tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66822354926505846572024-02-15T01:46:31.373-05:00Lauren's Crammed BookshelfA book blog mostly focusing on Young Adult books with a few adult and chick lit books thrown in! To find reviews, author interviews, contests, and much, much more, check it out.
Testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04501947064278343128noreply@blogger.comBlogger1913125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682235492650584657.post-61083357786503606702018-11-08T21:39:00.002-05:002018-11-08T21:39:40.667-05:00Blog Tour: The Girl in the Broken Mirror by Savita Kalhan (Review) <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i>The Girl in the Broken Mirror </i>by Savita Kalhan </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Release Date:</b> March 29, 2018</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Publisher: </b>Troika </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Genre:</b> Young Adult, Contemporary </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Source: </b>Paperback proved by author in exchange for an honest review </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>4 stars! </b></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37795029-the-girl-in-the-broken-mirror">Add to Goodreads!</a> </span></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Broken-Mirror-savita-kalhan-author/dp/1909991635">Amazon</a> | </span><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Girl-Broken-Mirror-Savita-kalhan/dp/1909991635" rel="noopener" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Amazon UK</a> | <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Girl-Broken-Mirror-Savita-Kalhan/9781909991637" rel="noopener" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Book Depository</a></span><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 700; text-align: justify;"> </span></span><br />
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<em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Jay’s creative writing exercise is to write a fairy tale, ending ‘and they lived happily ever after’.</span></em></div>
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<em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">But the way her life is panning out she’s not sure it will ever reach that stage. Jay is an only child whose father died some years earlier. Her father believed that well educated girls could make successful independent lives. Now she has to move with her mother to her Aunt and Uncle’s house where her cousins live. Her aunt is a particular kind of Indian woman with super strict rules for girls and boys. Jay will be expected to have only Indian friends, if she has any at all. How can she see her school friends, Chloe and Matt?</span></em></div>
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<em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">But being forced to conform to conservative Indian customs and traditions is only the beginning of a nightmare for Jay. When her life implodes, how can she hide the shame and how will she find a way to keep going?</span></em></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Review: </span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I didn't quite know what to expect going into Savita Kalhan's <i>The Girl in the Broken Mirror</i>; however, I'm always in the mood for a promising contemporary and <i>The Girl in the Broken Mirror </i>seemed like the perfect fit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The Girl in the Broken Mirror </i>is a fast-paced and addictive read from start to finish. Once I started the book and become more and more emotionally invested in Jay's story, I couldn't put it down - not even for a second. I needed to know what had happened - the prologue had me 100% hooked. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">That's not to say <i>The Girl in the Broken Mirror </i>is by any means an "easy" read. Savita tackles hard topics within Jay's story, and some parts were slightly hard to stomach at times - I was so angry with the people in Jay's world. I couldn't believe that she was put in the position she was, but I wanted her to find her place again. Savita delivers a raw and emotional read to say the least.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Additionally, Jay is a likable and relatable character. She's independent, determined, and strong. I gave her props for holding her life and her mother's together after such a tragic situation, and I gave her props for continually standing up for what she believed in. She's not one to be quiet when she doesn't believe something is right, and while the people in her world wouldn't always listen, she continually remained steadfast. In the book, Jay goes through an incredible hard situation. I won't say too much about it, as I don't want to spoil anything. However, I will say my heart broke for her. I was livid and distraught. I couldn't believe the position in which Jay had been put in, and it was hard to see someone so hopeful, so lively become so closed off, so reserved, so hopeless. I thought Savita did a wonderful job of presenting Jay's story, and I liked how she really honed in on the relationships in Jay's life. Her relationship with her mother was one of my favorite parts of the book, and even during their hardest moments, I still hoped they would find their way back to each other. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In all, <i>The Girl in the Broken Mirror </i>is a emotionally charged and compelling addition to YA contemporary. I can't wait to see what Savita has in store for us next. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>About the Author: </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;"></span></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Savita Kalhan was born in India but moved to the UK when she was very young. She graduated with a joint honours degree in politics and philosophy from the University of Wales. She was a Batik artist and teacher before she turned to writing. Her debut novel the Long Weekend is described as ‘an intensely compelling thriller’ which addresses the issue of stranger danger. Her recent books include Stories from the Edge and Even Birds are Chained in the Sky. Savita lives in London. You can follow her on Twitter <a href="http://www.twitter.com/savitakalhan">@savitakalhan</a>.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04501947064278343128noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682235492650584657.post-80562064047663193822018-08-30T13:29:00.001-04:002018-08-30T13:29:45.601-04:00Release Day Blitz: Ten Reasons to Stay by Candace Knoebel <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">TEN REASONS TO STAY</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Author: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Candace Knoebel</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Series: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Risky Hearts Duet #1</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Genre:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> Contemporary Romance</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Release Date: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">August 30, 2018</span></span></div>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
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About the Book: </span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: large;">One day a week—Thursdays—my husband and I could do whatever or whomever we pleased. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Protection was non-negotiable.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">And no matter what, we had to be home by midnight.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Jack was the one who wanted an open marriage, but we were supposed to keep things simple. No strings. No commitments. It seemed so easy…until it wasn’t.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Devilishly handsome Cole Blackwater was only supposed to be a fling, but everything about him made me feel alive. Wanted. Seen. When I realized he was my husband’s boss, I should have broken things off right then…but I didn’t.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">One day a week, I could pretend that I was his and he was mine…until Cole wanted more.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">But how could I decide between the man I’d promised to love, honor, and cherish, and the man who tempted me to break every single vow I’d made?</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://bit.ly/2ILlFq1">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://a.co/d/fHAw1vf">Amazon US</a> | <a href="https://amzn.to/2wn7ggj">Amazon UK </a> | <a href="https://amzn.to/2MY1Ku1">Amazon CA</a> | <a href="https://amzn.to/2wpSi9r">Amazon AU</a></span></b></div>
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About the Author</span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Candace Knoebel is a hopeless romantic with an affinity for whiskey and good music. Her love of words began when she met the boy who lived in the cupboard under the stairs. She's a self-proclaimed Lost Girl. Words are her mirror. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">With two completed series, her work ranges from paranormal to contemporary, all centered heavily around romance. Currently she lives in Florida with her husband and two children, and has just completed her thirteenth novel, The Taste of Her Words.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.candaceknoebel.com/">Website</a> | <a href="http://www.facebook.com/candaceknoebel">Facebook</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/candaceknoebel">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6458922.Candace_Knoebel">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Candace-Knoebel/e/B009CW4K30/">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://www.instagram.com/candaceknoebel">Instagram</a> | <a href="http://www.bookbub.com/authors/candace-knoebel">BookBub</a> | <a href="http://www.facebook.com/groups/233401687123003/">Reader Group</a> </span></b></div>
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Testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04501947064278343128noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682235492650584657.post-83766599997332219662018-08-16T08:56:00.004-04:002018-08-16T08:59:58.633-04:00Blog Tour: How to Breathe Underwater by Vickey Skinner (Review & Giveaway) <div style="margin: 0 auto 15px; text-align: center;">
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">How to Breathe Underwater </span></strong></div>
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<strong><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Vicky Skinner </span></strong></strong></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Published by:</b> Swoon Reads</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Publication date:</b> August 14th 2018</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Genres: </b>Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Kate’s father has been pressuring her to be perfect for her whole life, pushing her to be the best swimmer she can be. But when Kate finds her dad cheating on her mom, Kate’s perfect world comes crashing down, and Kate is forced to leave home and the swim team she’s been a part of her whole life.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Now in a new home, new school, and faced with the prospect of starting over, Kate isn’t so sure that swimming is what she wants anymore. But when she decides to quit, her whole world seems to fall apart. But when Kate gets to know Michael, the cute boy that lives across the hall, she starts to think that starting over might not be so bad. There’s only one problem: Michael has a girlfriend.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">As the pressures of love, family, and success press down on her, can Kate keep her head above water?</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Review: </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Prior to starting Vickey Skinner's <i>How to Breathe Underwater</i>, I hadn't heard too much about it. However, I can never resist a pretty cover and a synopsis that screams romance and contemporary goodness so I eagerly dove in. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The result? <i>How to Breathe Underwater </i>was one heck of a treat! Romantic, emotional, and funny, <i>How to Breathe Underwater </i>managed to wow me the whole way through. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>How to Breathe Underwater </i>introduces Kate, a high school junior, who isn't having the best year. She's dealing with family drama, friend drama, and starting all over at a new school. She's trying her best to be positive, but it's hard to do when everything seems to be going to wrong. I adored Kate from the get-go. She was sweet and kind, and I loved seeing her bloom in her new environment. I also appreciated how she always tried her best to do the right thing. Sometimes it all still blew up in her face, but you could tell she was always coming from a good place. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Michael, the love interest in this, was SWOONY as heck! From the moment he was introduced I was praying he would be the one. He was the perfect mix of moody and light, and I loved the chemistry between him and Kate. It flowed well, and, more importantly, it made it easy to root for them! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In addition to Michael and Kate, Vickey introduces a variety of other characters - Kate's friends, family, etc. Every single character brought something special to the book, and I loved pretty much every single one of them (well, besides Kate's dad...he was a bit of a jerk...scratch that a HUGE jerk). Vickey did a great job of developing everyone, and while I wish there had been more of them, I was 100% content with what I got. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The plot in this mainly involves romance and creating a new life when everything gets turned upside down. I always love a starting fresh story line, and that rang true here. It was exciting to be there every step of the way with Kate. The romance in this had so much wonderful build up - there were so many times I was like "just kiss already!" but let me tell you, the wait was worth it in the end! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Overall, summer may soon be coming to an end, but that doesn't mean there isn't time to fit some more summer reading in! <i>How to Breathe Underwater </i>should definitely be on your end of summer reading lists. It's sweet, heartwarming, and charming - I simply adored it and I think many others will as well! </span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>4 stars!!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32172614-how-to-breathe-underwater?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> / <a href="https://www.amazon.com/How-Breathe-Underwater-Vicky-Skinner/dp/125013787X/" target="_blank">Amazon</a> / <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/how-to-breathe-underwater-vicky-skinner/1126791367#/" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a> / <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/how-to-breathe-underwater/id1336197416?mt=11" target="_blank">iBooks</a> / <a href="https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/how-to-breathe-underwater-4" target="_blank">Kobo</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Author Bio:</b> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Born and raised in Texas, I don’t act like much of a Texan. I like cold weather and hate country music. I have a gorgeous husband, two dogs, and a Literature degree from the University of Texas at Dallas. If I’m not at home reading a book or doing laundry, I’m probably at the bookstore, nannying three rambunctious boys, or stuck on the side of the road with car trouble. I’m a reader, a writer, and a bit of a crazy person.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15852604.Vicky_Skinner" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> / <a href="https://twitter.com/vickyskribenten" target="_blank">Twitter</a></span></div>
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Testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04501947064278343128noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682235492650584657.post-29541128945862642872018-08-08T00:00:00.000-04:002018-08-08T00:00:01.858-04:00Review: Onyx & Ivory by Mindee Arnett <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Onyx & Ivory </i>by Mindee Arnett</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Release Date: </b>May 15, 2018</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Publisher:</b> Balzer + Bray</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Genre:</b> Young Adult, Fantasy</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Source: </b>ARC provided by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review</span><br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34739766-onyx-and-ivory"><span style="font-size: large;">Add to Goodreads!</span></a><br />
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<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Acclaimed author Mindee Arnett thrusts readers into a beautiful, dangerous, and magical world in this stunningly epic and romantic fantasy for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Sarah Raasch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">They call her Traitor Kate. It’s a title Kate Brighton inherited from her father after he tried to assassinate the high king of Rime.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Cast out of the nobility, Kate now works for the royal courier service. Only the most skilled ride for the Relay and only the fastest survive, for when night falls, the drakes—deadly flightless dragons—come out to hunt. Fortunately, Kate has a secret edge: She is a wilder, born with forbidden magic that allows her to influence the minds of animals.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And it’s this magic that leads her to a caravan massacred by drakes in broad daylight—the only survivor Corwin Tormaine, the son of the king. Her first love, the boy she swore to forget after he condemned her father to death.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">With their paths once more entangled, Kate and Corwin must put the past behind them to face this new threat and an even darker menace stirring in the kingdom.</span></blockquote>
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Review: </span></h2>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Onyx & Ivory </i>wasn't originally on my to-read list; however, the more positive things I heard about it as well as Mindee Arnett, the more I felt as if I needed to read it. I wanted to see for myself if it would become a favorite of mine as well. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The result? I'm torn. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">On one side, I love the premise as well as the world Mindee introduced. It was interesting as well as unique, and there's so much room to expand upon it all. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">On the other side, however, the length of this book as well as the pacing brought down my enjoyment considerably. There were so many times at which this book was so incredibly hard to get through, so many times in which I felt like the scenes could've been edited down. The middle, in particular, was rough for me. I wanted more action, more excitement, and by the time that was finally delivered, the book was just about over. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i>Onyx & Ivory </i>alternates between Kate and Corwin's perspectives, and I believe that Mindee did a great job of making them sound different. I liked both Kate and Corwin. I loved how independent and fearless Kate was; however, I also liked that she wasn't afraid to rely on her friends to get her through tough times. The bonds she develops throughout this book are a highlight. Corwin, on the other hand, was a tough one to read at first. I wanted to despise him for happened to Kate, but at the same time, I couldn't. There was something likable about him, something that I found endearing. I could see why Kate had such a hard time shutting him out as well. Together, Kate and Corwin meshed well. They start off as best friends turned enemies, but they slowly morph back into the best friends/slightly more area. I loved the back and forth between them as well as how they wouldn't let the other alter what they stood for. Sure, they liked each other but they weren't letting that change who they were and I respected that completely. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The plot primarily involves the brewing trouble found in Rime and the re-formation of the bond between Corwin and Kate. I found both areas to be interesting, and I especially enjoyed when more was revealed about the shady things occurring in Rime. There were several times in which I was left feeling completely shook, and I appreciated the direction Mindee seemed to be taking things. She brought it together quite well. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Despite my love of the plot as well as the characters, the pacing is what ultimately brings this down to a three star read. I'm all for a slow delivery; however, when it's so slow it almost causes me to DNF a book, there's something wrong. Additionally, I wasn't the biggest fan of how there was FINALLY action and then BANG cliff hanger. It was such a buzz kill. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>3 stars </b></span></div>
Testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04501947064278343128noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682235492650584657.post-13547067291697821872018-08-07T07:00:00.000-04:002018-08-07T07:00:03.800-04:00Review: Learning to Breathe by Janice Lynn Mather <div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Learning to Breathe</i> by Janice Lynn Mather</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Release Date:</b> June 26, 2018</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Publisher: </b>Simon and Schuster's Children's Publishing</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Genre:</b> Young Adult, Contemporary</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Source: </b>ARC provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36373389-learning-to-breathe"><span style="font-size: large;">Add to Goodreads!</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sixteen-year-old Indy struggles to conceal her pregnancy while searching for a place to belong in this stunning debut novel that’s perfect for fans of Amber Smith and Sara Zarr.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Indira Ferguson has done her best to live by her Grammy’s rules—to study hard in school, be respectful, and to never let a boy take advantage of her. But it hasn’t always been easy, especially while living in her mother’s shadow.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">When Indy is sent to live with distant relatives in Nassau, trouble follows her. Now she must hide an unwanted pregnancy from her aunt, who would rather throw Indy out onto the street than see the truth.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Completely broke with only a hand-me-down pregnancy book as a resource, Indy desperately looks for a safe space to call home. After stumbling upon a yoga retreat, she wonders if perhaps she’s found the place. But Indy is about to discover that home is much bigger than just four walls and a roof—it’s about the people she chooses to share it with.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Review:</span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In the synopsis the publisher compares Janice Lynn Mather's <i>Learning to Breathe </i>to books by Sara Zarr and Amber Smith, and I believe that comparison is spot on.<i> Learning to Breathe </i>isn't an easy book by any means. There's plenty of heartbreaking moments as well as times at which I thought it couldn't possibly get any worse for Indy only to be proven otherwise. At the same time, however, <i>Learning to Breathe </i>does offer a breathe of hope, a breath of positivity, because at a core <i>Learning to Breathe </i>isn't about a book falling to rock bottom. No, it's a book about hitting rock bottom, only to climb out and be stronger and better than ever before. </span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Learning to Breathe </i>introduces Indy, a teenager hiding more than one secret. All her life, Indy's been the girl everyone talked about. From her body to her family to her choices, everyone seems to have an opinion. From the very first page Indy's voice grabbed me and didn't let me go until the very end. When the story first begins, Indy's at a crossroads. She's forced to leave the person she loves the most, the one who also loves her the most, and go to a new place. She doesn't fell very brave, but it was easy to see that she was. Throughout the course of the story, Indy faces so many hard choices and tough situations, but she always managed to stand strong, and I admired that about her. She was resourceful and smart, more so than many gave her credit for. I loved the relationship between her and her grandmother. It was sweet and thoughtfully developed, and I feel like it was essential to who Indy was. She never wanted to disappoint her grandmother, to let her down, and while I could understand that, there were so many times at which I wish she would've gone to her for help. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Over the course of the book, a variety of characters are introduced - some good and some bad - and each had an important role to play. The biggest surprise, however, was Crunchy. When Crunchy is first introduced, he doesn't seem like he'll be very important, but I was wrong. Crunchy turned out to be such a sweet and caring individual, and I loved the friendship that resulted between him and Indy. It warmed my heart. I was so happy to finally see someone fighting for her again, some who was willing to do anything to help her. It was so different from the other people in her life. Those individuals...well, they were just terrible. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Learning to Breathe </i>deals with tough subjects - teenage pregnancy, sexual assault, etc. I thought Janice did a wonderful job of handling each topic. Indy's story is an important one, because there are girls like her out there, girls who no one will listen to, girls that need our help, and I hope this book will open people's eyes to this. Some people have said that the ending was a bit too ideal, and while I somewhat agree, I was happy with where it left off.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In all, <i>Learning to Breathe </i>is a heartbreaking and gripping read, perfect for fans who love hard hitting YA contemporary. This may be my first book by Janice but it certainly won't be my last. </span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>3.5 stars!! </b></span></div>
Testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04501947064278343128noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682235492650584657.post-52991897128204262322018-08-06T06:00:00.000-04:002018-08-06T06:00:03.017-04:00Review: One Small Thing by Erin Watt <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>One Small Thing</i> by Erin Watt </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Release Date:</b> June 26, 2018 </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Publisher: </b>Harlequin Teen </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Genre: </b>YA, Contemporary, Romance </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Source:</b> ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35750273-one-small-thing">Add to Goodreads!</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/One-Small-Thing-Erin-Watt-ebook/dp/B073P6QKF6">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/one-small-thing-erin-watt/1126683202">BN</a> | <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781335017277">Indiebound</a> </span></div>
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<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Beth’s life hasn’t been the same since her sister died. Her parents try to lock her down, believing they can keep her safe by monitoring her every move. When Beth sneaks out to a party one night and meets the new guy in town, Chase, she’s thrilled to make a secret friend. It seems a small thing, just for her.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Only Beth doesn’t know how big her secret really is…</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Fresh out of juvie and determined to start his life over, Chase has demons to face and much to atone for, including his part in the night Beth’s sister died. Beth, who has more reason than anyone to despise him, is willing to give him a second chance. A forbidden romance is the last thing either of them planned for senior year, but the more time they spend together, the deeper their feelings get.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now Beth has a choice to make—follow the rules, or risk tearing everything apart…again. </span></blockquote>
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Review: </span></h2>
