Title: It Only Happens in the Movies
Author: Holly Bourne
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Usborne Publishing
Release Date: October 1st 2017

* BLURB *

Audrey is over romance. Since her parents’ relationship imploded her mother’s been catatonic, so she takes a cinema job to get out of the house. But there she meets wannabe film-maker Harry. Nobody expects Audrey and Harry to fall in love as hard and fast as they do. But that doesn’t mean things are easy. Because real love isn’t like the movies…

The greatest love story ever told doesn’t feature kissing in the snow or racing to airports. It features pain and confusion and hope and wonder and a ban on cheesy clichés. Oh, and zombies… YA star Holly Bourne tackles real love in this hugely funny and poignant novel.

* Buy Links *

Amazon | Kobo | iBooks | Book Depository | Waterstones

Local stores National Bookstore and FullyBooked also carry the book at their outlets.

REVIEW

Disclaimer: I partnered with Usborne Publishing in organizing a PH-based blog tour for It Only Happens In The Movies by Holly Bourne. Huge thanks to Usborne Publishing for providing a copy for review. This didn’t affect my opinion of the book in any way. 

It Only Happens In The Movies is one of those books that you just can’t simply put down as soon as you start reading it. You can’t help but wonder what happens next, so you just continue reading until you’re done. But what can I say? It’s Holly Bourne!

This is the fourth book by Holly Bourne that I’ve read. And there is absolutely no doubt when it comes to Holly Bourne’s writing. I loved her Spinster Club series, and with It Only Happens In The Movies, she proved her craft even more.

The story picks up when Audrey has to do a paper about romantic films for her Media Studies. During this time, Audrey was just recovering from her previous relationship and at the same time she’s still dealing with her mother who has been in an unresponsive stupor due to her parents’ broken relationship.

Desperate for an escape, she started working on a cinema where she met the wanna-be filmmaker Harry. Harry is described as your typical womanizer in every rom-com movies or novels. Audrey even called him what is commonly known today as “fuccboi”.

I have so many feels about this book! When I finished it, the only thing that I was able to write on Goodreads was this… “AAAAAAHHHKHKFJGJAJAGAG@&$&$%@AGDH!!!!” with five-glowing stars. Lol

Romance in real life vs. Romance in fiction

It Only Happens In The Movies is every bit of “realistic”. In Audrey’s studies about romance films, she weighed every clichés in romantic films compared to what we really experience in real life romances. She pointed out how every romantic film only shows the good parts, but never the ugliest parts of a relationship. Well, there are conflicts in romantic films, but if you do a reality check, these conflicts are quite far from what we actually experience in reality.

Most of the times, romantic films are limited and done accordingly to stereotypes. And when it comes to endings, they mostly just end at the best part of the couple’s romantic life. I know, except Nicholas Sparks. But the real question is, what happened next after the movie ended at that good part? Who knows.

This notion always gives us what we view as “perfection”, or what we call today as #relationshipgoals. We are so blinded by what the society wants us to believe that we fail to see what is really upon us in reality. Not only in romances or relationships in general, but also in so many things in life.

Okay, I still like romance movies and novels and all those cheesy and mushy stuff. But there are just so many things that Audrey – or Holly Bourne rather – pointed out in this book which gave me that realization moment. I mean, THIS WOMAN IS JUST SO FREAKING BRILLIANT AND ON POINT!

Audrey, her family and her friends

Holly Bourne explored so many timely topics and issues in just 410 pages. Friendship, family conflicts, relationship, dealing with self and anxiety, and breaking stereotypes. One book seems not enough, but Holly Bourne managed to fit all the pieces in this book, so neatly.

There was a moment when Audrey became so distant from her friends because she was too focused  on her relationship with her ex-boyfriend. After her break-up, her friends comforted her and they welcomed her back to the group. But she was having doubts if what they’re showing is genuine because she’s aware that she’s the one who built a wall between their friendships.

This is really on point, because one of my friends had a very similar case with her girlfriends when she got into a relationship. Reading this from Holly Bourne’s book is like having a deja vu.

What I like about Audrey’s character is how aware she was of herself. That she’s not perfect and she has done things that affected her surroundings resulting to her anxieties. Her character is not convincing the readers to like her, but to understand her. It seems like Holly Bourne wants to give us that person she knows we can all relate to, somehow at some point. And Audrey is that person – a very realistic, normal, and relatable character.

