Blog Tour & Giveaway: Review & Favourite Quotes of Red Hood

Title: Red Hood
Authors: Elana K. Arnold
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Release Date: February 25, 2020
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retellings, Fairy Tales

Synopsis:

You are alone in the woods, seen only by the unblinking yellow moon. Your hands are empty. You are nearly naked.

And the wolf is angry.

Since her grandmother became her caretaker when she was four years old, Bisou Martel has lived a quiet life in a little house in Seattle. She’s kept mostly to herself. She’s been good. But then comes the night of homecoming, when she finds herself running for her life over roots and between trees, a fury of claws and teeth behind her. A wolf attacks. Bisou fights back. A new moon rises. And with it, questions. About the blood in Bisou’s past and on her hands as she stumbles home. About broken boys and vicious wolves. About girls lost in the woods—frightened, but not alone.

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As a novel mainly told in second person point of view, Red Hood by Elana K. Arnold is a very jolting and raw story. The main character, Bisou, does not shy away from being so up front, straightforward, and brutally honest when it comes to her actions, emotions, and womanhood. Closely based off the didactic fairy tale, “Little Red Riding Hood,” Red Hood proposes the same moral stance–“always be aware and cautious, because every one has a hidden agenda.”

Similar to Buffy in the 1992 movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the main character in Red Hood depends on her menstrual cycle to fight and hunt, in her case, werewolves. Throughout the book, Bisou is bombarded with conflicts that relate to the gruesome and tense scenes of protecting herself and the women around her. The author does an excellent job of allowing Bisou’s narrative to become part of the reader’s own story, throwing you in the thick of every nail-biting choice that Bisou makes.

Red Hood has some very terrifying and tense moments, but overall this novel is a constant page turner. The book explores so many modern issues that are often socially avoided: periods, teenage sex, rape, abortion, slut-shaming, toxic masculinity, and domestic violence. Filled with female empowerment, justice, and self defense, Red Hood will leave you in shock and awe.

 

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ELANA K. ARNOLD is the author of critically acclaimed and award-winning young adult novels and children’s books, including the Printz Honor winner Damsel, the National Book Award finalist What Girls Are Made Of, and Global Read Aloud selection A Boy Called Bat and its sequels. Several of her books are Junior Library Guild selections and have appeared on many best book lists, including the Amelia Bloomer Project, a catalog of feminist titles for young readers. Elana teaches in Hamline University’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program and lives in Southern California with her family and menagerie of pets.

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Note: Thank you to the The Fantastic Flying Book Club for having me on this blog tour. And a huge thank you to Harper Teen for providing me an e-ARC to read and review for free in exchange for an honest review. All statements and opinions are my own. Please note that all quoted material is not final and may change in the final publication of the book.

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Review & Favorite Quotes of Have a Little Faith in Me

Title: Have a Little Faith In Me
Authors: Sonia Hartl
Publisher: Page Street Kids
Release Date: September 3, 2019
Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult, Romance, Religion, Realistic Fiction

Synopsis:

“Saved!” meets To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before in this laugh-out-loud romantic comedy that takes a meaningful look at consent and what it means to give it.

When CeCe’s born-again ex-boyfriend dumps her after they have sex, she follows him to Jesus camp in order to win him back. Problem: She knows nothing about Jesus. But her best friend Paul does. He accompanies CeCe to camp, and the plan—God’s or CeCe’s—goes immediately awry when her ex shows up with a new girlfriend, a True Believer at that.

Scrambling to save face, CeCe ropes Paul into faking a relationship. But as deceptions stack up, she questions whether her ex is really the nice guy he seemed. And what about her strange new feelings for Paul—is this love, lust, or an illusion born of heartbreak? To figure it out, she’ll have to confront the reasons she chased her ex to camp in the first place, including the truth about the night she lost her virginity

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If you are in the mood to read a novel filled with girls supporting girls AND sex-positive messages, look no further, Have a Little Faith In Me is the book for you. Set out to win her ex-boyfriend back, CeCe decides to mend their relationship by attending a Christian-based camp with him. Unbeknownst to her, her camp experience becomes more about self-acceptance, finding friendships in the unlikely places, and learning about healthy relationships. 

If you are a fan of very sarcastic and very direct characters, then CeCe will definitely win you over. Her personality comes off very honest, straightforward, and she has no filter. Although she is very opinionated and portrays some naive behavior, I liked that her story and personality evolve throughout the book, allowing CeCe to grow and understand the people and the world around her.

