Never Too Many To Read : Blog Tour: The Way It Hurts by Patty Blount...Review & Giveaway!

Today I get to tell you about Patty Blount's latest release, The Way it Hurts.

Keep reading to learn more...

In Patty Blount's THE WAY IT HURTS, two teens’ quest for fame goes terribly wrong when a single tweet goes viral and the online backlash follows them into real life. Fans of Gayle Forman's If I Stay will like how main characters Elijah and Kristen bond over their music in this edgy, real world contemporary young adult read that examines the impact social media has on the lives of today's youth.

Title: The Way It Hurts

Author: Patty Blount

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Release Date: August 1, 2017

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Pages: 352 pages

Format: Paperback and Digital

Print ISBN: 978-1-492632-788

Digital ASIN: B06XR172ZD

Synopsis:

There may be two sides to every story, but sometimes there's only one way to set things right...

Music is Elijah's life. His band plays loud and hard, and he'll do anything to get them a big break. He needs that success to help take care of his sister, who has special needs. So he'd rather be practicing when his friends drag him to a musical in the next town...until the lead starts to sing.

Kristen dreams of a career on stage like her grandmother's. She knows she needs an edge to get into a competitive theater program--and being the star in her high school musical isn't going to cut it. The applause and the attention only encourage her to work harder.

Elijah can't take his eyes off of Kristen's performance, and snaps a photo of her in costume that he posts online with a comment that everybody misunderstands. It goes viral. Suddenly, Elijah and Kristen are in a new spotlight as the online backlash spins out of control. And the consequences are bigger than they both could have ever imagined because these threats don't stay online...they follow them into real life.

Add to your “Want to Read” shelf: Goodreads

Available at: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Kobo | iTunes

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Advanced Praise for The Way It Hurts:

"Blount writes authentically; both protagonists’ voices are distinct. The author explores the rapidly consuming world of social media and how it affects relationships online and in real life. A relevant read and must-have for all YA collections." – School Library Journal

"THE WAY IT HURTS draws our attention to the joy, heartache and confusing contradictions that arise as we try to find our place in the real world and the virtual one." – Kimberly Sabatini

“Elijah and Kristen’s personal evolutions through the novel, along with their chemistry, feel as authentic as the conflicts they face. A genuine plot filled with steady tension that will keep readers hooked.” – RT Book Reviews

“This book sensitively covers topics such as sexism, handicapping conditions, communication, and ageism. Agency is also shown when Kristen says she wants to pursue studying in a conservatory rather than continue in the band and the three young men acknowledge her wish. Talking about what bothers us rather than trying to guess another person’s feelings is demonstrated through the actions of the characters. The characters’ issues are eventually resolved through hard work and understanding, making this an interesting and informative read." – School Library Connection

Native New Yorker Patty Blount is the award-winning author of several critically acclaimed internet issues novels for teens as well as a few adult contemporary romances. She is inspired to write by such greats as Judy Blume, JK Rowling, and Gayle Forman. In fact, Judy Blume is the reason Patty elected to write under her real name…so she’d appear on shelves next to her idol. Patty adores writing; she’s written everything from technical manuals to song lyrics (see THE WAY IT HURTS, coming August 2017). Patty wants you to know she loves chocolate…really, really loves chocolate.

When not crushing on actors Gilles Marini or Sam Heughan, Patty can be found sitting in traffic somewhere on the Long Island Expressway, listening to audio books or talking wildly to herself about plots and characters. Prone to falling madly in love with fictional characters, Patty suffers frequent broken hearts when they all invariably prefer the heroine to her… go figure. When she’s not writing, Patty loves to watch bad sci-fi movies and live tweet the hilarity, and scour Pinterest for ideas on awesome bookcases. Patty lives on Long Island with her family in a house that, sadly, lacks bookcases.

Title: The Way It Hurts

Author: Patty Blount

Format: Digital ARC

Source: Blog Tour

In The Way It Hurts we meet Elijah and Kristen, two very talented teens each with their own distinct styles and complicated lives.

Eli sees his music as an escape and a way to possibly help his family take care of his sister with special needs. All his band needs is their one big break. And when Eli catches one of Kristen’s performances, he believes he may of found just what his band needs to succeed.

The granddaughter of a famous stage actress, Kristen been raised to believe she's destined for Broadway. But a rejection letter from one of her dream summer music programs leads her to believe she may need to diversify and try new things. Enter Elijah and his band.

However, a picture of Kristen and tweet by Elijah goes viral causing all kinds of problems and misunderstandings for Kristen and proving you should think before you post…in fact, this whole story is an excellent example of this as characters engage in an anonymous and sometimes hurtful battle over musical tastes and misogyny from the very beginning of the book.

Yet despite Elijah’s tweet and their obvious musical differences, Kristen decides to give Elijah and his band a chance. But once again, things don't go as they hoped or planned. And once again, Kristen is subject to online harassment because of a tweet. But things definitely take an unexpected turn when Kristen turns out to be different than what Elijah and his bandmates were expecting and a battle of the sexes heats up. You’ll have to read for yourself to see how it all plays out…but there is definitely plenty of drama in this one.

As you would expect with drama, there are many ups and downs in this story. The Way It Hurts is an interesting story and example about how the internet and social media can affect someone’s personal lives and relationships with others. You never know who you might be talking to when you post that “anonymous” comment or tweet and how it might affect them or how they'll react...or even how others will react. Neither character knows exactly how to deal with the situation and could have done better. It's definitely a learning experience for all involved.

Patty Blount has managed to create a story that not only conveys this message, but also provides readers with complex and somewhat interesting characters including Eli and Kristen’s friends and family. Eli and Kristen’s story also takes on several other important and heavy topics such as sexism, family issues, peer pressure, special needs, and more. All handled in a way that fits the characters and their story. So, as I said, there is plenty of drama in this one.

I do have to say that Elijah and Kristen’s initial meeting had a little too many coincidences for me at the beginning and it took me a bit to get into the story and the characters, but I did enjoy seeing how things played out. I did not, however, enjoy some of the secondary characters and even at times Elijah became annoying as he became too focused on the band’s success to consider other people’s feelings.

And I guess it's a testament to Blount’s writing that I was upset and angry at the sexist and hurtful tweets and comments directed at Kristen as that is how one might react in real life. The way some of the characters chose to respond irked me a bit, however.

Anyway, The Way It Hurts was an entertaining book with an important message, but at times it felt a tiny bit too dramatic or heavy…I could have used a teeny, tiny bit more levity to help balance things, but that's just my opinion. Overall, it was a good, emotional read for me.