Blog Tour Review with Excerpt: Styx and Stones by Carmen Jenner

Cancer sucks … and then you die.

Styx and Stones an all-new emotional, mature young adult romance from USA Today bestselling author Carmen Jenner is available now!

Book info:

Title:  Styx and Stones
Author:  Carmen Jenner
Genre:  YA contemporary
Release Date:  September 3rd, 2019
Source:  E-galley from Social Butterfly PR which did not influence my opinion
My rating:  5 stars

Synopsis:

Alaska Stone is a walking wet dream.

My wet dream.

For years, I’ve watched her in the halls, wanted her, but she never knew I existed.

Not until she walked into my chemo session.

For me, it was love at first sight.

For her? It might take a little longer.

But hey, it’s not like we’re on a deadline or anything.

My Review:

So I was unsure how a YA book by Carmen Jenner would be, since I have known and loved her adult romance books. But I had no need to worry, because this one grabbed me from the start.  I'd like to compare it to The Fault in Our Stars, but since the characters themselves name that book and one of them kind of calls it out, I feel like I shouldn't.  LOL!  Okay, yeah, maybe I shouldn't have an LOL in a review of a book about kids with cancer, but as I loved in the author's other books, her sense of humor is a huge part of the story, and to me, that is real life.   This book was so intense, but so good, and such a page-turner.  I picked it up knowing I had one day to get it read, and believe me, the only thing that almost kept me from doing that was all the things I had going on during a Sunday.  Notice I said almost.  If it wasn't for my usual Sunday activities, I'd have had this completely read before I ever left the house.  

This is not going to be your usual happy ending, even a happy ending for a teens with cancer story.  I'm trying really hard not to spoil anything, so you may want to stop before going any further, because my thoughts may possibly spoil stuff for you.  So, the ending, well the ending made me think a lot about the very end of the Titanic movie.  If you remember that scene, you'll know what I mean when you read this one.  I like that our characters did what any normal teen would do in this type of situation, or what you'd hope they'd do.  I like that the author made things happen realistically. Things weren't miraculously okay after the big scare. There were repercussions for doing the irresponsible things.  Life-threatening repercussions.   The big "cure" or solution wasn't the perfect solution in the end.  But then, they were still just teens.  They were real.  And the author was able to throw in her usual sexiness that I know and enjoy in her books, but she was able to make it teenage realistic.  Not just that, but it was today's teen realistic.  It made sense for what teens today might do or know or use to become knowledgeable.  

Overall a great book, just solidified for me that I'll read anything by this author and probably love it.  Also found out this is a bit of a spin-off from another book by the author that I'll have to go back and read.   

Download your copy today or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2L2KhjG

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Excerpt

“Come here,” Styx says, giving my arm a weak tug.  

“Where?”  

“Come lie with me.”  

I laugh and shake my head. “I can’t. I’ll squash your lines.”  

“They’re plastic; they’ll bounce back.” His face turns serious, and the desperation in his eyes claws at my resolve. “Get your sweet ass up here, Stones. I wanna hold my girl.”  

It takes a little maneuvering with his central line and heart-rate monitor, and my IV, but eventually I settle in against his side and he wraps his good arm around me, holding me as tightly as his weak body will allow.

I wish we had the power to make time wait for us.  

I’d make it wait forever, right here. I’d use up all of the seconds it’s stolen from me, from us, and the lifetime it’s going to steal from our future. If I had the ability, I’d hit pause right here, and I’d never let him go.
 

About Carmen

Carmen Jenner is a USA Today and international bestselling author.

A hardcore red lipstick addict and a romantic at heart, Carmen strives to give her characters the HEA they deserve, but not before ruining their lives completely first … because what’s a happily ever after without a little torture?

Connect with Carmen

 

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Newsletter→https://www.subscribepage.com/carmenjenner

Website→http://www.carmenjenner.com/

Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/CarmenJennerAuthor/

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Instagram →www.instagram.com/carmenjennerauthor/

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Pinterest →https://www.pinterest.com.au/carmenjenner/

Cover Reveal: Styx and Stones by Carmen Jenner

Cancer sucks … and then you die.

Styx and Stones an all-new emotional, mature young adult romance from USA Today bestselling author Carmen Jenner is coming September 3rd, and we have the gorgeous cover!

Alaska Stone is a walking wet dream.

My wet dream.

For years, I’ve watched her in the halls, wanted her, but she never knew I existed.

Not until she walked into my chemo session.

For me, it was love at first sight.

For her? It might take a little longer.

But hey, it’s not like we’re on a deadline or anything.

Pre-order your copy today!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2L2KhjG

Amazon Worldwide: http://mybook.to/StyxStones

Add to GoodReads: http://bit.ly/2FgFw1i

Cover designed by: Tall Story

Photography by: Sara Eirew

About Carmen:

Carmen Jenner is a USA Today and international bestselling author.