Cliché in a good kind of way

It Only Happens In The Movies is both light and heavy. I know it might sound confusing, but those conflicting feelings are what I really felt while reading the book. The way Holly delivered everything was light, fun, and  fast read – just like your typical rom-com novels. But at the same time, it tackles a lot of heavy issues that are commonly experienced by most teenagers.

It is also very cliché, but everything was told in a CLEVER and UNCONVENTIONAL way. Audrey was criticizing every cliché thing in films on her Media Studies project, only to realize that her life, and what she’s about to do are all very cliché themselves. So, it’s like she’s mocking herself when she’s about to do cliché things. Well, I don’t really have problems with clichés myself. I actually like clichés.

Final verdict

I think this is by far my most favorite Holly Bourne book. I want to say more things but I don’t want to give away too much about the book. But as what my friend Mommy Sol from Queen Soleil told me – this is the book that she should have read when she was still younger. It contains parts that may trigger anxiety, but I think this is a perfect book for older teenagers.

Oh, and if you like zombies, you’ll get some of it.

Lastly, I loved the ending so freaking much! It had left me in a emotional roller coaster because I didn’t know what to feel after that ending. But after few minutes, it dawned on me that THIS IS THE PERFECT ENDING FOR THIS BOOK.

PS, to my fellow Filipino readers, National Bookstore‘s version of It Only Happens In The Movies comes with an exclusive letter from Holly Bourne for her Filipino readers.

* Overall Rating *

* About The Author *

Holly Bourne writes YA novels and blogs about feminist issues. Her favourite things to complain loudly about are: the stigma of mental health, women’s rights, and the under-appreciation of Keanu Reeves’ acting ability.

Holly’s first two books, Soulmates and The Manifesto on How to be Interesting, have been critically acclaimed and translated into six languages. The first book in the ‘Normal’ series, Am I Normal Yet?, has been chosen as a World Book Night book for 2016 and has inspired the formation of Spinster Clubs around the country.

Before becoming a full-time author, Holly was editor and relationship advisor for a charity website.

Author Links

Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook | Instagram

* Giveaway *

Giveaway is open to PHILIPPINE residents ONLY.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog tour schedule

The post PH Blog Tour: It Only Happens In The Movies by Holly Bourne [Review + PH Giveaway] appeared first on The Nocturnal Fey.

Title: Windfall
Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Release Date: May 2nd, 2017
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Purchase at: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | National Bookstore | Fullybooked

Let luck find you.

Alice doesn’t believe in luck—at least, not the good kind. But she does believe in love, and for some time now, she’s been pining for her best friend, Teddy. On his eighteenth birthday—just when it seems they might be on the brink of something—she buys him a lottery ticket on a lark. To their astonishment, he wins $140 million, and in an instant, everything changes.

At first, it seems like a dream come true, especially since the two of them are no strangers to misfortune. As a kid, Alice won the worst kind of lottery possible when her parents died just over a year apart from each other. And Teddy’s father abandoned his family not long after that, leaving them to grapple with his gambling debts. Through it all, Teddy and Alice have leaned on each other. But now, as they negotiate the ripple effects of Teddy’s newfound wealth, a gulf opens between them. And soon, the money starts to feel like more of a curse than a windfall.

As they try to find their way back to each other, Alice learns more about herself than she ever could have imagined…and about the unexpected ways in which luck and love sometimes intersect.

* Review *

I received an advanced reading copy from Penguin Random House International, in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book, in any way.

I’m usually anxious when I’m about to read a book from a popular author. It’s because, most times, instead of going along with the hype, it gives me the negative effect. Yeah, happened to me lot of times.

So, when I’m about to start my first Jennifer E. Smith book, knowing how successful her previous books are, I was feeling a mix of excitement and anxiety. But lo and behold, when I reached about only past 20 pages, I’ve instantly fallen in love with Smith’s writing style.

Windfall tells the story of three best friends, Alice, Teddy, and Leo, and It’s being told on Alice’s voice. On Teddy’s 18^th birthday, Alice decided to buy him a lottery ticket as a birthday present. The next thing they know, Teddy is a millionaire!

Alice is in love with her best friend, Teddy, and Alice doesn’t think that Teddy feels the same way. When Teddy won the lottery (huge thanks to Alice), everything started to change – well, in a way. The first thing that came into my mind when the “winning a lottery” was mentioned, was that, it will go in the head of the character who won. And I was right! It doesn’t happen all the time, that’s for sure, but it’s pretty predictable.

