As we mentioned a while back, Burn Bright is being published in Turkey.

Well the book has now been released and here’s the cover. You can also visit the publisher’s Facebook page (the publisher is called Dex) and see the fabulous book trailer they’ve put together for the release. It’s not on YouTube yet but when it is we’ll linky link.

IMT, whoop whoop!!

We’re making enquires about ordering this edition online because we know some of you want to collect the translations as well. Stay posted for an update.

Hey guuuys!

It’s Lisa here with another review! I’ve been reading a lot of great books lately, so I have tons of reviews I need to write, and finally get them posted. Today’s book is The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter. Basically, it’s a modern re-telling of the Greek Myth of Persephone. Right after reading the synopsis, and before even opening the front cover, I decided to do a bit of my own research to have at least some understanding of Persephone’s story. You don’t really have to do this to understand and comprehend the story itself. But I just decided it would be fun to have some background knowledge. This is what I found out:

“In Greek mythology, Persephone, also called Kore (the maiden), is the daughter of Zeus and the harvest-goddess Demeter, and queen of the underworld. Homer describes her as the formidable, venerable majestic queen of the shades, who carries into effect the curses of men upon the souls of the dead. Kore was abducted by Hades, the god-king of the underworld . The myth of her abduction represents her function as the personification of vegetation which shoots forth in spring and withdraws into the earth after harvest; hence she is also associated with spring and with the seeds of the fruits of the fields. Similar myths appear in the Orient, in the cults of male gods like Attis, Adonis and Osiris, and in Minoan Crete.”

*I didn’t write this myself, this is just something I found, while researching. Thank you Wikipedia!!*

The main character of The Goddess Test is named Kate. She’s an average teenage girl, going to high school, and lives with her mother. Sadly, Kate’s mom is in her final stages of cancer, and any day could be her last. Her dying wish is to visit a small town named Eden, which is located in the middle of nowhere. Without any argument Kate agrees to take her.

Kate isn’t only moving into a new (and small) town, and a new (but very old) house, but also into a new school. Not wanting to make friends, knowing she won’t have the time for them anyways, she only wants to go to school, finish classes, and spend the rest of the day with her mother. Kate isn’t there for fun; she’s there for her mom.

Not knowing what she will do once her mom isn’t with her anymore; Kate is scared, stressed, and just wants to spend every moment with her mom, never knowing if it might be her last.

Bumping (literally) into a very cute boy, Kate faces her first problem before she can even get to her very first class at her new school. Think about that popular girl in school, who is one of the sweetest people you’ve ever met, but as soon as you turn around, you know she’s talking crap about you. Every high school has one, think VERY hard! That is exactly who Ava is.

Besides Ava, Kate also meets and befriends a quiet boy, who walks to school every day listening to his music through his oversized earphones. His name is James. Going through a hard time, Kate leans on James a lot, even crying in front of him. Kate’s life is nothing like normal ever since her mom was diagnosed with cancer, but James is her piece of reality, and normality. He is her rock, in a way.

I don’t want to give away too much of The Goddess Test, so I’m only telling you that Ava invites Kate to a “party” and a accident happens and Ava gets hurt really bad. Doing the only thing she could, Kate screams at the top of her lungs, for help. Not sure what to do, or if anyone can hear, she continues to yell her heart out. That is, until she sees a figure standing a few feet away from her.

To save Ava, Kate has to accept the stranger’s (which we find out is named, Henry) deal. And if you’ve read my bit of research above, you might just know who he is, and what the deal is! 🙂

I wasn’t originally planning on reading The Goddess Test, not because I didn’t want to, but simply because I didn’t really know much about it. After finishing the first three or four chapters, I fell in love and was so grateful that I picked it up. I’ve never really read any books on mythology, nor retellings, so I wasn’t too sure what I would think about it.

But The Goddess Test was amazing! I really enjoyed the main character Kate, and how she slowly (because usually I feel the character is always rushing) falls in love. I like that she goes from scared, feeling sorry for herself, and not wanting to communicate or socialize with anyone, to doing whatever she can to save her friends. Kate grew so much throughout the story, and I loved the pace.

The second book, Goddess Interrupted is coming out in April (I believe, don’t quote me on that!) and I’m excited to see what happens to Kate, Henry, and Ava! I would recommend picking up The Goddess Test now, so you jump right into the second one, once it hits the shelves!

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoyed my review!

• ISBN-13: 9780373210268
• Publisher: Harlequin
• Publication date: 4/19/2011
• Pages: 304

Lauren says: I was born in Queens and raised in Westchester, New York, in a small town very similar to the one depicted in Before I Fall. My parents are both literature professors, and from a very early age, my sister and I were encouraged to make up stories, draw, paint, dance around in costumes, and essentially spend much of our time living imaginatively. Our house was old and full of art and towers and towers of books, and that’s still the kind of house I like best. Read more…

Cels:

Thank you so much for dropping by Burn Bright as part of your Australian release tour and congrats on “Pandemonium” hitting the shelves.  This is the second in the “Delirium” trilogy, for those who haven’t yet entered the world, what can they expect?

