GUEST POST: What is Your Book About? - Kaitlyn S.C Hatch

Today I bring you a guest post from Kaitlyn S.C Hatch, author of Friends We Haven't Met

I’ve been a writer since I can remember, or, as I like to say, since before I could spell. Writing, to me, is like breathing. It’s necessary, essential, and I do it regardless of what else might be going on.

But going from simply writing a book to actually publishing it and sharing it with the world, is entirely different. When something we’ve written is put out there, it means we’re going to get asked questions. Of course, being asked questions is not a bad thing. Questions are incredibly valuable. They remind us to keep learning, they keep minds open, and an excellent question will lead to more questions.

I get asked questions about my method and how long it took to write my latest published book or where I got the idea for it, and most of them I’m totally prepared to respond to. But one question, the question I get asked most often, continues to stump and baffle me:
What is your book about?

You’d think this would be easy to answer, right? I wrote it. I came up with the characters and the plot, developed the tension, re-wrote chunks, edited it. I know it inside and out. It is my creation. How could I struggle to say what it’s about?

The thing about creativity is it does not happen in a vacuum. I love the way Elizabeth Gilbert describes it:
“… it's a collaboration between a human being's labours and the mysteries of inspiration. And that's the most interesting dance that I think you can be involved in. But you are very much an agent in that story. You're not just a passive receptacle. And also, it's not entirely in your hands.”

Part of being an agent for creativity, of creating anything, is that it changes once it is shared. Art, science, writing, film, performance — so much of what these things are or what they have become is as a result of the audiences, from the way it was experienced and understood by others.

It makes me think back to an experience I had in an English class when I was fourteen. We were studying The Raven and the teacher was going on about what Edgar Allan Poe meant with this line or that word or what he was trying to say. I put up my hand and asked where she was referencing this from. Where was Edgar Allen Poe’s book titled ‘What I Meant When I Wrote the Raven’? I was, admittedly, being a contrary teenager, but I’ve come to see the value in such a question as it reminds us that our interpretation is part of what gives meaning to the things we consume. 

So I could say, and often do, that Friends We Haven't Met is about a group of six people living on the same floor of an apartment building in Wimbledon. I could and do tell people, it’s about learning to relate, about understanding each other. I could and do tell people that it’s an invitation for us to see shared emotional experience, regardless of our very different embodiment's and identities. Or I explain it in the most clinical sense as a character based narrative of contemporary fiction. And it is all those things. But it will also be about something else to each person who reads it. In one of the reviews published about Friends We Haven't Met, the reviewer said they found it confusing because the characters aren’t named for the first few chapters, but once they were named, they found it much easier. Another reader said she absolutely loved how the characters weren’t named in the first few chapters because it forced her to get to know them by their emotional landscape, their internal dialogues and thoughts. It made her love them more because of it, and she found the book difficult to put down, but she didn’t want it to end either. 

I will say that the latter reflects the intention I had in writing it, but that doesn’t make the former less valid as a description. Initially, yes, the book is about unnamed strangers, even to us, the reader. How we take that is up to us. It could be uncomfortable. It could be confusing. It could just fall flat. Or it could inspire curiosity about the people we meet each day and the trials and tribulations they are going through, the things they are fearful of and what they hope and dream for.

The question: What is your book about? Freezes me in my tracks because I worry my response is either inadequate—it’s about people and relationships—or too complicated and wordy. Sometimes I don’t freeze, and my response is clear and leaves both the questioner and me satisfied. Ultimately, though, I am learning that it is a question that does not and never will have a definitive, singular answer, and that is not a problem.

I'd like to say a big thank you to Kaitlyn for stopping by! You can find out more about Kaitlyn through her website

Friends We Haven't Met is now available to purchase!

Review on All the Light We Cannot See

Shortly after Marie-Laure turns six, she loses her sight, and her father helps her to navigate the city by building a miniature version of it, which she can explore through touch. However, threats of a second war soon approach, and Marie-Laure must leave her home town of Paris and move in with her Agoraphobic uncle. Meanwhile, a young German boy named Werner I recruited into a Hitler Youth school for his talent at fixing radios. As the war continues, Marie-Laure and Werner's lives will collide in unexpected ways.