Very contemporary… with more depth

I expected this book to be very mushy, fluffy, and light read, just like any other contemporary book I’ve read so far. You know, something that will make you roll on your bed at the middle of the night, because they finally kissed or something. While it didn’t make me roll on my bed because they kissed or something, this is definitely a fluffy and light read… but with more depth on most parts about the life of Alice.

When it came to the part where Alice has to make choices for her life, or when she talks about her past, it was pretty relatable. Some parts were pretty dramatic, and if I’m a very emotional person, I’d probably cry my heart on those parts. Well, I did feel really emotional, but not to the point of tearing up.

The characters

I liked Alice’s character. There are many protagonists who are just “okay” to me, because most times, they annoy the hell out of me. But Alice – this lady is just someone with a genuinely good heart. There are times when I feel like she’s too kind (especially to Teddy), that makes her look like a weak character. But it’s just her nature, and I understand that because I know people in real world who are like that.

Teddy on the other hand, is my least favorite character in all of Windfall characters. I mean, actually, he’s never my favorite, and I hated his character for the most part of the book, and he’s mostly the reason why I didn’t rate this higher than my current rating. Teddy is the best friend whom Alice is in love with, and the one who won the lottery.

As I’ve mentioned, him winning millions of dollars immediately went to his head. When Alice tried to be a good best friend and tried to give him advice, he was a jerk, and I hated the fact that Alice still likes him even after his actions. I can write another two paragraphs of “why I hate Teddy McAvoy” but I’m afraid I’ll spoil everything, so I’ll just leave it like this.

The good thing is…

Teddy managed to redeem himself at the near end of the book. I’m still not a big fan of him, but I don’t hate him just as much. He just fell short on my radar. If Smith developed Sawyer’s character – that other guy who likes Alice – all the way through the story, I’ll probably go cheer him for Alice. But Smith was really smart on Sawyer’s existence. I managed to avoid building a strong attachment to Sawyer, enough to avoid a “second lead syndrome” and I thank Smith for that.

Lastly, Leo and his parents – I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOOOOOOVE LEO and his parents. You know, there is always “that” one character who saves the whole book – and that’s Leo for me. Leo is Alice’s cousin and partner in crime. Even Alice mentioned that Leo is the most sensible one among them, and I couldn’t agree more! I also love Leo’s parents, the people who raised Alice. They’re cool!

Best friend relationship

To be honest, I have a soft spot for best friend relationships, and that didn’t help at all. Most times, these best-friends-turned-to-lover relationships frustrate the hell out me *cough* Love, Rosie *cough*, but I still love them.

Final verdict

There are some situations where I cringed, mostly because of Teddy, but overall, I enjoyed my first Jennifer E. Smith. It’s a very light, entertaining, and easy read that you’ll enjoy reading on summers.

I’ll definitely read more of Jennifer E. Smith books.

* My Overall Rating *

The post ARC Review: Windfall by Jennifer E. Smith appeared first on The Nocturnal Fey.

Hey guys! I have another book subscription box unboxing, and this time, it’s from OwlCrate!

I know that I don’t have to tell you guys who, or what is OwlCrate subscription box. This subscription box is pretty popular among readers, and I’ve been dying to get my hands on one of their boxes!

* April 2017 – Head Over Heels OwlCrate *

Disclaimer: I was chosen as one of the April 2017 reps of OwlCrate Box to help them promote throughout social media platforms. I received the Head Over Heels OwlCrate box directly from the OwlCrate team.

I was so lucky to be chosen as one of the 50 April 2017 OwlCrate reps and be able to do an unboxing for the Head Over Heels box. It’s also my first OwlCrate ever that’s why it’s so precious, special, and exciting! A DREAM COME TRUE!

I already did an Instagram story unboxing of this one, and I’ve already posted a couple of photos of the contents of this box. But today, I’m going to list down a fully detailed unboxing and my thoughts about April’s theme and its contents.

Let’s go!

* April 2017 Theme *

April 2017’s theme is “Head Over Heels”. According to their theme description, it is for fans of Rainbow Rowell, Stephanie Perkins, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and Sarah J. Maas’ ACOTAR. I’m immediately sold! I already figured out that the book is going to be a contemporary, squishy, fluffy, read!