Overall, Have a Little Faith In Me is a page-turner filled with empowering messages of consent and sex-positivity. This book is funny, feminist, and contains one of my favorite young adult themes that we don’t see too often: females supporting females. 

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Sonia Hartl is a YA author who calls Michigan home, even though she’s lived in several different states. Her debut novel, HAVE A LITTLE FAITH IN ME is forthcoming from Page Street Publishing. When she’s not writing or reading, she’s enjoying pub trivia, marathoning Disney movies, or taking a walk outside in the fall. She’s a member of SCBWI and the communications director for Pitch Wars. She has been published in The Writers Post Journal and Boston Literary Magazine. She lives in Grand Rapids with her husband and two daughters.

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Note: Thank you to the The Fantastic Flying Book Club for having me on this blog tour. And a huge thank you to Page Street Publishing for providing me an ARC to read and review for free in exchange of an honest review. All statements and opinions are my own. Please note that all quoted material is not final and may change in the final publication of the book.

Blog Tour: Review & Favorite Quotes of All the Bad Apples

Title: All the Bad Apples
Authors: Moïra Fowley-Doyle
Publisher: Penguin
Release Date: August 27, 2019
Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult, Mystery

Synopsis:

The day after the funeral all our mourning clothes hung out on the line like sleeping bats. ‘This will be really embarrassing,’ I kept saying to my family, ‘when she shows up at the door in a week or two.’

When Deena’s wild and mysterious sister Mandy disappears – presumed dead – her family are heartbroken. But Mandy has always been troubled. It’s just another bad thing to happen to Deena’s family. Only Deena refuses to believe it’s true.

And then the letters start arriving. Letters from Mandy, claiming that their family’s blighted history is not just bad luck or bad decisions – but a curse, handed down through the generations. Mandy has gone in search of the curse’s roots, and now Deena must find her. What they find will heal their family’s rotten past – or rip it apart forever.

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Once again, Moïra Fowley-Doyle has created a beautiful atmospheric story filled with magic, mystery, and familial curses. All the Bad Apples includes twists and turns that are traced through letters, which provide details of the main character’s family history. A history sprinkled with cursed family members, also known as the bad apples. The letters include clues on how to break the curse placed on the family’s bad apples, but more importantly, the letters bring Deena one step closer to finding her missing, or thought-to-be dead sister, Mandy.

As an own voices novel, Moïra Fowley-Doyle fills the pages of All the Bad Apples with fictional but realistic accounts of unwed mothers, rape survivors, incest, abortions, racism, and the stigma encompassed in Ireland’s history and present day state. Deena’s story and the narratives of her ancestors are a bitter bite into reality; their stories and hardships reflect the oppression of women, orphaned children, and queer men that does not seem to go away over time.

As a contemporary novel embraced in history and elements of magical realism, Moïra Fowley-Doyle creates a jolting story—multiple accounts at that—filled with queer diversity, heartache, rage, feminism, and in the end, hope. Hope for change and a hope for equality across spectrums of sexuality, gender, and racism. All the Bad Apples will make your teeth clinch, your heart ache, and your eyes tear up—but overall it will leave a lasting impression that history is complicated. History is always changing but unfortunately forever repeating itself—a habit rooted in silencing those who do not conform or fit “traditional” standards.

Favorite Quotes:

“Sometimes you have to feel the past to believe it.”

“Some loves ignite like forest fires, burn down entire towns before anybody’s noticed. . . Some loves smolder like a turf fire, are slow to start but will then burn bright and steady through entire winters.”

“The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

“A good cup of tea is a witch’s brew,” the old women said together with wicked grins. “Heals all ills.”

“This is what a curse does: It takes a truth and twists it. It punishes those who don’t conform. It sets the parameters of conformity so narrow that few can actually stick to them.”

“You tell the story,” said Mandy slowly. “You tell your story and the story of your family. You speak your truth. You shatter the stigma. You hold your head up to the world and speak so that everyone else who was ever like you can recognize themselves. Can see that they aren’t alone. Can see how the past will only keep repeating itself as long as we’re kept powerless by our silence.”

Moïra Fowley-Doyle is half-French, half-Irish and made of equal parts feminism, whimsy and Doc Martens. She lives in Dublin where she writes magic realism, reads tarot cards and raises witch babies.

Moïra’s first novel, The Accident Season, was shortlisted for the 2015 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize & the North East Teen Book Awards, nominated for the Carnegie Medal & won the inaugural School Library Association of Ireland Great Reads Award. It received two starred reviews & sold in ten territories. Her second novel, Spellbook of the Lost and Found, was published in summer 2017, received a starred review from School Library Journal and was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards.

