The Time I Was Pleasantly Surprised When Reading Wreck | Blog Tour + Interview
Hi friends! Today I’m going to be bringing you a book review of a #loveozya read, Wreck by Fleur Ferris!
I didn’t have super high hopes going into this because I’m
not a huge fan of action/thriller and it’s not a genre I commonly reach for! HOWEVER,
I have to say, I was very pleasantly surprised when reading Wreck and I’m so
glad I picked it up!
I also had the opportunity to interview the lovely Fleur so thank you so much to her for answering these questions and hope you all enjoy!
About the book.
Author: Fleur Ferris
Pages: 288
Published on: 3 July 2017
Synopsis: Tamara Bennett is going to be the first journalist to strictly report only good news. Finished with high school, Tamara is ready to say goodbye to her sleepy little town and part-time job at the local paper. O-weeks awaits, which means parties, cute boys and settling into student res with her best friend Relle. Things take an unexpected turn, however, when she arrives home to find her house ransacked and her life in danger. What is this mysterious note? And why does it mean so much to one of Australia's most powerful media moguls? Caught between a bitter rivalry and dangerous family secret, who can Tamara trust? Or should she trust herself? (source)
Published on: 3 July 2017
Synopsis: Tamara Bennett is going to be the first journalist to strictly report only good news. Finished with high school, Tamara is ready to say goodbye to her sleepy little town and part-time job at the local paper. O-weeks awaits, which means parties, cute boys and settling into student res with her best friend Relle. Things take an unexpected turn, however, when she arrives home to find her house ransacked and her life in danger. What is this mysterious note? And why does it mean so much to one of Australia's most powerful media moguls? Caught between a bitter rivalry and dangerous family secret, who can Tamara trust? Or should she trust herself? (source)
Genre: Young Adult, Thriller
Thank you to Penguin Teen Australia for providing me a review copy however this is an honest review and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
The interview.
Q1 | What inspired you to write Wreck? Have you ever been in a boating accident?I drew inspiration from a number of sources when coming up with the plot for Wreck. Whenever I heard of the discovery of a floating note at sea I wondered how long it had been floating for, how far it had travelled, who sent it, were they still alive, what did the note say. Often the discovery of these notes made world news and sometimes the sender, or members of their family, were tracked down. These stories got me thinking… What if the floating note wasn’t a wonderful discovery? What if it revealed something sinister? What if the person who found it was unknowingly thrust into danger simply because they had possession of it, simply because they had seen it? What if the note indicated or revealed something someone wanted concealed? For the discoverer, it would be as unfair as it was random and they would be completely blindsided by what was coming.
Instantly, my
protagonist, Tamara, came to life in my mind. I knew where she lived, that she
was the girl-next-door type of girl, excited by her goals and aspirations and
about to move out of home and commence university. But instead of chasing her
dreams she is running for her life.
Thankfully, I have
never been in a boating accident!
Q2 | I noticed you created and maintained tension really well in the book! What tips do you have for doing this for budding writers?
This is a difficult
question to answer in a short Q & A like this, but I will try and list a
few things I did in WRECK to help build and maintain tension.
I created a good,
noble, relatable, worthy hero/heroine that the reader wants to see win.
I made sure the
narrative posed questions early on for the reader.
Structure was vitally
important for WRECK as the reader needed to receive information from two points
of view running in two different timelines. This had to be done in a way that
didn’t “lose” or confuse the reader.
WRECK is a thriller,
so creating an awful, brutal, mean, very bad villain(s) was vitally important.
I made it seem
impossible for the good guys to beat the villain(s).
I added twists and
turns so the reader isn’t sure who to trust.
I added details that
raised the stakes and added ticking clocks to increase the pace and tension.
Sentence structure,
word use and amount of description is used to quicken or slow the pace.
Writer, H M WAUGH, did
a great blog post on how I created and maintained suspense in my second novel,
BLACK. For those who have read BLACK and would like to read H M WAUGH’S
analysis of it, here is the link:
Q3 | You tend to write mystery a lot! What drew you to that?
My love for the
mystery thrillers started when I was a teenager. My mum was (and still is) an
avid reader of this genre and so that is what was on our bookshelves at home.
Q4 | Tamara has quite a strong personality and moral compass throughout the book! She also appears to view the world in black and white at the beginning of the book. Who did you base Tamara as a character off?
The character of
fictitious Tamara is not based on any one person, she is a mix of many people I
know and many people I’d like to be. Tamara is, however, named after an ex
neighbour who I admire. The real life Tamara does not work in media and is not
a recent school leaver, but like the fictitious Tamara, she is a beautiful,
successful, strong, and an all-round good person.
The editing process.
In December I was diagnosed with Ross River Virus and suffered with very severe
symptoms for a number of months. I struggled to meet my deadlines, I had to
work in short bursts due to fatigue and a limited concentration span, and as a result
I lost confidence in my ability to produce quality work. My editor and
publisher were SO patient, flexible, kind and meticulous, and together, we kept
at it until the manuscript was in top shape and ready to go to
print.
