Betwixt Blog Tour: review & giveaway
We host one of the stops on the Betwixt Blog Tour today. Betwixt is a contemporary novel with a touch of the paranormal written by Melissa Pearl. Our review is below and there is a giveaway for e-books, an autographed copy and bookmarks. This tour is presented by AToMR Blog Tours.
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Betwixt by Melissa Pearl
YA contemporary/paranormal*Paperback, 203 pages
Published CreateSpace, November 5th 2012
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords
Beautiful, wild-child Nicole Tepper is hit by a car and left for dead. But when she wakes the next morning, Nicole finds herself in bed without a scratch. Perhaps she was more intoxicated than usual, as her mother is giving her the silent treatment and her friends are ignoring her as well.
Things take a turn for the weird when Nicole soon discovers she is actually hovering between life and death. Her body is lying in the forest while her spirit is searching for anyone who can hear her. Unfortunately the only person who can is Dale Finnigan, the guy she publicly humiliated with a sharp-tongued insult that has left him branded.
Desperate, Nicole has no choice but to haunt Dale and convince the freaked-out senior to help her. Will he find her body before it's too late? Or will the guy who tried to kill her with his car, beat him there and finish her off before anyone finds out?
About the author:
Melissa Pearl
Melissa Pearl was born in Auckland, New Zealand, but has spent much of her life abroad, living in countries such as Jordan, Cyprus and Pakistan... not to mention a nine month road trip around North America with her husband. "Best. Year. Ever!!" She now lives in China with her husband and two sons. She is a trained elementary teacher, but writing is her passion. Since becoming a full time mother she has had the opportunity to pursue this dream and her debut novel hit the internet in November, 2011. Since then she has produced three more books with her fifth novel, Betwixt, due out in November 2012.
"I am passionate about writing. It stirs a fire in my soul that I never knew I had. I want to be the best writer I can possibly be and transport my readers into another world where they can laugh, cry and fall in love."
My thoughts:
I usually don't care for stories about rich, pretty, party girls but after reading the summary I knew Betwixt was more than that. I wasn't crazy about main character Nicole, a typical 'mean girl', in the beginning and yet after her accident, I was incredibly sympathetic to her plight. As her tale progressed and more of her backstory was revealed and she began taking stock in who she really was and wondered about her 'friends', my feelings for her changed as well. I knew there was a glimmer of hope for the teen from the early scene between her and Dale when he gives her the dog-tags and they bond over a rock band. So when Dale is the only one to hear her ghostly form after her accident, I sat back and prepared myself for a good story.
The opening scene of Betwixt immediately made me think of a movie I liked, The Invisible, about a teen guy, Nick, is beaten up and left for dead. His spirit travels around searching for help and the only one who can see him is the girl responsible for his attack. Nick is wealthy and is liked by his classmates. The differences end there because Nicole isn't liked by her old friends anymore--they find her annoying--and her new crop of friends are vapid, some are jealous of her, and the bottom line is they don't know her or care about her.
Nicole is an appealing character. She changes for the better and Dale is so sweet and helpful. He is so compassionate and good for a guy cut down by Nicole and branded 'Scarface' earlier in the story. The pacing was steady, there was lots of tension, the dialogue sounded real and I wound up liking and caring for Nicole and Dale. My only note of contention was when Nicole had to wait for Dale to search for her body. She is dying and he's going about his day like normal (it's called 'an emergency'). Melissa Pearl created a contemporary YA novel, added some elements of the paranormal, and made Betwixt a bewitching read with tremendous heart and emotion. I liked her writing and eagerly look forward to her next novel.
Rating: 4
Cover comment: I find this cover very effective in conveying the tone of the book. I like it though I expected to see Nicole's clothing look a little more upscale.
Book source: I received an e-book copy from the tour company in exchange for my honest review during a book tour.
Giveaway:
Enter below for a chance to win one of 10 Ebooks, one signed paperback copy of Betwixt, and bookmarks. Open internationally.
Thank you so much for such a great review and being part of this tour. I'm so glad you enjoyed the book :)
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