A hardcore red lipstick addict and a romantic at heart, Carmen strives to give her characters the HEA they deserve, but not before ruining their lives completely first … because what’s a happily ever after without a little torture?

Sign up to my newsletter for free books, and exclusive content: https://www.subscribepage.com/carmenjenner

Connect with Carmen

Newsletter → https://www.subscribepage.com/carmenjenner

Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/CarmenJennerAuthor/

Website → https://www.carmenjenner.com/

Sign up for release alerts → https://www.subscribepage.com/carmenjenner

Amazon → http://amzn.to/1IjRUdg

Bookbub → https://www.bookbub.com/profile/carmen-jenner

Goodreads → https://bit.ly/1CAoSPz

Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/carmenjennerauthor/

Pinterest → https://www.pinterest.com.au/carmenjenner/

Books + Main → https://bookandmainbites.com/CarmenJenner

Review: The Beauty that Remains by Ashley Woodfolk

Book info:

Title:  The Beauty that Remains
Author:  Ashley Woodfolk
Genre:  YA Contemporary
Release Date:  March 6th, 2018
Publisher:  Delacorte Press
Source:  E-galley from publisher
My rating:  3.5 stars

Synopsis:
Music brought Autumn, Shay, and Logan together. Death wants to tear them apart.

Autumn always knew exactly who she was—a talented artist and a loyal friend. Shay was defined by two things: her bond with her twin sister, Sasha, and her love of music. And Logan always turned to writing love songs when his love life was a little less than perfect.

But when tragedy strikes each of them, somehow music is no longer enough. Now Logan can’t stop watching vlogs of his dead ex-boyfriend. Shay is a music blogger struggling to keep it together. And Autumn sends messages that she knows can never be answered.

Each of them wonders: How different would my life be if this hadn’t happened? And now that it has . . . what’s next?

My Review:
Overall, this was a wonderfully written book.  The characters were very deep, the tragedies very emotion-wrenching, and the connections between the three intertwining stories were creative and perfect.  

First you had Autumn, who had lost her best friend Octavia.  She felt guilt over Tavia's death because she had not been with her that night, she had been with Tavia's brother Dante instead of at the party where Tavia had left to go try to make up with her ex-boyfriend Perry.  Every chapter begins with Autumn writing a message to Tavia on one of her social media sites, followed by an actual email to her.  

Then there was Logan.  Logan's ex-boyfriend committed suicide.  Logan's guilt comes from the fact that when he broke up with Bram, he said horrible things to him about hoping he died alone.  You feel for Logan.  I mean he didn't even know he was gay for sure until Bram kissed him.  And then when Bram basically broke up with Logan for a girl, it was a huge blow for Logan.  Every one of Logan's chapters begins with a post from Bram about how he was so bored he was going to do something, and so it is Logan watching Bram's videos.

Finally there was Shay, who lost her twin sister Sasha to cancer.  The beginning of each of Shay's chapters is a band review by Sasha on their BaMF site.  Shay is having panic attacks, really bad ones whenever something makes her think about Sasha.  A song, a memory, just about anything.  She doesn't feel guilty necessarily, but it is hard for her to think about how her mom and Sasha's boyfriend now see Sasha whenever they look at her, and that must be hard for her.  Plus learning that she is what is now called "twinless".  

All three have a connection to the band Unraveling Lovely, a band that is currently split up.  It is this connection that they may be able to use to save each other, save themselves really, help to pull themselves back to life after the death of someone that they each loved more than they can ever say.

I loved all the connections.  I liked how little bits that related to each of the losses led to the connections having their issues and separations.  The saddest part for me had to do with Bram, and what all we found out had happened between the time he had broken up with Logan, and what it really was that led to his death. 

My only complaint is that I struggled a bit to get through it.  I had problems remembering who was who at first.  Keeping characters and side characters straight between each chapter.  That's probably what it was that kept me from being able to get sucked in and not put it down.  It was easy to stop reading when I had to put it aside.  But it was not easy to pick back up.  While it had some great messages, it just wasn't my top read so far.  I probably will not spend the money to purchase for my school library, but if someone was asking for a good book about suicide or grief for teens, it would be one I could suggest as a new choice.

