BLOG TOUR: I Stop Somewhere by T.E.Carter - Review, Favourite Quotes & Giveaway

Hi everybody! Welcome to my stop on the I Stop Somewhere Blog our hosted by the Fantastic Flying Book Club. I started reading this book only a little while ago and it sucked me in SO MUCH that I finished it in a matter of hours. It was intense, heartbreaking and I loved the book. 

Scroll down to read my review, favourite quotes and also, don't forget to enter the giveaway!

~**~

Title: I Stop Somewhere
Author: T.E.Carter
Publication Date: February 27th 2018
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan)
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: eARC from Feiwel & Friends and the FFBC
Buy Links: Amazon US || Barnes and Noble || The Book Depository || Wordery || Kobo || Books A Million || Chapters Indigo || Google Books

Blurb Description:Ellie Frias disappeared long before she vanished.
Tormented throughout middle school, Ellie begins her freshman year with a new look: she doesn't need to be popular; she just needs to blend in with the wallpaper.
But when the unthinkable happens, Ellie finds herself trapped after a brutal assault. She wasn't the first victim, and now she watches it happen again and again. She tries to hold on to her happier memories in order to get past the cold days, waiting for someone to find her.
The problem is, no one searches for a girl they never noticed in the first place.

 

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Rape, Sexual Assault, Abuse, Physical Abuse

I find it hardest to talk about books that talk about sexual assault.

I’m female, and just with being female I live in a dangerous world where I must dress right, sit right, talk right, be demure, be assertive, be kind, be everything, really. I can’t go to parties without at least two other girls, I can’t walk on the road from when the sun begins to set and I can’t wear clothes that are an inch too short. It’s a terrifying way to grow up, being overly aware of your body and your surroundings at all times.

Sexual Assault terrifies me as well. It’s the most primal kind of violation one human being can inflict upon another and the #MeToo movement broke my heart, just seeing the number of women that have face that kind of violation, and we are looking only at the minority that did speak out.

While it’s hard to talk about books like I Stop Somewhere, The Nowhere Girls and Asking for It, they are SUCH IMPORTANT BOOKS for girls everywhere and I am automatically drawn to them.

MY THOUGHTS ON I Stop Somewhere:

1.       This book was intensely addicting. It terrified me, and yet it had me hooked. I was SO hooked that it took me just a handful of hours to read the ENTIRE thing and then I was left desperate for more.

2.       THIS. BOOK. BROKE. MY. HEART. I Stop Somewhere revolves around fifteen year old Ellie Friars and the first boy she loved, who turned out to be every girl’s deepest fears wrapped with a perfect bow. Ellie was the kind of girl who blended in. She kept to herself, didn’t have any kind of social media or friends and so when a beautiful boy notices her, she can’t help but all for him. You know the story from there. It’s so fucking unfortunate, but you, a human in this dangerous world, already know how this goes.

3.       Despite knowing where this book was taking me, THIS WAS RIDICULIOUSLY HARD TO GET THROUGH. I’m not talking about the book, but the subject manner. It was HARD, reading this emotionally turbulent, deeply intimate book on rape, survival, togetherness and what it means to be a girl.

4.       One of my favourite parts in the novel was when all of the victims came together, just for each other, just to talk about what was done to them and find solace in other girls who were assaulted as well.

This is one of the shortest reviews I’ve written recently, or feels like it because I haven’t gotten out nearly enough about what needs to be said on the issues this book handles. Nothing I can say says it all better than what I Stop Somewhere does, but I will warn you that it is a hard book to get through.

It’s one of those books you need to read.

It’s one of those books every girl out there needs to read.

Pick it up for your friends, daughters, nieces, sisters and also, for yourself. All of us girls need to be reading books like this. 

TE Carter was born in New England and has lived in New England for pretty much her entire life. Throughout her career, she’s done a lot of things, although her passion has always been writing. When she’s not writing, she can generally be found reading classic literature, playing Xbox, organizing her comic collection, or binge watching baking competitions. She continues to live in New England with her husband and their two cats.

