Saturday 30 November 2013

Without You Blog Tour Review

Awhile back I had the pleasure of interviewing Brooklyn Skye and reviewing her debut novel, STRIPPED. You can read that review and interview here. I recently had the pleasure of reading WITHOUT YOU, a companion novella to STRIPPED, written in Torrin's perspective. Scroll down to read.

STRIPPED (a novel) 
College freshman Quinn Montgomery will do anything to avoid the mistake her sister made—killing herself over a boy. But when she is forced into nude modeling at a local college to support her family after a bankruptcy, she begins to crack, just enough to let Torrin, the university’s top varsity oarsman, see that the real Quinn is not as feisty and unapproachable as she wants everyone to think. But letting someone in comes at a steep cost and, it turns out, Torrin is connected to Quinn’s family in more ways than she could ever imagine.

 WITHOUT YOU (a novella)

She was broken when I met her, shattered from the death of her sister and running from love. Not to sound like an egotistical douche or anything, but I fixed her. Put her back together, filled in the cracks, and made her whole. A true fairytale in her eyes.
But now real life is getting in the way: school, jobs, and the unexpected opportunity to travel the world under a legendary photographer. This internship will open doors not even my father’s influence could. It’s something I’ve been waiting all my life for. But so is Quinn, and accepting this internship will mean leaving her. And breaking her all over again.
 
 About the author:
Brooklyn Skye grew up in a small town where she quickly realized writing was an escape from small town life. Really, she’s just your average awkward girl who’s obsessed with words. She’s addicted to books not aimed at her age group, characters that make her swoon, and the smile she sees when someone reads what she’s written. You can follow her on Twitter as @brooklyn__skye, Facebook, or visit her web site for updates, teasers, giveaways, and more. www.brooklyn-skye.com


Without You is available on Kindle and Nook. You can also add it to your Goodreads shelf.








My Review

One of the things that really drew me to STRIPPED was the raw voice. Quinn's narrative made the book a real page turner. WIHOUT YOU, however, is written from Torrin's point of view. Now, I have read companion novels in the past in which the second installment was written from the male POV and it was well done. I'm thinking of Tamara Ireland Stone's novel in particular. WITHOUT YOU fell a bit flat for me on this front.

I reread STRIPPED and fell in love with it all over again, and while I like Torrin and felt the author did a great job with Torrin's banter with his teammates and the romantic scenes, there were times when Torrin's narrative just didn't hold up to Quinn's from STRIPPED. Quinn was broken, but she was feisty and sassy. Torrin, on the other hand, is struggling with a secret. He's been offered a wonderful internship and is unsure whether he wants to go because of how it will impact Quinn. I love that he cares about her. I love that he has a hard choice to make. In terms of plot and the new adult genre, I think the author is right on the mark as she was with her debut. Plus, WITHOUT YOU has the same beautiful, carefully worded prose that captured my attention in STRIPPED. 

Overall, WITHOUT YOU was good, 4 stars, (brown belt on my book ranking system), but STRIPPED was better.

-Beth

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