Interview + Giveaway: Joy N. Hensley and Rites of Passage

I couldn't be more excited today to welcome author Joy Hensley to the blog to answer a few questions about her debut YA novel, Rites of Passage. As you guys already know, this book is one that made me rage and cry and want to scream at the top of my lungs at the unfairness of it all, but I loved every single second of it. Protagonist Sam proved herself to be stronger than those around her mentally when she simply couldn't be so physically, and I may or may not have hugged the book to my chest and imagined she might take some comfort from it. I think it's fairly obvious from my gushing this week and last that Rites of Passage has my highest recommendation, so I hope everyone picks up a copy next Tuesday when it releases!

Like Sam, you ended up at a military school on a dare. Can you tell us what you dared the other person to do in return?

Man, I wish I had some epic dare to give back, like swimming with sharks with fish strapped to your body or something like that. The truth is, I don’t think there was a return dare. I was struggling. I hated college, wanted to join the military, and my friend said, “Hey, I’ll give you $25 bucks if you last a year at military school.” Here’s a not-so-secret secret: I survived the year, but never got my $25. Believe me, this friend has never lived this down!

It’s her late brother’s final dare that has Sam enrolling at Denmark Military Academy. If Amos were alive to see her complete it, what gauntlet might Sam have thrown down for him next?

Oh, man, you’re throwing out the tough questions today! You know, their dares are such a part of them that at this point it would have to be something huge. And, it couldn’t be “Run a tough mudder,” because, you know, these guys are tough. I’d like to think Sam would make Amos be in a play or something—something that would totally put him outside his comfort zone and annoy the heck out of their dad at the same time!

The cruelty Sam endures at the hands of her superiors and her classmates is the type that had me wanting to punch the cover of the book in the hopes that a certain character or two might feel my knuckles where it would hurt them most. What was the last book that had you so emotionally involved you were ready to battle an inanimate object on a character’s behalf?

Wow! That’s awesome. I mean, I hope you don’t hurt yourselves punching things because of my book, but it would be kind of an awesome story to tell. As far as your question goes, I’ve got two—I hope that’s okay. I read a ton of YA, too, so these are both YA books, however, they are definitely adult books, too. No one I’ve recommended these books to has said they are anything other than life-changing, kids and adults alike.

First, there’s STOLEN, by Lucy Christopher. It’s written in letter form from a girl who was kidnapped to the guy who kidnapped her. She’s taken to the Australian Outback and held captive. It is so haunting and beautiful and OMG THE END I WANTED TO KILL EVERYONE AND THROW THE BOOK OUT THE WINDOW AND QUESTION MY WHOLE LIFE PURPOSE. I actually did have a student who threw the book across the room so hard that she broke a window and was grounded for it.

Second, WINGER, by Andrew Smith, without a doubt. That book…I just can’t even explain it. I’m a teacher (or was, this will be my first year out of the classroom in nine years) and I finished WINGER in the morning right before class. I was so upset I started crying. The bell rang, the students came in, and I was SOBBING at my desk because I so wanted to “fix” the book. The students just stared at me—they’d never seen anyone cry over a book before. While sniffling, I picked up the book and put it on one of my students’ desks. I said, “READ THIS. IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE!” Then I cried for ten more minutes while the kids just stared at me. I was one weird teacher, let me tell you!

Sam is unbelievably strong mentally and emotionally, determined to make it through the entire year at the DMA. What’s one quality of her character you too possess or one quality you wish you possessed?

Man, I wish I had Sam’s strength. I think part of the fun I had writing her was that I made her how I wish I had been at military school. I was more like her roommate (which is really embarrassing to say). I can look back now and tell you the million things I wish I’d done differently or tried harder at during my year in the Corps. Sam gave me the chance to do it over and kick ass!

Rites of Passage is written from Sam’s point of view, so we don’t get to spend any time in her drill sergeant’s head. If Drill were asked to describe the Sam of day one at DMA in three words, what words would he use? The Sam at the end of the book?

Man, these are hard questions. I’ve been away from Drill so long, I’m going to have to try and channel him. Let’s see….He’d probably say the Sam of day one is eager to prove herself. He sees a glimpse of his sister in her and he’s intrigued. The Sam at the end of the book? Faithful and without a doubt one of the strongest females he knows. He knows she’s destined for great things at the DMA and beyond.

