Dear Cassie blog tour: review & giveaway

Hello and welcome to our tour stop on the Dear Cassie Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Our review is below followed by a giveaway. Thanks for stopping by!

Dear Casse by Lisa Burstein

YA contemporary*Paperback, eBook, 352 pages

Publisher: Entangled Teen*Release Date: March 5, 2013

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

What if the last place you should fall in love is the first place that you do? 

You’d think getting sent to Turning Pines Wilderness Camp for a month-long rehabilitation “retreat” and being forced to re-live it in this journal would be the worst thing that’s ever happened to me. 

You’d be wrong. 

There’s the reason I was sent to Turning Pines in the first place: I got arrested. On prom night. With my two best friends, who I haven’t talked to since and probably never will again. And then there’s the real reason I was sent here. The thing I can’t talk about with the guy I can’t even think about. 

What if the moment you’ve closed yourself off is the moment you start to break open? 

But there’s this guy here. Ben. And the more I swear he won’t—he can’t—the deeper under my skin he’s getting. After the thing that happened, I promised I’d never fall for another boy’s lies.

About Lisa: 

Lisa Burstein

Website/Blog/Twitter/Facebook/Goodreads

Lisa Burstein is a tea seller by day and a writer by night. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from the Inland Northwest Center for Writers at Eastern Washington University and is glad to finally have it be worth more than the paper it was printed on. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her very patient husband, a neurotic dog and two cats. 

She wrote her first story when she was in second grade. It was a Thanksgiving tale from the point of view of the turkey from freezer to oven to plate. It was scandalous. 

PRETTY AMY May 2012 Entangled Publishing THE NEXT FOREVER January 2013 Entangled Publishing DEAR CASSIE March 2013 Entangled Publishing 

Cassie and her two friends, Lila and Amy, were stood up on prom night and decided to retaliate by breaking into the house of one of their boyfriends and stealing his stash of marijuana. The girls get busted and Cassie finds herself heading to a 'camp' in lieu of jail time. At Turning Pines Wilderness Camp, she rooms with two girls, Nez and Troyer, and has to spend 28 days doing manual labor and writing about things, like herself, in a journal. 

Dear Cassie is a companion book to Pretty Amy, which I did not read (I read the second Pretty Amy book, The Next Forever). It's not necessary to have read the other books but there are references to a past incidence so it is helpful. Actions have consequences to handle and Cassie has no choice but to abide by the judge's rule. The story revolves around Cassie's journey from a stubborn, mad, 'tough girl' to a more mature and regretful young woman who realizes in order to be happy with another person, she has to first be happy with herself. 

I liked Ben from the opening scene and really liked Cassie's views on things. Her voice reflected so much of what she had endured growing up and at times her words were raw and emotional which made for a gripping read. I'm glad the author didn't make this a conventional romance because these are not typical characters. I did want some more depth in parts, especially when it came to better understanding Cassie. I liked the diary format but the title headings with the f-bombs lost their shock factor/impact quickly.  I found the cover art a bit misleading with the couple looking like this is a heavy romance. It isn't. What Dear Cassie does is show us how one tough-talking teen has to let go of her old ways, forgive herself for past misdeeds and learn to live.

Rating: 3.5

Cover comment: As I stated in my review I find the cover cute but misleading.

Book source: I received a promotional copy in return for my honest review.

Next stop on the tour:

A Dream Within A Dream

Find the complete tour list here

Giveaway:

There is a tour wide giveaway for 1 paperback copy of DEAR CASSIE (US Only) and one eBook of DEAR CASSIE (International).

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