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| GIVEAWAY |
IT STARTED WITH GOODBYE
Val-e-dic-tion
1. the act of saying goodbye
2. something to agonize over when signing off an email to your estranged best friend, twenty-countries-away father, and/or potential crush
Tatum Elsea is bracing for the worst summer of her life. After being falsely accused of a crime, she's stuck under stepmother-imposed house arrest and her BFF's gone radio silent. Tatum fills her newfound free time with community service by day and working at her covert graphic design business at night, which includes trading emails with a cute cello-playing client. If Tatum is reading his emails right, her virtual Prince Charming is funny, smart, and talented -- and he seems to think the same about her. Too bad he's spending his summer across the ocean in Ireland...not that Tatum would be allowed to gon a date anyway.
But over the course of the summer, Tatum discovers she's not the only one in the house keeping secrets, and she might just get the chance to make amends with her family and friends. With the help of her step-abuela slash fairy godmother, Tatum is ready to start fresh and maybe even find her happily ever after along the way.
A modern play on the Cinderella story. It Started With Goodbye shows us that sometimes going after what you want means breaking all the rules.
My Review:
Cinderella with a 21st century high tech twist. I read this YA contemporary in one sitting -- it's that good. Told entirely from Tatum's 1st person point of view and I love her sarcasm. That's what made it such a hard-to-put-down read. Snappy and winsome and full of emotion. This is a story about looking past the facades people use as barriers and the powerful role forgiveness plays in breaking down those barriers. An exceptional debut novel.
And worthy of note -- this book is published by Blink -- a YA division of Zondervan (Harper Collins Publishers) dedicated to bringing quality and clean literature to the teen market. Ever since I discovered this imprint I've been hunting down their novels and haven't been disappointed yet. And I love how there are so many debut authors in their line up. This publisher is all about taking chances for the greater good and I definitely appreciate their efforts. If you have teens or just love YA fiction yourself definitely check Blink out. I'm pretty sure every public library will carry their books.
GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:
If you would like a chance to win a copy of It Started with Goodbye, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you add your email to a comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title in the subject line so it's easier for me to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Sunday October 1 2017. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck!
I don't normally go for YA (unless it's Melanie Dickerson) and I don't read a lot of contemporary....but your review & recommendation has me curious about It Started with Goodbye
ReplyDeleteteamob4 (at) gmail (dot) com
P.S. I went to comment last night before I went to bed like normal since it's usually posted at midnight EST, which is 9pm my time but it wasn't here. Glad to see it popped up this morning :-)
DeleteWe had a big storm that caused a power failure yesterday and my power wasn't restored until this morning. This poor post was languishing in draft instead of scheduled. Oopsy. Glad I could convince you to give a new YA author a try. Good luck, Trixi.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteOh no! I hope there was no loss of food in the fridge or freezer, that's always my worry whenever the power is out for a long period of time. Glad to see you're up and running again!
DeleteLuckily I hadn't done a grocery shop in awhile. It was so wretchedly hot I didn't have the umph and I was living on salad. The only thing I'll have to toss are the eggs, I think. I have a really small apartment fridge/freezer and it was pretty warm about three hours in so I actually took the veggies out and left them on the counter overnight. But the eggs are iffy -- rather just go and buy another dozen then get food poisoning. And that was literally all that was in my fridge -- and some butter but I think it weathered the storm okay.
DeleteYA is always a fun read. cheetahthecat1986ATgmailDOTcom
ReplyDeleteYes it is! Good luck, Kim.
DeleteKav, you know I love YA lit and this one has been on my tbr. Some of the Blink published books don't always have an obvious faith thread, but I have been pleased with their content. Because of that, after you mentioned the imprint, like you, I looked for more of their upcoming and back list titles. In fact, before seeing Jonathan Friesen's book, Both of Me, I hadn't realized that he was a Christian author and I have a few of his books. :-) AND I'll be reading In 27 Days by Alison Gervais soon. I'm thrilled that you're reading them and providing trusted reviews. Thanks, Kav.
ReplyDeletetlhcoupon(at)Hotmail(dot)com
Ooohhh --you just gave me two titles to look for. Eeeppp -- my library has Both of Me and I've never heard of Jonathan Friesen so this is uber exciting. Thanks for the tip. Good luck, Terrill.
DeleteI enjoy YA books. Thank you for the chance.
ReplyDeleteleliamae54(at)aol(dot)com
Good luck, Lucy.
DeleteI Love YA Books and Have this on My Wish List also. Thanks for sharing your review Now that I know there is sarcasm I want to read it even more LOL
ReplyDeleteI also LOVE To Laugh :)
iamabho ATGMAILDOT com
What is it about enjoying teen sarcasm in fiction but not so much in real life? LOL Good luck, Linda.
DeleteOh My! Don't I KNOW IT!!! I have a 13 yr old (So It's just starting) and an 11 yr old following quickly behind (Both Boys) and The 5 yr old Girl who acts like a Teenager already LOL :)
DeleteOR If it's someone else's Teenager Acting Sarcastic that's pretty funny sometimes too as long as they're Not being Rude LOL
And the eye rolls -- I'm always amazed that their eyeballs don't fall out. LOL I have a friend with a very sarcastic 17 year old son and I love egging him on. He's hilarious and it drives his mum nuts.
DeleteSounds like a good story and my daughter would enjoy it, too! We both love remakes of fairytales.
ReplyDeletemindyhoungATmsnDOTcom
Oh -- perfect mom and daughter read for sure. Good luck, Mindy.
DeleteOh how fun, another modern day retelling this week! I appreciate the information about Blink and can't wait to check into their books.
ReplyDeleteLLWaltz [at] gmail [dot] com
Oh, do check them out, Laura. They have a great Brigadoon retelling -- if you're familiar with that fantastical movie. It's so funny in places. Two wise cracking 21 century teens in a fairy tale kind of land. Crackerjacks! Good luck, Laura.
DeleteSounds like an interesting read. Winter's coming we need something to read in front of a warm fire place. becci43atgmaildotcom
ReplyDeleteYes, cozy images of curling up by a big ol' fireplace and reading while the maid does the housework and the cook makes the dinner and the butler knows enough to stay out of the way when you have your nose in a book. :-) Good luck, Becky.
DeleteYay for the sarcastic heroine!
ReplyDeleteAnd yet another appealing review, Kav!
Count me in, please.
janka(dot)halcinova(at)gmail(dot)com
Counted, Janka. Good luck!
Delete