For some people, silence is a weapon. For Mallory “Mouse” Dodge, it’s a shield. Growing up, she learned that the best way to survive was to say nothing. And even though it’s been four years since her nightmare ended, she’s beginning to worry that the fear that holds her back will last a lifetime. Now, after years of homeschooling with loving adoptive parents, Mallory must face a new milestone—spending her senior year at public high school. But of all the terrifying and exhilarating scenarios she’s imagined, there’s one she never dreamed of—that she’d run into Rider Stark, the friend and protector she hasn’t seen since childhood, on her very first day. It doesn’t take long for Mallory to realize that the connection she shared with Rider never really faded. Yet the deeper their bond grows, the more it becomes apparent that she’s not the only one grappling with the lingering scars from the past. And as she watches Rider’s life spiral out of control, Mallory faces a choice between staying silent and speaking out—for the people she loves, the life she wants, and the truths that need to be heard. Synopsis from Goodreads.  ✱ Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout  ✱ Pages: 480 (hardcover) ✱ Publication date: 17 May 2016 ✱ Provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review ✱ Amazon UK | Amazon US

The story is based on two people - Mallory and Rider - who both faced abuse as children. I was kind of prepared for the waterworks.

Dealing with Old Wounds

Rider and Mallory both felt real to me - I understood their reactions, I understood their decisions, and how their past had affected them in different ways. These two high school students have tried to put behind them these horrible things in their past - but they are very clearly still dealing with them. It's emotional, and it naturally affects the story and drives it forward. It's a good premise - if a bit heart-breaking and tear-inducing.

High School is Hard for Everyone

Something Mallory starts to see is that maybe she's not as different from everyone around her as she thought. It has an impact on her journey as she tries to be like the others, to prove to herself and her foster parents that she's doing better and is able to go to school.

The Problem with Forever is an emotional, evocative and inspirational story about love, family, and how our experiences make us who we are. 

My favourite thing: Mallory's struggle felt so real to me, and it was easy to identify with her. I think we all have our struggles in high school, and even though her situation is worse than most, it still hits me hard.

Props to the Author

The Problem with Forever is absolutely lovely, moving, and overall just very, very emotional. It's clear that the author has done her research, and she paints a realistic picture of young foster children who sometimes slip between the cracks in the system.

Romantic YA (maybe even NA because of some tough topics?) that treats love in a very realistic way. I cry at the drop of a hat, really - but I have this rule that if a book makes me cry, it's probably easily worth five stars. I CRIED OKAY.

Do you read books that you know will make you cry?

Hello my lovelies!

Have you seen the line up of authors for the Young Adult Literature Convention that takes place in London?! (Spoiler alert: V.E. Schwab, Patrick Ness, Alwyn Hamilton, Holly Bourne...!!) Check out the schedule here! In addition to all the wonderful panels and authors, they're setting up an Agents’ Arena.. which sounds terrifying, but I wanna goooooo.

*ahem*

It just happens that YALC falls on my birthday weekend... (I share a birthday with Harry Potter so now you finally have proof that I'm cool), and I think I'll treat myself and hopefully spend the entire weekend in London. So if you're around my corner of the world and you're planning on going - let me know! I'd love to meet up with people!
(Was that too many exclamation points? I'm too excited about this today.)

Anyway, I should stop rambling, yes?

SO MANY GOOD BOOKS THIS MONTH. Just like last month. And the month before. And... I digress. Here are my favourites I read in the past month (4/5 are YA. Do I read anything else nowadays?): Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne. I buddy read this with the wonderful Ely @ Tea and Titles, and I think we both really connected with this book. There are so many important topics in it: feminism (the Spinster club!!), friendships (no bitchy girls!), and how hard it is to share about things sometimes (e.g. mental health). Every Exquisite Thing by Matthew Quick. Wonderful contemporary YA. There's a story inside the story that affects people in interesting ways... Give it a go, it's really good! Traitor's Blade by Sebastien De Castell. First in a high fantasy trilogy, the dialogue in this one is so funny, the plot is all twisty-turny and you're continuously surprised while reading it. If you're into fantasy, get on it! Sunbolt by Intisar Khanani. Such an awesome YA fantasy novella. You'll have to binge it, trust me. (The sequel is a lot longer so if you get hooked you can go straight into that one!)  The Problem with Forever by Jennifer L. Armentrout. This is YA romance, really, and as you may know, I don't read a lot of romance. Loved loved loved this one.

Also my baby sister had a baby boy yesterday! Guess who's a happy auntie who gets to visit them today?!

Okay, lovelies! Let me know if you're planning on going to YALC! Have you read any of my recommendations? Also, feel free to throw recommendations at me ;)

Kate and Mark have sat next to each other in calculus all year, but the first time they actually talk is when they run into each other during a night out in the city.  Mark is in love with his best friend Ryan, and Kate has just escaped her friends, afraid to meet the girl she is in love with even though they have never spoken or met before. This chance meeting between Mark and Kate brings them closer than they would ever have thought. ✱ Pages: 256 (hardcover) ✱ Publication date: 7 June 2016 ✱ Provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review ✱ Amazon UK | Amazon US

I've heard David Levithan's name so many times but never read his work before, so when I came across You Know Me Well (co-authored with Nina Lacour!), I was really interested. The title is lovely, and the premise made me think. How well do we know ourselves? How well do our friends and our family know us? What about complete strangers?

