Today I’m blogging as part of the book tour for Girl on the Brink by Christina Hoag. This is an amazing book you guys. It may be YA, but adults can enjoy it as well.
In other news, I’m writing a new story. A novella actually. It’s YA contemporary romance taking place in a small town in Montana. I’m super excited for this project. It’s projected release will be next summer.
We also had quite the adventure this past weekend. The kids and hubby discovered a litter of stray kittens in our backyard! We have a friend who works at the Humane Society so we borrowed a trap and caught 4 of the 5 kittens and brought them in. I’ve been watching for the mama cat and the last baby, but so far they’ve been MIA. I hope someone else catches them or they come back. I hate knowing they’re out there when it’s getting colder and colder out. I feel a little guilty separating the babies from their mom and sibling, but they were all girl kittens; can you imagine the number of stray cats running around the neighborhood had we not caught them and brought them in? I know they’ll be happy and well cared for in their new homes once they’re socialized and adopted.
Without further ado, the review….
Girl on the Brink by Christina Hoag
Read: Fall 2015
Format: Unedited Ebook ARC
My Book Rating: 5 Stars
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
ABOUT THE BOOK
Sometimes the one you love isn’t the one you’re meant to be with.
The summer before senior year, Chloe starts an internship as a reporter at a local newspaper. While on assignment, she meets Kieran, a quirky aspiring actor. Chloe becomes smitten with Kieran’s charisma and his ability to soothe her soul, torn over her parents’ impending divorce. But as their bond deepens, Kieran becomes smothering and flies into terrifying rages. He confides in Chloe that he suffered a traumatic childhood, and Chloe is moved to help him. If only he could be healed, she thinks, their relationship would be perfect. But her efforts backfire, and Kieran turns violent. Chloe breaks up with him, but Kieran pursues her relentlessly to make up. Chloe must make the heartrending choice between saving herself or saving Kieran, until Kieran’s mission of remorse turns into a quest for revenge.
Advance Praise
“An engrossing tale of a dangerous teen romance.” – Kirkus Reviews
“Girl on the Brink is a must have for every high school and public library.”
– Isabelle Kane, Wisconsin high school librarian
REVIEW
Girl on the Brink is a must read for all teenagers. It’s both light and dark, happy and sad. Despite red flags going up right away for me with Kieran, it’s easy to see how Chloe let the attention Kieran gives her take over her life. It’s easy to see how his attentiveness turns to obsession. Turns to emotional, and eventually physical, abuse.
This book is hard to read. It’s hard to see a nice girl like Chloe, who is already going through so much at home with her dad having moved away and her mom sunk in a deep depression. It’s no wonder she clings to the one good thing in her life, the boy who says he loves her.
Abuse is a difficult topic to tackle, especially when aimed at teens. Hoag did a wonderful job creating realistic characters, setting up the romance, and putting in all the little warnings that things weren’t as good as they seemed. I truly believe this book belongs in every high school. Too many girls go through what Chloe endured and they need to know that they are not alone and that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
I think my favorite thing about this book is that it’s not preachy. It doesn’t read like an after school special. It’s just a good teen contemporary romance… that takes a dark turn into abuse.
Disclaimer: I work for the publisher of this book and I am the cover designer, however I stand by my review and ratings 100%. I would not promote a book I didn’t believe in.
Get the Girl on the Brink here:
Amazon
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QUOTES
“A blush creeps hotly over my face. He’s right. I’m not used to compliments. I try and head this one off. “I cut it every summer. It gets really hot. It’s like wearing a cape on my head.”
“Oh no, I love long hair. I’ll spank you if you cut it.”
~
I know something’s up, I just know it. I speed like a bullet down the trail, stumbling over roots, branches and stones. When I get to the sandy cove, the boat’s gone. I wade into the river and look upstream. Something flashes. The boat is rounding a distant bend.
“Kieran!” I scream. He disappears.
~
He throws up his hands. “Okay, if you really want me to, I’ll go.”
I cross to the door and twist the knob. In a flash, he grabs my shoulders and forces me back against the door. He pushes his lips against mine. I squirm, but he’s too strong. He pulls back, but leaves my arms pinned.
“If you want me to leave, I’ll leave, but it’ll be forever. You’ll never find anyone else like me. You’ll never have what we have again. This is it for us, Chloe, this is it. You don’t want to give this up. You don’t want to walk away from this. I know you don’t. You don’t really want to destroy everything we’ve built together, do you, sweetpea?”
He hits the truth. Deep down, I don’t want to destroy it. I love Kieran, the good Kieran, not the crazy Kieran.
About the Author
Christina Hoag is the author of Girl on the Brink, a romantic thriller for young adults (Fire and Ice YA/Melange Books, August 2016) and Skin of Tattoos, a literary thriller set in L.A.’s gang underworld (Martin Brown Publishing, September 2016). She is a former reporter for the Associated Press and Miami Herald and worked as a correspondent in Latin America writing for major media outlets including Time, Business Week, Financial Times, the Houston Chronicle and The New York Times. She is the co-author of Peace in the Hood: Working with Gang Members to End the Violence, a groundbreaking book on gang intervention (Turner Publishing, 2014). She resides in Los Angeles. For more information, see www.christinahoag.com.
Author Links:
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