This book was meant to be one of our book club reads in September, but as we were extremely busy, most of us never got round to it! However, as it has had a lot of hype, I decided I would read it anyway.

The book follows two separate story lines, which eventually interconnect with each other. Half of the book focuses on Marie-Laure, a blind French girl, who is forced to evacuate Paris during the World War II. The other half focuses on Werner, an orphan German boy who has a talent for fixing radios. Their journeys finally interconnect when Werner finds himself on Marie-Laure's street, where he is tracking radio signals from the enemy.

As someone who doesn't often read adult fiction, I was worried this book was going to be quite monotonous with lengthy chapters. At 530 pages, it is by no means a quick read. However, I was surprised that the chapters were so short, which I felt helped me get through the book a lot faster than I would have with long chapters. However, I did feel as if the plot progressed extremely slowly, and nothing much happened to keep my interest for a good portion of the book. Although I was disappointed that the story lacked action, the book is written beautifully, and the imagery is fantastic. It is clear from this book that Anthony Doerr is a brilliant writer, but unfortunately for me, the plot itself just wasn't interesting enough, and at times I found it difficult to get through this book. Although I almost marked this down as a DNF, I'm glad that I managed to see it out until the end, as the last quarter was by far my favourite.

I adored the characters in this book, especially Werner. I felt as if he went through fantastic character development. Werner was initially cowardly, as when his friend, Frederick, was being abused, he did nothing to stop it. However, he eventually risks everything to save the life of Marie-Laure, which was extremely kind and courageous. Although Frederick was only a minor character, he was my favourite, and I felt as if he was extremely important to Werner's character development. Frederick is extremely brave, and refuses to continue torturing a prisoner, despite knowing he will be severely punished. I adored Fredericks bravery, and how he never blamed Werner for not sticking up for him. He is pure of heart, and I loved how he showed his vulnerable side to Werner, such as his love for birds and the fact that his eyesight was not perfect, and needed glasses. I was heartbroken at what eventually happened to Frederick, and it perfectly showed the harsh reality of terrible things happening to the kindest and least selfish people.

Marie-Laure was an interesting character, and I loved that although she is blind, she is extremely independent and never feels sorry for herself, or seeks sympathy. I loved her strong relationship with her father, and how much they cared for each other. I also loved her relationship with her great uncle Etienne, a man who she has been told is crazy. Etienne was an interesting character, and I loved that although is is agoraphobic and hasn't left his house in years, he forces himself to go outside when he believes that Marie-Laure is in danger. It was nice to see such strong family bonds in a novel that is set during a war.

Throughout the majority of the novel, I was looking forward to Marie-Laure and Werner finally meeting each other. Their lives are connected to each other quite early on in the novel, when Werner and his sister come across a French educational radio broadcast of Marie-Laure's grandfather aimed at children their age. However when they did finally meet, it was extremely short lived and felt unsatisfactory. I did love that it fit in with the theme of nothing being fair in times of war, but at the same time, I wish there had been a little more interaction between the two.

The subplot involving the Sea of Flames diamond was an interesting one, and I honestly had no idea where it was going! It initially felt a little trivial, and an excuse to create some drama in Marie-Laure's storyline. Although the diamond was the catalyst for a number of outcomes, the one that stood out to me involved Werner. It is stated early on in the novel that the diamond is practically priceless, and only the strongest would be able to resist the temptation to take it. The fact that Werner retrieved the model house, but left the diamond behind really showed how far he had come as a character, as he went from not helping his friend to avoid being punished himself, to saving the life of a French girl he had only just met, and resisting taking the diamond.

Although this is not a book I would normally choose to read, I do like to occasionally break out of my comfort zone, and I'm glad that I did that with this book. If you decide to read it, my advice would be not to rush through it, as I did find it quite mentally draining, and it is definitely not a happy book. I thought the ending was quite bittersweet, and I felt as if going forward in time to see what the characters lives were like after the war was a good way to end it. If you enjoy war stories and beautifully written prose, then I recommend this book!

