Q&A with Amy Tintera

Today I welcome the wonderful and talented Amy Tintera, debut author of Reboot, to Tales of the Inner Book Fanatic blog. I, for one, absolutely loved Amy's fantastic action-packed book (not to mention her kickass and ruthless heroine, Wren) and judging by what I just read, I'm sure this author is the one to look out in the future because she writes some pretty fantastic action scenes. Anyway, here is my Q&A post with Amy. Enjoy!

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1. Could you please describe REBOOT for us in three words?

Action. Romance. Undead!

2. How did you come up with the idea of REBOOT? I must say it’s one of my favourite books from this year already (because it has so much action in it – my favourite element in a book) and not mention it has a really kick-ass concept!

Thank you! I’m a big fan of action-heavy books myself, so I decided it was time to write one. The idea for REBOOT came to through Wren. I heard her talking in my head, saying she was dead for 178 minutes, and I built the story around her.

3. Your main heroine, Wren, is a bit of a bad-ass. How hard was it to write her character with an almost ruthless personality, and yet still make her so completely likable and appealing to the reader? Was it a major challenge to write her character?

It was a little bit of a challenge. But I decided early on that I didn't want to hold back, that I wanted to let her be as bad as possible, and I think that made her even more interesting. I decided not to worry about her being likeable, and just let her be complex and crazy, and it turned out that made her an even better character.

4. I was so excited to find out REBOOT was optioned for a film so I can only imagine what you must be feel about that. Is there anyone in mind that you would love to play your main characters, Wren and Callum?

I don’t have anyone in mind, to be honest! If the movie actually gets made I kind of hope a totally unexpected actor comes in and just brings life to a character in a way I never expected.

5. Are you currently working on any other books or new projects?

I’m finishing up edits on book 2! Other than that, I took a short breather to sort out the many, many ideas I had in my head. Sometimes I have so many ideas it’s hard to pick!

6. And finally, for those who have read REBOOT, what can readers expect from book 2? More action? More romance? More bad-ass conspiracies?

Yes, yes, and yes! Lots of action and romance in book 2. It’s only a two-book series, so I packed all the excitement into the second book. And I think it’s a very satisfying ending to the story, which is something that’s important to me as a reader.

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A big thanks to Amy Tintera for answering all of my questions and joining me here on the blog today. Also another big thanks to the publicist Lara for setting up this interview - you're the best! While you're here, if you haven't already checked out Reboot (or if you would like to read my book review of Reboot you can do so here) be sure to check it out asap because it's one awesome book and I'm really, really looking forward to picking up the sequel next year because it's just SO GOOD.

Five years ago, Wren Connolly was shot three times in the chest. After 178 minutes she came back as a Reboot: stronger, faster, able to heal, and less emotional. The longer Reboots are dead, the less human they are when they return. Wren 178 is the deadliest Reboot in the Republic of Texas. Now seventeen years old, she serves as a soldier for HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation).

Wren’s favorite part of the job is training new Reboots, but her latest newbie is the worst she’s ever seen. As a 22, Callum Reyes is practically human. His reflexes are too slow, he’s always asking questions, and his ever-present smile is freaking her out. Yet there’s something about him she can’t ignore. When Callum refuses to follow an order, Wren is given one last chance to get him in line—or she’ll have to eliminate him. Wren has never disobeyed before and knows if she does, she’ll be eliminated, too. But she has also never felt as alive as she does around Callum.

The perfect soldier is done taking orders.

You can follow Amy Tintera at:

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

Reboot by Amy Tintera

Release Date: June, 2013

Publisher: HarperTeen

Pages: 352pgs

The Story

Five years ago, Wren Connolly was shot three times in the chest. After 178 minutes she came back as a Reboot: stronger, faster, able to heal, and less emotional. The longer Reboots are dead, the less human they are when they return. Wren 178 is the deadliest Reboot in the Republic of Texas. Now seventeen years old, she serves as a soldier for HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation).

Wren’s favorite part of the job is training new Reboots, but her latest newbie is the worst she’s ever seen. As a 22, Callum Reyes is practically human. His reflexes are too slow, he’s always asking questions, and his ever-present smile is freaking her out. Yet there’s something about him she can’t ignore. When Callum refuses to follow an order, Wren is given one last chance to get him in line—or she’ll have to eliminate him. Wren has never disobeyed before and knows if she does, she’ll be eliminated, too. But she has also never felt as alive as she does around Callum.

The perfect soldier is done taking orders.

The Review
  
A big thanks to the publisher on Edelweiss & Allen & Unwin for the review copy of this book!
 

I'm not going to lie here today. This book was absolutely amazing! Amazing, amazing! I've been wanting to read this one for so long now - it seemed like forever to me, even though I've also tried to not get too excited over this book in case I ended up being very disappointed (which happens quite a lot to me lately with upcoming and new book titles). But then once I started to read the actual book and got a grip of what was actually going on in Amy Tintera's dystopian-like world, I was so caught up with pretty much well . . . everything and I was hooked immediately!

REBOOT's plot centers around people called 'Reboots'. They are children and teenagers - just like you and me - who have died and have somewhat been risen again to live as one of the Reboots. But they are not the typical human beings they once were. In fact, they're entirely different. They're better, stronger, faster, incapable of emotion and far less than human. Our main character, Wren, should know better than anyone because she's a Reboot herself. Having died and being the human to take the longest in waking up again (178 minutes to be exact), she is feared by everyone and is considered to be a monster, and is the deadliest weapon - the deadliest Reboot - in her entire district. But when 22, this boy named Callum, enters her life . . . things are about to change for Wren and for just about everyone else she knows.

Honestly I LOVED this book and reading about the story of Reboots. It was fascinating. It was terrifying. It was simply, plainly awesome! The story maybe of the dystopian genre, but whether you're tired of the genre or not, you're seriously going to love this one no matter what, especially if you love The Hunger Games and Divergent, because I certainly loved this book and I didn't want the story to end! It didn't seem long enough for me - I need more and more and more! But when it comes down to it, I just loved reading about how Reboots work and how they function in their everyday lives: How they act, how they train, how they are controlled, and how they are taken away or disciplined if they act out of line. Again, it was awesome!

Wren (aka 178) was such a fantastic character! She was ruthless, cold-hearted and seemed almost incapable of loving anything or anyone in the beginning of the book. I loved that because it's completely understandable because according to this world of Tintera's, the longer you stay dead, the longer and more likely you're going to become cold and unfeeling as a Reboot. But once we learn more about Wren, the past she left behind, and when we get to see different sides to her when this boy Callum barrels into her strict life, you just can't help but feel for this poor girl even if she doesn't feel at all (or so it would seem). It's like you had to do the feeling for her, which I loved! She was so bad-ass I tell you! BAD-ASS.

As for Callum or as he is sometimes known as '22', he too was an amazing character! But unlike most Reboots that we're introduced to in the book, Callum is so upbeat and so much more human than the rest of them. And, like most readers who have already read this book, I liked him immediately! Heck - he's perfect! He's funny, caring, loving, protective and was everything Wren was not, and with the two of them training together to make Callum a better fighter and all. . . it just worked, you know? There was great chemistry going on between him and Wren, even though Wren is doing most of the pushing away since she's not capable of loving someone. But Callum . . . oh Callum was such a doll in this book! Loved him!

Overall, REBOOT went beyond my own expectations and I actually enjoyed this book more than Veronica Roth's Divergent, which shocked me considering I love that series too. But with so much action, mystery, and adventure, I think a lot of readers are going to love this book so be sure to pick up a copy of it when it hits our shelves in May this year! It was a real hoot!

The Rating

5/5 stars