The first thing I have to say is that I absolutely adore Bianca and can relate to her so much as I am the sarcastic, cynical one out my friends and have at times felt like the DUFF (as I’m sure everyone has). However at the same time Bianca infuriated me by making stupid decisions, she kept sleeping with Wesley as a way of distracting herself from her problems and she ignores her friends. However the fact that I can feel these two emotions simultaneously proves what an amazing author Kody Keplinger is. Bianca is one of the best, most real female characters I have read about, as she doesn’t suffer at all from being too perfect and isn’t always strong or smart or beautiful like many heroines nowadays.
The other thing I loved about Bianca and the novel in general is her REAL relationships with REAL people. Yes, she messed up. Yes, they messed up. But they still cared about each other which is what counts. I found Bianca’s relationship with her parents to be really interesting because she didn’t get along with them unrealistically perfectly all the time and they also weren’t completely unmentioned, absentee parents which are a common theme in YA nowadays because apparently parents are just too much hassle. Her relationship with her two best friends was really great as well because she didn’t ditch them completely when the boy came along but they did have issues with honesty and secrets which I must confess is something I particularly relate to as I have had problems with this among my friends in the past.
At first I wasn’t really a big fan of all the sex in the box, however part way through I realised if Kody Keplinger really wants to teenage life, she has show all aspects, not just the socially acceptable ones. Although at times it bordered on being way too much information, I felt like it really represented teenage sexuality in a frank, honest non stereotyped manner that wasn’t at all slut shaming like can often be seen when dealing with sex in YA. The main female character in YA is traditionally as pure as snow and has little to no experience, so a character that had sexual experience and had messed up in that area was surprisingly refreshing. This was something I hadn’t even realised the YA community was lacking.
Definitely a five star novel! ★★★★★
PS A film review and then book to film comparison is to follow!
Juniper, Jasper and Lenny have been friends forever and co-own a vlog channel called WereVloggingHere. Their fans are huge “shippers” who believe that Juniper and Jasper are perfect for each other, and, despite warnings from friends and family, a Truth-or-Dare inspired kiss soon spirals out of control into a whole new world of making out and surprise kisses.
Juniper and Japer’s relationship begins to shift. But as fan requests for different “Kiss Cam” segments keep pouring in, Juniper puts her worries aside and convinces herself that it doesn’t mean anything. After all, it’s just kissing… right?
Welcome! Today I would like to introduce you to Kiara London, the Wattpad author who wrote Kiss Cam (blurb above). Here’s a quick author biography written by her.
Kiara London is currently living and attending high school in Wausau, Wisconsin with plans to join the Air Force after graduation and hopefully live abroad. She started writing on the online writing site Booksie when she was thirteen. She has since transferred to Wattpad where she gained the attention of over 18,000 followers. She spends most of her time swimming endless laps for the local swim team, scrolling down Tumblr between classes, attempting to read a book that does not pertain to her English class, and drooling over fictional men.
What are some of your favourite books on Wattpad?
I don’t really read on Wattpad, but did like these ones a lot:
Ella Was (Short Story) by Lyssade
Puck Bunny by defend
No Sparks Required by Noelle (mendlering)
Bad Enough for You by berceuses
Less than Perfect by littlebirdie_
It Takes Two to Tango by MaddieGrey
What are some of your favourite books off Wattpad?
Any book series (Harry Potter, Hunger Games, A Game of Thrones…)
Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Nevermor by Lani Lenore
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Lord of the Flies by William Goulding
and anything by Lemony Snicket
How long have you been writing/ on Wattpad?
According to Wattpad, I’ve been a writer here for two years—but I’m coming up on three pretty quick.
Why do you like Wattpad?
Wattpad is a good creative outlet for me. Not only that, but I like the social atmosphere. I love communicating with my readers and seeing what they think. Wattpad has given me a lot of opportunities and I don’t think I’d be quite the same if I hadn’t joined the community.
How do you get ideas for your stories?
I take inspiration from everywhere. An idea, song, picture, emotion, social issue…whatever. It helps that I’m a vivid daydreamer. I see my books like a movie in my head
Which scene from your books did you enjoy writing the most?
I enjoy writing scenes where everything falls apart. I don’t know why. When I was younger, I always killed characters off. I think I just like the reaction. So, when it comes to creating more emotionally dense scenes, I find them more enjoyable to write. For instance, the scene in Kiss Cam where June and Jasper talk after New Year’s and she takes the necklace off of him; or, the scene in 100 Days with Grace where Grace breaks down and admits she’s scared.
