28 Jan 2016

BLOG TOUR: THE GIRL WHO FELL by S.M. Parker Interview + #GIVEAWAY



Hello and welcome to my tour stop for THE GIRL WHO FELL by S.M. Parker. I have a 5* review of the book, plus an interview with the author! There is even an international giveaway for a pre-order of the book. Follow the tour for other interviews, a playlist, and 5 reasons why you should read the book! 

But first, let's learn more about the book...

Title: THE GIRL WHO FELL

Author: S.M. Parker
Publisher: Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse
Publication Date: March 1, 2016

Summary:
His obsession.
Her fall.


High school senior Zephyr Doyle is swept off her feet—and into an intense relationship—by the new boy in school.

Zephyr is focused. Focused on leading her team to the field hockey state championship and leaving her small town for her dream school, Boston College.

But love has a way of changing things.

Enter the new boy in school: the hockey team’s starting goaltender, Alec. He’s cute, charming, and most important, Alec doesn’t judge Zephyr. He understands her fears and insecurities—he even shares them. Soon, their relationship becomes something bigger than Zephyr, something she can’t control, something she doesn’t want to control.

Zephyr swears it must be love. Because love is powerful, and overwhelming, and…terrifying?

But love shouldn’t make you abandon your dreams, or push your friends away. And love shouldn’t make you feel guilty—or worse, ashamed.

So when Zephyr finally begins to see Alec for who he really is, she knows it’s time to take back control of her life.

If she waits any longer, it may be too late.


Purchase:
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Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5 stars

Ask author Shannon Parker what she thinks of THE GIRL WHO FELL and she will tell you it's a dark kissing book. And boy, she's not wrong. But it also has such lightness to it that you just need to experience in order to understand what I mean.


Zephyr is on the fast track to success: good grades, amazing athlete, and the best friends anyone could ask for. But then she meets Alec and gets caught up in a whirlwind romance that takes her by surprise. Throughout the book she has to learn for herself what "true love" really means.



I went into this one knowing that it was going to be a rough go. From the synopsis I knew it was going to be a toxic, abusive romance. And THE GIRL WHO FELL didn't pull punches. And really, it shouldn't because this sort of thing happens all the time. Don't get me wrong, usually when you first get into a relationship, your new boy/girlfriend becomes the centre of your world, but if they are telling you that you can't hang out with other people that is where the issue arises

I think what I loved (and was scared of) the most was that even though I knew what was happening and that Zephyr was spiraling downward into making bad decisions, I could understand why she was making those decisions. I could understand her wanting to forgive Alec for his behaviour and why she kept going back. The majority of this is Parker's writing. Because I knew how bad Alec was, I knew he was responsible for all these things and yet I STILL understood why Zephyr was head over heels and blind to it all.


My only complaint is that I would have liked more of the panic. The panic when you have plans with this abuser and are with another friend or family member and you think you're going to be late, so you start to panic because you HAVE to be there or else you KNOW they will be mad at you. I wanted a little bit of that. I wanted Zephyr to feel the anxiety of Alec's wrath and rage. But, everything else was depicted so perfectly that this doesn't even really matter in the grand scheme of things.


I don't have much more I can say without spoiling it for you guys, but I highly recommend this one to everyone. It is a tough one to get through, especially if you have experienced it from one end or another, but it is so important to know that if you HAVE experienced it or know someone who has, that it DOES happen to other people. It isn't just you, you are not alone and someone will be willing to help you. I know it's hard to ask for help sometimes, but if you are feeling as though you need help, you've already made one giant leap and will be to safety soon. 


One part of the blog tour was writing our favourite quote from the book and sending it back to Shannon, so I took a picture of that and have it included here! Pick this one up on March 1st and, as weird as this sounds, you will thoroughly enjoy the experience.

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What was the inspiration behind THE GIRL WHO FELL?

SP: I wanted to give a voice to those who are not always heard.


Describe Zephyr's character and growth throughout THE GIRL WHO FELL in five words.

SP
Focused 
Vulnerable
Trusting
Awake
Re-focused


What are you hoping that readers take away from THE GIRL WHO FELL?

