I am extremely excited to bring you the Release Week Blitz for Ann Aguirre's THE QUEEN OF BRIGHT AND SHINY THINGS!! THE QUEEN OF BRIGHT AND SHINY THINGS is a Young Adult Contemporary Romance published by Macmillan!! Grab your copy today!
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About THE QUEEN OF BRIGHT AND SHINY
THINGS:
Sage Czinski is trying really hard to be perfect. If she
manages it, people won’t peer beyond the surface, or ask hard questions about
her past. She’s learned to substitute causes for relationships, and it’s
working just fine… until Shane Cavendish strolls into her math class. He’s a
little antisocial, a lot beautiful, and everything she never knew she always
wanted.
Shane Cavendish just wants to be left alone to play guitar
and work on his music. He’s got heartbreak and loneliness in his rearview
mirror, and this new school represents his last chance. He doesn’t expect to be
happy; he only wants to graduate and move on. He never counted on a girl like
Sage.
But love doesn’t mend all broken things, and sometimes life
has to fall apart before it can be put back together again…
Excerpt:
When I walk past the music room, I hear something that
stills me in my tracks. People push past; I've become a rock in the middle of a
rushing stream, but I can't move. Then someone shoves me from behind, not on
purpose, but the result is the same. I slam into the lockers past the classroom
and bounce. The underclassmen who were wrestling don't even notice that my
brain has stopped firing.
Shane Cavendish plays like it's his reason for
living.
I don't write that on the Post-it, of course. That would
just get him beaten up even harder. Instead I scrawl, You’re awesome
on the guitar, because the jocks might think that’s cool and leave
him the hell alone. It's a long shot, as I don't have any particular cred with
their crew, but being a musician is pretty spectacular. I can't breathe for how
good—how remarkably talented—he is. And I suspect that if he found out anyone
was paying attention, he'd stop playing.
Backtracking to his locker will make me late for class, but
it's worth it. I stick the note just below the vents, as I always do, but this
time it feels weightier, more somehow, like this is a
turning point. Shaking off the odd sensation, I dodge into Econ with a mumbled
excuse. Sadly, it holds no weight with Mrs. Palmer. Unlike the male teachers,
she isn't impressed with talk of 'female problems', so I get my first detention
of the year, only the second I've ever had.
Since tomorrow is Friday and I have standing plans with
Ryan, I ask, “Can I just get it over with tonight?”
I calculate; school lets out at 2:45. An hour of sitting in
silence, and I’m supposed to be at work at four. If I hurry, I can still make
my shift at the Curly Q. Which sounds like a diner, but it's actually a hair salon.
I'm not qualified to do anything but wash hair, sweep up, and answer the phone,
but it's better than fast food. I work two afternoons a week from four to
eight, which earns me spending money for the week. Since I'm under eighteen, I
get paid fifty cents an hour less than an adult; that makes me a bargain.
After detention ends, I’ll just need to ride hard to keep Mildred from yelling
at me.
Mrs. Palmer glances up from scribbling down my doom. “Can
you get a ride home?”
“Yeah.”
I’ve always got my bike out front, and the town is small
enough that I can ride anywhere I need to go from school. This is the one
positive aspect of living in a tiny berg like this, especially given my opinion
of privately-owned fossil fuel burning vehicles, which covers nicely for my
lingering fear.
About Ann Aguirre:
Ann Aguirre is a New York
Times & USA
Today bestselling author and RITA winner with a degree in
English Literature; before she began writing full time, she was a clown, a
clerk, a voice actress, and a savior of stray kittens, not necessarily in that
order. She grew up in a yellow house across from a cornfield, but now she lives
in sunny Mexico with her husband, children, and various pets. Ann likes books,
emo music, action movies, and she writes all kinds of genre fiction for adults
and teens, published with Harlequin, Macmillan, and Penguin, among others.
My Review
The Queen of Bright and Shiny Things is definitely a
powerful read. It handles tough
subjects, like bullying and family issues.
Things that we don’t necessarily talk much about and usually just brush
under the rug. If we don’t pay attention
to it then we can pretend that it just doesn’t exist. But it does and I think that Ann Aguirre
handles all these issues perfectly and gracefully.
It’s hard to describe my feelings toward Sage, our MC. At first, I didn’t really get her, you
know? She lives with her aunt and leaves
post it notes on her classmates lockers when they’re having bad days. She’s part of a “green” group. She has this uncontrollable need to fix things. She sometimes refers to herself as 'Shadow Sage'. I just didn’t get it and really thought of
her as a goody two shoes. But slowly I
warmed up to her. And when her secrets
are finally revealed, I finally got her.
I realized why she does what she does.
Why she constantly wants approval from her aunt and wants to do
good. She started as this girl who was
just coasting along and living in the shadows of her friend and by the end she
became this strong girl who not just fought for other people but fought for
herself as well.
Shane is honestly my dream guy. Seriously.
He’s kind of closed off, but plays guitar and sings. He fights for what he believes in even though
he just wanted to fly under the radar.
And he does these little romantic things for Sage that will make you
swoon. It also didn’t help the fact that
all throughout reading this book I couldn’t picture him as anyone else but
Kellin Quinn from the band, Sleeping with Sirens.
The romance was just off the charts. Relationships goals, right here. It had its flaws but it will make you swoon and
giggle and sigh. It'll make you want to
fight for them.
The Queen of Bright and Shiny Things is so much more than a
story about bullying. It’s about family
and friends. It’s about acceptance and
forgiveness. It’s about letting go and
living your life. Finding love and being
happy.
This book has got to be one of my favorite
contemporaries. Definitely one of my
favorites of the year so far. Go pick it up today! Right now!
Characters 4/5
Plot 5/5
Feels 5/5
Writing 4/5
Overall 4.5/5
I was provided an eArc in exchange for an honest review. Thanks!
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