Peter Monn, author of YA novel The Before Now and After Then has stopped by Confessions of a Book Geek to share his personal experiences with bullying and the inspiration behind his debut novel. As someone who suffered from bullying in my childhood and early teens, it’s an issue I feel strongly about, so I’m looking forward to reviewing this debut, as well as interviewing Peter as part of an Author Spotlight feature.
If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk’s home life, they’d send her mother to jail and 17 year old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom’s freedom and her own happiness. That’s how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn’t want her and going to a school that doesn’t understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn’t get her, but does… Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock, with secrets he can’t tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn’t be less interested in him.
4* Read
No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with “freaky” scars on her arms. Even Echo can’t remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo’s world shifts in ways she could never have imagined.
4* Read
Fiercely independent Camille gladly moved on from her childhood before it was over. Now tending bar at The Red Door, Cami doesn’t have time for much else besides work and classes, until a trip to see her boyfriend is cancelled, leaving her with a first weekend off in almost a year.
Trenton Maddox was the king of Eastern State University, dating co-eds before he even graduated high school. His friends wanted to be him, and women wanted to tame him, but after a tragic accident turned his world upside down, Trenton leaves campus to come to grips with the crushing guilt.
3.5* Read
So, in case you don’t know I’m taking part in the #sexmeup readathon hosted by Laura at She Loves to Read, it starts Monday 21st of July, and if you would like to sign-up you can find out more here. I was browsing my Goodreads To Be Read shelf to pick out a few juicy […]
There are books you can’t stop reading, which keep you up all night. There are books which let us into the hidden parts of life and make them vividly real. There are books which, because of the sheer skill with which every word is chosen, linger in your mind for days. The Shock of the Fall is an extraordinary portrait of one man’s descent into mental illness.
3.5* Read
Imagine your life is a film directed by God. A rom-com, obviously, complete with happy-ever-after ending… Welcome to Pat’s world. It’s a world of silver-linings and true love, but also a world where God makes movies and Kenny G lurks in your attic. It maybe isn’t a surprise to learn that Pat has spent some time in a mental health facility. The problem is, Pat’s now home, and everything feels off. No one will talk to him about Nikki, his estranged wife; his beloved Philadelphia Eagles keep losing; he’s being pursued by the deeply odd Tiffany and his new therapist seems to recommend adultery as a form of therapy. In this enchanting novel, Matthew Quick takes us inside Pat’s mind, showing us the world from his distorted yet endearing perspective.
3.5* Read
Nathaniel Morrisey thought he had a handle on his affections for the one woman he ever cared about, Julia North, who happened to be his boss’s daughter and best friend’s little sister. But Jules is about to blow that calm self-control he’s had a tight grip on all to hell.
The North brothers are wild, adrenaline-junky thrill-seekers who thrive on challenge, speed and danger. Their little sister, Jules, is a sweet, quiet, bookworm who’s been overprotected all her life by her hulking big brothers… but she is a North after all, so she has her own wild streak—a secret that none of them expected, especially not Nate!
2.5* Read
Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate number of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance from the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University’s Walking One-Night Stand… Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby wants—and needs—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his appeal, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’s apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match.
4.5* Read
Confessions of a Book Geek 