BOOK SIGNING RECAP: #GrayandRouxinPH

Hi there Misfit Booknerds! If you have been following (or stalking) me on Twitter or are friends with me on Facebook, you'd know that I was actually at the book signing event of Claudia Gray and Madeleine Roux last October 18, Saturday at Glorietta. I went there out of sheer and utter love for A Thousand Pieces of You which I was privileged enough to read earlier than most! Special thanks to Pinoy Book Tours and Dianne of Oops I Read A Book Again.

Anyway, I headed to Manila the day before the signing, so that I could set up camp at my Aunt's place and that I wouldn't have to suffer the same fate I did during the Jen and Lissa event last month. I got to Glorietta at around 7:30 and lined up, seeing that my friends were such early birds.

I had the chance to chit-chat with them about the books, our thoughts on the plot lines and what not and got some of the books that Apollo had asked Godwin of Machinations of My Muddled Mind to sign it for him because he couldn't make it, and so we were left to help out Godwin.

Also got to take photos with mah girls! Special thanks to Jera for buying me a prototype Firebird, which is inspired by the Firebird in A Thousand Pieces of You... Read it Misfits! READ IT!

When the time arrived for us to enter the NBS store, we got registered, then headed out to the teen's section with Eriele and found some awesome books!

Copies of Dash and Lily! Now you can choose your covers! I really like the blue one!

Belzhar is now available in most National Book Store branches nationwide! GRAB A COPY NOW!!!

Then I searched for some things to used as banners we'll show to Claudia and Madeleine. Karrel did such a wonderful job on one banner, seriously! So much skill! :)

While waiting for Claudia Gray and Madeleine Roux to arrive, we took some photos, including a Scarlet photoshoot that I took! WOOOT! We also took our group photos! :) I actually saw some people from the same book club/group over at Facebook, but I got shy. Yes Misfits, I do get shy. HAHA!

Scarlet Queen, Charm! :)

Oh Eriele! HAHAHA!

We then finished our banners and headed to our seats. We all freaked out when Madeleine Roux and Claudia Gray entered and sat down for the interview.

They are so, so cute!

I didn't catch much of the interview because I was freaking out. I am now making a note that I will record the whole interview on video or on Soundcloud or something. One thing is for sure, both Claudia and Madeleine were inspired by different situations in their lives that brought them into writing their stories. Claudia having countless jobs, got inspired into writing the Evernight series after her experience as a lawyer and Madeleine was scared of clowns, which brought her into writing Sanctum.

Claudia also talked about ATPOY, saying that the Filipinos were lucky that the book has been released a month earlier than anywhere else in the world. Thank you Claudia, thank you! And thank you HarperTeen for that! Madeleine was also excited to tell the fans about the 3rd book for Asylum and can't wait for people to see it. They talked about a lot more things involving their new books and advice for people who wish to write their own novels. The book signing proper commenced.

I was #37, pretty early, yeah, I must say. First of off, I got to talk to Madeleine, who was extremely gorgeous and amazing up close. I told her that I haven't read Asylum, and I wouldn't have had the balls to do  so in the future if my friends haven't been raving about it. I also told her, though I don't exactly like reading scary stories, I have tried writing a short called Poppy, which I published here on the blog. Don't even search for it. T'was bad. HAHA! But she was very encouraging, saying it was really like that at first and you tend to get used to it in the process, but she also said that writing scary stories comes with research, so she insisted I read some.  I'll build up the courage Madeleine, I swear.

Finally, I got to talk to Claudia Gray. I didn't actually know what to say to her when I came up to her glorious face! I was just, hey, A Thousand Pieces of You was amazing! And she was already beaming up. I told her I was the #TeamLtMarkov chick who had tweeted her on Twitter about it and she was surprised, saying she was happy to meet me in person. I also gave her a banner with James McAvoy's face on it. She claimed her future hubby, telling me she won't give it back, ever. I pointed out to Momma Joan that time and Claudia said hi, saying she was wearing the bracelet she gave her. Awwwww...

I talked to her more about ATPOY and how truly perfect it was. I think I might've scared her a bit coz of my fangirling but she was really happy that I have been promoting the book through my blog. I also told her I'm from an alternate dimension, coz I was wearing a prototype Firebird. In short, we had an ATPOY role-playing sesh. She's one of the best authors I've met and I can't wait for Firebird #2.

I was planning on heading home later but because I might get lost and also coz I had a ton of books with me, I settled on leaving early. Also because Momma Joan had plans. I went home with Jera and took the really claustrophobic triggering MRT but got home safely at least!

ME AND MY BOOKS

UGH! GORGEOUS BABIES! MOMMA LOVES YOU! 

