Happy Monday and welcome to my stop on the SUGAR AND SPITE blog tour! I’m so excited because today I have an interview with Gail Villanueva to share with you! This book is truly amazing and I’m so so excited to for you to find out more about it, PLUS enter for a chance to win a print copy!
Sugar and Spite by Gail D. Villanueva Published on April 20, 2021 by Scholastic Press
Genres: Middle Grade, Contemporary, Fantasy
Pages: 208
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Author Links: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram
Can a bully be defeated by a magical love potion?
Jolina can't take Claudine's bullying any longer! The taunts and teasing are too much. Though Jolina knows she's still in-training to use her grandfather's arbularyo magic, she sneaks into his potions lab to get her revenge. Jolina brews a batch of gayuma, a powerful love potion.
And it works. The love potion conquers Claudine's hateful nature. In fact, Claudine doesn't just stop bullying Jolina -- now she wants to be Jolina's BFF, and does everything and anything Jolina asks.
But magic comes with a cost, and bad intentions beget bad returns. Controlling another person's ability to love -- or hate -- will certainly have consequences. The magic demands payment, and it is about to come for Jolina in the form of a powerful storm...
Magic and reality mingle in this brilliant new middle-grade novel by Gail D. Villanueva that asks whether it's ever okay to take away someone's free will.
What would you do if you spent the day with jolina and claudine? Where would you go to eat, hang out, relax, etc.?
Well, assuming that it’s safe for us to hang out without masks and face shields, I’ll invite the girls to my house and introduce them to my pets—dogs, ducks, cats, turtles, and the Philippine pied fantail that likes to visit our backyard. Then, we’ll cook and eat all day while watching family movies on Netflix. If we still have time, we’ll do arts and crafts just like my mom used to with me and my sister when we were kids.
If jolina and claudine were to hang out with characters from other books, who would they be and why?
Joanna Lin from Remy Lai’s middle-grade graphic novel debut, Pawcasso. Joanna, Jolina, and Claudine all love animals, so I’m pretty sure they’ll get along well! Besides, Remy is my friend. If we enjoy hanging out with each other virtually (she’s in Australia while I’m in the Philippines), our characters certainly would too.
Would you rather be a superhero or a supervillain? And what would your powers and name be?
Hmm… I think I’d rather be a supervillain, because there’s too much pressure to do what people expect you to do if you’re a superhero. A supervillain doesn’t have live up to the expectations of others, and they’re often undermined and underestimated. I’m going to be super smart and have the ability to communicate with corvids—crows and ravens. Corvids are known to be highly intelligent birds so they’ll be perfect minions. The world will tremble in fear at the mention of my name, Doctora Corvina!
If you buried a time capsule with three items inside, what three items would you choose and why?
A wooden bead bracelet, a Lisa Simpson “overachiever” mug, and a first print-run copy of My Fate According to the Butterfly. I know it seems a bit vain to include my debut novel, but I went through a lot of “firsts” because of that book. It will always be special to me. The wooden bead bracelet was a gift from my husband. He bought it outside the hospital from a street vendor who claims that the bracelet is an agimat, an amulet or charm. The Lisa Simpson “overachiever” mug was gift from my younger sister, who said she bought it because it reminded her of me.
What was your favorite bit of research you ended up not using?
When I was writing Sugar And Spite, it was the year my debut came out. I was really busy with events and stuff on top of my day job. My husband is a terrible cook, so we either got food delivered or bought from a nearby eatery. My initial draft of Sugar And Spite had a lot of scenes where Jolina was cooking. So, for research (I swear, it’s for research!), I cooked a lot of my mom and grandma’s recipes. I ended up not using most of them, but cooking was a much-needed break at that time for me and I really had fun with it.
What is your favorite quote, scene, or moment from Sugar and spite?
This line from Lolo Sebyo’s dialogue is my favorite:
“Remember, righting a wrong with another wrong
does not make it right.”
About Gail D. Villanueva
Gail D. Villanueva is a Filipino author born and based in the Philippines. She’s also a web designer and an entrepreneur. She loves pineapple pizza, seafood, and chocolate, but not in a single dish together (eww). Gail and her husband live in the outskirts of Manila with their dogs, ducks, turtles, cats, and one friendly but lonesome chicken. Her debut novel My Fate According to the Butterfly (Scholastic, 2019) was named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews, an Amazon Best Book of the Month Editor’s Pick, and a NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People. Gail’s next book, Sugar And Spite, was published by Scholastic in April 2021.
Enter here for a chance to win an annotated ARC of SUGAR AND SPITE by Gail D. Villanueva!
(US Only!!!)
What do you think about Sugar and Spite? Have you added it to your tbr yet? Let me know in the comments and have a splendiferous day!
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