1 hardcover copy of I STOP SOMEWHERE by T.E. Carter (US Only)

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Lyrical, Diverse, Poignant // ARC Review: Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman

Title: Starfish
Author: Akemi Dawn Bowman
Publication Date: September 26th 2017
Publisher: Simon Pulse (Simon and Schuester)
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: Simpon Pulse vie NetGalley
Buy Links: Amazon US || Barnes and Noble || The Book Depository || Wordery || Books A Million || Chapters Indigo ||

Blurb Description: Kiko Himura has always had a hard time saying exactly what she’s thinking. With a mother who makes her feel unremarkable and a half-Japanese heritage she doesn’t quite understand, Kiko prefers to keep her head down, certain that once she makes it into her dream art school, Prism, her real life will begin.
But then Kiko doesn’t get into Prism, at the same time her abusive uncle moves back in with her family. So when she receives an invitation from her childhood friend to leave her small town and tour art schools on the west coast, Kiko jumps at the opportunity in spite of the anxieties and fears that attempt to hold her back. And now that she is finally free to be her own person outside the constricting walls of her home life, Kiko learns life-changing truths about herself, her past, and how to be brave.
From debut author Akemi Dawn Bowman comes a luminous, heartbreaking story of identity, family, and the beauty that emerges when we embrace our true selves.

 

There are some books out there that you just connect with on every level, and Akemi Dawn Bowan’s Starfish was one of those for me. 

Before I begin, I would like to that the Cover Gods for coming up with the ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL Starfish cover because everything about this cover works for this book and AAH. It’s just so pleasing to look at. 

“I draw a girl on a plane, leaving her heart on the runway.”

There was absolutely nothing I didn’t like about this book, so let’s talk about all the things I did love:
1. Our Biracial Protagonist: Kiko is half American, half Japanese and from the very first page you can see her struggling with the image of beauty that her mother has drilled into her. She struggles to fall in love with the person she sees in the mirror, she struggles with anxiety, she struggles with her heritage versus just wanting to be “normal” which as an Indian is SO RELATABLE to me. I connected with Kiko, and fell for her instantly because her voice is raw, honest and most importantly, real.

“I draw water and fire, forgetting all the rules and morphing into something new.”

2. THE ART: I don’t talk about it one the internet much, but I’m also an artist. I’m nowhere near as talented as Kiko, but I can paint. When I feel like it. The words used by Akemi Bowan to describe Kiko’s art brought it to life in a way I’ve never seen done before. All the quotes are Akemi bringing to life her imaginings of Kiko’s art, because I thought you should see how BEAUTIFUL it was to read for me. 

“I draw a thousand fairies circling around a girl so she can finally fly away.”

3. THE CHARACTER GROWTH: Three chapters into this book, I felt like I knew Kiko. I understood what it was like to be her, socially awkward and all. I loved how she blossomed and started gambling on herself more as the book progressed and by the end, she actually said out loud what she kept inside before. It was like a caterpillar learning to become a butterfly and I LOVED IT. 

“I draw five Japanese women with very different faces, but all of them are equally beautiful because beauty is not just one thing.”

4. HIROSHI AND JAMIE: Now, they’re not love interests, this book DOESN’T HAVE a love triangle, but they’re both such SPECTACULAR characters. Hiroshi is an artist who takes Kiko under his wing, introduces her to his Japanese family and shows her what unconditional love is. Jamie, on the other hand, is her childhoos best friend with his blue eyes and kind smile. They’re both such perfect people, and exactly the supportive, kind people that Kiko needed and I fell in love with them too. 

A lyrical, gorgeously written, poignant diverse book about loving yourself, growing up and first love. 

5 stars and I COULD NOT RECOMMEND IT MORE.

Akemi Dawn Bowman is the author of Starfish. She’s a proud Ravenclaw and Star Wars enthusiast, who served in the US Navy for five years and has a BA in social sciences from UNLV. Originally from Las Vegas, she currently lives in England with her husband, two children, and their Pekingese mix. She is represented by Penny Moore of Empire Literary.

Goodreads || Twitter || Facebook || Instagram

What are some of your favourite diverse books of the year?

What are some of your favourite books that have art in it? 

Have you had the chance to read Starfish yet? What did you think of it?

A Story That Deserves To Be Read // REVIEW: Exit, Pursued By A Bear by E.K. Johnston

Title: Exit, Pursued By A Bear
Author: E. K. Johnston
Publication Date: May 2nd 2017
Publisher: Speak (Penguin Random House)
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: PRH International (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon IN || Amazon US || Amazon UK || Barnes and Noble || The Book Depository || Wordery || Kobo || Books A Million || Chapters Indigo || Google Books

Blurb Description: "This story of a cheerleader rising up after a traumatic event will give you Veronica Mars-level feels that will stay with you long after you finish." ~ Seventeen Magazine, Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak for a new generation.
Hermione Winters is captain of her cheerleading team, and in tiny Palermo Heights, this doesn't mean what you think it means. At PHHS, the cheerleaders don't cheer for the sports teams; they are the sports team - the pride and joy of a tiny town. The team's summer training camp is Hermione's last and she knows this season could make her a legend. But during a camp party, someone slips something in her drink. And it all goes black. 
In every class, there's a star cheerleader and a pariah pregnant girl. They're never supposed to be the same person. Hermione struggles to regain the control she's always had and faces a wrenching decision about how to move on. The assault wasn't the beginning of Hermione Winter's story and she's not going to let it be the end. She won t be anyone s cautionary tale.

