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Review: The Jelly Bean Crisis by Jolene Stockman Blog Tour

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Title: The Jelly Bean Crisis
Author: Jolene Stockman
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: CreateSpace
Release Date: 1 August 2012
Pages:  269 (eARC)


Synopsis
A total meltdown. The whole school watching. Now Poppy’s an ex-straight-A with no Plan B.
When Poppy Johnson throws away a full scholarship to Columbia, she can only blame the jelly beans. The yucky green ones? Midnight cram sessions and Saturday’s spent studying. The delicious red? The family legacy: Columbia, and a future in finance. Except now it’s starting to look like Poppy’s jelly bean theory is wrong. School has been her life until, but maybe it’s time to start living now.
Poppy has thirty days to try a new life. No school, no studying. Just jumping into every possible world. Thirty days to find her passion, her path, and maybe even love. The Jelly Bean Crisis is officially on. 

My Rating

* * * * *
The Review

If anyone told Poppy Johnson on a Thursday that she would be a career-oriented yes-person starting Saturday, she’d have laughed in your face. Poppy’s priorities are as solid as a rock and taped inside her locker door: from the Denton Award right down to the smiley face. But then she goes for her English class, where everyone is reading their career essays. And what do you know, after English, Poppy’s Jelly Bean theory is giving off splinters! All because of Lucy who breezes through life and writes with glitter pens.

Nothing like a I-can-do-or-have-anything-I-want-just-because-I-want-it teenager to get you to have second-thoughts on your err- whole life. Especially if you thrive on a Jelly Bean theory. How can Lucy go for the red jelly beans without getting rid of the green sucky ones, or the getting-there purple and orange ones? Then her path crosses with Mrs Young’s, the guidance counsellor, who offers her a chat on Columbian insolence. Poppy cannot get the thought out of her mind that maybe she has done it the wrong way her whole life.

So along she goes and gets her way with her parents. But only for a month, her snap month, where everything just clicks into place. Hopefully. From cookie dough to chicken tractors to media releases and free labour, Poppy dives head-on to take initiative to find the thing that makes her happy. She definitely has the energy!

With friends who might just almost miss the whole point of a gap month and running into the Stratford guy everywhere, what’s a girl to do? Also, Nana, her grandmother, has taken the plunge herself and is going to college. At seventy. Does that mean Poppy has all the time in the world to figure out what to do? Maybe.  It’s a good thing that Poppy writes in her journal when an idea strikes; her jumbled thoughts making sense on paper. The way she writes is so classy that the words just popped out of the pages at me.

Poppy is one feisty and bubbly character, she’s outspoken but sophisticatedly so. She’s reserved, but not so much that she passes on the joy of living. Poppy is a very alive character and I loved every minute I spent with her. She catches on fast with a great learning insight and uncertainty because of that smiley she definitely wants in her life. And if the Denton Award and Columbia cannot give her that, then what’s the point?

The Jelly Bean Crisis is surely a very entertaining, gaining and an engrossing fiction debut by Jolene Stockman. Poppy is such a likeable character, a nice straight-A student who has had a meltdown. No pressure. I loved the writing style of Jolene, it just grabs you and keeps on surprising with such wonderful lines. It’s also hilarious, case in point: “The whispers bubble up from all corners of the hall. My nightmare has surround sound.” So when I finally got to the last page of The Jelly Bean Crisis, I was smiling a happy smile.

Best Quotes:
“All free brain-space is marinating in gap month fizz. I chew my pen, candy-cane style. The million possibilities ahead make it hard to care about right now. I write my answers slowly, each letter carved in stone not ballpoint. I’m going to explore the world, find my passion, try everything! The fizz shoots up my spine and a smile sprouts.“
“A darkened theater. Final whispers. Black. The projector streams through. The picture surrounds. I fall away. You reach me.” 

“Poppy, there’s something deep down inside you that never changes. It just waits to be more of itself. That little, shiny glow knows who you are meant to be. It knows all the good you are capable of doing and being. It believes in you. It tingles when you think about how you want this world to be. It’s made of the same stuff as stars. The same stuff as Shakespeare. That’s the only part worth listening to.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jolene Stockman is an award winning writer, speaker, and an expert for Girlfriend Magazine Australia. She is a Master of Neuro Linguistic Programming, and one of the youngest in the world to achieve the Distinguished Toastmaster Award.
Jolene lives in New Zealand, and is the author of Total Blueprint for World Domination. The Jelly Bean Crisis is her debut fiction.

Jolene Stockman can be found at 

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Thanks to Jolene Stockman and ATOMR for providing me a copy of The Jelly Bean Crisis for review.