 
 

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

I was doing so well this month with basically one post a day, then, Sunday, and I got sick.  So sick that I didn't even want to read, and anyone who knows me knows that means I am REALLY sick.  But normally I'm only sick for a day, then am doing better the next day.  And that's what I thought yesterday, so I got up, went to a check up doctor appointment having nothing to do with my being sick the day before, had donut holes at Dunkin Donuts for breakfast, nothing for lunch, then went ahead and went to work at the bookstore.  I thought I was doing good in my dinner choice, egg drop soup, similar to chicken noodle, right?  But I did also get crab rangoon, probably not the best choice in retrospect.  About 2 hours before closing, my stomach started acting up again, and once I got home, I spent all last night sick again.  And so, I'm behind on both reading and blogging.  But, feeling better yesterday, I did finish The Fault in Our Stars and so now I am blogging about it.  I did get this book last summer at BEA as well, so it is yet another one I waited a while to read, not sure why.
I have a feeling a lot of people may not agree with my review of this.  Once again I feel that a book was built up by other people so much, that when I got around to reading it, I basically knew what was going to happen, and while it was good, it didn't blow me away as I had really high expectations.  So let me start out by saying that this was a really good book.  John Green is an awesome author.  To be able to make the reader laugh out loud in such a depressing story/world, is good writing, good storytelling, in my book.  But while I wouldn't say it was predictable, I wouldn't say I was really surprised by anything that happened in the book.  Again, possibly because of all the build up, and being told how sad it would be.  Is it sad, yeah, it can cause you to use a box of tissues.  But as things happened, I was kind of prepared, kind of figured those things would happen. Although I must admit, some of that is probably from the actual foreshadowing I feel the author did within the story.  Here's my quick summary:

The main character is Hazel, she has terminal cancer.  There is no cure for her, only ways to extend her life.  In fact she must have oxygen with her at all time because her lungs don't work that well.  She goes to a support group where she meets Augustus.  Augustus is really cute.  He is supposedly in remission, but lost a leg to his type of cancer.  He is there with his friend Isaac, also a teen with cancer.  Isaac has lost one eye, and when we meet him in the story, it is possible he may have to lose the other eye.  Hazel and Augustus seem to click right away.  And Augustus is really a funny guy, and he likes that Hazel is the way she is, she's not all, "poor me, how am I ever going to leave a mark in this world."  She turns Augustus onto this book she loves, An Imperial Affliction, which is about a girl named Anna who also is sick, and the books just ends in the middle of a sentence.  What Hazel likes so much about it is that it totally gets how she feels about it and what it is like having cancer.  She wants so much to know what happens next, to the other characters in the book, as she knows what happens to Anna.  But, the author is reclusive, and even though she's written many letters, he's never answered.  Augustus has her read a novel that has to do with the video game he likes to play, and she does get swept up into those.  And he gets really into her book, as they shorten it to, AIA.  And he does the crazy thing and emails the author, and gets an answer from his publicist.  Which leads to them attempting to go visit him, from a supposed invitation from him and his publicist.  But of course there are things that get in the way. Relapses or lung problems for Hazel just to start with.  Hazel tries to keep space between herself and Augustus, not wanting to hurt him when she dies, as he is the "healthy" one in the relationship.  I won't go on with any spoilers.  Just know that their love is a true one, and their saying, "Okay? Okay", is a sweet one, and you will really hope for a relationship like this in your life.  Well, without all the tragedy of cancer and all that.  A great story, ending kind of how I thought it would, but not in a bad way.
I will say that one of my all time favorite books is A Summer to Die by Lois Lowry.  The copy I have from when I was younger is tattered and dog-eared from me reading it over and over. So I know a sad story from a sad story.  And I wasn't surprised by what happened probably because of that.  But this book is one that could rate up in the same place in my bookshelf as the Lowry book because of enjoying the back and forth between Hazel and Augustus.  You do need to read it.  I'm sorry my review isn't as glowing as others, it is a really good book.  Again, I believe my less than stellar review has to do with my being so over built up for a superbly unique story.  Which for many people I believe it will be!  So don't let me steer you away, just go into it with no expectations, and you'll do nothing but enjoy (if crying is enjoyment to you :-).

Gateway 2012-2013 Nominee 4: The Last Summer of the Death Warriors by Francisco X. Stork

The Last Summer Of The Death Warriors by Francisco X. Stork

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is one of the books I read to help with selecting next year's Gateway Award nominees. I did really enjoy it. Didn't think I would, again, like many of the titles on the list this year, it is not my normal type of book. But I really liked the story, and got involved with the characters. At first I was irritated with the main character, Pancho, as he just didn't want to connect with anyone. Just pushed everyone away in his search for vengeance for his sister's death. I totally understood though, his need for vengeance. I can feel in the same situation that I would probably think the same way. I liked the D.Q. character, and again, I can see feeling the same way he did about his sickness and how he wanted to deal with it. I did feel it was a bit predictable with how the whole relationship with Marisol turned out. Obviously it wasn't a Nicholas Sparks type of book where she would fall in love with the terminally ill patient. But once it said something about how she would feel about Pancho, I knew at some point she would tell D.Q., and he would be upset, which he was. But I do like how he realized that was wrong, and how he came around to understand it. Overall, I think it would be a good read for kids on all sides. Even the way the vengeance portion turns out was a good, realistic seeming way, with a bit of a lesson in it.



