Thursday, October 3, 2013

The Fantastic Flying Book Club: Six Months Later by Natalie D. Richards


Six Months Later
Natalie Richards
336 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: October 1st, 2013
Rate: Loved it



Chloe didn't think life would change your sleeping in study hall. It's one class and a tiny nap, what could possibly go wrong? The worst thing that can happen to her is fail his SAT. 
However, when Chloe wakes up from the "tiny nap", it's not summer anymore, there's snow in the street and everything's quite and dark in study hall. Where's everyone?
It took Chloe a second to close her eyes to wake up six months later not remembering a thing from that time. What happened? 
Why's she on track for valedictorian when six months later was suffering from getting an average score at the SAT? How in the world is she dating super jock, and her secret crush, Blake? Why's she attracted to bad boy Adam? And, most important of all, why is her best friend pissed at her to the point of not wanting to know a thing about her and not speaking with her?
Why she can't remember anything and how her life changed so much? Who's the responsible of her, now, "perfect life"?



These is one of the times in your life you find an incredible book with an amazing, mysterious and realistic story that leaves you speechless. And Natalie D. Richards' story is, definitely, one of THOSE books.
I have to sincerely thank Romily Bernard for introducing us, not only the great Natalie, but her novel. I'm definitely madly in love with the story, the characters... well, everything!
We always say that If a book is worth reading it, has to keep you on edge, with this nostalgic feeling when you stop reading it and, even when you are doing something else, you're still thinking: "What would happen next?". That's a book worth being in our Fantastic Flying Book Club, and Six Months Later is in that club, Book Addicts.
Six Months Later has a good dose of mystery, to the point that everyone seems suspicious. Being fateful to the YA genre, Ms. Richards introduces us strong, brave and determined character who's life changes in the blink of an eye. Literally!
It was pretty scary being in Chloe's point of view at first. Imagine that you wake up and you don't remember anything! And by anything I mean the past six months. Everything has changed and who were your friends are not talking to you, some people you have never spoken to is talking to you like a normal thing and what you considered a "perfect life" (boyfriend and academic records) is your life now. Is a mixed feeling. You get a taste of what you wished for. However, we always say: be careful what you wish for!
The characters are simply amazing! Like I said before, the main character, Chloe, is strong, brave and determined to find out the truth and saving some people in the process. I really admire her. Although I have to confess that the glimpses I got from the "six months life", I didn't like her attitude. Glad she wakes up and tries to change that.
Well, Blake is the perfect golden boy. What every mother wants for her daughter. And mommies, sometimes appearances are deluded and deceiving! Yep, pretty much that sentence sums up golden boy. Okay, want my opinion? I didn't like the guy. Not before the six months, not during the six months, and, definitely, not after the six months. He gave me the creeps. Like go away and stalk someone else, you pretty boy! And that's all I'm going to say.
Adam... (*sigh*). He's the bad boy in the story and you know how much I love bad boys with big hearts, right? Adam is all tough on the outside and a sweet boy on the inside that has been in love with Chloe for a long, long time. And just reading the first pages you know that. Don't need for words. I love him. And I think he's perfect for Chloe (Buuuuh Blake!). 
He hasn't had a spoiled life, like Chloe thought, and has some skeletons in his closet that will be revealed (*insert mystery music here*). However, I like how this two find a way to see past all the problems, secrets and troubles, and choose one another instead. 
What makes him the perfect bad boy? That he really cares about Chloe and sees her like no one else does. When she blurts out a lot of crazy theories and stories, he listens her and not think of her as a crazy person. And because it felt like a damn forbidden love!!! And I love impossible things! (I'm stopping right now before I get loose all the good stuff and some major spoiler).
Maggie is a great friend. The type of friend everyone needs to have. Although Chloe said some pretty bad stuff to her, she's loyal to her friendship and helps her. She's sweet, good and always felt safe near Chloe, because If someone made fun of her stuttering, Chloe wouldn't hesitate in throwing a punch to whomever laughed. It's like mixing chocolate and vanilla: a sweet girl with a badass one.
The plot was perfect. There's always the constant mystery and suspense and you get even spooked a little, like I think there's someone following her! And at some point, everything starts to become more and more dangerous. Thing that only increases your curiosity and you're even more eager to know everything!
In the middle of all this deadly chaos, Natalie finds the perfect moment to insert some well-built romance while writing a credible story that would captivate you. It REALLY captivates you, to the point of not being able to sleep, even when my eyes were closing! I needed to know the truth! And who is the big bad guy! But mostly the truth. And it was a shocking, unexpected and brilliant truth.
I love Six Months Later, because it's one of those stories you won't mind reading a second time even when you know who the bad guy is and what really happened to the main character. And for that, because is really hard to accomplish that feeling in the readers, I am giving five gorjuss ROCK STARS dolls to Six Months Later and I will wait anxiously to more stories written by this talented author. I would give more dolls, but I'm afraid I don't have that many.
Despite my lack of gorjuss dolls, I strongly (shouting level) recommend this book to all of you, Book Addicts, YA fanatics, romance lovers and mystery junkies, and to everyone else. Because this is a must read book. And an incredible one.