The story starts during Pride, and the events unfold over a week, from the initial meeting between Kate and Mark, until the end of their high school careers. Alternating between the points-of-view of Mark and Kate, it's a look at two teenagers on the brink of adulthood, trying to be true to themselves, trying to hold on to old friendships, and trying to navigate the paths of first love. You feel the uncertainty, the pain, the joy along with the characters. 

I loved Kate and Mark, they are wonderful and real, and they have their own issues, and they feel really strongly about friendship and just being there. So yep, I really, really loved them both, so much. There was something very realistic about this book to me, and I'm so happy I got to read it, and to share the journey Kate and Mark were on.

Another thing I love, is the depiction of the LGBT community in You Know Me Well - especially when it comes to teenagers finding somewhere they belong, with people they feel won't judge them. I think it's really important to discuss these topics, in YA literature especially, so I genuinely appreciate what the authors are doing here. This book could be a really important one for teens dealing with coming out, identity, and acceptance from other people.

First loves, friendships, the end of high school, the dreaded future - something we've all gone through.You Know Me Well is delightful, refreshing, and full of feeling.

Have you read David Levithan before? This was my first! Do you have other books in mind that touch upon LGBT themes?

Because am I obsessed? Yes, I admit it, okay?!

Intisar Khanani is an indie author who writes YA fantasy. At the moment I'm just sitting in my room with my grabby hands, waiting for Memories of Ash to come out (TWO DAYS, my lovelies. Two days!). So, I'm going to take this chance to talk about Khanani's other work, because am I really going to be able to talk about something else while I'm this excited?

Reasons Why Intisar Khanani and her Work are Awesome: Pretty covers. I'm sorry but did you see the cover for Thorn? It's one of my favourites. Originality. For example, insta-love is not a thing, even in Thorn which is a fairytale retelling - how much of a change is that from basically every other book ever? This makes me pretty happy. Intisar's stories don't tend to focus on romantic love. It's so refreshing because actually you can meet a prince on page 5 and not end up falling in love. WHO KNEW? Imagination. I'm always surprised by her writing! You know when you read enough of a particular genre and it all starts to feel the same? That never happens with her writing. Important themes. Read Thorn and tell me it doesn't make you think about your own life decisions, or about what's important in life. I dare you ;) Charity. Some of the proceeds go to charity. I don't think I need to even elaborate on that... but I will anyway. Supporting UNICEF or Heifer International when you buy a book doesn't sound too bad, right? (Also the author is so friendly on twitter, and on her website, so you know - you can connect with her once you get as obsessed with her stories as I have.)

So What Should You Do Now?

Well, you can check out Intisar's writing in a short story called the Bone Knife, which is free on Amazon and basically on every online retailer, I think.

You could read Thorn which is an excellent fairytale retelling. Surprising and refreshing, it's based on the Goose Girl - which I didn't know much about before reading this one.

  

Or, you could read Sunbolt! 

 

It's a YA fantasy novella, and it's maybe my favourite novella ever. The plot keeps moving, the characters are intriguing and everything that happens is kind of unexpected. In addition, Memories of Ash is the sequel, and it's going to be released on the 30th May. According to the author it's going to be quite a bit longer than Sunbolt, so you can probably see why I'm super excited to read it. (Also, aren't the covers pretty?)

How's Inspired Indies for a new feature, you guys? Are you interested in indie books? Do you have any recommendations for me?

Nanette O'Hare is an unassuming teen who has played the role of dutiful daughter, hardworking student, and star athlete for as long as she can remember. But when a beloved teacher gives her his worn copy of The Bugglegum Reaper--a mysterious, out-of-print cult classic--the rebel within Nanette awakens. As she befriends the reclusive author, falls in love with a young troubled poet, and attempts to insert her true self into the world with wild abandon, Nanette learns the hard way that rebellion sometimes comes at a high price.  Summary from Goodreads ✱ Pages: 272 (hardcover) ✱ Publication date: 31 May 2016 ✱ Provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review ✱ Amazon UK | Amazon US

This was my first Matthew Quick book! I read an excerpt of the first few chapters two or three months back, and I was already hooked, so you can imagine how super excited I was to receive and ARC for this one!

My Rambling "This is Why I Love It" Review

You probably already got the basic message: I really loved Every Exquisite Thing. It's one of those books I just couldn't put down. The plot actually surprised me and things took a surprisingly serious turn but that made me love this story even more. I really don't want to go into the specifics because I fear that would take away from your reading experience! Suffice it to say that this story handles serious topics in a way that makes you think. It really fits this story, and I much prefer that to, say, making something horrible happen because it's emotive and will make the reader cry (which is also cool and necessary [yes, I'm looking at you, All the Bright Places] but I don't always want that, you know?)

