s ever seen. As a 22, Callum Reyes is practically human. His reflexes are too slow, he’s always asking questions, and his ever-present smile is freaking her out. Yet there’s something about him she can’t ignore. When Callum refuses to follow an order, Wren is given one last chance to get him in line—or she’ll have to eliminate him. Wren has never disobeyed before and knows if she does, she’ll be eliminated, too. But she has also never felt as alive as she does around Callum. 

The perfect soldier is done taking orders.

My Thoughts

When I read the blurb for Reboot, it instantly sparked my curiosity. The cover was a plus for me too, by the way.

I was amazed with Tintera’s fresh idea for a dystopia novel. Reboots are said to be faster, stronger and less emotional – the perfect description for Wren. The idea of humans being rebooted after their death is certainly something that I haven’t read before and I look forward to reading. In Reboot, The longer you are dead, the better, the stronger and the more valuable you will become. Tintera’s concept of being a Reboot baffled me in the beginning but then I got a hold of it as I read on and on. I also noticed that they are called through their numbers which only emphasizes the fact that they are not humans anymore (even though some of them, especially those with lower numbers, still can’t accept this fact).

Wren is a tough main character and that is what I really liked about her. She is all about business and she has no time to kid around other Reboots. As what I’ve said earlier, she is the perfect example of a Reboot. On the other hand, Callum is the opposite of Wren. He likes to joke around and he thinks that he can still go back to his normal life and live a happy ending with his family. He is only a 22. And even though he is the exact opposite of Wren, he balances everything about her. She is too restrained, he helps her loosen up. She is too tough, he softens her up. She is too serious; he tries to lighten things for her.

Even if we see Wren as this strong and kind of harsh character, I’m glad that Tintera still showed some vulnerability in her character which definitely makes me think twice of the whole concept of Reboots. It kind of confused me, so I hope it would be answered in the second book.

Callum is definitely a character that I loved in this book. Even though he can be stubborn at times, his playfulness lightened Reboot’s heavy plot. He was also able to bring the ‘life’ back to Wren, especially at times when she believed that she doesn’t have a heart anymore. What I didn’t like about him was his weakness, physically and emotionally. I know that he was built to be like that but I just wished that there was something there that made him stronger and tougher than Wren in both aspects.

I was a little disappointed with the romance element of this book because I think that it became the main point of the whole story, and the beginning of another chapter in their lives as Reboots. The fact that it became a big deal wasn’t what was wrong, but I think it would have been better if romance was not the motivating point of this story.

Overall, I still loved the action, suspense, humor and fast pacing of Reboot. The new concept that the author offered didn’t disappoint too. The ending definitely made me want to read the next installment and I wonder what Tintera will offer to her readers this time around. 

My Rating

So, have you guys read Reboot? Tell me your thoughts in the comments! :)

Review: Terra - Gretchen Powell

Title: Terra
Author: Gretchen Powell
Published: Dec 12 2102-Hopewell Media
Format: Paperback
Website: www.gretchenpowell.com
Source: Received a copy from the author in exchange for a honest review

A broken and desolate Earth. A young girl struggling to survive. A lost boy with a powerful secret.A discovery that will change everything.In the distant wake of a plague that has decimated the Earth's population, humanity is split in two: The rich and powerful live in skycities that float overhead, while those who remain on the ground have gathered in settlements strewn across a dying planet. Eighteen-year-old Terra Rhodon is a terrestrial--a denizen of the barren groundworld--who makes her living as a scav. Long abandoned by her father, her caregivers gone, Terra supports herself and her younger brother, Mica, by scouring the earth for discarded scraps and metals to recycle for profit. One day, while on a routine scavenging run, she discovers something that shocks her home settlement of Genesis X-16. When the value of her discovery is revealed, Terra's world is turned upside down.Terra suddenly finds herself asking questions no one will answer. Her search for the truth leads her to Adam--a beguiling skydweller unlike any she has ever met. But Adam has secrets and a quest of his own, and with him by her side, the world Terra thought she knew begins to unravel. Soon her discoveries unearth a terrifying conspiracy that has the potential to shatter everything--a revelation that will test the bonds of loyalty, family, and love.

My Thoughts 

Gretchen Powell’s debut is a YA dystopian with a sci-fi twist. The science fiction part was a surprise, a pleasant surprise nevertheless.

Terra - Gretchen Powell - Promo & Giveaway

Author: Gretchen Powell

Title: Terra

Series: Terrestrials #1

Published: Dec 12th 2012 by Hopewell Media 

Genre: YA Dystopian & Science Fiction

Buy The Book: Amazon l Barnes & Noble l Kobo

A broken and desolate Earth. A young girl struggling to survive. A lost boy with a powerful secret.

A discovery that will change everything.