Actual Rating 3.5 Stars

Before I begin:

Books about rape or any kind of sexual abuse are VERY VERY important reads to me because I live in a culture where victim blaming is widespread and girls don’t speak up for the most part when they are violated.

When I heard about Exit, Pursued by a Bear, more than a year ago I knew I would read it at some point or the other. It had a story that involved rape that hasn’t been handled before specifically one involving pregnancy, the head cheerleader and a date rape drug.

And so, when I picked it up two days ago, I was very excited. The book had its plus points and its drawbacks but let’s break them down:

WHAT I LIKED:

1.       NO VICTIM BLAMING: I wanted to applaud this book when it didn’t go through the whole “the girl was asking for it,” arc because THERE SHOULDN’T BE A QUESTION ABOUT THIS. Nobody who has ever been raped has asked for it and NO MEANS NO. The one time it did come up, it was handled positively and I loved it. I wish the world didn’t victim blame and this aspect of the book made me very happy.

2.       STRONG FRIENDS = STRONG SUPPORT SYSTEM: Another thing was that all of Hermoine’s friends didn’t magically abandon her but STUCK WITH HER at all times, supported her and they were just there for her. Exit, Pursued by a Bear broke the stereotype of “catty” cheerleaders and showed that these cheer teammates and friends were true friends and also a support system for Hermoine.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER:

1.       THE LACK OF EMOTION IN THE WRITING: Hermoine was raped after the she was given a date rape drug. She was left in a lake to die until she was found. It’s gruesome, it’s horrible that a human could have the capability to do that. I felt violated sitting in the confines of my room but I NEVER felt it from Hermoine. She actually addresses it too – the fact that she couldn’t remember the rape and hence didn’t feel like it happened to her but some other girl WHICH I UNDERSTAND, and it’s definitely a new perspective but it all felt so mechanical to me. I feel like a little more emotion in the WRITING of Hermoine could have gone a long way in this book.

2.       THE BOYFRIEND: Leon McKenna was a POINTLESS character. They were never really serious, it was as if he just existed to create some unnecessary drama. I didn’t understand their relationship while they were together, I didn’t get the reason for his jealousy because it was mentioned briefly in hindsight and I DEFINITELY DIDN’T UNDERSTAND how he could tell people those things about Hermoine. REALLY?

I could never say this was a bad book – it’s a good story that handles a very important topic.

I could never not recommend this book – we should all be reading these books to understand and grow as human beings. So pick up Exit, Pursued by a Bear, or pick up Patty Blount’s Some Boys or Louise O’Neill’s Asking for It – they deserve to be read. The characters are fictional but their stories happen every day to boys and girl around the world.

Go read this book. It deserves to be read. These stories need to be heard. 

E.K. Johnston had several jobs and one vocation before she became a published writer. If she’s learned anything, it’s that things turn out weird sometimes, and there’s not a lot you can do about it. Well, that and how to muscle through awkward fanfic because it’s about a pairing she likes. You can follow Kate on Twitter (@ek_johnston) to learn more about Alderaanian political theory than you really need to know, or on Tumblr (ekjohnston) if you're just here for pretty pictures.

What are some of the best book you've read that handle rape or sexual abuse? I'm always looking for more books that take it on well and I'd love your recommendations!

Have you read any other of E.K. Johnston's books? What did you think of them. 

I can't wait to hear from you!