* What’s Inside The Box *

The Head Over Heels OwlCrate Box includes:

• Monthly OwlCrate print (content spoilers at the back), the following month’s theme print
• A Court of Mist and Fury print by @eviebookish
• Simon and The Homo Sapiens Agenda quote keychain by @bookwormboutique 
• Pride and Prejudice headband (which I’m wearing) by @storiarts
• Park & Eleanor candle by @novellyyours
• Anna and The French Kiss tea by @theteaspot
• An OwlCrate pin
• Sneak peak to Umberland, the sequel to Everland by Wendy Spinale
• Hardcover copy The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli which includes a letter from the author, signed bookplate, and a cute emoji sticker

First up are the prints! The one with “Early Bird” cafe is the monthly content spoiler print. The one below it, is the theme for May which is “COMIC EXPLOSION”. And right beside those two is the lovely print from Evie (@eviebookish on Instagram)

I haven’t read the ACOTAR series yet (I know, don’t kill me). But, I really love Evie’s print! I already framed it and put it on my shelf and I’ll probably love it even more when I jump onto the ACOTAR bandwagon. Haha

Next one, is this Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda keychain from Bookworm Boutique. As a keychain collector, this one is easily one of my favorites in this box! I haven’t read this series yet. It’s also by Becky Albertalli, and that quote is really cute!

And here’s the Anna and The French Kiss tea by The Tea Spot! I LOVE TEA!!! I already sipped this one. It’s chocolate cherry bomb flavor and when I opened it, it smells so chocolate-y!  Yum!

Subtle Bookishness

This one is Pride and Prejudice book band headband by Storiarts. An Instagram user commented on my post that it’s a “subtle bookishness”. So true! It’s a little big for me, but I only need to use pins to avoid it from falling off my head. Haha. It’s so stylish!

If you guys can’t tell, all the things from what I’ve mentioned so far are my favorites! So is this one! Here is Park & Eleanor candle by Novelly Yours Candles, which is obviously, inspired by Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. The scent is vanilla, and I’m obsessed with vanilla scented candles, so, this is just so perfect!

Next one, is the sneak peak for the Everland‘s sequel, Umberland by Wendy Spinale. I haven’t read this series yet. OwlCrate’s Steampunk box previously featured Everland.

Then, we have the cute little “Early Bird” pin which is related to the content spoiler card print. Go back and check. Lol!

New Young Adult Book Release

Lastly, the book for Head Over Heels OwlCrate is a YA contemporary new release, The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli.

It was released on April 11th, 2017. And I’ve been hearing a lot of great things about this book. From bloggers, from my friends, from booktubers, who have read the ARC of this one. I also don’t always read synopsis of books, but I did for this one, and YES! I’m sold! I know I’m going to like this one! If you want to know more about this book, check it on Goodreads by clicking the button below!

Woohoo! That’s it!

I’m so in love with the Head Over Heels box! This may sound biased, but not really! It’s like I’m meant for this one! Haha. I love tea, I love vanilla scented candle, I love keychains, I love the headband, the prints, I love everything about this box!

Let me know on the comments below what you think of the Head Over Heels OwlCrate box and its contents.

May OwlCrate theme is “COMIC EXPLOSION“

I’d like to thank Korrina and the whole team OwlCrate for letting me experience the OwlCrate magic! This is my first OwlCrate and it’s absolutely not going to be the last.

For all first time OwlCrate subscriber, or if you’re buying a gift, you can use the code “APRILFUN” to get a discount on your purchase. Visit their website at owlcrate.com.

USE “APRILFUN” FOR A DISCOUNT

Also, check out their other social media accounts and join their monthly challenges if you’re a current subscriber for a chance to win your next OwlCrate box: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

The post Unboxing: April 2017 OwlCrate [Head Over Heels] appeared first on The Nocturnal Fey.

Title: Am I Normal Yet?
Series: The Spinster Club #1
Author: Holly Bourne
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Friendship
Publisher: Usborne Publishing
Release Date: August 1, 2015
Format: Paperback
Pages: 433
ISBN13: 9781409590309

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All Evie wants is to be normal. She’s almost off her meds and at a new college where no one knows her as the girl-who-went-crazy. She’s even going to parties and making friends. There’s only one thing left to tick off her list…

But relationships are messy – especially relationships with teenage guys. They can make any girl feel like they’re going mad. And if Evie can’t even tell her new friends Amber and Lottie the truth about herself, how will she cope when she falls in love?