 

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Note: Thank you to the The Fantastic Flying Book Club for having me on this blog tour. And a huge thank you to Penguin Teen for providing me an e-ARC to read and review for free in exchange of an honest review. All statements and opinions are my own. Please note that all quoted material is not final and may change in the final publication of the book.

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Review & Favorite Quotes of Hello Girls

 

Title: Hello Girls
Authors: Brittany Cavallaro & Emily Henry
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Release Date: August 6th 2019
Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult

Synopsis:

Best friends are forged by fire. For Winona Olsen and Lucille Pryce, that fire happened the night they met outside the police station—both deciding whether to turn their families in.

Winona has been starving for life in the seemingly perfect home that she shares with her seemingly perfect father, celebrity weatherman Stormy Olsen. No one knows that he locks the pantry door to control her eating and leaves bruises where no one can see them.

Lucille has been suffocating beneath the needs of her mother and her drug-dealing brother, wondering if there’s more out there for her than disappearing waitress tips and generations of barely getting by.

One harrowing night, Winona and Lucille realize they can’t wait until graduation to start their new lives. They need out. Now. All they need is three grand, fast. And really, a stolen convertible to take them from Michigan to Las Vegas can’t hurt.

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“Am I hallucinating?” Lucille asked. “Are we even on earth or, like, on Tatooine? Is this . . . suburban Tatooine?”
“No,” Winona said in a hushed voice. “It’s a truck stop.”—Hello Girls

WHOA! You guys, Hello Girls threw me through so many loops and unexpected turns. I cannot even count how many times my eyes went wide, my mouth awed, and I kept thinking, “this is so dark.” The two main characters, Lucille and Winona, are total opposites to any outsider, but their friendship is the only thing that is firm and good in their lives. Both characters have faced some traumatic abuse from the men in their families, which, at one point, becomes too much and they both plan an escape from their cruel worlds.

“You absolutely amaze me, Winona Olsen,” Lucille said. “You terrify me, but you amaze me too.”—Hello Girls

As a heavily action-packed story, these fierce girls literally and figuratively drive on unknown roads to escape their pasts; they naively create plans that often end in disappointment, but damn, they never stop trying. The pages of Hello Girls are salted with dark humor which provides the most refreshing opportunity for the characters to be themselves. Their road trip doesn’t hold the best laid out plans, but I love how their minds are constantly in sync and in survival mode.

“Why did people lie? With their words, with their voices, with their bodies, with their beautiful houses and beautiful clothes and sometimes even their faces? Why couldn’t everyone just be what they were?”—Hello Girls

In the end, Hello Girls is a testament to survival, self-acceptance, and the incredible strength found in female friendships. Lucille and Winona are trailblazers writing their own stories, finding their own freedom, and hopefully just a smidge of a happy ending.

“How do I make myself cry?”
“I don’t know!” Lucille said. “How does Jennifer Lawrence do it?”
“Probably just thinks about Hollywood pay discrepancies?” Winona said.—Hello Girls

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Brittany Cavallaro is a poet, fiction writer, and old school Sherlockian. She is the New York Times bestselling author of the Charlotte Holmes novels from HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Books, including A STUDY IN CHARLOTTE, THE LAST OF AUGUST, and THE CASE FOR JAMIE. She’s also the author of the poetry collection GIRL-KING (University of Akron) and is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship. She earned her BA in literature from Middlebury College and her MFA in poetry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She lives in Michigan with her husband, cat, dog, and collection of deerstalker caps.

 

Emily Henry is the author of The Love That Split the World and A Million Junes. She is a full-time writer, proofreader, and donut connoisseur. She studied creative writing at Hope College and the New York Center for Art & Media Studies, and now spends most of her time in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the part of Kentucky just beneath it. She tweets @EmilyHenryWrite.

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Note: Thank you to the The Fantastic Flying Book Club for having me on this blog tour. And a huge thank you to Harper Teen for providing me an e-ARC to read and review for free in exchange for an honest review. All statements and opinions are my own. Please note that all quoted material is not final and may change in the final publication of the book.

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Review & Favorite Quotes of Romanov

Title: Romanov
Author:  Nadine Brandes
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Release Date: May 7, 2019
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Retelling

Synopsis:

The history books say I died.

They don’t know the half of it.

Anastasia “Nastya” Romanov was given a single mission: to smuggle an ancient spell into her suitcase on her way to exile in Siberia. It might be her family’s only salvation. But the leader of the Bolshevik army is after them . . . and he’s hunted Romanov before.

