THE LOCKET by Stacey Jay
12:12 PM Posted by Bonnie @ A Backwards Story
Title: THE LOCKET
Author: Stacey Jay
Release Date: Out Now (Feb. 3, 2011)
Publisher: Razorbill
Received: Library Copy
Goodreads Page
SUMMARY:
Life as Isaac’s girlfriend was pretty much perfect for Katie. Until the night she messed everything up. Katie is devastated over her mistake—and she’ll do anything to get Isaac back.
Then, on her seventeenth birthday, she discovers a strange and beautiful locket. Katie puts it on and finds herself going back in time—to the night of The Mistake. Katie is thrilled at the chance to do it all over again. If she can change the past, maybe she can save her perfect future with Isaac. But as other aspects of her life become inexplicably altered, she realizes that second chances come with a dark price.
Should she have tampered with fate? Or is the most extraordinary kind of life the one that’s far from perfect?
Who wouldn’t like to pause and hit rewind whenever something goes wrong in life? Instant re-do! Upon finding a mysterious locket engraved with the phrase “Some mistakes weren’t meant to last” among her grandmother’s belongings when getting reading for her anniversary date, Katie slips it on, thinking it to be the perfect complement to her black and silver outfit. Plus, the phrase has a deeper meaning for her: Something happened, something she keeps referring to as “a mistake.” That night, the mistake bubbles to the surface and ruins everything. Stranded, alone, and upset, the locket hones in on Katie’s emotions and sucks her back to the night everything changed. She now has the chance to fix things and make them right. Only...things are no longer quite as they once were. Little things have changed in this time, from people’s attitudes, to their relationships with one another, to things that never existed before or were in different locations. Not only that, there is a scar left against Katie’s skin from the locket’s blaring heat as it brought her backward, a reminder of the price she paid to return to this moment. And certain things scare Katie, such as the fact that the locket her grandfather had given her grandmother after a mistake no longer has his picture…but that of a completely different man.
Katie isn’t sure what happened, but she’s determined to make things work this time around. She knows what situations to avoid, and she’s able to work her way around things that didn’t go well for her the first time, such as forgetting her math homework and getting in trouble, or getting embarrassed by a fellow classmate. Plus, she’s able to prevent The Mistake from happening. But something goes wrong that never happened the first time around, and the locket takes on a life of its own, sucking her back a few minutes and leaving behind a second scar…and another new reality. This time around, situations are darker, scarier, and after two terrible tragedies that Katie isn’t able to reverse, she begins to realize just how evil the locket really is, but it’s impossible to move from around her neck. In this reality, her grandmother has never seen the locket before, and she has nobody to turn to; there is no one with answers.
THE LOCKET by Stacey Jay reminds me of Lauren Oliver’s debut novel, bestseller BEFORE I FALL. As Sam repeats the last day of her life, trying to change things so that she doesn’t die in a horrific accident, she’s able to repeat various situations and learns a lot each time, as does Katie in THE LOCKET. She becomes wiser, learns truths she’s been hiding from herself for a long time, and forms new opinions of the people in her life, able to analyze them in a way she never could before. Both novels remind me of the Bill Murray movie GROUNDHOG DAY, where a weatherman is forced to live through his most hated holiday again and again and again. Like Sam and Katie, he goes through many revelations and has a different outlook on life by the end. Katie’s story is the most dissimilar of the three; while it shares common elements, Katie only goes backward twice and has no control, so she doesn’t do crazy things that can be fixed the next day the way the others can, having been through the same day again and again and again with no hope of the next one being any different. Jay manages to weave together a story that never gets boring, but leaves readers more tense as the novel progresses, wanting to know what happens next and the secret behind the locket with a life of its own.
Inkpop's Book Club is reading Before I Fall!
5:31 PM Posted by Ella Preuss
Click here to join. (Don't worry about dates, just put you name on the Chat, and you'll be able to start participating!)
News, a winner and more!
