Holly Black, Cassie Clare, and Lauren DeStefano at Books of Wonder:

Last night, I went to another amazing book signing at Books of Wonder in NYC. I almost skipped it to go see Charlaine Harris at a nearby Barnes and Noble. But once I realized how many of my friends were coming to town for the BOW event, coupled with having met Charlaine last year, I decided this was the signing for me.

I am so glad I picked this event! When I arrived just after 5pm, the store was already packed with fans decked out in character t-shirts and hand-written runes on their bodies. I met up with some fellow bloggers: Damaris and Wanda from Good Choice Reading, Jena from Shortie Says, and JL from An Avid Reader’s Musings.They were kind enough to save me a spot, and together we waited for the main event.

Damaris and JL.

A decked out audience member.

While we hung out, I spotted a few more bloggers in the audience! Mitali from Alley Of Books/The Teen Author Carnival, and Vania from VLC Productions –who makes awesome book trailers, including The City of Fallen Angels trailer! It was so great to finally meet some bloggers I’ve been conversing with on twitter for the past few months.

Half of the huge crowd!

After a short wait, Lauren, Cassie and Holly came out and began the event!

After they were introduced, each author read a passage from their current works. Cassie read the prologue to Clockwork Prince, Holly read “smut” from Red Glove (my favorite!) and Lauren, a debut author told the audience a bit more about Wither.

Next up, question time! The audience had a lot of good questions for the authors last night. Some a bit silly (lots of cat questions for Cassie), but there was a lot of interesting commentary about movie news, sequels, and the writing process in general.

During a second, lightning round of super fast questioning, I asked Holly about the possible Curse Workers tv show news, and whether or not the series was indeed a trilogy, or would there be more books? Holly said the tv show was a possibility, but mostly unsure. And that she had three books planned for the Curse Workers series, but it seemed to me that she thought maybe there would be more! Which I hope is true, as it’s one of my favorite current series.

Finally, it was time for the signing to begin!

A fan’s books, waiting to be signed.

Each author had brought “gifts” to give away to their fans. Holly had Curse Workers postcards (from the old blog ads back when White Cat was first released), “Worker” bracelets for each type, and an excerpt from Black Heart. Cassie had an excerpt, as did Lauren (from Wither #2), who also had candy!

Dream Worker bracelet.

The signing area.

Another fan, in line.

Lauren DeStefano, who was insanely nice!

Holly Black

Signing Red Glove.

I met Holly during the Teen Author Festival, so I had all of my books signed back then. Holly was nice enough to sign a postcard for me, and give me the Black Heart excerpt that I so badly wanted. When I asked for a Worker bracelet, I kind of just reached into the pile and grabbed a black one. Which of course, ended up being Death Worker! Holly said she was surprised I’d pick that one, “knowing the what it meant”, and all of the problems associated with it. I joked with her saying it was ok, I’ve got ten fingers and ten toes! Not sure if I’d actually pick that ability if the choice was real though. ; )

Cassie was fun to talk to as well. I told her I read City of Bones when it first came out, and had yet to finish the rest of the series. She was surprised to see I had an old ARC of City of Glass (a leftover relic from my magazine editor days). I was in line with Jena, whom she recognized from her twitter icon! I thought that was cute.

Cassie says Hi!

When we we leaving the store, Jena spotted Josh, who played Jace in the book trailer!

After the signing, a few of us went out for dinner, margaritas, and more book chatter. The whole night felt like a “practice round” for BEA in a few weeks. I am so glad I went to the Books of Wonder signing, and got to see some old friends, and meet so many fun new bloggers!

Thanks to Cassie, Lauren, Holly, Simon & Schuster, and Books of Wonder for such a great event!

See more photos at my Flickr album.

Review: Enclave by Ann Aguirre

New York City has been decimated by war and plague, and most of civilization has migrated to underground enclaves, where life expectancy is no more than the early 20’s. When Deuce turns 15, she takes on her role as a Huntress, and is paired with Fade, a teenage Hunter who lived Topside as a young boy. When she and Fade discover that the neighboring enclave has been decimated by the tunnel monsters—or Freaks—who seem to be growing more organized, the elders refuse to listen to warnings. And when Deuce and Fade are exiled from the enclave, the girl born in darkness must survive in daylight, in the ruins of a city whose population has dwindled to a few dangerous gangs. As the two are guided by Fade’s long-ago memories, they face dangers, and feelings, unlike any they’ve ever known.

Enclave is one of the more frightening YA dystopian novels I’ve read. Like the upcoming Blood Red Road, it presents a stark view of a future world where everyday is a battle to survive.

Raised underground, and trained to be a huntress her whole life, Deuce is a nearly fearless warrior. Her life changes the day she comes of age, is given her new name, and paired up with the quiet but vicious hunter Fade. Deuce and Fade fall into an easy partnership, based on respect of each other’s fighting abilities. After encountering freaks ( absolutely terrifying zombie-like beings who definitely gave me nightmares) who have appeared to genetically evolved, they know their lives must change.

Once they realize they both are questioning the enclave’s elders, who have ignored their warnings of a new breed of freaks, a friendship develops. Together, after discovering more truths about their underground world, they’re banished topside, and leave in search of a better life.

Enclave is unique in that it shows a true breakdown of society as we know it, where humans band together and live the most basic lives, only concerned with eating, breathing, and breeding.

The story might have had a more profound impact on me since I live in New York City, and see how eerily plausible it would be for society to crumble. If the city was mostly evacuated, those that remained could easily begin living in the subway system, or fall into roaming gangs who terrorize what’s left of Manhattan.

Really the scariest thing about this book is how easily this horrible life could all become a reality. The plagues, starvation, in-fighting, and lack of information…maybe not the cannibalistic freaks, but then again, who knows what 100 years of inbreeding and starvation could do to the human race.

I’d recommend Enclave to anyone in search of a fast, enthralling read showing the grittier and gorier side of post-apocalyptic life. Aguirre never shies away from showing the nastier side of survival, but still lets her characters carry a hope in their hearts that there is indeed a better place out there in the world.

Deuce and Fade aren’t perfect, but they are refreshingly real, and incredibly strong characters both physically and mentally. Odds are, that like me, you’ll be left anxious for the second installment of their story.

4/5 Stars

Enclave the first book of the Razorland trilogy, is available now from Feiwel and Friends.