Teaser Tuesday: The Moth and the Flame by Renée Ahdieh

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books And A Beat.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The Moth and the Flame by Renée Ahdieh.

The Moth and the Flame –
G. P. Putnam’s Sons

He could supposedly charm the skirts off a girl with nothing but sly words and flippant promises.
At the memory of such tales, Despina stifled a laugh.
Impossibly ridiculous. Removing clothing involved a great deal more than words.
— Chapter 1

It was an easy room to find. The only one with a guard posted outside the door.
— Chapter 5

Authors who write extended short stories about my favourite supporting characters have a sure-fire way to make me love them forever. And Despina and Jalal have been two of my absolute favourite not-main-characters of 2015 in The Wrath and the Dawn. And now I get to read their story and also get to know them better before the new full book is published in April. It is not essential information to understand the main story, but I like this extension of the story universe. In every story with well-developed characters these need to have a back story. And if the author is willing to share them, I won’t discourage it.

What is your favourite character extension story if you have one? Share them along with your teasers in the comments!

Teaser Tuesday: The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books And A Beat.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury.

The Forbidden Wish –
Razorbill

Would I throw away a bag of gold just because I found it in a pile of dung?
— Chapter 2

Wishes have a way of twisting themselves, and there is nothing more dangerous than getting your heart’s desire. The question is, are you willing to gamble? How much are you willing to lose? What are you willing to risk everything for?
— Chapter 2

There are most certainly more memorable quotes on the way for this story, but I didn’t want to risk spoiling myself by looking ahead. Of course I immediately had the Aladdin theme song stuck in my head when I opened the book, but I think we’ll depart from that quite soon ... unless anyone had the head canon of Aladdin and Genie as OTP from the beginning. Maybe if Genie had looked a little more like Jasmine.
I like the idea of being able to get your heart’s desire handed to you but with the stinger that it might cost you everything. It will be interesting to see how all of this is going to work out.

Is it just me or are there more jinni stories than usual at the moment? Or maybe I just stumble upon them more now that I’ve read a few. Asking for your wishes would be cheesy, but maybe asking for the price you’d be willing to pay in exchange is an option? Share them with your teasers in the comments.

Teaser Tuesday: Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books And A Beat.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare.

Lady Midnight –
Margaret K. McElderry Books

“You look worried,” said Livvy. “Is Emma taking you somewhere to kill you?”
“Worse,” Emma said, heading over to join Cristina at the door. “Shopping.”
— Chapter 13

For the weight of a thousand lies, told in good faith, because lies told in good faith were still lies.
— Chapter 20

I honestly don’t know how to start this ... maybe with the fact that I was making distressed high-pitched keening noises throughout the book and decided early on that this could only be read in a non-public environment lest people think I’m in pain and separate me from the book. A good book let’s you close it with a wistful smile ... and for me a brilliant book has you in the foetal position wailing about the unfairness of it all and how will any of this ever be alright again? (Cassie, I trust you completely, but you better find a way.)
The Blackthorns (and Emma) are so very precious and if anyone is ever trying to hurt them in any capacity, I won’t guarantee for anything. Same goes for Cristina. And to some extent Kieran. And Kit. And ... I think you get the idea. I’m so very afraid of what will happen in the next book, especially as some of the hurt seems inevitable and coming from within. It’s perfectly horrible in a beautiful, agonising way. (I also notice that my vocabulary regarding descriptions of pain has been considerably broadened by knowing Cassandra Clare ...)
In short: This book is 720 pages of masterfully executed emotional heart-shattering. I need my group therapy members to catch up reading as soon as possible because shared anguish is always preferable. And I also need someone to laugh when I quote all the wonderful wit and sarcasm.
You definitely can read this series without having read any of the other books, but it is so much more fun if you know all the cameos ... and seriously why wouldn’t you want to read the other books, you will need all the practice you can get to steel yourself against the heartache and soul-twisting the next books will cause. And this book clearly spoils the previous two series.
As for a lot of the criticism that this is (depending on how you count) the tenth or twelfth book in the Shadowhunter universe: No one is forcing this book upon anyone and there are obviously enough readers out there who are absolutely thrilled to return to this story world. No one is wondering why Rick Riordan keeps writing in the Demigod universe or J.R. Ward and the Black Dagger Brotherhood or John Grisham writing yet another legal thriller set in – gasp – the real world. If the writer has stories left to tell in their world then by all means let them and if you don’t like it there are literally tons of other books published each week that you could read instead without being a troll about it.