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REVIEW

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Reviewer’s note: This book review has been long overdue. I’ve been going through something these past months. I’m in the process of catching up. Apologies to the publishers and authors I owe book reviews. Going there. – Cheers, Erika 

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There are three major things that I like about Am I Normal Yet by Holly Bourne:

1. It is a fun, easy, and fast read.
2. A book that will make you feel like you are playing the main protagonist. Like, whatever is going on in her head, is also going on in my head.
3. It talks about important issues.

After reading Am I Normal Yet, the first thing that came to my mind was – “I have to get the second book! ASAP!” (Thankfully, Usborne YA was kind enough to provide a review copy of the sequel.) But before jumping unto the sequel, let me talk about Am I Normal Yet first.

Am I Normal Yet is the first book in the Spinster Club series by Holly Bourne.

If I’m not mistaken, the series was formerly called Normal series. The Spinster Club is a feminist series, but it also focus on other important topics such as mental health awareness, and I’m going to talk a lot about it on this review.

The main protagonist, Evie, is a teenage girl suffering from a mental illness, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. She was tired of getting called the “crazy girl” back in high school, so, now that she’s going college, she wants to live a normal life. So, she decided to hide her OCD from the friends she’ll soon meet.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect before reading this book, because honestly, it’s not in my TBR until I got my copy. I don’t usually read synopsis when choosing a book, which is probably weird (lol), but just like that, I dived into this without any idea of what it’s all about.

A fun, yet serious story with important topics.

Considering the sensitive topics that are addressed into this book, which also turned some events in serious situations, Holly Bourne still managed to add fun and humor into the story, overall. I don’t think I got bored in any way, because I just kept going. The fun parts were always when Evie is together with her friends Amber and Lotte – whom you’ll see in the next books in the series.

Holly Bourne’s writing is also very easy to absorb. I also already mentioned how reading this feels like I’m inside the head of Evie. Holly Bourne manage to pull me. When Evie is experiencing panic-attacks, it’s as if I am also experiencing the same thing in the real world. Which is the thing about this book! It is realistic.

Let’s talk about OCD.

You’ve probably heard about people say stuff like “I’m feeling OC.” Or in the cases of bookworms, when we own a book series that are not in the same height or formats, we get anxious. I am guilty of that! I sometimes use that expression, or rather, I sometimes misuse the term.

The thing here in Am I Normal Yet is the “more serious” case of OCD. The real thing. This book is an eye-opener about OCD. Many people use the term OCD as a means of expression, when they feel like, or when they see people arranging, or organizing things – a stereotype about OCD. People often think that individuals suffering from this disorder are just those being extremely neat, or organized. Which can be the case, but there’s certainly more than just being a neat freak.

Evie is in my head.

Reading in Evie’s voice, made me realize how hard it is to suffer from mental illness. Not just OCD, but all kinds of mental health disorders – anxiety, depression, etc.

I may not be someone knowledgeable about mental disorders, but after reading this, it just felt like I somehow understand, at least a little. Your own mind is eating you. You are fighting against yourself.

Evie is suffering from an OCD, and anxiety at the same time. Her panic-attack are hard to forget. And there’s one thing that broke my heart. She’s just washing her hands, like any other people do. Nope. She’s not satisfied. She washed her hands until her hands bled.

It stuck in my head, that I tried to do it for my bookstagram.

Final verdict

This book means a lot to me. As someone who has a family member diagnosed with depression, I think people should read this book to further understand mental health disorder. Or at least, read more books that talks about issues like this – to be aware of what’s going on inside the head of an individual suffering from these kinds of mental disorders.

If you are looking for a book that empowers women, and that talks about important topics like mental health awareness, this is the perfect book to pick.

Holly Bourne deserves an award for her amazing portrayal of what a real OCD is. Read this book now!

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The post Book Review: Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne appeared first on The Nocturnal Fey.

Title: Pushing Pefect
Author: Michelle Falkoff
Genre: YA Contemporary Mystery
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: October 25th 2016
Purchase at: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound

A girl’s quest for perfection results in dangerous consequences in this layered, suspenseful YA novel by the author of Playlist for the Dead.

