FFBC: Lock Every Door By Riley Sager...My Favorite Character & aGiveaway!

I am not going to lie, Riley Sager is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. I have enjoyed each of his previous books, The Final Girls and The Last Time I Lied. And Lock Every Door is one of the best books I’ve read this year, if not the best. 

So I am super excited to be able to tell you about the book today!

Keep reading to find out more about Lock Every Door and to learn about my favorite character and more!

And be sure to check back Friday for my review!

Lock Every Door
by Riley Sager

Publisher: Dutton Books

Release Date: July 2, 2019

Genre: Adult, Horror, Thriller

Synopsis:

No visitors. No nights spent away from the apartment. No disturbing the other residents, all of whom are rich or famous or both. These are the only rules for Jules Larsen's new job as an apartment sitter at the Bartholomew, one of Manhattan's most high-profile and mysterious buildings. Recently heartbroken and just plain broke, Jules is taken in by the splendor of her surroundings and accepts the terms, ready to leave her past life behind.

As she gets to know the residents and staff of the Bartholomew, Jules finds herself drawn to fellow apartment sitter Ingrid, who comfortingly, disturbingly reminds her of the sister she lost eight years ago. When Ingrid confides that the Bartholomew is not what it seems and the dark history hidden beneath its gleaming facade is starting to frighten her, Jules brushes it off as a harmless ghost story . . . until the next day, when Ingrid disappears.

Searching for the truth about Ingrid's disappearance, Jules digs deeper into the Bartholomew's dark past and into the secrets kept within its walls. Her discovery that Ingrid is not the first apartment sitter to go missing at the Bartholomew pits Jules against the clock as she races to unmask a killer, expose the building's hidden past, and escape the Bartholomew before her temporary status becomes permanent.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Kobo | iBooks | IndieBound

Riley Sager is the pseudonym of a former journalist, editor and graphic designer.

Now a full-time writer, Riley is the author of FINAL GIRLS, an international bestseller that has been published in 25 languages, and the New York Times bestseller THE LAST TIME I LIED. His latest book, LOCK EVERY DOOR, will be published in July.

A native of Pennsylvania, Riley now lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook 

Now it’s time for me to share some of my random thoughts...well, maybe not-so-random...I’ll let you decide...

My Favorite Character from Lock Every Door...

One of my favorite things about Riley Sager’s writing is his knack for creating fascinating and complex characters that you want to know more about. And Lock Every Door definitely doesn’t lack colorful characters. Each character has its own idiosyncrasies and unique personality that makes them memorable. They also have a backstory that makes them intriguing and you long to discover more about what brought them to this particular moment in life. My favorite character in Lock Every Door has all of these traits and just happens to be The Bartholomew, the apartment building in which the main character and most of the other characters reside. 

Yes, there are plenty of human characters in the story that I could have easily chosen. The residents of The Bartholomew are definitely eccentric, secretive people who make you curious to know their story and what brought them to this apartment building. There are quite a few I loved. But Riley Sager manages to bring The Bartholomew to life giving it its own quirks and personality as well as providing it with a fascinating back story. From the wallpaper that looks like tiny faces to the giant gargoyles to the old-fashioned elevator, everything about The Bartholomew intrigues me.

The Bartholomew is more than just a setting or building to me, it is integral to the story because without it and its supposed curse, the story falls apart and loses what makes it so interesting. I won’t say anymore...you’ll just have to read to find out what exactly happens and judge for yourself. But to me, it is a character in the story.

But The Bartholomew isn’t the only building that is important or could be looked at as its own character throughout literature or fiction. Can you imagine the Harry Potter series without Hogwarts? The Shining without the Overlook Hotel? The Haunting Of Hill House without Hill House? These are just a few examples.

Do you have a favorite building from literature? Would you consider it a character?

7 copies of LOCK EVERY DOOR by Riley Sager

US Only

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out the other stops on the Tour to learn more about Lock Every Door!

Click here for the schedule!

And be sure to check back here on Friday for my review!

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.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Kobo | IndieBound | iBooks

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

Sorry I’ve been M.I.A., but I’m back...I hope.

Hi everyone! Remember me?

I am so sorry that I disappeared and haven’t been posting anything lately...it’s a long, boring story that I plan to share soon.  But if you follow me on Twitter, then you probably know that I’ve been very ill. Things are slowly improving (fingers crossed) and I’m slowly trying to get back to normal (whatever that is).

