REVIEW: TMI by PATTY BLOUNT

Category/Genre: Young Adult Realistic Fiction
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: 8/6/13
Format: eARC
Pages: 336
Source: Received from publisher for review
Rating: 3 stars

Best friends don’t lie.
Best friends don’t ditch you for a guy.
Best friends don’t post your deepest, darkest secrets online.

Bailey’s falling head-over-high-heels for Ryder West, a mysterious gamer she met online. A guy she’s never met in person. Her best friend, Meg, doesn’t trust smooth-talking Ryder. He’s just a picture-less profile.

When Bailey starts blowing Meg off to spend more virtual quality time with her new crush, Meg decides it’s time to prove Ryder’s a phony.

But one stupid little secret posted online turns into a friendship-destroying feud to answer the question:

Who is Ryder West?
/

I'm going to start this by saying that I never had a truly healthy relationship with a best friend until a little over a year ago. In high school, my girlfriends and I were basically a train wreck most of the time. We weren't "bad", it was just drama. I would love to say I was completely innocent, but I had my moments. The reason why I'm sharing this in my review? TMI brought back some of the painful moments of friends and high school. It made me sad and it made me cringe. So I'm thinking the author probably did exactly what she set out to do.

I spent much of the first half wondering if TMI is the story of a girl who wants to much control and worries about her friend too much, or the story of the dangers of befriending people online. I guess it could be both, and I would like to think I'm fairly intelligent when it comes to themes, but I had a hard time pinning TMI down for a while.

At TMI's mid-point, the story picks up focus. It's a sad situation in which two girls with a lot of issues let emotions and hurt feelings take control, causing everything to spin out of control. I liked that I felt a sense of where the story was headed. And I hesitate at saying this, because I genuinely do believe an author should be able to tell their story, exactly the way they want, but I also must go with my feelings. I'm not saying TMI goes beyond the realm of possibility, but at times it felt like there was too much drama, too many intense and crazy scenarios for me to get completely on board. But then again, things have changed a lot since I was a teen, so maybe what happens isn't too much at all.

As for the characters, I often felt conflicted. Now, I know that Meg and Bailey made bad choices. And I may be waaaay beyond my teen years, but I remember what it's like to be a teen. I made bad choices, and I don't know any teen who didn't at least a few times. So with this in mind, I didn't read TMI with a notepad, chronicling every bad choice Meg and Bailey made. I tried to remain a bystander, and let them tell their story. (Now excuse me while I climb off my soapbox.)

Having said that, these girls were completely frustrating, especially Megan. And it's not that I can't see where she was coming from, but still, frustrating. I did adore Chase. The boy had the patience of a saint. I honestly left the story happy with how it ended up, but still scratching my head over how it all went down.

Honestly, I think this should be chalked up to me not being a perfect fit for TMI. The story had valuable lessons. As an adult, I have hindsight on my side. I think a teen's opinion on TMI would be invaluable. 

  

Favorite Quote:

 

  "Forget it. I'm done, Megan." He shook his head again. "I'm...I've given you time and space and...and--all the patience I could squeeze out, but shit! It's not enough. It's never enough."  

 ~eARC, 52%

 

Purchase TMI

          

About the author
Technical writer by day, fiction writer by night, Patty mines her day job for ideas to use in her novels. Her debut YA "Send" was born after a manager suggested she research social networks. Patty adores chocolate, her boys, and books, though not necessarily in that order.

Website  |  Twitter

 

 

REVIEW: TO MY HERO ~ A BLOG OF OUR JOURNEY TOGETHER by DANIELLE SIBARIUM

Series: Stand alone
Category/Genre: Young Adult Realistic Fiction
Publisher: KFR Communications
Publication Date: 4/13
Format: ebook
Pages: 258
Source: Received from author for review

It would’ve been different if I had courage, even an ounce of it. But I was a coward from the day I met you, Ryan Crowley. I still am. In the end it doesn’t matter. The bottom line is the same. It’s my fault.

When the unthinkable happens Carly Cavanough is left beaten, betrayed, and devastated. Her best friend doesn’t understand. Her parents won’t listen. Everyone in her life turns against her. She’s alone. Completely alone, except for Ryan Crowley, the boy she’s been crushing on for years. She won’t admit to him what she can’t admit to herself. But he understands without words. He knows more about what she’s going through than she can possibly imagine and he knows what it will take to start the healing.

With Ryan’s help Carly begins to piece together the fragments of her once perfect life and embarks on a journey of love and healing, just long enough for the rug to be pulled out from under her again. Can she find the strength and will to pull herself together to save Ryan and herself when their lives are on the line?

 

 

To My Hero: A Blog of Our Journey Together was a powerful story, told in a very unique manner. The story consists of a series of entries, from Carly to Ryan, told in chronological order. It is told with a strong sense of foreboding, and begins a horrific event. As To My Hero goes on, it continues to tell of Carly's journey with Ryan past that intense beginning, leading to another night in which events become out of control.

 

I know what I've said about To My Hero is terribly vague, but I'm not quite sure what to say about it, without ruining the story. Going into it, all I knew was that this was Carly's version of hers' and Ryan's story, it was told in a blog format, that it seemed that something awful had happened to her, and that Ryan is her hero. And this is exactly what happens, but the fragile, yet strong, loving, and sweet relationship between Ryan and Carly is what made this story shine.

 

Ryan was a dream come true for me. I love a thoughtful young man (ugh, I sound OLD) who genuinely wants the very best for the girl he loves.  A guy who will go to the mat to make sure she is taken care of, with no expectations. Carly was not easy for Ryan to always be there for. And that is okay. Here's the deal, girls who go through what Carly has, have every right to cry, withdraw, doubt, be angry, and unreasonable. It hurts me to see readers call girls, particularly teens who've been abused "dumb". The point of Carly's journey isn't that she begins the story handling everything well and making the best decisions. The point is that Carly, with a lot of love and help from Ryan, learns and grows.

 

To My Hero deals with tough subject matter, but in a very thoughtful and well-handled manner. Some of what we're dealing with here is sexual trauma. And this leads me to say: I take issue with all of the books that use sexual trauma as a plot device in a careless way. I know that the trauma can be a jumping point for drama, but you know what? Good sex with a hot guy does not heal the pain of sexual assault/abuse. I'm sorry, it just doesn't.  And for Sibarium's very thoughtful take on the aftermath, I have to give her major, major credit. I'm not making a comparison story-wise, but as far as responsible handling of sexual trauma goes, I would compare this book to Easy by Tammara Webber.

 

To My Hero is a story that caught me by surprise. I was taken by Carly's story, the connection and relationship between her and Ryan, and ultimately their journey together.

 



 

Favorite Quote:

  "What if I want strings?"
  You stopped and turned to me, your blue eyes betraying your surprise. "What?"
  "What if I want strings? What if I want to pick up where we left off? What if what I really want are thick steel cables that no one can sever, tying us together?"   ~ Kindle,30%
 

 

 

Purchase For My Hero at:

(I receive no compensation for purchases.)

      

 

 

 

Connect with Danielle at:

Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  GoodReads