About the Book
-
Author:
- Alysia Gray Painter
- Genres:
- Boy-Girl Romance
- Contemporary
- YA Romance
- Voices:
- Cis Girl
Cover Story:Â Perfecto Plus Extras!
BFF Charm:Â Make It Rain
Talky Talk:Â Twisty Turny
Bonus Factors:Â World’s Basement, Physics, FYA
Relationship Status:Â Let’s Stay Together
Cover Story: Perfecto Plus Extras!
It has long (well, for at least two years) been to my chagrin that these gorgeous covers only grace e-books and aren’t piled up in displays at book stores. Because then maybe some other cover designers would take a hint! We don’t actually need our books to be graced with stock images from a maxi-pad advertisement shoot! Or a photo of a lady who looks sad enough to be on a Suicide Prevention Hotline poster! I promise!
The Deal:
If you’ve read the first two books in this series, you’ll know that Fair Finley is living one hell of a life. Tasked with taking (by any means necessary) her neighbors’ motel pool (and thus sending the motel, who claims the pool as its only amenity, straight into foreclosure), she’s formed a wary alliance with her neighbors, cousins Monty and Gomery. But when weird things start happening – rooms switching on themselves and maps of Paris becoming, well, Paris – Fair, Monty, Gomery and Fair’s bestie Sutton hit the road to uncover some clues.
When they arrive at The Redwoodian (one of Fair’s family’s properties), they’re greeted with some snowed in hotel guests, including Famous Actor and All-Around Amazing Person, Prior Yates. But when things start getting even weirder – shadowy buildings following them around, prophetic pinecones spelling despair – Fair and co. aren’t really sure where to turn. But it’s when Gomery risks checking on his mom and aunt via metaphysical bumper sticker transport (just trust me on this), things get really weird.
Suddenly, Fair, Sutton, Monty and Gomery are contending with a group of people in puffy jackets who seem to know that the world is not what it seems. Can they save Monty and Gomery’s moms? And will Fair and Gomery EVER make out?
BFF Charm: Make It Rain
I love all of the starring characters in these books. I love Prior Yates the most, obvs, because I am definitely not immune to the charms of a washboard-abbed, cheerful actor who creates cocktails and names them after himself, although learning that he snores loudly enough to wake an entire hotel floor definitely moved him off my Potential Fictional Boyfriend List. And Sutton, with her cute-word-cursing and fierce protection of Fair, endeared herself to me completely. And Monty’s formerly wise-cracking and now not-so-genuine sunny demeanor is always a balm to my soul.
But it’s Fair and Gomery who I want to befriend to my bosom in true Anne Shirley style. They’re both just the right amount of both clueless and capable, so I know that they’ll be great at fixing my radiator or soothing any feathers I ruffle, but will also be desperately grateful for all the relationship advice I can give them. What more could you want from a bestie?
Swoonworthy Scale: 9
Y’ALL. So, I read this book on my daughter’s Kindle* and my index fingers now have an RSI from highlighting EVERY SWOONY PASSAGE IN THIS BOOK. BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY. Fair and Gomery are at that delicious precipice before a relationship begins – they like each other, and they know that the feeling is mutual, and they’re pretty committed to going for it, but they’re just not quite ready to take the actual leap. Remember those heady days of flirting outrageously with your partner but still trying desperately to play it cool because you weren’t sure if you could allow your heart to be vulnerable? THAT. That right there is where Fair and Gomery are at, and it’s so, so tantalizing to read.
* Fun story but not really: I don’t own a Kindle but I had a Kindle app on my iPad. While taking two doggies to the dog park, they jostled me and my iPad flew out of my hands and shattered on the ground. It was quite musical, really. I didn’t cry AT ALL. But then I had no way of reading this book! So I grounded my daughter for a made up reason** and took her Kindle away from her for a week. Parenting! I’m doing it!
** Well, it wasn’t THAT made up. I had asked her to clean her room, to no avail. Mama don’t ask twice!
Talky Talk: Twisty Turny
Combine metaphysics, psycho-architecture and two people who can’t discuss what they had for breakfast without stammering and adjusting their clothes, and you have a book full of crazy questions, random metaphors, and lots of talking around the issues. And while in real life that would bug the shit out of me (I am too Texan to talk around an issue. Just say what you mean, please.), in this book, it just works. I love delving into these books because I truly feel like I’m in another world, and that’s what a good book should do.
Bonus Factor: World’s Basement
I can’t really go into most of the bonus factors in this book without spoiling them, which is a shame. But I really, really want the World’s Basement, where copies of everything that ever was or will be, to be real. And then I want to hang out there, particularly in the sections that house, say, my childhood home.
Bonus Factor: Physics
I like books about science, as we all know, and books about physics top that list. While this isn’t obstensibly a book about physics, there sure as heck is a lot of it weaving through the pages. Now if only I could open a portal to another place. Perhaps a place uncontrolled by current US immigration laws.
Bonus Factor: FYA
Oh, WHAT UP, FYA dedication? Y’all, I ain’t gonna lie, seeing my name in print for probably the only time in my life gave me a giant happy. I count my cheerful email exchanges with Alysia as just one of the benefits the last few years at FYA has given me, and it’s awesome to see that relationship in print for the whole world to read!
Relationship Status: Let’s Stay Together
Book, I…I’m so in love with you. Whatever you wanna do is alright with meeeeeeeeeee. So Let’s! Let’s stay together! Loving you whether, whether, you use a bumper sticker to open a portal to another place in time or you take my pool from me!
Ahem, sorry about getting off track, there, Book. But it’s true. You’ve made my life a sunnier place, and I hope we stay together forevah, even when broken iPads threaten to tear us apart.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received my free review copy from author Alysia Gray Painter. I received neither money nor cocktails for this review (damnit). You can purchase Stay Awhile online at the link below!