Ashley Benson as Chloe
Chace Crawford as Blake
Ophelia Lovibond as Maggie
Matt Lanter as Adam

What do you think, Book Addicts?

Check out Natalie's dream cast here.



BY ROMILY BERNARD (Author of FIND ME)


I’m still getting used to this whole author gig. Yeah, I have a book coming out, but, in real life, I spend more time talking about other people’s books than I do my own. I guess it’s because I think of myself as a reader first and a writer second. I have a serious fangirl bookshimmy, a TBR pile that’s almost as tall as I am, and I will flat cut someone if he/she stands between a new Rainbow Rowell book and me. 

In some ways, I hope that never disappears. Well, losing the violent streak would probably relieve everyone, but how else would I keep Boy Genius on his toes? 

I’m always excited to find a great book and I was super lucky to score Natalie Richards’s debut, SIX MONTHS LATER. 

First reasons to love? Who wouldn’t want to wake up and realize you’re top of your high school class, dating your longtime crush, and en route to an Ivy League university? Exactly. No one. And that’s what I loved about it. Richards gave us this awesome fantasy…and then began to pick it apart in a very creepy way. 

Second reason I loved SIX MONTHS LATER? Adam. Let’s say it again. Adam. If you like your heroes skewed toward bad boy, this one’s for you. Bad boys can be hit or miss for me, but I thought Adam was spot on. He’s the one point in Chloe’s reinvented life that should feel entirely off and yet, every time they’re together, it feels entirely right. 

Third reason? I heart Chloe. She freaks out, rolls with the punches, and uses her head to piece together what happened. I’m going to make the whole thing sound cheesy, but Chloe instinctively gets that it’s the people in your life who make it perfect. It’s not about having the right boyfriend, the right test scores, and the right college, but about the people who make you feel whole. It’s what gives a seriously creepy book a whole new layer. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. As always, I’m beyond grateful to The Unofficial Addiction Book Fan Club & A Reading Nurse for having me today. Thanks a million. I hope you enjoyed the post and I hope you enjoy SIX MONTHS LATER and FIND ME!!



Listen to the Six Months Later Playlist
by Natalie D. Richards

"I'll admit all of this was on here for different reasons.  Some of it, it's the lyrics -- some of them it was the feel.  But every single one of these songs reminds me of Chloe, Adam, Maggie and all the things that happened in Six Months Later.  :-)  Hope you enjoy!"



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Don't miss the SIX MONTHS LATER (#SML) Twitter Party hoster by Musings of a Blodger (@NovaBlogder) and Peace, Love and Fangirl (@BloggerFangirl). 
Remember to add in your calendar that October 8th at 7 PM ET. 6 PM CST, 5 PM MST, 4 PM PST. there's going to be an amazing Twitter Party!




READ AN INTERVIEW WITH NATALIE
At seven, Natalie D. Richards wrote about Barbara Frances Bizzlefishes (who wouldn't dare do the dishes.) Now she writes about awesome girls, broody boys, and all things dark and creepy. Natalie lives in Ohio (Go Bucks!) with her techno-wiz husband, three amazing kids, and a seventy pound dust-mop who swears he's the family dog. Her psychological thriller, Six Months Later, will be released in October 1, 2013 by Sourcebooks Fire. Until then, you'll probably find her writing her next book or trying to wade through the towers of dog-eared paperbacks that have taken over her bedroom.





HUGE PRIZE:

Win (1) autographed book of SIX MONTHS LATER by Natalie D. Richards

Win (1) Starbucks Gift Card
Win some promo goodies: bracelet, bookmark, button and personal note!

**US/CAN ONLY**

1) Who do you identify yourself more, with Chloe or with Maggie?

2) Put yourself in Maggie's situation. Would you stop looking for the truth If it became dangerous?


a Rafflecopter giveaway


Thank you to our beloved team for making this event possible.





2 comments:

  1. You guys!! I'm just speechless. Romily was SO awesome to introduce us and I am really sad that the blog tour is coming to a close because this has been the most fun ever. I can't thank you enough for this super lovely review and for all of the hard work you did to make this tour such a success. You guys are so much better than terrific. Thank you for welcoming me to the blogging community with so much warmth and enthusiasm. You are awesome and I am so grateful. (big hugs all around)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Natalie! :D
      We are really happy about this tour. We had so much fun and we loved both books. And most of all we are really glad we got the opportunity to chat with you, guys. You're pretty amazing!
      And we loved loved loved SIX MONTHS LATER. It's just how it is! And we would definitely wait anxiously for more of your books. Thanks you for everything and for being in our FFBC event with your incredible book :)

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