We're through the first month of 2023 bookworms! I hope everyone has had a great start to their year. My reading goal for this year is 100 books again, I hope I can reach it! Even though it was a busy month I read a total of 5 books! Let's talk about them! In this wrap up I'll be providing a few of my thoughts on each book and some quotes if any stood out to me while reading. I will also be sharing my star rating out of 5.
Favourite Book This Month Out of the 5 books I read this month Retro was definitely my favourite! It had such a fun storyline and interesting characters, I mean who doesn't love an awesome friend group? I had a great experience reading this book! I definitely recommend it to fans of mysterious contemporaries who are looking for a dystopian twist! I'm excited to read more books by this author duo!
That's all for my January reading wrap up! I hope you enjoyed it! How many books did you read this month? Which one was your favourite? Let me know in the comments below!
0 Comments
It's Monday bookworms, and today I have an exciting author interview to share with you all! I had a blast chatting with Sofia Lapuente and Jarrod Shusterman all about their upcoming release Retro! As you guys know, I really enjoyed reading Retro, it was an awesome combination of intriguing characters, a mysterious plot, and retro vibes! Check out my review to hear more of my thoughts, and be sure to grab a copy when it comes out tomorrow! You can order it here!
Synopsis: After a cyberbullying incident at her school goes viral, Luna Iglesias finds herself at the heart of a brewing controversy. When the social media company Limbo- who are also implicated in the scandal-sweeps in with an offer that sounds like an opportunity to turn over a new leaf, she's happy to jump on the new trend. It's called the Retro Challenge, where contestants live without modern technology, wear vintage clothes, party as if the future wasn't already written, and fall in love as if they were living in a movie. And the winners get a scholarship to the college of their dreams.
At first, the challenge is fun. But then things get dangerous. Kids start disappearing, including Luna's friends. There are voices in the woods. Blood red markings on the trees. And Luna increasingly begins to wonder if all these strange happenings are connected with the Retro Challenge. Despite the lack of technology, it seems that Limbo has found a way to keep tabs on the competition's participants-and it's using this invasion of privacy to further its malevolent plot. Secrets. Lies. Betrayal. The weight of her family on her shoulders. There's so much on the line for Luna not to mention she's falling for the last guy she expected. Unless she can figure out the truth behind who is really sabotaging the challenge, the next person to disappear may be Luna herself.
content warnings
Attempted suicide, bullying, anxiety, animal death, death of a parent (mentioned), body dysmorphia (mentioned), blood, drugging, forced confinementâ
Hello Sofia and Jarrod! Welcome to Page by Paige Books! I am so excited to chat with you today. To get things started I'd love to get to know you both a bit more. Could you each share a fun fact about yourself? Jarrod: Hi Paige--We're very excited to chat as well! One fun fact is that Sofi and I have travelled to over 30 countries and we are obsessed with trying new foods, experiencing new cultures and learning new languages! Sofi: As for me, I was born and raised in Madrid, Spain, so I learned to speak English at a much later moment in my life! Most people don't guess that about me until I open my mouth and they hear my lovely Puss In Boots accent : )
Congratulations on the upcoming publication of Retro! I had such a fun time reading it that I finished it in a day and a half! What initially drew me in was the unique and intriguing idea of teenagers completely giving up modern day technology for a competition. What inspired you both to write this story?
Sofi: In our lifetimes, we've witnessed the biggest change in technology since the advent of fire. The cell phone. It's such a big deal, and we feel that the topic hasn't really been addressed. So the idea came to us because we're constantly asking ourselves if we could live without smart technology. And in our book, those who make it a year without it win the scholarship of their dreams! Going Retro is fun-rocking out in vintage clothes, and partying and falling in love like your life is a throwback movie. We also wanted approach important issues like cyberbullying and how we treat each other behind the screens of the phone. Jarrod: The fact that you finished in half a day is very impressive! Well, considering the world hasn't been in the best place, we really wanted to write a guilty-pleasure, fun thriller with good vibes and twists and turns. And the idea of the Retro Challenge was so intriguing to us! Plus, we needed to make every single chapter a Retro song, so the index is actually a playlist. That way you can listen as you read!