SP: I hope readers will see that Zephyr should not feel shame. That she didn’t “allow” herself to be manipulated. She was in love and she fell hard. She couldn’t see the warning signs, even when her friends could. This is true for so many girls. And I hope that readers are reminded that love should never hurt.


What did you learn while writing THE GIRL WHO FELL?

SP: This is such a great question, Jamie! While writing the book, and after the advanced copies were released, I learned that too many girls struggled with situations similar to the one in the story.

Many grown women are still recovering from a toxic teen relationship.

I learned that mothers wanted to give stories like THE GIRL WHO FELL to their daughters and friends. And I learned that teens wanted a story like this for themselves, for their friends.

I learned that dating violence is too common.


What has been the most memorable experience of being a debut author?

SP: There are so many, but one in particular hit really close to home. I was on the beach with my mom on one side and my teen son on the other. Both were reading The Girl Who Fell and my son would ask his grandmother, “Have you gotten to page xx yet?” My mom waved him off, saying, “Don’t spoil it for me!” but then she’d ask him the same thing when she got to a scene she loved. That was pretty surreal.
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Shannon Parker lives on the Atlantic coast with a house full of boys. She’s traveled to over three dozen countries and has a few dozen more to go. She works in education and can usually be found rescuing dogs, chickens, old houses and wooden boats. Shannon has a weakness for chocolate chip cookies and ridiculous laughter—ideally, at the same time. The Girl Who Fell is her first novel. Find her at www.shannonmparker.com.


Connect with the Author:
 Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Instagram





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Follow the Tour!


January 12 Blessie @ Mischievous Reads Dream Cast
January 13 Emily @ Emily Reads Everything Review
January 14 Brittany @ Brittany's Book Rambles Tour Group's Favourite Quotes
January 15 Tika @ Fangirl Confessions Movie Playlist
January 16 Kristen @ My Friends Are Fiction Review
January 17 Melanie @ One Less Lonely Blog Review + Interview
January 18 Cyra @ Rattle The Pages Review + 5 Reasons You Need To Read TGWF
January 19 Jocelyn @ Novels and Necklaces Interview
January 20 Cat @ Let The Pages Reign Review
January 21 Aentee @ Read at Midnight 5 Ways TGWF Destroyed YA Tropes + iPhone Wallpapers
January 22 Brittany @ Brittany's Book Rambles Review + Interview
January 23 Joey @ Another After Thought Review
January 24 Stefani @ Caught Read Handed Review + Interview
January 25 Hanna @ Two Sister's Blogging Review + Promo
January 26 Michella @ YA Books Girl Review + Playlist
January 27 Michelle @ Dreaming of Alba Review
January 28 Jamie @ Books and Ladders Review + Interview
January 29 Eileen @ BookCatPin Review
January 30 Brian @ Brian's Book Thoughts Review
January 31 Sarah @ The YA Book Traveler Review + Interview

6 comments:

  1. This book sounds so , so good! I've only read one other YA that was completely centered around this theme of an abusive relationship-so I'm definitely going to have to pick this one up! I totally get where you're coming from in terms of that panic feeling; I get that and I'm not in a controlling relationship of any kind :p

    Great review and interview!

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  2. this book sounds great! I have a weird obsession with lips though (like the print) and i'm always buy lip printed shirts and makeup bags, so this book just screams awesome!
    thanks for sharing!
    Emily @ www.rabbitholereviews.com

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  3. This sounds like a really awesome book. I'm happy to have added it to my TBR. I can't wait for it to come out!
    You really convinced me to read this, Jamie.

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  4. This book is so powerful, I recommend everyone read this, especially teen girls. There is so much we can learn from this book, and Shannon did a great job portraying a toxic relationship. Beautiful review!

    Rachel @ A Perfection Called Books

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  5. I am reading this one soon and your review has me really excited for it! I think it is important to speak about these issues. Especially when they concern teenage girls that have had so few experiences like falling in love. I am in total agreement with Shannon's comment that being manipulated isn't something that you allow to happen. <3

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  6. I am so reading this book. It seems like it deals with a pretty important issue and handles it well enough in a way that even though we with a general outlook on things can see the problems arising, we can also understand the main character making those choices.

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