Anyone But You by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes

 

Published: January 18th, 2014

Publisher: Merit Press

Copy: From authors via Netgalley

 

 

These violent delights have violent ends...

Gigi Caputo is fed up. A vicious act of vandalism has dealt another blow to her family's proud pizza heritage, and the Montes--owners of a rival Italian restaurant--are clearly to blame. The hostility goes far beyond bragging rights for best pizza in Chicago. The Montes have been bent on destroying Cap's for four generations. Even if it means putting herself in harm's way, Gigi's determined to get to the bottom of the feud. Instead, in a secret encounter with Roman Monte, the very boy whose relatives have brought her family such grief, she finds both danger and love at first sight. If the daughter and son of these two warring families fall for each other, can it be anything but a recipe for disaster? Slowly, Gigi and Roman learn that their story is fatefully linked to the summer of 1933, when two twelve-year-olds, Benny and Nick, hop the turnstile at the Chicago World's Fair. The most stunning wonder of the fair is Stella, who innocently causes a lasting rift between the two boyhood. Wending its way through past and present day, this modern take on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is bittersweet, funny, and intensely exciting. It's classic romance--a tale of hate and the only force that can ever defeat it: love.

 

 

Kim Askew  and Amy Helmes have returned with the newest entry in their Twisted Lit series, Anyone But You.  This time around they are tackling the quintessential tragic love story, Romeo and Juliet.

Set in contemporary Chicago, Anyone But You outlines the story of teens Gigi and Roman as they meet and fall in love, defying the boundaries of their decades old family feud.  Unfortunately, the story does not convey the depth of tragedy that we have come to expect from a Romeo and Juliet retelling, but that's not to say that it isn't a great read on its own. 

One of the things that has always frustrated me about the original, is that we never know why the Montagues and Capulets are feuding.  Helmes and Askew have solved that problem for us this time by outlining a wonderful back story that fills in all those blanks.  I particularly enjoyed this look back to a Chicago at the time of the World's Fair and around the war.  Actually, I think this part of the story was more tragic than the modern part.

In present day Chicago, all of the requisite characters are represented, with my favourite being Chef, a big burly, Italian cook with a heart of gold, who takes the place of Nurse. Several cousins flit in and out of the picture and tempers are hot, if somewhat stereotypically Italian, and fights ensue.  Without giving away too much of the modern plot, this is where the tragedy fell short for me. Still, it was slightly more realistic for present time, so for me was ultimately forgivable.

In a nutshell,  this was a thoroughly enjoyable contemporary romance, that fell just a little short of being a tragic retelling.  Worth reading?  Absolutely!   I look forward to seeing what's up next for these two talented authors.

Guest Post from Amy Helmes and Kim Askew

In honor of William Shakespeare’s birthday (celebrated on April 26), authors Kim Askew and Amy Helmes, have dropped by with a guest blog post to announce a special contest!

Get A “Twisted Lit” Character Named After You!

We reimagined William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” and “Macbeth,” with our “compulsively readable” YA books, Tempestuous and Exposure. Ever since the novels were published a few months ago through Merit Press we’ve encountered a frequent question: Which of Shakespeare’s plays will inspire your next books in the Twisted Lit series?

While we’re currently hard at work putting our own spin on the Bard’s “Romeo and Juliet” we thought we’d look to you, the readers, to help us pick the fourth Shakespeare play that will inspire our next book in the series. Got a hankering for a new spin on “Hamlet?” Love to see “King Lear” get a YA update? Would you make much ado over our take on “Much Ado About Nothing?”

Go to our Facebook page (Facebook.com/Twistedlitnovels) and write on our wall to weigh in on which Shakespeare play you’d like us to revamp next. In doing so, you’ll be entered to have your very own name mentioned in one of our upcoming books (either as a character or some other fun reference). If you’ve always wanted to see your name in print — in a YA novel, no less — now’s your chance! The winner will also receive autographed copies of our first two novels, Tempestuous and Exposure.

We’re looking forward to hearing your suggestions! (And don’t forget to follow us on twitter at @kaskew and @amyhelmes.)

* Winner will not be compensated for use of his or her name, and publication is not guaranteed. Details of plot and character used in connection with the name as it appears in the book are up to the sole discretion of the authors. Contest ends June 1.

Kim & Amy

Back in December, I reviewed Tempestuous and in January I reviewed Exposure. I loved both of them and can't wait to read the next book, Romeo and Juliet. 

