BLOG TOUR: Suicide and My Heart and Other Black Holes

Today I have the wonderful Jasmine Warga on the blog to talk about teenage suicide and the importance of discussion around the topic.

I get asked pretty frequently about why I chose to write a novel about teenage suicide, and the first thing that usually comes to my mind is this: My book is much more an exploration of teenage depression than teenage suicide. Sadly, suicide and depression are often linked, as severe depression is often listed as one of the causes of suicide.

But I would like to focus on depression. I know that it seems like the biggest “taboo” so to speak surrounds suicide, but I would argue that our society has made depression equally “taboo”, which has led to a stigmatism and misunderstanding of this disease. We live in a world of daily memes and platitudes that yell at us to “Just Cheer Up” and to be “Mentally Strong” and while I think at the surface level those messages are benign, the problem lies in what they are implying—that someone who is depressed is not mentally strong, that someone who is depressed can help how they feel.

REVIEW: Weightless - Sarah Bannan

Title: Weightless
Author: Sarah Bannan
Series: None
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Source: Review Copy
Publication Date: 12 March 2015

When 15-year-old Carolyn moves from New Jersey to Alabama with her mother, she rattles the status quo of the junior class at Adams High School. A good student and natural athlete, she’s immediately welcomed by the school’s cliques. She’s even nominated to the homecoming court and begins dating a senior, Shane, whose on again/off again girlfriend Brooke becomes Carolyn’s bitter romantic rival. When a video of Carolyn and Shane making out is sent to everyone, Carolyn goes from golden girl to slut, as Brooke and her best friend Gemma try to restore their popularity. Gossip and bullying hound Carolyn, who becomes increasingly private and isolated. When Shane and Brooke—now back together—confront Carolyn in the student parking lot, injuring her, it’s the last attack she can take.
Sarah Bannan's deft use of the first person plural gives Weightless an emotional intensity and remarkable power that will send you flying through the pages and leave you reeling.

2015 Debut Author Reading Challenge: February Link-Up

Hey everyone! Welcome to the second month of Uncorked Thought's 2015 Debut Author Reading Challenge. I really hope you enjoy it. I've pasted the rules below along with a link to my Goodreads shelf compiled with debut author books if you're stuck for ideas! I'm going for Gold, so reading 20-29 debut author books! :) 

The Rules

1. This challenge will run from January 1st 2015 to December 31st 2015

2. The books have to be the debut book of an author, preferably 2014+ 

3. There will be a linky at the beginning of every month to post up your reviews/ posts on the books

4. Please link up your sign-up posts in the linky below and grab the badge for your blog! 

5. You can read as many or as little books as you like - that choice is yours

6. You must have reviewed a debut author at least once to enter the Debut Author Challenge Giveaway

Levels

1 - 9 - Bronze Reader

10 - 19 - Silver Reader

20 - 29 - Gold Reader

30+ - Platinum Pro-Reader

The Sign-Up post with all information about the challenge.

Check out my Goodreads Shelf for debut author ideas!

REVIEW: The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender - Leslye Walton

Title: The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender
Author: Leslye Walton
Series: None
Publisher: Walker Books
Source: Review Copy
Publication Date: 27th March, 2014

Foolish love appears to be a Roux family birthright. And for Ava Lavender, a girl born with the wings of a bird, it is an ominous thing to inherit. In her quest to understand her peculiar disposition and a growing desire to join her peers, sixteen-year-old Ava ventures into the wider world. But it is a dangerous world for a naive girl...

Harry Potter #95

This is a meme hosted by me here at my blog :).The aim of this meme is to share with fellow bloggers a character, spell, chapter, object or quote from the books/ films/ J. K. Rowling herself or anything Potter related! I will be picking a topic within HP for us to focus on each week and then if anyone wants to take part feel free! All I ask is to link back here, to my blog :). There is now a full list of the topics to come in the Harry Potter section of my blog here.

REVIEW: The Bone Season - Samantha Shannon

Title: The Bone Season
Author: Samantha Shannon
Series: The Bone Season #1
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Source: Bought
Publication Date: 20th August, 2013

It is the year 2059. Several major world cities are under the control of a security force called Scion. Paige Mahoney works in the criminal underworld of Scion London, part of a secret cell known as the Seven Seals. The work she does is unusual: scouting for information by breaking into others’ minds. Paige is a dreamwalker, a rare kind of clairvoyant, and in this world, the voyants commit treason simply by breathing.
But when Paige is captured and arrested, she encounters a power more sinister even than Scion. The voyant prison is a separate city—Oxford, erased from the map two centuries ago and now controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. These creatures, the Rephaim, value the voyants highly—as soldiers in their army.
Paige is assigned to a Rephaite keeper, Warden, who will be in charge of her care and training. He is her master. Her natural enemy. But if she wants to regain her freedom, Paige will have to learn something of his mind and his own mysterious motives.

BLOGTOUR: Summertime by Vanessa Lafaye

Today I have the lovely Vanessa Lafaye on the blog as part of her Summertime blog tour.

Top 10 Books Which Put the Place on the Map 

Vanessa Lafaye, debut author of SUMMERTIME (Orion, Jan 15th) reveals her top 10 books which put their settings on the map.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - John Berendt
Sleepy Savannah, Georgia experienced a flood of visitors following the ‘Midnight Trail’, and I’d so love to go.

Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis de Bernières
The lush descriptions of Cephalonia produced a surge in tourism to the Greek island