Blog tour for The Bodies We Wear (The Bodies We Wear #1) by Jeyn Roberts with review and giveaway @JeynRoberts @randomhousekids
We are part of the tour for The Bodies We Wear thanks to Random House Children's Books. For our post we are running our review. Have you read this book? Please tell us if you did! We're also giving away one copy. Enter below.
The Bodies We Wear (The Bodies We Wear #1) by Jeyn Roberts
Find Jeyn here: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
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YA dystopian
Addiction. Loss. Revenge. The Bodies We Wear examines these hardships through the eyes of Faye, a shunned seventeen year old girl trying to survive after a harrowing childhood experience scarred her forever. In this bleak dystopian gray world where rainfall has taken the place of our sun, Faye tries to exist like a normal teen but she is far from one.
From page one this YA dystopian jumped out of the gate and took me with it. A fast-paced opening, Faye intrigued me. Her gritty voice reminded me of Juliette from Shatter Me and her toughness added a certain Katniss-like air, while her unyielding thirst for vengeance was so like that of Emily Thorne from the TV show Revenge. In Faye's world there's a drug, Heam, which actually kills its users and in those fleeting minutes they're given a sneak peek of Heaven and if they survive, spend the rest of their life seeking those seconds again and again. The horrendous appeal of addiction is always reaching for a repeat of that first glorious time but in Faye's case her 'trip' turned gruesome by the murder of her closest friend, Christian, at the same time by the two heinous men who forced the drug into her.
I liked the style of Jeyn Roberts's writing and the way she created Faye's story. The setting and descriptions were extremely vivid and I also liked the characters. The premise was unique and drew me to read this book. Faye's voice, while strong and gritty, was hard to connect to and I wondered if this was deliberate. The mindset of a person suffering from addiction would vary greatly from that of a carefree teen. Faye did remind me of Katniss, a girl who didn't care what others thought of her--she has her determined needs and will not steer from attaining them. Interesting enough, Faye did seem to show some normal teen needs when she meets the mysterious Chael one evening. The good looking guy draws her interest and as her story unfolds, the twists kept my interest up to the slightly surprising ending.
The Bodies We Wear is certainly a different read and in this market full of offerings from so many authors--from traditional and small publishers to independent authors--I found Jeyn Roberts' YA dystopian tale refreshingly different. There are places in our reading palettes for books which make us think, with characters perceived as cold or distant, taking place in strange new worlds. That's why the experience of reading is never boring. Authors have such varied voices and I'm grateful for having heard such a unique one as Faye's.
Hardcover/eBook, 368 pages
Published September 23rd 2014 by Knopf Books for Young Readers
People say when you take Heam, your body momentarily dies and you catch a glimpse of heaven. Faye was only eleven when dealers forced Heam on her and her best friend, Christian. But Faye didn’t glimpse heaven—she saw hell. And Christian died.
Now Faye spends her days hiding her secret from the kids at school, and her nights training to take revenge on the men who destroyed her life and murdered her best friend. But life never goes the way we think it will. When a mysterious young man named Chael appears, Faye’s plan suddenly gets a lot more complicated. Chael seems to know everything about her, including her past. But too many secrets start tearing her world apart: trouble at school, with the police, and with the people she thought might be her friends. Even Gazer, her guardian, fears she’s become too obsessed with vengeance. Love and death. Will Faye overcome her desires, or will her quest for revenge consume her?
Published September 23rd 2014 by Knopf Books for Young Readers
People say when you take Heam, your body momentarily dies and you catch a glimpse of heaven. Faye was only eleven when dealers forced Heam on her and her best friend, Christian. But Faye didn’t glimpse heaven—she saw hell. And Christian died.
Now Faye spends her days hiding her secret from the kids at school, and her nights training to take revenge on the men who destroyed her life and murdered her best friend. But life never goes the way we think it will. When a mysterious young man named Chael appears, Faye’s plan suddenly gets a lot more complicated. Chael seems to know everything about her, including her past. But too many secrets start tearing her world apart: trouble at school, with the police, and with the people she thought might be her friends. Even Gazer, her guardian, fears she’s become too obsessed with vengeance. Love and death. Will Faye overcome her desires, or will her quest for revenge consume her?
