Amanda's To Read or Not to Read?: release party

Monday, June 29, 2015

OEAE Predictions | Ever Afters Blog Party!

Can you believe Of Enemies and Endings hits the shelves tomorrow? Whose already pre-ordered a copy?
We're going to bring The Ever Afters finale in right. Today, we're sharing pet theories and predictions of what's going to happen before the end.

Top 7 Countdown
All songs are derived from the Character Playlists featured during an Ever Afters blog tour.
#2 in the Character Playlist Countdown is something you'll want to have on hand when you start reading OEAE. Apres Moi by Regina Spektor comes from Solange's playlist. It's intense, unpredictable, moving, and operatic. It's flamboyant and frightening at the same time, like The Snow Queen herself.

(It's also fun to pair it with Hero by Regina Spektor, a song on Rory's playlist. Ms. Bach talked about how much it helped her write the characters for the villain and hero to have complimentary songs by the same artist.)

Quote of the Day

Of Enemies and Endings Predictions

Some of you know that I've already read and reviewed OEAE, but don't panic. These are predictions I wrote up before then, I just decided to save them for the Blog Party! In other words, they're still spoiler-free.

Hold onto your hats, because these are all...intense.

Solange will attempt to prove once and for all that Rory is just like her. She's already stated as much throughout the series, like in OWAW (pg 352) "I was the direction your life was headed...you would have become me, if you had lived." I suspect this will happen by Solange attempting to draw a final parallel between her and Rory.
This final parallel could be tragic. Possibly involving Chase. Consider this other line from OWAW (pg 50) when Rory finds Sebastian "The stone soldier was looking sidelong, a sad smile forever frozen around his mouth, his shoulders hunched forward -he'd been protecting something when the spell had hit him, something precious. Or maybe someone."
Someone will try to revive Sebastian.
We'll get to find out more about Solange and her Tale and her journey to becoming evil.

So there are some of my predictions for Of Enemies and Endings.

What about your favorite pet theories? Share them now!

Haley R:

Sebastian will be unfrozen and will have some part in the Snow Queen's demise.

Hansel will die.

The Snow Queen's heart is in a box and by finding the box, Rory or someone will kill her.

This isn't exactly mine but I agree with it. I think that Adelaide will be using the wishing coin to influence Chase in some way.

Sherah will get legs or something that gives her legs.

Aurora H:

I have a pet theory that I don't think can actually canonically come to pass, but I'll share it anyway.

That a member of the Canon will give up their golden apple during the war to a fatally injured person, and then go out on the battlefield and die.

My top candidate is the Director, going out to confront Solange. Cue the emotional drama, friendship and betrayal talk, and Mildred gets a blast of ice to the heart.

Second choice is Hansel, who saves Rory from impending doom, and dies with a remark about her swordwork.

Both of those would likely turn to dust before being able to confront, but that would still be feelsy enough, just them giving up their apple. In my opinion.

So many possibilities!

Ever Afters Dolls Giveaway
Don't forget to enter the Blog Party! giveaway. The contest ends at midnight on June 30th, and I'll announce the winner the next day. (Giveaway open only to US residents.)
You can tweet daily for even more chances to win!

Lena's getting tired of Rory's denial.

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Day 1: Fan Art + Giveaway

Day 2: Favorite Book

Day 3: Favorite Character

Day 4: Favorite Character to Despise
Day 5: Favorite Scene/Moment
Day 6: OEAE Predictions
Day 7: What Makes The Ever Afters Special to You?

Tomorrow is the very last day! Don't miss your chance to share What Makes The Ever Afters So Special To You.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Favorite Book | Ever Afters Blog Party!

Welcome to the second day of the glorious festivities! Here's your party hat.

Top 7 Countdown
The playlist for Chase Turnleaf is, hands down, my favorite. You'll see a lot of those songs on this countdown. First up, at #6, Kings of Leon with Use Somebody:

Quote of the Day:

Of Giants and Ice, pg 340

For today's fan project, we'll be analyzing the individual books to answer one very specific question. Which one is your favorite so far? I know it's hard. There's so many good parts in all of them!