Book Club Picks #5 Our Chemical Hearts

When Grace Town walks into class a couple of weeks into senior year, Henry Page is immediately intrigued. However, it is not her beauty that interests him, but the fact that she wears boys clothes and walks with a cane. Henry is determined to find out this girls story. However, he soon discovers his idea of Grace Town is not who she truly is.

 As this book has been compared to John Green and Rainbow Rowell, I was really hoping I was going to enjoy it! It is told from the point of view of Henry Page, a high school senior who is hoping to become the editor of the school newspaper. However, everything changes when the new girl, Grace Town is appointed as co-editor, but refuses the position. Grace Town is a huge mystery, and Henry is determined to solve her.

I found this book to be quite cliché and similar to other contemporary YA novels that I have read. Although the blurb does compare the book to John Green's work, I did not expect that to mean that a large part of the book is almost identical to Paper Towns. I found the ending to be almost exactly the same as John Green's novel, and it gave the same message that it is often dangerous to fall in love with the idea of a person, rather than with the person themselves. Although it is a good message to send out, it is by no means original, and my overall thought on this book was was that it was a slightly worse version of Paper Towns.

As far as plot is concerned, it felt as if the author had a checklist of things she wanted to include to make the book relatable to a teenage audience, and proceeded to add them in a haphazard way. Although I usually enjoy pop culture references, some of the them seemed a little forced in this book, almost as If the author had spent ten minutes on Tumblr and declared herself the “Meme Queen”

Although I was initially amused at Henry's quirky parents, I found them to be extremely over the top and unrealistic when they decided to randomly dress up as Star Trek characters. I did however love how well his parents got along with each other, so I was disappointed when it was revealed that was not the case. Although it is true that a lot of romantic relationships don't work out, I was disappointed that literally all of the characters relationships didn't work out, as I would have loved for the book to have shown that not all relationships end in heartbreak.

I didn't really become emotionally attached to any of the characters with the slight exception of Grace. I felt as if Grace seemed like the only realistic character, and her grief towards the end of the book seemed raw and real, with real emotion behind it. I hated how Henry ruined this, as although Grace had a genuine reason to show grief, Henry locks himself in his room and listens to Taylor Swift songs, which I felt lessened the impact of the previous scene. I found Henry to be quite selfish, as he seemed to care more about the fact that Grace wasn't in love with him than he cared about what Grace was going through.

I loved the diversity that came in the form of Lola, but I did feel that making her both a person of colour and a lesbian made it seem like all the diversity was packed into one character. I also felt as if making her a lesbian was an excuse for her to be able to hang out with the boys without entering a romantic relationship with them, as for some reason it often seems the case that authors feel as if heterosexual males and females can't possibly have a platonic relationship.

Although Murray was there to be the classic “funny friend” I found him to be a little over the top and occasionally annoying. I didn't really see much of a purpose to him, as all he seemed to do was over exaggerate being Australian, get drunk and cry over his ex girlfriend. Although I do usually like funny characters, I just couldn't get myself to like Murray.

I did think that the book redeemed itself a little towards the end, but unfortunately it was not enough to make me enjoy the book overall. It wasn't original enough for me, and the characters seemed like recycled versions of John Green characters. However, as we often do, the book club members had mixed opinions on this one, and we were split almost evenly between who enjoyed it and who didn't. Although this book was unfortunately not for me, I would still recommend it if you love John Green and contemporary YA is your favourite genre.

I don't usually give half ratings but I would probably rate this one a 2.5

Our Chemical Hearts is now available to purchase!

 Amazon | Book Depository 

Reviewing the Classics #6 Tales of Horror

                                                                                  Goodreads Summary:

A murderer is forced to reveal his crime by the sound of a beating heart, a mysterious figure wreaks havoc among a party of noblemen during the time of the plague, a grieving lover awakens to find himself clutching a box of his beloved blood-stained teeth, a man is obsessed with the fear of being buried alive – these are only some of the memorable characters and stories included in this volume, which exemplify Poe’s inventiveness and natural talent as a storyteller.

