Lookie Mama, I Won a Book! (Plus a Few Multi-Flavoured Ramblings)

Hi my lovelies...

It's been three days and I still haven't recovered. After two years and eight months of blogging (and participating in giveaways), I FINALLY WON A BOOK. (Excuse my caps...not bragging...just broadcasting emotions). Not a physical copy, since I'm in Italy and they rarely get here (if ever)...but

I. WON. A. FRIGGIN'. BOOK.

PDF. Whatever. It's a BOOK, my darlings.

[Thanks to Giphy!]

Blog Plans (Open for Summer!)

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Hi my darlings!

Remember my latest post about the difficulties to juggle real life and blogging, BUT wanting to go on and actually spice up things here a little?

Well, this came up timely. In her May 2015 Wrap-Up post, Tessa from Crazy for YA mentioned the upcoming Summer Blogger Promo Tour by The Book Bratz. This is kind of a blog hop, but much more awesome and helpful than that. Because everyone who signed up (a total of 56 bloggers!) will be in the spotlight for 8 Sundays over the summer (in July and August) on 8 of his fellow participants' blogs, and will have the distinct pleasure to meet new friends in the process! (Sign-ups are closed now, but if you're curious about the ins and outs of this event, just click on the SBPT link above).
Now, you know I'm not a huge fan of memes, but I like to take part in shorter (and often more meaningful) events. Besides, I was actually seeking out an opportunity like this right now! Last year I went M.I.A. for, well, pretty much the whole summer - in the very months that this tour is taking place. All the more reason for participating in it (well, as a matter of fact, the tour was first launched in 2014, but I didn't know at the time). This blog needs a shake up!

Thanks to Giphy!

I don't know how many posts/reviews I'll be able to squeeze in between my SBPT schedule, because well, see my latest post. But I'll try my best. Anyhow, I'll introduce you to a (maybe new to you?) different blogger every Sunday, and I hope it will be entertaining enough :).

Big wave to all the Summer Blogger Promo Tour participants! I'm sure we'll have fun together this summer! (Don't forget you sunglasses and sunscreen LOL).

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...In Which Life Gets in the Way

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Five months into 2015 and it's official: I royally flunked.

I've been debating with myself if I should write this post and sound whiny, or grind my teeth and pretend everything was cool. My decision was made when I realised two weeks had passed since my latest post, which pretty much makes you dead in the blogging universe. Now, from Day 1, I've always refused to adhere to stupid rules and turn blogging into a chore. On the other hand, with my followers and readers base, it's not like I can go M.I.A. for weeks and expect to gain more of them, or to become an established blogger. So I decided I owed such followers and readers - not to mention new visitors - an explanation, at the very least.

My goal for this year was to produce an average of a post per week - which I did last year. And which should have been so simple to accomplish. Until it wasn't.

Deborah Lynn Jacobs: "Choices"

Title: Choice [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Deborah Lynn Jacobs [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Multiverse
Year: 2007
Age: 12+
Stars: 2/5
Pros: Sibling love. A convincing explanation of multiple realities.
Cons: Some of the realities feel forced. The ending is not consistent with the premise, and the lead's final choice makes no sense.
WARNING! Drug smoking. A drinking parent.
Will appeal to: Those who like to wonder "what if..." and don't care much for plausibility.

Blurb: A teenage girl consumed by guilt over her brother's death tries to find a universe in which he is still alive. Choices begins in one dimension, then fractures into four distinct voices with every decision Kathleen/Kay/Kate/Kathy makes. (Amazon excerpt)

Review: This is a though one to review without being too spoilery, but I'll try...
I was originally drawn to Choices for two reasons: 1) the multiverse concept and 2) the apparently original premise...a guilt-consumed girl who would go to any length to have her big brother back. I'm intrigued by alternate-universes theories, and I thought it was refreshing to have a teen who was driven by sibling love instead of romantic/lustful one. Multiverse I did get - though it presented some issues that I'll address later - but as for the rest...I closed the book feeling cheated.
17 y.o. Kathleen has just lost her older brother Nick due to an accident she feels responsible for, because Nick was coming to pick her at a party where she didn't really want to go in the first place, and because she never learned to drive. Also, unlike most girls her age, Kathleen was very close to her big brother, which adds to her pain. Nick's death triggers a peculiar chain of events - or better, a series of them - Kathleen doesn't know what to make of at first: there are specific splitting points where she makes a decision instead of another and this causes equally specific consequences...The real catch is, Kathleen finds herself shifting among the different realities her choices and not-choices create, retaining a double memory after every split. Of course, Kathleen thinks she's losing it, and fast. It's Luke, a slightly older boy and fellow shifter she met at Nick's funeral, who finally helps her understand what's going on. I'm not a physics expert, but Luke's explanation of the shifts seems fine to me, and actually makes sense. Or I want it to make sense because I'm fascinated by characters who live different lives, so if there's a plausible way for them to, I'm more than happy :). (Not sure what Stephen Hawkins would have to say about Luke's theory, but still). Well, so, the multiverse part started strong to me. And Kathleen - in all her different versions - is a relatable enough character, though not particularly memorable. So what about the 2 stars? Here goes... [...]

YA Trends: Is That All There Is?

My dear friends...I'm bored.

[Thanks to Giphy!]

Regardless of having a TBR list that I can't currently make a dent into (due to household priorities), I'm always on the prowl for new releases that might suit my tastes (I'm sure you know the feeling). But lately I've ended up erasing books from the aforementioned list more often than adding new ones - which is good for my pockets, but you know what I mean. Also, I spotted a trend here...I find myself rejecting some of the releases that I'd anticipated the most for months. Not sure if this says something about me or the books themselves LOL. The fact is, the more reviews I read, the less such novels seem to appeal to me. Sometimes it only takes a reviewer mentioning a small detail that I can't buy; other times it's due to someone cleverly deconstructing the premise. And yours truly here erases and erases.

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But there's more to it...because most of the times, the rejected books don't get replaced. I may stumble on a title whose blurb intrigues me, only to read the early reviews and find out that it belongs in the "been there, done that" category. I'm aware it's difficult to come up with fresh ideas, but if it's not the case, why write a book at all? Most dystopians are impossible these days, carbon copies of books that are around already. Most contemporaries are knee-deep in high-school drama, which I can't tolerate anymore (mainly because I can't buy half the stuff that's said and done. And no, I don't think it has to do with old age LOL. Or not much at least...). Heck, even magical realism or other genres more than often are angsty romances/high-school dramas in disguise. As for fantasy, I don't read much of it, but the endless stream of creatures that populates the genre would probably bore me to death if I did, because just by glancing at the blurbs, they sound so overused AND alike. You see my distress.

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So I was wondering...am I too picky? Do any of you share my feeling of deja vu (or deja lu) when it comes to new releases, and find it difficult to get excited about them? Is the publishing world so full of BOOKalikes as it seems?