FFBC: Welcome to the club, Of Jenny and the Aliens by Ryan Gebhart

Of Jenny and the Aliens
by Ryan Gebhart
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Release Date: August 1, 2017

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Sci-Fi

Synopsis:

When boy meets girl meets alien, the angst of first love gets an extraterrestrial intervention in a tale both outrageously funny and full of heart.

Ten years after Earth sent messages out into deep space, there has been an answer. Music from a distant planet has reached the world’s radios. Are aliens about to invade? No one knows, and almost-eighteen-year-old Derek doesn’t really care, because at a wild end-of-the-world party, Jennifer Novak invited him to play beer pong, and things, well, progressed from there. Derek is in love. Deeply, hopelessly in love. He wants it all — marriage, kids, growing old on a beach in Costa Rica. For him, Jenny is the One. But Jenny has other plans, which may or may not include Derek. So Derek will try anything to win her — even soliciting advice from an alien who shows up in his hometown. This alien may just be the answer to Derek’s problem, but is Derek prepared to risk starting an interstellar war to get his girl? Just how far is he willing to travel to discover the mysteries of the universe — and the enigma of love?

Favorite Book?

Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton

Favorite TV Show?

Bob's Burgers

Favorite movie?

The Dark Knight and Wet Hot American Summer

Your Favorite Song? 

Currently it's “The Stable Song” by Gregory Alan Isakov and “The Mute” by Radical Face

Favorite Food?

Pizza when I'm broke, sushi when I have money (or when someone else is paying)

Name 3 fictional places you would move to in a heartbeat.

'I don't have an answer for this. Can I skip this question?'

What were your favorite books growing up? 

Anything by Stephen King or Michael Crichton. And the Goosebumps series.

Favorite quote?

This quote from “You Are What You Love,” a song by Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins, has always stuck with me: “You are what you love, and not what loves you back.”

What are your fandoms? 

Game of Thrones and also moar Game of Thrones.

Name a recent book that you read that you would recommend to our book lovers? 

It's super weird, but I recently read the hell out of Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith.

Could you tell our Book Addicts a little bit about OF JENNY AND THE ALIENS? 

It's about an almost eighteen-year-old boy falling in love for the first time and humanity's first contact with another intelligent species. It's about all the awkwardness, confusion, and misinterpretations that comes along with these events. It's got crass humor, pansexual aliens, typical human paranoia, family trees that better resemble tangled shrubs, Mario Kart, and a little love for the Cleveland Browns. Because Lord, do they need it.

How did you come up with the story? Did you find inspiration in any other story/movie/show and how has this affected your writing? 

I saw a UFO and I fell in love. Not in that order though.

Tell us your favorite quote from OF JENNY AND THE ALIENS. 

“Love is not a shape. There is no love triangle, no love square. Love is a network. It's a form of communication.”

What is your favorite movie, book, or TV show that features aliens. E.T. is my favorite alien movie. 

The Tommyknockers is my favorite alien book. And American Dad is my favorite alien TV show. 

If you had to pick one song to be the Theme Song for OF JENNY AND THE ALIENS – Which one would you pick? 

“Love is Greed” by Passion Pit.

What 3 hashtags would you most associate with your book? 

#HoustonRedRockets #NoPants and #GoBrowns 

Are there any recommendations you could give your readers to be in the “perfect mood” to read OF JENNY AND THE ALIENS? 

I'm not exactly sure, but I would definitely recommend to read the last third of the book on an empty stomach.

What's next for you? 

It's still rough, but I'm currently working on a YA fantasy that's got angels and dragons and humans and sloths. I'm being vague right now because the idea is still amorphous and it's been exceptionally difficult to write, but this tweet from @raecarson basically explains where I'm at right now: “Think 1: My ambition for this novel I'm writing way exceeds my skill level. Think 2: That's how it should always be and I LOVE MY JOB.”

