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Sunday, October 18, 2020

Blog Tour- POISONED by @JenWritesBooks With An Interview & #Giveaway! @ireadya,@Scholastic,& @RockstarBkTours  

 


I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the POISONED by Jennifer Donnelly Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

 

About the Book:

Title: POISONED

Author: Jennifer Donnelly

Pub. Date: October 20, 2020

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Formats: Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook

Pages: 320

Find it: GoodreadsAmazon, Kindle, AudibleB&NiBooks, KoboTBD, Bookshop.org

From Jennifer Donnelly, author of the acclaimed New York Times bestseller Stepsister, comes a fairytale retelling that'll forever change the way you think about strength, power, and the real meaning of "happily ever after."


Once upon a time, a girl named Sophie rode into the forest with the queen's huntsman. Her lips were the color of ripe cherries, her skin as soft as new-fallen snow, her hair as dark as midnight. When they stopped to rest, the huntsman took out his knife . . . and took Sophie's heart.

It shouldn't have come as a surprise. Sophie had heard the rumors, the whispers. They said she was too kind and foolish to rule -- a waste of a princess. A disaster of a future queen. And Sophie believed them. She believed everything she'd heard about herself, the poisonous words people use to keep girls like Sophie from becoming too powerful, too strong . . .

With the help of seven mysterious strangers, Sophie manages to survive. But when she realizes that the jealous queen might not be to blame, Sophie must find the courage to face an even more terrifying enemy, proving that even the darkest magic can't extinguish the fire burning inside every girl, and that kindness is the ultimate form of strength. 

 


 

Interview:

Hey Jennifer! First I want to say welcome to Two Chicks on Books I’m glad you could stop by for a chat! POISONED sounds AWESOME and I can’t wait for everyone to read it!

Thank you so much for hosting me! I’m so excited for readers to meet Sophie, POISONED’s main character, and follow her on her journey.

 

For the readers: can you tell us a little bit about the POISONED and the characters?

POISONED is a retelling of SNOW WHITE. Ever since I first heard the story, as a small child, I’ve been both terrified and fascinated by the talking mirror. I’ve always wanted to know who, exactly, is inside it and what it wants from us. I wrote POISONED to find out. I can’t tell you who it is – that would be quite a spoiler – but I can tell you that it doesn’t have our best interests at heart.

There’s an evil queen in the story, of course, but she’s not the one we’ve been told about. This queen is a ruler first and foremost, with bigger concerns than a few wrinkles, but like the queen in the classic tale, she listens to the voice in the mirror and allows it to take her power.

Sophie, the Snow White character, is a kind, gentle girl, but in the queen’s court, no value is place on kindness. Sophie is constantly told all the things she’s not – not tough enough, shrewd enough, strong enough. When the queen orders her huntsman to take Sophie into the woods and cut out her heart, Sophie faces a harrowing choice: she can hide, stay silent, and acquiesce to the queen’s brutal reign, or she can rebel and use the very thing that’s wrong about her to pursue what’s right.

A handsome prince is makes an appearance or two, as do seven mysterious men of the woods, but there are a lot of new character in this retelling including a rather cheerful grave robber, waldwichts (a monster made of sticks), wunschfetzens (drippy, quivery little guys who pull your memories out of your ears), a handsome, quiet archer, and his not-so-quiet grandmother, to name just a few.  

 

What are you working on now?

My third fairy tale retelling, and a new historical novel. They’re very different books, and I’m obsessed with both of them.

 

Were any of the characters in the book inspired by people from your real life?

There are always bits and pieces of real people collaged into my characters. We writers are thieves; we steal the intangibles – a person’s smile, the way he tilts his head or wears his years – stash them for a bit, then use them in our stories.

 

Who was your favorite character to write?

I loved writing all of them – Sophie, Adelaide the evil queen, the huntsman (who narrates a good deal of the book), and the person in the mirror. Loved writing him!

 

What is your favorite passages/scenes in POISONED?

Very tough to answer this because I don’t want to give anything away. I loved writing the prologue and setting the stage for what’s to come. I loved writing the prince and the archer. And the huntsman. And the end, loved writing the end – there’s a bit of a twist there, but you’ll have to read the book to discover what it is!  

 

Who is your ultimate book boyfriend?

Bartleby the Scrivener. He must be. I quote him all the time.

 

What inspired you to write fairy tale retellings?

A lifelong quest for answers. I’ve always wanted to know what made Cinderella’s ugly stepsisters so mean. Who decided they were ugly? Who gets to decide that anyone is ugly? And why do we allow it? What made the evil queen in Snow White evil? How did she have so much time to gaze into a mirror – didn’t she have a realm to rule? And who, or what, is inside that mirror?

 

 

 

Lightning Round Questions

 

What are you reading right now? Or what do you have on your TBR that you’re dying to read?

 

So many books! My TBR stack is teetering! Ash by Malinda Lo, The Night Country by Melissa Albert, A Map to the Sun by Sloane Leong, Toast by Nigel Slater, Luster by Raven Leilani, Home by Marilynne Robinson, The End of the World by Geraldine McCaughrean, Laughing Shall I Die by Tom Shippey – the stack only ever seems to get taller.

 

Instagram, Twitter or Facebook?

 

All of the above.

 

Favorite Superhero?

 

Turtle Girl. She gets turtles safely out of the road so they don’t get run over. (I made her up.)

 

Favorite TV show?

 

Halloween Wars

 

Sweet or Salty?

 

Sweet. Salty doesn’t even come close.

 

Any Phobias?

 

Poached eggs on top of salad greens. When I see that, I run.

 

Song you can’t get enough of right now?

 

Gaga’s Joann. I heard it playing the other day and was just as blown away as the first time.

 

Fall/Winter 2020 Movie you’re most looking forward to?

 

Does a series count? If so, Season Two of His Dark Materials. The actors are all amazing, Ruth Wilson is terrifying as Mrs. Coulter, and Iorek Byrnison is one of my favorite literary characters ever!

 

Thanks so much Jennifer for answering my questions! I can’t wait for everyone to read POISONED!

You’re very welcome! I hope you and your readers enjoy POISONED! 

 

About Jennifer:

Jennifer Donnelly is the author of A Northern Light, which was awarded a Printz Honor and a Carnegie Medal; Revolution (named a Best Book by Amazon, Kirkus ReviewsSchool Library Journal, and the Chicago Public Library, and nominated for a Carnegie Medal); the Deep Blue series; and many other books for young readers, including Lost in a Book, which spent more than 20 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. She lives in New York's Hudson Valley.

 

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon


Giveaway Details:

3 winners will receive a finished copy of POISONED, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

10/1/2020

The Book Nut : A Book Lovers Guide

Review

10/2/2020

oddandbookish

Review

10/3/2020

popthebutterfly

Review

 

Week Two:

10/4/2020

A Backwards Story

Review

10/5/2020

Fictitiouswonderland

Review

10/6/2020

Kait Plus Books

Interview

10/7/2020

The Book Rookery

Review

10/8/2020

History from a Woman’s Perspective

Review

10/9/2020

Momfluenster

Review

10/10/2020

Thindbooks Blog

Review

 

Week Three:

10/11/2020

The Momma Spot

Review

10/12/2020

Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers

Review

10/13/2020

Bookhounds YA

Review

10/14/2020

Seeing Double In Neverland

Review

10/15/2020

Book-Keeping

Review

10/16/2020

Nays Pink Bookshelf

Review

10/17/2020

Lisa Loves Literature

Review

 

Week Four:

10/18/2020

Two Chicks on Books

Interview

10/19/2020

The Pages In-Between

Review

10/20/2020

Two Points of Interest

Review


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