Review: The Color of Snow by Brenda Stanley Blog Tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK

young adult contemporary published by Tribute Books on 1 June 2012

Can a troubled young girl reenter society after living in isolation?

When a beautiful 16-year-old girl named Sophie is found sequestered in a cage-like room in a rundown house in the desolate hills of Arbon Valley, Idaho, the entire community is shocked to learn she is the legendary Callidora–a baby girl who was kidnapped from her crib almost seventeen years ago and canonized in missing posters with portraits of what the fabled girl might resemble. Authorities soon learn that the cage was there to protect people from Sophie, because her biological father believes she is cursed.
Sophie is discovered after the man she knows as Papa, shoots and injures Damien, a young man who is trying to rescue her. Now, unsocialized and thrust into the world, and into a family she has never met, Sophie must decide whether she should accept her Papa’s claims that she is cursed and he was only trying to protect others, or trust the new people in her life who have their own agendas. Guided by a wise cousin, Sophie realizes that her most heartbreaking challenge is to decide if her love for Damien will destroy him like her Papa claims, or free her from past demons that haunt her mind.

THE RATING

THE REVIEW

‘It had snowed over five inches the day I was born, and it wasn’t until the day I was saved that the snow was as deep or as blue.’

When I began reading The Color of Snow it never occurred to me that the first line of the book will sound so beautiful at the end. It also never occurred to me that Brenda Stanley would overwhelm me to the point of feeling and empathizing with the characters as though they were real and breathing. That their happiness, their sorrow, their dreams will hum a tune I will recognize as my own.

The Color of Snow is longer than a typical contemporary book but it is different than any other book I have ever read. It reminded me that indeed, it is always darkest before dawn and that pain and suffering is not the end of the world. I was intrigued that despite being contemporary, how could it be that the mystery does not have any paranormal element in it. Needless to say, I ended up admiring the mystery part of the story.

Sophie has lived in isolation all her life because of the belief that people need to be protected from her. She doesn’t know why this needs to be but she understands it and had adjusted to her life. Sophie’s upbringing is done in a very unusual way with some very strange religious concepts. They do not have a mirror in their home for instance, because it takes away the focus from God to vanity. Luke Theotokis, her father, is rumoured to have kidnapped his own daughter from her mother’s home after she died during childbirth.

In all its entirety, The Color of Snow is paced perfectly and the alternating chapters of Brenda’s story, the events leading up to her birth (Luke’s story) and a part of Brenda’s younger version all blend together to form a very emotive and thought-provoking tale. I found myself thoroughly engrossed in the story Luke had to tell and what changed him from being an atheist to such a religious person. How Sophie adjusts to her life in her grandparents’ home and with Stephanie after her father is taken away to jail for attempted murder of Damien. And just how Damien entered Sophie’s life.

The Color of Snow is a heartbreaking story of Sophie adjusting to a normal life, letting go of her beliefs and  finally, discovering herself. The title is very significant to her story and I admired how Stephanie played a significant role in saving Sophie. The Color of Snow is a gem of a book and I admire Brenda Stanley for writing such an intense book.

THE QUOTE

‘As I stood taking in the view like a rebirth, I couldn’t help but notice the snow. I marveled at how deep it was, how endless it seemed…and how blue.’

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brenda Stanley is the former news anchor at her NBC affiliate KPVI in Eastern Idaho. Her writing has been recognized by the Scripps Howard Foundation, the Hearst Journalism Awards, the Idaho Press Club and the Society for Professional Journalists. She is a graduate of Dixie College in St. George, Utah, and the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Brenda lived for two years in Ballard, Utah, within the Fort Duchesne reservation where the novel is set. She and her husband live on a small ranch near the Snake River with their horses and dogs.


Brenda Stanley can be found at 
Tribute Books can be found at
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Thanks to Tribute Books for providing me a copy of The Color of Snow for review.

Review: Fall For You by Cecilia Gray Blog Tour

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Title: Fall For You (The Jane Austen Academy Series, #1)
Author: Cecilia Gray
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: CreateSpace
Release Date: 10 February 2012
Pages: 70 (eARC)


Synopsis
To say Lizzie and Dante are polar opposites is the understatement of the century. He’s a snooty Exeter transfer with more money than Google. She’s a driven study-a-holic barely keeping up with tuition. It’s obvious that Dante thinks he’s way too good for Lizzie. And Lizzie knows Dante is a snob with a gift for pushing her buttons.
But things are changing fast this year at the Academy. And when Lizzie’s quest to stop those changes blows up in her face, taking her oldest friendship with it, she has nowhere else to turn but to Dante, with his killer blue eyes, his crazy-sexy smile, and his secrets… Secrets Lizzie can’t seem to leave alone, no matter how hard she tries…

My Rating

* * *
The Review

Fall For You is a quick read which offers just what it promises to the reader. The book opens in the middle of a crisis brewing. For Lizzie, that is. Everything she has known as home in Jasta (that would be her beloved Jane Austen Academy) is being wrenched away from her. But she might have a chance of saving Jasta from the indifference of the new owners and the cunningness of Headmistress Berg. And you can be sure she is going to take that chance.