My favourite thing about Every Exquisite Thing might be that it touches upon some really important topics: mental health and therapy, how we live our lives, and - as a kind of central theme - literature and stories and their profound effect on us. I highlighted so many passages of this book that I can't even pick favourites to share with you. I'm pretty sure I'll be rereading this as soon as I can manage it.

A book for the quiet rebels among us who don't want to go to prom, who excel at things they don't really enjoy, who get tired of doing what's expected just because other people tell them it's for the best, Every Exquisite Thing surprised me in the best way possible. It is refreshing, compelling, and honest: exactly what you want from good Young Adult literature.

Verdict: SO GOOD. Read it!

Have you read Matthew Quick before? And I'm always curious about this: which cover do you prefer? Keep reading my lovelies!

As with everything in life recently, I'm a tiny bit late with my Conversations post, but I couldn't bear to miss this topic, so here I am, a day late!

As always you can check out the Conversation meme over at Corralling Books!

In May, Conversations touches upon Blogging Habits, and  today's question is:

What are the essential things the blogs you follow have to have?

✱ An easy way to follow the blog. I really appreciate having different ways to follow a specific blog, and if I really like it, I'll probably subscribe on Bloglovin', by email, and by Google+. I'm a bit weird that way... But at the end of the day, everyone has different preferences on how to follow, so I think it's pretty important to have different options available. ✱ Different kinds of content and willingness to try new things.  I like book reviews, I like discussion posts, I like memes - any mix of those is cool by me. I don't require anything to be really different or set apart from other blogs, but I appreciate personal touches. I like getting to know a blogger a little bit through their blog posts. So, I like bloggers to post the kind of content they want, to write in their own voice (especially if they're funny without acknowledging it or weird while owning it), to sometimes have unpopular opinions, to try new things. If you do what you want I'll probably like it.  ✱ I like bloggers who comment back (and are nice people!) I suppose we all do, really, because it's a nice thing to do, right? But it goes a bit further than that. I love good comments. You know, those thoughtful ones that make you really happy? (basically every comment I've ever gotten on this little blog which are usually the highlight of my day). The thing is, those kinds of comments make me happy even when I see them on someone else's blog. And I'll tell you a secret. If I see a really nice comment on someone else's blog, I tend to look up the commenter and their blog, and follow them. Why? Because they're nice. That's all.

Tell me about your preferences! What do you *need* a blog to have before you follow it? What draws you in?

You are in luck, my little narwhal friends. Not because I'm talking about Camp NaNoWriMo again, but rather because Camp is over - has been for just about two weeks, so I'm talking about writing a little less. (You know, until July when all of this starts over again.) ALSO you're lucky (or not, depending on your point of view) because I'm BACK!  So, today's agenda looks something like this: Sorry I've been away! Why Camp is awesome Not editing is the worst and the best Finally diving back into the draft! My new project...

I'm home!

My BFF was here for a visit and she kept me away from most electronic devices so I've been absent on here, on twitter, on.. well. everything. (Notice how neatly I'm blaming it on someone else though?) We had a lovely time (and we saw my sister's baby bump!) and now I'm going to get back to a relatively normal blogging schedule! Prepare yourself for a week's worth of Annika-spam on your blog... :)

So yes, I'm sorry I was away! I'll make it up to you lovelies.

Now onto the Camp NaNo stuff:

Camp is kind of actually like camp.

I was so lucky to be in an awesome cabin for the duration of April. It really made the experience worth it. Everyone was so supportive and wonderful and actively participating. It's such an amazing thing to find like-minded people! It's why this actually happened:

So thank you, all my Headless Chicken/Dragon friends, and everyone who's been so lovely here on the blog and on twitter ❤

#NotEditing

The only reason I actually made it to 50k in April was that I stopped editing. If I knew I had some changes to make to an earlier chapter I'd write a small paragraph about it, and start it with something along the lines of "Yo, IDIOT. You forgot to introduce this character three chapters ago. EDIT nowwww." And then I'd forget all about it and keep going on with the story. It is such a freeing feeling! Even if you're not planning on doing NaNo, you should try it.

Getting to the actual work

Editing is so hard. I put my draft away for two weeks, and I've tried not to even think about it. (I started drafting a new story instead which is going nicely!) but now that I've forgotten about 90% of what I wrote during NaNo. I'm ready to jump back in. I think.

Send help! Or coffee.

I started a new thing. Again....

My new project doesn't have a title yet (gasp!) but let me pitch it to you in case you're interested. So far I've got a young burglar trying to find a way to get her family out of a plague-ridden city, a spy on a mission to find his sister who disappeared years before, and a gateway between two different worlds. So I'm back on YA fantasy territory which is where I basically want to live. So yay!

Are you writing? Tell me about your WIP, or if you're planning to do Camp NaNo in July!
Also, have you seen TrishaJenn's Wednesday Writing Prompts? Because they're pretty awesome, and if you're up for it we should take part! The prompt posted last Wednesday was "Never underestimate the lives of old men sitting on park benches."