BLOG TOUR: Circle of Silence by Carol M. Tanzman (Review + Giveaway)

Genre:	Young Adult, Contemporary,  Thriller, Mystery, Romance
Publication.Date	July 24th 2012
Pages:	304
Published By:	Harlequin Teen|
Website	Carol M. Tanzman |
	Circle Of Silence - Goodreads
My review copy:	ARC received from netGalley via Kismet Blog Tours in exchange for an honest review

Where to get:

THE BIGGEST STORY OF MY LIFE COULD BE HOW IT ENDS It's my turn to run a "Campus News" crew, and I've put together a team that can break stories wide open. And Washington Irving High has a truly great one to cover, if only we can find a lead.

A secret society has formed in our school. It announced its presence with pranks: underwear on the flagpole, a toilet in the hallway, cryptic notes. A circle of silence keeps the society a mystery. No one knows its members, agenda or initiation secrets-until a student lands in the hospital under "strange" circumstances.

I "will" blow this story wide open and stop others from being hurt...or worse. And while my ex, Jagger, might want to help, I don't trust him yet. (And, no, not because of our past together. That is "not" important to this story.)

But whether you find me, Valerie Gaines, reporting in front of the camera, or a victim in the top story of the newscast...be sure to watch "Campus News" at 9:00 a.m. this Friday.

(Goodreads)

"The mysteries of WiHi are.. mysterious, Marci."

MP is power. The kind of power that sneaks up on people, smacks them in the face and makes them regret their sorry existence. 

Moment of truth. Whatever I choose changes lives. Good or bad, I'll never be able to say I didn't know what I was doing. Because if there's one thing I learned over the last few weeks, watching tubes and machines keep Jagger alive, is that there are consequences to every choice we make.

     Circle of Silence is a fantastic addition to the WiHi series. It's not by any means a continuation of the story from dancergirl, it's more of a companion novel that stands on its own and can be enjoyed by just about anyone, even if they haven't read the previous book (although I highly recommend you do). Part mystery and part romance, it's a thrilling and exciting story full of relatable characters and interesting plot developments. An unputdownable and entirely captivating tale that explores many themes, such as cheating and forgiveness, violence, revenge, and family drama. 

     The story starts seemingly innocent. It's Valerie Gaines' senior year and she is starting to feel the pressure. Soon enough high school will be over and everyone will go their own ways. To get into the top school of her choice, she has to show everyone what she's made of. When she's picked to be the producer of Team B Campus News crew, she knows that this is her chance to impress the teachers, all she needs is a great story. And what's a better story than a secret society that just announced its presence with a series of pranks? Valerie's determined to solve the mystery and expose the pranksters. What she doesn't yet realize, though, is just how dangerous a mission she's about to embark on. There's way more to the mysterious MP group than what everyone originally assumed, and Valerie is about to get a taste of real journalism with all its risks and challenges. 

     I really enjoyed this book, even though I thought it started off a little bit slow. At the beginning MP's pranks are rather childish and seemingly harmless. There are a few notes left in people's lockers, underwear hanging from a flag pole and a toilet with the school's flag in it left in the hallway - nothing particularly alarming. It isn't until the second half of the book that things are starting to get more serious. I loved the steadily increasing tension and how things got darker and creepier with every page. The atmosphere was thick with suspense and I just couldn't stop reading, I wanted to find out how this story ends. The ending itself didn't surprise me at all. I knew all along where the author was going with the story, but that didn't take away from the pleasure of reading. The only thing that really disappointed me was how sweet and cheerful the conclusion of the story was - to me it felt a little bit unrealistic. Usually that doesn't bother me at all - I love happy endings - but in this particular case I was hoping for a slightly different outcome. 

     I liked Valerie. She was strong, clever, very determined and passionate about journalism. She possessed many admirable qualities and it was fun to see her fully immersed in work and doing her best to crack the MP's case. I liked that she didn't instantly forgive and forget that Jagger cheated on her. I didn't like Jagger, he didn't seem trustworthy, there was something very off about him and I didn't really like the fact that Valerie was still under his charm. Overall, though, I thought the dynamics of their relationship were very interesting. It isn't often that we get to read about couples overcoming obstacles, working out compromises, and getting over heartbreaks - especially not in YA novels. I thought it was a fresh and delicious new take on YA romance. 