Tired of her life in Chicago where her parents are always busy and the non-existent friends, Lizzie is more than glad to be back at Jasta for her junior year. But things have taken a turn for the worse unbeknownst to Lizzie.

Lizzie takes up the position of Gazette‘s managing director and becomes Anne’s (her nemesis) room mate in exchange for withdrawing her request for rooming with Ellie, her best friend. Lizzie actually wants to halt whatever improvements Headmistress Berg is preparing for. As if it wasn’t enough to admit boys in Jasta and to give up the privacy of their single rooms.

Now all Lizzie has to do is help Anne throw a fabulous Welcome Back dance and find out who the new owners of Jasta are at the cost of her friendship with Ellie whose finding a new close friend in Emma. Then Dante literally falls into her unwilling lap because she has to feature the children of the parents in the Trust. Can she trust him or he’s being helpful for his own selfish gain?

As Fall For You is a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are reflected in Lizze and Dante. For Lizze, it is about being quick-witted and adept when it comes to news while for Dante, prejudices can often end up being well, not accurate.

The plot was a little unrelateable for my liking but Fall For You is fast-paced and the motivation of Lizzie in saving Jasta made me want to go on reading it to find out her next step. Fall For You is the first book in a six story series. I enjoyed reading it and it is definitely a new spin to the usual offered in stories set in high school.

Best Quote:

“She turned to leave, her heart pounding. But even as she felt the fear of what she’d done, it was eclipsed by the joy of being back on her own two feet, on her own terms again.”

About the Author

Cecilia Gray lives in Oakland where she reads, writes and breaks for food. She also pens her biographies in the third person. Like this. As if to trick you into thinking someone else wrote it because she is important. Alas, this is not the case.

Cecilia has been praised for “instilling a warmth and weight into her characters” (Romancing The Book Reviews) and her books have been praised for being “well-written, original, realistic and witty” (Quills & Zebras Reviews).

Several of her titles – including A Delightful Arrangement (The Gentlemen Next Door #1) and An Illicit Engagement (The Gentlemen Next Door #2) – have spent, in her view, a shocking amount of time on bestseller lists for romance, historical romance and regency romance in the US, UK, Italy and Spain.

She’s rather enamored of being contacted by readers and hopes you’ll oblige.

Cecilia Gray can be found at 

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Buy Fall For You (The Jane Austen Academy Series, #1)

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Thanks to Cecilia Gray and ATOMR for providing me a copy of Fall For You for review.

Review: Holding on to Zoe by George Ella Lyon

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Title: Holding on to Zoe

Genre: Young Adult, Realistic, Contemporary
Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux
Release Date: 17 July 2012
Pages: 166 (Paperback)

Synopsis
After sixteen-year-old Jules has her baby, Zoe, it doesn’t matter anymore that her mother thinks she’s a drama queen, or that her father left them years ago, or even that Zoe’s father is gone, too. She and her baby make a family now; she doesn’t need anyone else in the world except Zoe. Though it’s tough being a new mom, balancing Zoe’s needs with working at the Toyota factory and thinking about how to finish school, Jules is sure she’ll figure it out. Still, she wonders, why can’t anyone be happy for her and Zoe? And why does her mom refuse to believe that Zoe’s real?
My Rating
* * *
The Review

Sometimes people take extreme measures to live in denial and sometimes, just sometimes, a person is blissfully unaware of going to that extreme level. Life finally catches up with them and they end up getting out of it a better human being. So does that mean that the mind needs its own time to come to terms with their life to carry on? Maybe.
Jules is living a normal life, better than some. But she has lost one thing: a chance at having a normal family ever since her father skipped town when she was five and her mother went into an all-work-no-time-for-Jules mentality. She has her reasons though, to fulfil the expenses and everything. But is that enough of a reason to be ignorant of the emotional needs of your only daughter? Maybe so; if you’re born an unemotional, no touchy-feely type of a mother.
But Jules have Reba and then she gets pregnant. Having a baby will mean a family and so Jules go over the top when the doctor talks about getting rid of the baby which is easier now that Jules is having an ectopic pregnancy. That doesn’t sit well with Jules and she relents. Damon may have also chosen to skipped town, if forcefully by his mother, and ignore the existence of their baby even when he swore he never would. But for Jules, Zoe is a lifeline. So it’s only logical that Jules feels overprotective for Zoe when her mother tells her to drop the drama and Reba is all uncomfortable whenever she mentions Zoe. Only Dr. Douglas understands and Jules feels comfortable talking to her because she’s the first person to accept Zoe.
Holding on to Zoe is a gripping mystery of Jules life after she gets pregnant and the outcome of being 16-and-pregnant. It is a short book and I finished it in a few hours. The book left me thinking how people choose to cope with the difficulties in their lives.
The poem, Fire and Ice by Robert Frost, mentioned in Holding on to Zoe perfectly defines what Jules is going through. It is a beautiful way to describe the story: how hard the process of letting go and of acceptance is.