Nastya’s only chances of survival are to either release the spell, and deal with the consequences, or enlist help from Zash, the handsome soldier who doesn’t act like the average Bolshevik. Nastya’s never dabbled in magic before, but it doesn’t frighten her as much as her growing attraction for Zash. She likes him. She thinks he might even like her . . .

That is, until she’s on one side of a firing squad . . . and he’s on the other.

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I have always been fascinated by the history of the Romanov family, and through the narrative of many historical truths with a dash of magic, Nadine Brandes takes her readers on a new journey that explores Anastasia and her family’s lives. From the first page, the main character, Nastya, provides such a captivating voice and point of view that leaves the reader craving more about this mischievous spell caster and her daring trial to survive and save her family.

Romanov hits a lot of the high points of the Romanov history, but this fictional mouthpiece also provides a unique perspective into one of the most sincerest families. While the Romanovs are imprisoned and hidden from society, this tight-knit group longs for justice, peace, and the chance to truly live again. They are often thrown into such uncomfortable situations but their tenacity, along with Nastya’s fierce but playful attitude, create perfect moments of relief. Every page had me emotional invested and yearning to see hope for Nastya and her family.

Overall, Romanov is a very captivating story that portrays strengths in themes of forgiveness and love. I really enjoyed the steady pacing of the book, which allowed the book to smoothly flow and unfold. Plus, adding in a dash of magic and young love to a historically well-known story had me ingrained from beginning to end.

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Nadine once spent four days as a sea cook in the name of book research. She’s the author of FAWKES and of the award-winning The Out of Time Series. Her inner fangirl perks up at the mention of soul-talk, Quidditch, bookstagram, and Oreos. When she’s not busy writing novels about bold living, she’s adventuring through Middle Earth or taste-testing a new chai. Nadine and her Auror husband are building a Tiny House on wheels. Current mission: paint the world in shalom.

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Note: Thank you to the The Fantastic Flying Book Club for having me on this blog tour. And a huge thank you to Thomas Nelson for providing me an e-ARC to read and review for free in exchange for an honest review. All statements and opinions are my own. Please note that all quoted material are not final and may change in the final publication of the book.

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Review & Favorite Quotes of The Waking Forest

Title: The Waking Forest
Author:  Alyssa Wees
Publisher: Delacorte
Release Date: March 12, 2019
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy

Synopsis:

Pan’s Labyrinth meets The Hazel Wood in this novel about a girl with terrifying visions and a wish-granting witch whose lives collide in the most unexpected of ways.

The waking forest has secrets. To Rhea, it appears like a mirage, dark and dense, at the very edge of her backyard. But when she reaches out to touch it, the forest vanishes. She’s desperate to know more–until she finds a peculiar boy who offers to reveal its secrets. If she plays a game.

To the Witch, the forest is her home, where she sits on her throne of carved bone, waiting for dreaming children to beg her to grant their wishes. One night, a mysterious visitor arrives and asks her what she wishes for, but the Witch sends him away. And then the uninvited guest returns.

The strangers are just the beginning. Something is stirring in the forest, and when Rhea’s and the Witch’s paths collide, a truth more treacherous and deadly than either could ever imagine surfaces. But how much are they willing to risk to survive?

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You guys, I found The Waking Forest to be a combination of one of the most mind-boggling, creepiest, and eeriest books I have read in a long time. Told in chapters with alternating settings, this book was like reading dark fairy-stories within other grim fairytales. The novel truly felt like a web of dreams within nightmares within dreams.

I have a strong fascination with fantasy books set in dark forests, and I loved how The Waking Forest used the forest as an entity to thicken the plot and mold the most magical scenes. Sometimes the highly decorated language was jarring and puzzling because it was literally being told through the character’s own eyes, which often stilted some scenes for me. But overall these specific instances kept me entranced by well-kept secrets and the yearning to know what was going to happen next.

Overall, The Waking Forest is truly a dark and spellbinding novel. Once I was used to the alternating chapters and the multiple character perspectives, the book became a constant page-turner. The twisted lore and fascinating character development created a hint of mystery, and the unraveling of fantastical secrets was a constant eyeopener. Purple prose decorates the story with vivid imagery and unbelievable scenes filled with fox pets, undiscovered constellations, and tasty wishes that melt on your tongue. Family, friendships, sacrifice, and self-acceptance are important themes that allowed this story to grow into its own form of a memorable fairy tale.