Your writing style in Retro was so engaging and seamless! I never would have guessed that it was written by two people. What was your experience like collaborating on this project?
Jarrod: Writing with your life partner/share the last slice of pizza partner/everything partner is the most rewarding experience in the world. Our stories are our little babies so there is SO much love and attention poured into every page. The writing comes together pretty seamlessly because our strong Hispanic protagonist, Luna, really is a total mix between Sofi and myself. Like neither of us could complete a paragraph from Luna's perspective without the other person! We give notes and edit each other's work with a huge attention to detail, and we are so thankful and happy that our writing style is working so smoothly! Sofi: Thank you so much for saying so :) We have a rule, that nothing goes in the book unless we both agree to it. So if one person doesn't like something, we have to both work together to find a better solution, rather than arguing why our point is best. But most importantly, our number one mantra when writing this book was that it had to be more addicting than a Netflix binge. If not, why wouldn't you stop reading this book and go watch something or get lost on TikTok? We've all been there. So we wanted this book to be a rollercoaster that was addicting that draws your attention like a shiny object!
I'm a big fan of friend groups in books, and Luna and her friends were really entertaining to read about! They're all so unique but work so well together. Which character from the Retros group would each of your high school selves identify with the most, and why?
Jarrod: This is SUCH a great question. I would have to say that my high school self would have to identify most with Axel, in the sense that I have a deep an emotional side. And my partner is definitely the protagonist of my life <3 And one thing you have to know is that a lot of Luna's personality is Sofi's personality so you will see so much of her. Most of the funny, off-the wall, snarky comment are totally her writing. Sofi: All of the characters have a little bit of us in them, and that's the fun part of being a writer! I'm a mix of all of them. For example there's Mimi: the quirky queer, pink-haired, lizard-loving, brutally honest (to a fault) best friend-and Darnell who represents my rebel side and has been Retro way before the challenge even began. Then there's Samantha, the pigtailed princess who was bullied really bad, and then turned consummate strong survivor. A young woman who has dealt with a lot of tough moments in her life, as I have. But sometimes aspects of these characters come from our world. Often we are hanging out with our friends in LA or Madrid and someone says something so funny we ask them if we can steal the line or character trait. So they are a little bit our friends too! It's true Luna is very similar to me, being a Hispanic immigrant myself. She had to be sweet and a little spicy! Giving Luna a cultural background similar to my own allowed me to talk about important issues and really pour myself into the character. It was fun and it was also quite cathartic.
Luna and Mimi have a tradition of eating jelly beans on the first day of school to predict what their day will be like. I actually ate some lemon-lime ones in honour of Luna the other day! What are your favourite flavours of jelly beans?
Sofi: My favorite are the Harry Potter Bertie Bott's green apple flavor. Which is technically the same as Jelly Belly Green, but everything tastes better at Hogwarts! Jarrod: Normally I like anything that is the color blue. Because let's face it, blue flavor is the best. But in reality my favorite jellybeans are definitely the Bertie Bott's vomit flavor so I can give them to Sofi and watch her face <3
The fact that Luna dreams of becoming a psychologist was an interesting addition to her character and made me love her even more! When you were teenagers, what did you want to be when you grew up? Did you always dream of becoming writers?
Jarrod: When I was a child I wanted to own a chocolate factory (yes I watched too many movies). And since my dad is an author, everyone would ask me if I wanted to be one too. To which I responded "NO WAY" I will do everything the opposite of my Dad. I started filming movies on a camera and I loved it, but as I made movies, I realized they sucked without a good story, and I slowly got obsessed with writing and realized that I LOVE YA fiction because I just love story telling and I really loved that time of my life so much. For me, creating characters that the reader can truly identify with, takes them on a journey to live another life. Because in writing, if you can empathize with the protagonist, as strange thing happens, you start to psychologically believe that you are them. And that's why the twists and turns, lies, secrets and betrayals are only effective if you are on board with our characters, namely Luna. Sofi: As for me, I always knew I wanted to work in entertainment, as my father was a film director, though my mother was a teacher which always pulled me to the literary and scholastic side! If I could have a second career I would definitely be a psychologist, and am thinking to go back to school for it, as a hobby to expand my mind (As you can see, I am very Luna!) So much of writing, however, is psychology. You need to know characters really well. Their darkest fears, their dreams and desires. What they don't have the ability to see in their own psyche. And it makes you learn about yourself in ways that I never knew would be possible.
