Monday, April 10, 2017

Review: The Slope Rules by Melanie Hooyenga + GIVEAWAY! (CLOSED)


Hello, everybody! Today is my stop on the blog tour for The Slope Rules by Melanie Hooyenga hosted by YA Bound Book Tours and I'm really pumped to bring you guys my review for this lovely novel!

I was sent an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review as part of this blog tour.

Down below is my review for the book, links to where you can purchase a copy of the book for yourself, the author's links as well the link to the rest of the blog tour and finally, the GIVEAWAY! Read on, bookworms!
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Rating: 
Genre: Sports, Contemporary
Score:
Page Count: 350
Stand Alone
Publisher: Left Handed Mitten Publications
Published: February 24th, 2017

Fifteen-year old Cally accepted her fate as one of the guys, so when she meets Blake, a hot snowboarder who sees her for more than her aerials on the slopes, she falls fast and hard. But their romance can only last as long as vacation.

Or so she thinks.

A twist of fate—well, her Dad opening another brewery in a new town—lands her in Blake’s school, but the charismatic boy she fell for wants nothing to do with her, and worse, the Snow Bunnies, the popular clique, claim her as their newest recruit.

Cally must learn to be true to herself—all while landing a spot on the ski team and figuring out who she is without her old friends. And when she finds out what Blake is hiding, she learns the rules on the slopes apply to more than just skiing.

Review:
PROS:
1. I'm just going to jump right into reviewing this book because it deserves some love. The first thing I loved about this book was that it had me hooked from beginning to end. Normally, it takes a couple of chapters to really get me hooked and dedicated to whatever is happening in a novel but this one had my attention from the first page. I thought Cally was a very genuine, sweet character that didn't let people control her. She wasn't a follower even when she ends up befriending a group of popular kids in her new school. She remained true to herself while also learning to open up to people about the things she was dealing with such as first loves, friendships, grief and sadness over moving to a new town and starting over with her father and his new business.

2. The themes of Cally still mourning her mother are a nice overlay on the story itself, never feeling too heavy or depressing enough to create a stark contrast to the upbeat and fluffy feel of the book. Cally still struggles with missing her mother even after all the years that she's been gone and has to kind of figure things out for herself and learn from past memories of her mother to help her make decisions, get through the rough patches and handle new experiences.

3. This book also has a lot of drama happening within its pages so if that doesn't suit your tastes, maybe think twice about reading it just to make sure it's the right read for you. Personally, it was an entertaining sort of drama for me, the usual high school drama that deals with cliques, jealousy, and not following the status quo that social high-school life calls for. Cally is her own person and while that doesn't settle well with a couple of her new "friends", she remains focused constantly on her love and passion for snowboarding. Cally knows what she wants and isn't willing to let people stop her or get in the way of her love for the sport which I found to be a really admirable trait for her character.

Love GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY 4. The book is your typical fluffy-soft-cutesy high-school romance book that does get a little cheesy at times but I didn't mind it so much. It was adorable and I couldn't help but love it. The story doesn't just put all of its focus on the two love birds, however, but also shines the spotlight on building that relationship by showing how the two characters interact, support each other, talk through their darkest secrets, and learn to trust each other enough to open up. The characters were really well developed, the book had a satisfying ending and left me with all the feels, not to mention I flew through it. Just yes. 

You Can Purchase The Book Here:
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About The Author:

Melanie Hooyenga first started writing as a teenager and finds she still relates best to that age group. She has lived in Washington DC, Chicago, and Mexico, but has finally settled down in her home state of Michigan.

When not at her day job as the Communications Director at a nonprofit, you can find Melanie attempting to wrangle her Miniature Schnauzer Owen and playing every sport imaginable with her husband Jeremy.
 



Author Links:
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3 comments:

  1. Nicely penned down! If time allows do visit my little blog about book reviews - www.keveinbooksnreviews.in

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  2. A little cheesiness is never a bad thing! I am someone who detests snow though - and I personally don't like too much of it in my stories either. I'm not sure this is one for me for that reason :P

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love YA books, and this one sounds amazing and fun!
    Linda B
    https://bricesmicechristianbookreviews.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete