About the author:
J.A. Redmerski, New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author lives in North Little Rock, Arkansas with her three children, two cats and a Maltese. She is a lover of television and books that push boundaries and is a huge fan of AMC's The Walking Dead.
Travel is an important part of several of J.A. Redmerski's books.
Here are her Top 5 Places to Visit.
1. Italy
2. New Zealand
3. Georgia (United States)
4. Washington
5. The Grand Canyon
Song of the Fireflies
Brayelle Bates has always been a force of nature. Even as a child, Bray's wild and carefree spirit intimidated everyone around her. The only person who's ever truly understood her is her best friend, Elias Kline. Though every fiber of her being wants to stay with Elias forever, Bray can't bear the thought of him discovering her agonizing history. She's done everything she can to keep him at arm's length, including moving away. But their undying bond was too strong a pull to deny, and Bray couldn't survive without him. Now she's back home with Elias, and things have never felt more right-until one night changes everything.
Elias vowed never to be separated from Bray again. So when she decides to flee in a desperate attempt to escape her fate, Elias knows he must go with her. As the two try to make the most of their circumstance, taking up with a reckless group of new friends, Elias soon realizes there's a darkness driving Bray he can't ignore. Now in order to save her, he'll have to convince Bray to accept the consequences of their reality-even if it means losing her.
Bonus Excerpt
Bray and I spent the whole night in the field chasing the fireflies and laying on the grass, staring up at the stars. She told me all about her sister, Rian, and how she was a snob and was always mean to Bray. I told her about my parents, because I didn’t have any brothers or sisters. She said I was lucky. We talked forever, it seemed. We may have been young, but we connected deeply on that night. I knew we would be great friends, even better friends than Mitchell and I had been, and I had known him since first grade, when he had tried to con me out of my peach cup at lunch.
And before the night was over, we made a pact with each other that would later prove to see us through some very troubled times.
“Promise we’ll always be best friends,” Bray said, lying next to me. “No matter what. Even if you grow up ugly and I grow up mean.”
I laughed. “You’re already mean!”
She elbowed me.
“And you’re already ugly,” she said with a blush in her cheeks.
I gave in, though really I needed no convincing. “OK, I promise.”
We gazed back up at the stars; her fingers were interlaced and her hands rested on her belly.
I had no idea what I was getting into with Brayelle Bates. I didn’t know about such things when I was nine. I didn’t know. But I would never regret a moment with her. Never.
Bray and I were found early the following morning, fast asleep in the grass. We were awoken by three cops; Mr. Parson, who owned the land; and my frantic mother, who thought I had been kidnapped from my room, stuffed in a suitcase, and thrown on the side of a highway somewhere.
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**Edited March 1, 2014 to add review**
**Edited March 1, 2014 to add review**
***ARC provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**
Making myself sit down and write this review has been hard. I have struggled with what to say since the moment I closed the book. I loved The Edge of Always & The Edge of Never, and was really excited when I received the ARC for Song of The Fireflies. Then I started reading it…and stopped to read another book…and then started again…and was tempted to stop several more times. Knowing that I had signed up to do the release day blog tour kept me going because I wanted to publish my review with the tour, and I wanted to show my support to the author. However, when I sat down to write the review, I kept thinking, “What do I say about a book I didn’t love from an author that I do?”
I had a really hard time connecting with Song of the Fireflies. I didn’t like either of the main characters or most of the choices they made. It starts as a sweet story of two kids meeting & instantly connecting & then jumps forward to two adults who have spiraled down the rabbit hole of sex, drugs & alcohol. I read a lot of NA & Romance novels with varying levels of heat, but the frequency, graphic nature & language used in the sex scenes here was off-putting to me. I also struggled with how quickly everything happened in the beginning. Inseparable children - jump forward - young adults in love but afraid to admit it (yet somehow managing to completely hide their feelings while experimenting sexually)…a tiny bit of honesty…running away - jump forward - running back...inseparable adults who would die if they weren’t together. All within the first few chapters.
This is about the point that I took a break and switched to another book. A couple of weeks later, it bothered me that I didn’t finish & decided to pick it up again. I wish I could say I was glad I did, but I am torn. I am glad I made it to the end but the experience of actually reading the book isn’t something I’d wish to go through again. What you get is a look into the mind of a mentally ill girl & the boy who is addicted to her. I appreciate the challenge that this subject must have been to tackle as an author, and imagine that the story is more true to life for some than I can even imagine. Unhealthy relationships & lifestyles are sadly more of a reality than the fairytales we read about in most books, and Song of the Fireflies brings attention to situations that most people would rather ignore. I’m glad I didn’t give up on it, but because of everything mentioned above, I could never recommend it lightly. It’s a hard read, a rollercoaster of emotions, with an ending that is tied up almost as quickly and neatly as it began. While I still love J.A. Redmerski & look forward to reading her other books, I will proceed with caution knowing that I’m not guaranteed a fun, light-hearted ride.
I had a really hard time connecting with Song of the Fireflies. I didn’t like either of the main characters or most of the choices they made. It starts as a sweet story of two kids meeting & instantly connecting & then jumps forward to two adults who have spiraled down the rabbit hole of sex, drugs & alcohol. I read a lot of NA & Romance novels with varying levels of heat, but the frequency, graphic nature & language used in the sex scenes here was off-putting to me. I also struggled with how quickly everything happened in the beginning. Inseparable children - jump forward - young adults in love but afraid to admit it (yet somehow managing to completely hide their feelings while experimenting sexually)…a tiny bit of honesty…running away - jump forward - running back...inseparable adults who would die if they weren’t together. All within the first few chapters.
This is about the point that I took a break and switched to another book. A couple of weeks later, it bothered me that I didn’t finish & decided to pick it up again. I wish I could say I was glad I did, but I am torn. I am glad I made it to the end but the experience of actually reading the book isn’t something I’d wish to go through again. What you get is a look into the mind of a mentally ill girl & the boy who is addicted to her. I appreciate the challenge that this subject must have been to tackle as an author, and imagine that the story is more true to life for some than I can even imagine. Unhealthy relationships & lifestyles are sadly more of a reality than the fairytales we read about in most books, and Song of the Fireflies brings attention to situations that most people would rather ignore. I’m glad I didn’t give up on it, but because of everything mentioned above, I could never recommend it lightly. It’s a hard read, a rollercoaster of emotions, with an ending that is tied up almost as quickly and neatly as it began. While I still love J.A. Redmerski & look forward to reading her other books, I will proceed with caution knowing that I’m not guaranteed a fun, light-hearted ride.
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This giveaway is sponsored by the publisher. The winners will be announced & prizes supplied directly from them at the end of the giveaway period.
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