Blogoversary Celebration Comes To An End

Today is the last post part of my blogoversary celebration week! It was a crazy busy week for me but it was a lot of fun and I hope you all enjoyed my posts - I'm sure you all liked the giveaways! ;) So today is going to be a quick recap and cheers post, and of course, a fabulous giveaway to end an equally fabulous week!

Recap

Have you missed something this week?

-Day 1: Blogoversary Kick Off
-Day 2: Now & Then
-Day 3: FAQ
-Day 4: Author & Publisher Love
-Day 5: Favorite Reads
-Day 6: Blogger Lovin'

Special Thanks

I want to extend a very big thank you to all the authors and publishers who made all the blogoversary giveaways happen, turning this great week into something else altogether!

Thanks SO much Kendare Blake, Rhiannon Frater, Kathleen Peacock, Darynda Jones, Jus Accardo, Helen Keeble, PT Michelle, Bethany Griffin, Michelle Davidson Argyle, Hachette Children's Books UK, Hachette Book Group Canada, O'Dell Hutchison, Nikki Jefford, JL Bryan, Miranda Kenneally, Mike Mullin, Lara Zielin, Sherry Gammon, MR Merrick, Kelley York, Brigid Kemmerer, Jodi Meadows, Susane Colasanti, Marie Rutkoski, and Lia Habel. You have all made this week incredible!

If you have not read a book by every one of these lovely people, you are missing out!!

Feedback

Is there anything that you wish I would post more/less of? You wish I would stop calling you muffin? You would like to see a certain widget on my sidebar? 

Use the form below to give me some feedback! Whatever you've got! Bring it! It's anonymous!

I may regret this later.

Cheers!

Cheers to one year of blogging! Cheers to friends, bloggers, authors, publishers, and everyone who makes blogging worth it! Cheers to great books! Cheers to awful books that keep me warm from the fireplace. And most of all, cheers to more years to come, because I'm gonna be here for a while! ;)

Love. Your. Faces!

Review: Keep Holding On

Keep Holding On
Susane Colasanti
Release date: May 31st, 2012
by Viking Juvenile

Goodreads / Purchase

A romantic and empowering book about bullying

Noelle's life is all about survival. Even her best friend doesn't know how much she gets bullied, or the ways her mom neglects her. Noelle's kept so much about her life a secret for so long that when her longtime crush Julian Porter starts paying attention to her, she's terrified. Surely it's safer to stay hidden than to risk the pain of a broken heart. But when the antagonism of her classmates takes a dramatic turn, Noelle realizes it's time to stand up for herself--and for the love that keeps her holding on.

*A copy was provided by Penguin Canada for review purposes*

School was the most difficult time in my life. I didn't have it as bad as Noelle. I have a great family who gave me everything I needed, but my school life was terrible. I was picked on and laughed at for being little. I had a hard time approaching people to make friends. I was even bullied by a teacher who made it a point to humiliate me. I was too young to realize this back then, but I will never forgive her. This all made me lash out and act in ways that made myself unapproachable. Being from a very small town like Noelle, this story hit incredibly close to home. It may not be a perfect book, but it still deserves every single star I can give for the simple fact that this sends a strong message that could help people live through what may be the hardest years of their lives.

Noelle had my sympathy from the very first page. She's an immensely strong willed person to have kept herself together the way she did. She is intelligent and caring. She has a huge heart that has been trampled on, but she never gives up. I admire her will and I think a lot of people could learn from her. Her emotions are vivid. She made my heart break and gave my goosebumps by seeing her finally stand up for herself. Yes she makes some stupid decisions, yes it's obvious to us how Matt is using her, yes her reaction to others being bullied is ironic. It may be hard to understand, but when you can avoid making your life even worse, you do so. We have to realize that this girl is stifled in a life of depression and shame, her irrational decisions are due to an unconscious defense mechanism. We'd like to think someone who gets bullied would help others in the same boat, but I call that wishful thinking.

The side characters, though some more than others, have a big a role in the story as well. From her best friend to the bullies, these were plucked out from real life with real problems of their own. I also found her mother very convincing. She's a horrible parent figure, but unlike some other books I've read it didn't feel exaggerated for the sake of the story. It felt like a realistic situation where the parent is just as lost as the child. It's sad, but more often than we realize there are kids who raise themselves, do their own laundry, don't get enough to eat, etc. It's horrible. It really is.

Being a very short book it packs quite the punch; the story is packed full of emotional highs and lows. Like I said it's not perfect, some things could been fleshed out - like her friendship with Sherae, her relationship with Julian, and the ending which I felt was a bit implausible or too good to be true. In real life things don't usually turn around so quickly. Nonetheless, the story is touching. It could definitely help give some kids hope and I think this is what matters in the end.

Yes it's true, things get better. What happens in school doesn't matter when you're older. If only this was easy to believe when you're a teenager. I commend Susane for taking her experience and writing such an encouraging story. It takes courage, I know just by writing this that it IS embarrassing to admit you were bullied, but you know what? Don't ever be ashamed! This is what defines who we become, and I would not change a thing about my life today! 

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