<span style="font-size: large;">Erin Watt has quickly become one of my go to authors over the past year. The Royals series filled the Sea Breeze/Rosemary Beach sized gap in my life while <i>While It's Real</i> proved so much sweetness and so many "aww!" moments that I'm still thinking about it more than a year later. Therefore, when I heard about <i>One Small Thing</i> it instantly sky rocketed to the top of my TBR pile. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The result? I liked <i>One Small Thing</i>. It was romantic and addicting. I had no problem get lost within the world Erin Watt presented for a few hours. However, here's the thing: it just didn't live up to the greatness that was <i>When It's Real</i>. Maybe I had too high expectations but I expected more. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>One Small Thing</i> focuses on Beth and Chase. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Ever since her sister died Beth has been the good girl, the perfect daughter. The only problem? She's sick of her parents's constant pressure and worries. She wants to be free again, free to make her own choices and live her life the way she wants. My heart broke for Beth. It's hard enough to deal with the loss of a loved one, but to then have your parents completely shut down and lose all common sense, that's even worse. I couldn't believe the ridiculous rules they had for and how they expected her to just stay with them for the rest of her life. I get that they cared, that they wanted her to be safe, but sometimes less is more. I found Beth to be likable. I understood her need to break free and let loose. I feel like anyone would in her position. I also respected her willingness to give people a second chance. Not everyone would've given Chase the time of day, but Beth wasn't everyone. I loved seeing her form a connection with him. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Chase, on the other hand, is just trying to get by. He regrets what happened that night every single day of his life, but now that he's out, he's just trying to get his diploma and leave. My heart broke for Chase as well. It was easy to see that he had paid the ultimate price for what happened that night, and I could see why he would want to move on. He was a good kid who just made an incredible bad decision. What I loved the most about Chase, however, was how much good was still within him. Some people in his position would've become different people: closed off, anger, resentful, but Chase still felt the need to reach out, to make connections, no matter how much his head was telling him no. Chase was my favorite part of the book. He was so sweet, so adorable, so perfect yet imperfect at the same time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>One Small Thing's</i> plot primarily involves the developing romance between Chase and Beth as well as the drama that results from Chase's reappearance in town. The romance between Chase and Beth was sweet; however, I wish there was more to it. It felt rushed at times, and while I admit that there was a connection between them, it still would've been nice to seen more moments between the two of them. Chase's reappearance in town, on the other hand, kept me on my toes, as it brought about drama as well as big revelations. Leave it to Erin Watt to have a big twist up her sleeve...I saw it coming but at the same time I couldn't believe what I was reading. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The main thing that brought this book down to three stars is what I hinted to above: I wanted more. Sometimes this book felt way too fast. Yes, Erin finished out all the story lines and provided conclusions, but at a rapid speed. I wish there had been more development, more scenes, especially at the end. I felt that it concluded rather abruptly and I think the book would've benefited from what happened after, seeing some pieces put together more closely. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In all, <i>One Small Thing</i> is a romantic and heartwarming book, perfect for the summer. I probably would've loved it more had I not read <i>When It's Real</i> first, but regardless Erin Watt is still one of my favorite authors, and I can't wait to see what's next. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>3 stars!!</b></span></div>
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Testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04501947064278343128noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682235492650584657.post-19232399754916369202018-07-27T07:00:00.000-04:002018-07-27T07:00:03.211-04:00Review: Everything All at Once by Katrina Leno <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGBvPV7hk9wtDPbBQQ0h1feyDf6vIcLRxQxHaN45va4N_VYw1p6q3UrXfN6n5DIUM_8pUwcKEz3-pNXkxfD32GKSCAUGc1HkxgVOxQmG6d-HIYVW6-MfNKostvnxqNeFPJI4OZs7qxZqUd/s1600/everything+all+at+once.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="318" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGBvPV7hk9wtDPbBQQ0h1feyDf6vIcLRxQxHaN45va4N_VYw1p6q3UrXfN6n5DIUM_8pUwcKEz3-pNXkxfD32GKSCAUGc1HkxgVOxQmG6d-HIYVW6-MfNKostvnxqNeFPJI4OZs7qxZqUd/s400/everything+all+at+once.jpg" width="270" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Everything All at Once</i> by Katrina Leno </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Release Date: </b>July 25, 2017 </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Publisher: </b>HarperTeen </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Genre:</b> Young Adult, Contemporary </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Source:</b> Library </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28926581-everything-all-at-once">Add on Goodreads!</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Everything-All-Once-Katrina-Leno-ebook/dp/B01LWI42PY">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/everything-all-at-once-katrina-leno/1124588987">BN</a> | <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/everything-all-at-once-2">Kobo</a> | <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780062493095">Indiebound</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A soaring novel by the critically acclaimed author of The Half Life of Molly Pierce and The Lost & Found, perfect for fans of Jennifer Niven and Rainbow Rowell.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Lottie Reaves is not a risk taker. But she’s about to take a leap into the unknown…</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">When Lottie's beloved Aunt Helen dies of cancer, it upends her careful, quiet life. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Aunt Helen wasn’t a typical aunt. She was the world-famous author of the bestselling Alvin Hatter series. She knew a thing or two about the magic of writing, and how words have the power to make you see things differently.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In her will, Aunt Helen leaves Lottie a series of letters—each containing mysterious instructions. As Lottie sets about following them, she realizes they’re meant to make her take a risk, and, for once in her life, really live. But when the letters reveal an extraordinary secret about her aunt’s past—and the inspiration for the Alvin Hatter series—Lottie finds herself faced with an impossible choice, one that will force her to confront her greatest fears once and for all.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Part mysterious adventure, part love letter to the power of books, this is a brilliantly woven novel about loving, reading, writing, grieving, and finding the strength to take a leap.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Review: </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">With 2017 quickly coming to an end, I made a late resolution to read some more 2017 releases, specifically YA contemporaries. With that goal in mind, I picked up Katrina Leno's <i>Everything All At Once</i>. I hadn't heard too much about it, but the reviews I had seen had been incredibly positive. Plus the synopsis screamed "read me, read me!" And </span><span style="font-size: large;">now that I've read the book (well, more like <i>DEVOURED </i>it!) all I can think is: "Why aren't more people talking about this?!" </span><br />
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<i style="font-size: x-large;">Everything All at Once </i><span style="font-size: large;">begins the story of Lottie Reaves, a rule follower who prefers to watch action unfold in her favorite books rather than partake in it. That's all about to change, however, as Lottie's late Aunt Helen, the woman </span><span style="font-size: large;">behind the world famous </span><span style="font-size: large;">Alvin Hatter series </span><span style="font-size: large;">(think J.K. Rowling </span><span style="font-size: large;">level famous), has left her behind 24 letters with very specific instructions. Each letter contains a dare, one that will make Lottie live a little bit more, and the letters will lead up to a big reveal - a secret that Aunt Helen has hidden for years. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">There's so much I loved about this book; however, I think the part I loved the most was the characters. Lottie was without a doubt my favorite. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Lottie is sweet as well as funny and just a tad bit quiet. She loves reading, which I could 100% relate to, and she'd rather hang out with her best friend and brother than go adventuring, which I could also relate to. Over the course of the book, however, a new side of Lottie comes out: a daring, risk-seeking side. I enjoyed seeing this transition as well as seeing how Lottie evolved after each dare. What I liked the most, though, was that it wasn't a 180 degree flip. </span><span style="font-size: large;">At the core, Lottie was still the same girl just a bit more ready to live her life to the fullest.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I</span><span style="font-size: large;">n addition to Lottie, her whole family was introduced, and all of them were wonderful! Lottie's mom, dad, brother, and aunt all brought their own special touch to the novel. I especially appreciated that that even though Aunt Helen was gone by the time the novel began, I still got to know her through her letters and excepts from the Alvin Hatter series. Aunt Helen is eccentric, caring, and strong - the kind of aunt that I would want on my side for sure! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The plot <i>Everything All at Once </i>mainly revolves around Lottie's dares, and through the dares, more is revolved about Lottie's aunt and her books. With twenty four dares, I worried that some would become repetitive, or that eventually the excitement of what was next would wear off, but that didn't happen one bit. Instead Katrina Leno perfectly crafted them, making each unique and important to the story. I especially loved how she slowly built up Lottie's fearlessness through them as well as the secret that Aunt Helen was hiding. It was enough to keep me satisfied with the progress but dying for more! I also enjoyed that Katrina Leno put a relationship we don't often see in YA novels up front and center: the bond between an aunt and niece. I've been blessed with many wonderful aunts in my life, so to see a novel about the positive relationship between an aunt and her niece was so awesome! The bond between Aunt Helen and Lottie was unbreakable, and my heart broke to see Lottie go through the pain of not having her anymore, of not being able to sneak over to her house to admire her knickknacks and ask for the advice only an aunt can offer. I also appreciated that Katrina Leno included Lottie's anxiety and panic attacks as a focus of the book. I thought she did a wonderful job of incorporating them into the plot, and I also liked that they didn't magically disappear as Lottie built up her confidence. The scene at the end equally broke and warmed my heart. I was so proud of Lottie, but I won't say more than that! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Last but not least: the writing. Katrina Leno is such a great writer! She seamlessly brought together the letters, narrative, and excerpts. I was never left craving more....well, okay maybe that's a lie: I kinda with the Alvin Hatter series was real so I could see it in all its glory! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In all, <i>Everything All at Once </i>is a magical, beautifully written contemporary! It tackles the hard topics in life: death, moving on, speaking up, and dealing with obstacles out of your control. It's so easy to be lost within its page - when I got to the last chapter I was like "that's it?!". Katrina Leno is a hidden gem of a writer, and I can't wait to read more by her in the future! </span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b><i>4.5 stars!! </i></b></span></div>
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Testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04501947064278343128noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682235492650584657.post-59969015810957866452018-07-20T07:00:00.000-04:002018-07-20T07:00:02.334-04:00Review: This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>This Mortal Coil</i> by Emily Suvada </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Release Date: </b>November 27, 2017<b> </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Publisher: </b>Simon Pulse </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Genre:</b> Young Adult, Dystopian </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Source:</b> Library </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33876440-this-mortal-coil">Add on Goodreads!</a><br /><a href="https://www.amazon.com/This-Mortal-Coil-Emily-Suvada/dp/1481496336">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/this-mortal-coil-e">Barnes and Noble</a> | <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/this-mortal-coil-2">Kobo</a> | <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781481496339">Indiebound</a></span> <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In this gripping debut novel, seventeen-year-old Cat must use her gene-hacking skills to decode her late father’s message concealing a vaccine to a horrifying plague.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Catarina Agatta is a hacker. She can cripple mainframes and crash through firewalls, but that’s not what makes her special. In Cat’s world, people are implanted with technology to recode their DNA, allowing them to change their bodies in any way they want. And Cat happens to be a gene-hacking genius.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">That’s no surprise, since Cat’s father is Dr. Lachlan Agatta, a legendary geneticist who may be the last hope for defeating a plague that has brought humanity to the brink of extinction. But during the outbreak, Lachlan was kidnapped by a shadowy organization called Cartaxus, leaving Cat to survive the last two years on her own.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">When a Cartaxus soldier, Cole, arrives with news that her father has been killed, Cat’s instincts tell her it’s just another Cartaxus lie. But Cole also brings a message: before Lachlan died, he managed to create a vaccine, and Cole needs Cat’s help to release it and save the human race.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now Cat must decide who she can trust: The soldier with secrets of his own? The father who made her promise to hide from Cartaxus at all costs? In a world where nature itself can be rewritten, how much can she even trust herself?</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Review:</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Books with lots of hype worry me. Why? Because I don't want to be that one person who doesn't see the greatness. So even though I've been dying to read Emily Suvada's <i>This Mortal Coil </i>since the moment I first heard about it, I've been putting it off; however, a couple of weeks I decided to get over my worries and order a copy. As it turns out, I'm so glad I did, because now that I've read this book all I can think is: "Why did I wait so long to read it?!" and also "WHAT?! NO! I NEED MORE!?" but I'll get to that portion later on. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>This Mortal Coil </i>is a very smart book. It's easy to tell that Emily knew what she was talking about it, and more importantly, she does a great job of conveying the science behind the virus and its implications. I have a chemistry degree so I was already familiar with the majority of science she talked about it; however, even if I didn't have that background, I would have had an easy time digesting it. Better yet, even though this book was incredibly science based, it didn't read like a textbook; instead, she perfectly intertwined the science into the characters, romance, and action, leaving me a very happy reader. Basically, this book shows that science can be so <i>COOL</i>, and as a science nerd/lover, this made me so incredibly happy - my heart was rapidly beating from the excitement of it all! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Catarina, the main character, was easy to like. She was strong as well as talented and always willing to go the extra yard to help the people she loved and valued the most. When the story first begins, she's in a bad place. Living on her own has only gotten harder since her father's disappearance. She's running out of food and supplies and the virus is closing in her more and more as the days continue. Because of this, she trusts almost no one. She's been taught to believe that no one, especially </span><span style="font-size: large;">Cartaxus, can help her.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">As the book progresses, though, she begins to open up and starts to question and ponder the things she knew about her father, the supposed truths he told her to live by, and her world is torn upside down. I felt bad for Catarina. It's bad enough to loose a loved one, but to loose a loved one and then learn some shady stuff about them? Even worse. I thought Catarina did a great job of weighing both sides to the story - she was never quick to jump to a conclusion. I also liked that she learned to stand on her own in this. Yes, she was strong when the book began, but she got even stronger and grew confidence in her smarts and talents. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The Mortal Coil </i>also introduces Cole, Catarina's love interest and protector. Sexy, strong, and mysterious, Cole's the kind of boy I love in a dystopian type novel. I especially enjoyed that Catarina's influence and eventual friendship humanized him to a point. At first, he was so cold and aloof, but by the end, he was the kind of guy you'd want on your side no matter what. Also, </span><span style="font-size: large;">Catarina a</span><span style="font-size: large;">nd Cole were an unstoppable force. Most of the book only involved them and their adventures, and honestly, I could read about those all day. Seriously, book boyfriend right here, ladies and gentlemen! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The plot described in two words? Action packed! Honestly, I don't think there was one time where this book lagged or made me feel bored. The twists and turns kept me on my toes, and while some of them seemed slightly out there, I could deal. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">My only compliant? The sort-of love triangle that occurred. In <i>The Mortal Coil</i>, we're presented with two boys: Cole and Dax. I've already talked about Cole above so I won't go into anymore about him other than to say: team Cole all the way. Dax, on the other hand, is the best friend/young teenage crush. When the story begins, Catarina hasn't seen him for two years, as he was taken away with her father, but she's been pinning about him to a certain degree. We're introduced to him in an flashback scene, and at that point, I mostly liked what I saw - he was a tad bit arrogant but him and Catarina had some good chemistry. Then flash forward to the point where he's eventually introduced in present times, and gosh is he now such an arrogant piece of work. I couldn't stand him, and I just wished he would go away. He treated Catarina like dirt so all I can say is please don't let the tables turn in the future - let him stay a forgotten crush and a current annoyance. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In all, <i>This Mortal Coil </i>is smart, fresh, and fast paced. </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit;">Despite its large size (over 400 pages), I raced through it in one sitting. Simply put, </span><span style="color: #181818;"><i style="font-family: inherit;">The Mortal Coil </i><span style="font-family: inherit;">is reminiscent of </span></span><i style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit;">The Hunger Games </i><span style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit;">just with an extra large helping of mad scientists and DNA. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b><i>5 stars!! </i></b></span></div>
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Testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04501947064278343128noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682235492650584657.post-49026810228979856502018-07-09T07:00:00.000-04:002018-07-09T07:00:00.300-04:00Review: Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage <div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Baby Teeth </i>by Zoje Stage </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Release Date</b>: July 17, 2018 </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Publisher</b>: St. Martin's Press </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Genre</b>: Adult, Thriller & Mystery </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Source</b>: <span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35410511-baby-teeth"></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35410511-baby-teeth"><span style="font-size: large;">Add to Goodreads!</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: large;">Amazon | BN | Indiebound </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Meet Hanna.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">She’s the sweet-but-silent angel in the adoring eyes of her Daddy. He’s the only person who understands her, and all Hanna wants is to live happily ever after with him. But Mommy stands in her way, and she’ll try any trick she can think of to get rid of her. Ideally for good.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Meet Suzette.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">She loves her daughter, really, but after years of expulsions and strained home schooling, her precarious health and sanity are weakening day by day. As Hanna’s tricks become increasingly sophisticated, and Suzette's husband remains blind to the failing family dynamics, Suzette starts to fear that there’s something seriously wrong, and that maybe home isn’t the best place for their baby girl after all.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">From blazing new talent Zoje Stage, Baby Teeth is a story about a perfect-looking family, and a darling little girl who wants nothing more than to kill her mother.</span></blockquote>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Review:</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Twisted.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Jaw-dropping. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Unputdownable. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Those are just some of the words that describe Zoje Stage's explosive debut. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">When <i>Baby Teeth </i>first appeared on my radar, I wasn't too sure about it. It sounded unique and interesting, but a book about a young girl wanting to kill her mother? It definitely wasn't my typical read. However, the other week I decided to read a chapter to get a feel for it. Luckily, that chapter turned into two, and before I knew it, it was 2 am and not only was I finished but also completely and utterly shook. That last scene? I reread it twice, because I couldn't believe my own eyes! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Baby Teeth </i>contains two POVs - Suzette's as well as Hannah's. Zoje did a fantastic job of bringing the two voices together. It was also incredibly worthwhile as well as eye-opening to see from both of their perspectives. The interesting thing here, however, is that I could never exactly pinpoint a villain. Instead, Suzette and Hannah are both victims as well as instigators, in my opinion. In their minds, they both believe they are doing the "right" thing. Suzette is attempting to save her marriage, daughter, and health through her occasional tough-love yet mostly understandable actions while Hannah believes the only way to be happy is to get rid of her mother. While Hannah's reasoning is a bit more wild, I felt bad for the girl. Yes, she did some truly evil things in this book; however, at the end of the day, she was a little girl who needed help. The only problem was that no one seemed to know what that help should be. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">At its core, <i>Baby Teeth </i>is a game of cat-and-mouse. The majority of the book focuses on the back-and-forth between Hannah and Suzette, their constant need to one-up each other as well as win. I was always on the edge of my seat, dying to know what would happen next. Would Hannah finally succeed in killing her mother? Would Suzette find help that would work? Those were just some of the questions swirling around in my head. As the book progressed, things only became crazier. I couldn't believe some of what I was reading. Gosh, if I was Suzette, I would've been running from that house screaming. I also enjoyed the conflict Suzette's husband/Hannah's father brought to the table. In a way, he played a Switzerland type role. He refused to believe that his little angle could be so evil but he also couldn't believe his wife could be lying about such things. For the majority of the book, he tries to play the middle man, sometimes making things better but sometimes making them even worse... </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In addition to the conflict/dynamic between Hannah and Suzette, the book also includes Suzette's struggles with Crohn's disease. I appreciated the fact that Zoje included this and addressed the everyday issues that arise with the disease. Several people close to me have suffered from Chron's, and I thought Zoje did a fantastic job of giving it a realistic, honest feel. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Overall, <i>Baby Teeth </i>by Zoje Stage is an edge-of-your-seat thriller. While I don't think this book will be for everyone, I think it will definitely find its audience within those craving a dark, mind-bending thriller. I look forward to reading more by Zoje in the future. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>4 stars!!</b></span></div>
Testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04501947064278343128noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682235492650584657.post-49378770293603224612018-07-06T07:00:00.001-04:002018-07-06T07:00:02.366-04:00Review: Not Her Daughter by Rea Frey <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-fXIu3ad7vhMc0jl_AUJI47DyDKetp_Jmq_lH-sam4IznncPLB55exdLs8Fds5l4LbTjzVlb9cykiPgiBJELV55Mta_nzou7Vlu1ZxQl1k-F_-YMRheUeg7TGfmwW4r4_V6NA9tT-XUYP/s1600/Not+Her+Daughter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="310" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-fXIu3ad7vhMc0jl_AUJI47DyDKetp_Jmq_lH-sam4IznncPLB55exdLs8Fds5l4LbTjzVlb9cykiPgiBJELV55Mta_nzou7Vlu1ZxQl1k-F_-YMRheUeg7TGfmwW4r4_V6NA9tT-XUYP/s400/Not+Her+Daughter.jpg" width="260" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Not My Daughter</i> by Rea Frey </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Release Date:</b> August 21, 2018 </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Publisher:</b> St. Martin's Press </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Genre: </b>Adult, Women's Fiction, Thriller & Suspense </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Source: </b>ARC provided by publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review </span><br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36504901-not-her-daughter"><span style="font-size: large;">Add to Goodreads!</span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0763SWY52">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36504901-not-her-daughter">BN</a> | <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781250166425">Indiebound</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Gripping, emotional, and wire-taut, Not Her Daughter raises the question of what it means to be a mother—and how far someone will go to keep a child safe.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Emma Townsend. Five years old. Gray eyes, brown hair. Missing since June.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Emma is lonely. Living with her cruel mother and clueless father, Emma retreats into her own world of quiet and solitude. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sarah Walker. Successful entrepreneur. Broken-hearted. Kidnapper.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sarah has never seen a girl so precious as the gray-eyed child in a crowded airport terminal. When a second-chance encounter with Emma presents itself, Sarah takes her—far away from home. But if it’s to rescue a little girl from her damaging mother, is kidnapping wrong?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Amy Townsend. Unhappy wife. Unfit mother. Unsure whether she wants her daughter back.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Amy’s life is a string of disappointments, but her biggest issue is her inability to connect with her daughter. And now Emma is gone without a trace.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">As Sarah and Emma avoid the nationwide hunt, they form an unshakeable bond. But what about Emma’s real mother, back at home?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Review: </b></span></h2>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Not Her Daughter </i>completely surprised me. I had heard numerous good things about it - almost all the reviews on Goodreads are 4 or 5 stars - and the synopsis had me intrigued. I expected to like it but I never expected to love it as much as I did. This book grabbed my heart from the start and never let it go. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Simply put, <i>Not Her Daughter </i>is a whirlwind of a read. It made me feel so many different emotions - happiness, sadness, hope, anger, etc. I feared yet anticipated the ending. How could it possibly end happily for everyone? More importantly, did I want it to end happily for everyone? I wasn't too sure...</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Not Her Daughter</i> starts off slow. The reader is slowly immersed into the lives of Sarah Walker and Amy Townshed, two women who couldn't be any more different yet are connected through a little girl named Emma. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sarah had a difficult childhood. Her mother wasn't much of a mother, forever making Sarah feel as if she was a burden rather than a blessing. Even to this day it has a strong hold on Sarah. No matter how much she accomplishes, it's a pain that forever lingers. At first, I didn't know if I liked or disliked Sarah. One part of me felt so incredibly bad for her. It was easy to see how much she was hurting from her past as well as her recent break-up, and I could somewhat understand why she would be so desperate to save a child from pain and disappoint like hers. On the other side, I didn't like how willing she was to grab a child. While I know obsessions can grab ahold of someone, sometimes it was hard to believe that a women who was so successful, so steadfast would do something as reckless as go on the run with a child. Throughout the book, I shifted back and forth with my feelings. Did she have good intentions? Yes. Did she go about them in the right way? No. But did she love Emma? Completely! Her bond with Emma was one of my favorite parts of the book. It was heartwarming yet bittersweet, and it made me happy to see how much they helped one another. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Amy, on the other hand, is struggling. Struggling with the challenges of motherhood, a marriage based on settling rather than love, and the overwhelming desire that something was missing in her life, that she took the wrong path. I could see that Amy was doing the best that she could, but at the same time, I didn't approve of her actions. I didn't like that she bullied her daughter, that she was so willing to lie to the police to save face. It wasn't right; however, as more was revealed about her past, my empathy towards her increased. At the end of the day, she was broken. Did it excuse her behavior? No, but I still wanted her to find peace as well as happiness even if it meant turning her whole world upside down. Her bond with Emma was much different than Sarah's. Even though she knew she shouldn't, she resented Emma, sometimes she was even a tad jealous of her. It was hard to stomach, but it was realistic. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Not Her Daughter </i>switches back and forth between Amy and Sarah's POVs and shows during three time periods (before the kidnapping, during the kidnapping, and the aftermath). I thought Rea did a great job of developing both voices. The book wouldn't be the same without both, and I appreciated how they should two very different type of women - one who wanted a child so desperately and one who regretted ever having children. The plot here mainly focuses on the kidnapping; however, it also includes details about both women's pasts. While this book can't exactly be described as an edge-of-your-seat thriller, it's still a readable, addicting story. I devoured the entire book in one sitting simply because I needed to know what would happen next. Would Sarah return Emma? Would Amy tell the truth? What went wrong in both of their lives? Those were the questions swirling around in my head. I also appreciated the way in which Rea went about discussing abduction. The abduction storyline, in particular wasn't very black-and-white. There was many layers to it, and it truly made me think. For most of the book, I was torn. I didn't know who I wanted to "win" - Amy or Sarah - but I did know one thing: I wanted Emma to be happy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Bittersweet as well as thought provoking, Rea Frey's <i>Not Her Daughter</i> is the kind of that makes me wish I was part of a book club, because I want to discuss it with everyone! </span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>5 stars!!</b></span></div>
Testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04501947064278343128noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682235492650584657.post-52391388109028798792018-07-06T07:00:00.000-04:002018-07-06T07:00:14.246-04:00Review: The Gallery of Unfinished Girls by Lauren Karcz <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The Gallery of Unfinished Girls</i> by Lauren Karcz </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Release Date: </b>July 25, 2017 <b> </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Publisher: </b>Berkley </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Genre:</b> Young Adult, Contemporary </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Source:</b> Library </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31371496-the-gallery-of-unfinished-girls">Add on Goodreads!</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062467778">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-gallery-of-unfinished-girls-lauren-karcz/1124289199">BN</a> | <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780062467775">Indiebound</a> | <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-gallery-of-unfinished-girls">Kobo</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A beautiful and evocative look at identity and creativity, The Gallery of Unfinished Girls is a stunning debut in magical realism. Perfect for fans of The Walls Around Us and Bone Gap. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Mercedes Moreno is an artist. At least, she thinks she could be, even though she hasn’t been able to paint anything worthwhile in the past year. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Her lack of inspiration might be because her abuela is in a coma. Or the fact that Mercedes is in love with her best friend, Victoria, but is too afraid to admit her true feelings. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Despite Mercedes’s creative block, art starts to show up in unexpected ways. A piano appears on her front lawn one morning, and a mysterious new neighbor invites Mercedes to paint with her at the Red Mangrove Estate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">At the Estate, Mercedes can create in ways she hasn’t ever before. But Mercedes can’t take anything out of the Estate, including her new-found clarity. Mercedes can’t live both lives forever, and ultimately she must choose between this perfect world of art and truth and a much messier reality.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Review: </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I'll admit it: I added this book to my TBR simply because of the flamingos (Note to publishers: if you put a flamingo on a book, there's a 99.99% I will buy/read it because my love for flamingos is just that strong). </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Thankfully, Lauren Karcz's <i>The Gallery of the Unfinished Girls </i>contains so much more than just a pretty cover! Lush, introspective, and a tad bit eccentric, <i>The Gallery of Unfinished Girls </i>chronicles the eventful, life changing year of the </span><span style="font-size: large;">Moreno</span><span style="font-size: large;"> sisters. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The Gallery of the Unfinished Girls </i>begins just as the Moreno family is falling apart. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Mercedes’s abuela has sunken into a coma she may never come out of, and because of that, Mercedes's mom has left the country to go take care of her. Alas, Mercedes and her younger sister Angela find themselves left alone to fend for themselves. Some teenagers would go wild from the sudden burst of freedom; however, Mercedes and Angela go about their lives as normal. Wake up, school, home, sleep, repeat. But everything changes the moment a piano and a new secretive neighbor named <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Lillia</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span>suddenly (and maybe even a bit magically) appear. Suddenly, Angela looses herself in the music, Lillia becomes a mentor to Angela as well as Mercedes, and Mercedes has the sudden urge to paint something worthwhile, something that will make herself (and maybe even Lillia) proud. But Lillia is hiding secrets, and Mercedes thinks most of them revolve around the mystical Red Mangrove Estate, the place for artists to loose themselves in their work....</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The Gallery of Unfinished Girls </i>is incredibly character driven. Sometimes that works for me and sometimes it doesn't, but thankfully in this case it worked quite well. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The characters in <i>The Gallery of Unfinished Girls </i>felt so real, so life like.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Mercedes, the main character, became the one closet to my heart. I've never been an artist (Fun fact: I was actually told in high school to never take another art class besides the required once because my work was just that terrible) ; however, I've always been interested in what drives an artist to create their work...what makes them tick, what makes them passionate, driven....and within Mercedes this was displayed front and center. As the book begins, Mercedes is in a rut: she hasn't created a worthwhile piece, something to be proud of, since her award-winning food poisoning inspired painting the previous year. She's lost. Her art has always been her "thing," the one thing that always has made sense, the thing by which she defines herself as. Who is Mercedes without the art? Throughout the novel, Mercedes slowly gets her grove back thanks to </span><span style="font-size: large;">Lillia</span><span style="font-size: large;"> and learns a lot about herself in the process. This transformation was incredibly worthwhile to see, and I especially appreciated the growth she obtained. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In addition to art problem, Mercedes has also found herself in another situation: an unrequited love situation. Mercedes is bisexual and head-over-heels in love with her best friend Victoria. The only problem? She doesn't know if Victoria would ever return her feelings. I'll be honest here: I never could see the appeal in Victoria. I didn't think she was that great of a friend, and honestly, she was selfish at times, especially towards the end. So at times</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">it was</span><span style="font-size: large;"> hard to root for a Victoria-Mercedes pairing, but it was never hard to root for Mercedes falling in love, because I wanted Mercedes to be happy, and I was so incredibly proud of her for being true to herself. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I also appreciated the family dynamic that <i>The Gallery of Unfinished Girls </i>offered. The bond between Mercedes and Angela was at times messy and fragile, but in the long run, those two girls would go to the end of the Earth for each other. It was especially interesting to see them bond and root each other on regarding their own form of art - Mercedes with her paintings and Angela with her music. It was also worthwhile to see Mercedes deal with the risk of loosing someone who close to her. Throughout the novel, she questions those kind of questions that everyone wonders - could she have done more for her </span><span style="font-size: large;">abuela</span><span style="font-size: large;">? did she say everything she needed to say? It broke my heart, but I thought Lauren did such an amazing job of giving Mercedes's grief a voice. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Last but not least I want to hit upon Red Mangrove Estate. It gave the book a fantasy approach in some ways. I don't want to say too much about it, because it's one of those things you need to experience for yourself. However, I will say it was an interesting plot device. At first, it caused a lot of confusion for me and I didn't always like it. I wondered what the point really was of it, but as the novel progressed, it became clear. I have to say Lauren did such a smart, innovative thing here - I loved the overall message it was able to convoy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In all, <i>The Gallery of Unfinished Girls </i>is a beautiful, introspective novel about life, loss, love, and moving on. I'll be in upfront in saying this book won't be for everyone, especially those who prefer action packed books over character driven ones, but for those of you who like a unique novel, I highly suggest it. I look forward to Lauren's future novels. </span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b><i>4 stars!! </i></b></span></div>
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Testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04501947064278343128noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682235492650584657.post-36819844650763687032018-07-04T11:48:00.001-04:002018-07-04T11:50:01.828-04:00Blog Tour: The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager (Review & Giveaway!) <div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i>The Last Time I Lied</i> by Riley Sager</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Publisher: Dutton Press</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Release Date: July 3, 2018</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Genre: Adult, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Source: ARC provided by publisher via First to Read in exchange for an honest review</span><br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36750068-the-last-time-i-lied"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Add to Goodreads!</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Last-Time-Lied-Novel/dp/1524743070/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-last-time-i-lied-riley-sager/1127236689?ean=9781524743079#/">BN</a> | <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/last-time-i-lied/id1294929985?mt=11">iBooks</a> | <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Last-Time-I-Lied-Riley-Sager/9781524743079">Book Depository</a> | <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-last-time-i-lied-1">Kobo</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Two Truths and a Lie. The girls played it all the time in their tiny cabin at Camp Nightingale. Vivian, Natalie, Allison, and first-time camper Emma Davis, the youngest of the group. The games ended when Emma sleepily watched the others sneak out of the cabin in the dead of night. The last she--or anyone--saw of them was Vivian closing the cabin door behind her, hushing Emma with a finger pressed to her lips.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Now a rising star in the New York art scene, Emma turns her past into paintings--massive canvases filled with dark leaves and gnarled branches that cover ghostly shapes in white dresses. The paintings catch the attention of Francesca Harris-White, the socialite and wealthy owner of Camp Nightingale. When Francesca implores her to return to the newly reopened camp as a painting instructor, Emma sees an opportunity to try to find out what really happened to her friends.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Yet it's immediately clear that all is not right at Camp Nightingale. Already haunted by memories from fifteen years ago, Emma discovers a security camera pointed directly at her cabin, mounting mistrust from Francesca and, most disturbing of all, cryptic clues Vivian left behind about the camp's twisted origins. As she digs deeper, Emma finds herself sorting through lies from the past while facing threats from both man and nature in the present. And the closer she gets to the truth about Camp Nightingale, the more she realizes it may come at a deadly price.</span></blockquote>
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Review: </span></h2>
<span style="font-size: large;">I've been hearing nonstop good things about Riley Sager ever since the release of Final Girls, and even though I love a good thriller/mystery, I was hesitant to try it. Would it live up to the hype? Would I like it as much as everyone else? Those were the questions on my mind. <br /><br />Now that I've read The Last Time I Lied, Riley's second book, I'm mad at myself for being so stubborn and reluctant, because this book is EXCELLENT! After finishing it my thoughts were something like this: "Wow....Wow....WOW..." <br /><br />The best word to describe The Last Time I Lied? Intoxicating! When I sat down with it, I only planned to read a chapter; however, as per usual, that ended up being a straight-up lie, as I ended up reading the ENTIRE book in one sitting. It's just that good. <br /><br />The Last Time I Lied alternates between current times and 15 years ago. Riley did a fantastic job of weaving the two timelines together, and I loved how both included mystery as well as suspense. I also liked how the timelines played off each other, as it really brought the book together. <br /><br />Emma is an interesting main character. From the first chapter, it's easy to see that Emma's been carrying that night with her for years. She's still so incredibly torn up about it and even a tad obsessed - all of her paintings involve that night. She also feels incredible guilt - guilt for her role that night, guilt for putting the blame on someone out of anger rather than true reasons, guilt for living while three other girls died. I felt for Emma. I couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be to live like that, especially when there was no real closure. Over the course of the book, Emma starts to heal from that night, reestablishing friendships along the way. I enjoyed seeing Emma come out of this cloud, and I also liked seeing her bond with the three young girls she was in charge of at the camp. It brought out a new side to her - a big sister side. I also liked the addition of the secondary characters. They all had their own secrets to hide. Some had better intentions than others. However, they all had a role to play. <br /><br />The plot here is well constructed. Riley did a fantastic job of building up what happened that night as well as the mystery that still remained. There were several times in which I thought I had everything figured out only to be proven wrong. The setting also brought a lot to the book. It was eerie and creepy, and what made it even better was how fleshed out Riley made it. I had no problem picturing the camp. <br /><br />In all, The Last Time I Lied is perfect for fans of thrillers, especially those who love a campy feel; however, be prepared to be shocked throughout. The curveball at the end? Deliciously evil! My jaw dropped.</span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>5 stars!!</b></span></div>
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About the Author: </span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Riley Sager is the pseudonym of a former journalist, editor and graphic designer who previously published mysteries under his real name. </span> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Now a full-time author, Riley's first thriller, FINAL GIRLS, became a national and international bestseller and was called "the first great thriller of 2017" by Stephen King. Translation rights have been sold in more than two dozen countries and a film version is being developed by Universal Pictures. </span> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Riley's next book, THE LAST TIME I LIED, will be published in July. It was inspired by the classic novel and film "Picnic at Hanging Rock" and one horrible week Riley spent at summer camp when he was ten.</span> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">A native of Pennsylvania, Riley now lives in Princeton, New Jersey. When he's not working on his next novel, he enjoys reading, cooking and going to the movies as much as possible. His favorite film is "Rear Window." Or maybe "Jaws." But probably, if he's being honest, "Mary Poppins."</span></blockquote>
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Giveaway: </span></h2>
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<i><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="text-align: left;">Each blog is giving away a copy of THE LAST TIME I LIED by Riley Sager</span><br /><span style="text-align: left;">That's 20 books you have the chance of winning!!!</span><br /><span style="text-align: left;">Stop by each blog on their tour date to enter</span><br /><span style="text-align: left;">US/Canada Only</span><br /><span style="text-align: left;">You may only win 1 book during the entire tour-- if you are chosen as a winner more than once, we ask that you decline the 2nd offer as to let someone else win.</span><br /><span style="text-align: left;">You will be disqualified completely if your name is on the winner's list more than once.</span></span></i><br />
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Testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04501947064278343128noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682235492650584657.post-20723045033834618182018-06-29T07:00:00.000-04:002018-06-29T07:00:11.998-04:00Review: Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHxo6Iyzj2jUfZGz2mAEgpGFzJd5Jk-pqQr-MEUDYx9ez_hUqro8ULHhSD3CzDVHYnDN3h7NCZT4eCvB1RjZUyzxkD4ElAY5KURETUFEF8P-EwsSx3xDJD4ElsOPop4OKvOGzoIauPGWEZ/s1600/allegedly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHxo6Iyzj2jUfZGz2mAEgpGFzJd5Jk-pqQr-MEUDYx9ez_hUqro8ULHhSD3CzDVHYnDN3h7NCZT4eCvB1RjZUyzxkD4ElAY5KURETUFEF8P-EwsSx3xDJD4ElsOPop4OKvOGzoIauPGWEZ/s400/allegedly.jpg" width="263" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Allegedly</i> by Tiffany D. Jackson </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Release Date: </b>January 24, 2017 </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Publisher: </b>Katherine Tegen Books </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Genre:</b> Young Adult, Contemporary </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Source:</b> Library</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30037870-allegedly">Add on Goodreads!</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01F1WTAHK">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/allegedly-tiffany-d-jackson/1123722307">Barnes and Noble</a> | <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/allegedly-1">Kobo</a> | <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780062422644">Indiebound</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Mary B. Addison killed a baby.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Allegedly. She didn’t say much in that first interview with detectives, and the media filled in the only blanks that mattered: A white baby had died while under the care of a churchgoing black woman and her nine-year-old daughter. The public convicted Mary and the jury made it official. But did she do it? She wouldn’t say.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Mary survived six years in baby jail before being dumped in a group home. The house isn’t really “home”—no place where you fear for your life can be considered a home. Home is Ted, who she meets on assignment at a nursing home.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">There wasn’t a point to setting the record straight before, but now she’s got Ted—and their unborn child—to think about. When the state threatens to take her baby, Mary must find the voice to fight her past. And her fate lies in the hands of the one person she distrusts the most: her Momma. No one knows the real Momma. But who really knows the real Mary?</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Review: </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I've been wanting to read Tiffany D. Jackson's <i>Allegedly </i>for a while now. I have a soft spot for hard, emotional reads, which I could gather from the synopsis and reviews was exactly what <i>Allegedly </i>would be. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So when I won an ARC of Tiffany's second novel <i>Monday's Not Coming </i>on Twitter, I decided that before diving into that one (which also looks amazing by the way!), I would start with her first book, and I'm so glad I did. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It's hard to describe my feelings about this one because my brain seriously turned into complete and utter mush after reading it. All I could think was wow....wow...wow. And even though it has been about a week since I've read it, I'm still completely and utterly shook as well as still thinking about the way it ended. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Allegedly </i>is in fact a tough read. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It<i> </i>will <b>play with your emotions</b> - you'll feel hope, sadness, anger, horror, and even some happiness believe it or not. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">It will <b>make you think, <i>really </i>think</b> - <span style="font-family: inherit;">Is Mary truly guilty? Should she be given the chance to raise her baby? Was Mary truly given a fair trail? Or was the verdict driven by the media attention? </span> </span><span style="font-size: large;">Those are just some of the questions.... </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">It <b>dives into a lot of important topics</b> - mental illness, "baby jail," the mistreatment teens often face in group homes, race, and how the media can twist a case. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">It will <b>make you question everything</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">It <b>captures the voice of a character I won't forget</b> - Mary's voice is interesting - it's childlike yet wise beyond her years, it's seemingly innocent yet a tad bit conniving. I was especially fascinated by her relationship with her mother. How much did that relationship, in particular, charge her thoughts and actions? Throughout the book, I was torn. I wondered if Mary was innocent, I wondered if Mary's mother was guilty... what was true about that horrid night and what was false. At times, I even questioned if Mary was an reliable narrator - could I trust her to be telling the truth? </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So yes, it may be a hard read, but it also<i> </i>is an vastly important one. Tiffany D. Jackson has an incredible debut here. It's well written and it punches you right in the gut. I could go on about this book forever, but I don't think I would ever give it the justice it deserves. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So I'll live you with this...buy it or borrow it but definitely read it! Tiffany D. Jackson is a new powerhouse in YA, and I can't wait to see how her stories develop and grow as the years go on. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b><i>5 Stars!! </i></b></span></div>
Testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04501947064278343128noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682235492650584657.post-32130456192360486012018-06-26T00:00:00.000-04:002018-06-26T00:00:01.312-04:00Review: What You Left Me by Bridget Morrissey<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCXhVo2jdzKh7sjFWIRLwSObYENKJihFHZioakeGQBWNMRqGSgZtQ99cEee_3CQAXPe25jXoF0reRQx2nzGT7e0SC7bQ3RsWs6sUePtfodWPYtwo3nhAfZPH_U2MSJv8B30Ai6S9eH8LyR/s1600/What+You+Left+Me+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCXhVo2jdzKh7sjFWIRLwSObYENKJihFHZioakeGQBWNMRqGSgZtQ99cEee_3CQAXPe25jXoF0reRQx2nzGT7e0SC7bQ3RsWs6sUePtfodWPYtwo3nhAfZPH_U2MSJv8B30Ai6S9eH8LyR/s400/What+You+Left+Me+.jpg" width="266" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>What You Left Me</i> by Bridget Morrissey</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Release Date:</b> June 5, 2018</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Publisher: </b>Sourcebooks Fire</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Genre:</b> Young Adult, Contemporary</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Source: </b>ARC provided by publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32702948-what-you-left-me?from_search=true">Add to Goodreads!</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/What-You-Left-Bridget-Morrissey/dp/1492655511?tag=sbnews-20">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/links/8520536/type/dlg/fragment/%2F/https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/what-you-left-me-bridget-morrissey/1126980409?ean=9781492655510">BN</a> | <a href="http://www.booksamillion.com/p/What-Left/Bridget-Morrissey/9781492655510?id=6538300475571">BAM</a> | <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/what-you-left-me/9781492655510-item.html?ikwid=what+you+left+me&ikwsec=Home&ikwidx=0">Indigo </a>| <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781492655510">Indiebound</a> </span></div>
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<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">If I Stay meets While You Were Sleeping in this beautiful and heartbreaking novel told in dual perspectives about friendship, family, and all the other threads that bind us together.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Martin and Petra meet for the first time at graduation, and though they’ve shared the halls of their high school for four years without crossing paths, there’s an instant connection the moment they’re seated next to each other at the commencement ceremony.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Then a car accident puts Martin into a coma; and Petra is somehow left picking up the pieces, using friends, family, and shared dreams to keep their surprise connection going.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Together they must unlock the truth of his situation, and with time running out, their bond becomes Martin’s best shot at waking back up to the life he's left behind.</span></blockquote>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Review: </span></h2>
<span style="font-size: large;">Have you ever read a book where you were constantly hoping for the best but preparing for the worst? That's how I was for the entirety of <i>What You Left Me</i>. I kept hoping that Bridget wouldn't take a certain path, but at the same time, I could see it being a very strong possibility. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>What You Left Me </i>wasn't what I was expecting. Honestly, I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but I wasn't expecting such a deep and moving read. This book made me laugh and cry. I alternated between angry, happy, and sad. There were so many times I wished that things could be different, but at the same time, I gave props to Bridget for making the choices she did regarding the plot. It made it a tough read for sure, but a tough read that I won't forget for quite some time. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>What You Left Me</i> introduces Martin and Petra. They couldn't be anymore different. Martin is the funny guy, constantly in trouble with his teachers and family but loved by his classmates. Petra, on the other hand, has always been the star student, the trustworthy daughter, and the steadfast friend but all that changed one night. Now she's stuck sitting next to Martin at graduation instead of being at the front with the top of her class. Martin can tell that something isn't right with Petra, that she's brooding about something big, and even though it spells out nothing but trouble, he tries to get her attention, to make her smile, and this is what changes everything. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Over the course of the book, I came to love Martin and Petra. On the surface, they seemed incredibly different. Martin seemed wild and carefree, forever the life of the party, while Petra was the smart girl, sticking to her books and her tight knit group of friends. Deep down, however, both Martin and Petra were lost...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Petra is dealing with the backlash of suddenly not being the perfect daughter, the perfect student. Everyone thinks she's graduating, but the truth is she's one credit short. She knows she should feel bad, even mad at herself for getting to this place, but she can't bring herself to feel anything. My heart broke for Petra. It was easy to tell from the start that something wasn't right, that she was just going through the motions. I wanted to know more, to learn more about what happened that night. More importantly, I wanted her to smile again, to live again. Yes, her decisions following that night weren't the best, but they were understandable. They could easily be fixed. What couldn't be easily fixed, however, was the non visible scars that remained on Petra, something that everyone failed to see but Martin. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Martin, on the other hand, is growing tired of always being the funny, goofy guy. He wants people to see that there's more to him than his jokes and his bets. He wants more for himself. Some parts of him wonder if he even lived high school to the fullest...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Martin and Petra's meeting is sudden and quick, but it not only changes everything but starts <i>What You Left Me</i> off with a bang. I wanted to see more of Martin and Petra, to see them interact, to see if maybe there was more to everything than a quick meeting, but a car accident shatters everything. Suddenly, Martin is in a coma and Petra is devastated. Sure, she didn't know him well, but for some reason she can't get over what has happened, she's pulled to his bedside and pulled into his life. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">At its heart, <i>What You Left Me</i> is a book about second chances and how random encounters can change everything. <i>What You Left Me</i> is primarily character driven. Bridget spends a great deal of time building Petra and Martin's characters, and I really liked that aspect. There was something very interesting about their bond, something that made me curious to know what would happen next. I also liked how Bridget made everything interconnected. I loved seeing Martin and Petra's friend groups come together, often in some very surprising ways. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">There are two things, however, that I didn't like about W<i>hat You Left Me</i>. For one, I wish the POVs would have been labeled with the character's name. At first, it was hard to tell who was talking when, especially when the POVs expanded beyond just Martin and Petra. Additionally, I wish there was more about what happened to Petra that night. There was some resolution to it, but I wish there would've been more. In some ways, I feel like it was slightly pushed under the carpet by the end of the book. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Overall, <i>What You Left Me </i>is a an emotional, deeply moving addition to contemporary YA. If you're anything like me, it will probably make you cry your eyes out, but I promise it's worth it. Bridget has something very special here. </span><br />
