Monday 24 June 2013

Perfect Clouds Blog tour!

Hey Guys!
So I have had the privillage to read these two books as part of the Playlist street team! and let me tell you first of all, if you're looking for a review that's slating these books. You're not getting it here! and I'm part of the blog tour. Let's start with Perfect Glass since I finished that one first :)

Perfect Glass - Laura Anderson Kurk;


Book Blurb:

Things get messy when Meg Kavanagh gets involved—first with Jo Russell, the eccentric old artist, and then with Quinn O’Neill, the intriguing loner who can’t hide how he feels about Meg. Her senior year isn’t turning out like she planned it, but sometimes the best parts of life happen in the in-between moments. And Henry will be home soon, right?

He commits to one year in an orphanage that needs him more than he ever dreamed. Thousands of miles from Meg and the new punk who has fallen for her, and absent from the ranch that’s in his blood, Henry Whitmire finds out what it means to trust. When you’re so far from home, it’s terrifying to realize you’re not who you thought. But the perfect glass of calamity makes the best mirror.

An identity crisis, long distance love, new temptation, and growing pains teach Henry and Meg how to hang onto each other and to what really matters.

From YA author Laura Anderson Kurk comes the sequel to Glass Girl, a lyrical, multi-generational story about love that teaches, loss that haunts empty rooms, and reunions that feel like redemption.

My review:
Gosh, I loved glass girl so much and sometimes sequels are disappointing for me but this one in a lot of ways was even better! I loved Henry's point of view. His point of view is so different to Megs which is of huge credit to Laura, boys are hard to write! but I think his perceptive is needed and amazing, because at this point in his life, his whole thinking can't revolve around Meg like it could in Glass girl when he was still in high school. He has a lot going on around him in Managua, and he's really trying to get it right when everything is falling down around him. I love the depth his character got in this book as apposed to glass girl. and That Quinn! I could write pages on how much I hate him, I don't care if he was a nice guy I still hate him! but unforunately I can't really explain why I hate him without some spoilers, so let's just say he's just not my type of guy :P One character that I really noticed that I kind of forgot about in my review of Glass Girl is Thanet which I'm kind of ashamed of because I got so mixed up in the Romance that I forgot him :-\ Sorry Thanet! But I loved him because as a daughter of someone with Cerebral Palsy I think Laura got it perfectly. It's a hinderince but it's not the person. At times I forgot Thanet even had it until something happened that made it important again! Because Sometimes people think that because someone has a disability they are completely different but Thanet is portrayed as a completely normal teenager. And I love his little crush! I've just noticed I haven't even foccused on Meg yet. I loved her relationship with Jo, and how she didn't give up on her like so many would with someone who was originally so rude to them. I also liked her worry and slight desperation when it came to Henry. She missed him and was worried about him, but she also saw how important what he was doing was. and when he came back and she could tell he had left his heart back there she didn't just make him stay for her.  Also a little message to Harry (Who I know is reading this) I kind of understand your jealousy a little more thanks to Henry and Laura (You should thank them :P)


Now for a little 'Behind the Scenes' with Laura. and It has a bit in England (I'm Glad your impression hasn't changed Laura, we're still amazing people :P) 



Behind the Scenes

An American Abroad



“Try not to move your arms around too much.” “Oh, and, keep your voice in the ‘this is a library’ range. Even when you’re outside.” “And don’t flip your hair around…they hate that!”
These are things I was told before leaving for a college trip to England and Scotland. I remember thinking, “Gah, I’ve got to pretend not to be American!”
Only two days into the trip, at Hard Rock Café in London, a group of Londoners sat watching my friends and me. We were laughing, feeling incredibly alive and present in this beautiful city. I forgot myself and flipped my long hair over my shoulder.
Within seconds, one of the most gorgeous guys I’d ever seen brought his British self and accent over to our table and sat next to me. He leaned on his elbows and stared into my eyes. My heart stopped. Literally. I couldn’t breathe. He smiled and I thought, “This is it. I’m now meeting the man I will marry.”
But here’s what he said under his sweet British breath, “My friends and I have a wager on about you.”
“You do,” I breathed.
“Want to know what it’s about?”
I nodded.
“We’re wondering how many times you’ll flip your hair in the next ten minutes.”
Memories like these made it easier for me to write the scenes in Perfect Glass where Henry is feeling particularly American. It doesn’t take long in Nicaragua for him to realize how much he stands out. He shuts down and for the first time he’s a non-starter.
The point I hoped to make in the book, though, is that we’re all essentially alike. The episode in London’s Hard Rock didn’t affect my impression of England. What I found were people who reminded me of my southern American roots. They smiled a lot. They laughed as loudly as I did. I tucked a lot of that country and those people into my heart.
Henry learned this, too, in Perfect Glass. Once we get over ourselves and our own insecurities and see that we’re all human, the wheels turn a lot easier and lives are changed eternally.

Buy the Book Links:
Amazon | Smashwords

Author Social Media Links:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest  | Playlist Fiction | Goodreads  | Amazon author page

And last thing on Perfect Glass for all you people who are following the blog tour here's your letter for today!

