Never Too Many To Read : May 2018

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Blog Tour: Always Forever Maybe by Anica Mrose Rissi...Some Random Thoughts & a Giveaway!

Today I am a stop on the Always Forever Maybe Blog Tour!

It’s an emotional read about abuse in a relationship and I share some rambling (but hopefully coherent) thoughts on the topic, so keep reading!

Always Forever Maybe

by Anica Mrose Rissi

Publisher: HarperTeen

Release Date: June 5, 2018

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Synopsis:

When Betts meets Aiden at the candy store where she works, their connection is like a sugar rush to the heart. Even before they share a first kiss, Betts already knows the two of them are destined to become an us.

Betts has a bruised, cautious history with love, but she feels safe and empowered in Aiden's arms. He trusts her with the darkness in his troubled past, and his devotion opens up a new future for Betts just as everything else in her world is changing. With graduation inching closer, Betts and her best friend, Jo, have been sliding slowly apart, and that fissure is blown wide open by Aiden.

Betts has only ever kept one secret from Jo, but suddenly there's a long list of things she won't tell her, things Jo wouldn't understand. Because Jo doesn't see how good Aiden is for Betts. She finds him needy. Possessive. Controlling.

She's wrong. With a love like this, nothing else matters.

Anica Mrose Rissi grew up on an island off the coast of Maine. After college, she moved to New York City, where she worked as a cheesemonger and book editor. She now writes, fiddles in the electro-country band Owen Lake and the Tragic Loves, and walks with her dog, Arugula, near their home in Princeton, New Jersey. Anica is the author of several books for younger readers, and her essays have been published by The Writer and the New York Times. Always Forever Maybe is her YA debut. Visit her online at anicarissi.com, and follow her on Instagram and Twitter at @anicarissi.

The Rambling Thoughts of This Reader...

When I first read the synopsis of Always Forever Maybe, a million post ideas ran through my head for this. Now, as I sit here trying to write down exactly what I want to say, I am struggling. This book and its subject matter is a tough one, both to read and to write about...especially if you’ve lived it or are currently living it.

Now, I don’t want to give you the wrong idea, I was never in a controlling or possessive relationship like the one portrayed in the book...no, I was the friend who wanted to help, the family member who watched a loved one suffer at the hands of her abuser, the one who always said, “That won’t be me” and still prays it never is.

But I can easily understand how it could happen...even more so now that I am an adult than when I was a teen and that’s what is so hard for me about abuse in teen relationships. Because many teens don’t get it, they don’t see or know the signs because no one has told them or they interpret them as something else. Some long for any attention or affection and sometimes that comes with a price...sometimes they tell, sometimes they don’t. And occasionally friends don’t want to get involved or don’t want to ruin a friendship or are unsure themselves of what’s going on so they stay quiet, too. Like I did...a decision I still regret all of these years later.

Guess I better start at the beginning with that one. I knew a girl in elementary school who became more of a friend in middle school. We weren’t super close, but we had lunch and gym together so we would hang out and talk then. Around this time Reese Witherspoon and Mark Wahlberg had a movie out called Fear about a teen girl who gets involved with an older boy who ends up being possessive and abusive (this movie was actually the very first thing I thought of reading the synopsis for Always Forever Maybe). While I absolutely hated the Wahlberg character, my friend loved him and thought he was so sexy and romantic. He was an abusive jerk, I would say and she’d counter with, but he loved her a lot. I was left wondering if we saw the same movie. Then it clicked...my friend had an older boyfriend, one she rarely talked about, but everyone at school knew about. Could he be like Wahlberg’s character? I dismissed the thought because surely my friend would’ve said something or left him or something. I began paying more attention to things after that. Small bruises on her arms and legs...I bruise easy, she’d say. A few weeks later, she came to school with her arm in a brace and a black eye...a door she said. I finally called her out on the lie and asked her who hurt her and she told me it was him, but her parents had pressed charges so it was over. She was also moving. I felt terrible for not voicing my suspicions to someone before it had gotten to this point and told her so. She said that it wouldn’t have mattered because no one would’ve believed me without proof and she would’ve just lied...she still loved him. She moved a few weeks later and I never saw her again. But I still wonder about her.

I can’t help but also wonder if she and other teens would have benefited from one of the best college classes I ever took: Self Defense. Yes, I learned ways to defend myself against would-be attackers, but we also spent a lot of time discussing a topic you wouldn’t think you’d need to know about in this type of class...abuse in relationships. We learned warning signs to look for in people we date, warning signs in other people’s relationships, where and how to get help for ourselves and others, and so much more. We shared personal stories and it opened my eyes to things that I might not have realized were warning signs before. It also gave me a better understanding of those who stay in abusive relationships and the cycle these types of relationships creates. My only regret is that I didn’t get this information until my 20s...I believe that teens, especially those who date, could really benefit from of all of this info and I hope there are programs that provide it.

Earlier I mentioned the film Fear, and how the synopsis of the book reminded me of it, there is another movie I want to bring up because it brings to light the fact that it’s not just females who are the victims, for lack of a better word, in abusive relationships. Years ago, network TV stations would air “Movies of the Week” that were like Lifetime movies, but better (in my opinion). There is one that has stuck with me since I was a child...Men Don’t Tell. In the film, the husband is being physically abused by the wife but no one believes it and he gets blamed because he is the male in the relationship. It takes the couple’s daughter asking if Mommy was going to get in trouble for hurting Daddy for people to finally start to understand what’s really happening. This film struck a chord with itty bitty kid me and stuck with me for years because it is one of the first times where I had seen them portray the man as the victim. It’s important and I wanted to mention it because we often forget that guys can also be victims of abusive relationships as well and deserve the same help and consideration as girls.