Just for fun, let’s say Rites of Passage is now a paranormal novel. What supernatural gift or ability might Sam choose to help her get through the hazing?

Ha! Um, she’s pretty strong, so she wouldn’t need strength or speed or anything like that. It would have made it easier if she could have some sort of supernatural ability that helped her be likeable to anyone. Kind of like a chameleon—she would appear like the perfect person to anyone and everyone, no matter that she’s a girl there.

We’re left with things wrapped up pretty nicely, but there’s definitely room for more (please let there be more!). Looking forward to her second year, what would Sam say are her top three goals?

I would love for there to be more! Right now there aren’t any more DMA books in the works, but I certainly wouldn’t rule them out. Sam’s top three goals for next year?

1. Be the type of drill sergeant her recruits can trust and count on.
2. Be a model female and continue to show the boys that girls are just as good as them!
3. As always, make her dad proud.

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions Joy!

• • • • • • • • • • •

RITES OF PASSAGE

Sam McKenna’s never turned down a dare. And she's not going to start with the last one her brother gave her before he died.

So Sam joins the first-ever class of girls at the prestigious Denmark Military Academy. She’s expecting push-ups and long runs, rope climbing and mud-crawling. As a military brat, she can handle an obstacle course just as well as the boys. She's even expecting the hostility she gets from some of the cadets who don’t think girls belong there. What she’s not expecting is her fiery attraction to her drill sergeant. But dating is strictly forbidden and Sam won't risk her future, or the dare, on something so petty...no matter how much she wants him.

As Sam struggles to prove herself, she discovers that some of the boys don’t just want her gone—they will stop at nothing to drive her out. When their petty threats turn to brutal hazing, bleeding into every corner of her life, she realizes they are not acting alone. A decades-old secret society is alive and active… and determined to force her out.
At any cost.

Now time's running short. Sam must decide who she can trust...and choosing the wrong person could have deadly consequences.

Goodreads • Amazon

• • • • • • • • • • •

JOY N. HENSLEY

Born and raised in Virginia, I've come back to my roots after five years of wandering up and down the East Coast. From being a barista to editing, writing commercials for television to being a middle school/high school English teacher, there's nothing I'm not willing to try. That includes going to military school (on a dare), hiking 600 miles of the Appalachian Trail, and playing in the mud with my students!

A graduate of Greensboro College, I received the Excellence in English award for my fiction and poetry contributions. In 2007 I graduated from Long Ridge Writers Group's Breaking Into Print class, and in 2009 I finished their Shape, Write, and Sell Your Novel classes.
 
Now, between hiking, doing obstacle course runs, and having fun with my husband and two sons, I continue to write. I am repped by Mandy Hubbard at D4EO Literary Agency.

Website • Facebook • Twitter 

• • • • • • • • • • • 

GIVEAWAY

Thanks to Joy and HarperTeen I have some very cool swag, including official Rites of Passage dog tags, to give away on the blog today! And because I loved this book so much, I'm going to throw in a copy to one lucky winner, so please fill out the Rafflecopter form to enter. Giveaway is open to US addresses only. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Rites of Passage

RITES OF PASSAGE
Joy N. Hensley
Contemporary Young Adult
416 pages
HarperTeen
Available September 9th
Source: BEA

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Sam McKenna’s never turned down a dare. And she's not going to start with the last one her brother gave her before he died.

So Sam joins the first-ever class of girls at the prestigious Denmark Military Academy. She’s expecting push-ups and long runs, rope climbing and mud-crawling. As a military brat, she can handle an obstacle course just as well as the boys. She's even expecting the hostility she gets from some of the cadets who don’t think girls belong there. What she’s not expecting is her fiery attraction to her drill sergeant. But dating is strictly forbidden and Sam won't risk her future, or the dare, on something so petty...no matter how much she wants him.

As Sam struggles to prove herself, she discovers that some of the boys don’t just want her gone—they will stop at nothing to drive her out. When their petty threats turn to brutal hazing, bleeding into every corner of her life, she realizes they are not acting alone. A decades-old secret society is alive and active… and determined to force her out.
At any cost.

Now time's running short. Sam must decide who she can trust...and choosing the wrong person could have deadly consequences.