What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
This is going to sound so incredibly cheesy, but never give up on yourself. Write what you love, even if everyone else hates it. If you’ve got writers block, try different methods that will force you to write. It’s better to get down complete crap than nothing at all—because you can work with crap, but you can’t work with nothing. If you feel like maybe you just aren’t cut out for writing, try a different angle, work from a different perspective. We’ve all got unique writing styles. Some are just harder to manipulate, that’s all. Also, stop worrying about reads, votes, and comments. Stop worrying about being the most popular writer on Wattpad because you’ve used every over-used cliché. It means nothing. Quality is always more preferable.
What is your favourite thing about writing?
I’m not very emotional in real life, and writing tends to be more of an emotional occupation. So, it’s a stress reliever, I think. Keeps me from bottling everything up and exploding. Even if the emotions aren’t relevant to me, it relieves some of the pressure.
I live in my head. This is how I clean the clutter.
One of your books is going to be published, how did that work/happen?
Alright, so Kiss Cam is being published in 2016. This happened because I took a chance on Swoon Reads and uploaded Kiss Cam there. I had so many publishing requests on Wattpad, but I was convinced it would never happened—however, I didn’t want to look like I didn’t care, or I wasn’t trying for my readers. So, to humor them, I uploaded Kiss Cam to Swoon. A couple months later, I got an email, which led to a phone call, which ended in a book deal. It was so surreal, and it still hasn’t really sunk in, yet.
Would you recommend Wattpad?
Yes, I would 100% recommend Wattpad. I can’t see my life without it, to be honest. I mean, I’ve gone on hiatus, but I always come back. If you’re an aspiring author, there’s no reason not to start building a fanbase and a collection of stories that could possibly end up published. If you don’t take a chance, you’ll never get the reward.
How has your writing developed/ how do you think Wattpad has helped you improve as a writer?
Oh dear god, my old writing….what a train wreck. To be honest, I am still a bit of a mess when it comes to my writing. It has gotten better, though. When you get the opportunity to read and study other people’s stories, it really helps. As other writers grow, you do too—I mean, you’ve got to keep up. I went from being all dialogue, to implementing setting and feelings and all that other lovely stuff. Just writing and practicing and having Wattpad as an outlet guarantees that you’ll improve. Being open to critiques and opinions can do wonders, as well.
Have you had any criticism/unkindness and if so how did you deal with that?
I guess I can’t say I have never dealt with that before, but it hasn’t been particularly memorable. I experience more criticism on Swoon than I do on Watt. On Wattpad, people are there for the story. If I make a typo, someone will point it out and then I’ll fix it. But, nobody has ever been like “I hate you and your sh*tty writing! You suck!”
I think if that ever did happen, though, I would just delete the comment. I wouldn’t want to look at it, and I wouldn’t want other people piling on or just starting a giant sh*tstorm, to be honest. So, yeah, get rid of it as soon as possible. It reflects more on them, than on you. Ignore it.
Anything else you would like to add?
Haha, uhm, well, if you want more information on me, you can visit this link:
http://www.swoonreads.com/blog/meet-the-author-of-kiss-cam-kiara-london Otherwise, that’s it. Good luck to all aspiring writers! Plan lots, write lots, daydream lots! Thanks for reading!
Thank you so much Kiara!
Before I went on holiday about 3 weeks ago, I bought a bunch of eBooks to read whilst I was away. I did read them all and will be posting reviews soon, but for now I’ll just let you know what they were.
Then once I got back I found out about the latest bunch of YALC authors and just HAD to buy some. So I bought:
Aren’t I a lucky blogger? So many great books and they are all mine! (cue evil laughter) Having read and loved the first six books, I can’t wait to get started on the next few and get myself reading for YALC.
Love’s like a bullet. It’s fast. It’s furious. Sometimes you can’t see it coming. You can run from it. But you can’t dodge it. Unless someone stands in your way…”
Growing up, Callie Tollson had always admired her older brother, Clay, for being exactly who he wanted to be…despite the consequences he faced doing so. With their roles reversed, Callie had always been the one to stand up for Clay when he was in harm’s way. She always thought this was enough. She thought she was able to protect him.
That is until he turned the tables and unleashed harm back on those who had done it to him.