I am so behind on things including emails, so if you’ve emailed me, I appreciate your patience and apologize profusely! If it’s really important, you might want to resend it.  I am slowly sifting through them and don’t know how long that will take, to be honest, as my body adjusts to changes in meds.

But, I wanted to check in, let y’all know that I plan to get back in the swing of things with even more posts and several needed updates to the blog itself.

So, I hope all is well in your corner in the world. Hope you stick around and next time bring a friend or two or three...

Blog Tour: Gertie Milk and the Keeper of Lost Things by Simon Van Booy...Review & a Random Thought from Me!

Fun new middle-grade book to tell you about today!

Keep reading to learn more and to see some times in history I wouldn't mind being a part of!

This enchanting middle-grade adventure follows twelve-year-old Gertie Milk, who washes up on the island of Skuldark, and finds that all of her memories are gone. Home to helpful Slug Lamps, delicious moonberries, and a ferocious Guard Worm, the island is full of oddities, including a cozy cottage containing artifacts from every corner of history.

It is there that Gertie discovers she has been chosen as the next Keeper of Lost Things, tasked with the mission of returning objects to history’s most important figures right when they need them most. With the help of a time machine disguised as a vintage sports car and the guidance of her fellow Keeper, Kolt, Gertie dodges an elephant army in ancient Alexandria, crashes a 1920s flapper party, and battles a ruthless Zhou Dynasty king.

But soon, Gertie encounters an enemy that threatens everything the Keepers stand for: The Losers, villains who don’t want to keep order but destroy it. Now, Gertie must uncover the truth of her own past if she wants to stop the Losers and set history back in place.

Simon Van Booy is the best-selling author of seven books of fiction, and three anthologies of philosophy. He has written for the New York Times, the Financial Times, NPR, and the BBC. He enjoys building robots, model airplanes, and off-road vehicles—which he likes to crash. He has an impressive umbrella collection, a Bowler hat, and carries a green thermos of tea everywhere. His books have been translated into many languages. In 2013, he founded Writers for Children, a project which helps young people build confidence in their literary abilities through annual awards. Raised in rural Wales and England, Simon currently lives between Brooklyn and Miami with his wife, daughter, Robot Rabbit Boy, and a fully-grown sheep

With Gertie Milk and the Keeper of Lost Things, author Simon Van Booy introduces readers to a whimsical and mysterious world with fun and fascinating characters.

Young Gertie awakens on an island where she discovers that she literally has forgotten everything. From her name to what she looks like and even the meaning of simple words and the names of random objects, her memories are all gone.  Not long after her arrival on this strange island she encounters Kolt, who informs her that she is now a Keeper of Lost Things.

As Keepers, it is Kolt and Gertie’s responsibility to return random objects (or things…such as voices) that have been lost to important figures in history just as they need them most. The job isn't always easy as the pair run into trouble quite a bit, but it takes Gertie on some fun and fascinating adventures throughout time as she and her companion work keep order and save history.  

But there are those who wish to prevent the Keepers from doing their job, the Losers, and they’ll try anything keep the important objects lost.  Things take an interesting and unexpected turn when Gertie must face the Losers to stop them from destroying the Keeper’s hard work.

The entire concept of this book is fascinating to me and one I fell in love with. Think about it…a simple lost object has the power to change the course of history, but there is some mysterious group preventing that from happening with the help of a time machine.  There are so many ways this story could go and I love the choices the author made in this one.

And the descriptions of the island of Skuldark and its inhabitants are so well done.  I appreciated the authors attention to detail as he described the creatures that call the island home and as he had Kolt show Gertie the ropes to being a Keeper and her new home.  The Shoe Closet, where clothes from every time period are stored, definitely caught my attention and I wouldn't mind exploring one of those in real life.

At first I wasn't sure where the author was taking Gertie and her personal story but I enjoyed reading as she struggles to adjust to her new life and discovers some unsettling news along the way.

This is an entertaining middle grade read that people of all ages should enjoy.  I look forward to more of Gertie’s adventures so hopefully more are on the way.

*I received a complimentary ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

Moments in Time I Wouldn't Mind Visiting

In the book, Gertie is a Keeper of Lost Things who returns lost objects to famous historical figures just when they're needed most so historical events take place as they should…what’s meant to happen has to happen.  So I thought, what famous people or places would I like to visit and help make sure they happen as they are meant to? And what object(s) would I like to return?  Here are just a few.

• The Beatles, their instruments

Perhaps I could visit The Beatles and return their instruments just in time for their famous appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

• the set of The Wizard of Oz, the Ruby Slippers

Maybe it’s the day of the big “Follow the Yellow Brick Road” scene and no one can find the famous footwear until I show up and save the day.