Personally, my favorite has to be Of Witches and Wind. I still can't get over the reveal of Chase's secret, and the dramatically different side of him we get to see here. This development, and how it pushes and challenges Rory, still blows me away, three rereads later. Plus, they get stuck in Atlantis together and get some more bonding time, which I love. There's also the other side of the story, with Rory and her dad, and how it's so perfectly integrated into the fairy tale side. I've always loved that Rory had to step out of Atlantis and finish part of the quest in Hollywood, and it heaps so much more on to her emotional development to have all that stuff happening at once. I feel like it has a lot more drama with Chase's side of the story, but it still retains all it's fun qualities. Basically, things are starting to get serious, but they're not too serious yet. Add in Chatty, Ben, their awesomely corny jokes, IRON HANS, and my very favorite scene at the end where Chase walks into her homeroom class -yep. OWAW is my favorite. ;)

What's Your Favorite Book?

Aurora H. says

Favorite book is so very difficult. But I'd have to say OWAW. Because though OSAS was the most heartbreaking emotional rollercoaster OWAW's character and plot development blows me away every time I read it. 'Nuff said.

Clare R

My favorite book of the series is Of Sorcery and Snow. The reason: Chaurora. There are other reasons, but that one’s very prominent.

And from Haley R

My favorite book of the series is Of Witches and Wind, which is funny because for the longest time it was my least favorite book. It was just that I had figured out the Chatty and Mia thing in the first few chapters, so I always thought it was blatantly obvious. It's not, but that always annoyed me a bit. When I've reread it recently, though, I realized what a masterfully written book it is. So much happens in the book and it never really even occurred to me. In Of Giants and Ice, Rory was a strong character, but in Of Witches and Wind she's even stronger. She is completely integrated in EAS, and it shows. She is comfortable there, and though she probably doesn't know as much as Chase, she can find her way around fairly well. It's also the book where Chase's big secret (one of them anyway) is revealed. With the information that he's half-Fey in my mind, I'm reading OGAI and noticing things I never really counted as important, but now it's obvious that it is actually about his heritage. Another part I found interesting is that OWAW focuses on Rory's dad and Brie and her relationship with them. In the first book, the two characters are mentioned but they don't really have a large role. We get to see the other side of Rory's family and watch her grapple with the fact that her dad is engaged and didn't even tell her. Rory also thinks that she's not strong enough to battle the Snow Queen, but she not faces her fears and doubts, she beats them.

Another important part of Of Witches and Wind is the introduction of a sort of gray area. In Of Giants and Ice, everything is pretty black and white. The Snow Queen is bad, EAS is good. Pretty simple. In OWAW, though, it becomes a little more complicated than that. First, Chase and Rory meet Iron Hans. Considered one of the worst villains, they are surprised to find that he is actually... nice. He says that he was once friends with Solange, which is why he helped her. He also has the tale of the White Snake which reminds me of Evan and the problems he had with his Tale. This lends a bit of familiarization to him and helps with sympathizing. Then, they learn about the Snow Queen's past. She was not always the horrible person they now know. Her sister is Rapunzel, whom Rory is fairly close to and really likes. Solange's mother died when she was younger, in the French Revolution, and both of her best friends were taken away when she was sixteen. That would be enough to make anyone bitter. They begin to realize that everything isn't always going to be clear-cut and even the people they thought were terrible might just be perceived that way, or it could be because of their circumstances

Sorry, that was really long.

No apologies necessary! This is a Blog Party; if we can't fangril here, where could we?

Thanks for stopping by again, fellow Characters! Before you go, don't forget to enter the GIVEAWAY. This is, unfortunately, only open to citizens of the US. And if you haven't seen it, Shelby Bach is also doing a massive and magnificent batch of giveaways on her blog.

This giveaway will end on the 30th of June and I will announce the lucky winner on the 1st of July. The giveaway is only open to residents of the US.

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Rory, Chase, and Lena have been getting a little antsy waiting for the outcome. They've taken to exploring my room when I'm not around. This is how I found them when I got home from work yesterday.