Today I'm excited to be taking part in the My Invented Life blog tour hosted by:
With Roz and Eva everything becomes a contest—who can snag the best role in the school play, have the cutest boyfriend, pull off the craziest prank. Still, they’re as close as sisters can be. Until Eva deletes Roz from her life like so much junk e-mail for no reason that Roz understands. Now Eva hangs out with the annoyingly petite cheerleaders, and Roz fantasizes about slipping bovine growth hormone into their Gatorade.Roz has a suspicion about Eva. In turn, Eva taunts Roz with a dare, which leads to an act of total insanity. Drama geeks clamor for attention, Shakespearean insults fly, and Roz steals the show in Lauren Bjorkman’s hilarious debut novel
For my leg of this tour, I was asked to read and give an honest review of this book. So without further delay, here it is!
I was given this book for an honest review as part of a blog tour through http://www.crossroadreviews.com. Receiving this book for free in no way influenced my opinion or review.
I have to say that at first I could not get into this book. I rarely read contemporary fiction because I usually can't get engrossed in the characters. But I have to say that once I got about half way through the book, I was drawn in and really liked what I saw.
First I have to say that I really loved the characters. They are all very relatable and fun. Roz is spunky and straight forward, often to a fault. And I love that she is not afraid to say she is a geek, that she hangs out with geeks, and that she really does love it. She is kind and loving and over everything else, she is curious! Curious about herself and curious about those around her. She tends to get caught up in drama, which is not surprising when you're talking about teenage girls, that's for sure. Her relationships with her friends and family wax and wane, one minute she has a best friend, the next she's moving on to someone else who fits her bill. You would think this would have made her wishy washy, but she truly was not. She just seemed to me a teen going through the process of growing up. And you can see that all Roz really wants is to be surrounded by friends and family who love her and appreciate her for who she is.
The supporting cast is a nice mix of male and female characters playing a variety of roles in shaping Roz as a person. Her sister comes off as flippant, but really she is afraid of exposing her secrets to anyone around her and not being accepted. Her friend Andie doesn't care one bit what others think, and will go to extreme lengths to show it. Bryan is your high-school jock who treats women like they are play things, but blinds them with his charm first. Johnathan is that guy you always wanted to be friends with and could confide in because he would keep your secret. Carmen is the bitch you never thought you'd be friendly with, but end up loving and keeping all her secrets. And Nico, the typical theater geek with the crush that he doesn't want to pursue because he's afraid he'll be rejected. Together, they make for an interesting mix of friends and family who help Roz come to terms with who she really is.
I enjoyed the underlying theme of the book: basically teens trying to figure themselves out and figure out where they fit in with the world. And Bjorkman does it in a way that is fun and comical. I have read one other book by this author and I really did enjoy it (also a contemporary novel). The author truly has a handle on writing that flows well and keeps you interested in what the characters are saying and doing. I loved how Bjorkman used Shakespearean epitaphs throughout the book, really showcasing the "geekdom" that has befallen the theater crowd of this book. It made things fun and light hearted.
Bjorkman balanced the elements of friends and family, love and lust, geekdom and popularity in a light hearted and fun way touching on many issues that plague teens in this day and age. I commend her for a job well done.
I have to say that at first I could not get into this book. I rarely read contemporary fiction because I usually can't get engrossed in the characters. But I have to say that once I got about half way through the book, I was drawn in and really liked what I saw.
First I have to say that I really loved the characters. They are all very relatable and fun. Roz is spunky and straight forward, often to a fault. And I love that she is not afraid to say she is a geek, that she hangs out with geeks, and that she really does love it. She is kind and loving and over everything else, she is curious! Curious about herself and curious about those around her. She tends to get caught up in drama, which is not surprising when you're talking about teenage girls, that's for sure. Her relationships with her friends and family wax and wane, one minute she has a best friend, the next she's moving on to someone else who fits her bill. You would think this would have made her wishy washy, but she truly was not. She just seemed to me a teen going through the process of growing up. And you can see that all Roz really wants is to be surrounded by friends and family who love her and appreciate her for who she is.
The supporting cast is a nice mix of male and female characters playing a variety of roles in shaping Roz as a person. Her sister comes off as flippant, but really she is afraid of exposing her secrets to anyone around her and not being accepted. Her friend Andie doesn't care one bit what others think, and will go to extreme lengths to show it. Bryan is your high-school jock who treats women like they are play things, but blinds them with his charm first. Johnathan is that guy you always wanted to be friends with and could confide in because he would keep your secret. Carmen is the bitch you never thought you'd be friendly with, but end up loving and keeping all her secrets. And Nico, the typical theater geek with the crush that he doesn't want to pursue because he's afraid he'll be rejected. Together, they make for an interesting mix of friends and family who help Roz come to terms with who she really is.
I enjoyed the underlying theme of the book: basically teens trying to figure themselves out and figure out where they fit in with the world. And Bjorkman does it in a way that is fun and comical. I have read one other book by this author and I really did enjoy it (also a contemporary novel). The author truly has a handle on writing that flows well and keeps you interested in what the characters are saying and doing. I loved how Bjorkman used Shakespearean epitaphs throughout the book, really showcasing the "geekdom" that has befallen the theater crowd of this book. It made things fun and light hearted.
Bjorkman balanced the elements of friends and family, love and lust, geekdom and popularity in a light hearted and fun way touching on many issues that plague teens in this day and age. I commend her for a job well done.
So there it is! I also posted my review on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. If you get a chance, pick this gem up. It's a fun read!
And just fill out the Rafflecopter below to win a copy of this awesome book!
And just fill out the Rafflecopter below to win a copy of this awesome book!
It's kind of odd this book is touring, since it came out a while ago. Though I guess this gives another group of readers the opportunity to hear about it.
ReplyDeleteThe cover is really cute- I don't usually like close ups of faces, but these girls look like real people, and I like all the freckles :)
Yes that was the entire thing about this tour. To make sure people know about this wonderful book!
ReplyDelete