My thoughts.
{ writing }
The writing of this was easy to read and get into! I liked
how it didn’t over complicate and the use of an ‘unreliable narrator’ (I say
that in quotation marks because she, herself isn’t unreliable but she does keep
changing her mind about what to believe!) which made it so interesting to read!
Ferris was able to create and maintain tension throughout
the entire novel and every time I thought we had solved the mystery, there was
another twist! The flashbacks were also really cleverly used as one character’s
chapter would end on a cliff hanger and then it’d be the other character’s
chapter! It also made it interesting for the reader as they had to piece
together what happened from the past and in the present! It kept me on my toes the
entire time!
{ idea + plot }
I have to say, the idea of this was quite interesting and
original! I haven’t read many books that are about mystery shipwrecks and I liked
the take! It was also quite well fleshed out and the mystery spanned the entire
novel rather than only being in the first half!
I will say that I was able to guess the conclusion but there
were times I was really unsure of what was happening because there were so many
twists and turns!
I can’t talk too much about the plot without giving it all
away so all I’ll say is, it’s super unpredictable and totally worth the read!
{ characters }
I think the characters were really great! I wasn’t able to
relate to them – but for once, I didn’t mind as this story was more plot than
character driven – and I liked seeing their friendship develop! It was really easy to understand them and I liked that they weren't overly complex so it kept the attention towards the plot rather than figuring out the characters!
{ overall }
This was such a fun and enjoyable read and I loved watching
the story develop! It was super interesting and I highly recommend it to
everyone – even if you aren’t a fan of thrillers like me – you’ll really enjoy
this!
OVERALL RATING:
★★★★
Have you read Wreck? What did you think? Or are you planning to?
20 happy thoughts
I'm so glad you liked this as well! And these questions are so interesting. I'm glad Fleur Ferris' publisher was so understanding <3
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading and commenting Emily!
DeleteI don't read a lot of thrillers either (though I always tell myself I should) and didn't know about this one, but it does sound super interesting. Happy to hear you loved it! Adding to my TBR :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading Lindsey! <3
DeleteAwesome post! I really need to read some Fleur Ferris, I think I'm really going to love her books. Thanks for the review and interview!
ReplyDeleteCass @ Words on Paper
I'm glad you enjoyed it Cass!
DeleteYessss, it was definitely a gripping story that I wanted to see through to the end, because of the mystery behind it! Great interview with Fleur, she definitely writes a gripping heroine!
ReplyDeleteYES OMG I'm excited to read the rest of her work!
DeleteI actually just finished her debut novel Risk in anticipation for buying a copy of Wreck and have loved both of her releases so far. Her writing is incredible and really holds you captive until the final page. Really excited to buy a copy of this one soon. So glad you enjoyed it, wonderful review Anisha! <3 <3
ReplyDeleteThank you Kelly! I hope you enjoy it and ooh yes I should read her other work while I'm waiting for her next release!
DeleteI'm so glad you enjoyed this one Anisha! I haven't really heard much of this thriller, but it does seem exciting. Although I admit, thrillers aren't my usual reads so I'm a bit hesitant. Hearing you liked it in the end puts me at ease! :D I love the fact that the tension is there throughout the book too- gotta love plot twists and turns. Awesome review and interview!
ReplyDelete- Aila @ One Way Or An Author
Thanks so much for reading and for your thoughtful comment Aila!
DeleteThis is such a great review and interview, Anisha! I'm desperately in love with thrillers these days, and this sounds like such a fascinating read - the fact that it has an unreliable narrator immediately draws me in too. Sucks that it was predictable and you guessed the resolve, though. :( I always like it when books keep me guessing. Predictable thrillers can get old. :(
ReplyDelete~ Aimal @ Bookshelves & Paperbacks
Thanks for reading nonetheless Aimal! <3
DeleteI'm glad you liked this one, Anisha! I love mystery/thrillers, and I've never read one about boats (although I have read a few about beaches, haha), so maybe I need to give this one a go. I do like unreliable narrators, even if it's not necessarily THEM that's unreliable, but the things they believe. I think it always adds something extra to the story.
ReplyDeleteThe interview was interesting to read. I love reading about all the different ways authors "work" :)
Aha so glad you enjoyed it Chiara!
DeleteGreat review, Anisha! This sounds so intriguing! I haven't read many thrillers, they're not really my thing, but maybe I'll give this a go as you loved it when you aren't normally a fan. I do like stories with a mystery element, so hopefully that side of things will keep me interested. And I don't read nearly enough #loveozya, so this could help with that.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review!
So glad you enjoyed it Jo!
DeleteI really did enjoy Wreck, especially the second half of the book. I feel like it took me longer to get into Wreck than it did for her other books. I have no idea if that made any sense aha. Fleur Ferris is the only thriller/mystery author I would willingly pick up a book from as that isn't my preferred genre but Fleur Ferris' books have proven to be amazing. Great review, Anisha!
ReplyDeleteOOh now I want to read her other books! Thanks for reading and commenting Steph <3 <3
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