Blog Tour & Guest Post
Feral
by Holly Schindler
CATS
AND CLAIRE’S FEELINGS IN FERAL by HOLLY SCHINDLER
FERAL jacket copy:
The Lovely Bones meets Black Swan in this haunting psychological
thriller with twists and turns that will make you question everything you think
you know.
It’s too late for you. You’re dead. Those words continue to haunt Claire
Cain months after she barely survived a brutal beating in Chicago. So when her
father is offered a job in another state, Claire is hopeful that getting out
will offer her a way to start anew.
But when she arrives in Peculiar, Missouri, Claire feels an overwhelming sense
of danger, and her fears are confirmed when she discovers the body of a popular
high school student in the icy woods behind the school, surrounded by the
town’s feral cats. While everyone is quick to say it was an accident, Claire
knows there’s more to it, and vows to learn the truth about what happened.
But the closer she gets to uncovering the mystery, the closer she also gets to
realizing a frightening reality about herself and the damage she truly
sustained in that Chicago alley….
Holly Schindler’s gripping story is filled with heart-stopping twists and turns
that will keep readers guessing until the very last page.
~
Feral cats do help add to the creepy
atmosphere in FERAL…but they’re actually also included in the book for far more
important reasons than that…
“Feral,” as a few reviewers recently
stated, can mean “untamed,” as well as “wild” or “uncontrollable.” So many elements in the book fit these
definitions: the gang that corners and beats Claire in Chicago, the nightmares
that persist as she attempts to heal from the attack. Later, when Claire goes to Peculiar for her
father’s sabbatical, the spirits that live in the town fog pursue her in a wild
way as well—as does the ghost in the basement of the high school. And, yes, the feral cats pursue Claire in
increasingly vicious or disturbing ways.
Peculiar, as it turns out, is
absolutely no escape for Claire. Her
surroundings are a mirror-image and constant reminder of the night of her
beating. And one of the feral cats—Sweet
Pea, a gnarled-looking, ancient old calico—is beginning to chase Claire far
more intensely than the other cats…
It becomes clear that Sweet Pea is
chasing Claire because she is being inhabited by the spirit of Serena, the high
school student whose body Claire discovered soon after arriving in
Peculiar. Only, Serena doesn’t want to
be inside Sweet Pea. She wants to be a
seventeen-year-old girl, who does seventeen-year-old things. She wants to write for the paper and live in
her favorite house and go to dances…The only way to do those things, she
decides, is to get inside Claire…
The end reveals that the old calico
(Sweet Pea) is actually a mirror image of what Claire desires most for
herself. Sometimes, those thoughts we
have ourselves—the things we think that we would never, never, NEVER want the
rest of the world to know—those are the things that are maybe the wildest, most
ferocious of all…
FERAL &THE
PSYCHOLOGICAL
THRILLER:
FERAL
falls squarely into the realm of the classic psychological thriller. While the book features mystery, horror, and
paranormal elements, the emphasis is on the “psychological” rather than
thriller / action. The novel features a
Hitchcockian pace and focus on character development (here, we’re exploring the
inner workings of the main character, Claire Cain).
Essentially,
every aspect of FERAL is used to explore Claire’s inner workings—that even
includes the wintry Ozarks setting. The
water metaphor is employed frequently in psychological thrillers to represent
the subconscious, and here is incorporated in the form of a brutal ice storm
(that represents Claire’s “frozen” inner state). The attempt to untangle what is real from
what is unreal (another frequently-used aspect of the psychological thriller)
also begins to highlight the extent to which Claire was hurt in that Chicago
alley. Even the explanation of the odd
occurrences in the town of Peculiar offers an exploration into and portrait of
Claire’s psyche.
Ultimately, FERAL is a book about recovering from
violence—that’s not just a lengthy or hard process; it’s a terrifying process,
too. The classic psychological thriller
allowed me to explore that frightening process in detail.
Holly Schindler Bio:
Holly Schindler is the
author of the critically acclaimed A BLUE SO DARK (Booklist starred review, ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year silver
medal recipient, IPPY Awards gold medal recipient) as well as PLAYING HURT (both YAs).
Her
debut MG, THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE AND LUCKY, also released in ’14, and became a favorite of teachers and
librarians, who used the book as a read-aloud.
Kirkus Reviews called THE JUNCTION “...a heartwarming
and uplifting story...[that] shines...with vibrant themes of community,
self-empowerment and artistic vision delivered with a satisfying verve.”
FERAL
is Schindler’s third YA and first psychological thriller. Publishers Weekly gave FERAL a starred
review, stating, “Opening with
back-to-back scenes of exquisitely imagined yet very real horror, Schindler’s
third YA novel hearkens to the uncompromising demands of her debut, A BLUE SO
DARK…This time, the focus is on women’s voices and the consequences they suffer
for speaking…This is a story about reclaiming and healing, a process that is scary,
imperfect, and carries no guarantees.”
Schindler
encourages readers to get in touch.
Booksellers, teen librarians, and teachers can also contact her directly
regarding Skype visits.
She can be
reached at:
hollyschindlerbooks (at) gmail (dot) com, and can also be found at
hollyschindler.com, hollyschindler.blogspot.com,
@holly_schindler,
Facebook.com/HollySchindlerAuthor, and
hollyschindler.tumblr.com
Feral Trailer:
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Rafflecopter form for a
giveaway of a signed copy of FERAL (running from Sept. 27- Oct. 13):