How far would you go to be perfect?

Kara has the perfect life. She gets perfect grades. She never messes up. Until now. Because perfection is an illusion, and Kara has been struggling to maintain it for as long as she can remember. With so much pressure to succeed, it’s hard not to do whatever it takes.

But when Kara takes a new underground drug to help her ace the SATs, she doesn’t expect to get a text from a blocked sender, telling her to follow a set of mysterious instructions—or risk her dark secret getting out. Soon she finds herself part of a group of teens with secrets of their own, who are all under the thumb of the same anonymous texter. And if they don’t find a way to stop the blackmailer, their perfect futures will go up in flames.

This dark, emotionally resonant contemporary YA novel is perfect for fans of We Were Liars and The Secret History.

* Excerpts *

The Brain Trust was occupying its regular table when I came into the cafeteria with my brown bag lunch. As always, I had to walk by the drama table, with Isabel sat with her theater friends, and the swim team table, where Becca sat. They didn’t look up when I passed them by. They never did.

Mom had made me spinach salad with quinoa and feta and a lemony dressing. Brain food. She’d done a ton of research into my skin condition and had made me try a million different diets that, just like everything else, did nothing. She’d amped up her game in anticipation of the SAT exam. The test was coming up in a little over a week, and though I’d studied so much I’d worn my Princeton Review guide to shreds, I was terrified to actually take it.

Ever since everything went down with Becca and Isabel, I’d buried myself in schoolwork, spending all my time writing papers and studying for tests and making sure I did as well as I possibly could. It was all I had left. I was still hiding my face with makeup, but sometimes it felt like I was hiding my whole self, too. Or that I didn’t have much self left to hide. By my count, it had been over a year since I’d talked to anyone about anything except school. Even at home, all my parents talked about was how well I was doing, how proud they were of my hard work; they didn’t seem concerned that I was always alone. Sure, Mom had asked about Becca and Isabel at first, but I’d mumbled something about people changing in high school and she’d let it go. I’d convinced myself that everything would be different if I went to the right college.

But I could only do that if I killed it on the SAT.

I’d always been good at taking tests, but the SAT was different. I don’t know if it was just the pressure all by itself or if some secret part of me was convinced that standardized tests would somehow reveal how very not perfect I was, but I’d had a full-on panic attack when I took the PSAT—I hadn’t even finished it. I’d left the room before people could see me freaking out. I was so spooked by the thought of the SAT that I’d put it off until this year, rather than taking it as a junior like everyone else in my classes.

The Brain Trust was a group of kids I’d met in the Gifted and Talented Program back in grade school. We weren’t friends, exactly, but we had all our classes together, and we all shared the common goal of wanting to go to college on the East Coast. Harvard, specifically. Arthur Cho was a classical violinist whose parents didn’t want him to go to Juilliard because they thought it would limit his options; David Singer dreamed of being an entrepreneur like Mark Zuckerberg, even though I kept telling him what my parents told me, which was that Silicon Valley was full of Stanford grads who looked down on people from Harvard. Julia Jackson, my nemesis, was gunning for a particular science scholarship and wanted to go straight from undergrad to Harvard Med.

As for me, I just wanted to get as far away from Marbella as possible. I liked the idea of Harvard because it seemed like the kind of place I could start over, where everything might be different. No one would know me as Perfect Kara there; at a place like Harvard, it would be normal to love math and to care about academics more than anything else. It didn’t necessarily have to be Harvard; any good school out east would do, but my last name was Winter and I’d only ever seen snow in Tahoe. I wanted red and orange leaves in the fall, tulips in spring, baking heat in summer. I wanted change.

“The National Merit Semifinalist list came out today,” Julia said, her voice all sugary. “Didn’t see your name on there.” Julia and I had been in classes together since kindergarten and teachers had been pitting us against each other the whole time. Handwriting competitions in first grade, speed-reading contests in second, multiplication-table races in third—by then it had gotten old for me, but it never had for her. Now I was first in the class, but she was right on my heels, and I knew she’d made it her mission to pass me by.

“Nope,” I said, trying to keep my voice light. “I assume congratulations are in order?”

