Hi friends! I’m back with another blog tour review and this time IT’S FOR A CONTEMPORARY??? *cue the gasps* Yes, I’m breaking my own eggshell and becoming a contemporary loving chicken.
Title: WORDS WE DON’T SAY
Author: K.J. Reilly
Pub. Date: October 2, 2018
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Formats: Hardcover, eBook
Pages: 288
Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, iBooks, TBD
Joel Higgins has 901 unsent text messages saved on his phone.
Ever since the thing that happened, there are certain people he hasn’t been able to talk to in person. Sure, he shows up at school, does his mandatory volunteer hours at the soup kitchen, and spends pretty much every moment thinking about Eli, the most amazing girl in the world. But that doesn’t mean he’s keeping it together, or even that he has any friends.
So instead of hanging out with people in real life, he drafts text messages. But he never presses send.
As dismal as sophomore year was for Joel, he doesn’t see how junior year will be any better. For starters, Eli doesn’t know how he feels about her, his best friend Andy’s gone, and he basically bombed the SATs. But as Joel spends more time at the soup kitchen with Eli and Benj, the new kid whose mouth seems to be unconnected to his brain, he forms bonds with the people they serve there-including a veteran they call Rooster-and begins to understand that the world is bigger than his own pain.
I really enjoyed this one! Joel was a great main character, realistic and relatable. As a teenager myself, I think that the portrayal was fantastic (I mean I text and un-text all the time too. IT’S A HARD-KNOCK LIFE)
I wasn’t exactly sure how I felt about this book until the end because wow. It brought together so much awareness of so many social issues and I was just thrown for a loop because I’m not the sharpest cookie in the cabana*. BUT I honestly left this book feeling like I could be doing more. More for those less fortunate. More for those who have lost. More for those who have served their country.
*obviously
Just more in general.
And that’s part of what made this book so unique!
Sadly, I didn’t enjoy the language OR the religious aspect.
Of course, the language makes it relatively realistic but I still am not a fan of having several on each page. And as for the religious thing, I personally am a Christian! Of course, I understand that not everyone has the same beliefs! From my perspective, I just think that the portrayal was not…what I was expecting. Especially for a book with such great social commentary, if that makes sense?
Anyway, those are my thoughts! I give this a solid 4/5 stars! Thank you to Disney-Hyperion for a copy in exchange for an honest review!
About K.J:
I am the author of the (contemporary social issue) Young Adult book, Words We Don’t Say (Disney Hyperion Oct 2, 2018).
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Tour Schedule:
Week One:
10/8/2018- BookHounds YA– Excerpt
10/9/2018- Utopia State of Mind– Review
10/10/2018- Here’s to Happy Endings– Review
10/11/2018- Abellafairytale– Review
10/12/2018- Do You Dog-ear?– Review
Week Two:
10/15/2018- YA Books Central– Excerpt
10/16/2018- The Pages In-Between– Review
10/17/2018- A Dream Within A Dream– Excerpt
10/18/2018- Book-Keeping– Review
10/19/2018- Beware Of The Reader– Review
Week Three:
10/22/2018- Rainy Day Reviews– Excerpt
10/23/2018- Moonlight Rendezvous– Review
10/24/2018- The Cover Contessa– Review
10/25/2018- Jena Brown Writes– Review
10/26/2018- A Fictional Bookworm– Review
Week Four:
10/29/2018- PopTheButterfly Reads– Review
10/30/2018- Cindy’s Love of Books– Review
10/31/2018- The Desert Bibliophile– Review
11/1/2018- Trendy Simple Life– Review
11/2/2018- Patriotic Bookaholic– Review
Week Five:
11/5/2018- Coffee, Books and Cakes– Review
11/6/2018- Savings in Seconds– Review
11/7/2018- Novel Novice– Excerpt
11/8/2018- For the Love of KidLit– Spotlight
11/9/2018- Two points of interest– Review
So that’s it! Tell me if you’re interested in this book! Catch ya later, au revoir!
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