Monday 17 June 2013

Blog Tour: Animate Me (Review + Giveaway)

Animate Me
Title: Animate Me
Author: Ruth Clampett
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Purchase: Amazon | B&N

She seemed far beyond his reach…could love draw them together?

For years shy animator Nathan has carried a torch for Brooke, the beautiful and dynamic Director of Development at their animation studio, even creating B-Girl, a comic-book heroine in her likeness. When a new project throws the two of them together, lovestruck Nathan finally seizes his moment – only to find Arnauld, head of the animation studio, claiming exclusive rights to Brooke’s affections.

But Nathan, it turns out, is not giving up on his dreams so easily. With inspired determination, he sets out to be the super hero of wooing his girl. Threatened by his persistence, Arnauld plays dirty – only to spark an uprising at the studio that unleashes the sort of havoc only a building full of frustrated animators can create. While Nathan pulls out all the stops to win his B-girl, Brooke has to choose. Should she pursue the sparkling career that has taken her years to build…or follow her heart?


Book Trailer:



Review:
“And all of the scientific data, statistical facts and empirical evidence can't compete with the indefinable heart's desire. For if in the end, she loves you, and she chooses you…none of the rest of this will matter.”

Although I love watching animated movies, I have no little knowledge about the magic that happens before I watch them in cinemas. Animate Me managed to open that door to me and I went out of it amazed. Although it wasn’t detailed that much, the part where Nathan explained the process already built mental images that left me in awe of the animators’ talent.

Nathan, the hero of our story is a full-fledged animation geek. He’s got the insane talent, the collection and knows the facts like the back of his hand. He was also having a hard time mustering up the courage to talk and make a move to win Brooke, our hero’s love interest. The way he was clamming up and cheering for himself to win his girl. His voice was amusing but the only problem I had was it felt a bit unmanly for a male’s POV. His internal monologues about how much he loves Brooke was so sappy, I had a hard time to get used to it and remember that this was narrated by a male protagonist. But due to its entertainment level, I decided to put it at the back of my mind and continue reading the story. Guess what, I enjoyed it.

Unfortunately for Brooke, I had a hard time understanding her personality and putting it all in one person. At one point, she’s so confident in facing Nathan and giving him instructions on how to win a girl but will lose it all and cry when she felt like Arnauld puts her down using his subtle comments.

Animate Me was an amusing and charming story, set in a unique world of artists and sharks who wants to devour these artists. This felt like a fairy tale written in a male’s POV, having a comic book-esque feel/them.


*What's up for grabs:
(1) Prize Pack: a Print Copy of Animate Me, an Animate Me Travel Mug, and a print (small poster) of ‘B-Girl’ signed by Ruth Clampett and the artist Juan Ortiz. – US/Canada
(3) Print copies - US/Canada
(5) eBook copies gifted from Amazon - International countries that can accept Amazon gifted books

*Ends on June 28th


Ruth Clampett, daughter of legendary animation director Bob Clampett, grew up surrounded by artists and animators. A graduate of Art Center College of Design, she has been VP of Design for Warner Brothers Studio Stores and taught photography at UCLA. Today she runs her own studio and as the Fine Art publisher for Warner Brothers Studios has come to know and work with some of the world’s greatest artists in the fields of animation and comics.

From this colorful background comes Ruth’s first novel, Animate Me, a fun and sexy, unique and engaging contemporary romance.

Ruth lives and works in Los Angeles, strictly supervised by her teenage daughter, who helps plan their summer around their yearly pilgrimage to the San Diego Comic Con.