Addiction. Loss. Revenge. The Bodies We Wear examines these hardships through the eyes of Faye, a shunned seventeen year old girl trying to survive after a harrowing childhood experience scarred her forever. In this bleak dystopian gray world where rainfall has taken the place of our sun, Faye tries to exist like a normal teen but she is far from one.
From page one this YA dystopian jumped out of the gate and took me with it. A fast-paced opening, Faye intrigued me. Her gritty voice reminded me of Juliette from Shatter Me and her toughness added a certain Katniss-like air, while her unyielding thirst for vengeance was so like that of Emily Thorne from the TV show Revenge. In Faye's world there's a drug, Heam, which actually kills its users and in those fleeting minutes they're given a sneak peek of Heaven and if they survive, spend the rest of their life seeking those seconds again and again. The horrendous appeal of addiction is always reaching for a repeat of that first glorious time but in Faye's case her 'trip' turned gruesome by the murder of her closest friend, Christian, at the same time by the two heinous men who forced the drug into her.
I liked the style of Jeyn Roberts's writing and the way she created Faye's story. The setting and descriptions were extremely vivid and I also liked the characters. The premise was unique and drew me to read this book. Faye's voice, while strong and gritty, was hard to connect to and I wondered if this was deliberate. The mindset of a person suffering from addiction would vary greatly from that of a carefree teen. Faye did remind me of Katniss, a girl who didn't care what others thought of her--she has her determined needs and will not steer from attaining them. Interesting enough, Faye did seem to show some normal teen needs when she meets the mysterious Chael one evening. The good looking guy draws her interest and as her story unfolds, the twists kept my interest up to the slightly surprising ending.
The Bodies We Wear is certainly a different read and in this market full of offerings from so many authors--from traditional and small publishers to independent authors--I found Jeyn Roberts' YA dystopian tale refreshingly different. There are places in our reading palettes for books which make us think, with characters perceived as cold or distant, taking place in strange new worlds. That's why the experience of reading is never boring. Authors have such varied voices and I'm grateful for having heard such a unique one as Faye's.
Rating: 4
Cover comment:
I know the rain is an important component of the story but I don't like this cover at all.
Book source:
I received a promotional copy in return for my honest review.
About the author:
JEYN ROBERTS is the author of Dark Inside and Rage Within. Her first story was published in a middle-grade anthology called Let Me Tell You when she was sixteen. She graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in writing and psychology and received her MA from the prestigious creative-writing graduate course at Bath Spa University. Jeyn is a former singer, songwriter, actress, bicycle courier, and tree planter. Her favorite authors include Betty Smith, J. K. Rowling, Ernest Hemingway, Douglas Coupland, and Jonathan Stroud, and her five favorite books of all time are A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Girlfriend in a Coma, Memoirs of a Geisha, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, and Harry Potter. Jeyn lives in Canada. Visit her at www.jeynroberts.com or follow her on twitter at @JeynRoberts.
JEYN ROBERTS is the author of Dark Inside and Rage Within. Her first story was published in a middle-grade anthology called Let Me Tell You when she was sixteen. She graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in writing and psychology and received her MA from the prestigious creative-writing graduate course at Bath Spa University. Jeyn is a former singer, songwriter, actress, bicycle courier, and tree planter. Her favorite authors include Betty Smith, J. K. Rowling, Ernest Hemingway, Douglas Coupland, and Jonathan Stroud, and her five favorite books of all time are A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Girlfriend in a Coma, Memoirs of a Geisha, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, and Harry Potter. Jeyn lives in Canada. Visit her at www.jeynroberts.com or follow her on twitter at @JeynRoberts.
We are giving away our hardcover copy of The Bodies We Wear (thanks to Random House Children's Books) to one reader. US only.
Whoa this sounds really interesting! Thanks for sharing the giveaway as well
ReplyDeleteMary DeBorde
ReplyDeleteDystopian is actually my favorite sub-genre! I even have my grown daughter hooked lol
just a little, been wanting to really delve into the genre - regnod(at)yahoo(d0t)com
ReplyDeleteI have been dying to read this one since I read her first book a few years back. I really love dystopian novels. Especially freaky ones, lol. Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteSo far I have only read one dystopian novel.
ReplyDelete