Welcome to my stop on The Wicked Awakening Of Anne Merchant by Joanna Wiebe Blog Tour. Check out the full schedule HERE. I'm so excited to be part of this tour because I loved book 1 and loved this one even more!! Check out the awesome Guest Post below and then enter to win not one, not two, not even three copies of the book, but 15!!!
About The Wicked Awakening of Anne Merchant:
Life and death, light and dark, spirit and flesh-on Wormwood Island, the lines are always blurred. For Anne Merchant, who has been thrust back into this eerily secretive world, crossing the line seems inevitable, inescapable, destined. Now, as Ben finds himself battling for the Big V and Teddy reveals the celestial plan in which Anne is entwined, Anne must choose: embrace her darkly powerful connection to a woman known as Lilith and, in doing so, save the boy she loves...or follow a safer path that is sure to lead to Ben's destruction at the hands of dark leaders. Hoping the ends will justify the means, Anne starts down the slippery slope into the underworld, intent on exploring the dark to find the light. But as the lure of Lilith proves powerfully strong, will Anne save others-only to lose herself?
- Learn more: The Unseemly Book Website
Guest Post :
So Who the Hell Is Ben Zin and Why Is Anne So Obsessed with Him?
On the surface, okay, yes, Ben Zin is an attractive dude.
He was modeled after none other than Hayden Christensen, so, yeah – not too hard on ye olde eyes:
(source)
But there’s gotta be more to Mr. Zin than meets the eye, no? After all, Anne Merchant is not entirely shallow. She’s a geek who was raised in a funeral home, so she’s not exactly your run-of-the-mill swooner. Anne wouldn’t just fall madly in love with some guy because his eyes are the color of the sea and his nose crinkles a little on the rare occasion that he smiles.
Here’s what you may not know about Ben Zin. Read it over and see if you, finding yourself at the world’s craziest boarding school, might possibly take interest in him…
Warning: If you haven’t read The Unseemly Education of Anne Merchant yet,
don’t read this. Spoilers ahead.
BEN REMEMBERS ANNE FROM HIS OWN FUNERAL
Before Anne ever steps foot on Wormwood Island, Ben knows her. He remembers her as the girl who sketched him while he lay in his casket and then kissed him. And he still has the sketch she drew and signed (which his dad removed from his casket before it was closed).
(source)
For five years, Ben has held the memory of that blonde girl’s innocent kiss in his heart.
BEN TRIES TO DROP HINTS FOR ANNE FROM DAY 1, MOMENT 1
Everyone at Cania Christy was warned not to tell Anne the truth about the school. She was there as an experiment (or more – read The Wicked Awakening to learn why Villicus moved mountains to get Anne into his school), and no one was to tell her the truth: that they were all dead and vivified, and that she was living her third year in a coma.
But as soon as he sees Anne outside the headmaster’s office, Ben tries to drop hints. He knows he’ll be severely punished if he’s caught breaking the rules, but he’s willing to risk it to help her understand what’s going on so she might wake up.
BEN HAS SETTLED FOR A MINI-ANNE FOR YEARS
Yes, Ben was having an affair with a teacher (Garnet), but, to be fair, she wasn’t a teacher when they started dating. The reason he dated Garnet was because she was a blonde who resembled Anne. He knew he’d never be with the girl who kissed him that day – that he’d never even meet her again – and so he settled for Garnet. How could he have known that Anne would one day show up at his school?
BEN IS TORTURED BY THE DECISION HIS FATHER MADE
As far as Ben knows, Dr. Zin had to choose to vivify either his son (Ben) or his daughter Jeannie. He chose Ben. Survivor’s guilt has plagued him for years. Even worse? His dad’s been keeping a secret from him…
Add to that the fact that Ben is an artist, like Anne, and is very well read – to say nothing of the fact that he’s facing a future of being eternally sixteen and trapped on an island he hates – and I’d say it’s little wonder Anne’s into him.
Should she be, though?
Is he good for her, or would she be better on her own?