Lauren:

Delirium takes place in a world in which love has been declared a contagious disease (known as “amor deliria nervosa”). Scientists have mandated a cure. In Pandemonium, we see a society on the verge of revolution, as both sides–the proponents and resistors of the cure–come into head-to-head conflict.

Cels:

Delirium has haunted me ever since I read it and the idea of a society without love is truly frightening. If you were forced by societies leaders to forfeit one emotion for life, which one do you think you could live without?

Lauren:

Guilt, definitely! If I were forced to do without a positive emotion? I’m not sure. I could never do without joy. I might be able to exist without contentment, as long as I could have love and passion.

Cels:

You’ve also branched out into the younger market with your fairy-tale adventure, Liesl and Po and soon to be released “The Splinders”. Did you have a favourite fairy-tale world as a child you wished you belonged too?

Lauren:

I loved The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. I would have gladly moved to Narnia as a child.

Cels:

Which of your fictional characters burns brightest in your mind and why?

Lauren:

Hmmm. That’s a great question. I really think it changes. It evolves as I begin work on something new; I become completely wrapped up in my newest characters, and they tend to displace the old ones. But I do love Po, from Liesl & Po. I think the ghost is one of my favorite literary inventions. I’m not sure why. I just find Po’s existence comforting.

Hiya all!

We’re gonna start a new blog series on women who can inspire you to do great things.

Belinda x

You can’t judge a book by its cover so why should human beings be any different? We all have amazing stories.

Today we’re going to look at the Nobel Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi. She was born on the 19^th of June 1945 in Burma. She is most famous for her activism for human rights and her role in the political party National League for Democracy.

In 1988 she made a pivotal speech to half a million protesting people outside the Shwedagon Pagoda in the capitol; they were calling for democracy to be introduced into Burma.

One of her most famous speeches is the “Freedom From Fear” speech, which begins: “It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.”

Their pleas for democracy were ignored and even after a general election in 1990 where the National League for Democracy (NLD) was a clear winner, the results were nullified and the Burmese military refused to hand over power.

Aung San Suu Kyi has spent 15 of the 21 years of her political career under house arrest; she even won a Nobel Peace Prize for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights while she was incarcerated in 1991. She was released for the last time in November 2010.

Because of her fearlessness, Burma is now well on its way towards a democratic government. Basic human rights have been restored to thousands of unjustly imprisoned people who opposed the military run government during the revolution. Censorship has been somewhat relaxed, and the economy is going through reforms.

She is the face of a revolution, her legacy will be the hope she inspired in millions of Burmese people who wanted more from the world they lived in.

Information provided by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi and http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1991/kyi-bio.html

For further information:

Freedom From Fear by Aung San Suu Kyi

published by Penguin in February 2010

Paperback 416 pages

ISBN-13:9780141039497

ISBN-10:0141039493

Let’s get down to business! My top 5 picks for female superheroes on the big and small screen.

# 5 Cat Woman, who is the alter ego of Selina Kyle. She has been portrayed by Halle Berry, Michelle Pfeiffer and soon it will be Anne Hathaway to don the Black leather cat suit, and enchant us with her feminine feline wiles. Cracking her whip and purring into Batman’s ear is a definite highlight of any movie where the two appear together.

#4 Elektra, who is the alter ego of Elektra Natchios. I think Jennifer Garner did a brilliant job in this role. She had us in awe of her weapon control, mainly with the Twin Sai and that read leather is something to behold.

#3 She-Ra, alias Adora, and twin sister to He-man. She is the wielder of the Sword of Protection and is by far a more passive super hero than most. No leather here as far as I can see, but that’s okay, she still has the power of Grayskull to kick some serious robotic booty.

#2 Wonder Woman, alias of Diana Prince. She’s a stunner in her Americanized patriotic garb which consists of a golden belt, the source of her strength and power while away from Paradise Island, bullet-deflecting bracelets and a golden lasso which is unbreakable and forces people to obey and tell the truth when bound with it. This is all added to a red bustier with gold accents and a pair of blue knickers complete with stars and an awesome pair of red boots.

#1 Xena: Worrior Princess, a bad girl gone good. She’s decked out in brown leather and metal armor and attacks with a very Middle Eastern war cry. She knows her way around a sword and can drop an enemy with the push of a pressure point. Her most famous weapon however is the chakram she wears at her hip and uses to take out multiple foes with the flick of a wrist.