Follow Of Jenny and the Aliens by Ryan Gebhart Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Ryan Gebhart was born and raised in Maumee Ohio and graduated from Ohio University with a master's degree in Spanish (he can hablar some español like a boss). His debut middle grade There Will Be Bears, about getting older, best friends, and a bear, is a selected title for seven state reading lists.

His debut young adult Of Jenny and the Aliens, about first love and discovering that we're not alone in the universe, will be released Spring 2017 with Candlewick Press.

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Blog Tour: Collide (The Taking #3) by Melissa West

Collide (The Taking #3)
by Melissa West
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Release Date: 02/09/15
Rate: Loved it (5 stars)

Synopsis:

Military legacy Ari Alexander has survived alien spies, WWIV, and a changing world order. But when the new leader of Earth uses Jackson—the only boy she's ever let herself care about—to get to her, Ari has no choice but to surrender.

To free Jackson, she agrees to travel to the national bases to train others to fight. What she discovers is a land riddled with dying people. Ari has the power to heal by turning the fighters into aliens—half-breeds like her. If she succeeds, together, they have a chance at overthrowing the alien leader, Zeus. But if she fails, everyone she holds dear will be wiped away forever.

Once again, everything Ari’s come to believe is thrown into question. In a world of uncertainty, loyalties are tested, lies are uncovered, and no one can be trusted. If Ari and Jackson have any hope at survival and at preserving a life for the future, they must fight the final war with their eyes wide open.

Collide is the perfect ending for this extraterrestrial series. I love Melissa's world, the battle, Ari's character and Jackson's and their love story. It's impossible to not be devastated by the ending of this series, but as a fan I feel like this is the kind of tribute that The Taking deserved.

I have to confess that it's been a while since I read the first books, so at first I felt a bit out of place. However, I kept reading all started to make sense and I found myself even more invested in the story. I remember finishing the second book like "Oh my God, this can't be happening" and when I started it I was a bit worried just by that last thought. But I shouldn't have worried so much. 

All the known characters on the series are there in the last book. Some of them die and we get to meet new ones and it's even more heartbreaking than the other two books. The epic battle we have been waiting is everything I have expected. I found myself terrified by what would do Zeus and not knowing what was going to happen was the worst part! So I understood Ari more than ever. 

Ari and Jackson grow as a couple. Their relationship is even more intense and you can see how amazing they are together. They work together and they fight for a better future, to defend the humans and the Ancients and to defeat Zeus once and for all.

I have to confess that I am madly in love with Jackson. He's definitely the perfect book boyfriend! And he makes the reader swoon more than a couple of times throughout the story.

The ending of the series is simply perfect and romantic. Everything a fan would expect from a series like this.

Filled with action, love, friendship and an epic battle that will decide the fate of life on Earth, Collide is the perfect finale for a series that every YA reader who loves science fiction books needs to read. Melissa West is an amazing author and you can see how talented she is by reading this series. You will not regret it if you give them a try.

*I received this eARC in exchange of an honest review.

Follow the Collide tour by clicking on the banner below. Don't miss any tour stop!

Melissa West writes young adult and new adult novels for Entangled Teen and Embrace and Penguin/InterMix. She lives outside of Atlanta, GA with her husband and two daughters and spends most of her time writing, reading, or fueling her coffee addiction.

She holds a B.A. in Communication Studies and a M.S. in Graphic Communication, both from Clemson University. Yeah, her blood runs orange.

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Blog Tour: Unite (Project Integrate #1) by Jamie Campbell

Unite (Project Integrate #1)
by Jamie Campbell
288 pages
Release Date: December 3rd 2013

Rate: Average (3 gorjuss dolls)

Synopsis:

United They Stand.

Seventeen years ago an entire generation of aliens were sent to Earth in order to save their home planet and integrate into the human population. Now, those aliens are being hunted.

Amery Jones is your typical teenager, except for the fact she is an alien and a member of the government’s secret Project Integrate.

