#IHeartDessen - That Summer Giveaway!!!

Hey Hey!!!

Penguin Teen asked me to be a part of their #IHeartDessen month and I happily joined in! I first saw Sarah Dessen when she was on tour with Gayle Forman during the fall in Chapel Hill, NC. Since she is a local North Carolinian I gathered up my books and headed over there. I was immediately drawn to her and became super stoked about reading more Sarah. :) 

Me all post work frumpiness 😂 but these two totally made my day! @gayleforman @sdessen

A photo posted by Bookish Diva (@becomingbooks) on Jan 29, 2015 at 9:06pm PST

I was super lucky when I saw her again a couple weeks ago as she was on tour for Saint Anything. Great conversation about how her books are not really all that romantic (I agree!) but deal with deep issues.

This is so true for That Summer. I immediately connected with Haven as she deals with the aftermath of her parent's divorce: her dad's remarriage, mom's new life, and her sister getting married and leaving home as well. In fact, it seems like everyone has moved on except for 15-year-old Haven. As a way of coping Haven finds her last "happy" family memory which was a vacation in Virginia Beach along with her sister's ex-boyfriend, Sumner, years earlier.

What results is a heartfelt story about family and sibling friendship creating a solid debut novel from Dessen about 17 years ago! Dessen is now on her 12th novel and stated at the reading that if she didn't write anymore she'd be happy with her new novel being her last. However, this is probably not her last novel! *fingers crossed*

So now it's giveaway time!! :) Penguin Teen was nice enough to send me an extra paperback of That Summer so I'm passing it on to my readers and it's even signed by Sarah Dessen!

Giveaway is available in the U.S. only and open until June 8. Entries will be verified. 

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[Guest Review] Tangled Web by Lee Bross

Title: Tangled Webs
Series: Tangles Webs #1

Author: Lee Bross [Twitter | Website]

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Genre: Young Adult Fiction - Historical Fiction, Romance

Release Date: June 23, 2015

Source: ARC provided by the publisher, opinions are honest and the reader's own. – review policy here.

This is literally the first non-fantasy YA novel I've read in months! I actually can't remember the last time I read a book without any fantasy elements, so I was curious to see whether I'd like Tangled Webs, which is sort of a historical fiction. The book is set in 18th century London, where an orphan girl named Arista navigates the London social scene as a notorious blackmailer. The premise is interesting and certainly unique, but it was a bit slow at first and actually took me several days to finish it. It got really good in the last quarter of the novel, which is probably a little too late but nevertheless boosted the rating. I actually started tearing up the last two chapters because of a certain someone, which I absolutely did not expect with this novel. That just goes to show that Lee Bross does an excellent job making readers fall in love with the characters.

I was under the impression that there would be a love triangle, but Arista and the reader both knew that there was only one guy for her from the very start and that was great. I don't mind love triangles too much, but it was consistent with her character; Arista isn't one to dilly dally. I didn't care for the romance as much as I did the story since I didn't find it too believable. Since this is set in the early 18th century, the fast paced nature of Arista and Grae's relationship is probably normal, but to me, it just went way too fast and I would have liked to see more development.

As for the characters, Lee did a wonderful job developing all of them and it was nice to see a strong supporting cast. Although some of the decisions Arista made were frustrating, I didn't hold it against her. Grae is an absolutely sweetheart and is someone you just want to protect and hug all the time. Nic is also very well developed and multi-dimensional and by the end, he probably became one of my favorite characters in this story. However, I thought that Lee could have done a better job with Bones, the villain. The best villain is one that readers can almost sympathize with, but this guy is downright hateful with absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever; I hated him right until the end. Wild was much more interesting and multi-dimensional, though.

Overall, this was a good book for me to get off the fantasy track (though the next book I read will still probably be fantasy haha), and reminded me of why I enjoy reading YA historical fiction. It appears to be a series, but I thought it ended nicely the way it did and I would have been satisfied had this been a standalone.

4 Stars

http://wonderlandnovels.blogspot.com

Blog Ahead Mini-Challenge

I did blog ahead back in November and rocked that sucker! I had posts scheduled through January and then as some of you may know I ran out of steam, esteem, and all the goodness. While I'm still trying to get back into reading, I really miss blogging. So here goes anything! 

My goal is to schedule 30 posts, 15 here at Becoming Books and 15 for my new lifestyle blog launch, Beauty Not Broke. 

Types of posts I'll be working on: 

• MORE discussions... this is a must! 
• Different review styles - I've really come to dislike writing traditional reviews. 
• I want to vlog... we'll see how this goes. :p
• Reactions to stuff... 
• Top Ten Tuesday meme
• Recruiting more guest reviewers! > I just cannot keep up with ALL THE READS! If you're interested in being a guest reviewer let me know ;) There are free ARCs in it for you. 

So tell me... What are your favorite types of posts to read and/or write?

Wish me luck!