WIN One copy of The Waking Forest by Alyssa Wees (USA only)

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In between training in ballet and watching lots of Disney movies, Alyssa grew up writing stories starring her Beanie Babies. She earned a BA in English from Creighton University and an MFA in Fiction Writing from Columbia College Chicago. Currently she works as an assistant librarian in youth services at an awesome public library. She lives in the Chicagoland area with her husband and their two cats.

 

 

Note: Thank you to the The Fantastic Flying Book Club for having me on this blog tour. And a huge thank you to Delacorte for providing me an ARC to read and review for free in exchange for an honest review. All statements and opinions are my own. Please note that all quoted material are not final and may change in the final publication of the book.

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Review & Favorite Quotes of Escaping from Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco

Title: Escaping from Houdini (Stalking Jack the Ripper #3)
Author:  Kerri Maniscalco
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson Books
Release Date: September 18, 2018
Genres: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Mystery

Synopsis:

In this third installment in the #1 bestselling Stalking Jack the Ripper series, a luxurious ocean liner becomes a floating prison of scandal, madness, and horror when passengers are murdered one by one…with nowhere to run from the killer.

Audrey Rose Wadsworth and her partner-in-crime-investigation, Thomas Cresswell, are en route to New York to help solve another blood-soaked mystery. Embarking on a week-long voyage across the Atlantic on the opulent RMS Etruria, they’re delighted to discover a traveling troupe of circus performers, fortune tellers, and a certain charismatic young escape artist entertaining the first-class passengers nightly.

But then, privileged young women begin to go missing without explanation, and a series of brutal slayings shocks the entire ship. The strange and disturbing influence of the Moonlight Carnival pervades the decks as the murders grow ever more freakish, with nowhere to escape except the unforgiving sea. It’s up to Audrey Rose and Thomas to piece together the gruesome investigation as even more passengers die before reaching their destination. But with clues to the next victim pointing to someone she loves, can Audrey Rose unravel the mystery before the killer’s horrifying finale?

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Once again, Kerri Maniscalco has astounded me with her storytelling. I cannot and will never get enough of Audrey Rose Wadsworth and Thomas Cresswell. I love the chemistry between these two characters, their banter, and how Thomas, truly a Victorian gentleman, always treats Audrey Rose with respect and as an equal. They are my ultimate OTP. Now in Escaping from Houdini, things are shaken up between these two and I’m not going to say I was the hugest fan in riding those waves, but when these two characters are on the same page with each other, their partnership is outstanding. 

I love that Escaping from Houdini stays true to the first two books and portrays feminism in the best light. As the main female lead, Audrey Rose Wadsworth is witty, sassy, and so intelligent. She defies many characteristics of a stereotypical Victorian woman, and instead is a proto-feminist of the era. I love that she is deep into solving mysteries and murder with science and rational deduction. She wants to know the truth and how things tick, and she is not afraid to dig deeper into danger to find her answers. 

Overall, the setting of this novel made the mysterious story even more intriguing. I was captivated by the details of Victorian fashion and mannerisms, as well as the illusions and magic of the traveling carnival performers and entertainers on board a ship. Mix in history, quirky banter, the sleuthing of Sherlock Holmes, the atmospheric allurement found in Caraval, and you have Escaping from Houdini delivering on all levels of entertainment, education, fascination, and mystery.

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Kerri Maniscalco grew up in a semi-haunted house outside NYC where her fascination with gothic settings began. In her spare time she reads everything she can get her hands on, cooks all kinds of food with her family and friends, and drinks entirely too much tea while discussing life’s finer points with her cats.

Her first novel in this series, Stalking Jack the Ripper, debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. It incorporates her love of forensic science and unsolved history.

 
Note: Thank you to the The Fantastic Flying Book Club for having me on this blog tour. And a huge thank you to Jimmy Patterson Books for providing me an ARC to read and review for free in exchange for an honest review. All statements and opinions are my own. Please note that all quoted material are not final and may change in the final publication of the book.

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Review & Favorite Quotes of This Tiny Perfect World by Lauren Gibaldi

Title: This Tiny Perfect World
Author:  Lauren Gibaldi
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: February 27, 2018
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary

Synopsis:

Penny loves her small-town Florida life, and she has her future mapped out. She’s going to community college after graduation to stay close to home and her best friend, Faye. She’ll take over the family diner that her dad has been managing since her mother died. And one day, she’ll marry her high school sweetheart, Logan.

But when she unexpectedly lands a scholarship to a prestigious summer theater camp, she is thrust into a world of competition and self-doubt. And suddenly, her future gets a little hazy. As she meets new friends, including Chase, a talented young actor with big-city dreams, she begins to realize that maybe the life everyone (including her) expects her to lead is not the one she was meant to have.

