Earth and Sky by Megan Crewe

Published: October 28th

Publisher: Razorbill Canada

Pages: 336

Copy: Netgalley

Summary: Goodreads

Seventeen-year-old Skylar has been haunted for as long as she can remember by fleeting yet powerful sensations that something is horribly wrong. But despite the panic attacks tormenting her, nothing ever happens, and Sky’s beginning to think she’s crazy. Then she meets a mysterious, otherworldly boy named Win and discovers the shocking truth her premonitions have tapped into: our world no longer belongs to us. For thousands of years, Earth has been at the mercy of alien scientists who care nothing for its inhabitants and are using us as the unwitting subjects of their time-manipulating experiments. Win belongs to a rebel faction seeking to put a stop to it, and he needs Skylar’s help--but with each shift in the past, the very fabric of reality is unraveling, and soon there may be no Earth left to save.

Skylar is a fascinating character.  She has managed to conquer a severely debilitating tendency to panic attacks and for that I admired her.  It also made it easier to understand why she didn't go screaming to the authorities when she meets Win.  When you've been coping by yourself for so long, I guess it makes sense to keep going alone.

Time travel is a very sticky subject and Ms Crewe has managed it very well.  Same place, same time conundrum, characters here are 'doxed' (sorry if that is the wrong term.  I couldn't find the exact spot in the book) which means that they are whisked out of the way to avoid meeting themselves.  Changing the future by changing the past - it happens, and Skylar's reaction to it was interesting.

In fact the whole idea of earth being an alien science experiment is totally fascinating.  Come on - don't tell me that thought has never crossed your mind? I particularly loved that there are far reaching consequences to all of these so called 'minor' time changes, and our world is basically unraveling.

Ms Crewe has written a fantastic and believable world, populated with interesting characters.   There is a sense of urgency throughout the whole story, which keeps things moving  and I am looking forward to seeing what is next in store for Skylar and Win. Oh, and where can I find one of those time travel tents? It sounds mighty useful.

The Worlds We Make by Megan Crewe

 

Published: February 11th, 2014

Publisher: Hyperion

Pages: 288

Copy: Library

Summary: Goodreads

 

 

The virus has taken away Kaelyn’s friends, her family, her home.

And now a deadly enemy threatens to take the one hope she has left: THE CURE.

When Kaelyn and her friends reached Toronto with a vaccine for the virus that has ravaged the population, they thought their journey was over. But now they're being tracked by the Wardens, a band of survivors as lethal as the virus who are intent on stealing the vaccine no matter what the cost.

Forced onto the road again, Kaelyn and her companions discover the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta is their best hope for finding scientists who can reproduce the vaccine. But with the virus already spreading among them, the Wardens hot on their trail, and hundreds of miles to cross, Kaelyn finds herself compromising her morals to keep her group alive. Her conscience seems a small price to pay if protects them and their precious cargo. Unless even that is not enough...

In the final installment in Megan Crewe’s captivating the Fallen World trilogy, Kaelyn is on the run from her biggest adversaries yet. While she continues to face horrific loss, her resolve is still strong. But to survive this shattered world, will she have to sacrifice all that's left of the girl she was?

 

 



I have taken a very harrowing journey with Kaelyn, Leo, Justin and Anika.  They've been chased constantly, shot at and escaped by the skin of their teeth, time after time.  They deserve kudos for never giving up in their resolve to get to Atlanta.  Throughout the story we are given numerous examples of people doing whatever they have to to survive, even if it's not always what they think of as right.  I particularly loved how they would make the best of things - like using a farm tractor and trailer for transportation when they couldn't find any more cars - brilliant.

Ms Crewe has developed her characters continually over each of the three books and they constantly surprised and delighted me.  Occasionally they would do things that irritated me, but I could always see the rationale behind their actions.  Anika 's growth in particular was interesting to observe. She was such a conflicted soul, always looking out for herself, but in the end she tried so hard to be there for others.

As the final book in the trilogy, the pacing was not exactly break-neck, but there was a level of tension that never really decreased.  When they all arrive in Atlanta, Kae is faced with a situation that would frustrate and confuse just about anyone.  I loved the solution that she eventually came up with, even if I did think it was a little idealistic.  Through all the negativity there was a thread of hope that Kae never gave up on.

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed 'The Worlds we Make' and I thought it rounded out the trilogy very nicely.  Not too violent, but over all very realistic.  I'm going to enjoy recommending this one.

The Lives We Lost by Megan Crewe

Published: February 12th, 2013

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Pages: 288

Copy: Publisher through Netgalley

Summary: Goodreads

First, the virus took Kaelyn’s friends. Then, her family. Now it’s taken away her home.