Immensely popular both during and after his lifetime, and a powerful influence on generations of writers and film-makers to this day, Edgar Allan Poe is still counted among the greatest short-story writers of all time and seen as one of the initiators of the detective, horror and science-fiction genres.

As it is spoopy month, I thought it would be the perfect time to read some of the works of Edgar Allan Poe! I first have to mention the gorgeous cover of the copy I got sent by Alma Books! Seriously their classics are my aesthetic and I adore receiving books from them. As I took English Literature at University, I was definitely already a fan of Poe before reading these stories! I loved studying his poems and stories as part of my Literature course, so I was excited to relive some of those, and read some that I hadn't previously read!

I adored going back to some of the stories I have loved for years, along with reading some I hadn't read previously. My favourites included William Wilson, The Tell-Tale Heart, Fall of the House of Usher, The Pit and the Pendulum and Black Cat. One of my favourites that I hadn't previously read was The Premature Burial. Although I have never really been afraid of being buried alive, Poe made this book extremely scary by putting us into the mind of the narrator. I adore Poe's extremely clever way of creating atmosphere and location, and I wish I could do descriptive writing half as well as he could!

I actually preferred the shorter stories, as they were quick and to the point. I felt as if quite a few of the longer stories took a while to get into the actual story, and I was a little bored for the first few pages. However I enjoyed the majority of the stories, and they were perfect to read at night with a candle lit!

I think this collection of Poe's works is perfect for anyone who enjoys horror stories, but doesn't want anything too terrifying. Although some of them were scary, there wasn't many that made me too terrified to sleep! This was the perfect collection of stories to read around Halloween, and it made a nice change to read short stories rather than a novel. I definitely recommend this book!

Review on Nirvana #3 Blinded

When Adele Blackburn's mother dies, she is forced to move away from New York, and start a new life with her grandparents in a commune.Addie soon adapts to her new life, and after spending her whole life in a state of poverty, she is delighted by her wealthy grandparents. However, Addie is constantly thinking about why her mother would run away from such a lovely home to live in the city, and she is determined to find out.

As I loved the first two books in the Nirvana series, I was looking forward to reading this one! Although Blinded is the third book in the series, it is actually a prequel to the first two. I was initially a little disappointed when I realised this, as I adored the characters from the first two books, and was hoping the story would return to them. However, I was excited that this book was going to explain how Nirvana, the commune from the first two books, began.

Blinded follows Addie Blackburn, a thirteen year old girl from Bright Lights City. Addie has never met her grandparents, so when her mothers dies and she is forced to move in with them, she has no idea what to expect. Addie has grown up poor, living in a tiny apartment her whole life, so I loved her sense of bewilderment at finding out that her grandparents live in a mansion. Addie is determined to find out why her mother would leave such luxury behind, which leads her to asking her grandmother about it.

I loved the different point of views that switched between Addie and her grandmother, Margaret. As Addie tells us about her life, Margaret tells Addie about her own childhood. I preferred reading Margaret's chapters at first, as Addie's life seemed a little mundane for the first half of the book. I also felt as if the editing was a little messy in Margaret's chapters. Although it was obvious that most of her chapters were purely dialogue,the quotation marks were constantly being opened and closed, which confused me multiple times and lead me to believe that a character inside of Margaret's narration was speaking. Although I am no editor, I felt as if quotations should have only been used when she started the narration, and when she finished.

I found the first half of the book to be a little slow and was even a little bored. A large portion of the first half of the book focuses on boys, wit both Addie and her grandmother experiencing instalove when they are very young. Instalove makes me cringe at the best of times, and although I realise this book is set in the 1800's where girls would marry young, I felt that it was a little too much. Although it was interesting to discover how Addie's grandparents met, I found it a little cringy how Addie seemingly fell in love with Lucas at first sight. I felt as if Addie had bigger problems than boys, and I was much more interested in her grandfather's work and finding out why her mother left.