She couldn’t understand why, being the one who stood up for him the most, she was the one he picked as the receiver for the final bullet in his gun.
Now she’s the most feared girl in school with a haunting family tie to keep her stuck in the halls of Riverton High. As she tries to survive the rest of her junior year as the sister of the boy who brought a gun to school, she soon realizes she owes nothing to the boy who turned on her and everything to the boy who saved her life.
Welcome! Today I would like to introduce you to Jessice Teske, the Wattpad author who wrote Bullet (blurb above). Here’s a quick author biography written by her.
Hi, I’m Jess! I work with pets for a living. In my free time, I enjoy going to as many concerts as possible. I have a love for gripping novels, Dunkin iced coffee and attending shows to see my favorite rock bands.
What are some of your favourite books on Wattpad?
I have finally plucked up the courage to participate in one of these Beautiful People Link Ups, having sat back and admired them from afar for quite a while. Today is National Sibling Day (April 10th) and to honour this, the link up is sibling themed, which is extremely appropriate as my WIP features three siblings.
Before we start, it’s probably a good plan to introduce you to my novel Burn which I am currently publishing on Wattpad and I’m about 10 chapters in. The current blurb is:
Ember is a phoenix. Despite her vivid red hair and her ability to control fire, Ember sees herself as a remarkably quiet and overall uninteresting person. However, when she joins a boarding school packed full with humans, poor Ember is unaware of the dangers that lurk in the shadows. She is more caught up in finding out the peculiar secrets of her fellow student, Zale. After all, she has always liked a good puzzle. But what happens when you’re faced with multiple puzzles, and you begin to lose the pieces? Faced with a problem that threatens not only herself but the people she cares for, Ember asks Zale for help. The only thing is, after being caught up in everyone else’s secrets, Ember has forgotten her own. And that’s the last thing that Ember needs when she’s surrounded by an endless number of riddles just waiting to attack.
Ember is 16 and has two older brothers, Aidan (aged 19) and Adar (aged 21). Aidan is the more joking and laid back of the two and is the one she is closer to, whereas Adar is more serious due the fact he is first in line for the throne.
1. What is the first memory they have of each other?
Both Adar and Aidan can remember holding tiny baby Ember in their arms and falling in love for the first time and vowing to always protect her.
2. Describe their relationship in 3 words.
Loyal, Joking and loving
3. What kind of things do they like to do together?
They do a lot of things together because they live together and are children of the King and Queen meaning their pool of friends are miniscule so they are stuck with each other.
4. What was their biggest fight?
I think their biggest fight is going to occur over phone in the novel, but I’m not quite sure yet. Certainly ordinarily they don’t have particularly big fights
5. How far would they go to save each other?
Despite the fact that they are no strangers to sibling rivalries or arguments they would all do anything to save another. The boys in particular are very protective of Ember and like to keep her out of harm’s way often much to her annoyance.
6. What are their pet peeves about each other?
Since they all live together in the palace, it is the little things about them that can really infuriate the others. Aidan’s inability to clean or tidy anything annoys Adar whilst his insistence on everything being perfect frustrates Aidan. Ember’s refusal to listen to them even when what they are saying make sense annoys the boys while their babying of her annoys Ember.
7. What are their favorite things about each other?
Both Ember and Adar love Aidan’s ability to make them laugh and defuse intense or difficult situations with a bit of humour. Though they both mock him for it Ember and Aidan love how Adar always has a plan and his ability to think things through. Even though they tend to baby her a tad, both the boys love Ember and she never fails to make them smile.
8. What traits do they share? Mannerisms, clothing, quirks, looks, etc?
They all look quite similar physically, but also have an uncannily identical sense of humour. Aidan and Ember especially enjoy taking the mick out of and mimicking both Adar and their father.
9. Who has the strongest personality?
Personally I think they all have strong personalities but in different ways. Adar is natural leader who is very confident and sporty, whilst Aidan is the joker who makes everyone laugh. Ember is lees confident than her brothers, but has a sharp wit and is extremely stubborn.
10. How does their relationship change throughout your story?
Ember goes away from her brothers for the first time in this story and then she asks Aidan to keep a very big and potentially dangerous secret from the rest of their family. this tests their realtionship in n3w ways and eventually Adar finds out too. The boys have to decide whether they want to keep Ember’s confidence or ensure her safety.
alwaysopinionatedgirl 