Book Stop Corner

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



“I came here looking to finish school quietly. Stay out of trouble. Maybe write some new songs. I never expected you.”




Ann Aguirre, a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author, pens her latest YA novel, The Queen of Bright and Shiny Things that revolves around a bunch of high-school teenagers with broken hearts and dark past and how they heal those torn-up hearts.






Synopsis:

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…


Sage Czinski, a high-school senior, is all about goodness-in-your-heart, who loves to leave Post-it-notes on somebody's locker with a positive quote on it. She is crushing on her childhood best-friend, Ryan, but unable to surface her feelings in front of him, but Sage also carries a lot of baggage from not her oh-so-perfect-past. Shane Cavendish is the new boy in Sage's school, who just wants to be all by himself and to write and compose songs on his guitar. He just wants to stay away from trouble who too harbors his broken heart like a baggage on his shoulder. But when Sage takes help from Shane for solving maths, both get to know a lot about their past and couldn't deny that inevitable attraction between them. What happens next is for you to find out?


Having never read anything from this author before, left me with a fresh insight into her writing style and I must say that the author writes elegantly with a lot of deep emotions which are apt for a teenager's heart. I mean the issues those are addressed in the book are pretty mature yet the author depicted them with simplicity and compassion, thus making us contemplate with those issues. Moreover, for me this book was like taking a trip down to the memory lane when I was in high school since the author have strikingly portrayed those moments and emotions of feeling bullied or those unbreakable friendships and promises and most-of-all, first love, first kiss etc.

The characterization is the one thing that makes the book worth reading for. While reading I felt like the author have embodies herself into the character of a high-school girl and a boy and brought out their issues and feelings right through their hearts.

Sage is the perfect child, I mean she tries to act like one, who is in not-so-good-terms with her rude aunt. Sage sounds happy almost all the time at least while in school, but she harbors pretty dark stuff in her heart, some shadows that keeps haunting her but Sage is constantly trying to fight those shadows with her being-perfect demeanor. Sage is into all those environmental social clubs and that's what uplifts her. What I liked the most was Sage's was given a genuine voice unlike those mean high-school-bitches, and Sage's characterization is drawn with enough realism from our everyday life drama and problems.

Shane too is more like Sage, fighting his heart-breaks all by himself. The author have portrayed Shane as someone who is very delicious with all his hot yet rough looks, I mean I was literally swooning over his looks and demeanor. Apart from writing and composing songs and playing the guitar, he's also good in maths. Other than that, he is a very reserved kind of guy.

Ryan, Sage's best-friend who also has a thing for her. He is super-smart, funny and has every quality to be your perfect high-school-boyfriend. While Shane intrigued me, Ryan, on the other hand, made me laugh and fall in love with him.

The chemistry between Sage and Shane is really sweet and a bit cheesy I guess, since they were so perfect with each other and as they learns more about their dark past, they become more strong. I liked how the author featured the high-school romance and those first-time feelings so vividly with a lot of innocence.

What I loved most about this heart-warming story is that the author handled the deep and complicated high-school issues without much hype or drama, and that's what kept me engaged to the core of this story.

Verdict: This YA contemporary fiction is a must read for everyone if you want to relive those high-school days and moments.

Courtesy: Many thanks to the author's publicist, for giving me an opportunity to read and review this book. 
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Author Info:
Ann Aguirre is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author 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. She likes all kinds of books, emo music, action movies and Doctor Who. She writes all kind of fiction in multiple genres, both YA and for adults.
Visit her here 


Book Purchase Links:

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• Amazon India