The second half of the book was a lot more interesting, and I was anticipating how Margaret's story would end. I loved how the plot ended up resembling a mystery novel, and I was eager to find out who Addie's father was. I was a little disappointed that Addie correctly guessed who her father was early on in the book. However, there were still enough unexpected plot twists to keep me happy.

The reason behind why Addie's mother left was extremely shocking, and I was not expecting such a serious topic to come up in this book. As Addie is thirteen, I presumed that the target audience for this book would be young teenagers, so it took me completely by surprise when such an upsetting and triggering topic came up towards the end of the book. Although this book initially seemed more light hearted than the previous two, the last few chapters made me change my mind. 

The thing I was most excited to find out about was the origins of the eye colour surgeries, as I figured there would be a purpose behind them other than for purely cosmetic reasons. I was disappointed when this wasn't the case, and I was just as confused as Addie as to why her grandfather continue to perform the surgeries despite the complications that could arise. As the surgeries are optional at this point, it made me wonder what changed to make them mandatory in the first two books.

Although I did enjoy this book, I have to say that I preferred the first two books in the series. I loved the fast pace of the other books, and they kept me interested from the start. I also loved how the previous books didn't focus too much on romance, and there was no instalove. Unfortunately this book failed to create much suspense, and I think it was definitely the weakest in the series.

Blinded is now available to purchase!

 Amazon UK | Amazon US

Author Q&A with Kristy Feltenberger Gillespie

Today I bring to you a Q&A with Kristy Feltenberger Gillespie, author of the Nirvana Series!


Hi Kristy! Tell us a little about Blinded, your third book in the Nirvana series.

When Addie Blackburn’s mother dies, she has no choice but to board a southbound train to her grandparents’ plantation home. In New York, Addie and her mother settled in a cramped one-bedroom apartment, but in Virginia, her grandparents reside in a mansion. Overnight, Addie goes from surviving like a pauper to living like a princess. 

But as grim as life in New York was, at least it made sense,whereas, in Virginia, Addie is left with a ton of questions: Why did her mother flee the plantation in the first place? Why didn’t Addie ever meet or speak to her grandparents before her mother’s death? Who is her father, and does he live on the plantation? And why is her grandfather obsessed with performing eye-color surgeries?If Addie is to remain at the plantation, she must figure out the answers to these questions, and with all the buried secrets from the past, that won’t be an easy thing to do.

   What made you decide to set this book in the 1800s?

The American Civil War era has always fascinated me and I'm a fan of historical fiction, so I thought it would be interesting to write about that time period. Since Margaret grew up on a plantation where her father was a slave owner and seller, she saw firsthand the injustice between wealthy people and poor slaves, which sparked in her a need to bring some kind of equality to the plantation. I also decided to write Blinded as a prequel, since so many readers were asking why Nirvana was started in the first place.

 Would you ever get surgery to change your eye colour?

No! But I did alternate between aqua, violet, and green colored contacts during high school. I also underwent Lasik eye surgery which was one of the best decisions I've ever made. 

Do you think a commune like Nirvana would work in Western society?

 Yes, I do think it would work, at least at first. Then I think most people would crave the outside world too much to remain. 

Would you be comfortable living in Nirvana, or would you, like some of your characters, try to escape?

 Escape! I love travelling too much to reside in one place for eternity. Plus, as a writer, it's important to have experiences and how much could a person experience within a commune (for eternity)? 

 Which of your characters do you relate to the most? 

I'm a combination of Jade and Peaches. Depending on the circumstances,  I can be introverted, serious, and anxious like Jade, and extroverted, silly, and laid back like Peaches. 

 Do you have a favourite place to write?  

Yes, at my desk in my home office. I write nearly every night  after my 14 month old baby goes to bed. With the help of a few cup of coffee, I'm able to write for two plus hours each night. 

As a fellow book blogger, are there any books you'd like to recommend?  

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven, Bone Gap by Laura Ruby,Only Daughter by Anna Snoekstra, The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

 I'd like to say a big thank you to Kristy for stopping by and taking the time to answer some questions!

Blinded, the third book in the Nirvana series is available to purchase now! Be sure to also check out the first two books in the series, Jaded and Hunted