The signing was amazing and I would not exchange the experience for anything really! See you all at the #MarieLuinPH event!

{BLOG TOUR} Review: A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

Title: A Thousand Pieces of You (Firebird #1)
Author: Claudia Gray
Publication: Nov. 4th 2014, HarperTeen
Format: ARC, 368 pages
Source: Tour Book from Pinoy Book Tours! (Thanks Dianne)
Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | Kobo | The Book Depository | National Book Store (PH)

SYNOPSIS:

Every Day meets Cloud Atlas in this heart-racing, space- and time-bending, epic new trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray.

Marguerite Caine’s physicist parents are known for their radical scientific achievements. Their most astonishing invention: the Firebird, which allows users to jump into parallel universes, some vastly altered from our own. But when Marguerite’s father is murdered, the killer—her parent’s handsome and enigmatic assistant Paul—escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.

Marguerite can’t let the man who destroyed her family go free, and she races after Paul through different universes, where their lives entangle in increasingly familiar ways. With each encounter she begins to question Paul’s guilt—and her own heart. Soon she discovers the truth behind her father’s death is more sinister than she ever could have imagined.

A Thousand Pieces of You explores a reality where we witness the countless other lives we might lead in an amazingly intricate multiverse, and ask whether, amid infinite possibilities, one love can endure.

Misfit Review:

I have been excited to read this book for a very long time, and when the opportunity came for me to read it, thanks to Pinoy Book Tours, I immediately grabbed it and it was the best damn decision of my life! I'll keep this review as short and sweet as possible, but I think that it's quite impossible if I end up going on with my feelings!

"This is the message I must pass on, the one goal I have to remember after everything else I am is gone. Kill Paul Markov."(ARC 1)

Okay, so the story starts with Marguerite Caine seeking revenge for the death of her father. He wants to rat out Paul Markov, an genius assistant that killed her father and destroyed all the files that had been the fruit of their research. He also stole a device called the Firebird, which allows a person to travel into different alternate dimensions and merge with their alternate self once in that dimension. With the help of Theo, another one of Henry Caine's assistants, they search for Paul with their own Firebird prototypes, to kill him.

THIS STORY IS JUST WAY TO FANTASTIC AND I CANNOT WITH IT!!! I'm telling you already, it is beautiful and cinematic and just downright stab to the heart. We are taken into different dimensions that refer to a lot of the present culture as well as those of the past and future. It takes us into these possible cultures we would have and those that we may have forgotten. And please! A FIREBIRD? Gods I wish it was real!

What makes the plot so intense and beautifully written is that scenes are leading you into what you think you would want to happen and then BAM! Surprise surprise! I just love the twist and turns of this story. The characters are well built, conflicting, interesting and best of all, DAMN HOT!

"You paint the truth Marguerite. I don't think you could any other way." (ARC 49)

The dynamics of the characters are done well. There are hints of fluttering romance between both Theo and Marguerite and Paul and Marguerite... I am now tasked to hurt myself to choose between the two even if one pair is far more inducing than the other.

The settings of each dimension are dazzling and engaging! Especially the one in Russia! It feels very much like Anastasia Romanov and her family. The Russian dimension is my favorite and you'll know why once you read it! The one at London, which was the first stop, is very futuristic and allowed us morsels of needed information that are very vital for the growth of the story!

Since this is a trilogy, the ending didn't exactly give a lot of answers but it makes you want more. HECK! It gives you a case of separation anxiety, and that isn't so good. I'm still left with a very needy hangover and I need Firebird #2 or I might go insane. 2015, why you take so long?

Claudia Gray gave us worthy characters, a fantastic story line, an out of this world experience set in pages and though this is my first Claudia Gray book, I already consider her as one of my favorites! THANKS ATPOY!

A Thousand Pieces of You leaves you searching, wanting, longing and incredibly excited for what's about to come and having read this book is an honor that I will cherish forever!

I wish I made an infinite rating photo, coz it is soooo worthy of that!

About The Author:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Claudia Gray is not my real name. I didn't choose a pseudonym because my real name is unpleasant (it isn't), because I'd always dreamed of calling myself this (I haven't) or even because I'm hiding from the remnants of that international diamond-smuggling cartel I smashed in 2003 (Interpol has taken care of them). In short, I took a pseudonym for no real reason whatsoever. Sometimes this is actually the best reason to do things.

I live in New Orleans. So far, in life, I've been a disc jockey, a lawyer, a journalist and an extremely bad waitress, just to name a few. I especially like to spend time traveling, hiking, reading and listening to music. More than anything else, I enjoy writing.