“Some say the world will end in fire
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.”

Best Quote(s):

“I just know when I quit looking to other people for directions, I found my own map.“

Thanks to MacMillan Books and Farra, Straus and Giroux Books for providing me a copy of Holding on to Zoe for review.

Review: Knee Deep by Jolene Perry Blog Tour

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Title: Knee Deep
Author: Jolene Perry
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Tribute Books
Release Date: 1 May 2012
Pages: 239 (eBook)


Synopsis
Shawn is the guy Ronnie Bird promised her life to at the age of fourteen. He’s her soul mate. He’s more uptight every day, but it’s not his fault. His family life is stressful, and she’s adding to it. She just needs to be more understanding, and he’ll start to be the boy she fell in love with. She won’t give up on someone she’s loved for so long.
Luke is her best friend, and the guy she hangs with to watch girlie movies in her large blanketopias. He’s the guy she can confide in before she even goes to her girlfriends, and the guy who she’s playing opposite in Romeo and Juliet. Now her chest flutters every time he gets too close. This is new. Is Ronnie falling for him? Or is Juliet? The lines are getting blurry, but leaving one guy for another is not something that a girl like Ronnie does.
Shawn’s outbursts are starting to give her bruises, and Luke’s heart breaks as Ronnie remains torn. While her thoughts and feelings swirl around the lines between friendship and forever, she’s about to lose them both.
My Rating
* * * *
The Review

Knee Deep is all about immersing oneself more than one can take and there is only one driving force behind it: the fear of letting go. When I started reading Knee Deep, I never thought it would be such an emotional ride for Ronnie, Shawn and Luke. To see Ronnie mature emotionally was a very unlikely experience for me as it gave me insight into the reason for staying in relationships that end up bringing one down.
It’s hard to break out of one’s comfortable zone and Ronnie taught me how difficult it could be. Not that I didn’t get the urge to shake some sense into her. Ronnie is an insecure and confused character in the book. She is so desperate to keep things with Shawn at peace that she keeps stepping on her wishes time and again. 
Ever since Shawn came back after the summer, he has been tight-lipped, moody and gets easily upset. So much that Ronnie and they end up arguing every other day. But Ronnie knows that things at home are not alright with Shawn. She knows that she is just adding to the list of problems rather than helping him come out of the funk. 
To make matters more perplexing, Ronnie gets the role of Juliet’s understudy but end up playing her role opposite Luke. Now she has to keep her growing attraction towards Luke under wraps by convincing herself what she feels for Luke is due to Juliet, not herself. She knows she is treading on dangerous ground here but Shawn is her soul mate and all of this will blow over once the play is over.
But Shawn’s behavior is making Ronnie more and more afraid of him but unable to do anything about it, she takes the next best option: she bears the physical pain because it is definitely a small episode. However, things only take a turn for worse. Especially after the play when Luke comes clean about his feelings and Shawn is waiting outside for Ronnie so that they could be alright again. 
Knee Deep kept me on my toes towards the end and I can only say how much I appreciated Jolene Perry for pointing out the importance that sometimes not being in a relationship is good for a person. Not saying how it ended though. On a side note, I really liked the dressing sense of Ronnie and her wedge heels, too. Knee Deep is a roller-coaster ride of emotions and I highly recommend it to the readers of contemporary YA.
Best Quote:

“Why is it that I can sit there and listen to their stories and know exactly what they should have done, but had no idea what to do in my own story? My story that’s my LIFE. If it’s so important, why didn’t I know what to do?”

About the Author
Jolene grew up in Wasilla, Alaska. She graduated from Southern Utah University with a degree in political science and French, which she used to teach math to middle schoolers.

After living in Washington, Utah and Las Vegas, she now resides in Alaska with her husband, and two children. Aside from writing, Jolene sews, plays the guitar, sings when forced, and spends as much time outside as possible.
She is also the author of Night Sky and The Next Door Boys.

Jolene Perry can be found at 

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Thanks to Tribute Books for providing me a copy of Knee Deep for review.