Julia nodded, as did the other two. Great. So I was the only one. “Well, I’m really happy for you guys.” And I was, but I could also feel the anxiety kicking in. It had become a familiar feeling—I’d get this wave of nausea, then a weird thumping in my head, and then my pulse would start to race. I’d feel cold but get sweaty, which was usually the point when I’d take a walk or something to calm myself down. They were sort of my friends, but they were also my competition, as my guidance counselor kept reminding me. The problem was that they each knew exactly what they wanted, and everything they did was in service of their goals. I had no idea what I wanted, other than knowing it had something to do with math, and that put me at a disadvantage. The only way to make myself stand out—the only way to have a real chance at a new life—was to be valedictorian at one of the most competitive public high schools in the country, which Marbella High was. And to nail the SATs.

Basically, I had to be perfect.

* Buy Links *

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound

Michelle Falkoff’s fiction and reviews have been published in ZYZZYVA, DoubleTake and the Harvard Review, among other places. She is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and currently serves as Director of Communication and Legal Reasoning at Northwestern University School of Law.

Author Links

Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook

* Giveaway *

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“The mother I knew would never do those things. But maybe I never knew her after all.”

Clothes, jokes, coded messages…Cecilia Brooks and her mom shared everything. At least, CeCe thought they did. Six months ago, her mom killed herself after accusations of having sex with a student, and CeCe’s been the subject of whispers and taunts ever since. Now, at the start of her high school senior year, between dealing with her grieving, distracted father, and the social nightmare that has become her life, CeCe just wants to fly under the radar. Instead, she’s volunteering at the school’s crisis hotline—the same place her mother worked.

As she counsels troubled strangers, CeCe’s lingering suspicions about her mom’s death surface. With the help of Sam, a new student and newspaper intern, she starts to piece together fragmented clues that point to a twisted secret at the heart of her community. Soon, finding the truth isn’t just a matter of restoring her mother’s reputation, it’s about saving lives—including CeCe’s own…

* Review *

This is my first Pintip Dunn novel and honestly, I didn’t know what to expect. I joined Dunn’s Forget Tomorrow blog tour last time, but I was only able to do a promotion because I didn’t have enough time to read the book until the tour and regretfully, I have yet to read it until now (so sorry )

My friends love Pintip Dunn, so her books really piqued my interest. Another thing was because this is a thriller/mystery contemporary novel. I’m not a big reader of the said genre and I want to expand my reading selection further, so I thought, this is the perfect time to do it.

And bam! Joining this tour was a good decision! The Darkest Lie was really good and worth the time I spent reading it!

The story revolves around Cece as she found herself on a mission to solve the mysterious death of her mother.

The Darkest Lie may not be the best thriller/mystery YA novel out there, but it surely was quite enjoyable. Sure, it might have been a little too predictable for me, but Pintip Dunn has a really good writing style.

If any, I think the major drawback for me was the level of predictability. I predicted the perpetrator a little too early, but Dunn didn’t really lack in delivering situations that will make you think at some point. Half of the book has great suspense that will make you think deeply. My suspects changed too often as I made progress, but on the other half of the book, I found myself sticking firm with my prediction. And to be honest, it’s quite underwhelming when you guess correctly on a mystery/thriller novel. lol

BUT, having said that, I still wasn’t able to pinpoint the reasons behind all the happenings, and HOW the mystery actually happened, When Dunn was slowly dropping answers, that was the part where I enjoyed the book the most. Had I got my guess of final suspect wrong, I would have rated this perfect 5 stars. It might get a little too tangled up, yes, but smoothing the knots would have been actually the most exciting part, isn’t it? The more complicated a mystery novel is, the more fun. lol

This also involved issues like sexual assault and depression which, I believe, are some of the common sensitive issues faced by the current generation.

Anyway, overall, I really liked this and one thing is for sure… Forget Tomorrow just moved a lot higher on my priority reads after reading The Darkest Lie.

Congratulations on the release, Pintip Dunn!

* About the author *

 

When her first-grade teacher asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up, Pintip replied, “An author.” Although she has pursued other interests over the years, this dream has never wavered.

Pintip graduated from Harvard University, magna cum laude, with an A.B. in English Literature and Language. She received her J.D. at Yale Law School, where she was an editor of the YALE LAW JOURNAL.

Pintip is represented by literary agent Beth Miller of Writers House. She is a 2012 RWA Golden Heart® finalist and a 2014 double-finalist.

She lives with her husband and children in Maryland.

Author Links:
Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook

Book Tour Organized by:

The Royal Polar Bear Reads

 

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