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Once again, Lauren Gibaldi has written another book with so much emotional power behind her characters. In This Tiny Perfect World, we are streamed through the world and emotions of the main character, Penny. It’s currently Penny’s summer break, and while her friends are pursuing jobs, she is participating in a summer program for actors. Penny is from a small town, where no one really leaves. But in this story, Penny begins to see that her passion for acting may not be just a hobby and the small-town-world she has perfected with great friends, a loving dad, and a caring boyfriend, might not be enough for Penny to stay after she graduates high school. 

One of my favorite things about Gibaldi’s writing is that she makes her characters so real and honest. In This Tiny Perfect World, Penny’s inner dialogue is so gritty and vulnerable. I enjoyed watching Penny challenge herself to push forward; she dares herself to take on acting roles that are so different to her normal lifestyle. But it’s through  theater camp and her play-acting friends, Penny discovers there are dreams and goals beyond her small town walls. Penny thought she already had her life planned out after high school, but she acknowledges that not everything is black and white. Situations change. People change. And people, like herself, are on a continuous journey of figuring who they are and what they want in life. 

Overall, This Tiny Perfect World is different that Gibaldi’s other two books., because it is not as swoony and romantic-based. Instead, the focus in this book is on Penny’s individual character development. I like that Penny’s life begins on such a narrow and focused path, but by the end of the book, Penny realizes her world is wide open to more possibilities. This story is very straight-forward, thought-provoking, and will have you engaged in internal dialogue of a teenager who has a loving soul and a fierce spirit to mature and discover the world around her. 

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US ONLY…Comment below and win a swag package from the author (picture below). I will randomly pick one (1) winner on March 12, 2018 at noon.

Lauren Gibaldi is a public librarian who’s been, among other things, a magazine editor, high school English teacher, bookseller, and circus aerialist (seriously). She has a BA in Literature and Master’s in Library and Information Studies. She lives in Orlando, Florida with her husband and daughter. Her books include THE NIGHT WE SAID YES, AUTOFOCUS, and the forthcoming THIS TINY PERFECT WORLD.

 

February 27th

Pink Polka Dot Books– Welcome Post

February 28th

Broadway World– Guest Post
Jill’s Book Blog– Review
Belle’s Book Blog– Review

March 1st

Rants and Raves of a Bibliophile– Review & Favorite Quotes
We Live and Breathe Books– Review & Meet the Characters
Bookwyrming Thoughts– Review

March 2nd

Two Different Worlds– Interview
BookCrushin– Review & Creative Post

March 3rd

Here’s to Happy Endings– Story Behind the Cover
A Thousand Words A Million Books– Review

March 4th

Blushing Bibliophile– Review & Favorite Quotes
Literary Meanderings– Guest Post

March 5th

Little Library Muse– Interview
Becca’s Lost in Lit– Review & Book Style
The Candid Cover– Review

 
Note: Thank you to the The Fantastic Flying Book Club for having me on this blog tour. And a huge thank you to HarperTeen for providing me an e-galley to read and review the book for free in exchange for an honest review. All statements and opinions are my own.

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Raving Review of Shadowsong by S. Jae-Jones

Title: Shadowsong (Wintersong #2)
Author:  S. Jae-Jones
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: February 6, 2018
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy

Synopsis:

Six months after the end of Wintersong, Liesl is working toward furthering both her brother’s and her own musical careers. Although she is determined to look forward and not behind, life in the world above is not as easy as Liesl had hoped. Her younger brother Josef is cold, distant, and withdrawn, while Liesl can’t forget the austere young man she left beneath the earth, and the music he inspired in her. When troubling signs arise that the barrier between worlds is crumbling, Liesl must return to the Underground to unravel the mystery of life, death, and the Goblin King—who he was, who he is, and who he will be. What will it take to break the old laws once and for all? What is the true meaning of sacrifice when the fate of the world—or the ones Liesl loves—is in her hands?

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Once again, I have been bewitched and consumed by S. Jae-Jones words and “elf-touched” world that is illuminated in the conclusion of her duology known as Shadowsong.  While much of Wintersong focused on Liesl and her ventures in the Underground, Shadowsong provides an emotional layer to Liesl’s life outside the Goblin King’s realm—in a real world where chaos ensues from both the supernatural and human order. Shadowsong is so emotionally driven and parallels so many classic literary themes, which made me love this story and conclusion so damn much.

