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TAMBA Author Interview – B. R. Myers

Rogue Princess

Recently, my friend, Isabella, and I were given the opportunity to interview B. R. Myers, author of Runaway Princess! It’s a beautiful sci-fi novel: a gender-swapped retelling of Cinderella! We loved the story, and it was so awesome to have the chance to speak with Ms. Myers and learn a bit about the behind-the-scenes of her book! 

Without further ado, here are some highlights from the interview:

Rosie: So how did you come up with the idea for Rogue Princess? I know it builds on that classic fairytale of Cinderella — but how did you initially think of doing a spin-off story?

B. R. Myers: In the beginning, I think I just wanted to do something different from the few contemporary novels I had already worked on. And coincidentally on Twitter, Pitmad was going on, which is when authors get to pitch their ideas for novels in a very limited number of characters. I noticed that there were a lot of retellings amongst the pitches, and I found that really cool! Cinderella is also my favourite fairytale, so that was the first thing that popped into my head when I first thought about possibly doing a twisted fairytale. So I started to think about how I could make it more unique, and gender swap came to mind. Then I joked about “oh, how about I set it in space!” and what do you know? 

Isabella: That’s so funny that it started as a joke! Yes, I’ve read many Cinderella retellings, but I’ve never encountered a gender-swap version, so I thought that was awesome! My next question is: what do you like best about being an author? What don’t you like?

B. R. Myers: What I love the most about being an author is meeting my readers, like you two! Connecting with other authors, other readers, is definitely my favourite part. As for what I don’t enjoy as much, I would have to say the “waiting” portion. When you’re trying to get published, there are so many external factors that take a long, long time to work out! For example, after I wrote Rogue Princess, I was super excited and I wanted to share it with the world, right away! But I had to wait for almost a year before the actual publishing because so much work goes into it, so that was definitely a test for my patience.

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Teen SRC 2018 – Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright

Red Riding HoodOkayyy… so Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright is a twisted fairytale, which is usually one of my favourite genres. I saw the cover and I was instantly drawn in so I picked it up, which was a very good decision on my part ;). This is a darker version of the classic fairytale and there is a LOT more depth to the story than a little girl and her grandma getting eaten by a wolf. This novel is something that you will not be able to put down due to one main component. There is a mystery that is just begging to be solved. Usually, I’m pretty well-trained at predicting the murderer/antagonist (due to the many other books I’ve read) but in this one, I did not guess right at all. There were so many wrong paths that I strayed down right along with the main character and just super confusing details that aren’t explained until the end. Like other mystery genre reviews, I refuse to say anything else. But this book is a must read, trust me. The ending is a bit abrupt, but there is an extra excerpt on the website that will hopefully answer your questions. 5/5 stars definitely. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

P.S. There’s a love triangle involved… 🙂

Teen SRC 2018 – The Forgotten Book by Mechthild Glaser

The Forgotten Book

The Forgotten Book by Mechthild Glaser 

The Forgotten Book is the second book of Mechthild Glaser that I have ever read and I read it because I very much enjoyed the first one and I thought this was going to be a sequel to The Book Jumper, which I have also reviewed. Unfortunately, it was not, but this entirely new story is still so intriguing that I was drawn in anyways. The plot is very complicated and always keeps you guessing, there are many very well written false leads that kept directing me to the wrong path and answer so I was SO shocked when I got to the ending. One thing that sets this book apart from others is that it is actually translated, as was The Book Jumper, because the writer originally wrote this in German, her first language I would assume. I found it amazing that even after being translated, the book was still super descriptive and captivating with just the right amount of adjectives and characterization. I loved meeting the characters and watching them figure things out while going through some major development themselves as well. There were also multiple plots circling and that gave it a little extra touch of special. Overall, this book was a 4/5 stars because I found it a bit cliche that the ending was so resolved but I like it that way because then I don’t have to deal with any of the extra heartbreak. I have a summary below if you want to see what it is generally about.

Summary:

This story is about a girl named Emma, who attends a prestigious boarding school named Stolzenburg, at which, her father is the principal. One day, she discovers an ancient book in the Stolzenburg library. After some trial and error, she finds out that whatever she writes in the book will come true. At first, she thinks that it is very unique and magical and just cannot be harmful in anyway, but after more discoveries, she finds out that the book is in fact hiding a very dark secret within its pages. With the help of Stolzenburg alumni, Darcy de Winter, still looking for his lost sister, she finds out more and more about the book’s history as well as the disappearance of Darcy’s beloved twin.

If reading my review/summary on The Book Jumper is something that interests you, please click here.

Teen SRC 2017 – Cinder By Marissa Meyer

Image result for cinder

This week I read Cinder, a fantastical science fiction novel. It’s a futuristic twisted fairy-tale and it just drew me in. The story revolves around a young girl called Cinder who is a cyborg. She is ashamed of being half robot so she hides it, her metal hand under gloves she never takes off, her rusty foot under covered-up shoes. She works as a mechanic in the city and has built up an impressive reputation, of course, being half-robot herself and having to repair her own system has helped contribute to her mechanic professionalism. Just like your average Cinderella, she lives with two stepsisters and her stepmother, but the difference is, she actually likes one of her sisters.

Spoiler Alert! 

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Teen SRC 2017- Whatever After: Sugar and Spice by Sarah Mlynowski

Before I write anything, I want to mention that you have to read the first few books to understand anything here.

Image result for whatever after 10Anyhoo, this is about a girl named Abby and a boy named Jonah, who own a magical mirror in their basement. If they knock three times on it, they will land in a fairytale. This time, they land in Hansel and Gretel, and guess what? Surprise! Hansel looks exactly like Jonah, and Gretel looks exactly like Abby!

But disaster struck! The two kids (Abby and Jonah) mess up the fairytale (like always).

They get trapped in the witch’s home!

I really liked this book, and I rate it a 4.5 out of 5!

Teen Review – Of Poseidon by Anna Banks

I am a huge fan of paranormal, fantasy and romance novels. Well, what book got me into this genre? Of Poseidon by Anna Banks! Galen and Emma are the protagonists of this novel, with Galen, a Syrena prince, and Emma, a ‘normal’ human with purple eyes. Syrena is basically a version of mermaid. The Syrena tails are much more interesting though as seen in the novel’s development. 

Of Poseidon, Of Triton, and Of Neptune are all very unique books. Most mermaid books may be very stereotypical but these are entertaining as they veer off the path! Many people may find these books a bit cheesy but I think the romance adds to the entire book as a whole and makes it so entrancing. From the very beginning, the relationships seem like they are meant to be through all the loss in the beginning and challenges. The story line just got better and better!

This novel is different from any other book I have ever read! I fell in love with it two years ago and zoomed through the trilogy and I can’t help but go for a re-read every time! The chemistry in between the characters is amazing but the part I loved the most is the rich comedy factor! The plot is extraordinary and very high school themed for a while. I loved this novel so much and definitely suggest reading it! It is a pretty short read compared to most books but is extremely fun and the moments will leave you laughing in between!