Review: The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen

First of all, I have to say this new Amazon feature is really neat.  Now when I write a book review or talk about a book, you don't have to go somewhere else to read more about it or see what it costs, it's RIGHT THERE and you can just click!  If you Blogspot peeps haven't seen it yet, check it out.  It's under the Monetize tab on your dashboard and if people end up buying from clicking on your blog, you actually get a little bit of cash money.  Seriously, neat.  Love it. 

Now for the review at hand!

The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen

Description from Goodreads:

Emily Benedict came to Mullaby, North Carolina, hoping to solve at least some of the riddles surrounding her mother’s life. For instance, why did Dulcie Shelby leave her hometown so suddenly? Why did she vow never to return? But the moment Emily enters the house where her mother grew up and meets the grandfather she never knew—a reclusive, real-life gentle giant—she realizes that mysteries aren’t solved in Mullaby, they’re a way of life.

Here are rooms where the wallpaper changes to suit your mood. Unexplained lights skip across the yard at midnight. And a neighbor bakes hope in the form of cakes.
Everyone in Mullaby adores Julia Winterson’s cakes. She offers them to satisfy the town’s sweet tooth and in the hope of bringing back the love she fears she’s lost forever. In Julia, Emily may have found a link to her mother’s past. But why is everyone trying to discourage Emily’s growing relationship with the handsome and mysterious son of Mullaby’s most prominent family? Emily came to Mullaby to get answers, but all she’s found so far are more questions.

Is there really a ghost dancing in her backyard? Can a cake really bring back a lost love? In this town of lovable misfits, maybe the right answer is the one that just feels…different.

My thoughts:

My regular blog followers know that I'm a HUGE fan of Allen's second book, The Sugar Queen.  Absolutely ADORE it.  Allen opened my eyes to the wonder that is magical realism, and I'm hooked.  

This book was good, but for me, not AS good as TSQ.  I enjoy her writing style.  I don't find it too over the top as some reviewers seem to.  I think it matches the tone of the storyline perfectly.  It's a very sweet story, and the magical realism bits wound in here and there add interest and mystery.  Things that should be impossible are normal... and anything "normal" would just seem boring.  I mean, wallpaper that changes itself?  How sweet would that be? 

It's almost hard to read a regular fiction after one of Allen's books because I keep expecting extraordinary things to happen and I end up disappointed.  Her writing is just so creative (sweet, at times sappy, and always happy endings, but creative nonetheless) that I get pulled into all the possibilities.  Allen is the reason one of my WIPs is magical realism.  I'm in love with it.

If you're looking for a light, sweet read with a creative storyline, pick up one of Allen's books.  

*4/5 - Really Liked It

The Radiant Shadows Cover Reminds Me Of...

Okay, I've been seeing this cover on a LOT of your blogs lately, and EVERY TIME I see it, I think it's a photo of Adam Lambert.

Seriously...


Anyone else do a double take when they see this cover?

I hope this doesn't influence my willingness to read the book, because I'm not much of a Lambert fan. lol. ( I won't let it bother me, I'm just teasing!)

I just realized that this is Wicked Lovely #4 ( I still have yet to read #1! ZOIKS!). Here is the description from Goodreads for those interested:

Hunger for nourishment.

Hunger for touch.

Hunger to belong.

Half-human and half-faery, Ani is driven by her hungers.
Those same appetites also attract powerful enemies and uncertain allies, including Devlin. He was created as an assassin and is brother to the faeries’ coolly logical High Queen and to her chaotic twin, the embodiment of War. Devlin wants to keep Ani safe from his sisters, knowing that if he fails, he will be the instrument of Ani’s death.

Ani isn’t one to be guarded while others fight battles for her, though. She has the courage to protect herself and the ability to alter Devlin’s plans—and his life. The two are drawn together, each with reason to fear the other and to fear for one another. But as they grow closer, a larger threat imperils the whole of Faerie. Will saving the faery realm mean losing each other?

