If you love young adult books, then you are probably familiar with Dianna Beirne’s Aurelious Forty series.

The teen fiction follows the story of a teenage boy named Aurelious Forty who is disconnected from the world around him and has no family and friends. His life changes when an impulsive decision forces him to abandon everything he has ever known, and he finds out he was born with the power to change humanity. Young Entertainment Magazine sat down with Dianna to get an insider’s look at her popular young adult books!

“Aurelious Forty: Volume One is the story of a cynical teenager who, after a childhood of neglect and heartache, finally finds where he belongs. But the world he belongs in is unlike any he’s ever known and the reality of that world and his place in it is overwhelming. The love and friendship that he accepts for the first time comes with the fear that they can be stolen from him; the goodness that he discovers in himself comes with the knowledge that his darkness is brewing. This is a unique Young Adult Fantasy story, as the ‘sidekick’, not the hero, is the focus and it challenges the reader to re-evaluate what a hero really looks like. This book forces us to look at what we don’t see, it makes us think, it allows us to imagine, and everyone will see someone they know in at least one of the characters…characters who are part of a group that we have never seen in YA fantasy before.

My wish for this book is that people will read it and have a connection with it, whether it’s with the characters or the story. There is a sense of hope throughout the pages, a hope that is challenged so many times, like it often is in real life. But the characters persevere, they don’t give up on that hope, so maybe the young people that read it will persevere and not give up if ever their hopes are challenged. There is also a message of the power of being unique, of being an individual and recognizing and appreciating that unique part of yourself and others. We need to look out for each other and notice people around us for how amazing they are and when we notice them, we may be surprised by what we find.

If this book was to become a movie or TV show, here are my thoughts for a cast…providing some people aren’t afraid to wear a wig and colored contact lenses!

Aurelious Forty – Dylan O’Brien

Brekwyn – Henry Cavill

Anira – Lulu Antariska

Tanent – Pierce Gagnon

Seylane – Emma Rayne Lyle

Megana –Mimi Kennedy

Telera – Carrie-Anne Moss

Danyon – Tyler Posey

Callay – Mads Mikkelson (this makes tons of sense once you get to Volume Three!)

Inglore – Tom Hardy”

Favorite Quote from Book:

“I dropped my hands to my sides and I looked at them. They weren’t there to hurt me. They wouldn’t hurt me. I knew it from the minute I met them but I tried to fight the urge to trust them, to trust my own instincts. But I didn’t need to fight here. Finally, finally i didn’t need to fight. Do you know what happens when you realize that for the first time in your life you aren’t in danger and there are actually people that want to protect you from it? You let yourself cry.”