One of my favorite aspects of Shadowsong is that the story focuses a lot on Liesl and her strong relationship with her brother, Josef, and also her sister. The bond between Liesl and Joseph is solid and so emotional that it makes my heart ache. And what I adore about their connection is that even the secondary characters can see and feel that selflessness and love between these two. 

Although he flickers in and out of Liesl’s life in Shadowsong, I obsessed over every page the Goblin King was present. The Goblin King is much like the brooding Mr. Edward Rochester of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. Both males see themselves as selfish and monsters; but I love that both still hold a spark of hope to be with their beloveds. Like Mr. Rochester, the Goblin King can be found beckoning Liesl through haunting whispers of her name. He may wear the wicked smirk of a wolf, but his love still burns so bright and hot for his true Goblin Queen (Elizabeth/Liesl).

Similar to the Victorian novels that I adore so much, I itched for the dramatic reuniting scenes between the Goblin King and Liesl in Shadowsong. And let me tell you, I was not disappointed with how much their flame burns and sizzles on the page. Their love story is truly the essential piece that had me continuously turning every page for a reunion of passion, heartache, and sacrifice.

Shadowsong reads like a beautiful sheet of music. The words form a melody that enchantingly carries the reader through the grittiness of hopeless dreams, yearning questions, and unattainable passion. And as the tempo quickens, the pacing of the story throws the characters into a whirlwind filled with burning desires and unsettling fears. For me, reading Shadowsong, was like meeting with an old friend—at first, there is that instant panic that your connection will no longer be present, but once you are in each other’s presence, everything clicks like no time has ever passed. While reading Shadowsong, it felt so natural and blissful to be back in this goblin-infested world again, and now that the story has concluded, I just want more.

WIN 1 copy of Shadowsong by S. Jae-Jones (US Only)

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S. Jae-Jones, called JJ, is an artist, an adrenaline junkie, and the NYT bestselling author of Wintersong.

Born and raised in sunny Los Angeles, she lived in New York City for ten years before relocating down to Dixie, where she is comfortably growing fat on grits and barbecue. When not writing, she can be found rock-climbing, skydiving, taking photographs, drawing pictures, and dragging her dog on ridiculously long hikes.

 

 

February 5th

Pink Polka Dot Books & The Unofficial Book Addiction Fan Club- Welcome Post

February 6th

Vicky Who Reads– Review/Creative Post

Vicarious Bookworm– Review & Favorite Quotes

J.R.’s Book Review– Review

Fervently Curious– Review

February 7th

Here’s To Happy Endings– Creative Post (Style Board)

OMG Books and More Books– Review

Kyera’s Library– Review

Teacher of YA’s Book Blog– Review

February 8th

It Starts at Midnight– Review

Rants and Raves of a Bibliophile– Review

Library of a Book Witch– Review

Literary Meanderings– Promo

February 9th

TheBooktarian– Promo

Mama Reads Blog– Review/Playlist

Katsyxo– Creative Post

February 10th

Storybook Slayers– Review

Blushing Bibliophile– Review & Favorite Quotes

Reading To Unwind– Review

February 11th

Hardcover Haven– Creative Post

The Reading Life– Review

A Bookish Abode– Promo

Note: Thank you to the The Fantastic Flying Book Club for having me on this blog tour. And a huge thank you to Wednesday Books for providing me an e-galley and physical galley of Shadowsong to read and review for free in exchange for an honest review. All statements and opinions are my own.

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Review & Favourite Quotes of The Chaos of Standing Still

Title: The Chaos of Standing Still
Author: Jessica Brody
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: November 28th 2017
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Synopsis:

Over the course of one chaotic night stranded at the Denver airport, Ryn confronts her shattered past thanks to the charm of romance, the uniqueness of strangers, and the magic of ordinary places in this stunning novel from the author of Boys of Summer.

 Ryn has one unread text message on her phone. And it’s been there for almost a year.

She hasn’t tried to read it. She can’t. She won’t. Because that one message is the last thing her best friend ever said to her before she died.

But as Ryn finds herself trapped in the Denver International Airport on New Year’s Eve thanks to a never-ending blizzard on the one-year anniversary of her best friend’s death, fate literally runs into her.

And his name is Xander.

When the two accidentally swap phones, Ryn and Xander are thrust into the chaos of an unforgettable all-night adventure, filled with charming and mysterious strangers, a secret New Year’s Eve bash, and a possible Illuminati conspiracy hidden within the Denver airport. But as the bizarre night continues, all Ryn can think about is that one unread text message. It follows her wherever she goes, because Ryn can’t get her brialliantly wild and free-spirited best friend out of her head.

Ryn can’t move on.

But tonight, for the first time ever, she’s trying. And maybe that’s a start.

