Mundie Moms

Friday, September 2, 2016

FURTHERMORE by Tahereh Mafi / Blog Tour: Book Review #Furthermore


Hello and welcome the next stop on the FURTHERMORE blog tour, hosted by Penguin! I am so thrilled to be apart of today's tour. I adore Tahereh! I really enjoyed her MG debut, FURTHERMORE. Today's stop includes my review, and a few of my favorite quotes from the book. First, here's a little bit about FURTHERMORE.

ABOUT THE BOOK




By: Tahereh Mafi

Published by: Dutton Books
Released on: August 30th, 2016
Ages: 9-12 years old
Purchase from: the Publisher | Amazon | B&N
Add it to Goodreads
Rating: 4 Stars - I Enjoyed It!
* I received an arc of this book from BEA

The bestselling author of the Shatter Me series takes readers beyond the limits of their imagination in this captivating new middle grade adventure where color is currency, adventure is inevitable, and friendship is found in the most unexpected places.

There are only three things that matter to twelve-year-old Alice Alexis Queensmeadow: Mother, who wouldn't miss her; magic and color, which seem to elude her; and Father, who always loved her. The day Father disappears from Ferenwood he takes nothing but a ruler with him. But it's been almost three years since then, and Alice is determined to find him. She loves her father even more than she loves adventure, and she's about to embark on one to find the other.

But bringing Father home is no small matter. In order to find him she'll have to travel through the mythical, dangerous land of Furthermore, where down can be up, paper is alive, and left can be both right and very, very wrong. Her only companion is a boy named Oliver whose own magical ability is based in lies and deceit--and with a liar by her side in a land where nothing is as it seems, it will take all of Alice's wits (and every limb she's got) to find Father and return home to Ferenwood in one piece. On her quest to find Father, Alice must first find herself--and hold fast to the magic of love in the face of loss.


MY THOUGHTS


An imaginative adventure about friendship, finding one's self, magic, and love. This is a story that you won't soon forget!


FURTHERMORE is a story that reminded me of stories I loved reading as a kid. There's a mix of fantasy, adventure, magic, friendship, the journey of finding your self worth, family, believing in yourself, along with plenty of imagination. I loved how all these elements molded together. There is something for everyone in this story. I also really liked the way this story is narrated. It's unique, and not a narration that I've come across before. It definitely gave the story a very authentic, whimsical feel. 


This is a story about a girl named Alice. Alice lives in a world full of color, but she herself is void of color. This girl is something amazing. I really enjoyed Alice. She is one of those characters you can't help but love.  She's the kind of character any reader can relate to, no matter how old you are. She's not flawless, but she does her best. She's selfless, and does all she can for her family, even when she feels they think it's not enough. She's just a girl who's not only trying to find her dad, but her place in the world. 


Often feeling like she's an outsider within her own family, and community, Alice's adventure teaches her a lot about who she is, and the power that comes from within. I also enjoyed her friendship with Oliver. These two learn a lot from each other, and help each other learn about about themselves. I really liked how their friendship blossomed as the story goes on. Their's is one that definitely had a rocky start, and ups and downs through out the way, but it's a great friendship non the less. I also love that this story has a talking origami fox! Seriously, no other story that I know have has that. 

I love that Alice is a character that we're like, or have been like at one time or another. There is a little bit of Alice in all of us. I love the message Mafi embeds into Alice's character. She's a character we can either relate to now, a character we sympathize with, because we once felt those same insecurities she felt. Like Alice, we realize there's far more to who we are than we think. Our power lies within the way we view ourselves, and not how we thing others view us. 


The worlds of Furthermore are something unique! Similar to the world of Alice in Wonderland, Ferenwood, a world within Furthermore's world, was at times intriguing as much as it was confusing. I felt like it was created that way on purpose. It's not a world meant to be lingered in or fully understood. It's an imaginative world that felt like it was meant to be viewed differently with each unique reader. The world felt like a character of it's own. Aside from Furthermore, Ferenwood runs on it's own set of rules, complete with characters who are there to offer guidance in a way that Alice had to decipher in order to understand, and other characters who were not so nice. Like Alice in Wonderland, the world itself is set up in such a way, that it's up to the character to figure out her own way to her destination, and in doing so, does she finally break free of the world. 


With her debut MG book, Mafi has proven yet again why she still stands as one of my all time favorite authors. FURTHERMORE is one of those magical books where the characters, and world spring to life, allowing your imagination to run wild, as you take to heart the powerful message within this wonderful story.  Mafi's writing is vibrant, creative, and magical. I really enjoy her story telling in Furthermore. It's so easy for me to get swept up into her stories. She has a talent for creating characters I can relate to, creating worlds that are visually stunning, and easy to imagine, and stories that always leave me wanting more, no matter how satisfying her book's ending is. Furthermore had a bit of all this. 


FAVORITE QUOTES

As part of today's blog tour stop, I'm thrilled to share a few of my favorite quotes from the book. It was hard to pick just a few, but here they are in now order: 




* "Change the way we see, don't change the way you are."

* "Alice was a young girl, and naturally, she was all the things you'd expect a young girl to be: smart and lively and passionate about any number of critical issues. 

* "Color was life. Color was everything. Color, you see, was the universal sign of magic."

* "Knowing means nothing when there's doing to be done."

* "Hope, you see, was all she had, and she would hold on to it, come hims or high water."

* "Best to introduce yourself to patience now, so that it might find you when you call upon it later."

* "Making magic is far more interesting than making sense."

* "Perhaps you should trust a friend who looks like one."

* "Alice knew that being different would always be difficult; she knew that there was no magic that would erase narrow-mindedness or iron out the inequities of life. But Alice was also beginning to learn that life was never lived in absolutes."