A Powerful Voice // REVIEW: City of Saints and Thieves by Natalie C Anderson

Title: City of Saints and Thieves
Author: Natalie C. Anderson
Publication Date: 6th July 2017
Publisher: Rock The Boat UK (Oneworld Publications)
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: Rock The Boat (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon IN || Amazon US || Amazon UK || Barnes and Noble || The Book Depository || Wordery || Foyles || Waterstones || WHSmith || Kobo || Books A Million || Chapters Indigo ||

Blurb Description: The Hunger Games meets The Thief Lord in this enthralling murder mystery set in Kenya.
In the shadows of Sangui City, a street-thief called Tina patiently plots her revenge. Her mother has been shot dead at the home of one of Kenya’s richest businessmen, and Tina is sure she knows who’s to blame.When a local gang asks her to steal from his home, it’s the chance Tina has been waiting for.  But as she steps inside, old wounds resurface and she is caught red-handed by his son, Michael. The pair set in motion a cascade of dangerous events that could, at any moment, cost Tina her life. The desire to uncover the incredible truth about who killed her mother ― and why ― keeps her holding on in this fast-paced, nail-biting thriller.

If I could describe City of Saints and Thieves in one word, if would be haunting.

Set in Africa, this book captures the raw, honest and pained voice of a teenage refugee planning her revenge for her mother’s murder so perfectly, it’ll leave you stunned and desperate for more.

If I’m being honest, I didn’t even EXPECT to love this book so much – the powerful voice, the backdrop and the plot ensnared me and left me wanting either a sequel, 200 extra pages in the book or ANYTHING else that the lovely Natalie Anderson writes.

Let’s go more into detail:

WRITING:

Like I said above, the writing in this book was EXCEPTIONAL. Natalie Anderson managed to create the pain and determination in one teenage refugee’s voice so perfectly, that I could feel it through the page, all the way in India.

I’ve never read a good book set in Africa before, much less one from a refugee’s POV but HOLY CRAP did this book do a good job of everything it took on.

IDEA:

As I found out in the end of the book, the author worked with refugees in Kenya first hand, making her well-equipped people to tell the world their stories. I loved the revenge and mystery tied up in this book, stark against in’s authentically African background – all the way from Sangui to the villages in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I loved that this book was a murder mystery that also managed to capture the violence and war of the place it was set in, making them both equally important.

PLOT:

While the idea for the book was good, the execution was even better. Just as I started feeling annoyed that Tina was stuck in the same place in Sangui, Natalie Anderson upped and moved the book to a whole different atmosphere and I loved it.

The plot, especially how Tina unravels her mother’s secrets is SO GORGEOUSLY done. She’s this headstrong character finding out that she didn’t know some of the most important things about the woman who brought her into this world and the journey I took with her was absolutely heart-breaking.

The only think that I felt could have been better was the ending. City of Saints and Thieves ended in this guns blazing thing that felt like something straight out of a third rate action movie. The rest of the book had me on the edge of my seat, unsure about what would happen but as soon as the guns came out and the helicopter, I knew the ending from a mile away.

CHARACTERS:

If I haven’t praised Tina enough already, I absolutely HAVE to say that I LOVED HER SO MUCH. Her voice was so powerful, it was one of the first things I noticed about this book. She was in pain and yet so strong and trust me, if you read this book you’ll fall in love with her too.

I really liked Boyboy and Michael too. They were awesome sidekicks, but I find myself wishing that the three of them were equals and not sidekicks to Tina. They did have some great qualities, they were just drowned out by Tina’s light.

CONCLUSION:

Obviously, if the FIVE star rating didn’t already tell you, THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING. I honestly expected to like it, but not fall in love with it as much as I am right now.

A wonderful, truthful and powerful book that you simply shouldn’t miss if you call yourself a reader. 

Natalie C. Anderson is a writer and international development professional living in Boston, Massachusetts. She has spent the last decade working with NGOs and the UN on refugee relief and development, mainly in Africa. She was selected as the 2014-2015 Associates of the Boston Public Library Children's Writer in Residence, where she wrote her debut novel, City of Saints and Thieves. 

Have you read City of Saints and Thieves? What did you think of it?

Are there any other books set in Africa (fictional of course) that you've read and that I absolutely NEED to? 

What are some of your favourite murder mystery novels?

I can't wait to hear from you lovelies!

What Did I Just Read? // REVIEW: The Deviants by C.J. Skuse

Title: The Deviants
Author: C.J.Skuse
Publication Date: Saptember 22nd 2016
Publisher: MIRA Ink
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: Harper Collins India (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon IN || Amazon UK || The Book Depository || Wordery || Flipkart || Snapdeal || Infibeam || Foyles || Waterstones || WHSmith || Kobo || Google Books

