BOOK SIGNING: EMILY LOCKHART IN MANILA 2015.

Where I relive the experience and share all the feels before, during and after meeting these fantastic authors WHO ARE BASICALLY LIFE.

Last year after I read We Were Liars, the feels just legit overwhelmed me. I couldn't stop feeling helpless because of my WWL emotions and the gaping at my murderously tabbed copy lasted a while. I tried to talk to my #WeWereLiarsSupportGroup on Twitter and it surely help lessen the pain. Then imagine...just imagine Emily Lockhart announcing on Twitter that she will be coming over for a book signing.. Imagine how much I screamed my lungs out and almost shoved it to everyone's faces that I was SO happy and excited and ugh, ALL THE FEELS again. Imagine that then it happened. I THINK MY BOOKISH HEART CAN'T HANDLE IT ANYMORE.

How much screaming was there after I saw here announcement!

The pain of it all OMG

March 22, 2015. Sunday morning. That was when I met and talked to Emily Lockhart, New York Times Bestselling author aka the mastermind behind We Were Liars aka the reason why I was in so much bookish pain. It was so surreal, you guys! I was so excited about this event because I have so much question for her (though I've only asked one). My blogger friends and I even came up with #15DaysofLying tag in preparation for her signing (thank you Kai, Precious, Dianne and to all who participated!). Emily was wearing a simple but cute dress and boy her tattoo was intriguing. It was hot in the book store where the Bloggers' Forum was held but she didn't mind at all. She was happy to meet us. One surprising thing she did was she checked ALL our blogs so she can get to know us a little bit *am blushing so hard while typing this* and I think that was such a sweet gesture! Then recordings, photo taking, video taping, fangirling and Q and A happened. It was a blast!

Caffeine fix with #PHYABookBloggers

Me: If you were Cadence and you had a choice, would you let them go?

E: I think I would, because you cannot stay on an island forever. You have to go back to the rest of the world. You can't, you have to go back to the world.

I couldn't help but ask this because this part is the one that absolutely marked deep in my heart.

**If you wanna listen to the entire Q and A, visit Kai's recap and Jesselle's. They've uploaded their recordings.**

My favorite line from We Were Liars. Sharpied by Algel of Tea-rrifuc Reads!

#PHYABookBloggers with out signed #WeWereLiarsSupportGroup shirts!

The gang!

Emily's funny and very welcoming. She's open to all questions and very careful in answering to avoid getting people spoiled. She also flails a lot. I mean, she talks with so much hand gestures and she thinks first before giving her answers. While she was signing my book (I only had my copy of We Were Liars signed), I told her how she ruined my life because of her story and I was expecting more from her (she's writing a new one). When she also saw how much book flags I put on my book, she said, "I'm honored" and I nearly fainted! I wanted to hug her but I contained the urge, she might get shocked! Kai and I talked to her a little bit more and that was all I could ask for. It was truly a dream come true for me.

#PHYABookBloggers with Emily! Thanks, Louisse of The Soul Sisters for the photo!

After the almost forty minutes of Q and A, we had our books, swag and shirts signed. We also took a ton of selfies with her! Then I went directly to the public book signing because I need to go home right after. I was supposed to see Insurgent with the ladies but alas, I was broke. I took some photos from the public event and met some co-bloggers there, too. I also wanted to register so I can get my own stub because am going to start collecting them for my "Bookish Board".

 Emily Lockhart's message to book bloggers!


Emily's message to PH fans! 

Photo grabbed from National Book Store's FB page.

My signed swag!

Beautiful stamp!

Yes, I will. My signed copy!!!!

Glorious, glorious moment with Emily!

I hate National Book Store so much for making this momentous event happen! How dare you even think of this as pure awesomeness? It was truly not a day to remember.

BUT THEN I LIED.

