This Is Not the End by Chandler Baker (Interview, Review & #Giveaway)

Welcome to my tour stop! You can follow the tour here. This one has been on
my tbr for some time. I thought the concept was unique and heard good things
about the story. The author, Chandler Baker, let me ask her some questions and
and I also got to review the book, so check those and the giveaway out below...

This Is Not the End

by Chandler Baker

YA Contemporary, SciFi

Hardcover & ebook, 384 Pages

August 8th 2017 by Disney-Hyperion

Summary

I wonder if for the rest of my life, I’ll be haunted by beautiful days.

On one cloudless, radiant summer afternoon, Lake Devereaux lost everything. The car crash claimed the lives of her best friend and boyfriend, the people who had become her family after her own fell apart. But she doesn’t have to lose them both.

The development of resurrection technology has changed the world. Under the new laws regulating the process, each person gets one resurrection to be used or forfeited on their eighteenth birthday. Mere weeks away from turning eighteen, Lake faces an impossible choice.

Envisioning life without one of the people she loves most is shattering enough, but Lake carries an additional burden: years ago, under family pressure, Lake secretly—and illegally—promised her resurrection to someone who isn’t even dead yet.

The search for answers about her future draws Lake more deeply into the secrets of her past until she begins to question everything about those closest to her. Betrayals and hurts both new and old threaten to eclipse the memories she once cherished.

Then Lake meets a boy unlike anyone she’s encountered before, who unflinchingly embraces the darkest parts of her life . . . and who believes that all resurrections are wrong.

Which path is the right one? And how can Lake start to heal when she can't move on?

Praise for the Book

"A deeply emotional supernatural thriller with the perfect romantic twist, This is Not the End will totally capture your imagination this summer." ―Brit + Co

"A stunning feat of storytelling that explores one girl's impossible decision, the depth of grief and the long-buried secrets, This Is Not The End will leave every reader's pulse in a frenzy." ―PopSugar

"When I first dove into This Is Not The End, I was not prepared for the onslaught of feels that Chandler Baker was going to send crashing down on me. I never expected to care what happened to Lake, Will, and Penny within the first few pages, but I found myself as grief stricken as Lake was when she experienced her loss. In fact, Chandler was able to tap into my emotions all the way through. The chaotic nature of Lake's emotions mirrored so many of the things I was feeling in real life at the time of reading and helped me feel like I had a much needed friend on my journey. I love the complicated nature of every relationship in This Is Not The End, it gives the book a very real feel, and keeps you constantly wondering who Lake will choose for her resurrection all the way to twist at the end. A great read for anyone looking for a chance to explore their feelings about life, death, and what happens when you get to choose who walks the path with you. " ―Shannon Brewer, BookPeople in Austin, TX

"Chandler Baker captures the intimacy of young friendship with heartbreaking accuracy in THIS IS NOT THE END. Set in a beautifully relatable future world with the technology to bring back deceased loved ones, this read was equal parts page turner and thought provoker. I genuinely had to find out the ending!" ―Melanie J. Thompson, Interabang Books, Dallas, TX

"Chandler Baker's story is almost compulsively readable, and you'll be tearing through the pages to the final twist reveal, but it's celebration of life and living along the way that makes it so powerful" ―Bustle

"The way this unique and thoughtful look at death, grief and self-discovery reveals the relationships between the characters in two alternating timelines teases you to the suspenseful outcome, GAH...that twist!" ―Justine Magazine

"The book smartly deals with grief on many levels and among all the characters. Losing two friends at and being close to the families of the deceased compounds the overwhelming sadness, grief, and guilt that Lake feels. While the author makes sure the reader does not drown in such weighty issues, Baker also does not use the resurrection technology as an easy fix concerning Lake's choice. The technology actually intensifies the questions and issues Lake must confront...a provocative, twisty story with appeal across genders and genres" ―VOYA

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Author Interview

Question: What inspired you to write about being able to bring back someone who has died?

