I am delighted to be part of the blog tour for Stephanie Lawton’s Want. My review is directly below this so be sure to check that out as well as enter to win your own e-copy of Want. There’s some music links embedded in my review so make sure you listen to them at the appropriate breaks. And check back next week when I’ll be putting up a WANT photo tour of Alabama.
xoxo,
V.V.
WANT Review: Want is dark, twisted, gripping and psychologically fascinating. The book is a sensory experience centered primarily on music but including taste and color and other sounds as well. I was lucky enough to actually read this book while I was driving through Alabama and so I have a true appreciation for the setting now. When you get to Alabama this is the song that comes to mind:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C29Fs-WNIrg
Instead what you have is surprising and lovely and more like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFMNhx2-VDE
Mobile here acts as the gilded cage superficial and pretty on the outside but rotting within. The importance of appearance, of perception by the community and the negative consequences of social hierarchies are all fundamental to the story (think “A Rose for Emily”). Honestly it is impossible for me to picture this story outside of the South. Now I wonder what is lurking behind all that sweet tea and southern charm. As for characters, our heroine is flawed but lovable and has two equally lovable men vying for her. The artistic geniuses (Julianne and Isaac) are both disturbing in their own ways and watching them battle themselves and each other throughout the book is like watching a train wreck. You know it is all sorts of terrible and tragic and cannot end well but dear god you cannot look away. There are so many tough topics that are covered that looking back I’m not sure how Lawton was able to accomplish it all! She manages to touch upon depression, mood disorders, abuse, pedophilia, self-mutilation, slander and suicide all in one plot line. I was uncomfortable the whole way through—a sign it was done well. Sarcasm provides moments of comic relief but never lets you fully come down from the emotional rollercoaster. There was something of Romeo and Juliet here as well, not the tragic lovers but definitely in the flawed action or inaction of the adults that surround them resulting in dire consequences. I will say the ending made me quite happy which was a necessity in my opion. Music fans, piano fans, Alabama fans, psychology fans, or fans of books like Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers or any Ellen Hopkins will definitely love this one. Overall: A
WANT to know more synopsis:
Julianne counts the days until she can pack her bags and leave her old-money, tradition-bound Southern town where appearance is everything and secrecy is a way of life. A piano virtuoso, she dreams of attending a prestigious music school in Boston. Failure is not an option, so she enlists the help of New England Conservatory graduate Isaac Laroche. Julianne can’t understand why Isaac suddenly gave up Boston’s music scene to return to the South. He doesn’t know her life depends on escaping it before she inherits her mother’s madness. Isaac knows he must resist his attraction to a student ten years his junior, but loneliness and jealousy threaten his resolve. Their indiscretion at a Mardi Gras ball—the pinnacle event for Mobile’s elite—forces their present wants and needs to collide with sins of the past. Will Julianne accept the help she’s offered and get everything she ever wanted, or will she self-destruct and take Isaac down with her?
WANT Author Bio:
After collecting a couple English degrees in the Midwest, Stephanie Lawton suddenly awoke in the deepest reaches of the Deep South. Culture shock inspired her to write about Mobile, Alabama, her adopted city, and all the ways Southern culture, history and attitudes seduce the unsuspecting. A lover of all things gothic, she can often be spotted photographing old cemeteries, historic buildings and, ironically, the beautiful beaches of the Gulf Coast. She also has a tendency to psychoanalyze people, which comes in handy when creating character profiles. On her thirtieth birthday, she mourned (okay bawled) the fact that in no way could she still be considered a “young adult,” so she rebelled by picking up Twilight and promptly fell in love with Young Adult literature. She has a love/hate relationship with Mardi Gras –where does all that money come from?–and can sneeze 18 times in a row.
WANT THE BOOK Giveaway: Rafflecopter here
WANT More Tour Stops: Be sure to check out the other tour stops since every stop has a e-copy giveaway!
July 15-Bookish Brunette-Guest Post
July 16-Wake Up At Seven-Interview
July 17-The Book Vortex
July 18-Hypable-Interview
July 19-Literary Exploration-Character Guest Post
July 20-Rumor Has It
July 21-Dreaming in Reviews
July 22-Ladybug Storytime-Guest Post
July 23-Pageturners Blog
July 24-Magnet4Books-Guest Post
July 25-Novel Thoughts Blog
July 26-BookandaLatte-Guest Post
July 27-BlookGirl-Guest Post
July 28-Parajunkee
July 30-GReadsBooks
July 31-Alluring Reads-Guest Post
August 1-Well Read Reviews
August 2-Sarah Reads Too Much
August 3-Book Brats-Interview
August 5-Girls in the Stacks-Podcast
August 6-The Readiacs-Interview
August 7-Great Imaginations
August 8-Book Twirps-Guest Post
August 10-MundieMoms-Guest Post
August 11-The Aussie Zombie
August 12-YA Sisterhood-Song Lyric Interview
August 13-The Story Siren-Interview
WANT LINKS:
Goodreads WANT: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13432653-want
Goodreads Stephanie Lawton: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5601445.Stephanie_Lawton
Stephanie’s Website: http://stephanielawton.com/
Stephanie’s Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/StephanieLawtonWriter
Stephanie’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Steph_Lawton
InkSpell Publishing Website: http://www.inkspellpublishing.com/