That’s the question I explore in The Wicked Awakening of Anne Merchant (Jan 20, 2015). Pick up a copy and see if you think Anne should go for Ben or ditch him…
BEN TRIES TO DROP HINTS FOR ANNE FROM DAY 1, MOMENT 1
Everyone at Cania Christy was warned not to tell Anne the truth about the school. She was there as an experiment (or more – read The Wicked Awakening to learn why Villicus moved mountains to get Anne into his school), and no one was to tell her the truth: that they were all dead and vivified, and that she was living her third year in a coma.
But as soon as he sees Anne outside the headmaster’s office, Ben tries to drop hints. He knows he’ll be severely punished if he’s caught breaking the rules, but he’s willing to risk it to help her understand what’s going on so she might wake up.
BEN HAS SETTLED FOR A MINI-ANNE FOR YEARS
Yes, Ben was having an affair with a teacher (Garnet), but, to be fair, she wasn’t a teacher when they started dating. The reason he dated Garnet was because she was a blonde who resembled Anne. He knew he’d never be with the girl who kissed him that day – that he’d never even meet her again – and so he settled for Garnet. How could he have known that Anne would one day show up at his school?
BEN IS TORTURED BY THE DECISION HIS FATHER MADE
As far as Ben knows, Dr. Zin had to choose to vivify either his son (Ben) or his daughter Jeannie. He chose Ben. Survivor’s guilt has plagued him for years. Even worse? His dad’s been keeping a secret from him…
Add to that the fact that Ben is an artist, like Anne, and is very well read – to say nothing of the fact that he’s facing a future of being eternally sixteen and trapped on an island he hates – and I’d say it’s little wonder Anne’s into him.
Should she be, though?
Is he good for her, or would she be better on her own?
That’s the question I explore in The Wicked Awakening of Anne Merchant (Jan 20, 2015). Pick up a copy and see if you think Anne should go for Ben or ditch him…
Havent read book one yet? Then check out The Unseemly Education Of Anne Merchant!!
After her mother’s death, 16-year-old art prodigy Anne Merchant moves from sunny California to the cold woodlands of Wormwood Island, Maine for what is supposed to be a fresh start. She is the newest student of Cania Christy, an elite boarding school that is as filled with secrets as it is with the world’s most privileged—and competitive—teens.About The Unseemly Education of Anne Merchant:
From the first day of school, Anne finds herself thrust into the Big V competition, an intense race to the top of the class. With enviable talents, she quickly becomes the enemy of every junior seeking the Big V—especially Harper, the presumed frontrunner.
Like every student, she is assigned a guardian, and a unique mission. Anne’s assignment is to “look deeper.” Anne is determined to succeed, and won’t let anything —not even her distractingly beautiful neighbor Ben—get in the way. But the deeper she looks the more questions arise, and the more she is forced to reexamine all of her assumptions—about the school, her classmates and even herself.
As layers of secrecy deepen, Anne leans on the friendship of Molly, a lifelong islander, and Pilot, the only junior not competing for the Big V, to make sense of this cloak-and-dagger world. But when people start disappearing, Anne uncovers a stunning truth that she must face head on—before she and everyone she loves is destroyed by it.
- Learn more: The Unseemly Book Website
By day, Joanna is a copywriter and the co-founder of CopyHackers.com and Page99Test.com, a critique site for published and unpublished writers. As an undergraduate student, Joanna won several academic awards for excellence in creative writing: Canada's James Patrick Folinsbee Prize, which she won twice, as well as the Godfrey Prize.After graduating, she lived for a year on the remote northern island of Hokkaido, Japan, which is the inspiration for the verdant Wormwood Island of the V Trilogy. She holds a BA in Honors English and an MA in Communications from the University of Alberta and lives with her partner Lance in Victoria, British Columbia.The Unseemly Education of Anne Merchant is her first novel and the first installment in the V Trilogy.
Giveaway Info:
BenBella Books is generously offering up 15 copies of The Wicked Awakening of Anne Merchant, so please enter the Rafflecopter form below for your chance to win! Giveaway is open to US addresses only.
This book sounds different to my usual reads but I think I'll be adding it to my Want To Read Wishlist. . . so when I fancy something different I could give it a go. Thanks for introducing this book/series to readers Natalie!
ReplyDeleteIts so good Sandra!! I love this series and am happy to recommend it to everyone :)
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