9:00 AM Posted by Ella Preuss
Delirium has debuted #10 on a NYTimes list! YAY! We're hoping the book will get higher up on that list, and on any other.
Lauren's Tour is about to end, so if you're in her hometown, NYC, you can go see her today at The BookMark Shoppe in Brooklyn (8415 3rd Ave) at 5:00 p.m. Go show her some love! And take photos! We'd love to see some.
The signed Before I Fall contest is now closed, and the winner is Khyla! She's been contacted and, hopefully, she'll send us her address soon.
You still have time to enter in the Delirium Guess-The-Cover Challenge for a chance to win a Delirium ARC. This isn't a normal ARC, it's a Collectible!
One of the extra entries on the BIF Contest was to put a Post-It Note on a book and take a photo. Here are some of those entries:
Thanks everyone for participating! We had a lot of entrants in both the BIF and Delirium Pre-Order Contests, and we couldn't be more happy! You know what that means. More giveaways in the future, possibly a Delirium one!
Speaking of more contests, Lauren's UK publishers have created a Delirium FB Page you can "Like"! They have a very cool teaser trailer on the Wall, make sure you check it out.
Have you reviewed Delirium? If you have, then send us an email to deliriouslyfalling@hotmail.com and you can be featured here!
Come back tomorrow to watch Lauren answer some of your questions in a video interview!
xo,
Ella
Before I Fall...Notes!
7:35 AM Posted by Lori
I--covertly as possible--then placed the notes in copies of Before I Fall and books similar to both BIF and Delirium. Now they are waiting for some unsuspecting book lover to find them and discover new books they love.
We would love for you to take part in this too! For all the details go to the Before I Fall Giveaway!
Lauren's Books' Different Covers
7:42 AM Posted by Ella Preuss
Lauren's books are not only out in English. They're also published in Spanish and German, and it wouldn't surprise me to hear that they'll be translated into many more languages.
Just today I heard that Delirium will be out in Spain in March!
Here are the different covers for these books. Some are the official covers, while others are fan made. Take a look: which ones do you prefer?
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| First Covers |
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| Fan Made Cover |
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| Fan Made Cover |
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| Photographer's Cover |
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| Final Covers: US, Spanish and German |
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| Lauren and Delirium! |
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| Delirium's First Cover! |
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| Delirium's Official UK Cover |
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| Delirium's Final Covers: US and Spain |
So, which ones do you like? Personally, I like the American and Spanish BIF covers. At first, I was against the Spanish one, but it's grown on me.
And for Delirium, I like the American one. The UK one looks good, but the swirlies in the American cover are what I love. The birds you can see there, among the swirlies, are perfect, representing freedom, while the grey, Spanish one has barbed wire on it. It fits, I think, the grey and the barbed wire, but I like the message on the American one the best: freedom one the blue one against emprisonment on the grey one.
If you liked Before I Fall...
6:46 AM Posted by Lori
by Nina LaCour
by Anna Jarzab
by Jennifer Hubbard
by Holly Schindler
by Gayle Forman
by Jennifer Echols
by Lisa Schroeder
by Julia Hoban
by Sarah Ockler
by Holly Cupala
I hope you find a new book to love from this list! Do you have anything to add? Let us know!
Before I Fall Read-Along in Fallen Archangel!
8:09 AM Posted by Ella Preuss
The girls at Fallen Archangel have started their Read Along, but it's not too late to join.
You can join them in the Forum, to discuss the book with them and other members, like me; or, read it on your own and mark on your calendars the Live Chat with Lauren at the end of the R-A. They haven't got a specific date for it yet, but they will soon. It'll be during the week of December 13th.
Would you be up for a Delirium Read Along here on Deliriously Falling when it comes out?
xo,
Ella
Latest News
9:29 AM Posted by Ella Preuss
Hello everyone! We apologise for having been sort of MIA lately, but you know how sometimes life gets in the way of blogging.
Lauren is back in the US, and she had an awesome time in Japan!
