Young Adult / New Adult
Title: 6 Seconds of Life
Author: Tonya Fitzharris
Date Published: 9/1/12
Maura has just jumped.
Now she has precisely six seconds until she hits the water below her—just six more seconds until she is finally freed from her mundane and aimless existence. Freed of all of the regrets and disappointments that have haunted her throughout her nineteen years.
She just needs to be free.
But as she falls, the most pivotal points of her life start to replay like a movie in her head: her family falling apart, her first love, her first heartbreak, her first true friends, and her first betrayal. As she remembers these moments that brought her to this point, will she feel a sense of peace? Or will her death be her greatest regret?
Now she has precisely six seconds until she hits the water below her—just six more seconds until she is finally freed from her mundane and aimless existence. Freed of all of the regrets and disappointments that have haunted her throughout her nineteen years.
She just needs to be free.
But as she falls, the most pivotal points of her life start to replay like a movie in her head: her family falling apart, her first love, her first heartbreak, her first true friends, and her first betrayal. As she remembers these moments that brought her to this point, will she feel a sense of peace? Or will her death be her greatest regret?
REVIEW
Warning: This review is going to be a little different than most of my reviews.
Here are my emotions about this book:
When I finished this book it was 1am and I was crying over a fictional character. I honestly can't describe my feels. At the beggining, I didn't like this book. To be honest, it was boring as hell. But I thought I just have to review it, so I kept reading.
Six seconds of life left and so many memories to remember: I felt I became one with Maura, she felt so real. I know how depression feels and how Maura felt is real.
This book was too good. It was a freaking rollercoaster of emotions and it left me sleepless for the rest of the night.
Needless to say: 5/5 stars.
Purchase Links
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Author Bio
EXCERPT
Tonya Fitzharris is a writer, reader, blogger, mediocre cook, photographer, runner, Florida native, and cat lover. She used to be a Middle School English Teacher, but now she's trying out the whole novel writing thing. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and her Belgian cat named Waffles.
CONTACT
EXCERPT
I think deep down, I’ve always known
it was going to end this way. I was never meant to live a long life. I accepted
this fate a long time ago. I was just waiting for the right moment.
I wanted to fall in love first.
I wanted to experience what it was like
to have a real family first.
I wanted to know what it was like to
be sincerely happy, even if it was short-lived.
I got all of those firsts.
And now I’m ready to move forward.
I inch my feet closer to the open
sky. And closer. Until my naked toes are peeking over the edge. The water
cracks violently below me, begging for me to join in on all of the fun.
Just
a few more seconds before it’s all over.
Until I’m free.
I’m totally relaxed. This moment,
it’s all mine. No one can take it away from me.
I close my eyes. The sounds of high
heels clicking on the walkway and cameras snapping and preserving memories and
street musicians begging for spare change surround me. I breathe in their music
and let it be the soundtrack to the closing credits of my life.
I raise my arms up to my side,
reaching for the skies that surround me.
And I step into the air.
I’m flying now.
GUEST POST
Pet
Peeves of the Publishing Industry
I myself am not a member of the
formal “publishing industry,” mostly because of some of their tactics and
practices that just rub me the wrong way.
I shall explain.
First and foremost, the whole idea
of buying and pushing books with high commercial appeal bothers me. I
personally think of it this way: The Big 6 Publishers are like the Hollywood of
the book world. They want those huge
summer blockbusters that are guaranteed to sell. On the other hand, you have
the indie film world, which doesn’t really care about churning out moneymakers,
but more about small stories with a lot of heart. They’re quiet films about
normal everyday people, encountering normal everyday problems that we all can
relate to—the stories I myself love. Indie publishing is the same thing in my
mind.
Now I’m not saying there’s anything
wrong with the big Hollywood-esque books put out by The Big 6—I’ve read many of
them and enjoyed them. And they’ve been
known to put out those great “quiet” books once in a while as well. But I feel
as the competition to win that publishing prize gets more and more difficult
(as it inevitably is), only those authors with the big money maker/summer
blockbuster stories will make it in. And that’s such a shame to me, because
more often than not it’s the quiet, character-driven stories that really touch
lives. The stories that make a difference.
Another pet peeve of mine is the
often narrow-mindedness of the people in the publishing world—more
specifically, in the YA publishing world. One of the biggest issues with me is
their denial of the fact that there is a very strong market for older YA
characters in the 18-24 range, which has been dubbed “New Adult” literature. A
publishing house coined the term back in 2009 when they hosted a contest for
entrants with manuscripts in this age range, and the response was amazing. So
many people came out of the woodwork and shared their mutual love for stories
about kids in college (and beyond), and it seemed to start somewhat of a
revolution.
Unfortunately, that publishing house
never stuck with the idea. The New Adult line was never created. But the seed
had been planted, and all of the fans have made it their own. There are tons of
authors self-publishing their New Adult novels and reaching remarkable success.
Yet most of the publishing industry still
doesn’t acknowledge this. They still insist there is simply no market for
books about 18-24 year olds. Why? Because they don’t know where it will fit in
on bookstore shelves? Who the hell cares?
Enough venting. I know that there
are plenty of things about the publishing world that work—some truly great
authors have found more success than they ever imagined. But as things are the
way they are now, some fantastic authors with smaller stories about characters
who don’t necessarily fit into some of the rigid categories are being brushed
off. There are so many stories the world may never get to read.
And everyone’s story should have a
place in the world.
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I would like to vent too! About three years ago, I had a "pitch" session with an editor from Tor. I told her about my YA novel, which featured some main characters in their twenties. She basically said that that's not how it works. Teens like to read about teens and there's no way they will read about people in their early twenties. This kind of "inside the box" thinking makes me so mad!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the information about New Adult. Apparently my first book is one.