But she can't look back—the life she once had is gone forever.

A deadly virus has destroyed Kaelyn’s small island community and spread beyond the quarantine. No one is safe. But when Kaelyn finds samples of a vaccine in her father's abandoned lab, she knows there must be someone, somewhere, who can replicate it. As Kaelyn and her friends head to the mainland, they encounter a world beyond recognition. It’s not only the “friendly flu” that’s a killer—there are people who will stop at nothing to get their hands on the vaccine. How much will Kaelyn risk for an unproven cure, when the search could either destroy those she loves or save the human race?

Megan Crewe's second volume in the Fallen World trilogy is an action-packed journey that explores the resilience of friendship, the ache of lost love, and Kaelyn’s enduring hope in the face of the sacrifices she must make to stay alive.

First off, I have to say that I love the fact that this series is set in Canada.  Travelling through the Canadian countryside with Kaelyn, Gav and the others was really exciting - and Cold!  Perhaps because I have experienced Canadian winters, it was easy to believe the conditions that the group were travelling in and made it seem very real.

Another thing Ms Crewe does well is illustrate how quickly society breaks down in the face of disaster.  How everything suddenly goes to extremes - good or evil - there is very little in the middle.  People find it very hard to trust any more and this adds an additional element of danger to everything that they do.

Gav continues to be one of my favourite characters.  He is such a genuine caring young man that it is impossible not to like him.  Kaelyn too, continues to be amazingly single-minded in her quest to deliver her father's research.  You just have to admire her tenacity.  The Lives We Lost is a compelling apocalyptic novel with intriguing characters and an intense, exciting story.

The first title in the series - The Way We Fall  - has been chosen as one of this years White Pine nominees in the Forest of Reading challenge - and I'm having a really hard time chosing a favourite this year.  Dark Inside (Jeyn Roberts), The Taming (Walters and Toten) and Witchlanders (Lena Coakley) are just three of the other nominees.  Getting over Garrett Delaney is another. The full list is at the bottom of this post.  All of them are worth adding to your TBR list of you having read them yet.

The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe

Published: January 24, 2011

Publisher: Disney, Hyperion

Pages: 304

Copy: Netgalley and Publisher

Summary: Goodreads

It starts with an itch you just can't shake. Then comes a fever and a tickle in your throat. A few days later, you'll be blabbing your secrets and chatting with strangers like they’re old friends. Three more, and the paranoid hallucinations kick in.

And then you're dead.

When a deadly virus begins to sweep through sixteen-year-old Kaelyn’s community, the government quarantines her island—no one can leave, and no one can come back.

Those still healthy must fight for dwindling supplies, or lose all chance of survival. As everything familiar comes crashing down, Kaelyn joins forces with a former rival and discovers a new love in the midst of heartbreak. When the virus starts to rob her of friends and family, she clings to the belief that there must be a way to save the people she holds dearest.

Because how will she go on if there isn't?

Megan Crewe crafts a powerful and gripping exploration of self-preservation, first love, and hope. Poignant and dizzying, this heart-wrenching story of one girl’s bravery and unbeatable spirit will leave readers fervently awaiting the next book in this standout new series.

I was lucky enough to meet Megan Crewe a little while ago at DarkLitFest in Oshawa.  I bought her first book Give up the Ghost at that time and really enjoyed it.  She had mentioned that she had another book/series in the works, so when I saw The Way We Fall available on Netgalley I knew I just had to give it a shot. I was not disappointed.

Written as a series of letters, or diary entries, addressed to a friend who has left the island, The Way We Fall gives a clear picture of what happens to a small community when tragedy strikes.  Kae's first person POV allows us to get inside her head and feel as if we are experiencing things for ourselves.  Ms Crewe manages to clearly paint the break-down of society and shows us how some people fall apart in a crisis, and other people shine.

I realise that I read an ARC and that quotes are not final, but this one illustrates how difficult it is to understand people.

'Maybe the gang thought it'd be fun to destroy a few buildings.  These are people who'll shoot someone just for being sick, after all.  But it seems to me like they're sick too - sick with fear, sick with selfishness.  How can anyone do all the things they do without hating themselves for it?' (p243 from ARC)

'And you know what? As long as they keep their bullets and their fires away from the people I care about, that's all reight with me.' (P246 from ARC)

Gav was an interesting character.  Someone who appears one way, but is in fact completely the opposite.   Just a normal kid who's trying to make a difference any way he can.  I think I'd like to meet him in fact.