There are so many examples of toxic, unhealthy, and/or abusive relationships portrayed on television, in film, and in books. If you find yourself in a situation that you feel may be dangerous or unhealthy, I hope you know that you are not alone. There are ways to get help. YOU ARE WORTH IT!

Prize: 1 copy of ALWAYS FOREVER MAYBE
Starts: 5/29
Ends: 6/14

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Click here to check out the Tour Schedule

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Blog Tour: The Archivist by Christy Sloat...Review & Giveaway!

Excited to tell you about The Archivist today!

Keep reading to learn more and to enter the giveaway!

Title: THE ARCHIVIST (The Librarian Chronicles #2)

Author: Christy Sloat

Pub. Date: May 28, 2018

Publisher: CHBB Publishing

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Find it: Goodreads

"With the whimsy of Alice in Wonderland and the romance of Outlander dive back into the next installment in the Librarian Chronicles."

Savannah Preston has a rare and precious gift: The ability to time travel through books. She, and others who share this unique ability, are faced with the insurmountable task of preserving history. They are known collectively as The Librarians.

While researching infamous Scottish outlaw Sir Malcolm Wash during the raging conflicts of the 14th Century, Savannah loses the only thing that tethers her to her own time. She must rely on her knowledge of both the present and the past to survive long enough to find a way home. Along the way, she enlists the help of a misfit named Eoin. With his guidance, she might just get home. It’s a risky and dangerous adventure, but then, so is Eoin.

About Christy:

I am Southern California native, now living in New Jersey! How did that happen? I am married and have two beautiful little girls who love to read just like Mommy. I have had a passion for books since I was a little girl and an imagination for just as long. I hope my books can inspire others to read and to write too.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

Title: The Archivist

Author: Christy Sloat

Format: Digital ARC

Source: Blog Tour

The Archivist is a fun and fascinating follow-up to Christ Sloat’s first book in “The Librarian Chronicles” series, The Librarian. Don’t worry if you haven’t read The Librarian, you can read this book first as it stands on its own, but you might want to pick that one up anyway as it’s pretty good, if you ask me, and helps you understand what being a “Librarian” with a capital L means (although The Archivist does a good job at explaining this, too).

As for The Archivist, in it we are introduced to Savannah, a college student who comes from a family of Librarians, or people with the ability to travel through time through books. Savannah is traveling to 14th century to discover what happened to the notorious Scottish outlaw Sir Malcolm Walsh during the few years he seemed to fall off everyone’s radar and to make sure that historians got things about that time period correct. However, things don’t go quite as Savannah planned on one of her journeys to the past. What should have a simple trip to research and preserve history turns into a dangerous adventure as Savannah must use her knowledge of the past and the help of others as she tries to survive long enough to find a way back home.

I love time travel stories and The Archivist is definitely a fun and interesting one. It got off to a really quick start, which made me feel like I may have missed something, but once I got into the story and Savannah began her “mission,” I fell into a reading groove and couldn’t put the book down as Savannah first journeyed between the past and the present trying to balance both of her very different lives. It was fascinating to see life in medieval Scotland through the eyes of a modern young lady and get a better understanding of Savannah’s role as a Librarian as well as see the effects it has on her life. Sloat could easily make things overcomplicated or too flowery, but she manages to write in a style that makes for easy understanding while not being too simple...I hope that makes sense.

Things definitely get tricky for Savannah when she unexpectedly gets stuck in Scotland on one of her trips to the past. As she tries to keep her secret and work to figure out a way back home, she encounters Eoin, a fascinating young man who attempts to help her on her journey back home even if he doesn’t initially know that’s her goal and she faces several risks across the dangerous medieval Scottish countryside. It was quite a ride filled with several interesting encounters and some unexpected moments. And a bit of romance.

Sloat has also created some interesting and complex characters. I have to be honest though, at first, I wasn’t sure I was going to like Savannah. She just seemed a bit too nice and too self-deprecating as everyone else seemed to take advantage of her or be flat-out rude to her, but I found myself relating to her on some levels so perhaps that was why she irked me at first. On one hand she is a typical college student who struggles with family issues, time management, and other issues facing others her age. But she also struggles with her gift and responsibilities as a Librarian and how that affects her life and relationships. I loved the growth Savannah showed throughout the story as she became stronger and more confident...she definitely has a backbone and it was great to see her show it throughout the story.

She turned out to be quite a complicated character filled with contradictions...insecure, yet proud...naive, yet knowledgeable...fearful, yet adventurous. It was a little confusing as I wasn’t sure which Savannah we were going to get from chapter to chapter and she was a hard character to really get a feel for because she was a little bit of everything, but I guess that is realistic in a way considering who and what Savannah is. She has learned to hide her true identity and adapt to new environments as a Librarian, which can make for a very complicated personality.

A few of the other characters rubbed me the wrong way a time or two and were a little hard to get a read on as well. But Savannah and the others grew on me and I wanted to know more about them even while wanting to smack some sense into a few of them.

Overall, it was a entertaining read that made me wish I could time travel or jump into a book, but definitely with the ability to come back home...I need my modern-day hygiene products and gadgets, thank you very much. If you enjoy stories with time travel, rich history, relatable characters, touching romance, and intriguing plots, then I recommend you try The Archivist.