MY THOUGHTS
Rites of Passage is a phenomenal debut from Ms. Hensley, gripping from first page to last with the only source of disappointment stemming from the fact that it actually ends. It’s a book that doesn’t allow us room to think about becoming emotionally invested, rather it gives us a young woman of extraordinary determination who yanks us into her story with the sheer force of her impressive will. Once there, we find ourselves angry to a degree we’ve rarely reached between the covers of a book, and we can’t help but be grateful that Sam’s story–though likely more than real in so many ways–is fictional, and with that fact comes the comfort of knowing the cruelty she’s subjected to will not go unpunished in the end.

Sam is a young woman we can’t help but be proud to know despite the fact that she exists only on the pages of her story, her fight to stay at the Denmark Military Academy no matter what abuse she faces one that has us ready to raise our fists and inflict physical damage on her behalf. With every demeaning comment and every spiteful ploy to get her to quit she only digs her heels in harder, taking each blow on the chin and to the gut but never once letting them see that their blows made contact. She battles impossible odds as well as both indifference and betrayal from those who should be first in line to support her, and while she gets worn down as the mistreatment continues mercilessly, she still straightens her shoulders and manages to show proper respect to a chain of command that does nothing to protect her.

Threaded through Sam’s epic battle to pave the way for other young women set on attending the DMA is a tension-filled romance with her drill sergeant, a relationship executed so perfectly that despite the fact it exists on the periphery of Sam’s daily fight, it becomes an unforgettable piece of her story. Drill is one of the few people who restores our faith in humanity while reading, proof that power and control in the hands of the strong are tools that build people up, while those same things wielded by the weak do nothing but tear people down. He is a safe haven for Sam as much as he can be with the rules of fraternization in place and their ranks an obstacle they may never be able to overcome, and though the focus remains resolutely on the inspiration that is Sam, we couldn’t be more thankful for his presence in her life.

We’re left with two major villainous players in place and free from the justice they so richly deserve, but overall things for Sam wrap up nicely as her first year at the academy comes to a close. There’s room for more of her story though if we’re lucky enough to see a sequel from Ms. Hensley, and there's little doubt in my mind that everyone who picks this book up will reach the last page and want more. Rites of Passage is a debut that should absolutely not be missed, a powerhouse of a novel with a heroine who has us wanting to scream, yell and thump our chests in an outrageous show of solidarity for her ability to make it through what we’re nearly positive we’d never have the strength to endure.

Rating: 5/5

Find Joy:

Website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon

This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Rare Ratings and Recommended Reads

Happy Friday All!

I had an unusual day today wherein I didn't have any reviews or interviews scheduled, so I thought I would put together a post that featured some of my recent favorite reads. In four years and over 550 reviews on this blog, I've only given a 5 star rating to 30 books. Apparently, I'm a bit stingy with my praise ;-) Lately though I've come across a number of books that have joined the ranks in my rarest of rating categories, and sometimes my short 3-4 paragraph reviews just don't allow me to say all the things I want to say, so below are a few gushing words about three books that simply blew me away.

THE WINTER KING

(Available now from Avon)

After three long years of war, starkly handsome Wynter Atrialan will have his vengeance on Summerlea's king by taking one of the man's beautiful, beloved daughters as his bride. But though peace is finally at hand, Wynter's battle with the Ice Heart, the dread power he embraced to avenge his brother's death, rages on.

Khamsin Coruscate, Princess of Summerlea and summoner of Storms, has spent her life exiled to the shadows of her father's palace. Reviled by her father, marriage to Wintercraig's icy king was supposed to be a terrible punishment, but instead offers Kham her first taste of freedom—and her first taste of overwhelming passion.

As fierce, indomitable Wynter weathers even Khamsin's wildest storms, surprising her with a tenderness she never expected, Kham wants more than Wynter's passion—she yearns for his love. But the power of the Ice Heart is growing, dangerous forces are gathering, and a devastating betrayal puts Khamsin and Wynter to the ultimate test.

The Winter King is one of those books I bought strictly for me, a book meant just for fun in between review reads that I never intended to feature on the blog, but I fell so much in love with Wynter and Khamsin that it became impossible for me not to fangirl about it just a little.

