Jon Paul!
Congrats Jon Paul. Email me a mailing address at muchlanguage(at)gmail(dot)com.
Today I'm giving away a copy of WASTED by Nicola Morgan, winner of the Coventry 'Read it or Else' award. (I'm trying for a little internationalisation- it's a British book.)
From Nicola Morgan's website:
Wasted is about luck, chance, risk, fate, danger, passion, hate, alcohol, music, and why leaving the house a few seconds later could change your life.
Jack worships luck and decides his actions by the flip of a coin. No risk is too great if the coin demands it. Luck brings him Jess, a beautiful singer who will change his life. But Jack’s luck is running out, and soon the stakes are high. As chance and choice unravel, the risks of Jack’s game become terrifyingly clear. An evening of heady recklessness, and suddenly a life hangs in the balance, decided by the toss of a coin.
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This book is different from anything I've ever read. And for that reason, I feel like you either hate it or love it. And I love it.
From a stylistic point of view, it's rare. It's a YA novel written in omniscient POV, meaning it follows all the characters and has access to information they don't know. But the story really couldn't be told any other way. It's almost as if some unseen Goddess of Luck is telling it, showing us possibilities that don't occur and how close they came to occuring, an almost mocking Jack and Jess for tinking they know, but not really having a clue.
The presentation of different scenarios makes the book read a little like a Choose Your Own Adventure. (Remember those? Where you picked between alternatives and it influenced the end result of the story?)
WASTED explores a concept that crosses our minds from time to time. What if? Jack believes there is no chance, that everything is the result of a string of events and that even the tiniest departure can change your life. Real life example: My 3rd cousin worked in the World Trade Centre. On the morning of September 11th, nothing went right. Finally as he headed through the door, his shoelace broke. Frustrated, he headed bsck inside and called in sick. It probably saved his life.
RULES
1. Post a comment by 11.59 EST on Wednesday to be entered.
2. This contest is open to followers only.
3. This contest is open internationally.
4. To win, provide a personal 'what if'. (I'll give the exaple that's been on my mind recently. On my programme we don't have a lot of say in where we are placed. I chose this prefecture, but 'What if I'd been assigned to a coastal town?' I might have been caught up in the tsunami. It's the tiniest things sometimes...)
7 comments:
Ooh, this book sounds good! What if I buy a house in VA, only to find out that there's a really awesome job somewhere else? I'm planning on moving this summer, and I really want to buy a condo--but I've been having interest in working in the publishing industry, and most of those jobs are in NY. What to do???
What if...I become a famous author and Stephen King wants to hang out with me all the time but he is really getting in the way of my friendship with Stephanie Meyers? And of course they don't get along because he said she really couldn't write and then I am all stuck in the middle.
It could happen.
how freaky that ive been what if-ing a lot these days about earthquakes too. i keep wondering if it'll come next to my city, and a really bad one at that, cause there've been minor earthquakes in the country for some time now. *shudder*
also: LOVE Marsha's what if. :D
This book sounds great. How have I never heard of it? I hope I win :)
What if I fail this year at uni? how will i face my family:(?
What if my cell phone battery was dead and I did not send that text around a month ago.. My best friend and I would still have been together.
What if he gets a dreams that makes him take out 10 seconds from the more than 635426 seconds everyday to think of me and msg me.. that'd make me smile =)
The book sounds sooo good =) and I <3 your giveaways PLUS questions!
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