Sunday 24 January 2016

Book Review - Out of Tune by Beth Reekles - Winning Reads #3

Winning Reads #3
Welcome back to my new feature, Winning Reads. This is the third book I have picked to read for this feature, and I'm delighted that I am enjoyed the books I have chosen so far, as it must mean I am winning some really good books!

  As I enter a large amount of competitions for books, and have a reasonable degree of luck, over the past year or two, my paperback mountain has grown out of control mainly due to being a bit lucky, and then not remembering to pick the books up and read them. 

Now I have a blog, I find it harder to not just stick the the brand new shiny releases the whole time, but I do want to read all these other books, so while I have a stash of them, here is Winning Reads, my new weekly feature for Sundays.

Amazon UK
Title: Out of Tune
Author: Beth Reekles
Format reviewed: Paperback
Source: Competition Win
Publisher: Corgi Childrens
Publication Date: 3rd July 2014
Rating: 4 Stars


Ashley Bennett is a straight-A student in her junior year of high school, and life is looking good: she's got a boyfriend whom she loves, a group of friends who love to party... But really, Ashley loves to curl up at home with a good book, and she can't wait to go to college. When junior year starts, the life Ashley's settled into is turned upside down - the empty house next door has finally been sold, and moving in is Todd O'Connor...

When Ashley first meets Todd, he seems aloof and cocky, and she's reluctant to share a ride to school with him as her mom tells her to. As the two get to know each other, though, Ashley comes to realise that the mysterious, brooding Todd O'Connor, who all the girls are swooning over, is actually bookish and shy, and a little bit lonely. His parents split up and he has moved away from his mother to live with his father, and since then Todd has mostly kept to himself, his books, and his guitar.

And as Todd gets to know Ashley, he forces her to realise that her relationship with her boyfriend, Josh, isn't really making her happy - Josh is selfish, arrogant, and domineering. Will Ashley find the courage to forge her own path?

For as long as I have had this book, it has been taunting me to read it. I suspect its the gorgeous shade of blue on the spine, that had it whispering, read me, over and over. And I have finally given and what what a lovely story it is. 

The only reason that to me this wasn't a five star book, is purely because although the author deals with the teenage angst of first love very well, its been so long since I was in a position to experience it, it didn't quite affect me in the way this same story would have, possibly even ten years ago. However despite that I loved every second of the book. 

It is an incredibly sweet story, about Ashley, her boyfriend Josh, and her new next door neighbour Todd. As Ashley gets to know Todd better, she starts questioning her own relationship with Josh. I loved Ashley's various thought processes, and as a reasonably shy and geeky teenager I could empathise with her character very well. Especially with the who to sit with at lunch dilemmas (which even to this day I still haven't mastered!). 

I found Out of Tune to be very easy and quick to read, and I read it completely on my commute. Beth Reekles is clearly in tune with teenage psyche's and ever since I was a child I had a weakness for books set in schools, so this was a great way to get in touch with my younger reading self. 

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