Blurb Description: When you set out for revenge, dig two graves
Growing up in the sleepy English seaside town of Brynston, the fearless five – Ella, Max, Corey, Fallon and Zane – were always inseparable. Living up to their nickname, they were the adventurous, rowdy kids who lived for ghost stories and exploring the nearby islands off the coast. But when Max’s beloved older sister Jessica is killed, the friendship seems to die with her.
Now years later, only Max and Ella are in touch; still best friends and a couple since they were thirteen. Their lives are so intertwined Max’s dad even sponsors Ella’s training for the Commonwealth Games. But Ella is hiding things. Like why she hates going to Max’s house for Sunday dinner, and flinches whenever his family are near. Or the real reason she’s afraid to take their relationship to the next level.
When underdog Corey is bullied, the fearless five are brought back together again, teaming up to wreak havoc and revenge on those who have wronged them. But when the secrets they are keeping can no longer be kept quiet, will their fearlessness be enough to save them from themselves? 

 It’s been a few hours since I’ve closed The Deviants and one of the only thoughts running through my head is WHAT IN THE WORLD DID I JUST READ? I am so confused at this very minute and the only way to make SENSE of this book is to write it all out, so goes:

Oh, but, before I begin I want to mention that I buddy read this book with the lovely Pari (For the Official Love of Words) and while neither of us got what we expected from this book, I really loved getting to meet a new bookish soul.

MY THOUGHTS:

1.       I went in expecting a murder mystery. The blurb begins with the line “A Dark and Suspenseful story from the author of…” and also, it alluded to the Famous Five, Enid Blyton’s famous series WHO SOLVED MYSTERIES. MYSTERIES.

2.       Since I was expecting a grown up version of my five favourite childhood detectives (along with Nancy Drew) the first seventy pages of this book were like a snooze fest for me. There was pretty much nothing going on and I WAS JUST SO BORED.

3.       This book should have been marketed as a DARK YA CONTEMPORARY NOVEL. Because that’s what it was. A CONTEMPORARY novel. There was NO Famous Five mystery surrounding the book and the “Famous Five” (Fearless in this book) were just a bunch of ordinary teenagers trying to be adults SO BADLY. Apparently, life was just something that kept throwing bad stuff at you at EIGHTEEN. I’m EIGHTEEN. WHAT LIVES ARE YOU LIVING?

4.       While the book didn’t give me what I expected, the story was still good. I wasn’t in a state of suspense, nor was there a mystery BUT THE ACTUAL PLOT OF THE BOOK WAS QUITE GOOD – the description was just misleading. Almost all of the characters had a lot of secrets and there were A LOT of twists but again, they weren’t of the kind I was expecting.

5.       I didn’t get the characters. I didn’t understand the character’s whose viewpoint it was told from (Ella) I didn’t get Corey or Max or Corey or Fallon. They were all teenagers trying SO DESPERATELY to be more mature than they were. Also, THERE WAS NO PARENTAL SUPERVISION IN THIS BOOK. Oh, Fallon wants to have a baby when she’s a high school dropout? WHY NOT? Corey wants to be a substitute father and drop out or work and not go to uni? DON’T THINK TWICE ABOUT IT.  It felt really unlikely that things like this would happen in the real world. 

1.       It always takes me a while to get used to British slang but I liked the way is gave a little bit of authenticity to this book.

Honestly, not the best book I read because what I expected and what I got were TOTALLY different things. If someone had told me this was a dark YA CONTEMPORARY, I probably would’ve liked it a WHOLE lot better. 3 stars.

C.J. SKUSE is the author of the Young Adult novels PRETTY BAD THINGS, ROCKOHOLIC and DEAD ROMANTIC (Chicken House), MONSTER and THE DEVIANTS (Mira Ink). She was born in 1980 in Weston-super-Mare, England. She has First Class degrees in Creative Writing and Writing for Children and, aside from writing novels lectures in Writing for Young People at Bath Spa University. C.J. is currently working on adult novel SWEETPEA for HQ/HarperCollins (out April 2017).

C.J. loves Masterchef, Gummy Bears and murder sites. She hates carnivals, hard-boiled eggs and coughing. The movies Titanic, My Best Friend's Wedding and Ruby Sparks were all probably based on her ideas; she just didn't get to write them down in time. Before she dies, she would like to go to Japan, try clay-pigeon shooting and have Ryan Gosling present her with the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

You can find C.J. Skuse on Facebook or on Twitter www.twitter.com/CeejaytheAuthor.

Who were your favourite detectives? The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, Nancy Drew or The Hardy Boys?

Have you read The Deviants? What did you think of it? 

I can't wait to hear from you!

