Genre: Publication.Date Anticipated date: Aug 2014 Pages: 328 Website Selene Castrovilla MELT Goodreads My review copy: I received a copy of this book for the early review blog tour from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Melt is a brutal love story, set against the backdrop of The Wizard of Oz. Sixteen year old “good girl” Dorothy just blew into the small town of Highland Park – where the social headquarters is Munchkinland (Dunkin’ Donuts.) There, she meets Joey – a “bad boy” who tells no one about the catastrophic domestic violence he witnesses at home. Can these two lovers survive peer pressure, Joey’s reputation, and his alcoholism? And then there’s his family's secret – about to be unleashed.
Told in dual first person, Joey's words are scattered on the page - reflecting his broken state. Dorothy is the voice of reason - until something so shattering happens that she, too, may lose her grip. Can their love endure, or will it melt away?
Melt is based on true events. It is both a chilling tale of abuse, and a timeless romance. It will hit you like a punch in the face, and also seep through the cracks in your soul.
Are you insane? Amy yanked me around again. That's Joey Riley. He's the biggest loser of them all. He doesn't look like a loser... Hel--lo, do you think losers come with big loser signs attached? No, they can come in some exceptional packaging... But when you unwrap them and you peel away all that plastic coating stuff and rip off the safety tags, then guess what, it's too late to return them.
When you think about it, words don't count for much anyway. It's the intention behind them that counts.
But in a way that's harder when he's cool. It knocks me off my game. When I get a taste of the pop, the rest of the world knows. The stand up guy who'll always pull over to help someone stuck on the side of the road. Mister good time who's cracking his buddies up so amusing down at the bar plus he's buying the next round. No one knows the pop behind our closed front door.
Gut wrenching. Powerful. Sexy. Raw.
I am completely stoked that I got to read this book before it comes out and participate in this early review tour. I can't even explain how much this book affected me. I had to wait to write my review for a week after I was finished reading it, so that I could have time to gather my thoughts and come up with the right words to describe this book. I am still not sure I was able to do it justice with mere words.
Joey Riley was bad news. Her friend Amy tried to warn her. Joey was a "loser". He was not the type of boy you tried to get to know. He was not the dating type. He was especially wasn't the type of boy a good girl like Dorothy dated. However, for the first time Dorothy didn't feel like listening to other people's opinions. She wanted to form her own opinions about Joey Riley. She wanted to know who Joey Riley really was. She wasn't going to let anyone get in her way.
From the first chapter I was hooked on this story. The book was written in prose and some might find that daunting to get through but I find it shows real emotion in the author's writing. I felt connected with the characters. Both Dorothy and Joey share their side in this book by alternating voices in each chapter. The story flew by and was so easy to read. I literally devoured it in one night. The emotions that pour out of these characters are so sweet but at the same time heartbreaking. I found myself yelling at the "bad people" in the book so many time as I had grown so close to the characters.
I feel as if I don't want to give away too much of this storyline because it would ruin it for you. This is the type of book that you should go into blind. Some books don't require knowing exactly what they are about, you just need to know enough to know that you will ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!
I have nothing but good things to say about this author. Her writing style, the characters, the storyline, the perfect way the lives of these two young people were woven together, the way she wrote so eloquently about the tragic path these two people take. Raw emotion. Young love. Lessons learned. Words that are spoken that can never be taken back.
Such a realistic story told from the view point of a broken boy and a hopeful girl. MELT should not be a book that you miss out on reading.
.
About the Author
Selene Castrovilla is an award-winning teen and children’s author who believes that through all trends, humanity remains at the core of literature. She is the author of Saved By the Music and The Girl Next Door, teen novels originally published by WestSide Books and now available digitally through ASD Publishing. Her third children’s book with Calkins Creek Books, Revolutionary Friends, was released in April 2013. She is also a contributing author to UncommonYA. Selene holds an MFA in creative writing from New School University and a BA in English from New York University. She lives on Long Island with her two sons. Visit her website www.SeleneCastrovilla.com for book excerpts and more information!
Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr | Pinterest
Giveaway
What you can win:
One winner will receive a signed ARC of MELT and $25 Amazon or B&N gift card (US/CA only). Three
winners will receive an ebook copy (international).
No comments:
Post a Comment