Is there a story universe you could read in forever? I love it when authors create a world so thoroughly that they can dive back into it and take me as a reader right along. In addition to all the new worlds I like to explore in other books. Share thoughts and teasers in the comments.

Teaser Tuesday: Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books And A Beat.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard.

Truthwitch – Tor Teen

“How is that for service? Do you know how many men onboard would kill for the use of a spoon?”
“And do you know,” she retorted, “how many men I can kill with a spoon?”
— Chapter 23

She was stuck in this body, with this mind, but it didn’t mean that she couldn’t reach outside. It didn’t mean she couldn’t change.
— Chapter 26

Whenever someone tells me that witches are making a comeback I am tempted to ask them why they think witches were ever gone ... but that would seem flippant and possibly impolite, so I won’t list all the books with witches the person has probably missed. I don’t like thinking in trends, but the trade often insists on it so I’ll say that if witches were gone, this start of the series will do its part to bring them back.
It’s possibly not the book for the unexperienced fantasy reader as there is no big exposition into the world and how it works, but rather a requirement to figure it out as you go. I understand that someone else might feel a bit lost between the foreign words, strange concepts of witchery, and seemingly confusing world politics while this works quite well for me. I liked that the story focuses on the two female leads and their very impressive friendship ... if you understand that this is a very common name for something much bigger, a bond thicker than blood. There are so many thing I can’t wait to find out how they develop in the coming books not only with the two female leads but also with the other characters. I’m especially interested in the maybe-but-also-maybe-not-so-villainous villain.
And having just realised that there will be four books in this series this has filled my reading schedule with yet another book each year up until 2019 ... which seems crazy, but seeing that I have a list that runs up to possibly 2024 ... don’t look at me like that!

If you were to choose to specialise in one talent that you had absolute power over, like telling truth from lie, controlling the wind/any other element or fabric, or some other maybe more intangible power, what would that be? I’d have a hard time deciding between controlling the air (yay flying) and this idea of wordwitchery of being able to write truly binding contracts and strongly suggesting actions and ideas to others. How about you? Share talent wishes and teasers in the comments.

Teaser Tuesday: Moon at Nine by Deborah Ellis

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books And A Beat.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Moon at Nine by Deborah Ellis.

Moon at Nine – Pajama Press

But first and most important, we are human beings with a right to choose for ourselves how we want to live. All we have is our lives. Each person gets just one. We owe our parents and the revolution our respect, but we don’t owe them everything.
I choose you, not just because you are wonderful and not just because you love me.
I choose you because the act of choosing you belongs to me. It is mine, my free will.
I choose you over my father. I choose you over my country.
And even if you decide you don’t want me, I still choose you.
Because in choosing you, I am choosing myself.
— Chapter 14

My reading comfort zone and I don’t always share a ZIP code and I think for this one it might have thought I moved to the moon (pun intended). I don’t think that I know much about oppression and discrimination. At least not first hand or in the sense that my life would have been severely different without them ... I think, but who can say for certain? We can’t change our past, but we can certainly try to change the future.
There are no words for all the feelings I had while reading this book. Disbelieve, anger, hope, and devastation would be among them. I know that I had a similar reaction to a book only a few weeks ago (see The Truth about Peacock Blue) and they have primarily one thing in common: They describe a mentality that I can’t confidently say I know enough about, but at the same moment also a mentality that I can’t and don’t ever want to understand or support. While the first book dealt with freedom of religion and acceptance of other’s beliefs as well as the worth of women, this book desperately shows how lucky we are if we live in a country where we are free to choose whom we love. Yes, there are still prejudices and hostilities, but hopefully you don’t have to fear the death penalty for loving someone who happens to be the same sex as you are. Deborah Ellis has a powerful way of writing these feelings into her story. The love the two main characters develop for each other grows from a beautiful friendship into a hopeful confusion to a short wonderful love to this heart-shattering devastation. All within an arguably short book, but some stories to me feel more impressive for their brevity.
I won’t pretend to understand the challenges of being LGBTQ* but I also hope to not be totally ignorant about them. And while this is based on a true story that happened almost 30 years ago, which is bad enough, this could and does still happen. Your place of birth should never determine what you can think or say, who is able to decide about your future, and whom you are allowed to love.

No discussion question this week as I am aware that the topic of this book can be very controversial. Share your thoughts and teasers in the comments if you like.