Monday, August 24, 2009

BLOG TOUR: Another Faust by Daniel and Dina Nayeri

Welcome to another Traveling to Teens blog tour!

Amazon.com:

A devilish debut by a brother-sister team invites us into the world of the elite Marlowe School, where some gifted students are having a hell of a year.

One night, in cities all across Europe, five children vanish — only to appear, years later, at an exclusive New York party with a strange and elegant governess. Rumor and mystery follow the Faust teenagers to the city’s most prestigious high school, where they soar to suspicious heights with the help of their benefactor’s extraordinary "gifts." But as the students claw their way up — reading minds, erasing scenes, stopping time, stealing power, seducing with artificial beauty — they start to suffer the side effects of their own addictions. And as they make further deals with the devil, they uncover secrets more shocking than their most unforgivable sins. At once chilling and wickedly satirical, this contemporary reimagining of the Faustian bargain is a compelling tale of ambition, consequences, and ultimate redemption.

Like I said about Fairy Tale, Another Faust for me was another book that felt like my own personalized version of fantasy and reality. I'm the sort of person that sometimes avoids fantasy because I fear if there is too much fantasy there will be nothing I recognize and will be utterly and completely lost. So again, Another Faust was a perfect balance of me of the recognizable and the fantastical.

For me, Another Faust is all about the characters. I adored them and their gifts and their everyday and ordinary struggles. The way the authors narrated the book was just so right to me. It was the perfect perspective into the minds of these teens. For the cast of characters we have Victoria who is in it to win it when it comes to academics, Christian who wants to win at athletics, Bicé who keeps to herself and seems like the odd one out, Belle who is so beautiful but doesn't smell as such and Valentin the gifted poet. All under the control of Madame Vileroy who remains a mystery throughout the entire story. I actually consider their apartment another character but you will have to read the book to see why!

For me what's so great about this book is there are no gigantic displays of power or huge stand-offs but I know that might turn some people off. For me that's just the way I wanted it. All the teens gifts changed the events of the story in interesting ways, and I just loved it. And what a sense of humor this book had, I found it pretty funny. I can't wait to see what the authors have in story for the students at Marlowe in the next installment Another Pan!

Another Faust is released August 25th.
Genre: Young Adult
4.5/5 Stars
ARC provided by publisher for blog tour

Check out the trailer for the book below!

9 comments:

  1. So glad you liked this book! My review is posted on ReadSpace. I would be interested in knowing how much awareness you have of the source material though.

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  2. Susan- Next to none unfortunately :/

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  3. When I wrote my review I wondered if people knew about the original (or at least most well-known) Faust and if they didn't, whether this book might make them more interested...do you think you might want to know more?

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  4. Susan- I do definitely want to know more. The only problem is getting myself to actually do it! I know several times I've tried to look for things to read online about it but didn't really find much, maybe I didn't look hard enough!

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  5. You've probably already looked at these:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethe%27s_Faust

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Works_based_on_Faust

    I am pretty sure I read the play and then went to a musical performance (it has been many man years now.) I recommend a multimedia approach if you can manage it. The play will seem a little old fashioned maybe, but I remembered being on edge as to whether the devil would win in the end.

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  6. I really want 2 read this book. It looks awesome!

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  7. Thanks Susan! :D

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  8. This one sounds like something i would love! I am most definitely going to check this one out!

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  9. I love books that center on the characters but especially when the characters can impact the plot in not so dramatic ways.

    Great review. I'll add it to the tbr list.

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