So onto Swimming through clouds - Rajdeep Paulus


On a side note that quote makes me want to cry!
Blurb:
I live in the in between. Between what if and what is. It’s how I manage. It’s the only way I know. Everyone has their way. This is mine.
When high school, cell phone disruption forces a classroom ban, the words on a Post-it note spark a sticky romance between two unlikely friends. Transfer student Talia Vanderbilt has one goal at her new school: to blend in with the walls. Lagan Desai, basketball captain and mathlete, would do just about anything to befriend the new girl. One Post-it note at a time, Lagan persuades Talia to peel back her heart, revealing her treasure chest of pain—an absent mother, a bedridden brother, and an abusive father. In a world where hurt is inevitable, the two teens search for a safe place to weather the storms of life. Together.
 Review:
I absolutely cannot falter this book! I spent most of my time trying to scream at Talia to realise things that she just didn't, and I think that really showed how sheltered she is in a sense, because she doesn't understand what's actually happened although she's older than I am and I saw it clearly before it was even shown as clear as day. Although It's different when you're on the inside. I hated her dad (obviously), but Rajdeep's portal of him was ingenious to say the least. I loved how she gave little hints to what had forced Talia's mother to marry her father but Talia herself didn't realise what had happened and so Rajdeep never stated it outright.
Lagan (pronounced la - gone) was breath taking! Seriously all the sticky notes (post its to you american friends :P) were adorable, even before Talia had first had lunch with him I was already sold on him. I thought that it was a brilliant idea of Rajdeep's to make the sticky notes a huge part of their relationships because I think it shows that people can and do feel braver on paper or email and such to say what they really feel, and since Talia and Lagan don't have the option to facebook each other the sticky notes are another outlet for Talia to open herself up to Lagan without saying anything at all. and  the waterfall willow!! seriously you'll get it if you read it :P Weeping willows are my favorite tree so that being my idea of romance may just be in my weird head :P. I liked the symbolism in the colour blue too (intentional or not). As for Talia it really did symbolise the true meaning of beauty, she even said she wanted to wear blue on her wedding day.
Jesse also (although I do hate his name, as being a Jessica I get called it constantly and it is more of a boys name than a girls but I digress) his improvement throughout the book really showed how much closer they were getting to getting away. God there's so much I can say about this book! (Also digressing again but I have noticed that since the review of TFIOS Or LFA my reviews are getting longer as I'm reading as a writer :P)  The ending was the best part for me, because I do have a love-hate relationship with ambiguous endings and this one I really did love. I wanted to have my own ending in my head for Talia and it wasn't unsatisfying as some ambigous endings seem to be. i liked what the ending gave us and what it didn't. It explained what it needed to to get you thinking and stopped there in the exact right place!! I'm really looking forward to reading more from Rajdeep as this is her debut novel and I can tell there will be plenty more great ones in her future.


Now for a Fun fact from Rajdeep!;


Rajdeep here: On Crying...


I am a girl who wears my heart on my sleeve, unlike Talia who prefers to cry alone, where she can hide her pain from the world. I cry at just about anything. A sappy commercial, Children’s movies, even a song on the radio can set me off. And if it’s raining, and I’m driving, and I start crying, we’re talking blur to the blur. Someone take the wheel from me asap!

The last kid’s movie I wept like a baby at was The Croods. That scene when [Warning: spoiler alert!] the dad throws his arms back in one last heave of his final family member and you realize there’s no one left to get the father across to join his family. O.M.G. I was in pieces.

And you might have read this somewhere before, but it’s true. The first time I penned chapter two of Swimming, as I reread my first draft, I sat at my lap top and had myself a good ol’ cry.
Love me a good ol’ cry. Yes I do.


Connecting with Rajdeep!
And now for the Swimming with Clouds reveal for today, an extra letter on the sticky note (post it) that wasn't revealed!

and Now the last part (Aw :( ) but It's a giveaway (Yay!) 

and a list of the next stops so you know where to look for the next clues!
Saturday, June 1 –  Laura Anderson Kurk 
Sunday, June 2 –  Rajdeep Paulus
Monday, June 3 –  Melanie Brasher
Tuesday, June 4 –  Tessa Emily Hall
Wednesday, June 5 –  Melissa Tagg
Thursday, June 6 –  ReganStar McBeigh
Friday, June 7 –  April Hamrick
Monday, June 10 –  Diana Garner
Tuesday, June11 –  Stephanie Karfelt
Wednesday, June 12 – Bethany Baldwin
Thursday, June 13 –  Kim Vandel
Friday, June 14 –  Sarah Tipton
Monday, June 17 –  Jennifer Watrous
Tuesday, June 18 – MarniJarman
Wednesday, June 19 –  Peggy Warren
Thursday, June 20 –  Bethany Jett
Friday, June 21 –   Cynthia Toney
Monday, June 24 –  Summer Andrews YOU ARE HERE!
Tuesday, June 25 –  Arlette Geuverink
Wednesday, June 26 – Jennifer Murgia
Thursday, June 27 - JoJo Sutis
Enjoy the final 3 blog stops!!
Love,


4 comments:

  1. Thanks for this LOVELY stop on the book tour!!! How cool to take a detour into the English countryside for the day. :) So glad you enjoyed the books and that you're on our team! You simply rock.

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  2. Laura!! Can just imagine you "flipping your hair!," and I am such a pushover when it comes to the British Accent. I'd fall in love if a guy said, "Pickles and peanut butter" with a bit of Brit twang. :)

    Have so loved learning more about you and your writing journey of Perfect Glass on this tour. And you know I loved the "Post-it" use of your letter of the day!! *hugs*

    And Summer, thanks so much for the enthusiastic reviews of our books. So happy we've been able to share our stories with you.

    THREE. MORE. DAYS!!
    -raj

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    Replies
    1. You should try living here, gets boring after a while :P But seriously I barely hear what you guys suposeebly hear :P
      and thanks to you for letting me read your Amazing books!!

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  3. Another great stop. Can't wait to see all the letters and things to come together in the end.

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