Alluring romance, heart-stopping danger, and sinister intrigue combine in Melissa Marr’s next volume of Melissa Marr’s New York Times bestselling Wicked Lovely series.

Teaser Tuesday - Title Revealed!

For today's teaser, I'm going to share the first few lines (subject to change, of course...) of my young adult WIP, and the TITLE!!

Are you ready?

The title is...

"Anemone"

This is pretty much how I envision the cover to look! This is not my photo, but I do plan on doing a photo shoot with some anemones soon!

Now for a snippet... enjoy!


"Brady was completely normal--nothing otherworldly about him. That wasn't the problem.

The problem was me. Only... I didn't know exactly what the problem was. I didn't seem to know or remember much about anything."

The Character Name Game

For my writer followers, how do you come up with your character names?

Doesn't that seem harder than coming up with the story sometimes? You want something original, but nothing like Apple, Dweezil, or Moon Unit. Maybe you like your best friend's name, but worry about using the name of someone you know? Maybe you have the urge to name your antagonist after your ex, but worry they just might one day pick up your book and read it?

Choosing names is hard. For my first novel (yes, I'm still taking a break after that huge revision... I think I deserve it, right?), I realized I had too many J names. There were three. THREE of my main characters... AND they all ended with N. Not cool. Too confusing. So after tweaking, I realized I had too many M's. There are still several that end in N (hey, it's natural... Kristin ends in N!), but none of my Betas have pointed it out as a nuisance, so for now, they stay.

Now that I'm starting a new young adult WIP (title to be revealed SOON!), here I am with the names all over again. The main boy's name came easy this time, and I had to come up with two names for the girl (I can't tell you why). I pulled all these names out of the air this time, but often I find myself poking around the baby name websites to get ideas. Do you do that, too?

Also, I needed several names for characters that were a bit older once, and I found that you can search by year on the Social Security website for popular names. A lot of you probably already knew that, but for those that didn't, it's a nifty resource.

So what about you? Does naming your characters come easy, or is it torture?

Happy Easter! Something to Watch Sunday!

I hope everyone haves a Happy Easter!

I know today really has absolutely nothing to do with baby bunnies and eggs, but I stumbled across this video, and had to share. It has to be the most sickeningly cute video ever.

Enjoy!

See more funny videos and Cute Animals Videos at Today's Big Thing.

God bless you and your family :)

Half Price Books

I brought a cart full of books into my (somewhat) local Half Price Books today... a CART full. They offered me $23 for the lot. And I took it. (they were mostly books from college and a few old novels that I had to admit to myself I would never ever get to)
I walked out with only $18 because I found a Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets score (UNOPENED)! So... add that to my iTunes "writing inspiration" playlist.

I'm actually proud of myself for not spending all my earnings today...

YAY for lightening the load!! (and making more room on that bookshelf!!! ;)


Happy Good Friday to all!

March in Review,,, Hello April!

March was a pretty good month. Hubs and I were able to visit Jamaica, I finished the mother of all revisions of my first novel (one step closer to querying), and I read seven books!!

Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin *5/5
Like Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquivel *3/5
Coffeehouse Angel by Suzanne Selfors *4/5
Wake by Lisa McMann *3/5
Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter *4/5
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer *5/5
The Wolf Within by Kristi Chestnutt *4/5

Pages read in March: 1798
Pages read YTD: 4754

Hello April!

Today was the first day of April. Thankfully, no one threw any April Fools Jokes at me, but I did get a kick out of Google and Topeka, Kansas switching names. There's a whole article and everything... very elaborate.

I'm all a buzz today because earlier this afternoon, a basically complete storyline for a young adult book popped into my head. I'd been tossing a few ideas around for a month or two, very eager to give writing YA a shot, and today it all came together. BAM!
I have a title and everything... I'm so excited and can't wait to really get into it.
It has 184 words so far! How cute is that?!

This month I plan to give away a signed copy of Kristi Chestnutt's The Wolf Within, so keep an eye open!

How was your March? And how has the first day of April treated you?