A Celebration of Zetta Elliott Giveaway! And Valentine's Day!

So February 16, 2010 is a great day. Why? You might be wondering, to which I will impatiently reply "You should know by now, where have you been!" Haha just kidding! Feb. 16 is the release day of A Wish After Midnight by Zetta Elliott.

AWAM and I have a special relationship. Not only do I think I may be Genna's twin (although so does my sister and since we are nothing alike, one of us must be wrong. I'm definitely right in this case) but it was the first book I received to review and the first self-published book I ever reviewed.

I was so green to the world of book blogging that I didn't know that some bloggers don't accept self-published books, but I'm glad I didn't know that because I would have missed out on the wonderful beautiful novel that is A Wish After Midnight. This book is the main reason as to why I accept self-published books. Because they may be as good as AWAM (the bar is pretty high) or excellent in their own way, you never know. Especially because authors of color don't get published as much, I really want to support as honestly as I can, all authors of color who self-publish books that I enjoy reading. And to show that I have excellent taste in books, Zetta's book is being re-published by Amazon Encore (hence the new cover. The first cover is the original, self-published one).

Here's my review (I suggest you read the other reviews listed below as well since they are more coherent)

Read my interview with the fascinating Zetta Elliott

Here are some other opinions

Gal Novelty

Neesha Meminger

Justine Larbalestier

A Chair, a Fireplace & A Tea Cozy

Bookslut

Still not satisfied? (Awfully hard to please, aren't you!) Here are more review links

Full disclosure: At the time I wrote my review, I had been blogging for a month. I "knew" Zetta a bit, we visited some of the same blogs and she was always very encouraging of me and Reading in Color from the very beginning. So I thought she was really sweet, but AWAM proves that she is a sweet person and a gifted writer. I have gotten to know her way more since the review and we are good friends now (she's definitely one of my mentors), but when I wrote my review of AWAM we weren't at the point of being good friends (and I had a tiny fear that I wouldn't like the book and things could become awkward, but these were unnecessary fears to have, hurray!) So if any of that makes me biased in your opinion, tough. Then read the book and argue with me about it (I'm so serious).

In honor of Zetta's release day and my wanting to share the awesomeness that is A Wish After Midnight, I've decided to host a giveaway! It also ties into Valentine's Day (you have to read my review for further elaboration) because there is a love triangle in A Wish After Midnight. Team Paul vs. Team Judah both vying for the love of Genna. I am wholeheartedly on Team Paul! However, I fear that since the sequel is being written from the side of Judah, I may be more inclined to be on his side.... (haha I'm so fickle).

To enter: You can either

A) Read my review (actually you better read my review regardless!) and tell me based on it and other reviews whose team you would be on. Paul or Judah

OR

B) Leave a comment with your favorite POC literary couple. If you have for some sad reason (To clarify: I'm using the word sad to say that not having discovered a great POC literary couple is sad, not that you are a sad or pathetic person) not read a single book about a POC romance, then just leave me a comment answering "If you could have dinner with two POC literary characters who would it be and why?"

For both comments I would prefer if the books/couples you mention are YA/MG, but they don't have to be.

You must leave your email to be entered!

BTW I may upload a form (I'm too tired to do it now). IF I do upload the form and you've already commented, I will fill out the form for you. But I doubt I will get one. Next giveaway (and this is not my 200 followers celebration, I'm still waiting for something before I have that one, but thank you to my 237 followers, you guys are my Valentines!)

Extra Entries: I'm keeping it simple (What do you like about my giveaways? Dislike? Feedback is appreciated)

+2 Long time follower

+1 New follower

+3 Whatever else you feel like doing (commenting on reviews, Tweeting, linking, etc.) I don't really care. Just leave me a comment telling me what you did. 3 extra entries for every thing you do.

And if you add up your entries I will love you forever!

Ends: Feb. 16 11:59 PM CT

I hope everyone has a happy Valentine's day! Also stop by Zetta's blog, Fledgling to wish her congratulations on her re-release!