'I don't know if I would have opened up to him if I hadn't seen how he acted when the town was falling apart.  I want to believe that we'd have ended up together no matter what, that our feelings go beyond the awful circumstances that've thrown us together, but it's not like either of us can say for sure.' (p280 from ARC - Kae talking of her feelings about Gav)

Sorry, that last one may be a spoiler, but to me it just illustrates that we can be victims of circumstance, and that we never really know how we will react to people or situations. And sometimes people surprise us.

Ms Crewe has written a believable and very moving story about what might possibly happen to any of us, given todays climate. About finding our inner strength and overcoming adversity.  It's scary, in a day to day way, and I really enjoyed it.  I look forward to seeing what happens next to Kae and Gav. Highly recommended for everyone, but especially for those who enjoyed Susan Beth Pfeffer's Life As We Knew It. 

On a side note, there is a sure-fire way to tell a writer is Canadian, and that's when the characters take their shoes off when they go into someone's house -  Canadians eh!

Ist Annual Darklit Fest of Durham

Yesterday I was lucky enough to attend some of Darklit Fest of Durham, which was held at the Oshawa library. I was there with two friends and we particularly wanted to hear the panel on Putting YA in the Graveyard:writng supernatural teen fiction and to meet Kelley Armstrong, who was the guest of honour.We didn't get there until 2.00 pm as the YA panel was the one that really interested us but there were lots of other great things going on. If you are at all interested in what you missed, check out THIS LINK to the festival home page.


Participating on the YA panel were Kelley Armstrong, Megan Crewe and Robert Paul Weston, and Joel Sutherland (who writes for younger readers) was the moderator. (Unfortunately, Lesley Livingstone had to cancel.) I could write an essay on the questions asked and answers given, but I'll just say that it was very interesting listening to three successful authors discuss their take on the trends in YA publishing today. Just before the panel, each author did a short reading from their novels.




Published April 2011 by Harper Collins

Maya lives in a small medical-research town on Vancouver Island. How small? You can’t find it on the map. It has less than two-hundred people, and her school has only sixty-eight students—for every grade from kindergarten to twelve. Now, strange things are happening in this claustrophobic town, and Maya's determined to get to the bottom of them. First, the captain of the swim team drowns mysteriously in the middle of a calm lake. A year later, mountain lions start appearing around Maya's home, and they won’t go away. Her best friend, Daniel, starts getting negative vibes from certain people and things. It doesn't help that the new bad boy in town, Rafe, has a dangerous secret—and he's interested in one special part of Maya's anatomy: Her paw-print birthmark.



Published Sept 2009 by Henry Holt


Cass McKenna much prefers ghosts over "breathers". Ghosts are uncomplicated and dependable, and they know the dirt on everybody... and Cass loves dirt. She's on a mission to expose the dirty secrets of the poseurs in her school. But when the vice president of the student council discovers her secret, Cass's whole scheme hangs in the balance. Tim wants her to help him contact his recently deceased mother, and Cass reluctantly agrees. As Cass becomes increasingly entwined in Tim's life, she's surprised to realize he's not so bad — and he needs help more desperately than anyone else suspects. Maybe it’s time to give the living another chance...



Published September 2010 by Razorbill


Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?
His son, that's who.
Ever since his father's arrest for the murder of Little Red Riding Hood, teen wolf Henry Whelp has kept a low profile in a Home for Wayward Wolves . . . until a murder at the Home leads Henry to believe his father may have been framed.
Now, with the help of his kleptomaniac roommate, Jack, and a daring she-wolf named Fiona, Henry will have to venture deep into the heart of Dust City; a rundown, gritty metropolis where fairydust is craved by everyone and controlled by a dangerous mob of Water Nixies and their crime boss leader, Skinner. Can Henry solve the mystery of his family's sinister past? Or, like his father before him, is he destined for life as a big bad wolf?


Kelley, as guest of honour, did a reading from The Gathering, and answered some questions by herself at the end of the session. Lots of questions and answers that we've heard before, but this one stood out.

Q Is there any genre or subject that you would like to write about that you haven't yet tried?

A Werewolf Western!

Isn't that a hoot. There were several publishers there for the 'Pitch' sessions earlier in the day, and it was really funny when one of them spoke up and said if Kelley wanted to write a werewolf western, they would publish it. Who knows what we might see in Kelley's future!

I came home with signed copies of Dust City and Give up the Ghost, so look for reviews of those in the near(ish) future, and as soon as I can lay my hands on a copy of The Gathering, you'll see that review as well. All in all a fun afternoon, and I got to have lunch with friends into the bargain. What more could you ask?