Now that Fiona Tarsis and her twin brother, Jonah, are no longer beasts, they set out to find their mother, with the help of Bowen and a former neighbor, Jacqui. Heading for a safe settlement rumored to be in Wyoming, they plan to spread the cure along the way--until they are attacked by raiders. Luckily, they find a new ally in Kevin, who saves them and leads them to safety in his underground shelter. But the more they get to know Kevin, the more they suspect he has ties to the raiders. He also seems to know too many details about Jacqui and her family—details that could endanger them all. For the raiders will do anything they can to destroy the cure that would bring an end to their way of life. Bethany Wiggins’s reimagining of our world after an environmental catastrophe won’t fail to stun readers.
CURED is the sequel to STUNG and it would be best to read it before you jump into this one. Wiggins has created a complex world where the population has been devastated by the chain of events started when the honeybee population collapsed. A worldwide pandemic followed and the government tried to bio-engineer a cure. The cure didn't work. In fact, it had even worse consequences. The vaccinations turn the recipients into ferocious, deadly monsters. STUNG follows Fiona as she tries to find her brother and survive in the dangerous world outside the protection of the walled city.
CURED adds a few new characters to the story by introducing Jacqui, a girl who has been masquerading as a boy (Jack) ever since the disaster, and Kevin, a knowledgeable survivor that lends a hand.
Jack is determined to find her brother who has never returned from a trip to a rumored safe zone and enlists Fiona and Bowen to help. Along the way they pick up Kevin, who provides shelter and safety from the dangerous bands of raiders who are always on the look out for women, but will take anything else they find, too. Jack immediately feels an attraction to Kevin, but still maintains her "boy" facade, unwilling to completely trust him with her biggest secret.
Oh goodness, I loved Kevin! I wanted to live in his underground bunker with him forever. But, it was sooooo hard to trust him. Wiggins does a wonderful job of putting the reader in Jack's head. Like her, we want so badly to trust, but some things were just "off." The ending is jam packed with emotion and action. I didn't want it to end.
Q & A with Bethany Wiggins
1) If you were stuck in a post-apocalyptic world, which ONE thing would you miss from life before the disaster?
Clean, hot running water! I hate camping. Why? The lack of running water. I can't stand not being able to wash my hands after eating sticky s'mores, or not being able to take a shower after a long hike. I would despise life without hot running water.
2) What is the title of the last YA book you read?
ELEVATED by Elana Johnson
3) Talk about you writing process. Do you outline or let the story free flow? Do you compose on paper before typing? Do you need quiet to write or do you need music/tv on in the background? Are you a Mac or a PC?
I start seeing a story in my head for several weeks or months before I start writing it, and sort of know where the plot is going to go, but I have never ever plotted a book out before I have written it. When it is ready to come out, I go right for the computer (PC), turn on i-tunes, and let the story choose how it wants to come out.
4) Do you work in a writing group to edit your draft or do you just work with your editor to fine then the book?
Typically I start out alone. I will write the whole book, edit it myself, have my husband and a couple of friends read it, and then my editor gets it.
5) Do you already have plans for another book after the STUNG series is finished?
Right now there are several ideas swimming around in my head, but none of them have reached the writing point. I'm not getting a lot of sleep lately (thanks to the birth of my fifth child) and lack of sleep seems to be a big factor in my level of creativity. Hopefully soon I will get more sleep and more creative!
I am so happy to be able to be a part of the Blog Tour because I absolutely love both STUNG and CURED. I'd like to say thank you to Bethany for answering my questions and I want to tell you, my readers, to go now and get these books. You'll get sucked in to this barbaric world and won't want to leave.
Use the Rafflecopter below to enter the drawing for a finished copy of CURED. You have one week to get in as many entries as you can. Giveaway closes on March 12th at 11:59 PM.
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