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Hello and welcome to another blog tour post, for Our Own Worst Ideas by Vicky Skinner, which is officially published tomorrow.  I’d like to thank Xpresso Book Tours for inviting me to participate!

A blog tour is a virtual book tour, which are especially important in this time of COVID-19. Multiple bloggers agree to write about a specific book in a set time frame. I accepted a free copy from the publisher in exchange for agreeing to post about the book this week.

Two teens who have nothing in common work together at a record store in All Our Worst Ideas, a powerful and voice-driven YA novel from Vicky Skinner. When Amy, on her way to becoming valedictorian of her graduating class and getting accepted to her dream school, gets dumped by her long-term boyfriend, she takes a job at a record store to ease the pain. She needs a distraction, badly. Oliver, Amy’s record store co-worker, isn’t so sure about Amy—his complete opposite—but what he is sure of is his decision not to go to college. He just can’t figure out how to tell his mother. As they work late-night shifts at the record store, Amy and Oliver become friends and then confidantes and then something more, but when Amy has a hard time letting go of what she thought was her perfect future with her ex, she risks losing the future she didn’t even know she wanted with Oliver.

My thoughts

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This book captures everything that explains why I read Young Adult fiction at forty. Stories of youth are universal. Everyone has experienced first love and lust, and the first time you really screw up and hurt someone you love without meaning to. That’s what this story is about. The characters, their emotions and relationships, are all realistic, believable, and relatable. 

Amy and Oliver are dealing with real world issues. They are trying to figure out who they are and what they want out of life, all while managing the expectations of the other important people in their lives. Amy has to get a job because her step-dad is laid off. Oliver is care-taking his alcoholic father. These are heavy issues. I do think both could have been given a bit more depth, I felt they were eventually glossed over a bit. That’s the only “complaint” I have about the book. The writing is emotional and realistic. 

I highly recommend this one!

About the author

Vicky Skinner was born and raised in Texas, where she started writing novels about kissing cute boys when she was fifteen and eventually earned a BA in Literary Studies from The University of Texas at Dallas. She’s a full-time writer, a part-time runner, and she currently lives in Dallas with her husband.

Follow the link below to enter to win a copy of All Our Worst Ideas!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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