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<b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">4.5 stars!! </span></b></div>
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Testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04501947064278343128noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682235492650584657.post-7998390769753089942018-06-25T07:00:00.000-04:002018-06-25T07:00:02.506-04:00Review: Your Destination Is on the Left by Lauren Spieller<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Nm3DXkaPmR6BXWqKT09kYOxlTh_Gx4sdCSm5gg5B7zTKwwtXk5pNeRTmrXeGDcfkjC7e9WBCY5SFr2YgmSOcJ2RxArxNcWyJd41MlCqLDJSKp8JvRTdFSfLsAdnWl1N9C8yXnsgOBG7L/s1600/Your+Destination+is+on+the+Left.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Nm3DXkaPmR6BXWqKT09kYOxlTh_Gx4sdCSm5gg5B7zTKwwtXk5pNeRTmrXeGDcfkjC7e9WBCY5SFr2YgmSOcJ2RxArxNcWyJd41MlCqLDJSKp8JvRTdFSfLsAdnWl1N9C8yXnsgOBG7L/s400/Your+Destination+is+on+the+Left.jpg" width="263" /></span></a><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Your Destination Is on the Left</i> by Lauren Spieller </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Release Date:</b> June 26, 2018 </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Publisher:</b> Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Genre:</b> Young Adult, Contemporary, Coming of Age </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Source: </b>ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35410511-baby-teeth"></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35410511-baby-teeth">Add to Goodreads!</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1481492128">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/your-destination-is-on-the-left-lauren-spieller/1127208763">BN</a> | <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781481492126">Indiebound</a></span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Seventeen-year-old Dessa Rhodes is torn between leaving her modern nomadic life and pursuing her dreams of becoming an artist in this fun, contemporary debut novel that’s perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen and Morgan Matson. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Dessa Rhodes is a modern day nomad. Her family travels in an RV, their lives defined by state lines, exit signs, and the small communal caravan they call home. Among them is Cyrus, her best friend and long-time crush, whom she knows she can never be with. When your families are perpetually linked, it’s too dangerous to take a risk on romance. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Instead, Dessa looks to the future. She wants to be a real artist and going to art school is her ticket to success and a new life. There’s just one problem: she hasn’t been accepted…anywhere. Suddenly her future is wide open, and it looks like she’s going to be stuck traveling forever. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Then an unexpected opportunity presents itself: an internship working with a local artist in Santa Fe. Dessa struggles to prove to her boss—and herself—that she belongs there, but just as she finally hits her stride, her family suffers an unexpected blow. Faced with losing everything that she has worked for, Dessa has a difficult decision to make. Will she say goodbye to her nomadic lifestyle and the boy she loves? Or will she choose to never stop moving?</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Review: </span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Well it's official: I have a new favorite 2018 debut and its none other than Lauren Spieller's <i>Your Destination Is on the Left</i>. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I never planned on reading this book in February given its June release date; however, in a moment of weakness, or as I like to call it curiosity, I read the first chapter. Before I knew it the first chapter turned into the fifth, and by the end of the night I had read it from start-to-finish in one sitting. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Do I have any regrets? No and yes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b>No</b>, because <i>Your Destination Is on the Left</i> is seriously fantastic! Read-in-one-sitting-I-can't-stop-won't-stop fantastic. It's about growing up, letting go, being brave, and standing up for yourself. I loved the art world. I loved the setting. And I especially loved the characters! </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Yes</b>, because now I'm going through good-book-withdrawl, wishing it could have gone on and on forever, because what am I possibly going to do now? Especially when Lauren's next book isn't due out until FALL 2019. Cue the sobs. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Until then I guess I'll have to make do with raving about this book non-stop. Therefore, to give you a feel of why you should read <i>Your Destination Is on the Left</i>, here's a list of the top six reasons! </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">1) Dessa: </span></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When Dessa is first introduced, she's craving routine and normalcy. She loves her parents and she's enjoyed their traveler lifestyle, but now she wants to settle down, preferably at a nice college with an art program. Dessa is this wonderful mix of determined and frightened. She knows what she wants - an art degree & her work to be featured and maybe even admired - and she's determined to achieve her goals, no matter how many walls she has to break down or hard decisions she may need to make. At the same time, however, she's terrified, shaking-in-her-boots-don't-know-what-to-do terrified, because after a series of rejection letters, her dreams suddenly seem out of reach. She's nervous - is she cut out to be an artist? Are these programs seeing something she's not seeing? She's suddenly vulnerable and at an unexpected crossroad. All of this is what made her story more believable, more realistic, because who hasn't experienced a setback, a moment of weakness where you wonder if you're cut out to do what you want. I could relate and I'm sure others will as well. It also didn't hurt that Dessa has spunk. She's funny; she's the perfect amount of reckless; and she's </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">passionate. Lauren did such a great job of capturing Dessa's voice, and more importantly, giving a voice to any teenager who's not known what to do next. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2) <b>The Other Characters</b> - </span>Cyrus<span style="font-family: inherit;">, Dessa's grandmother as well as her dad, Taryn.... I loved them all! Taryn was definitely a surprise. When she was first introduced, I never expected her to play as big of a role as she ended up playing. It was great to see the friendship develop between her and Dessa, and I especially liked when she'd call Dessa out on being ridiculous. I will say, though, Dessa's mom drove me insane! I couldn't stand the woman. I know she thought her intuitions were good, but goodness, they just seemed so incredibly selfish to me. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>3) The art - </b></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I've never been that into art; however, I loved reading about it here. It was interesting to see the inner-workings of the art world - the gallery openings, the preparation, the good days, and the bad days. I also enjoyed getting a look into to Dessa's work (I wish her paintings were real!). </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>4) The romance - </b></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">It wasn't a huge part of the book; however, when it did take front-and-center stage it was so incredibly well done. I always love a good </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">friends-to-lovers romance, and it didn't hurt that I loved Cyrus. He was swoony and adorable. I wasn't even that mad when he made some ridiculous choices. Additionally, I adored Dessa and Cyrus together. They meshed together so well it felt like they had been together for years, but I also appreciated that everything wasn't always perfect - they had spats, mixed signals, and goals that conflicted. Sometimes I feared it wouldn't work, but I still held out hope. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>5) Growing up, making mistakes, and learning - </b></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As hinted to above so much of </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Your Destination Is on the Left </i><span style="font-family: inherit;">focuses on growing up and leaving the "nest." Stories like this are what make me love contemporary, stories that are more character driven that plot driven, that focus on the beautiful and cruel parts of growing up, that take something so ordinary and make it so extraordinary (i.e. the traveler aspect here). </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>6) The writing </b></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">One word: gorgeous! I can't believe this is Lauren's first book that's how good it is. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">Overall, <i>Your Destination Is on the Left </i>is yet another fantastic 2018 debut! Heartwarming, beautifully written, and empowering, <i>Your Destination Is on the Left </i>will humor, excite, inspire, dazzle and anger you...maybe even all five at the same time. </span></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">5 stars!! </span></b></div>
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Testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04501947064278343128noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682235492650584657.post-74622049135084414142018-06-25T00:00:00.000-04:002018-06-25T00:00:07.764-04:00Review: Save the Date by Morgan Matson <div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3oUK1MXIcIb_kmjPGqcbb3cAz6Z4Cct5-atJA1WZ6CGsx1iiRDu3vzVUhVY8TkggqhaGFa1vdEM8OVORjqDiRWkIkWRGEqr3QvQuKlZ5eA_xxQusGeC9cS8nOEbmlFOm7hQ3KqrIUYjZ2/s1600/save+the+date+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3oUK1MXIcIb_kmjPGqcbb3cAz6Z4Cct5-atJA1WZ6CGsx1iiRDu3vzVUhVY8TkggqhaGFa1vdEM8OVORjqDiRWkIkWRGEqr3QvQuKlZ5eA_xxQusGeC9cS8nOEbmlFOm7hQ3KqrIUYjZ2/s400/save+the+date+.jpg" width="263" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Save the Date </i>by Morgan Matson</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Release Date:</b> June 5, 2018 </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Publisher:</b> <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Genre:</b> Young Adult, Contemporary </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Source:</b> ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32333338-save-the-date">Add to Goodreads!</a> </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1481404571">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/save-the-date-morgan-matson/1124805717">BN</a> | <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781481404570">Indiebound</a> </span></span></div>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">All first editions will be signed by the author—available while supplies last!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Father of the Bride meets Sixteen Candles in the latest novel from New York Times bestselling author Morgan Matson.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Charlie Grant’s older sister is getting married this weekend at their family home, and Charlie can’t wait—for the first time in years, all four of her older siblings will be under one roof. Charlie is desperate for one last perfect weekend, before the house is sold and everything changes. The house will be filled with jokes and games and laughs again. Making decisions about things like what college to attend and reuniting with longstanding crush Jesse Foster—all that can wait. She wants to focus on making the weekend perfect.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The only problem? The weekend is shaping up to be an absolute disaster.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">There’s the unexpected dog with a penchant for howling, house alarm that won’t stop going off, and a papergirl with a grudge.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">There are the relatives who aren’t speaking, the (awful) girl her favorite brother brought home unannounced, and a missing tuxedo.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Not to mention the neighbor who seems to be bent on sabotage and a storm that is bent on drenching everything. The justice of the peace is missing. The band will only play covers. The guests are all crazy. And the wedding planner’s nephew is unexpectedly, distractingly…cute.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Over the course of three ridiculously chaotic days, Charlie will learn more than she ever expected about the family she thought she knew by heart. And she’ll realize that sometimes, trying to keep everything like it was in the past means missing out on the future.</span></blockquote>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Review:</span></h2>
<span style="font-size: large;">Y'all this book is HILARIOUS and HEARTWARMING and even a tad BITTERSWEET. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Honestly, I had forgotten how amazing Morgan's books are; however, <i>Save the Date</i> has made me want to go back and read the ones I've missed. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">When I started this book I was in desperate need of a happy book. I had just finished a chilling, gut wrenching thriller, and while it was enjoyable it definitely didn't bring sunshine and rainbows to my life and I needed some of that ASAP. Luckily, <i>Save the Date</i> was 100% what I wanted, because while Charlie did face her fair share of trials and tribulations, there was a lot of fun to be had along the way. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">There was something about Charlie's voice that just clicked with me from the get-go. It was funny, charming and, most importantly, it seemed real. For the most part, Charlie is a normal, everyday girl. Sure, her mom has a world famous cartoon strip featuring their family, but at the end of the day, Charlie's just like you and me. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">She's caring. She'll do anything for the ones she loves. There's nothing she loves more than when her family is together, but that doesn't mean there isn't drama because there is A LOT of drama when it comes to her family. She's still obsessing over the boy that got away.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I could go on and on, but to sum it up, she reminded me of me when I was in high school. I found it easy to relate. What I loved the most about Charlie, however, was that she wasn't perfect. There were so many times I wanted to shake some sense into her, to make her realize that she wasn't always being a good friend, that sometimes she could be a bit selfish and self obsessed However, I did appreciate seeing these moments occur. Everyone has those times were it's all about them. I know I have, and Charlie was 100% having one of those moments over the course of the weekend. But that doesn't mean their wasn't growth, because there was. I loved seeing her change over the three day period. She started to see the whole picture and realize that things weren't always as black and white as they seemed. There was a lot of gray space, and while it killed her that life couldn't be the way she always thought it would be, she did have the ability to adapt and survive and she would do just that. Adding to this, I enjoyed seeing her mend her relationship with her brother. There were so many times I wish she would give him a chance, to listen instead of jump to conclusions, and more and more of that began to happen over the course of the book. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Additionally, I couldn't get enough of her family. Seriously, can we PLEASE have more books about the Grant family?! I need more of their hijinks in my life! At first I was worried that I wouldn't be able to keep them all straight. There were sisters, brothers, uncles, aunts, grandparents, etc. It was a family affair for sure; however, Morgan made each and every character stand on their own. What I loved the most, however, was the fact that she captured so many different types of family members within Charlie's family. The always-squabling former couple, the uncle that has to be the cheapest human being alive, the brother that is smart as smart can be but doesn't have a lick of common sense...They are a huge part of what made this book so enjoyable, so heartwarming, and without them I don't think <i>Save the Date</i> would have been nearly as good of a read. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">As I mentioned before, <i>Save the Date</i> takes place over the course of three days. Originally, I was a bit leery of this aspect. Could the story possibly be well developed over that short of a time frame? Would I get everything I wanted out of the story? The answer: I shouldn't have been worried one bit. Morgan covers a lot of ground within <i>Save the Date</i>, and I never felt that it was too little or too much. There weren't any moments where I thought "wait, that's it?" or "what's happening again?". Everything flowed very well. I enjoyed the focus on the wedding, and while I know some readers didn't like the movie feel to this book, I did. It did feel like it could easily be a blockbuster comedy movie, and honestly, I would love to see Morgan do more of these kind of books. She has a knack for writing funny, laugh out loud scenes as well as scenes that contain so much heart that your own heart may explode from it all. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I could go on and on about <i>Save the Date</i>, but I'll end it here. This book is heartwarming and comical. There's so many times I couldn't stop laughing or couldn't stop smiling and going "awww!" This book may be about a wedding and the hijinks that ensue, but at its heart it's a book about growing up, learning how to adapt, and making the best out of the messy. It's currently one of my favorite books of the year, and I have no doubt it will hold a place in my top ten of the year list. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;"><b>5 stars!!</b></span> </span></div>
<br />Testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04501947064278343128noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682235492650584657.post-30908156450479594982018-06-24T09:17:00.002-04:002018-06-24T09:17:16.889-04:00Review Tour: The Upside of Falling (The Blue Line Duet, #1) by Meghan Quinn<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The Upside of Falling</i> (The Blue Line Duet, #1) by Meghan Quinn</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Release Day:</b> June 21, 2018 </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Publisher: </b>Self Published </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Genre:</b> Adult, Romance </span></div>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40193273-the-upside-of-falling"><span style="font-size: large;">Add to Goodreads!</span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Upside-Falling-Blue-Line-Duet-ebook/dp/B07DWDVMBS">Amazon</a> </span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Tucked away at the base of the Rocky Mountains lived a little boy with one singular dream: leave this broken and battered home and become someone.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Be somebody’s hero.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">That boy was me—Colby Brooks. Except I’m not that same little boy anymore.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">My dreams might still be the same, but my reality isn’t.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I’m smarter. Stronger. A man.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And I learned a long damn time ago, the only way to achieve my dreams was to avoid distractions—at any cost.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Focus. Resolve. Determination. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">But all it took was one single night. One night and my entire life…changed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">One night had me colliding head first with the biggest distraction of my life; Rory Oaks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Smart. Charming. Beautiful.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Rory changed everything.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Quickly, my one-track mind started to bend.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Each kiss faded decade-long dreams.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And with one single incident, I fly off course.</span></blockquote>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Review:</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">After devouring Meghan's By the Numbers series this year, I've been dying to read more by her. Therefore, when I heard about <i>The Upside of Falling</i>, the first in her new Blue Line Duet, it instantly became one of my most anticipated reads of the summer. I couldn't wait to see what she had in store for us this time. </span><br style="color: #181818;" /><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The result? While the <i>The Upside of Falling</i> is certainly a large step away from the By the Numbers series content wise, it's still just as readable and addicting. Emotionally gripping and deeply romantic, <i>The Upside of Falling</i> shows just how rewarding as well as devastating a fall can be. </span><br style="color: #181818;" /><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i>The Upside of Falling</i> introduces Rory and Caleb, two twenty-somethings randomly thrown together one night. Rory's talkative and sweet. She has the ability to make just about anyone talk. The only expectation? Caleb. Caleb is dark and dreary, but there's something about him that makes Rory want to try harder, and it was easy to understand why. For how quiet and off-putting Caleb's attitude is, there is something that makes you want to know more about him, and it's more than just the sexyness that radiates off of him. He has a tough exterior but there's something soft and lovable about him below the surface. </span><br style="color: #181818;" /><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">I found Caleb and Rory to be likable characters. Did I agree with every decision they made? Of course not, but for the most part it was easy to root for them, especially when it came to them being together. I loved seeing them mesh together. Rory was the "light" and Caleb was the "dark" and together they became something in between. I loved seeing Rory push Caleb to talk, to open up, to face his past. She's a good person. </span><br style="color: #181818;" /><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i>The Upside of Falling</i> primarily focuses on Rory and Caleb's romance. I will admit that it started off smelling a lot like insta-love, but Meghan still managed to make it believable in the long run. I think she perfectly captured what it feels like to be taken aback by someone. Rory and Caleb were thrown together by fate. They probably wouldn't have meet otherwise. While there wasn't any real reason for them to cross paths again, they both worked together (willingly and unwillingly) to make that not happen. I also liked that Meghan included more to the story than just romance. Rory and Caleb also deal with their fair share of personal problems - most of which broke by heart into little pieces - and Meghan did a great job in using these to not only further the story but also further the development of their characters. I won't say too much other than that, but darn, there was some tears that occurred at certain moments here, especially when it came to Caleb. </span><br style="color: #181818;" /><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">There is one thing I wish there was more of here: humor. Every books I've read by Meghan so far has featured a large amount of humor, and while I understand this was a more serious book than her past ones, I still wish there were slightly more funny scenes. Sometimes you just need a laugh to break up all the seriousness! </span><br style="color: #181818;" /><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Overall, <i>The Upside of Falling</i> is perfect for fans who love a book about random meetings and will-they-or-won't they love, but prepared for an insane, "oh-my-goodness-what-just-happened" ending because this one is certainly that and more! I can't wait to read <i>The Downside of Love</i>. Thank goodness it comes out in less than a month!</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>4 stars!! </b></span></span></div>
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">About the Author:</span></h2>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Born in New York and raised in Southern California, Meghan has grown into a sassy, peanut butter eating, blonde haired swearing, animal hoarding lady. She is known to bust out and dance if “It’s Raining Men” starts beating through the air and heaven forbid you get a margarita in her, protect your legs because they may be humped.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Once she started commuting for an hour and twenty minutes every day to work for three years, she began to have conversations play in her head, real life, deep male voices and dainty lady coos kind of conversations. Perturbed and confused, she decided to either see a therapist about the hot and steamy voices running through her head or start writing them down. She decided to go with the cheaper option and started writing… enter her first novel, Caught Looking.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Now you can find the spicy, most definitely on the border of lunacy, kind of crazy lady residing in Colorado with the love of her life and her five, furry four legged children, hiking a trail or hiding behind shelves at grocery stores, wondering what kind of lube the nervous stranger will bring home to his wife. Oh and she loves a good boob squeeze!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/meghanquinnauthor">Facebook</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7360513.Meghan_Quinn">Follow on Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://authormeghanquinn.com/">Website</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Meghan-Quinn/e/B00G2PREA6/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1507991051&sr=8-2-ent">Amazon Author Page</a> | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/authormeghanquinn/">Instagram</a> | <a href="https://www.bookbub.com/authors/meghan-quinn">Follow on BookBub</a></span></blockquote>
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Testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04501947064278343128noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682235492650584657.post-67546116173503477232018-06-23T10:28:00.003-04:002018-06-23T10:28:26.516-04:00Spotlight Tour: The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls by Jessica Spotswood (Review, Giveaway, and Excerpt)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls</i> by Jessica Spotswood</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Release Date:</b> June 5, 2018</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Publisher:</b> Sourcebooks Fire</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Genre:</b> Young Adult, Contemporary</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Source: </b>ARC provided by publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36449971-the-last-summer-of-the-garrett-girls">Add to Goodreads!</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Last-Summer-Garrett-Girls/dp/1492622192?tag=sbnews-20">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-last-summer-of-the-garrett-girls-jessica-spotswood/1127125931?ean=9781492622192">BN</a> | <a href="http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Last-Summer-Garrett-Girls/Jessica-Spotswood/9781492622192?id=6538300475571">BAM</a> | <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/the-last-summer-of-the/9781492622192-item.html?ikwid=the+last+summer+of+the+garrett+girls&ikwsec=Home&ikwidx=0">Indigo</a> | <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781492622192">Indiebound</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">One summer will challenge everything the Garrett sisters thought they knew about themselves—and each other in this captivating new novel by Jessica Spotswood.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Kat lands the lead in the community theater's summer play, but the drama spills offstage when her ex and his new girlfriend are cast too. Can she get revenge by staging a new romance of her own?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Bea and her boyfriend are heading off to college together in the fall, just like they planned when they started dating. But Bea isn’t sure she wants the same things as when she was thirteen…</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Vi has a crush on the girl next door. It makes her happy and nervous, but Cece has a boyfriend...so it's not like her feelings could ever be reciprocated, right?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">As the oldest, Des shoulders a lot of responsibility for her family and their independent bookstore. Except it’s hard to dream big when she's so busy taking care of everyone else.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Told through four alternating points of view, readers will laugh, cry, and fall in love alongside the Garrett girls.</span></blockquote>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Review:</span></h2>
