I'm so happy to share my review and character interview with you all today. Plus there's so much more!
A Blind Spot for Boys
by Justina Chen
Publication Date: August 12, 2014
Synopsis: Shana Wilde has always had a blind spot for boys. Can she trust the one who’s right in front of her?
Shana is officially on a Boy Moratorium. After a devastating breakup, she decides it’s time to end the plague of Mr. Wrongs and devote herself to her true passion: photography.
Enter Quattro, the undeniably intriguing lacrosse player who slams into Shana one morning in Seattle. Sparks don’t simply fly; they ignite—and so does Shana’s interest. But just as she’s about to rethink her ban on boys, she receives crushing news: Her dad is going blind.
Shana and her parents vow to make the most of the time her father has left to see, so they plan a photo safari to Machu Picchu. But even as Shana travels away from Quattro, she can’t get him out of her mind.
Love and loss, humor and heartbreak collide in this new novel from acclaimed author Justina Chen (North of Beautiful).
Character Interview
For Shana:
1. How does it feel to have made it through your Peruvian Adventure? Happy to be alive! One mudslide per lifetime is enough, let me tell you. But to be honest, because the Inca Trail even without the mudslide was scary hard, I feel so enriched. I know what I’m capable of doing, which is a heck of a lot more than I thought I could handle.
2. What did you find about your trip that surprised you the most? The people, the food, etc.? Absolutely, positively the people. I learned the hard way that first impressions can be so very wrong. That little old lady who I thought the smallest breeze could blow over? She’s actually tougher than most burly he-men. That guy with the easy grin? He is deep, deep, deep. So deep that I’m going to have fun plumbing his depths. Oh, yeah.
3. Do you think Quattro's dad has found a potential lady love on this trek? Do dogs bark and cats meow? Um, yeah, he found his love. It’s rather kind of awesome how they’re a surprising couple, not what you’d call an obvious match. But I think they’re going to work. Just look at how their eyes go misty soft around each other. Now that’s a moment I’ve got to memorialize in a photo.
For Quattro:
1. What was it about Shana the kept drawing you back to her? Obviously, you haven’t spent any time with Shana because you’d know that everything about her drew me in. But if I had to say the ONE thing? It’s the way she looks at the world…like everything is possible and everything has the potential to be beautiful.
2. If you had the chance to do this trip all over again and do things differently, would you? I wouldn’t have waited so long to kiss her, if that’s what you’re asking.
3. So what's next in your plans for college? You know what I learned on the Inca Trail? All that you have is this very moment because that next moment? A mudslide could wipe out your plans, every single one of them. So this is what I know: college is going to take me to the University of Washington. We’ll see where I go with this next adventure, but I have a pretty good feeling that I know who’s going to be right there with me. Can you guess?
Playlist
Review
★★★★ 1/2 stars
I've never read a book written by Justina Chen before. Now that I have, I wonder how it is I only discovered her after she's written six books. In a way I'm sort of glad it's happened this way. That means while I wait for her next novel, there is plenty to read to catch up with everything I've missed.
I knew from reading the blurb A Blind Spot For Boys was going to be interesting. I had no idea how much I was going to enjoy reading it and love the story and characters. I expected more sadness from Shana's father losing his eye sight than lessons that uplift instead. Justina Chen did a great job at writing a story that was layered with emotional depth. Her characters were also great to get to know. I love how she showed how hard it was for Shana's dad to reconcile he was going to be losing his eyesight and still be the person he was. I love how she showed how what we think we know about people isn't always the entire truth. And I love that it was on a journey that everyone on that trip learned something about life, themselves, and each other.
Besides feeling like I was trekking alongside everyone to Machu Picchu, I loved seeing Shana and Quattro find their way to each other. It hurt to find out why Shana was having throwaway relationships, but once I did I was glad to see she realized she was better off and her love story hadn't been one. Quatto's reason for travelling to Machu Picchu brought tears to my eyes. I cried. It hurt to read how much pain he was in and why. When the truth came out all I wanted to do was give him a huge hug. I didn't want this book to end or to let the characters go. I'm hoping Justina will write them into another book somewhere in the future or give them an entire book again. This book was really hard to put down. I think you'll be as pleasantly surprised by it as I was. I can't wait to see what Justina has written and look forward to reading more from her now that I know about her.
* A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for them in any manner.*
About the Author
Justina Chen is an award-winning novelist for young adults whose books include A Blind Spot for Boys, Return to Me, and North of Beautiful (a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus and Barnes & Noble). Her other novels are Girl Overboard (a Junior Library Guild premiere selections) and Nothing but the Truth (and a few white lies), which won the Asian Pacific American Award for Literature.
A passionate advocate of teen advocacy, Justina co-founded readergirlz, a cutting-edge literacy and social media project for teens, which won the National Book Foundation’s Prize for Innovations in Reading.
When she isn’t writing for teens, Justina is an executive communications strategista. That’s a fancy way of saying that she helps leaders tell their stories at companies like Disney and AT+T, NASDAQ and Microsoft. What she enjoys best is trekking the world with her two compadres, her teen kids.
No comments:
Post a Comment