* "To be different was to be extraordinary, and to be extraordinary was an adventure."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR



Tahereh Mafi is the New York Times and USA Todaybestselling author of the SHATTER ME series. (You can learn how to pronounce her name here.) She was born in a small city somewhere in Connecticut and currently resides in Santa Monica, California with her husband, fellow author Ransom Riggs. She can usually be found over-caffeinated and stuck in a book. SHATTER ME is her first series, with television rights optioned by ABC Signature Studios; FURTHERMORE, her newest project, will be out on August 30th, 2016. (per her blog)
Follow her on:  
FOLLOW THE TOUR


8/29: Bibliognome

MISS MAYHEM and LADY RENEGADES by Rachel Hawkins / Book Review


By: Rachel Hawkins
Published by: Putnam Juvenile
Miss Mayhem released on: April 7, 2015
Lady Renegades released on: April 5, 2016
Series: Rebel Belle
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | IndieBound | iBooks | Book Depository
Add it to Goodreads
Rating: 4.5 stars - What a read! I enjoyed it a LOT!

* * * SPOILERS FOR THE 1ST BOOK, REBEL BELLE * * * 

Miss Mayhem synopsis: Life is almost back to normal for Harper Price. The Ephors have been silent after their deadly attack at Cotillion months ago, and her best friend, Bee, has returned after a mysterious disappearance. Now Harper can focus on the important things in life: school, canoodling with David (her nemesis-turned-ward-slash-boyfie), and even competing in the Miss Pine Grove pageant.

Unfortunately, supernatural chores are never done. The Ephors have decided they’d rather train David than kill him. The catch: Harper has to come along for the ride, but she can’t stay David’s Paladin unless she undergoes an ancient trial that will either kill her . . . or make her more powerful than ever.

Lady Renegades synopsis: Just as Harper Price starts coming to terms with her role as David Stark’s battle-ready Paladin, protector, and girlfriend—her world goes crazy all over again.

Overwhelmed by his Oracle powers, David flees Pine Grove and starts turning teenage girls into Paladins—and these young ladies seem to think that Harper is the enemy David needs protecting from. Ordinarily, Harper would be able to fight off any Paladin who comes her way, but her powers have been dwindling since David left town…which means her life is on the line yet again.

New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins brings the fun once again in the finale of this pitch-perfect romantic paranormal comedy series.


I know that you guys are all familiar with that feeling when a favorite author of yours puts out the last two books in a series, and you play catch up by consuming both books in a week. Oh, that wonderful feeling of delving into a familiar setting and seeing what these characters will do next. Thaaaaaat's the exact feeling I had when I realized that somehow amidst a bunch of new releases, I hadn't finished the Rebel Belle series. So, I did what any normal bookworm would do. I binge read them in a few days.

In my review of the first book, Rebel Belle, I mentioned how much I enjoyed Harper's voice, her perfectionista tendencies and that banter between her and David. Well, that's all still there in Miss Mayhem, but so is a dizzying new plot which makes Harper go through a series of trials while worrying about competing in the local beauty pageant. Only Rachel could increase the stakes so expertly and still make you wish for a kissy scene or two. I won't post spoilers (go read the book!).

In the last book, Lady Renegades, the stakes are astronomically high, but the pacing slows down a bit while Harper struggles with her own issues. She's been through a lot (to say the least) and with David missing (let me just say that nothing can make my heart beat faster than Rachel's story endings), she's once again pulled into a seemingly impossible situation.

As I read these last two volumes, I couldn't help thinking that they would make a fantastic TV series. I know comparisons to Buffy have been made, but I have never seen an episode, so I'm not sure if they ring true. What does ring true is Rachel's ability to make a reader fall in love with her protagonist and their friends. The action scenes in  Lady Renegades, in particular, are written in such a cinematic fashion that you can see the action unfolding in your mind. And the ending is everything-I-wanted-and-more. Okay, if I'm being completely honest, I would love to have a short story that finds these characters a few years in the future just so I could check in on them.

If you are longing for a binge read, pick up the Rebel Belle series. The stories are snark-filled, action-packed and full of Southern charm.

This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp / Giveaway



Join the celebration! Source Books is celebrating Marieke Nijkamp’s YA debut, This Is Where It Ends, being on the NYT YA Bestseller list (for hardcover) for the past 25 weeks! In celebration of This Is Where It Ends now being a #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER, they're hosting a huge giveaway! 

Apparently I've been under a rock, because I don't recall hearing much about this book. After I received the giveaway details I looked more into this book, and a lot of my blogger friends reviewed it, and really enjoyed it. I think I need to add this one to my TBR list. 

First, a note from Source Books:

Much of this success is due to the community of bloggers and readers who have supported this novel from the very beginning. No matter what your feelings on the story, there is no doubt that it has left an indelible mark on those who have read it.


ABOUT THE BOOK




By: Marieke Nijkamp
Published by: Sourcebooks Fire
Released on: January 15, 2016
Add it to Goodreads


10:00 a.m. The principal of Opportunity High School finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.

10:02 a.m. The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.

10:03 a.m. The auditorium doors won't open.

10:05 a.m. Someone starts shooting.

Told from four different perspectives over the span of fifty-four harrowing minutes, terror reigns as one student’s calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival.

THE GIVEAWAY!


Per Source Books: To celebrate #1 bestseller and 25 weeks on the list, we're offering a huge GIVEAWAY of 25 book bundles, with ONE lucky winner receiving a $25 Barnes & Noble gift card + book bundle!


a Rafflecopter giveaway


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