<span style="font-size: large;">The one word that perfectly sums up <i>The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls</i>? </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">ADORABLE! </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Honestly, if this isn't the perfect start of summer read, I don't know what is! </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">My favorite thing about this book? The Garrett Girls of course! I'm always a little leery of books with multiple POVs; however, Jessica did a fantastic job of not only alternating between the girls but also making their voice's sound distinctive and completely originally. I loved that each sister was so different. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Des, the oldest, holds the "mom" role in the family. Ever since the sisters lost their mom, Des has tried her best to step into her role. She cooks, she cleans, she keeps track - it's not an easy job but she loves her sisters. Des is strong, resourceful, and hardworking. I admired what she did for her family; however, there were so many times I wished she would start living her own life a little more, stepping out of her comfort zone. The introduction of a new, potentially wild friend pushes this into play, and I enjoyed seeing the outcome. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Next up: Bea. To the outside world, she has the perfect life: a long-term boyfriend she'll most likely marry and acceptance to one of the best colleges in the country. The only problem? She's tired of it all. She doesn't want any of it anymore. She wants adventure, to find her true purpose, not to live up to everyone else's expectations of what she should be doing. I found Bea to be the most relatable out of all the girls. I think everyone's reached that point in their lives where they stop and think "wait, why am I doing this? And this really what I want?" I know I have. Over the course of the story, Bea takes some risks, makes some bold choices, and while they aren't always ideal, I gave her props. She started to take control again, no matter how messy everything became. My only compliant? I wish she would've been a bit more straightforward with her boyfriend. I felt bad for the poor guy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Kat is the wild child. Dramatic and sassy...it's no surprise that Kat is an actress. After landing the lead role in her town's play this summer, Kat knows she should be excited, but she's letting her boy troubles get in the way. She wants revenge against her ex, but for some reason it's getting harder and harder to achieve it...At first, I wasn't the biggest fan of Kat. She seemed immature, and I wish she would let the whole ex-boyfriend thing go. He seemed like a jerk, definitely not someone to waste time thinking about. As the book continued, however, I started to like Kat more and more. She became more "human." She got involved in a "fake" relationship that became more and more real by the second, and she was scared and confused. Could she let someone back in her life in that kind of way? Also, more was revealed about her past. She's struggled with an eating disorder most of her life, and she's tired of her sisters always focusing on it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Last but not least: Vi. Vi's the youngest. She's bookish and quiet, preferring her favorite books to the company of other's more times than none. But there's one person she'd put down her book for: CeCe. I couldn't help but root for Vi the whole way through, especially when it came to her getting the girl. Cece and Vi were adorable together. I loved how they bonded over their love of books. I also liked that Jessica spent a good amount of time developing their relationship. It started as unrequited love turned into friends and then maybe into something more. Honestly, out of all the girls, Vi was probably the strongest sister. She knew what she wanted, and even though she was used to letting her fears get in the way of her wants, she wasn't letting that get her this time. She was a cool girl, and I wanted nothing more than for her to have a happy ending. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">As can be expected, the plot mainly focuses on the girls's summers. The drama, the romance, the adventure, the risks....It's what moved this book forward, but as I alluded to above, the girls are what made this book so special. I also enjoyed the shore setting. It added such a wonderful summer vibe to the story. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Overall, <i>The Last Summer of the Garrett Girl</i>s is must read in my opinion! Funny and emotional, <i>The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls</i> will have a little something for everyone. My only compliant? I wish it was longer! I needed more of the Garrett's, that's for sure! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">About the Author: </span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Jessica Spotswood lives in Washington, DC, with her husband and works as a children’s library associate. Visit <a href="http://jessicaspotswood.com/">jessicaspotswood.com</a>.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://twitter.com/jessica_shea">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/jessicaspotswood/">Instagram</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/JessicaSheaSpotswood">Facebook</a></span><br />
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Giveaway: </span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: large;">2 Copies of The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls</span></div>
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Excerpt: </h2>
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<br />
Chapter One<br />
<br />
DES<br />
<br />
Des has a morning routine. Des likes her morning routine. Her sisters slamming doors and screaming at each other is not part of that routine. Neither is the broken dishwasher, being out of sugar for her tea—-she grimaces as she takes another still--scalding sip—-or sleeping through her alarm.<br />
<br />
“Des!” her youngest sister, Vi, screeches. “Kat locked me out!”<br />
<br />
There’s a loud thumping as Vi pounds on the bedroom door that she and Kat share. A moment later, she rushes into the kitchen, her auburn hair still tangled from sleep, her freckled face flushed with anger. “Did you hear me?”<br />
<br />
“I’m busy,” Des snaps, reaching into the sudsy sink. She needs to call Mr. Stan to come take a look at the dishwasher. And of course no one bothered to touch last night’s dishes. It’s Kat’s week, but it’s easier for Des to do it herself than to nag her sister.<br />
<br />
“I got up to go to the bathroom, and Kat locked me out, and now she’s FaceTiming with Pen about what to wear to their audition,” Vi fumes. “Tell her to let me back in! I was sleeping!”<br />
<br />
“Why don’t you go sleep on the couch?” Des suggests. She isn’t sure when she became the arbiter of all her sisters’ squabbles. They used to go to Gram with every skinned knee and hurt feeling, but lately—-especially since Gram’s knee replacement a few weeks ago—-it’s been on Des. It’s all been on Des: shopping for groceries, picking up Gram’s prescriptions, cooking supper, washing the dishes, and doing the laundry—-all that on top of running the bookstore. She thought things would go back to normal once Gram was home from the rehab center, but they haven’t.<br />
<br />
Maybe this is the way things are now. Forever. Dread washes over her at the thought.<br />
<br />
“Why do I always have to give in?” Vi demands, twisting her hair into a ponytail. “You just don’t want to fight with Kat.”<br />
<br />
There is some truth there. Kat has been extra venomous since her breakup. “I don’t have time for this right now, Vi.” Des tosses the clean silverware into the dish drainer. “I have to leave in five minutes if I want to open the store on time.”<br />
<br />
“Okay, okay.” Vi yawns. “Where’s Gram?”<br />
<br />
“Miss Lydia picked her up and took her out for breakfast.”<br />
<br />
Vi points at the baking dish next to the stove. “Is that a strawberry crumble?”<br />
<br />
Des nods. That’s why there’s no sugar for her tea. Des woke up when Bea came to bed at two in the morning after her late-night stress baking. That’s been happening often enough lately that Des is starting to worry. She thought after Bea’s acceptance to Georgetown—-or at least after being named valedictorian—-Bea would be able to chill out a little. She hasn’t. If anything, she seems more tense than ever.<br />
<br />
Des feels stretched in so many directions right now and inadequate in all of them.<br />
<br />
Vi grabs the strawberry crumble and a clean fork. “Yay, breakfast!”<br />
<br />
“Use a plate. And wash it when you’re done.” Des drains the sink, gulping down the rest of her bitter tea. God, when did she become their mother?<br />
<br />
Footsteps pound down the wooden stairs, and then Kat saunters in, wearing high--waisted white shorts and a black The Future Is Female T--shirt. “What do you think? Do I look like a modern--day Jo March?”<br />
<br />
“That’s my shirt!” Vi protests.<br />
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Kat smirks. “It looks better on me.”<br />
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Vi plants her hands on her slim hips. “You’re going to stretch it out! Des!”<br />
<br />
Des closes her eyes. Maybe if she closes her eyes, they’ll go away.<br />
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“You’re calling the sister with the eating disorder fat?” Kat scowls, tossing her red curls over her shoulder. “Nice, Vi.”<br />
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“I was talking about your ginormous boobs, and you know it,” Vi retorts.<br />
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“Okay, no talking about Kat’s body.” Des frowns. She’s been worried about Kat relapsing since her douchebag boyfriend broke up with her last month. Is Kat’s lack of appetite normal teenage heartbreak, or does she think Adam would still love her if she had a thigh gap? Des isn’t sure.<br />
<br />
“Fine. Wear the shirt. But you are my least favorite,” Vi spits. It’s their worst sisterly insult, ever since Gram banned them from saying I hate you.<br />
<br />
Vi’s right. She is always the one to give in. It’s not fair, but at the moment, Des is grateful for it.<br />
<br />
“It’s your turn to clean the bathroom, Kat,” she says. “Today, please. It’s gross.”<br />
<br />
Kat doesn’t even acknowledge her. She’s too busy squealing and fending off Vi’s attempts to stab her with the strawberry--stained fork.<br />
<br />
Des grabs her tote from the back of a chair and whirls around the kitchen for her phone, planner, and keys to the store. “I’ve got to go. See you two later.”<br />
<br />
There’s probably a better way to handle this, but it would take time and patience and an authority she doesn’t have. She’s only nineteen; she’s not their mom.<br />
<br />
Lately, she really misses their mom.<br />
<br />
<br />
ß<br />
<br />
The purple--haired waitress is back.<br />
<br />
Des watches as the girl outside paws through her enormous black leather bag. She pulls out a sketchpad, a pair of headphones with three colored pencils caught in the tangled cords, a bottle of Diet Coke, a wallet, and a set of keys. The bottle falls to the brick sidewalk, followed by the keys. The girl drops her bag and cusses. Des can’t hear the words from inside the store, but she can read the shape of the girl’s dark--lipsticked mouth. The girl looks up and down the street hopefully. The past two days, she’s bummed change from kind passersby.<br />
<br />
That’s how people in Remington Hollow are: kind. And curious, especially about strangers.<br />
<br />
Des is no exception. She doesn’t have any customers, so she grabs a dollar in quarters from the register and strolls outside.<br />
<br />
“Hey,” she says. “Do you need change for the meter?”<br />
<br />
“Oh my God. Yes. Thank you so much.” The girl takes the quarters from Des’s outstretched hand. “Why can’t I pay with the app on my phone? What kind of stupid hick town still requires actual quarters for parking meters?”<br />
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Des laughs. “Welcome to Remington Hollow. We peaked during the Revolutionary War.”<br />
<br />
“Ugh.” The girl leaves her stuff splayed across the sidewalk and starts feeding the meter next to her beat--up silver Hyundai. “I guess. I have to remember I’m not in the city anymore.”<br />
<br />
“Where are you from? Annapolis? DC?” Des guesses.<br />
<br />
“Baltimore,” the girl says. “I go to MICA. Maryland Institute College of Arts?”<br />
<br />
Des hasn’t heard of it, but she feels as though she should have. She’s an artist too, isn’t she? That’s the kind of thing she should know. Her not knowing feels like proof that Remington Hollow is a stupid hick town and, having lived here all her life, having no real plans to go anywhere else, she is a stupid hick too.<br />
<br />
Of course this girl is an artist. She looks like one, with her vivid purple hair and mouth and the bright tattoos spiraling up and down her pale arms. Des feels embarrassingly plain in her ripped blue jeans and faded, worn--soft Pride and Prejudice T--shirt. She’s not wearing any makeup, and her red curls are pulled back in a simple ponytail. Everyone in Remington Hollow already knows how she looks—-how she looked at four and nine and fourteen too—-so there’s usually no point in trying very hard.<br />
<br />
“I’m here for the summer. Staying with my grandmother.” The girl confesses it like a prison sentence.<br />
<br />
Des looks at the bookstore on the corner, at Tia Julia’s next door, at the SunTrust and the pharmacy farther down Main Street. At the wooden benches spaced along the uneven brick sidewalks, and the U.S. and Maryland flags flapping in the wind outside the post office. Down the hill, four blocks away, the river sparkles in the sun. The briny scent of the water carries on the breeze, hidden beneath espresso beans from the Daily Grind and the fragrant blue hydrangeas in Mrs. Lynde’s window box.<br />
<br />
Des loves Remington Hollow. Yeah, it’s small. But she has never been desperate to escape, to get away for college like some of her classmates. Like her best friend, Em. Like Bea and Kat and sometimes even Vi.<br />
<br />
It’s a good thing Des doesn’t want to escape, because Gram is counting on her. Most people are retired at seventy, not running their own business and raising four teenage girls. Gram needs Des, and honestly, Des has always liked being needed.<br />
<br />
She looks up. The girl is watching her. She’s pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head, revealing smoky eyes and long, black lashes. Des flushes, knowing that she’s going all blotchy--pink from the vee of her V--neck all the way up to her cheeks. It’s the downside of being a fair--skinned, freckle--faced redhead: she can never hide her mortification.<br />
<br />
“I’m Paige,” the girl says, holding out a hand with lavender nails.<br />
<br />
“Des. Desdemona, but everybody calls me Des.”<br />
<br />
“Desdemona?” Paige raises two perfectly winged dark brows.<br />
<br />
Des winces. She’s not used to having to explain. Everyone in Remington Hollow already knows the Garrett sisters and their tragedy.<br />
<br />
“My mom really loved Shakespeare,” she explains. “My sisters are Beatrice, Katharina, and Viola. She named the bookstore too.” She gestures behind her at Arden Books. “As in the forest of, from As You Like It.”<br />
<br />
“That’s some serious literary devotion. So your mom owns the bookstore?”<br />
<br />
“My grandmother.” After the accident, Gram remortgaged the house, quit her job as an English teacher up at the middle school, and devoted herself to the store. She thought it was important for the girls to have that part of their mom. Maybe it was important for Gram to have it too.<br />
<br />
Thankfully, Paige doesn’t press. “Are you working here for the summer? I’m waitressing next door. Grandma Lydia got me the job.”<br />
<br />
Des isn’t a college student home for the summer, working at Arden to pay for books and extras; she’s been working there full--time since she graduated last June. Even before that, she worked after school and every weekend. Arden Books is her past, her present, and her future. She’ll take over when Gram retires.<br />
<br />
But she decides not to get into all that. “Grandma Lydia? Lydia Merrick?”<br />
<br />
“Oh my God, does everybody in this town know everybody else?” Paige crouches on four--inch black heels and starts tossing everything back into her bag.<br />
<br />
“Pretty much, yeah. My gram is friends with yours.”<br />
<br />
Paige covers her face with one hand. “Grandma Lydia is the most—-she’s so—-I mean, I love her, but—-”<br />
<br />
“She’s a character,” Des agrees charitably. Lydia Merrick is one of the town matriarchs, owner of the Tabby Cat Café, and an enormous gossip. “Why aren’t you working for her?”<br />
<br />
Paige’s big gray eyes dart up and down Main Street like she’s checking for spies. She lowers her voice to a husky, secret--telling whisper. “I told her I’m allergic. Have you been inside that place lately? I loved it when I was, like, five, but as a grown--ass adult, it gives me nightmares. Those porcelain plates are going to come to life someday. And all those cat figurines? They’re going to form an alliance with the real cats and organize a mutiny and take over the town.”<br />
<br />
“You don’t like cats?” Des asks dryly.<br />
<br />
“I think Snowflake is their general,” Paige whispers.<br />
<br />
Des throws her head back and laughs. Snowflake is Mrs. Merrick’s finicky, long--haired Persian. “Not Cinnamon?” Cinnamon is the original tabby the café was named after. He’s fat and affectionate and super spoiled.<br />
<br />
“Oh my God, you know all my grandma’s cats. This town is so small!”<br />
<br />
“Haven’t you ever visited?” Des doesn’t remember her, and she feels like she would. Even without the purple hair, Paige stands out in Remington Hollow.<br />
<br />
“Not since I was ten. Mom and Grandma had a falling--out.” Paige turns toward the river. “Last time I was here, we went to a Fourth of July raft race. Do they still do that? And the reenactment on the old ship?”<br />
<br />
“Definitely.” The Fourth of July is a huge deal in Remington Hollow. Townspeople reenact the Remington Hollow Tea Party, a smaller and less publicized version of the Boston Tea Party, in which a group of intrepid citizens boarded the ship anchored at the town dock and dumped crates of tea in the river to protest the British tax. Remington Hollow was kind of a big deal in colonial times. Now, men dress up in Revolutionary War–-era costumes and march with old muskets down Main Street. The high school band plays, and the color guard twirls red, white, and blue flags. After the parade and the reenactment, there’s music and food and vendors in the park. Then, the next afternoon, everyone watches the big race across the river on homemade rafts. People get extremely creative—-and extremely competitive. Last year, Bea’s team built the raft that won, and Kat’s raft sank but got the most applause, because she and her drama club friends were singing songs from Hamilton as it went down. “That’s tradition. Remington Hollow is very big on tradition.”<br />
<br />
“Oh wow.”<br />
<br />
Des can’t tell whether Paige means wow as in cool or wow, what a totally stupid tradition.<br />
<br />
“Yeah.” Des doesn’t say that it’s her favorite weekend of the whole year. “So, how come you’re staying with Miss Lydia for the summer?”<br />
<br />
“It wasn’t exactly my decision,” Paige explains, winding her purple hair into a neat bun and checking her phone. “Damn. I’m going to be late—I’ve got to go.” She flashes Des a dark--lipped smile and hurries toward Tia Julia’s. “Thanks again for the quarters. See you around, Desdemona.”<br />
<br />
Des doesn’t correct her, even though literally no one else calls her Desdemona.<br />
<br />
It’s the third week of June, and the whole summer stretches out before her, lonely as hell, except for her endless to--do list. Her best friend—-former best friend?—-is too cool for watching old British murder mysteries or decorating their planners or anything else they used to do together. She’s barely texted Des since she’s been home from college. What is there to look forward to? Everything—-all the work at Arden and at home—-will keep falling on Des, at least until Gram can get around better.<br />
<br />
Des bites her lip, remembering the conversation they had about Gram’s living will and her funeral wishes. Just in case, Gram had insisted. The doctor and the physical therapist say she’s making good progress. But Des can’t help worrying. Gram has always seemed young and strong and indomitable. It’s been hard to see her weak, in pain, looking…old. It hurts Des’s heart, and it makes her wonder how their family will function, moving forward.<br />
<br />
What if all her new responsibilities aren’t temporary?<br />
<br />
The Garrett girls’ roles have long been established among themselves and around town. At fifteen, Vi is the sensitive, bookish one. At sixteen, Kat is the diva: emotional, theatrical, and never afraid to make a scene. Eighteen--year--old Bea is the brilliant, ambitious one, off to Georgetown in the fall. And Des? At nineteen, Des is the oldest. The responsible one.<br />
<br />
The boring one, maybe. Next to glamorous, artistic Paige, she felt hopelessly dull.<br />
<br />
But Des wants things for herself beyond running the bookstore. Beyond taking care of her sisters. Maybe she needs to try to carve out more time for her illustrations. For making new friends. For figuring out who she is now, a year after high school graduation.<br />
<br />
What if she isn’t boring, responsible Des this summer?<br />
<br />
What if she tries being Desdemona? That’s what Mom named her, after all. Maybe it’s past time she tried it on for size.</div>
Testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04501947064278343128noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682235492650584657.post-9848792676703823602018-06-22T07:00:00.000-04:002018-06-22T07:00:11.777-04:00Review: The Broken Girls by Simone St. James <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfVgjV_WCnvyTCtz6iR45Nan4K8EdL2XsHIxB8wz7uSLRAOBLBbZcTSCC9jbu-_emMymck-Td92w9DZKM1w2RMqaw9EuanDC4zBucNjl8s1TUbVWQ5edOEMTJqE5RqC7CjmVIKbwGaKSZD/s1600/the+broken+girls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfVgjV_WCnvyTCtz6iR45Nan4K8EdL2XsHIxB8wz7uSLRAOBLBbZcTSCC9jbu-_emMymck-Td92w9DZKM1w2RMqaw9EuanDC4zBucNjl8s1TUbVWQ5edOEMTJqE5RqC7CjmVIKbwGaKSZD/s400/the+broken+girls.jpg" width="263" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The Broken Girls</i> by Simone St. James </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Release Date: </b>March 20, 2018<b> </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Publisher: </b>Berkley </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Genre:</b> Women's Fiction, Historical Fiction </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Source: </b>ARC provided by the publisher via First to Read in exchange for an honest review </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Broken-Girls-Simone-St-James/dp/0451476204" style="text-align: center;">Amazon</a><span style="text-align: center;"> | </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-broken-girls-simone-st-james/1126643573" style="text-align: center;">Barnes and Noble</a><span style="text-align: center;"> | </span><a href="http://www.booksamillion.com/p/9780451476203?" style="text-align: center;">BAM</a><span style="text-align: center;"> | </span><a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780451476203" style="text-align: center;">Indiebound</a><span style="text-align: center;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The “clever and wonderfully chilling” (Fiona Barton) suspense novel from the award-winning author of <i>The Haunting of Maddy Clare</i>, now in trade paperback!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Vermont, 1950</b>. There’s a place for the girls whom no one wants–the troublemakers, the illegitimate, the too smart for their own good. It’s called Idlewild Hall. And in the small town where it’s located, there are rumors that the boarding school is haunted. Four roommates bond over their whispered fears, their budding friendship blossoming–until one of them mysteriously disappears. . . . </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Vermont, 2014</b>. As much as she’s tried, journalist Fiona Sheridan cannot stop revisiting the events surrounding her older sister’s death. Twenty years ago, her body was found lying in the overgrown fields near the ruins of Idlewild Hall. And though her sister’s boyfriend was tried and convicted of murder, Fiona can’t shake the suspicion that something was never right about the case.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">When Fiona discovers that Idlewild Hall is being restored by an anonymous benefactor, she decides to write a story about it. But a shocking discovery during the renovations will link the loss of her sister to secrets that were meant to stay hidden in the past–and a voice that won’t be silenced. . . .</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Review</b>:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I'm always in the mood for a new thriller/mystery read. Therefore, as soon as I saw the intriguing summary and haunting yet gorgeous cover for <i>The Broken Girls </i>by Simone St. James, I was sold. I couldn't want to learn more about Idlewild Hall and how the two mysteries - years apart! - connected. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Result? </b><i>The Broken Girls </i>was <b>EXCELLENT</b>! Combining two nail-bitting mysteries and a touch of the paranormal, <i>The Broken Girls </i>successfully intrigues, compels, and thrills. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The Broken Girls </i>beautifully blends together two timelines - </span><span style="font-size: large;">Vermont, </span><span style="font-size: large;">1950 and Vermont, 2014. I thought Simone did a wonderful job of developing both times, and I especially enjoyed seeing Idlewild Hall at its prime as well as at its ruin. Learning about the private school and the bad as well as good it brought the girls firsthand truly added to the quality of the novel - it was nice to put faces to specific stories. I also enjoyed the additional mystery Vermont, 2014 had to offer. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Idlewild Hall and the small town provided such a haunting setting. I read </span><i style="font-size: x-large;">The Broken Girls </i><span style="font-size: large;">at night, and some parts of me regretted that decision. From the decaying buildings to the intimidating ghosts to the dead bodies yet to be discovered, even the bravest of readers will surely find something to be frightened by. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The Broken Girls </i>features five POVs - the four Idlewild roommates (Katie, CeCe, Sonia, and Roberta) and Fiona Sheridan. To be honest the five POVs worried me at first, especially since those of the four Idlewild roommates blended together in the beginning. As the story continued however, each POV started to stand on its own, and by the end, I can truly say I got to know each girl on a personal level. Even with decades between the four roommates and Fiona Sheridan, all five women are incredibly similar - they're lost and flailing through life, hoping one day they'll find their peace. </span><span style="font-size: large;">The four Idlewild roommates truly struck a cord in me. Their stories were so terrible yet they still managed to try their hardest to move on and make the best of the scary Idlewild Hall. Additionally, I enjoyed how Simone incorporated parts of history within their narratives - some parts of history that even I didn't know much about. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In all, </span><i style="font-size: x-large;">The Broken Girls </i><span style="font-size: large;">is an incredibly strong thriller, and while it does plenty of chilling and thrilling, it also gives a story and face to some of the worst past and present history has to offer. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="color: red;">5 stars!!</b></span></div>
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Testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04501947064278343128noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682235492650584657.post-87108540446797975032018-06-21T20:30:00.000-04:002018-06-21T20:30:18.071-04:00Cover Reveal: Only a Breath Apart by Katie McGarry <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOPROhv16-h_JjAli0fv3faYLM7O2fCZ8G3v1UWwN29HBC3t_zNJPGeUQ5Gvj_X7zCM4tOeLbv0ObKK29RG5JLWnp6-jOpsgXdRmWWekhoVFfC4Fm1Pjg1_1VAstWm8gm_cVFlUFWJ3Ct6/s1600/OnlyABreathApart+Banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="851" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOPROhv16-h_JjAli0fv3faYLM7O2fCZ8G3v1UWwN29HBC3t_zNJPGeUQ5Gvj_X7zCM4tOeLbv0ObKK29RG5JLWnp6-jOpsgXdRmWWekhoVFfC4Fm1Pjg1_1VAstWm8gm_cVFlUFWJ3Ct6/s640/OnlyABreathApart+Banner.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Today, I'm excited to be part of the cover reveal for <i>Only A Breath Apart</i>, Katie McGarry's new book coming this JANUARY! Katie's one of my favorite authors so as soon as I heard she had a new book coming out I instantly added it to my TBR! Check out the cover and synopsis below and let me know what you think! Personally, I think the cover is fabulous! </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Would you dare to defy destiny? Are our destinies written in stone? Do we become nothing more than the self-fulfilling prophesies of other people's opinions? Or can we dare to become who we believe we were born to be?</span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><i>“A gorgeous, heartfelt journey of redemption and love” (Wendy Higgins), ONLY A BREATH APART is a young adult contemporary novel from critically acclaimed Katie McGarry. “Haunting, authentic, and ultimately hopeful” (Tammara Webber), ONLY A BREATH APART will be available on all retailers on January 22, 2019!</i></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrhr1-g2fUuLAI-966ntK5Pbd38TBrKqMjjQrD9AgT_f2x91HUkFvJlH4DadekRmTgDFnciW4IMI000zELWNG1VsC7fssLb4YDl8LKo4HZpFIjhaO31MJwFbeWr_dIQst0eByj-Nikfm-m/s1600/McGarry_ONLY+A+BREATH+APART_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrhr1-g2fUuLAI-966ntK5Pbd38TBrKqMjjQrD9AgT_f2x91HUkFvJlH4DadekRmTgDFnciW4IMI000zELWNG1VsC7fssLb4YDl8LKo4HZpFIjhaO31MJwFbeWr_dIQst0eByj-Nikfm-m/s400/McGarry_ONLY+A+BREATH+APART_cover.jpg" width="266" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><b>About the Book: </b></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Jesse dreams of working the land that’s been in his family forever. But he’s cursed to lose everything he loves most.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Scarlett is desperate to escape her “charmed” life. But leaving a small town is easier said than done.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Despite their history of heartbreak, when Jesse sees a way they can work together to each get what they want, Scarlett can’t say no.Each midnight meeting between Jesse and Scarlett will push them to confront their secrets and their feelings for each other.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://amzn.to/2K4poUy">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://bit.ly/2M7Sn7f">Kobo</a> | <a href="http://bit.ly/2M6S24K">Google Play</a> | <a href="http://bit.ly/2M2na5h">B-A-M</a> | <a href="http://bit.ly/2tnkyXZ">Barnes & Noble</a> | <a href="https://apple.co/2K0iAE4">iBooks</a></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">“Gritty and real, Only a Breath Apart is a story of hope conjured from pain, strength drawn from innocence, and love earned from self-respect. Beautiful, poignant, and fierce.”</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">―Kristen Simmons, critically acclaimed author of the Article 5 series</span></i><br />