When Amery’s best friend Lola is kidnapped in order to get to her, there is only one person that can help – the exceedingly annoying and charming Lochie Mercury.

Together, Amery and Lochie must put aside their differences and attraction in order to rescue Lola before it’s too late.

Unite is a very enjoyable young adult science fiction novel filled with aliens, action, great characters and unexpected turns.

Unite starts with the idea of another planet being destroyed and needing help. So, aliens arrive to an agreement with the leaders of our planet to live on Earth in exchange of some cool technology (same as always). But they know that saying the world: "hey, guys, out there there're a bunch of aliens who need help, so now they are gonna live here. Say hi!" could lead to people freaking out about it and doing crazy things, so they come with the idea of placing a bunch of baby aliens into the foster system. This way, humans would have to live next to them and interact with them, become friends, so when they know that the boy or girl next door is an alien it would be a smoother situation if they really know the alien/person. That's how Project Integrate's born.

So the idea of this book was a great one. It had aliens, the Earth and the whole survival idea. But it didn't get the five gorjuss dolls 'cause they were some things that couldn't be credible, in a science fiction novel terms. 

Maybe this is due to the fact that I'm a science fiction obsess reader or that I watch too many TV shows, but before starting the book I read a few reviews (like I always do, If there's the possibility to read a book) and they have interesting things to say. 

One of the main reasons to talk about "credible facts inside the story" would be that the FBI is the one in charge of the alien kids in Project Integrate, but it shouldn't be Homeland security? With all the integration plan and the thing of being from outer space, would make much more sense. Or the fact that they drop Project Integrate? When have you read a story/watch a TV show in which the government was not interested in alien's cool and "oh-so-powerful" technology?

These tiny little things piled up in my mind and made me think that it wouldn't be credible in a story like this. 

The characters were well-built and their relationships change and grow throughout the story. The plot, although some aspects are barely credible if the situation was about to happen, was interesting. It kept the whole mystery and action going to the very end of the book. 

In my opinion this book is one of those stories you need to try and read it. You might enjoy it or you won't truly believe the story. Probably you would really like it 'cause the whole alien theme and the action and shocking turns, keeps you reading until the end. So, I'd tell you to give Unite a shot. It might surprise you. As for me, I'd try the next books in the series, see how this Project Integrate develops. And despite me being so picky about the science fiction details, I liked this story, more important, the idea of this story.

1. They come from outer space. Besides the occasional meteor or space junk, what else can claim to have non-Earthly origins? When they say 'I'm not from around here', you know they're seriously downplaying it.

2. People think they have all kinds of super powers. They may or may not, but who cares? Most people think they can do all kinds of crazy things like read minds, levitate stuff, and fly. I hope they zip their lips and let us believe all sorts of crazy things.

3. Our Earth rules don't apply to them. Social etiquette? Huh? Aliens can do whatever they want and claim to not know about Earthly rules. They could get away with anything and we'd be like 'cool, don't hurt us with your mind voodoo'.

"How did you get the chip out?"

"Fishing knife."

He made a face that was half-disgust, half-impressed. "Must have hurt like hell."

"It did," I readily agreed.

"Mildly impressive."

"Only mildly?" I teased, thinking I would like to see him get his shoulder drilled with a fishing knife and see how he likes it.

Amazon #1 Bestselling Author Jamie Campbell was born into a big, crazy family of 6 children. Being the youngest, she always got away with anything and would never shut up. Constantly letting her imagination run wild, her teachers were often frustrated when her 'What I did on the weekend' stories contained bunyips and princesses.

Spending quality time with her laptop named Lily, Jamie has written several novels and screenplays. Spanning a number of genres and mediums, Jamie writes whatever inspires her from ghost stories to

teenage love stories to tantalizing murder mysteries. Nothing is off limits.

A self-confessed television addict, dog lover, Taylor Swift fan, and ghost hunter, Jamie loves nothing more than the thrill of sharing her stories.

Win (1) ebook copy of Unite by Jamie Campbell (INT)

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