Answer: I often say this because it’s totally true, but the entire idea and plot came for This Is Not the End came to me in a flash of inspiration. But if I had to guess, I think aesthetically, I was being inspired by trailers I had seen for HBO’s The Leftovers. I just loved the look of that show and thought Tom Perotta’s concept was so cool. I love global stories that are told on a very personal level. I was in a bit of a writing slump at the time and when I came up with the concept for This Is Not the End, it immediately brought me back to what I love about the YA fiction that I originally fell in love with. I loved impossible choices, life and death stakes and messy relationships. This book gave me the chance to write about all those things.

Question: Would you tell us a little more about the main characters from THIS IS NOT THE END?

Answer: TINTE follows three friends: Lake, Penny and Will. They have a very tightknit, closed system friendship. Lake and Will have been dating for a couple years and are an institution in their high school, but their dating status doesn’t lessen the closeness of Lake and Will’s friendship with Penny. Will is charismatic, into grand gestures and terrified for turning into his father. Penny is free-spirited, sensitive and selfless. Lake is a tad bit reckless and lost and considers Penny and Will her found family after her real family imploded following her brothers accident. But after their deaths, Lake learns that she might not have known her friends as well as she thought…

Question: If Lake was to share one piece of wisdom from her story, what would she say?

Answer: Don’t be afraid to reach outside your circle for support and friendship. There are lots of people in this world and you may connect with more of them you think. And also go to therapy if you need to.

Question: What is your favorite part of this story?

Answer: I love the idea of Death Parties, which take place on the eve of someone’s 18th birthday, the day on which they may make a resurrection choice. A person volunteers to be killed for the potentially spiritually or life-changing experience of being brought back to life. It’s exactly the sort of reckless teenage behavior I can picture 60 Minutes running a special on. And it raises all kinds of questions, like: Is it really spiritual? Is it really life changing? Or is it just perception? Attaching meaning to an unrelated event? And who is to decide?

Question: What are you working on next?

Answer: I’m writing my first adult novel, WHISPER NETWORK, which will be published by Flatiron next year. It’s such a departure for me and is taking absolutely all my brainpower, but it’s thrilling and I hope some of my YA readers will come along for the ride.

My Review

THIS IS NOT THE END is a story full of emotions, heartbreak, but also hope and reconciliation as one girl tries to decide who to resurrect on her 18th birthday. It's a powerful story, with complex characters, full of friendship, family, and love. Perfect for contemporary young adult readers looking for a unique story of self-discovery.

This story was definitely intense in parts! It tugged on my heart and brought my emotions to the surface. There were a lot of tough issues and choices. Lots of heartache. Lots of friendship and love to balance it all out. I really enjoyed the characters and how there was so much more to them than how they first appear. I figured out the big twist half-way, but not how all of it happened. Seeing Lake and her family have to work through things and mend so much was rough, but also felt real. All their jagged edges and all the broken pieces of Lake's friends' lives were difficult and messy. As it should be. It made the sweet moments, the insights, the way the characters came to grasp with things... that much sweeter and hopeful. The ending then finished things off perfectly.

In the end, was it what I wished for? An enjoyable, bittersweet read that shows the messiness of life and the joy that can be found in living it.

Content: Some swearing (including the f-word), innuendo, some crude references, drinking, drugs, suicide.
Source: I received a complimentary copy from the publisher through Jean Book Nerd Tours, which did not require a positive review nor affect it in any way.

About the Author

PHOTO CONTENT FROM CHANDLER BAKER

Chandler Baker got her start ghostwriting novels for teens and tweens, including installments in a book series that has sold more than 1 million copies. She grew up in Florida, went to college at the University of Pennsylvania and studied law at the University of Texas. She now lives in Austin with her husband. Although she loves spinning tales with a touch of horror, she is a much bigger scaredy-cat than her stories would lead you to believe.

You can find Chandler as the books contributor on the YouTube channel Weird Girls.

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