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39863269-only-a-breath-apart"><span style="font-size: large;">Add it to your Goodreads today!</span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm8H0s0MSMWOPqotaUWe6cvho9NNBcgxyxO5zU6qyK8NWtN5rKWOg6ExSMMtCbuOmKGtHoqn65IRoyeUAjVfq_Khyphenhyphen38ipICGcUhUZrvxvQoSGGKOwtejTglsiaYqPCyvGHAWf0SISGRjJY/s1600/Katie+McGarry+headshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm8H0s0MSMWOPqotaUWe6cvho9NNBcgxyxO5zU6qyK8NWtN5rKWOg6ExSMMtCbuOmKGtHoqn65IRoyeUAjVfq_Khyphenhyphen38ipICGcUhUZrvxvQoSGGKOwtejTglsiaYqPCyvGHAWf0SISGRjJY/s320/Katie+McGarry+headshot.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">About the Author:</span></b></h2>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Katie McGarry was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and remembers those years as the best and worst of her life. She is a lover of music, happy endings, reality television, and is a secret University of Kentucky basketball fan.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Katie is the author of full length YA novels, PUSHING THE LIMITS, DARE YOU TO, CRASH INTO YOU, TAKE ME ON, BREAKING THE RULES, and NOWHERE BUT HERE and the e-novellas, CROSSING THE LINE and RED AT NIGHT. Her debut YA novel, PUSHING THE LIMITS was a 2012 Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction, a RT Magazine's 2012 Reviewer's Choice Awards Nominee for Young Adult Contemporary Novel, a double Rita Finalist, and a 2013 YALSA Top Ten Teen Pick. DARE YOU TO was also a Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction and won RT Magazine’s Reviewer’s Choice Best Book Award for Young Adult Contemporary fiction in 2013.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.katielmcgarry.com/">Website</a> | <a href="http://www.twitter.com/katiemcgarry">@katiemcgarry</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/katielmcgarry">Facebook</a> | <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4575371.Katie_McGarry">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/katielmcgarry/">Pinterest</a> | <a href="https://katiemcgarryauthor.tumblr.com/">Tumbler</a> | <a href="http://instagram.com/katielmcgarry">Instagram</a></span></div>
Testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04501947064278343128noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682235492650584657.post-54844591110211960122018-06-17T08:00:00.000-04:002018-06-18T21:33:28.818-04:00Blog Tour: Dive Smack by Demetra Brodsky<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO5r_LhGM4TVxN5t_cllDFDYtFlEVZHkT91ra3-OwZjbzVf7Xfsf25gsq-MUPjpZ8l-XhAT3SUC5BhNk7WGdHY_ylgjCmEvvUNU8_UVRBmnDq-lHRhA0afuzPuWhuqjAYTUItyUS-loTao/s1600/dive+smck+bt.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="298" data-original-width="640" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO5r_LhGM4TVxN5t_cllDFDYtFlEVZHkT91ra3-OwZjbzVf7Xfsf25gsq-MUPjpZ8l-XhAT3SUC5BhNk7WGdHY_ylgjCmEvvUNU8_UVRBmnDq-lHRhA0afuzPuWhuqjAYTUItyUS-loTao/s640/dive+smck+bt.png" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnKTlzhNrxKjEiN0TN0Js9Vrn6N9PXRD_JLyDOjcVNIPlsNg9s4lA7I8lNzm1SJqFNY3AlBsEcv2CF-PMjvwMSromduCu3bmk0-nZ7nghGMp5cDFGdCOnd9yxzFhhyphenhyphenN00vj7Or6ccK8XWh/s1600/dive+smack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnKTlzhNrxKjEiN0TN0Js9Vrn6N9PXRD_JLyDOjcVNIPlsNg9s4lA7I8lNzm1SJqFNY3AlBsEcv2CF-PMjvwMSromduCu3bmk0-nZ7nghGMp5cDFGdCOnd9yxzFhhyphenhyphenN00vj7Or6ccK8XWh/s400/dive+smack.jpg" width="263" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Dive Smack</i> by Demetra Brodsky</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Publisher:<b> TorTeen</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Release Date: </b>June 19, 2018</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Genre:</b> Young Adult, Contemporary</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Source:</b> eARC provided by author in exchange for a review </span></div>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32173182-dive-smack"><span style="font-size: large;">Add to Goodreads! </span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dive-Smack-Demetra-Brodsky/dp/0765396955/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dive-smack-demetra-brodsky/1127026415?ean=9780765396952#/">BN</a> | <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Dive-Smack-Demetra-Brodsky/9780765396952?ref=grid-view&qid=1528694370407&sr=1-1">Indiebound</a> | <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dive-smack">Kobo</a> | <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/dive-smack/id1276186741?mt=11">iBooks</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Theo Mackey only remembers one thing for certain about the fire that destroyed his home: he lit the match.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sure, it was an accident. But the blaze killed his mom and set his dad on a path to self-destruction. Everything else about that fateful night is full of gaping holes in Theo’s mind, for good reason. Maybe it’s better that way. As captain of the Ellis Hollow Diving Team, with straight A's and solid friends, he's only one semester away from securing a scholarship, and leaving his past behind.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">But when a family history project gets assigned at school, new memories come rushing to the surface, memories that make him question what he really knows about his family, the night of the fire, and if he can trust anyone—including himself.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Review:</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Dive Smack </i>caught my attention as soon as I read the synopsis. I wanted to know more about Theo. Did he truly kill his mother? Was there more to the story than he realized? And what secrets was his family keeping? Those were just some of the questions swirling around in my head. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The result? <i>Dive Smack </i>was a slam dunk. Thrilling as well as dark, <i>Dive Smack </i>is perfect for fans of psychological thrillers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Dive Smack </i>introduces Theo, a high school student. Over the past few years, Theo has faced many ups as well as downs. While he's well known for his swimming skills, he's also well known for his family's twisted history. First his mother dies in a fire and then his father dies while driving. From the first page I was captured by Theo's voice. There was something about it that grabbed me. I loved the casual, talkative feel to the narrative, and I also liked that Theo was flawed. On one side he's the typical teenager - nervous to ask the girl of his dreams out, scared about loosing his top spot on the swim team, and dreading a group project. However, on the other side, he's dealing with the emotional drama his parent's deaths brought to the table as well as the guilt that comes along too. I wanted nothing more than for Theo to move past the accident. It broke my heart that he felt so responsible, so guilty. I also liked seeing Theo's relationships with the other characters bloom over the course of the book. I adored his best friend, and I loved how authentic their scenes felt. Demetra made their friendship incredibly believable. I also liked Iris, Theo's love interest/family history project partner. She had a lot of spunk to her. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Dive Smack </i>primarily focuses on the mystery surrounding Theo's family. I always felt like there was more to the Theo's mom's accident than was let on, and I loved seeing Demetra and Theo dig further into that. There was always an exciting twist or turn to push the book along. I also enjoyed the focusing on swimming. It was always interesting to see Theo nerd out over swimming. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Filled with twists, turns, and some hilariously awkward moments, <i>Dive Smack </i>is sure to win over many readers this summer. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>4 stars!!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">About the Author: </span></h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcu0mIs6VEIJ2s23G0KY9MjuG3weYq8Dm94q45VlxzULk_JEk2wQPdZSbP_160syhPygKrB5JxC1G8ALs7J93Od9Y752ptEswK824wyWMsRPz-7Iz2x-htXyd0b3wZnzIqkF_MnYZdsFYE/s1600/demetra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="133" data-original-width="200" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcu0mIs6VEIJ2s23G0KY9MjuG3weYq8Dm94q45VlxzULk_JEk2wQPdZSbP_160syhPygKrB5JxC1G8ALs7J93Od9Y752ptEswK824wyWMsRPz-7Iz2x-htXyd0b3wZnzIqkF_MnYZdsFYE/s320/demetra.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Demetra Brodsky is an award-winning graphic designer & art director turned writer. She has a B.F.A from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and lives in Southern California with her family of four and two lovable rescue dogs. Dive Smack, her debut novel, is dedicated to Pumpkin, the monarch butterfly she once saved from the brink of death. Once you read the book, you’ll understand why. She is a first generation Greek-American and a member of International Thriller Writers. Dive Smack is a 2018 Junior Library Guild Selection.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15852879.Demetra_Brodsky">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/demetrabrodsky">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/demetrabrodsky">Facebook</a> | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/demebrodsky/">Instagram</a> | <a href="http://demetrabrodsky.tumblr.com/">Tumblr</a> | <a href="https://www.demetrabrodsky.com/">Website</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcKtPsloX41GQXZBVWVnAl619XudPaEhvBDwtAAQp4rizdswgMlv__JHSsER5r_7A1jv7vDguPhGRG-Qe7wn6DPePaW01p-tCAgTN2SZairbF77SXzLdqT0vjyTuxSiHGW2VK5aMijJky6/s1600/Dive-Smack-Giveaway.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcKtPsloX41GQXZBVWVnAl619XudPaEhvBDwtAAQp4rizdswgMlv__JHSsER5r_7A1jv7vDguPhGRG-Qe7wn6DPePaW01p-tCAgTN2SZairbF77SXzLdqT0vjyTuxSiHGW2VK5aMijJky6/s320/Dive-Smack-Giveaway.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Giveaway: </span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Prize: Hardcover copy of DIVE SMACK by Demetra Brodsky & Prize pack of necklace, bracelet, signed bookmark, & signed book plate</span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><i>US Only </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Starts: 6/13</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Ends: 6/26</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a class="rcptr" data-raflid="d9681b86305" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/d9681b86305/" id="rcwidget_3t7oa3d5" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
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Follow the Tour!</span></h2>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">June 13th</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.pinkpolkadotbooks.com/">Pink Polka Dot Books</a>- Welcome Post</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">June 14th</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.never2many2read.blogspot.com/">Never Too Many To Read</a>- Mood Board</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://bookcrush.in/">BookCrushin</a>- Review</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">June 15th</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://malanielovesfiction.wordpress.com/">Malanie Loves Fiction</a>- Review</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://bookslaying.com/">Book Slaying</a>- Gif Story</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://rhythmicbooknerd.wordpress.com/">RhythmicBooktrovert</a>- Review</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://kamoorephoto.booklikes.com/">Kat’s Books</a>- Review & Favorite Quotes</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">June 16th</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://confessionsofayareader.wordpress.com/">Confessions of a YA Reader</a>- Dreamcast</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://metalphantasmreads.wordpress.com/">MetalPhantasmReads</a>- Review</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.bookladysreviews.blogspot.com/">Book Lady's Reviews</a>- Review & Favorite Quotes</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">June 17th</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://laurenscrammedbookshelf.blogspot.com/">Lauren's Crammed Bookshelf</a>- Review</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://lifeat17.wordpress.com/">Life at 17</a>- Review & Favorite Quotes</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://anewlookonbooks.com/">A New Look On Books</a>- Official Book Playlist</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">June 18th</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://blushingbibliophile.wix.com/blog">Blushing Bibliophile</a>- Review</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://thebookdutchesses.com/">The Book Dutchesses</a>- Review</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://thecleverreader.wordpress.com/">The Clever Reader</a>- Gif Story</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">June 19th</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.girlinthepages.com/">Girl in the Pages</a>- Review & Favorite Quotes</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.thebookenigma.weebly.com/">The Book Enigma</a>- Official Book Playlist</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://smadasbooksmack.blogspot.com/">Smada's Book Smack</a>- Dreamcast</span></div>
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Testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04501947064278343128noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682235492650584657.post-51178021326080596232018-06-15T07:00:00.000-04:002018-06-15T07:00:05.751-04:00Review: Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier <div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Jar of Hearts </i>by Jennifer Hiller </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Release Date:</b> June 12, 2018 </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Publisher: </b>Minotaur Books, St Martin's Press</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Genre:</b> Adult, Thriller/Mystery </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Source:</b> ARC provided by publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36315374-jar-of-hearts">Add to Goodreads!</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1250154197">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/jar-of-hearts-jennifer-hillier/1126974698">BN</a> | <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781250154194">Indiebound</a> </span></div>
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<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">This is the story of three best friends: one who was murdered, one who went to prison, and one who's been searching for the truth all these years . . .</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">When she was sixteen years old, Angela Wong—one of the most popular girls in school—disappeared without a trace. Nobody ever suspected that her best friend, Georgina Shaw, now an executive and rising star at her Seattle pharmaceutical company, was involved in any way. Certainly not Kaiser Brody, who was close with both girls back in high school.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">But fourteen years later, Angela Wong's remains are discovered in the woods near Geo's childhood home. And Kaiser—now a detective with Seattle PD—finally learns the truth: Angela was a victim of Calvin James. The same Calvin James who murdered at least three other women. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">To the authorities, Calvin is a serial killer. But to Geo, he's something else entirely. Back in high school, Calvin was Geo's first love. Turbulent and often volatile, their relationship bordered on obsession from the moment they met right up until the night Angela was killed. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">For fourteen years, Geo knew what happened to Angela and told no one. For fourteen years, she carried the secret of Angela's death until Geo was arrested and sent to prison.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">While everyone thinks they finally know the truth, there are dark secrets buried deep. And what happened that fateful night is more complex and more chilling than anyone really knows. Now the obsessive past catches up with the deadly present when new bodies begin to turn up, killed in the exact same manner as Angela Wong.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">How far will someone go to bury her secrets and hide her grief? How long can you get away with a lie? How long can you live with it?</span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Review: </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Jar of Hearts was a fast read. The story was interesting enough to keep me hooked; however, there were a few things missing from it, in my opinion. <br /><br />For one, I never thought the characters were incredibly well developed. It's told from two POVs - Geo and Kaiser - and while Jennifer did a great job of splitting up the POVs, I never felt a real connection. Emotion and feelings weren't overly present. I never got a good feeling of who they were, what they stood for, and honestly, neither one was all that likable or likable in that unlikable kind of way. <br /><br />I felt that Geo was selfish, and while she was presented as being resourceful and put together, I never truly saw that. I also didn't like how everything just always fell into place for her. Yes, she struggled in prison, and yes, she faced events that no woman should have to face, but yet she always seemed to come out on top. She found protection easily in prison, she got the prison job she so desperately wanted....it was just a little too perfect. <br /><br />Kaiser, on the other hand, was supposed to be the former nerdy boy turned hot cop, but I never found him all that swoon worthy. For one, I didn't like how nonchalant he was about being involved with a married woman, or how cold he was in certain aspects of his life. His hot-and-cold relationship with Geo also didn't interest me. The relationship and thus romance that evolved between them never seemed natural, as there wasn't much chemistry. <br /><br />The plot in this reads like a CRIMINAL MINDS episode. There's a notorious serial killer called the Sweetbay Strangler; however, he always seems to invade the authorities just at the right moment. When the book first begins, the sweetbay strangler is identified as Calvin Harris. He's put away, bringing Geo, his former girlfriend, down with him for his first ever murder involving Geo's best friend Angela. <br /><br />Jennifer slowly reveals the details of what happened that night. It's not overly obvious as to what Geo's role was, and given the note Geo receives from Calvin ("You're welcome"), it's clear there's more to it than either one admitted out loud. From the first chapter, I was intrigued...I wanted to know more about that night, what events lead up to the death, and throughout it's slowly pieced together. However, when the big moment is finally reveled, it felt slightly underwhelming. It wasn't incredibly twisty - I had somewhat predicted it earlier. It also didn't help that I never felt the bond between Angela and Geo. They never seemed like best friends; instead, they felt more like frenemies, as they both gave and they took wickedly from each other. <br /><br />In addition to the Angela mystery, there's also series of new murders introduced. While the new murders did add a shock factor to the novel, they also didn't feel incredibly well done. Maybe I've watched too many crime shows and read too many thrillers, but there were so many times at which I could see the writing on the wall when it came to who was responsible, and the fact that the police, especially Kaiser, refused to see the whole picture, putting the blame on the easy target, drove me insane. Also, I didn't like how some parts of this novel were so unbelievable. For example, it didn't make sense that Kaiser - someone who was incredibly close to the victim AND the perpetuator - was the main guy on the case. Isn't that a case of conflict? Plus it was so easy to see that he was biased because of it...even his partner called him out on it... Additionally, there's a moment at the end that also seemed out there. I won't go too much into it, but once again, it was one of those moments were Geo seemingly faced no repercussions. <br /><br />Overall, <i>Jar of Hearts</i> was more of a miss than a hit for me.</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Did it keep me entertained? Yes. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Do I think lovers of thrillers will enjoy it? Probably. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">But would it be my top recommendation? No. I feel that other upcoming thrillers (<i>Baby Teeth</i> for example) are better done.</span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>2.5 stars</b></span></div>
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Testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04501947064278343128noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682235492650584657.post-81653113637316290332018-06-13T07:18:00.001-04:002018-06-13T07:18:22.345-04:00Waiting on Wednesday/Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Deepest Roots by Miranda Asebedo<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at <a href="http://breakingthespine.blogspot.com/">Breaking the Spine</a>. I've also decided to start linking up to Can't-Wait Wednesday hosted by Tressa at <a href="http://www.wishfulendings.com/">Wishful Endings</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The Deepest Roots </i>by Miranda Asebedo </span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Release Date: September 28, 2018 </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37677999-the-deepest-roots">Add on Goodreads!</a> </span></div>
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<blockquote>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;">
<strong><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Morgan Matson meets Maggie Stiefvater in a story that will make you believe in friendship, miracles, and maybe even magic.</span></strong></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-top: -4px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Cottonwood Hollow, Kansas, is a strange place. For the past century, every girl has been born with a special talent, like the ability to Fix any object, Heal any wound, or Find what is missing.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-top: -4px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">To best friends Rome, Lux, and Mercy, their abilities often feel more like a curse. Rome may be able to Fix anything she touches, but that won’t help her mom pay rent. Lux’s ability to attract any man with a smile has always meant danger. And although Mercy can make Enough of whatever is needed, even that won’t help when her friendship with Rome and Lux is tested.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; margin-top: -4px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Follow three best friends in this enchanting debut novel as they discover that friendship is stronger than curses, that trust is worth the risk, and sometimes, what you’ve been looking for has been under your feet the whole time.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Magic, friendship, and miracles?! Sign me up! I can't wait to learn more about the girl's talents. I also love the cover! </span></div>
Testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04501947064278343128noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682235492650584657.post-11670926754872927112018-06-11T07:20:00.000-04:002018-06-23T11:47:45.667-04:00Spotlight Tour: What You Left Me by Bridget Morrissey (Giveaway and Excerpt!) <div class="m_1972320195128023694MsoNoSpacing" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>What You Left Me</i> by Bridget Morrissey</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Release Date:</b> June 5, 2018</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Publisher: </b>Sourcebooks Fire</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Genre:</b> Young Adult, Contemporary</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32702948-what-you-left-me?from_search=true">Add to Goodreads!</a> </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/What-You-Left-Bridget-Morrissey/dp/1492655511?tag=sbnews-20">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/links/8520536/type/dlg/fragment/%2F/https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/what-you-left-me-bridget-morrissey/1126980409?ean=9781492655510">BN</a> | <a href="http://www.booksamillion.com/p/What-Left/Bridget-Morrissey/9781492655510?id=6538300475571">BAM</a> | <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/what-you-left-me/9781492655510-item.html?ikwid=what+you+left+me&ikwsec=Home&ikwidx=0">Indigo </a>| <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781492655510">Indiebound</a> </span></div>
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<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">If I Stay meets While You Were Sleeping in this beautiful and heartbreaking novel told in dual perspectives about friendship, family, and all the other threads that bind us together.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Martin and Petra meet for the first time at graduation, and though they’ve shared the halls of their high school for four years without crossing paths, there’s an instant connection the moment they’re seated next to each other at the commencement ceremony.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Then a car accident puts Martin into a coma; and Petra is somehow left picking up the pieces, using friends, family, and shared dreams to keep their surprise connection going.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Together they must unlock the truth of his situation, and with time running out, their bond becomes Martin’s best shot at waking back up to the life he's left behind.</span></blockquote>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">About the Author:</span></h2>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;">Bridget Morrissey lives in Los Angeles, California but hails from Oak Forest, Illinois, a small yet mighty suburb just southwest of Chicago. When she's not writing, she's coaching gymnastics, reading in the corner of a coffee shop, or headlining concerts in her living room.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://bridgetjmorrissey.com/">Website</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/bridgemorrissey">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bridgetjmorrissey/">Instagram</a></span><br />
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Giveaway for 2 Copies of What You Left Me</span></h2>
<span style="font-size: large;">Runs June 5th -30th (US & Canada only)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a class="rcptr" data-raflid="54ca7af7658" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/54ca7af7658/" id="rcwidget_ffxotjsd" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a></span><br />
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Excerpt:</span></h2>
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<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">1<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">FRIDAY, JUNE 8<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 37px;">R<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
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<div class="m_1972320195128023694pf" style="background-color: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 22.5pt 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">ight here in the middle, with 867 other sweaty kids herded like cattle around <span class="il">me</span>, I want to die. End it all on the football field. Burn up into ash and leave behind this hideous robe. There’s no way I’m spending my afterlife wearing yellow polyester.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">The first thing I did when I walked out here today was make an official announcement to everyone in my general vicinity. “In this gown, I am a disgrace to the McGee family name,” I said.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">I can’t have my classmates thinking I don’t know how ridiculous I look. I know, okay?<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">I know.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.2pt;">I’m not the most ridiculous person here though. That award goes to our valedictorian, Steve Taggart. There’s no refund on the six minutes of my life I’m currently donating to his speech about how we’re all birds taking flight. Dude, I’m not a bird. I’m Martin McGee. I’m hot, I’m bored, and I don’t have anyone to talk to right now. Forgive <span class="il">me</span> while my eyes glaze over as I drift off into oblivion.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">If I counted, and I mean if I got really specific, I’d say I know about four hundred of the people graduating today. That’s including, like, the drug dealer who sits at my study hall table, that super tall blond who has a cross-country picture on the wall by the main entrance, and the girl who threw up before picture day in first grade. I don’t see any of them right now. Based on the amount of random people around <span class="il">me</span>, this could straight up be my first day of school.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Okay, maybe I don’t want to die, but I could go for teleportation. I’d find Spits and talk him out of our bet. When this is all over, I’ll need my ten bucks for a celebratory meal. It’s the only money I have to my name, and, well, high school will be done.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">That calls for a sandwich.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">***<u></u><u></u></span></div>