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Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick

Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I got to read this as an e-galley from Netgalley.com, provided by Egmont USA.


Our main character is Alex. She has a tumor in her brain, that is probably not able to be cured, even after some new type of treatment, that is these little things called pebbles that are inserted into her brain and that are supposed to fight the cancer. So she has gone out on her own to climb a mountain, and spread her parents' ashes where they asked. She knows how to hike and camp, her parents used to do this with her. She now lives with her grandmother, who is worred about her going off by herself, but understands. Once out on the mountain, she runs into an older man and his sullen granddaughter, Ellie. Shortly after this, there is an electromagnetic pulse that kills Ellie's grandfather, while causing both Ellie and Alex to pass out. When Alex wakes back up, she notices things seem different. Her normal constant background headache is gone, and her sense of smell seems heightened. As she and Ellie walk towards the Ranger's cabin shown on the map they have, they encounter several obstacles. First is running into some teens Alex had seen in the parking lot. Only now, they're eating the dead bodies of the other campers at a campsite. Alex and Ellie must run away, and the next danger they find is a pack of wild dogs, also out to kill and eat them it seems. While trying to escape the dogs, a guy in his 20's attacks them, zombie like. They are saved by a guy named Tom who shoots this guy. Tom, Ellie, and Alex get to the Rangers' station and stay there for a while as the weather turns to winter. Soon Tom realizes that older cars and trucks might still work, and they find an old truck that they fix up to try to escape and find more people and provisions. As they travel they get attacked by people who steal their truck, and kidnap Ellie. It seems all kids have changed into the zombies, and only people older than 60 seem to have lived. But since Ellie is a child who has not changed, there are settlements that will take them in. They shoot Tom in the scuffle, and now Alex must try to save him and find Ellie. Tom is injured so bad he must stay behind, and then Alex must go on to this town, called Rule, to try to find Ellie. She gets to Rule, and finds a new type of civilization. And Alex must decide whether to stay in the somewhat safety of this town, or continue searching for Ellie, and now Tom has dissappeared as well.


I like the cause of the disaster in this book. I'm one of those people who has to know why people have become zombies, or everyone has died off, etc. And this book is the way I like it. I see the trend of electromagnetic pulses causing destruction in books. And I think it's a good thing to trend. We still have all the diseases causing the "end of the world", and that is still a concern, but the EMP is a new thing that is a real possibility as well. I like how in this book the EMP not only causes all the electronic equipment to quit, it also affects people and animals. Which, from a science teacher's point of view, is such a great thing to get kids thinking and asking questions. I've heard this called a dystopian book, but to me it's not, it's more of an apocalyptic story. Since we get to go along with all that happens from before until after the EMP. The storyline seems realistic to me. We have losses of characters, and they get injured and don't just miraculously have the main characters surviving it all unscathed. I'll definitely be putting this as a staff recommendation at the bookstore where I work, as well as suggesting it to the students at the school where I teach. Great book, and I can't wait for the sequel to find out what happens next.



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Ready for fall tv to start

While I'm glad there isn't much tv going on, because I don't seem to have much time to watch it, I'm also ready for all my shows to be back. I got five miles in today. Worried if I would because the clouds just looked really scary all night, but we didn't get anything. Then I went to visit my step-mom in the hospital. She had a routine surgery, doing fine, but she's going to need help when she goes home because my dad has to go out of town for a few days right after. So I'm going to have to find some time to go visit her. Of course, in another week, my mom is having back surgery, so I'll be visiting her in the hospital too. I think I've set a goal to NEVER have surgery. I'm guessing at this point I'll probably never have kids, so I think I hope to not ever have surgery either. Although, my hip/back/sacroiliac joint keeps bothering me, who knows what we'll have to do about this. Plus, my shingles are acting up again. Probably the stress of the pain as well as being back to school. Today went the same as yesterday. Good morning, not so good afternoon. If only winning Powerball tonight could really happen. I'd be done teaching the end of this week. If they were nice, I might give them a couple weeks to find someone. If I won, these are the things I was thinking I'd do for other people: I'd give my friend Jo and her husband the money for a downpayment on a house, I'd give all 4 of my parents, my two sisters, and my brother 2 million each, I'd donate half a million to the cancer charity David Cook helps as well as the same amount to lung cancer research, I'd help lots of people. I'd also buy/build a house that I wanted. I want a ranch with a basement and a library with built in shelves. I want a flat yard so I could mow myself, and be able to fence the yard. In a nice neighborhood with sidewalks or walking paths.

Okay, I'll probably write more tomorrow, maybe, I've got a party to go to in Excelsior Springs, and I should try to go visit my step-mom, so I may not get to walk tomorrow. Which means I'll only have walked 10 miles this week. Oh well. I'll do better next week.