Check out these fabulous recaps (and win signed books from some):

Jesselle of The Lifelong Bookworm
Algel of Tea-rrific Reads
Kai of Amaterasu Reads
Leslie of Bibliophilekid
Hazel of Stay Bookish
Kazhy of My Library in the Making
Mary Ann of Teen Readers' Diary
Dianne of Oops, I Read a Book Again

REVIEW: WE WERE LIARS BY EMILY LOCKHART.

Title: We Were Liars
Author: E. Lockhart
Edition: Paperback
Published: May 13, 2014
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 240
Source: Bought from Fullybooked, Fort
Category: Contemporary
Trailer: Not applicable.

Amazon ▲ Book Depository ▲ Goodreads ▲ Barnes and Noble

Synopsis:

A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.

Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

Less is definitely more.

Truth be told, I never heard much about We Were Liars. Yes, I've seen ARCs around but I didn't give much fuss about it. Until THAT day. That perfect day when 3 of my bookish friends (aka my #WWLSupportGroup Kai, Jesselle and Leslie) couldn't stop gushing about how much We Were Liars ruined their minds. That was also the day I found early copies from our local bookstore that I just had to grab my own copy. I devoured it like I didn't eat words for 5 lifetimes. That was the day I was torn apart, piece by piece, beyond repair.

We Were Liars is a story like no other. Unique, thrilling, magnificent, absolutely mind blowing and it is one billion sadness compressed into 240 pages. The confusion and questions I encountered the entire time were overwhelming. I saw Cadence's character as a very broken protagonist within a very greedy family that I hated the composition and combination of the Sinclair family. Their differences somehow collided with their motive which was their old man's wealth. I couldn't understand how Cadence was just so fragile that everyone seemed to be shutting her out. The mere fact that she met a terrible accident no one wanted to talk to her about, even her cousins and Gat, drove me insane. Like, what is wrong with these people? She deserves to know. I would have never understood it if I stopped reading and finding out the truth myself. It felt like I was sitting with Cadence the entire time, patiently waiting for the truth for reveal itself. And when it did, hell, I was a goner.

My bookish friends really did try to warn me about the last 50 pages. How those glorious pages will be the cause of my bleeding heart. How those fantastic pages with cut my breath short. And how those crazy pages will push my soul into oblivion. Their warnings weren't enough for me to be  prepared BECAUSE THERE IS JUST NO FREAKING WAY YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO. THE LAST 50 PAGES RUINED ME, ROBBED ME OF MY SANITY, SHOCKED ME, TORE ME APART AND COMPLETELY TOOK MY SENSE OF LIVING FOR 5 HOURS. IT WAS SO PHENOMENALLY SAD THAT I COULDN'T THINK STRAIGHT, I COULDN'T FOCUS ON ANYTHING AND LOOKING AT THE BOOK MADE ME WANT TO GRAB CADENCE AND HUG HER FOREVER. THERE IS JUST NO WAY, NO NO WAY FOR ME TO MOVE PAST THAT. THAT PART WHEN THEY LEFT. IT JUST WRECKED EVERY EMOTION I HAVE, EVEN THE TINIEST ONE BECAUSE IT WAS THAT PAINFUL. THE ENDING WAS TRULY, TRULY PAINFUL. I COULDN'T EVEN TALK ABOUT GAT WITHOUT SOBBING, LIKE SERIOUSLY. OMG.

*breathes slowly*

As I have shared on Facebook, I couldn't recommend this book enough. It isn't only mysterious but highly intriguing and it plays so good with the mind. Lockhart sure enough nailed this one, the characters are so lovely, the plot is one of a kind, the romance is ugh, to die for and that tingling sensation on each chapter gives an out of the body goosebumps. This book is surely one of the amazing novels I've read this year. And be warned: prepare for a support group. You wouldn't survive longer after you're done with this.

"Be a little kinder than you have to."

"I want to know everything, understand everything; I want to hold [him] close and run my hands over him and never let him go. But perhaps this is the only way we can start."