</div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694paft" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Oh, Steve Taggart. Sweat has painted circles through his yellow robe. The random smattering of claps that follow his final sentence must be more for his underarm artwork than his terrible speech. My personal applause is for the end of Steve Taggart’s reign as smartest kid in school. See <span class="il">you</span> in hell, Steve Taggart! Or at Notre Dame, but maybe the universe will grant <span class="il">me</span> one kindness and make it so we never cross paths there.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">At the rate I’m going, it won’t be a problem.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">Steve walks back to his spot, smug and sweat-drenched, and settles into the innermost aisle seat of the front row. The rest of the top ten sit alongside him in order of class rank. The chosen ones.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">I’m in the miserable middle, plain old Petra McGowan of the </span></span><span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">M</span></span><span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"> </span>section, sandwiched between my alphabetical neighbors. Three different middle schools merged into our high school, and while there are faces nearby that I’ve known my whole life, there are also faces I swear I’ve never seen before. Like the two complete strangers on either side of <span class="il">me</span>. For four years, we’ve coexisted, sharing walls and desks and hall passes and gossip without ever managing to cross paths. When <span class="il">you</span> try hard to be good at this whole school thing, <span class="il">you</span> end up with the same group of people in every class. As the years tick by, the numbers dwindle. No one ever randomly decides to take an AP course. This is the first and only time we’ve all been united; a bunch of squirming and vibrating cells being observed by the microscope that is the high-noon sun, waiting for this pomp and circumstance to end.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
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<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Steve Taggart’s speech marks the end of one part of the ceremony and the beginning of the next—the ever-important receipt of the diploma. It begins with the parade of our most intelligent: Valedictorian Steve, Salutatorian Marissa Huang, third in the class Jay Cattaro, and then, my favorite mouthful of a name, Cameron Catherine Elizabeth Hannafin-Bower.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Cameron’s wiry auburn hair engulfs her profile until she becomes nothing but a moving ball of energy, all warm colors and excited twitches. She turns to face the crowd and flashes her most vibrant gap-toothed smile at <span class="il">me</span>. Or in my general vicinity. I’m not sure she can see this far back. Rank eleventh like <span class="il">me</span>, and there is no fanfare. <span class="il">You</span>’re deep among the plebeians, permanently imprinting your lower half into a foldout plastic chair while waiting for your spot in the alphabet.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">At least I was blessed with McGowan for a last name, not Prabhu or Stetson. Poor Aminah and Daniel. It’ll be hours before they get to graduate. </span></span><span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">P</span></span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"> and <span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;">S</span> may not seem very far from <span class="il">me</span>, but I’m almost positive a third of our graduating glass has an <span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;">M</span> last name.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">Mister tenth in the class—the last of the spots that could have been mine if things had been different—walks across the stage, ending the stream of academic overachievers getting their only moment of priority over the athletes.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">How nice it would’ve been to get that single candle flicker of justice.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">The march of the mundane begins with Alex Abraham. His mom breaks the rules and uses a blow horn when his name is called, sending a much-needed jolt of energy through our class. The boy next to <span class="il">me</span> jumps out of his seat.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
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<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">***<u></u><u></u></span></div>
</div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694paft" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Alex Abraham’s mom uses a blow horn. I jump out of my seat. <u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Aw, c’mon,” I say to myself. And kind of to the girl next to <span class="il">me</span>. She turns a little, brushing a piece of her hair out of her eyes to see <span class="il">me</span>, so I keep going. “Alex Abraham’s gotta be angling for some kind of last-ditch recognition as a rebel or something. I swear I’ve never heard that kid say more than five words in my whole life. Now he’s got the family bringing out blow horns? Let it go, kid. It’s over.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">The girl does something halfway between laughing and shrugging. We aren’t supposed to talk, but it’s a rule without consequence. It’s not like they’ll take away our diplomas now.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">I pass time by trying to list every Cubs manager I can recall, in reverse chronological order. I’m all the way back to Leo Durocher (1966–1972), when I catch sight of Spits shuffling into his seat. He’s arrived right in between the graduations of Bryant Carpenter and Eduardo Carrera, and he’s causing a tiny commotion while making his way down his row. The other graduates yelp as he trips over their feet. Spits just laughs.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“He’s such a loser,” I mutter, half laughing to myself.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“I’ll say,” the girl next to <span class="il">me</span> quips back.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">I’m stunned. I shoot her a look, but she’s got her eyes right back on her hands, the smallest trace of a smile hanging on her lips.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">A paper airplane crashes into the lap of the dude on my other side, who has somehow managed to stay asleep through the horn blowing. Good for him. I look around for a culprit—it’s Spits of course, his metal mouth on full display, grinning like he took a hit seconds before and is riding the high. Classic. He points to the airplane.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694ltf" style="background-color: white; font-family: jenkinsv20; letter-spacing: 0.35pt; line-height: 18pt; margin: 4.5pt 27pt 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">bet <span class="il">you</span> can’t get that girl next to <span class="il">you</span> to come tonight.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694lt" style="background-color: white; font-family: jenkinsv20; letter-spacing: 0.35pt; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 27pt 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">also get my ten bucks ready.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694ltl" style="background-color: white; font-family: jenkinsv20; letter-spacing: 0.35pt; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 27pt 4.5pt; text-align: right;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">—spitty<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Wanna hear something funny?” I ask the girl. Might as well make one last friend before I dance across the stage, grab my damn diploma, and keg stand my way into a victorious summer. “My buddy, uh, Spencer, bet <span class="il">me</span> ten bucks that my mom will yell out Marty McFly when they call my name.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Why would she do that?”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Because my name’s Martin McGee.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Then who is Marty McFly?”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“<span class="il">You</span> have to know who Marty McFly is.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“A sports guy?”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">My laugh is the blow horn now. It scares her. “Come to my party tonight,” I say. “I’ll lend <span class="il">you</span> </span></span><span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">Back to the Future.</span></span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">”<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">“Where’s it at?” she asks. It looks like one of her cheeks gets red, but it’s hard to tell when she’s facing the other direction. Her hair’s curled in that way all girls seem to do for special occasions, pieces of it twisted like coiled ribbons around her head. She wraps one strand around her finger until it becomes a perfect brown spiral.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“My place,” I tell the girl. “Mama Dorothy lets <span class="il">me</span> use our basement for parties. Everyone has to put their car keys in a bowl and promise to spend the night if they drink. I live right behind the school.” I point toward the trees beyond the field. “Ugly orange house with a basketball hoop in the driveway. <span class="il">You</span> can’t miss it.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Cool,” she says. She puts her hands in her lap and starts chipping off the sparkly stuff on her nails.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">***<u></u><u></u></span></div>
</div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694paft" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="m_1972320195128023694rom">This whole ordeal is supposed to be my last punishment, closing up shop on the era that will someday be known as </span><span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;">the time Petra just graduated.</span> Emphasis on the word <span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;">just</span>, as if plain graduation is a disease to be contracted, because there isn’t anything to follow it with, such as <span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;">in the top ten</span>, like my sister Jessica, or even better, <span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;">as the valedictorian</span>, like my sister Caroline.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;">Just</span> graduated.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">But here’s Martin McGee. Interrupting <span class="il">me</span>.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Gotta kill the time,” he says, “or this thing is gonna kill <span class="il">me</span>.” He has the delivery of a stand-up comedian, every word crackling with extra flair so that no sentence sounds ordinary.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">“I hear <span class="il">you</span>,” I respond, wiping away the newest beads of sweat forming along my hairline. I spent half an hour curling my hair just right, and the heat has been trying its hardest to undo all my work.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Our principal cuts in front of the man reciting the names. “In the interest of time, we ask that everyone refrain from making any noises for the remainder of the ceremony. Thank <span class="il">you</span>.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Someone boos in an act of defiance.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Wow. Gotta love this town,” Martin mutters under his breath.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">I’ve never understood why <span class="il">you</span>’re supposed to feel this unfounded disdain for where <span class="il">you</span> come from, as if it is the unclassiest, most smothering place that ever existed. “I like it just fine,” I say to him.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“<span class="il">You</span> might be the first.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">We go quiet again.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">***<u></u><u></u></span></div>
</div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694paft" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="m_1972320195128023694rom">Spits makes faces at <span class="il">me</span>. </span><span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="il">You</span> failed</span>, he mouths, smiling of course, and pointing to the girl, who’s kind of pretending to ignore <span class="il">me</span> by leaning forward and staring at the grass. I wad up the note and try to throw it at Spits, but it bounces off the head of someone who doesn’t even react.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“My friend over there told <span class="il">me</span> to invite <span class="il">you</span> to my party. He thinks I failed,” I say to the girl.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“How? <span class="il">You</span> already invited <span class="il">me</span>.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Failing would be <span class="il">you</span> not showing up.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“How does he know that I won’t go?”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Exactly. Orange house. Basketball hoop. Ten o’clock.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“We’ll see.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Who are <span class="il">you</span>?”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“The name next to yours in the yearbook,” she says.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">I try to get a good look at her, but the sun’s so bright she becomes her own kind of light. Her eyes are all I can make out. They’re brown, but a shiny kind, like maple syrup glistening on a pancake.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Man, I’m hungry.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Guess I need to pay better attention to the yearbook,” I say.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Same,” she whispers.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<div class="m_1972320195128023694sec" style="border: none; color: black; letter-spacing: 0.75pt; line-height: 17pt; margin: 4.5pt 0in 0.0001pt; padding: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">***<u></u><u></u></span></div>
</div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694paft" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">When I open my mouth to speak, my voice crackles with Martin’s style of speech, one so easy to fall into, I do it without even realizing. My dress may as well be made of concrete. It blocks my exasperated air from releasing, shoving it into space around my rib cage.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="m_1972320195128023694rom">“We’ve got a whole list of things to do,” he says. “Number one, watch </span><span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;">Back to the Future.</span> I can’t sleep until <span class="il">you</span>’ve met the real Marty McFly.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“<span class="il">You</span> know I can stream it, right?”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“<span class="il">You</span> can?” His tone isn’t mocking, just playful. “My copy is special though. It’s the Marty ‘Fly’ McGee platinum edition. Extremely rare. Actually, one of a kind.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Wow. What an honor.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Please, please. It’s not a big deal. I don’t like to make a fuss. At the end of the day, I’m just a regular guy.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">We share a laugh. As it tapers out, there’s a pause, like in the space between words, something has shifted. It’s almost awkward.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Martin swoops back in to save the moment. “All right, back to my list. Number two, look at our yearbook. If I’ve missed <span class="il">you</span>, my alphabetical neighbor I’ve never been put next to at any other school thing, who knows what else might be in there?” He pauses to smile at <span class="il">me</span>. Mouth open, molars visible, so lacking in self-consciousness that I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep myself from smiling too big in return. “Number three, I’m gonna need <span class="il">you</span> to show <span class="il">me</span> what there is to love about this place.” He takes out his phone. “So, Graduation Girl, how about a phone number for your new friend Marty McGee?”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">I shake my head no, because if there is one lesson I will take away from my four years here, one definitive thing I have learned, the hard way, it is to beware the smiling sweet talker.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Stop while <span class="il">you</span>’re ahead, Petra.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;"><span class="il">You</span> have more important things to accomplish this weekend.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border-bottom: none; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1.5pt solid black; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; padding: 11pt 0in 0in;">
<div class="m_1972320195128023694sec" style="border: none; color: black; letter-spacing: 0.75pt; line-height: 17pt; margin: 4.5pt 0in 0.0001pt; padding: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">***<u></u><u></u></span></div>
</div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694paft" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Graduation Girl’s got her own set of tricks. No name. Won’t give <span class="il">me</span> her number. Smells like that fancy soap store in the mall where all the girls get their bath bombs. “Seriously though, how have we never met?” I ask her.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Ms. Hornsby, resident terrifying math teacher, walks by to shush us. Graduation Girl gets all flustered, which makes <span class="il">me</span> laugh. “What can she do to us for talking?” GG doesn’t answer. “I’ve got a lot of bucket list items to cross off with <span class="il">you</span>,” I say, trying to puff out my voice so it sounds bigger. More confident.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Martin!” Ms. Hornsby scolds. “Be quiet!”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Yeah, Martin,” GG jokes, “be quiet.” She plays it like she’s kidding, but I can tell she means it. Her chipped-off nail polish is all over the lap of her gown, and she’s going to town on the little that is <span class="il">left</span> on her nails.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">My mind runs through all the ways I could get her to notice <span class="il">me</span> again. There’s always flicking her arm. Eh. Being annoying doesn’t seem like the right move. I look around for another idea and accidentally make hard eye contact with Hornsby, which makes <span class="il">me</span> sweat, which makes <span class="il">me</span> overcompensate, which makes <span class="il">me</span> start humming, which is actually the perfect solution. It’s not talking. It’s fair game.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">After a big throat clear and a good neck crack, I push air through my teeth to recreate the synthesized greatness of Van Halen. No human being can resist the musical mastery that is “Jump.”<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">I check in on Graduation Girl. The ridiculousness of my humming should be at least a half smile’s worth of points from her.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Nope. She is stone-faced. Royal guards would be jealous.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">I amp up my effort, hammering the song’s rhythm into my leg and humming louder. I did choir in grade school, so I know I’m nailing my pitches (boy sopranos represent!), but the end of the introduction is nearing, and the magic of the music doesn’t seem to be affecting her. Still, I hit the final majestic synth high notes, burying my head into my neck to give the kind of commitment the song deserves, and </span></span><span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">sweet-holy-patron-saint-<wbr></wbr>of-Cubs-baseball-Ernie-<wbr></wbr>Banks,</span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> I catch sight of movement on the ground.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">It’s her foot. Tapping along.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="m_1972320195128023694rom">Like David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar and every other random lead singer they’ve had, she comes in for the first line. “</span><span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;">Dog it off</span>,” she sings under her breath. The rest comes out as an incoherent mumble.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">The lyrics are so wrong I almost keel over and die laughing. I decide to bring my other hand in for a better drum section instead. This is too good to stop. GG takes over the humming, and I pick up the next line of the song (with the correct lyrics, of course) as if we planned it this way all along. We look at each other, her pounding the beat into the grass and <span class="il">me</span> into my legs, and we sing together until we get to the chorus’s lead-in. Graduation Girl hits <span class="il">me</span> with the most ridiculously wrong lyrics of all time, but she is one hundred percent committed to the feeling. When it comes time to speak the line before the chorus, I say it all cool, and then she echoes back the title with perfect timing, shouting it with the exact amount of power and feeling required. She throws her head back and laughs at herself. It’s like an ad for shampoo the way her hair falls over the edge of her chair, all long and curly and flowing.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Shut up!” the no-longer-sleeping guy on the other side of <span class="il">me</span> whisper-yells.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Graduation Girl and I laugh louder. “My dad loves that song,” she whispers, catching her volume. “We always just make up the words as we go.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">“I can tell,” I say. “My dad loves it too. Official postseason anthem for the 1984 Cubs, baby. Big ups to two of the all-time greats, Rick Sutcliffe and Ryne Sandberg. Love <span class="il">you</span>, Rick and Ryno.” I pat my chest and then blow a kiss to the Rick and Ryne in my head.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">Ms. Hornsby pulls her finger to her mouth and gives the loudest shush ever known to man. Graduation Girl straightens up.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border-bottom: none; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1.5pt solid black; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; padding: 11pt 0in 0in;">
<div class="m_1972320195128023694sec" style="border: none; color: black; letter-spacing: 0.75pt; line-height: 17pt; margin: 4.5pt 0in 0.0001pt; padding: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">***<u></u><u></u></span></div>
</div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694paft" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">This is outrageous. Four years of high school have come and gone without a single sighting of Martin McGee, now here we are singing our respective fathers’ favorite eighties rock anthem together on the football field. Ms. Hornsby has threatened to remove Martin from the ceremony if he speaks again. He’s mostly obeying. Just nudging <span class="il">me</span> and tapping my foot with his.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">I can feel my head getting lighter, pulling <span class="il">me</span> out of my seat and into the clouds, loosening the anchor at the bottom of my stomach. I’m fighting for gravity. Fighting to stop my mind from wandering and wondering about this kid that’s been one name away from <span class="il">me</span> all this time.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Come on, Petra. Stay ahead.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;"><span class="il">You</span> cannot piss off Ms. Hornsby now.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border-bottom: none; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1.5pt solid black; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; padding: 11pt 0in 0in;">
<div class="m_1972320195128023694sec" style="border: none; color: black; letter-spacing: 0.75pt; line-height: 17pt; margin: 4.5pt 0in 0.0001pt; padding: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">***<u></u><u></u></span></div>
</div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694paft" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">I play games on my phone to get Hornsby to leave <span class="il">me</span> alone. I’d love to see her try and kick <span class="il">me</span> out of here, but it’s more entertaining to sit next to Graduation Girl. We communicate through elbow nudges and impatient foot shaking. Sometimes <span class="il">you</span> don’t need to speak to have a conversation.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">After a long while, my fingers get so hot from the sun beating down and my phone’s battery working overtime that I put it back in my pocket. Graduation Girl eyes <span class="il">me</span>. It’ll be worth it to get kicked out if I can just get her number. Hell, even her name. “Hey,” I say.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">She glares at <span class="il">me</span>.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“I know. I know.” I knock it down to a whisper. “What if we played a game? <span class="il">You</span> give <span class="il">me</span> three letters of the alphabet to guess from, one of which is the first letter of your name. If I get it right in less than thirty tries, <span class="il">you</span> have to come to my party.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“That sounds like a terrible game.” This girl cuts no corners.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“<span class="il">You</span>’re right. It does.” I nudge her shoulder. “At least I’m not our valedictorian, out here talking about how we’re all baby birds ready to leave the nest.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Did <span class="il">you</span> watch his nose when he spoke?” She sounds kind of mischievous when she asks. Clearly, I’ve chosen a solid topic.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Can’t say I was paying much attention to his nose, no. Why?”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“His nostrils always do this flapping thing every time he breathes.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.2pt;">It’s not what I’m expecting her to say. I belly laugh. She wraps her hand around my forearm in a vice grip to silence <span class="il">me</span>. “I’m sorry,” I whisper, almost breaking. “How did <span class="il">you</span> even notice that?”<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">“Steve Taggart is my archnemesis,” she answers in the most deadpan whisper I’ve ever heard. “Knowing everything about him used to be my life’s mission.”<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">She’s so close I can smell her again; this flowery, honey scent is wafting right up into my nostrils. I’m glad she seems to refuse to ever look at <span class="il">me</span> because I might be doing the Steve Taggart thing too without even knowing it. “I think I need to make it my life’s mission to know more about <span class="il">you</span>.” I say it before realizing how much it sounds like a terrible line. I didn’t mean it to be that way.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="m_1972320195128023694rom">More than anything, I want to be her friend. And I want her to want </span><span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;">me</span> as a friend.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Still, it backfires. She balls up into her seat and starts picking at her nail polish again. The sun becomes so instantly and unbearably hot I have to loosen my tie.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Dammit. I can never get it right when it counts.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<div class="m_1972320195128023694sec" style="border: none; color: black; letter-spacing: 0.75pt; line-height: 17pt; margin: 4.5pt 0in 0.0001pt; padding: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">***<u></u><u></u></span></div>
</div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694paft" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">It needed to end. There is no room in my life for a boy like Martin McGee. Not even as a friend. It would just be another distraction. I’m already well stocked.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Ms. Hornsby walks by and slips <span class="il">me</span> a satisfied smirk, as if she knows I’ve just gone cold turkey on Martin. He must be trouble. Is every boy trouble? My vision blurs at the thought.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Names drone on. People graduate. The world keeps spinning, even when I push against it, trying to set it back the other way.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border-bottom: none; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1.5pt solid black; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; padding: 11pt 0in 0in;">
<div class="m_1972320195128023694sec" style="border: none; color: black; letter-spacing: 0.75pt; line-height: 17pt; margin: 4.5pt 0in 0.0001pt; padding: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">***<u></u><u></u></span></div>
