Monday, September 14, 2015

Blog Tour Review: Leading Lines by Chantel Guertin

A big thank-you to ECW Press for asking me to be part of the Leading Lines blog tour!

Leading Lines by Chantel Guertin
Series: Pippa Greene #3
Published: October 13th, 2015
Publisher: ECW Press
190 pages (ARC)
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult
Acquired this book: From the publisher in exchange for honest consideration
Warning: May contain spoilers
{GoodReads || Buy this book: Amazon || Chapters/Indigo}


 
{Read my review of The Rule of Thirds || Read my review of Depth of Field}

After two drama-filled weeks in Manhattan, Pippa Greene is back. Despite a romantic reunion with boyfriend Dylan, she can’t seem to shake the emotional aftermath of New York. As she navigates parental drama at home and her charged dynamic with Ben Baxter at school, Pippa finds that Dylan is more wrapped up in his post-high-school life of bands, shows, and new friends than in their relationship. Will it survive?

Written with the same humour and heart that made Chantel Guertin’s first two Pippa Greene novels instant favourites, Leading Lines offers a fresh and charming perspective on friendships, family, and first love.




Leading Lines is the third book in the Pippa Greene series. Pippa is a young photographer navigating high school, family life, the death of her father, her first love, and family secrets. I adored the first book in the series, Rule of Thirds, and liked the second book, Depth of Field, but it was so different from the first it felt like reading an entirely different series. I attributed this to the fact Pippa’s boyfriend and best friend, who had featured prominently in the first book, weren’t in the second book. They were back in the third book, but this time it was Pippa herself that prevented me from loving this book.

I have mixed feelings about Pippa. On one hand, her voice feels authentic and the situations she’s in are realistic. I like flawed, realistic characters, and I get that teens are often driven by emotions and hormones...but Pippa is a bit over the top at times. I understand her hurt and anger over the secrets her mother kept, and I know from experience how hard it is to lose a parent, but if I’d treated my mum the way Pippa treats hers, I’d have had my ass handed to me. I was also really irritated by the stuff with her boyfriend, Dylan. I didn’t mind their instalove in the first book, but didn’t like or understand his complete absence in the second book. Then he’s finally in this book but he treats Pippa like crap and she just takes it for half the book. I could understand the reasons for them growing apart - or, more aptly, him distancing himself from Pippa - but Pippa’s behaviour and attitude rubbed me the wrong way a lot of the time. With so much changing in her life, she didn’t want her relationship with Dylan to change; she wanted them to grow together, but they were growing separately while growing apart, and it was painful and confusing for her. I felt for her there, and as annoyed as I got I could admit it felt realistic in many ways - hence my mixed feelings!

One of my complaints about the first two books was the cliffhangers endings and how nothing was wrapped up in the second book. Things were mostly wrapped up neatly in this book, although I believe the series is continuing. I liked that Pippa had some growth and eventually realized she needed to change things and carry on with life. I also liked that there were a few small unexpected things throughout the story. Again, this is where my mixed feelings come in - Guertin crams a lot of stuff into very short books (all of them are around 200 pages), and while some things irritate me, it’s more personal preference things that might only bother me, while the other part of my brain says ‘but you have to admit this is realistic for a 17-year-old’. 

If there is a fourth Pippa Greene book in the series, I’ll read it out of curiosity. Even though I didn’t enjoy Leading Lines as much as I'd hoped to and had mixed feelings about Depth of Field, I really enjoyed Rule of Thirds, and I think Pippa has potential to grow into herself and become a well-rounded character. 



Chantel Guertin is an author, beauty expert and magazine editor. - See more at: http://chantelguertin.com/about/bio/#sthash.dFg3Njko.dpuf
Chantel Guertin is an author, beauty expert and magazine editor. - See more at: http://chantelguertin.com/about/bio/#sthash.dFg3Njko.dpuf
Chantel Guertin is an author, beauty expert and magazine editor. Chantel is currently the Editor-at-Large of TheKit.ca, a monthly digital fashion & beauty magazine & weekly print feature in the Toronto Star, Montreal Gazette & Vancouver Sun, a beauty expert on  The Marilyn Denis Show and faculty at Centennial College in the Book & Magazine publishing program, where she teaches magazine writing and editing courses.


Follow the Leading Lines Blog Tour!

Have you read any of the Pippa Greene books? What did you think? If you haven't read them, do you plan to? Let's talk here or on Twitter!
http://sweetmarie-83.blogspot.ca/p/about-me.html
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~Marie

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