Copyboy - Vince Vawter

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"In the sequel to the Newbery Honor-winning novel Paperboy, Victor Vollmer sets off to fulfill a final request of Mr. Spiro, the aging neighbor who became his friend and mentor. Now a few years older and working as a newspaper copyboy, Victor plans to spread Mr. Spiro’s ashes at the mouth of the Mississippi River as the former merchant marine wished. But the journey will not be a simple one. Victor will confront a strange and threatening world, and when his abilities and confidence get put to the test, he’ll lean on a fascinating girl named Philomene for help. Together they’ll venture toward the place where river meets sea, and they’ll race to evade Hurricane Betsy as it bears down."

"Look not so much to the destination, Messenger, but always to the journey." –Constantine Spiro

17-year-old Victor Vollmer is introspective, meticulous, and overflowing with curiosity, and viewing the world through his guileless eyes is a delight. Victor’s friend and confidante, Constantine Spiro, has just died when the book begins, and one of his final acts is to give Victor a quest, sending him to New Orleans to experience the world on his own for the first time. This journey turns out to be exactly what Victor needs, an opportunity to make his own decisions, form new relationships, and discover a confidence in himself that he never realized he had. Vawter's storytelling is lovely, and his characters are well-developed and supremely real. This is the perfect read if you are in the mood for something uplifting and heartwarming without being overly sugary-sweet.

Give it Away, Give it Away, Give it Away Now!

Do you like great books and cute, semi-nerdy book-related items? Of course you do! Want to win some? I hope so, because I happen to have some that need giving away!

There are 6 items up for grabs, pictured below, and entering the drawing to take one of these sweet, sweet items home is easy. There are two ways to enter:

1. Leave a comment with your thoughts on any of my reviews for one entry 

2. Hit me up about guest posting with your own review! Get two entries for each guest review

I hope your typing fingers are ready, because I'm pumped to give some stuff away! Comment or contact me to guest by 6pm on March 23rd to be included!

Punk Rock Writers journal

Signed copy of The Gilded Wolves
by Roshani Chokshi

Signed copy of Crown of Feathers
by Nicki Pau Preto

"This is How We Roll" pencil pouch

"Raised by Books" pencil pouch

Grisha trilogy-inspired bracelet

Somewhere Only We Know - Maurene Goo

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"10 00 p.m.: Lucky is the biggest K-pop star on the scene, and she's just performed her hit song "Heartbeat" in Hong Kong to thousands of adoring fans. She's about to debut on The Tonight Show in America, hopefully a breakout performance for her career. But right now? She's in her fancy hotel, trying to fall asleep but dying for a hamburger.

11 00 p.m.: Jack is sneaking into a fancy hotel, on assignment for his tabloid job that he keeps secret from his parents. On his way out of the hotel, he runs into a girl wearing slippers, a girl who is single-mindedly determined to find a hamburger. She looks kind of familiar. She's very cute. He's maybe curious.

12:00 a.m.: Nothing will ever be the same."

Lucky has just wrapped up a huge tour in Asia and is preparing for the next step, launching her career in America. This next move is one she has been preparing for since she was young, sacrificing typical childhood experiences for dance lessons, singing lessons, and other training required if one is to make it as a performer. She is understandably exhausted and anxious, and after taking her sleeping pills and (shhhh, secret!) anxiety meds, all she wants is a hamburger.

Jack is taking a gap year, interning at the bank where his dad works, and trying to ignore the fact that the life his parents want for him makes him feel suffocated. All he wants is to be a photographer, but since his parents don't approve he has been secretly scratching that itch by moonlighting as a paparazzo. He's on the bus on his way to meet a friend for a drink after scoring some photos for his boss when a young, obviously inebriated Asian-American girl catches his eye. Ever the good guy, Jack takes her under his wing for the night and ends up letting her crash at his apartment that night, since he doesn't know who she is or how to get her home.

Early the following morning, fledgling tabloid reporter Jack discovers that "Fern," the pretty, drunk girl he rescued, is actually Lucky, super famous K-pop star, and he hatches a plan. He is going to spend the day with her, give her the Hong Kong experience, and document it all for his editor to publish when he's done. A story like that will score him a full-time job with the paper...as long as his growing feelings for Lucky don't get in the way.

I have some complicated feelings about this book. I adore Lucky, her drive and her enthusiasm for life, and most of all our shared love of food. Ohhh boy, food...this book made me so hungry. I loved that Jack was taking a gap year and really trying to think about what he wanted to do with his life, and I especially loved that when he finally decided he was ready to fight for it. Transitioning from high school to whatever happens next is hard, and I will take all the YA books that show people making that jump and figuring out where to go next. 

My one big qualm, and the one I find myself circling back to every time I think about this book, is how long Jack was committed to sharing his Lucky story with his editor. I can give him a pass for coming up with the idea. He didn't know Lucky, he was looking out for himself, and I'm not going to fault him for fighting for a career, even if it is one that makes me wrinkle my nose. But the longer the day went on, the harder it was for me to excuse him continuing to take pictures and plot his narrative, especially after the pair realized that they had feelings for each other. Huge spoiler here, so stop reading here if you don't want huge things given away...have you stopped reading? I hope so. He had already passed what would have been the point of no return for me, but the moment where he truly became unforgivable was when he went to his editor and gave him the pictures. Did he take them back after his editor was a gross asshole? Sure. But what the actual fuck? How did it ever go that far?! Hard no, there is no redeeming yourself after that. 

*deep breath*

So...yeah. I was not rooting for Lucky and Jack to end up together. That being said, I did not want to put this book down. The characters were well-developed, the writing was fast-paced and fun, and I enjoyed the story. You should probably read it...just maybe don't root for Jack. ;)