I am someone who absolutely adores characters that are largely underestimated; men and women who are beaten down, isolated, or social pariahs in their given worlds, and from the moment I bore witness to the treatment Khamsin endures at the hands of her father I knew she was a woman I would want to spend time with again and again. Despite being an outcast in her own home, Khamsin is full of fight and fire, going toe to toe with Wynter from beginning to end without once being cowed by the force of his personality or power.

Wynter is driven by pain and vengeance, fair in his dealings with Summerlea but also firm and unyielding in the terms of their surrender. He's the type of man whose presence can be felt before he even enters a room–literal and figurative cold clinging to him and making people suck in a breath as he walks by, but that only serves to make his gradual thaw thanks to Khamsin all the more enjoyable.

For lovers of sweeping fantasy worlds and lead couples who are strong individually but even stronger together, The Winter King should not be missed.

Goodreads • Amazon

RITES OF PASSAGE

(releases September 9th from HarperTeen)

Sam McKenna’s never turned down a dare. And she's not going to start with the last one her brother gave her before he died.

So Sam joins the first-ever class of girls at the prestigious Denmark Military Academy. She’s expecting push-ups and long runs, rope climbing and mud-crawling. As a military brat, she can handle an obstacle course just as well as the boys. She's even expecting the hostility she gets from some of the cadets who don’t think girls belong there. What she’s not expecting is her fiery attraction to her drill sergeant. But dating is strictly forbidden and Sam won't risk her future, or the dare, on something so petty...no matter how much she wants him.

As Sam struggles to prove herself, she discovers that some of the boys don’t just want her gone—they will stop at nothing to drive her out. When their petty threats turn to brutal hazing, bleeding into every corner of her life, she realizes they are not acting alone. A decades-old secret society is alive and active… and determined to force her out.
At any cost.

Now time's running short. Sam must decide who she can trust...and choosing the wrong person could have deadly consequences.

It's the rare book that can enrage me to such a degree that I have to get up and walk away from it just to give myself a breather. Rites of Passage is the first book I've had to set aside for the sake of my emotional health in years, and that means it's something truly special indeed. I'm not typically someone who hates villainous characters, instead I tend to love them because they hold me in some kind of sickeningly fascinating thrall that ensures I'm caught up in the story, but I hated some of the individuals in this book with the fire of a thousand suns.

The people surrounding Sam, especially the ones who should have been in her corner cheering her on every step of the way, are cruel, cowardly and so infuriating my fingers are actually trying to curl into fists as I'm typing this. Through it all though, Sam is extraordinary, and her story is one I will never be able to forget. Pre-order this book immediately.

*My full review and an interview with Joy will go up next week, so be sure and check back then!

Goodreads • Amazon 

SNOW LIKE ASHES

(releases October 14th from Balzer + Bray)

Sixteen years ago the Kingdom of Winter was conquered and its citizens enslaved, leaving them without magic or a monarch. The Winterians’ only hope for freedom is the eight survivors who managed to escape, and who have been searching for the opportunity to steal back Winter’s magic and rebuild their kingdom ever since.

Orphaned as an infant during Winter’s defeat, Meira has lived her whole life as a refugee. Training to be a warrior—and desperately in love with her best friend, Winter’s future king—she would do anything to help Winter rise to power again. So when scouts discover the location of half of the ancient locket that can restore their magic, Meira decides to go after it herself—only to find herself thrust into a world of evil magic and dangerous politics, and to realize that her destiny is not, never has been, her own.

Confession time. I have a few bookish pet peeves as I think we all do. One is when characters swallow insults and hurtful words or actions from those closest to them without a word of protest. Who absorb the blows and then easily forgive when no adequate apology has been given or olive branch extended. Perhaps I'm a more vengeful person than most, but I like my characters to have some backbone and stand up for themselves when the situation calls for it (though I do acknowledge that there are times when inaction is better than action and silence a mightier weapon than words).

Meira is my dream heroine. She's madly in love with her best friend and wants nothing more than to please the man who's raised her after her parents died when Winter fell, but though she loves and respects them both, she doesn't allow them to run roughshod over her. When they hurt her deeply, she lets them know it, but she does so with maturity and inarguable logic rather than emotional words honed to sharp points and carelessly aimed. She's also a fighter to her core, someone who refuses to stay down even when the illusion of safety found at rock bottom is a nearly overwhelming temptation.

I can't say enough good things about this book (and I'll say more when my review goes up in October), so I hope you add it to your lists!

Goodreads • Amazon