</div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694paft" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">Graduation Girl’s presence is a force. I wonder if she knows that. She’s not doing a single thing, barely even breathing it seems, and still it feels like she controls time itself. Right now, it stalls for her. The announcer guy reads in slow motion gibberish. Kids walk across the stage like their legs are sticks and the ground is mud. In my head, I go back to listing Cubs managers, and I swear I almost make it all the way to the late 1800s before another minute passes.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">Then, like a finger snap, she sets the world back on track with one sentence. “Isn’t that your friend?”<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">Spitty’s waving at <span class="il">me</span>, pointing to his wrist. Like he’s ever worn a watch in his life. Once I acknowledge him, he starts pretending to chug and toss imaginary liquor bottles. </span></span><span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">Your ten-dollar bill is mine, bitch</span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">, he mouths. His smile is an explosion of metal fireworks.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Best one I’ve ever had,” I say to Graduation Girl.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Is it wrong for <span class="il">me</span> to hope <span class="il">you</span> win this bet?” Her voice is so soft I have to piece the sentence together afterward. She’s looking everywhere but <span class="il">me</span>, trying to see if Hornsby is watching us.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“I’d never tell <span class="il">you</span> how to feel,” I crack off. “But <span class="il">you</span>’re on the right side of this battle, for sure.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Well, I’d never feel the way <span class="il">you</span> told <span class="il">me</span> to, anyway.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Good.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Perfect.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Great.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Prodigious.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Out of nowhere, Hornsby pops up. This woman is everywhere. She looks right at Graduation Girl. “<span class="il">You</span> really can’t afford to be making so much trouble right now. I can only do so much,” she tells her.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="m_1972320195128023694rom">“I have no idea what </span><span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;">prodigious</span> even means,” I say when Hornsby’s gone.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="m_1972320195128023694rom">Graduation Girl doesn’t acknowledge <span class="il">me</span>. She’s slunk down so low into her robe she’s almost a turtle. It doesn’t even make sense. Hornsby just treated her like high school still matters. And Graduation Girl is acting like Hornsby is right about that. But we’re </span><span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;">at</span>graduation. It’s very confusing.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Graduation Girl doesn’t say or do anything until it’s our turn to stand up and graduate, no matter how many times I clear my throat or pretend to notice something really interesting in the sky or the grass or next to my foot or whatever.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="m_1972320195128023694rom">Our favorite </span><span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;">shush</span>ing teacher motions for our aisle to rise and start walking toward the podium. I do a big stretch and let out a yawn, hoping Graduation Girl will react. We’re on the move. Maybe she won’t feel so bad about talking now?<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">After my fourth time twisting my torso back and forth like I’m preparing to run a marathon, Graduation Girl sighs. “<span class="il">You</span> are ridiculous,” she says.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Come to my party. Please.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">Graduation Girl doesn’t answer. Instead—and I didn’t know this was a thing real humans did, I’ve only ever seen it in movies—her eyes flutter, like she’s batting her damn lashes. She laughs a private little laugh that loops in my head like a victory song. Of course </span></span><span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">her</span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> yellow robe has turned her into the Sunshine Statue of Liberty. She seems powerful and serene and a little sad, which is probably exactly what Lady Liberty feels like posted up all by herself in the water. I realize she’s standing in front of Brittany McMahon. I forgot I know Brittany McMahon. She’s one of those people who makes <span class="il">you</span> go, “Oh yeah, <span class="il">you</span>. <span class="il">You</span> were in my day care back in the day, weren’t <span class="il">you</span>?”<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">We start walking down the aisle. The dry grass of the football field is pressed flat from all the people before us. As we make our single-file line on the <span class="il">left</span> side of the podium, I look out into the crowd to try and spot Spitty or Turrey or, hell, even Chris, but no one’s paying attention to anything. It’s like boredom is an actual disease, and everyone is a couple of breaths away from dying of it. I put my head down and stare at my kicks, looking fresh and ready for their official graduation debut. Getting the chance to put them on this morning was one of the only things that got <span class="il">me</span> out of bed. I’d say they’re the only things I care about right now, but if I’m being honest with myself, this Graduation Girl has my head kind of spinning.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">I refocus myself by limbeing up for my planned dance across the stage. Spits was supposed to dance too, but he chickened out. I knew he would. He walked across like he was balancing a book on his head, all proud, acting the part of Spencer Alan Kuspits Jr. I should’ve bet money he’d do that. Then I wouldn’t lose my ten bucks.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">The sleepy guy before <span class="il">me</span> goes across to dead silence. Good. I’ll spice it up. Mama Dorothy doesn’t know what quiet means. Two of my aunts are here, and they’re super loud. Then there’s my sister Katie and her husband, and I swear they get paid to be professional sports fans. They’re always at some game or another. They’re going to be screaming.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Martin Frederick McGee.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">I walk up the three steps in total silence. I’m going to win the bet with Spits. I don’t want to win the bet anymore. I want to lose my ten dollars. I want to make Graduation Girl laugh again.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="m_1972320195128023694rom">I look up into the bleachers to find my family. They’re starting to stand, with posters in hand. “</span><span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;">I love <span class="il">you</span> Marty McFly!</span>” yells Mama Dorothy.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Phew.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="m_1972320195128023694rom">Everyone holds a different letter. </span><span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;">M-C-F-Y-L-!</span> My aunts look at each other and switch spots. <span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;">M-C-F-L-Y-!</span> My sister puts down her letter and holds up her phone. The version of “Fly Like An Eagle” they use in the movie <span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;">Space Jam</span> starts playing, and I’ll be damned if that song doesn’t make <span class="il">me</span> believe I can. I run in slow motion toward my diploma, airplane wings on and a dramatic spin here and there, just like the singer Seal would want.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="m_1972320195128023694rom">Damn. Guess Taggart is right. I </span><span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;">am</span> a bird.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">GG stands at the steps, waiting to cross after <span class="il">me</span>. As I spin, I catch her cupping her mouth, a smile showing at the corners.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Success.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border-bottom: none; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1.5pt solid black; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; padding: 11pt 0in 0in;">
<div class="m_1972320195128023694sec" style="border: none; color: black; letter-spacing: 0.75pt; line-height: 17pt; margin: 4.5pt 0in 0.0001pt; padding: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">***<u></u><u></u></span></div>
</div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694paft" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Martin McGee surely went out how he went in, a funny dude skating by on wild antics, always going over the top for the joke, never passing up an opportunity to make an impression. He shoots <span class="il">me</span> a wink. I can’t help but laugh. This boy. He really does seem so good. Can it be true? Do they exist?<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Against my better judgment, the corners of my mouth stay pulled upward. Nothing will get my face to calm down, not scolding or biting my cheek or the thought of algebraic equations.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Petra Margaret McGowan.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">That sobers <span class="il">me</span> right up.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">I step up the stairs. An almost serene silence accompanies <span class="il">me</span>, allowing <span class="il">me</span> to hear every meaningless thank-<span class="il">you</span> from the faculty members as we shake hands. The last one gives <span class="il">me</span> my empty diploma holder. Everything I’ve ever worked for, my entire life really, is now represented by one missing eight-and-a-half-by-<wbr></wbr>eleven sheet of cardstock. It’s all been for the very piece of paper I don’t yet have. The anchor in my stomach scrapes along my intestines as it sinks deeper. I’d be stuck standing in the middle of the stage for the rest of my life if not for the simple, powerful fact that no other graduate knows this black folder is empty. To them, I am just a girl in the middle of the class. I smile and smile and smile and smile until I’m down the steps on the other side of the stage.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">I’d always pictured this whole thing ending here, as if I could throw my cap in the air and head straight to a painful family dinner at Olive Garden. But it isn’t over when I walk across the stage. It’s over when all 868 students walk across the stage. I’m merely the halfway point. So back into the line I go, en route to my assigned seat, my leaden legs propelled forward by the promise of seeing Martin again. He’s there, cheesing like someone’s let him in on the best, most exciting secret known to man.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
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<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">“Petra, Petra, Petra,” he says when I walk down. “Petra riding the Metra. <span class="il">You</span> betcha, Petra.”<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“So <span class="il">you</span> know my name now,” I say with an eye roll, mostly because making any kind of real eye contact with him seems deadlier than the boredom afflicting every student within a fifty-mile radius of this football field.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="m_1972320195128023694rom">“Not just your first name. I know your </span><span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;">whole</span> name.” He taps the boy in front of him on the shoulder. “Excuse <span class="il">me</span>, man, I just wanted <span class="il">you</span> to know that this girl here is my best friend, Petra Margaret McGowan. Petty Margs, I call her. I know <span class="il">you</span> heard our singing earlier. I think our music’s so good we just might start a band with that name.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">“Dude, get over yourself,” the boy says as he shrugs off Martin’s touch.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Martin tosses a half grin my way. “This guy clearly doesn’t know classic rock like we do, Petty Margs.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“I can’t with <span class="il">you</span>.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“No one can.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">We’re waiting for the rest of our row to graduate so we can walk back to our seats in, quote, “uniform fashion.” With every name called, I remind myself to breathe. I’m supposed to be sulking. This is supposed to be torture. But it isn’t. No matter what I do, I can’t shake the Martin McGee I’m wearing all over my mood.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
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<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">***<u></u><u></u></span></div>
</div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694paft" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">I’m supposed to be bored. This is supposed to be torture. But it isn’t. There’s a Petra Margaret McGowan–size light shining on <span class="il">me</span>, and it’s brighter than anything the sun is trying to make happen up in the sky right now.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Wow. I can be cheesy.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Whatever. I own it.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">It’s so strange though because I can’t even remember the last time I felt this charged up. Maybe when I tried to get Holly Paulson to go to the seventh-grade dance with <span class="il">me</span>. My sister Katie and I stayed up all night making a shoe box diorama of Holly and I holding each other on the dance floor. I had to carry it with <span class="il">me</span> the entire school day because the only class I had with Holly was my last one. By the time it rolled around, she’d already heard about the box from everybody else, so there was all this expectation, and when we finally saw each other, neither of us really knew how to go about it all. I ended up saying nothing and just handing her the diorama as if that was enough. She looked at <span class="il">me</span> like I’d shown up to school in just my underwear, because the project featured Popsicle stick people with our school pictures pasted onto their heads.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">It’s like that—like I’m holding an obvious question but unsure how to really ask it. My words are glue, stuck inside my mouth.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Oh, and Holly said no, by the way. So there’s that too.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">***<u></u><u></u></span></div>
</div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694paft" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Somehow, Martin and I get stuck in a silence so weighted it lassoes around my throat. Something between us got lost up on the stage. Or maybe found. It’s hard to tell with all the loaded silence blocking my peripherals. I study the intricate details of my yellow robe, distracting myself by imagining what it might be to finally, maybe, let myself like a boy again. Why are ceremonies practically designed for this kind of introspection? It’s as unavoidable as the brightness all around <span class="il">me</span>.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">Ryan Hales emerges, like a light that’s been turned on in the attic of my mind. The squareness of his face, so symmetrical that <span class="il">you</span>could slice him down the middle and come up with mirror images. He’s rubbing his hands on his jeans, asking <span class="il">me</span> on a date in front of my locker. His hands stop when I say yes. He’s kicking the rocks outside of the tennis courts, waiting to give <span class="il">me</span> a ride home, stopping when I walk up. Tossing my homework out the window when I tell him I have too much, stopping when I panic.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">We’re in the back seat of his car. Sweat is pouring down my back.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">“Your eyes look like pancakes,” Martin says finally, after what could be years or milliseconds. He dissolves Ryan into nothing more than a mirage I never meant to chase.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">“What?” It’s such an absurd sentiment that my laughter doesn’t feel like too much of a giveaway. </span></span><span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">I’m laughing</span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> at <span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;">Martin, not with him</span>, I assure myself. And laughter is a great distraction from the aftershock of surfacing memories.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">“I mean maple syrup,” he corrects.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.2pt;">I still don’t let myself look at him, but the heat radiating from his cheeks burns stronger than the sun. I can’t help but soften. “Petty Margs and the Maple Syrup Eyes. Our official band name.”<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">Out of the corner of my eye, I see his shoulders relax. “Available for weddings, birthdays, and graduations.”<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.2pt;">Ms. Hornsby signals for us to walk back to our seats. I stare at my feet as we start moving, thinking about everything and nothing at once. When I look back up, Martin is nowhere to be found.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
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<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">***<u></u><u></u></span></div>
</div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694paft" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Sneaking out had no unforeseen difficulties. Zig when everyone zags. Easy as that. Spits waits for <span class="il">me</span> behind the bleachers. He pulls two travel-size bottles of whiskey out from beneath his robe and hands one to <span class="il">me</span>.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Cheers!” he says.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">We chug them back in one gulp.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Don’t know where I’m going next, but I like the way everything looks right now. A little too bright and way too hot, but exactly the way I want it to be. High school took my sobriety and most of my dignity, so Spits and I break our whiskey bottles on the bleacher mud to honor all we gave to this sacred ground.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“<span class="il">You</span> look nice,” Spits says, tugging on the part of my tie he can see above my robe. “Now give <span class="il">me</span> my ten bucks.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“Take it and use it for the greater good,” I tell him, shaking off the nagging feeling that I’ve <span class="il">left</span> behind something essential. “Beer would be very appreciated at the McGee residence tonight,” I say as Spits lifts up his robe and crams my ten-dollar bill down his pants. “<span class="il">You</span>’re sick, <span class="il">you</span> know that?”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">“Shut up. Let’s go for one last joy ride before this thing ends. I promise we’ll be back in time for your mom to give <span class="il">me</span> a big kiss, and <span class="il">you</span> know she will.” He tries to click his heels together but gets tripped up on his robe. “Shut up!” he yells, but I’m already laughing.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Spitty and I arrive at his parking spot. I usually keep my crying reserved for baseball games and videos of pets being reunited with owners, but I’d be lying if I said the sight of his raggedy Dodge Caravan didn’t choke <span class="il">me</span> up. “I thought <span class="il">you</span> were driving with your dad.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="m_1972320195128023694rom">“Did <span class="il">you</span> want <span class="il">me</span> to bring him to the liquor store? </span><span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;">Hold on, Pop. Grabbing some whiskey for <span class="il">me</span> and Fly.</span> He drove himself. I rode solo in the White Whale.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">I climb in. The passenger seat is pushed and leaned back to my exact preference, covered in stains and nostalgia. I am the co-king of the White Whale. This is my throne.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Spits takes out two more baby whiskeys. We chug, so fast I get a bubble caught in my throat, then toss the little bottles out the White Whale’s manual windows, cranking the handles as fast as we can to let in the fresh air. Spitty takes a hard <span class="il">left</span> out of the school lot. Not a car in sight.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“By the way,” I say, grabbing at the warm summer air as it flies through my fingers. “That girl’s coming tonight.” I smile at the thought of Petra, imagining her walking through my front door, eyes shooting <span class="il">left</span> to right, scanning for <span class="il">me</span>.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="m_1972320195128023694i" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="il">Me</span>.</span><u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Accelerating speed pulls my cheeks back. I can almost taste the future’s possibilities in the wind whooshing through my mouth.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">***<u></u><u></u></span></div>
</div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694paft" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">No one cares about Martin’s empty seat. No one checks. Rules are gone, because for 867 other people, high school is officially over.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">I could throw up.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Without him here, I remember the reason for my initial dread. Every reason, actually. Every twelve-hour school day. Every agonizing assignment. Every painstaking triumph and hard-earned grade. My years of work all erased, obsolete, rendered irrelevant. Because of one misstep, none of it matters. None of it pays off.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom"><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">At some point, the ceremony ends, and I hear, “Congratulations, graduates!” At some point, I switch over my tassel and rise up to toss my cap into the air. Doing what Dad’s always asked of <span class="il">me</span>. Faking it until I make it, even though I know it’s not that simple.<u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">At some point, families crowd the football field.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="m_1972320195128023694p" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">At some point, Cameron finds <span class="il">me</span>. “We did it!” she squeals, as if there were ever a question in her mind that we would.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">If only she knew…<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">“We’re going to a party tonight,” I tell her. A surprised look smushes her freckles into the wrinkled creases on her nose.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span class="m_1972320195128023694rom" style="font-size: large;">Martin McGee, I will find <span class="il">you</span> again.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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Testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04501947064278343128noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682235492650584657.post-80099858538731921742018-06-08T07:00:00.000-04:002018-06-08T07:00:00.399-04:00Review: Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Next Year in Havana</i> by Chanel Cleeton </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Release Date: </b>February 6, 2018<b> </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Publisher: </b>Berkley </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Genre:</b> Women's Fiction, Historical Fiction </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Source:</b> ARC provided by the publisher via First to Read in exchange for an honest review </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35133919-next-year-in-havana">Add on Goodreads!</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0399586687">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/next-year-in-havana-chanel-cleeton/1126354169">BN</a> | <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780399586682">Indiebound </a>| <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/next-year-in-havana">Kobo</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">After the death of her beloved grandmother, a Cuban-American woman travels to Havana, where she discovers the roots of her identity–and unearths a family secret hidden since the revolution…</b><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Havana, 1958</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">. The daughter of a sugar baron, nineteen-year-old Elisa Perez is part of Cuba’s high society, where she is largely sheltered from the country’s growing political unrest–until she embarks on a clandestine affair with a passionate revolutionary…</span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Miami, 2017</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">. Freelance writer Marisol Ferrera grew up hearing romantic stories of Cuba from her late grandmother Elisa, who was forced to flee with her family during the revolution. Elisa’s last wish was for Marisol to scatter her ashes in the country of her birth. </span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Arriving in Havana, Marisol comes face-to-face with the contrast of Cuba’s tropical, timeless beauty and its perilous political climate. When more family history comes to light and Marisol finds herself attracted to a man with secrets of his own, she’ll need the lessons of her grandmother’s past to help her understand the true meaning of courage.</span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Review:
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">I've been eager to read Chanel Cleeton's <i>Next Year in Havana</i> ever since I first saw the cover. I can never resist books with gorgeous dresses on the cover. Plus, after reading the synopsis, I was one hundred percent sure it was the book for me - I LOVE books with past and present POVs. </span><br style="color: #181818;" /><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The Result? <i>Next Year in Havana </i>is a stellar read! Beautifully blending together two POVs, <i>Next Year in Havana</i> is a book filled with hope, sadness, and revolution, as two young women - decades apart - fight for the ones they love and for a life filled with purpose as well as happiness. </span><br style="color: #181818;" /><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">I didn't know much about Cuba and its politics going into Next Year in Havana. I knew of Fidel Castro, of course, as well as the harrowing times Cuba faced at his hands; however, I didn't realize the extent to which the people of Cuba suffered as well as the challenges they still face to this day. Simply put, <i>Next Year in Havana</i> was eye opening as well as thought provoking.</span><br style="color: #181818;" /><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i>Next Year in Havana</i> provides much more than romance- it gives a detailed look into the politics surrounding the end of </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">Batista's<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> residency and start of Castro's ruling. It also brings both sides into play - why the rich put their hope in </span></span>Batista, </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">why Castro's politics were so appealing at first to the masses, how families were torn apart over their differing views... It's not a simple black-and-white picture, as both main characters begin to see during their respective lives. More importantly, it shows that the bad doesn't end with Castro's death, as present day Marisol learns. People are still suffering the negatives that came with his ruling to this very day. </span><br style="color: #181818;" /><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Additionally, I enjoyed the descriptions of Havana. It came to life in front of my eyes, and more importantly, I loved seeing it through the main character’s perspectives. </span><br style="color: #181818;" /><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">If I were to describe Marisol and Elisa, I would say that they are strong, determined, unapologetic, and passionate. Out of the two, Elisa's story resonated the most with me. </span><br style="color: #181818;" /><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When Elisa is first introduced, she appears to have it all – status, wealth, and a loving family. She’s always been the quiet, reserved sister – the one who stands to the side while her two beautiful, adventurous old sisters catch everyone’s attention. With the introduction of Pablo, a secretive yet alluring man she meets at a party, she begin to live a little more – stealing moments with him away from the eye’s of her family and society. With Pablo, Elisa also begins to see her home in a new light. For so long, she believed in what her parents believed in - </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">Batista</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> but suddenly, she begins to wonder if there’s more than meets the eye. What I truly respected and admired the most about Elisa, however, was how far she would go to protect her family and the sacrifices she took in doing so. As secrets of her life began pouring out at the end, my heart broke for her. Yes, her family held onto their wealth and status and she had an “easy” life, but she gave up so much in the process – her best friend, her first love, her home, etc. She was truly an amazing woman. </span><br style="color: #181818;" /><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Marisol was also an interesting as well as loveable main character. It was interesting to see how her narrative shifted upon her arrival in Cuba. She’s grown up on the stories passed down from her great aunts and grandparents. However, as Marisol finds out, being in a country is very different than hearing about a country. In Cuba, she experiences a homecoming, a rebirth of sorts. She learns things about herself she never knew, and begins to see her grandmother in a new light – one that shocks yet awes her. She also experiences love like never before – love that makes her risk everything. In most ways, she was like her grandmother – fearless, loving, a believer in the glass-half-full not half-empty. </span><br style="color: #181818;" /><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">There was only one aspect that I didn’t completely love: the romance. I felt that it could have been more fleshed out in both perspectives; however, at the end of the day, I appreciated and enjoyed the time and development Channel put into the main characters’ journeys, and if that meant less romance, I could live with it. </span><br style="color: #181818;" /><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In all, Next Year in Havana has introduced to me to a new favorite story as well as a new favorite author, and given that exciting twist at the end, I can’t wait to read Beatriz’s story.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: transparent; color: red; font-family: inherit;"><i>5 stars!! </i></b></span></span></div>
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Testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04501947064278343128noreply@blogger.com0