Wherein I explain my love for POSSESSION and give stuff away!

HAPPY THURSDAY everyone! I’ll admit – this is the day I’ve been looking forward to for over TWO YEARS! Yep, the day I get to go all fangirl over Elana Johnson and her debut novel, POSSESSION. I was originally going to wait until her release to do this, hoping to get some great pictures from her launch. But, sadly, there is a chance I won’t make it to Utah after all…

So just in case, I thought I’d do a little screaming now.

But first, here are the links for the amazing reviews today – 

• Jamie Harrington adores Invincible Summer 
• Shelli Johannes-Wells is in the grip of Possession
• Elana Johnson visits Dark And Hollow Places
• Shannon Messenger marvels at Moonglass – with a giveaway
• Carolina Valdez Miller interviews Invincible Summer author Hannah Moskowitz
• Bethany Wiggins delves into Divergent
• Lisa and Laura Roecker gets silly over Spoiled
• Scott Tracey bathes in Blood Magic
• Jessi Kirby praises Playing Hurt
• Shana Silver presents a Guestanista gushing over Between Here and Forever
• Carrie Harris sings out about Shift
• Sarah Frances Hardy enjoys Me Jane
• Rosemary Clement-Moore applauds Abandon
• Matt Blackstone loves Like Mandarin
• Corrine Jackson delights in The Duff
• Stasia Ward Kehoe discusses Displacement

Now, on to my Bookanista Shout out for Elana Johnson and POSSESSION (and be sure to stick around for a fabu giveaway at the end)

Release Date: June 7, 2011

Basic Blurb: (from Amazon)

Vi knows the Rule: Girls don’t walk with boys, and they never even thinkabout kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn…and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi’s future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.

But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they’re set on convincing Vi to become one of them….starting by brainwashed Zenn. Vi can’t leave Zenn in the Thinkers’ hands, but she’s wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous: everything Zenn’s not. Vi can’t quite trust Jag and can’t quite resist him, but she also can’t give up on Zenn.

This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play.

Why I liked it:

Ah, the part where I get to talk about Elana and her book! YES.

It is no secret that Elana and I have been crit partners for more than 2 years. You may wonder if it is possible for CPs (and friends) to give objective reviews about each other’s works. I would argue yes. In fact, this is something she and I talked about early on in our friendship – at a time when neither of us had agents and we fantasized about the day when our books would be out in the world and we would go on a book tour together. Way back then we agreed that we would only gush about each other’s books – the actual merits of the books – IF we loved them. No harm, no foul if we didn’t. Neither of us philosophically like to give bad reviews, so we knew that wouldn’t be a problem. But we both wanted to feel comfortable promoting each other’s works.

Now that she is releasing her first book, I finally get to do what I’ve wanted to do forever – tell you all WHY I love her book!

Possession (and all of the versions I have read of it) features one of the snarkiest characters I have met in YA – Vi. She is great. Strong, yet insecure in some respects. Conflicted and even tortured. Everything I LOVE about characters. My other fav character in this book, Jag. There is really only one word to describe him…

HOT!

Okay – so we have snarky girl, hot boy, a dystopian world and so so so much more. Elana takes this and adds unexpected twists and turns. Just when you think you have it all figured out, something happens to change it up. I love that in a story! What’s more…she does it with depth. Another critical element in a book for me.

So, to recap – we have fabu characters,  a great dystopian world, unexpected surprises….OH! And fabulous writing to boot.

Yep, sounds like a winner to me. But you be the judge. Go get the book and decide for yourself. Or better yet, leave a comment and be entered into a giveaway for the ARC.

That’s right, I am giving away one copy of the ARC to a lucky commenter between now and Friday night.

And, yes, I am still dreaming of the day when Elana and I will tour together. Obviously it is a ways away… as I have not quite made that jump into the fiction YA market yet.

But one day….

Where to find it:

• Amazon
• Goodreads

So, what are you reading these days? Is it good???