Here's what she had to say about it:
Did you miss me?? I’m back in the good US of A (although I won’t actually be home for a while—tonight I stay in Newark, NJ, and tomorrow I’m off for the NCTE/ALAN conference in sunny Orlando!) and already missing the splendor and stateliness—and, of course, the FOOD—of Japan. My trip was too wonderful and expansive to be described in anything close to concise terms, so I will prove traitorous to the society of writers and follow the old adage “a picture is worth a thousand words.” There will be 4,000 words below…enough for a chapters’ worth!
My experience in Japan, in a place totally foreign to me in every way (I had never been farther east than Budapest) has inspired me to generate a NEW WRITING CHALLENGE. So check back at the beginning of next week, and I’ll be kicking off a new online writing workshop.
In the meantime, I’ll be hobnobbing with fabulous authors, editors, and librarians, and lounging poolside…and maybe even seeing Mickey Mouse! Fingers crossed, peeps. Fingers crossed.
You can read the original post in Lauren's blog.
On another note, the Fallen Archangel's Before I Fall Read-Along starts this next Saturday 27th! Will you be joining us? There'll be regular posts as we read the book, but you can join the discussion here.
xo,
Ella
Before I Fall is among the Publishers Weekly Top 40 Children's Books of 2010!
8:00 AM Posted by Ella Preuss
Before I Fall keeps getting chosen as a top book, and I can't say I'm surprised.
This is BIF we're talking about.
This time it's on PW.com, who've just shared their list of the Best Books of 2010, separated into the Adult and Children Categories.
There's no top book, it's all one big list, and every book there as awesome as the next.
What a great birthday present to Lauren!
Before I Fall: The Movie
9:56 PM Posted by Ella Preuss
So, back in July, Fox 2000 optioned the rights to Before I Fall, but we have no idea as to when Fox might start with its production. Might be next year, might be in 2012, 2013...
But there's already a buzz about who might star this film, taking the role of Sam.
Some say Selena Gomez, others Miley Cyrus (there's an article I liked that says "Let's hope Miley stays away from this one," and I can't help but to agree).
I honestly can't see either being Sam, they just don't look like Sam to me.
I'd really like Sam to be played by someone who isn't known, someone new and fresh. But I've seen some dreamcasts and there are some very cool choices for who could play Lindsay, Ally and Elody.
One choice I liked was for Elody, and it was Ashley Rickards. She plays a really cool character in The CW's One Tree Hill, and I think she'd be a nice choice for Elody.
Do you have someone in mind for this role, or any of the other characters? Share! We'll be featuring different choices in an upcoming feature.
xo,
Ella
Lauren says Hi to her German Fans!
1:27 PM Posted by Ella Preuss
I love her house! What little we could see, anyway! So big and bright. :)
I loved Before I Fall, and yes, Sam was a little hard to relate to at first, but I grew to love her, and in the end I cried like a baby.
I'm assuming you're mostly from the States, but you could be from someplace else, like me.
Where are you from?
xo,
Ella
(The girl from Argentina)
I'm assuming you're mostly from the States, but you could be from someplace else, like me.
Where are you from?
xo,
Ella
(The girl from Argentina)
Before I Fall Nominated for Best YA Paranormal/Fantasy Novel!
12:32 PM Posted by Ella Preuss
What a great piece of news! Before I Fall is nominated for Best YA Paranormal/Fantasy Novel of 2010! That is amazing! I have no doubt that it will win.
It has some great competition too! The other nominees are:
- Radiant Shadows, by Melissa Marr, HarperCollins, (April 2010)
- Ship Breaker, by Paolo Bacigalupi, Little, Brown, (May 2010)
- Raised by Wolves, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Egmont, (June 2010)
- Clockwork Angel, by Cassandra Clare, Margaret K. McElderry, (September 2010)
Clockwork Angel is a great book as well, but you know for which book I'll be rooting for.
You can read the full list of Nominations here.