     I absolutely loved Mrs. Tanzman's writing style. Her plotting was solid and she crafted all the characters and high school settings with exceptional care for details, which resulted in a very bone-chilling, convincing and emotionally engaging read. I liked that she included MP logs throughout the novel. That gave us an interesting insight into the mind of the culprit, and instantly increased the level of creepy. Being able to see the story from the MP leader's perspective was both disturbing and intriguing at the same time. 

     Overall, this book was really great and I had a fantastic time reading it. It was a quick and intensely gripping read, and one that send many shivers down my spine. If you enjoyed Mrs. Tanzman's dancergil, you'll love Circle Of Silence. Don't hesitate to pick it!

And here's a short, but very entertaining Guest Post by Carol M. Tanzman, the author of this fabulous YA  novel!

Dueling Playlists: Val vs. Jagger 

Today is the Circle of Silence book birthday (so exciting)! Of course, singing the birthday song is way too lame. Instead, I’m giving you: Dueling Playlists! 

The main character in the book, Valerie Gaines, and her ex-boyfriend, Jagger Voorham, end up on the same Campus News TV crew. They’re at odds over most things, including their playlist. Here are the Top Five songs for each of them, along with a Spotify playlist that combines them both. 

Valerie’s Playlist 

1. Cruel - St. Vincent

2. Crew Love – Drake 

3. Boyfriend - Best Coast

4. We Found Love - Rihanna

5. Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5 

Jagger’s Playlist 

1. Sixteen Saltines - Jack White

2. Hold On - Alabama Shakes

3. Wiped Out - OFF!

4. Float - Aesop Rock

5. Paint it, Black - Rolling Stones 

Here’s the Spotify playlist for both sets of songs. 

So, readers, whose list do you like better?

About Carol M. Tanzmann

website | twitter | facebook | goodreads | tumblr | HarlequinTEEN website

Carol M. Tanzman is an award-winning theatre director and nationally recognized arts educator. Her first YA novel, The Shadow Place, was on YALSA's Quick Pick List of Recommended Books, the National Council of Teachers of English ALAN List of Best Books, and the CA Collection for Middle & Senior High Schools. In addition to the current Harlequin Teen books dancergirl and Circle of Silence she is a contributing poet to the upcoming Dare to Dream…Change the World anthology.

GIVEAWAY

Thanks to the Kismet Blog tours and Harlequin Teen each of the tour hosts gets a chance to host two amazing giveaways! 

Here's what you can win:

The first giveaway is for the chance to win a physical copy of Circle Of Silence! To enter the daily give-away, please enter via Rafflecopter below!
Open to US/Canada only


a Rafflecopter giveaway

The second giveaway is for a brand new Nook GlowLight skinned with the beautiful Circle of Silence Cover Art! To enter: You MUST answer the special question found in the Rafflecopter Giveaway!:

Entries in the daily give-away also count toward the grand prize give-away.

Open to US/Canada only

This review, giveaway and guest post are posted as part of the Temptation blog tour organized by Heather and Danny from Kismet Blog Tours & Harlequin Teen!

Full schedule here:

Monday, July 23rd – Alice Marvel’s - Q&A with Carol! 
Tuesday, July 24th Book Birthday – Evie Bookish
Wednesday, July 25th – The Book Cellar 
Friday, July 27th – Kindle Fever

Monday, July 30th – Xpresso Reads
Wednesday, August 1st – Reading Angel
Friday, August 3rd – Harlequin Blog

Monday, August 6th- Letter’s Inside Out
Wednesday, August 8th – Chapter by Chapter
Friday, August 10th – I Just wanna Sit here and Read 

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About the Author

Evie is the Blogger behind Bookish. She enjoys reading many different genres, especially YA, Paranormal, Contemporary Fiction and Fantasy.

She loves talking to authors and is always happy to welcome them for interviews, and guest posts. She also likes spreading the love for awesome books and  chatting with fellow book-worms.

You can find Evie here: Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Shelfari | The Library Thing