A Must Read // ARC Review: Bad Romance by Heather Demetrios

Title: Bad Romance
Author: Heather Demetrios
Publication Date: June 13th 2016
Publisher: Henry Holy & Co. (BYR)
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: Macmillan International
Buy Links: Amazon IN || Amazon US || Amazon UK || Barnes and Noble || The Book Depository || Wordery || Kobo || Books A Million || Chapters Indigo || Google Books

Blurb Description: Grace wants out. Out of her house, where her stepfather wields fear like a weapon and her mother makes her scrub imaginary dirt off the floors. Out of her California town, too small to contain her big city dreams. Out of her life, and into the role of Parisian artist, New York director—anything but scared and alone.
Enter Gavin: charming, talented, adored. Controlling. Dangerous. When Grace and Gavin fall in love, Grace is sure it's too good to be true. She has no idea their relationship will become a prison she's unable to escape. 
Deeply affecting and unflinchingly honest, this is a story about spiraling into darkness—and emerging into the light again.

The very first thing that attracted me to Bad Romance was that EXQUISITE cover. It’s not meant to be beautiful, but something ugly and rotting like the relationship that Grace and Gavin have and it manages to capture it perfectly. I LOVE THE COVER!

Short and Sweet: Bad Romance is a heart-wrenching book, showing you the light after an abusive relationship and the courage it takes to remove yourself from one.

Let’s break it down: (Which has also become a standard line for me in my reviews)

IDEA:

Only two chapters in, I got this intense feeling that Bad Romance was a very personal book to the author. And so, I flipped back to the acknowledgements and realised that Heather Demetrios was talking about and also slightly fictionalizing her own experience in an abusive relationship and it made it THAT MUCH MORE AUTHENTIC.

I love the idea for this book. Honestly, the last book on abuse I read was Shannon Parker’s The Girl Who Fell and that was a YEAR ago. We should be talking about these kinds of relationships more.

PLOT & WRITING

I’m going to do these two together because it makes more sense. The writing was jumpy. It moved quickly from one instance to another, weeks and months passed by between paragraphs and the feeling of something unfinished stayed with me.

It also took me a while to get used to the fact that this was sort of a book dedicated to Gavin, who was always referred to in the Second Person. It ended up bringing out the pain and heartbreak that I LOVED and WANTED but it did take a quarter of the book to get used to.

While the writing was jumpy, the plot evened it out. It showcased all the important things, and MANAGED TO CAPTURE THE HOPE, LOVE AND HAPPINESS that eventually turned into despair, insecurity and sadness.

CHARACTERS:

I got Grace; I understood Grace. I understood what if felt like to be head over heels for someone you think is better than you. I understood the elation when that boy finally looks at YOU. I felt her being suffocated and tied down and confused and in love. I understood Grace and my heart fell for her and broke as hers did.

Obviously, we weren’t meant to like Gavin, so I won’t be talking about him. I wish I could have liked him, in the beginning, but it would have been impossible with Grace’s narration that ended with things like “One year from now I wouldn’t want to see you, but run away from you/ hate you.” I wasn’t allowed to like him and then go through the journey with Grace and it made me feel slightly disconnected from the book. That IS the point, right, to fall in love and then realise that you’re more than a sum of his wishes?

--

Bad Romance is the kind of book we should be reading. I know I’m saying that for a lot of books, but it is the truth. Whether it’s body image, eating disorders, mental health and abuse, WE SHOULD BE TALKING AND READING ABOUT IT. Maybe we don’t get into fully abusive relationships like Grace did in Bad Romance, but a lot of the time we tie our self-worth to what society sees us as; where on the social pole we lie which is what leads to that ability to bend for something we don’t want to do in the first place.

Books like Bad Romance are IMPORTANT. It’s important to know that you shouldn’t lose yourself to anyone, least of all a guy you feel freer without. I HIGHLY recommend it. 4 stars. 

When Heather Demetrios isn’t traipsing around the world or spending time in imaginary places, she lives with her husband in New York City. Originally from Los Angeles, she now calls the East Coast home. Heather has an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts and is a recipient of the PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award for her debut novel, Something Real. Her other critically acclaimed novels include Exquisite Captive, I’ll Meet You There, and Bad Romance. She's also a creativity coach, snail mail aficionado, and hopeless romantic. Find out more about Heather and her books at www.heatherdemetrios.com or on Twitter (@HDemetrios).

Have you read some good books on abusive relationships and how to get out of them? 

Please do hit me up with some recommendations because I WOULD LOVE TO DIVE INTO THEM!

Looking forward to hearing from you <3!