Ruin and Rising Launch Party

Gigantic first page of the book in the entry way

The Launch Party for the last book in Leigh Bardugo's Shadow and Bone series - Ruin and Rising - was on Monday at the Last Bookstore in Los Angeles.  It's kind of an amazing bookstore by the way.  I live in the area and I've never even heard of it until recently!  This place messed me up though, because I got there so early, with every intention of being one of the first in line to get good seats, and I ended up roaming the store and buying all kinds of books (ones I've not seen in any other bookstore!).  And so I did not get a seat.  C'est la vie.

The event was pretty packed.  Leigh's army turned out in force and we were rewarded with a tote bag, a photobooth, nails station, and free food and drinks!  I had caviar for the very first time, and some freaking delicious bacon caramel brownies.  My friend and I were always keeping an eye out for the waiter bearing the brownie tray!

Drinks!  The red one was called Ruin, and the yellow was Rising

There was a brief talk where Leigh read some from her old diary which was completely endearing and hilarious, and then she started talking about the movie Labyrinth with David Bowie while showing some screenshots and a clip of the scene at the ball from the film.  She talked about how the movie bombed when it was released, but became a cult favorite and it's probably due to how it went from a children's film to one with a seduction and darker themes.  Which lead to her talking about why we read YA.  I'm paraphrasing, but the reason why Labyrinth appeals is why YA appeals.  That in a children's book there is an idealized hero's journey and in adult books, people who make mistakes live in the suburbs with regrets.  But in YA, the characters can make mistakes and still have their hero's journey.  I can not do justice to Leigh's wonderful speech, but I found it very moving and so eloquently put.  If only those silly article writers (who shall not be named) could understand how important YA can be in what it shows of the kind of life that adults want to lead.  Not just children.  I wish I had expressed my admiration for how Leigh explained the importance of YA to her when she was signing my book, but after a long wait in line, I completely forgot to mention it!!  But I thought her speech was so perfect.  And I realize that I really need to watch Labyrinth!  Although it does sound like a very trippy movie.

Like I mentioned, the line was quite long, because Leigh awesomely took her time to talk to everyone, so after we had our book signed, my friend and I had to leave.  It was too bad because I would have loved to stay a bit longer and wander around the bookstore more.  Or maybe sit for a bit and start reading Ruin and Rising like I saw some smart people doing at the event.  But I've already started reading the book now, so must get off blogger to read more!

By the way, I've just set up a 500px account to upload bookish pictures!  You can visit it here: 500px  There's only a few more photos from the event on there, and they are mostly random things! Turns out I didn't like 500px that much!