As moving as it is funny, The Chaos of Standing Still is a heartwarming story about the earth-shattering challenges life throws at us—and the unexpected strangers who help us along the way.

LINKS:   Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble |  The Book Depository

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My heart holds a special place for books about grief, loss, and coping, and The Chaos of Standing Still did not disappoint in making me cry and laugh. This book focuses more on the coping aspects of grief and all the chaos that encompasses that helpless feeling. Many times I found this story heartbreaking, but the ending is like a breath of fresh air and a warm hug filled with hope.

In regards to the main character, I oftentimes found Ryn to be very stubborn. She is stagnant in her grief of losing her best friend one year ago. While Ryn is cautious and an introvert, her late-best friend Lottie was a very outgoing and free-spirited teenager. But as Ryn’s story unfolds and we learn more and more about that terrible night that Lottie died, we find out how Lottie died and the heartbreaking scene of Ryn coming face-to-face with that reality. It is in these scenes, where Ryn allows herself to swim in memories of loss, that I began to understand that I’m not frustrated with Ryn’s approach to coping; instead I am heartbroken and shattered with her.

While the story focuses on Ryn’s 24-hour layover in an airport due to a blizzard, shenanigans ensue. She meets people who not only challenge her to step outside her own skin but they also challenge her to emotionally mature. I love that in less than a day, Ryn befriends people based on her phone case, fake names, train surfing, a midnight party, and the sudden burst of singing The Bangles.

Although sadness is a main emotion tackled in The Chaos of Standing Still, the reality of living–really living–brings so much hope to Ryn’s ability to accept life’s challenges even if they don’t have a definite answer. This book may be overwhelmed with Ryn’s grief and sadness, but it’s her ability to challenge herself and the overwhelming support of friends that makes this story unforgettable. 

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WIN  1 copy of THE CHAOS OF STANDING STILL by Jessica Brody

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Jessica Brody knew from a young age that she wanted to be a writer. She started self “publishing” her own books when she was seven years old, binding the pages together with cardboard, wallpaper samples, and electrical tape.

 

After graduating from Smith College in 2001 where she double majored in Economics and French and minored in Japanese, Jessica later went on to work for MGM Studios as a Manager of Acquisitions and Business Development. In May of 2005, Jessica quit her job to follow her dream of becoming a published author.

Since then, Jessica has sold over twelve novels for teens, tweens, and adults including 52 Reasons to Hate My Father, The Karma Club, My Life Undecided, and the three books in the Unremembered trilogy, the first of which is currently in development as a major motion picture by the producers of The Vampire Academy, Zero Dark Thirty, Life of Pi, and Slumdog Millionaire. In 2016, she will release two new contemporary novels, A Week of Mondays (August) and Boys of Summer (April), and in 2017, her debut middle grade novel entitled, Addie Bell’s Shortcut to Growing Up, will hit bookstore shelves.

Jessica also writes books for the Descendants: “School of Secrets” series, based on the hit Disney Channel Original movie, Descendants!

Jessica’s books are published and translated in over twenty foreign countries. (Click here for a full list of foreign sales and publishers.) She currently splits her time between California and Colorado.

 

November 27th
The Unofficial Addiction Book Fan Club & Pink Polka Dot Books– Welcome Post

November 28th
Tales of the Ravenous Reader – Interview
the bookdragon – Review
Her Book Thoughts – Review
The Mind of a Book Dragon – Review + Playlist

November 29th
The Clever Reader – Guest Post
Quite The Novel Idea – Review
A Bookish Abode – Review
We Live and Breathe Books – Review + Favourite Quotes

November 30th
The Heart of a Book Blogger – Review
Savings in Seconds – Review + Favourite Quotes
Wishful Endings – Review
Amanda Gernentz Hanson – Review

December 1st
Confessions of a YA Reader – Review
Donnie Darko Girl – Review
Belle’s Book Blog – Review
Latte Nights Reviews – Review + Favourite Quotes

December 2nd
Literary Meanderings – Interview
Lauren’s Crammed Bookshelf – Review
Here’s to Happy Endings  – Review
Life of A Simple Reader – Review + Favourite Quotes

December 3rd
Vicky Who Reads – Review + Playlist + Dream Cast
Supercalireader – Review
Books, Boys, and Blogs – Review + Dream Cast
The Inked In Book Blog – Review + Favourite Quotes

December 4th
BookCrushin – Guest Post
Library of a Book Witch – Review
Rants and Raves of a Bibliophile – Review + Favourite Quotes
Storybook Slayers – Review