Q and A With Alice Kuipers

Today I have Alice Kuipers stopping by for a Q and A all about her new novel, The Death Of Us. If you have already, do check out what I thought of this book by reading my review.

Here is a little about The Death Of Us

A recovered friendship, a dark secret, and a love triangle with a deadly angle…

Callie is shocked when her friend Ivy reappears after an unexplained three-year absence, but the girls pick up where they left off, and suddenly Callie’s summer is full of parties, boys and fun. Beneath the surface, things aren't what they seem, however, and when a handsome boy with a dark past gets tangled up with Ivy, the girls’ history threatens to destroy their future.

1. Twitter pitch The Death Of Us (describe it in 140 characters or less).

Someone at my publishing house came up with: A love triangle with a deadly angle. It's on the back of the book and I think it absolutely sums up the novel. And it's way fewer than 140 characters. Or, how about: Three tangled lives, one terrible accident, who survives?

2. If someone were to make an ice cream flavour for your book, what might be included?

A dash of spice - cayenne, a hint of something exotic - cardammon, a swirl of sweet raspberry, plain vanilla, and a lot of chocolate. Underneath would be a darker taste, something bitter, perhaps strong coffee.

3. Friendship is such a huge part of this novel. How would Callie and Ivy each describe their friendship?

Callie would say: I missed Ivy and having her back in my life is the best thing possible. Really. Yeah, I know it was messed up first time round, but she's so amazing. And the past is in the past. Right?
Ivy would say: Callie is the sort of friend I need. Loyal and true. I respect that. I have to trust her. If I can't trust her, I can't trust anyone.

4. If you could travel to anywhere, in any time period, when and where would you want travel? 

A lot of the travelling in the past was exciting and extraordinary but it came at huge cost. Like, I imagine being on HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin, but I know there was a young girl on that ship who had been kidnapped from her people as some sort of curio. Her name was Fuegia Basket. She barely gets a mention in history but her life was destroyed. That sort of destruction and disrespect takes away the appeal of travelling in history. So I think I'd rather travel forward, into the future - go to a new planet, like the one in Michel Faber's new novel, The Book of Strange New Things.

5. What three things do you need while revising? 

My editors.
A strong stomach.
Coffee.

Thank you to Alice for stopping by and answering these questions. Thank you to Harper Collins Canada for setting up this interview.

You can find Alice online by visiting her Twitter or her website

Harper Collins Canada can be found online at the following - Twitter/Facebook/SavvyReader/Frenzy

Here are a few places you can purchase The Death Of Us - Chapters //  Harper Collins // Amazon //

ALICE KUIPERS is the bestselling, award-winning author of three previous novels, Life on the Refrigerator Door, The Worst Thing She Ever Did and 40 Things I Want To Tell You, and the picture book Violet and Victor Write The Best-Ever Bookworm Book. Her work has been published to critical acclaim in twenty-nine countries. She lives in Saskatoon. Find her here: www.alicekuipers.com

The Death Of Us by Alice Kuipers

The Death Of Us by Alice Kuipers

Release Date - September 2, 2014
Publisher Website - Harper Collins
Publisher Social Media - Twitter/Facebook/SavvyReader/Frenzy
Pages -  288 pages
My Rating - 3.5/5
**received in exchange for an honest review from the publisher**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

A recovered friendship, a dark secret, and a love triangle with a deadly angle…

Callie is shocked when her friend Ivy reappears after an unexplained three-year absence, but the girls pick up where they left off, and suddenly Callie's summer is full of parties, boys and fun. Beneath the surface, things aren't what they seem, however, and when a handsome boy with a dark past gets tangled up with Ivy, the girls' history threatens to destroy their future.

There are some books you devour in one sitting. There can be many different reasons for this. The Death Of Us was one I flew through because I needed to know what happened next. I needed to know what the outcome of this twisted, downward spiraling triangle would be.

Choices. They are something that we all make each day. Some are tiny, insignificant choices like what we'll have for breakfast. Others are huge, life altering decisions like moving to a new city. There are other types of choices though - the ones that may not seem significant until it's too late. Sometimes it's it's a bunch of little choices that impact one another and send us spiral towards a collision with no mean of stopping the crash. In the end our life is a result of all the choices we've made; big and small. Alice Kuipers adeptly shows the consequences of choices, even those that are unforeseen at first. She has the reader playing 'what if' as fateful events begin to unravel. The notion of 'change something and you change everything' is something that is felt throughout this novel.

The strongest element in this story was the author's ability to create a tension. It's something that starts subtly and increases as you race towards the ending. You know something is going to happen, and that in itself creates a need to continue reading. The use of three different narrators served to further the mystery aspect of the story, but limited our time with each of the characters. The pacing and story benefited but it was at the cost of the characterization and none of the voices really stood out.

That being said, the characters are all had something about them that was interesting. Callie and Ivy's friendship in particular was well crafted. The ebbs and flows of this type of friendship are strikingly captured, and a little of each of the girl's personalities are revealed through this relationship. My only minor issue was that I did not feel that I got to know the characters as well as I wanted to. The whys behind what they did often alluded me. Kurt, in particular, didn't feel expanded upon. However, the story was engrossing enough for me to be pulled in regardless of the character connection.

Breaking free from your past is a strong theme in the novel. Ivy's trying to outrun her past. Callie is struggling with something she can't even admit to herself, and Kurt struggling with where he belongs. Each of them has something they'd rather hide from, or not admit. Drugs, sexuality, broken homes, mental illness. These are some dark, but relevant issues that they are dealing with, even if they just briefly touched upon. It makes for a dizzying, quick read that packs a lot into it's rather short page count.

A juicy, twisted love triangle with a deadly conclusion. The Death Of Us is filled with tension, and secrets that create a delicious page turner. A shorter read that would have benefited with some expansion, but an otherwise overly enjoyable read.

New To My Book Closet

It's that time of the week again. Time to show you what bookish goodies made their way into my home and book closet (to be saved from the evil book eating cat monster named Aria). This is inspired by the various "mailbox" posts out there (eg. In My Mailbox by The Story Siren, and Stacking the Shelves by Tynga's Reviews).

I've had an insane book week this week, and I am so excited about everything.

First up, I went to an advance screening of If I Stay and they had a trivia giveaway. One of the bags was some If I Stay swag, and it's all really cute!

It's a tank top, a luggage tag and little notebook. Very cute. I loved the movie. It was exactly what I wanted it to be. Mirelle Enos was my favourite part of the movie, but Jamie Blackley as Adam was pretty prefect!

I had to wait to get my copy of Isla and the Happily Ever After because I pre-ordered one of those signed copies that came with special goodies. The closest place to me was Toronto, and I happened to be going there anyways, so I picked it up at the same time.

Isla and the Happily Ever After (goodreads)

The book, an awesome tote bag, three cute buttons, and some stickers! I am happily reading this right now and wanting to hug the book it's so cute.

I also got a few amazing sounding books from Harper Collins Canada

The Fall by Bethany Griffin (goodreads)
The Death Of Us by Alice Kuipers (goodreads)
Us by David Nicholls (goodreads)

I love Bethany's other books, so I am excited to read The Fall. The Death Of Us is one that Harper Canada has been talking about quite a bit. I read One Day by David Nicholls, and have been eager to see what he would release next.

Lastly, I also got one of the most awesome buttons EVER!

That cover, right? So stunning. A big thank you to Harper Collins for the books, and the amazing
button!

What books made their way into your mailbox this week?

Happy weekend, and happy reading!