Shout out to Indies - The Twisted Litsters

Guest blog post from Twisted Lit-sters Kim Askew and Amy Helmes

Two of the simplest credos in writing fiction are to write what you know and to write what you love. As former English majors (Kim’s currently getting her Masters in English lit, incidentally), we’ve studied plenty of Shakespeare over the years. And, well, it goes without saying that we get absolutely geeked-out over any chance to see his plays performed, on stage or on film. So when we teamed up to write our first novels for a YA audience, we decided to look to the Bard for inspiration. Shakespeare’s universal themes resonate with readers of every age and walk of life, and the possibility of yanking his stories into the 21st century with fresh concepts and thoroughly modern characters proved just the motivation we needed to write the first two books in our “Twisted Lit” series. Described as “compulsively readable,” they pay homage to classic literature while putting a new and different spin on the Bard’s original works. Even Shakespeare-phobes have found themselves engrossed in the stories. Considering the playwright himself drew inspiration from previous writers when penning his masterpieces, we don’t think he’d mind at all that we’ve tinkered with his ideas and had fun finding ways to cleverly re-interpret his plots, themes, and settings. (Tempestuoustake place in a mall where a group of high school students have been snowed in overnight, for example!) See if you don’t agree by checking out our debut novels, Tempestuous: a modern-day spin on Shakespeare’s“The Tempest” and Exposure: a modern-day spin on Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.”

 

 Published: Dec 18th, 2012                                                                              Published: Jan 18th, 2012

 

My review of Exposure -

Move over Shakespeare and make room for the Twisted Litsters.  If you have ever wondered just exactly what Shakespeare is trying to say, look no further than Twisted Litsters Kim Askew and Amy Helmes and their new series of 'updated' Shakespeare tales.  I just finished Exposure this morning and I am thrilled to say I loved every minute of it.  I am a bit of a closet Shakespeare fan and it was with some trepidation that I started reading Kim and Amy's modern take on Macbeth (or 'The Scottish Play' as it is referred to in the theatre).

No worries - Exposure was amazing.  The story is narrated this time around by photography geek Skye and we find out the twisted and torturous goings on in an Anchorage high school.  MacBeth has always been incredibly tragic, and Exposure pulled that tragedy into the 21st century and made it relatable to todays teenagers.  I loved the characters, all of them. Even cheerleader Beth, who was a brilliant take on the conniving Lady MacBeth from the original. Her fall from grace was very well done and completely exposed the insecurities that plague so many teens today. The three witches this time around are a trio of Native American girls who love to highlight their heritage.  I adored Cat, Tess and Kaya and the fact that they are so comfortable in their skins.

The usual high school angst is heightened by the tragedy of Duncan's death and Craig's  journey to admitting his wrong-doing is heartbreaking and yet enlightening.  There is so much going on here that I found it difficult to put the  book down, and I am not normally a great fan of contemporary fiction.  One definite plus is that if I didn't know that the book was written by two different people, I wouldn't have known - their writing styles are seamless.

A wonderful book that I thoroughly enjoyed and I am waiting impatiently to see what they come up with next.  I fancy seeing how they handle Twelfth Night or Romeo and Juliet. [I checked with Amy and discovered that they are in fact working on 'their' version of Romeo and Juliet, but it will be about a year at least before we see it.  What a pity. ]


If you'd like to, check out my review of Tempestuous

For more information, visit TwistedLitbooks.com. 

Tempestuous by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes

Published: December 18th, 2012

Publisher: Merit Press

Pages: 224

Copy: for review from authors

Summary: Goodreads

Recently banished, unfairly, by the school’s popular crowd, former “it girl,” Miranda Prospero, finds herself in a brave new world: holding dominion amongst a rag-tag crew of geeks and misfits where she works at the Hot-Dog Kabob in the food court of her local mall. When the worst winter storm of the season causes mall workers and last-minute shoppers to be snowed-in for the night, Miranda seizes the opportunity to get revenge against the catty clique behind her social exile. With help from her delightfully dweeby coworker, Ariel, and a sullen loner named Caleb who works at the mall’s nearby gaming and magic shop, Miranda uses charm and trickery to set things to right during this spirited take on Shakespeare’s The Tempest.


Buckle on your seatbelts and get ready for a wild ride.  This fascinating and hilarious new take on Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' was so much fun to read.  It's a long time since I was forced at chalk point to read The Tempest and I had forgotten much of it in my desire to repress less than stellar school memories. However after finishing 'Tempestuous', I'm about ready to pull out my pocket Shakespeare and refresh my memory.

Askew and Helmes have taken all the major plot points from the original and have set them in a contemporary mall, where a bunch of disparate teenagers have been forced to spend the night because of a huge snow storm.  Miranda is absolutely wonderful.  Her character imperfections and her road to 'recovery' are handled beautifully and with some tongue in cheek humour.  I could just picture her in my mind in her hotdog hat and bright red tights - you have to read about it to understand.

Secondary characters Caleb, Ariel, Chad, Grady, Rachel, the 'Itneys' and a host of others are perfect stereotypes and charicatures, but are at the same time real and believable and I recognised many of my old friends in these characters.  The action comes in the form of stealth glitter bombs (no I'm not kidding), rock concerts and mischief and mayhem in the food court, while trying to find the mysterious bad guy.  It all pulls together into this marvellous romantic comedy that is totally implausible and unlikely, yet completely fun.  By the end of it, you'll all be wishing that you too were snowed in at the mall.

I will have no hesitation in recommending 'Tempestuous' at work.   It was a funny, quick read that I thoroughly enjoyed.

PS Keep your eyes open for our Shout Out to Indies post in late January when we'll be meeting the authors.