I really enjoyed your commentary on social media and modern technology in general. What would you say is the main message you hope readers will take away from reading Retro?
Sofi: We want everyone to know that Technology is an amazing tool for good when used thoughtfully. But when misused, it can exponentiated our darkest propensities as humans. Jarrod: Exactly. For us it's always been really clear that we want readers to remember that there are real people on the other side of the screen. Every message. Text. DM. These things affect people, even though it may not feel like it sometimes because you aren't looking in their eyes.
One of my favourite aspects of the book was the playlist you both made for it, and how each song matched to a specific chapter. It created a really immersive reading experience and I felt that the playlist was so well curated! What was your process when choosing the songs? Did you have certain songs that you knew you wanted to include?
Sofi: Thank you so much for noticing! For us we listed songs that we loved and debated for weeks over which ones fit perfectly with a spreadsheet that included the synopses of the chapters. Then we looked on Youtube to find what songs still held up today, because there were so many we thought would be popular, but just never made it to America or Europe or vice versa. But "Wannabe" by the Spice girls and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" Were a must. I also wanted to include my own Spanish heritage so you will find songs by Alaska and Enrique Iglesias. We wanted our readers to really feel that there was representation and for me I put an emphasis on my authentic viewpoint as a Hispanic immigrant, because there is not enough Hispanic representation in literature today.
I saved so many great quotes while reading Retro. Do you have any favourites from the book that you could share?
Jarrod: My favorite quote is one of Luna: "They say the best movie villains are the ones who think they're the good guys. Real life is a lot like that. You're so worried about being the hero of your own story that you don't even stop to realize you might be writing someone else's tragedy." A line that was inspired by the fact that most bullies don't even know they are bullies. It just goes to show that not everything is black and white, good or bad. On a lighter note, so many times we're out to dinner or partying and Sofi will just say these things and I start laughing, and I'm like "We have to use this in Retro! That's so Luna!" Things like, "Ice cream won't solve your life problems, but neither will broccoli." Though I especially love the comments that come from Spanish culture like "Which would you rather be, the head of a mouse, or the tail of a lion?" Meaning do you want to be a big part of something small, or a small part of something big in life. It's ones like that that really make me think.
Thank you both so much for chatting with me today about Retro! After having such a great time reading it, I can't wait to read more of your work! Do you have any upcoming projects that you're currently working on?
Sofi: We are currently finishing up our first Adult novel, which we we're going to start showing publishers this year, so we are very excited about that! It's a drama/comedy actually based on my crazy life, and my friends' lives, as Immigrants in the United States. Because there's tough things, but also a lot of heartfelt moments with friends full of love and laughter. Life has so many aspects about it, the highs and the lows-and for us we want our books to always be entertaining-with just the right amount of chilipeppers. We're even developing the second YA novel as well, which we are REALLY amped to write. But it's a secret project at this point. We're always giving updates and doing giveaways and contests to put our readers names in our books (five fans are in RETRO) So feel free to follow us on IG and TikTok: @sofiandjarrod for fun behind the scenes author content. We promise to entertain you! Thank you so much and we can't wait for you all to read RETRO!
Author Information
I had so much fun learning more about Retro! I definitely recommend it to fans of mysterious contemporaries who are looking for a dystopian twist! Don't forget to order your copy! If you could go back in time and visit any decade for a day, what would you choose? Let me know in the comments below! |
AuthorPaige is a bookstagrammer and blogger who loves all things bookish. From fantasy to mystery she can’t get enough! She’s always ready to recommend you a book and she can talk about her favourites all day. When she’s not reading, you can find her watching Marvel movies, playing video games, and taking bookstagram photos. Visit her on Instagram and Twitter for more updates. Categories
All
Archives
March 2024
|