• the day of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream Speech”, maybe his voice

So I just really wanted to hear this one in person and couldn't think of something he could lose.  But in Gertie’s world Keepers also take care of lost voices, so why not? 

• the day man first walked on the moon, some technological doodad

Perhaps NASA had an issue allowing this moment to happen or broadcasting this famous moment to the millions that watched and I brought the lost item in just in time for history to be made.

• Jane Austen, paper and ink

Maybe the day she decided to write she could not find her paper and ink and was going to give up until I brought it to her.

So are there any people, times, or places in history you’d want to visit?

My Dream Lootcrate!

If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you probably already know this, but I'm a big fan of subscription boxes and subscribe to a couple.  One box that I don't get, but have always wanted is a Lootcrate...

...so imagine my surprise and excitement when I heard about the chance to create MY Dream Lootcrate!  I could put anything in this dream box that I loved and wanted.  If you don't already know, the Lootcrate boxes are monthly mystery crates for pop culture fans filled with awesome and exclusive items and apparel from TV shows, movies, games and more! They are filled with items that are perfect for geeks, collectors, and fans.

Anyway, here is a little more about this specific project:

Ever want to put together your own crate of awesome items from the world of pop-culture?? Well now is your chance! Loot Crate is looking for fans to come up with ideas they'd do if they could put together their own crate. The subscription service for geeks and collectors of all trends is encouraging all fans to get involved and share their own Dream Crate.

Sounds fun, right?

Well, it took me awhile to come up with exactly what I would want...I mean the possibilities are endless and this my DREAM crate!  There are so many themes and things I could (and wanted to) include!

Obviously, it had to contain things that I love, so I knew it had to be a little bit bookish. But I am also a total nerd for anything Disney or Harry Potter. But how could I combine all three of my passions and still have a somewhat cohesive crate? 

I thought about it for a bit and finally I realized what these three things all have in common...MAGIC!

Books are magical portals to other worlds, Harry Potter is all about magical beings and creatures, and there is no magic quite like the magic found in a Disney song, movie, or character.  Plus, all three manage to make me smile no matter how bad I feel and that's pretty magical, too, if you ask me.

I scoured the Internet looking for items that were just right and there were SO many I wanted and wished I could include.  But I narrowed it down and now I am pleased to present...my "Do You Believe in Magic? Lootcrate"

So what did I decide to put in my magical Dream Crate....

Every item is related to Harry Potter, Disney, Books or a combination of two or all of them.

1. A tote bag. I love tote bags and carry them around like purses.  This particular one was found on Society6 and is perfect for this theme!

2. A T-shirt.  Everybody likes Tees, right?  Every time I read this shirt I can't help but smile...and sing it in my head.  I love it so much!  This specific shirt was found on Amazon.

3. Artwork.  I am a HUGE fan of Risa Rodil's work absolutely love this quote and find it perfect for this box.  You can get her work on several different sites, but I stumbled across this one on her Society6 page. 

4. A necklace. For my box I included this wand necklace that I found on Amazon.  It's so pretty and it's nice to think you have a little piece of magic with you whenever you wear it.

5. A bookmark. Every time I see this one I am reminded of "Wingardium Leviosa" and it was also found on Amazon.

6.  A mug.  Never has a mug been more true for me than this one I found on LookHuman.com.

7. A Keychain. I collect keychains and I am absolutely in love with this one featuring the house from one of my favorite Disney/Pixar movies, UP.  Found it on HotTopic.com.

8. A Pop Funko vinyl figure.  Any Disney or Harry Potter Pop would work.  I put these princess ones down as an example and love them.

9. A book.  Well, obviously I'm going to include a book...you did see the title of my blog?  This one is just an example of one I wouldn't mind and is a retelling of one of my favorite Disney movies and fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast.

10. Socks!  Socks are a fun accessory that can really express your personality.  Found these bookish socks from ModSocks here.

11. A wallet. Got to keep my funds for books and fandom merch somewhere and this one featuring my favorite Disney princess and fellow bookworm from HotTopic is perfect for me.

12. Stickers. These can be fun and be placed just about anywhere. These bookish ones are available on LookHuman.

13. A journal or notebook.  Again, Risa Rodil has amazing designs and I love this Harry Potter one that I found on her RedBubble site.

Well, that is what I'd put in my Dream Crate...quite a bit more than I originally planned, but believe me when I say that it was so hard to narrow it down...the possibilities were truly endless.

So what would you put in your Dream Crate?