Saturday, May 29, 2010

Book Review: Prada and Prejudice by Mandy Hubbard


Prada and Prejudice by Mandy Hubbard
Publisher: Razorbill
Publish Date: June 11, 2009
Paperback, 270 pages


My Review:
Prada and Prejudice by Mandy Hubbard was the second book I read for the first round of the YA Bloggers Debut Book Battle.  This is a time-travel young adult novel.  Callie is on the outs at her school since her best friend moved away so she is trying to use the class trip to London to remake  herself in some way and become friends with someone so she won't be alone anymore.  But it's not easy, Callie wants to be outgoing and not clumsy, but feels it is in her nature to be that way.  In a final attempt to impress some girls in her class she goes and buys a real pair of prada boots and then promptly falls on the sidewalk outside of the Prada store.  But when she awakes she is in the countryside wondering how she got there.  Soon she finds out not only is she in the countryside way outside of London, but she is also in 1815.

The story that follows had me laughing at times and sighing at others.  Callie becomes Rebecca, a childhood friend that is expected to visit from America (conveniently explaining her accent).  But she has a lot to learn about 1815 and the class system in England at the time.  Her 21st-century beliefs come forward throughout the book as she tries to help her new-found friend Emily escape from an arranged marriage and as she tries to become what she has always wanted to be, popular.  Lessons are learned and Callie learns a lot about making assumptions about people through the book and a lot about herself.

I found Prada and Prejudice highly entertaining and even thought-provoking at times.  I chose Prada and Prejudice as my winner over Bleeding Violet  because it was a fun and quick read.  Callie just wants to fit in and when she finds herself in England in the early 1800s she thinks she can remake herself into who she wants to be as Rebecca.  And she does, but along the way she learns valuable lessons about life and lessons that are as good in 19th century England as they are in 21st century America.  Callie's growth is amazing and inspiring and I think this book delivers a message that is great for teenage girls today.  And on top of that it is highly entertaining and kept me turning the pages throughout.  I'm glad I participated in this battle because otherwise I think I might have missed this truly wonderful book.

My Rating:  4.5/5.0

About the Book:
To impress the popular girls on a high school trip to London, klutzy Callie buys real Prada heels. But trying them on, she trips…conks her head…and wakes up in the year 1815!

There Callie meets Emily, who takes her in, mistaking her for a long-lost friend. As she spends time with Emily’s family, Callie warms to them—particularly to Emily’s cousin Alex, a hottie and a duke, if a tad arrogant.

But can Callie save Emily from a dire engagement, and win Alex’s heart, before her time in the past is up?
More Cabot than Ibbotson, Prada and Prejudice is a high-concept romantic comedy about finding friendship and love in the past in order to have happiness in the present.

About the Author:
Mandy Hubbard grew up on a dairy farm outside Seattle, where she refused to wear high heels until homecoming--and hated them so much she didn't wear another pair for five years. She's currently living happily ever after with her husband and young daughter in Enumclaw, Washington. Prada & Prejudice is her first novel, coming June 2009.

See Mandy Hubbard's website .
Follow her on Twitter.
Friend her on Facebook.

You Wish, her next book will be coming out on August 5th.  I have it on my side bar and can't wait to read it!

FTC Information: I bought this book for my Kindle and my reading enjoyment.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.

 

Author Spotlight: Erin Healy

As I was reading on my current book, Never Let You Go by Erin Healy, I took a look at the materials the publicist sent with the book and thought an occasional author spotlight would be a good thing to do.

I like knowing about the authors I am reading and wanted to know more about Erin Healy because her book is really amazing so far.  Never Let You Go is her first solo effort, but she has co-written two books with Ted Dekker, Burn and Kiss.  I will be looking for these after I finish Never Let You Go.  So now a little more about Erin Healy, compliments of the press release from Phenix & Phenix Literary Publicists.

About Erin Healy

Erin Healy is an award-winning editor and co-author of the supernatural thrillers, Kiss (Thomas Nelson, 2009) and Burn (Thomas Nelson, 2010) with Ted Dekker.  Now Healy presents her solo debut novel, Never Let You Go (Thomas Nelson, May 2010, 9781595547507, Trade Paper, $14.95), a new brand of cfiction building on her work with Dekker that melds supernatural suspense with relational drama.

Healy is the owner of WordWright Editorial Services, where she has specialized in fiction book development for the past eight years.  She has worked with popular authors such as Frank Peretti, James Scott Bell, Melody Carlson, Colleen Coble, L. B. Graham, Brandilyn Collins, Rene Gutteridge, Michelle McKinney Hammond, Robin Lee Hetcher, Lisa Samson, RAndy Singer and Robert Whitlow.

Healy earned her bachelor's degree in English with a minor in communication studies from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, Calif., and began her career as an editor for Christian Parenting Today during the mid-1990s.  AFter advancing from assistant editor, to associate editor, to editor while WordWright Editorial Services in 2002.

Healy began working for Dekker the same year, editing 12 of his well-known, heart-pounding stories, before collaborating with him as a co-author on Kiss.  Her first novel, Kiss is the story of Shauna, who wakes from a coma to find she is responsible for a terrible accident that left her brother permanently disabled and her recent memories erased.  She discovers she has the paranormal ability to steal memories from others, a capability she uses to clear her name and find out what really caused the car accident.

Burn is the story of one woman's ultimate betrayal fo friends and family and the far-reaching consequences of her actions, featuring overarching themes of good vs. evil, guilt and regret, and the grace of second chances.

Her solo debut Never Let You Go follows a devote, hard-working single mother who lives in the shadow of her estranged husband's choices and a family tragedy.  When troubling elements from her past suddenly return, her tenuous grip on life and her loved ones is threatened.  Staggering supernatural events begin spilling into her world, provinng that Hell's fury is great, but Heaven's power is greater still.

Healy currently resides in Colorado Springs, Colo., with her husband, Tim and two children.  She is the director of the Academy of Christian Editors, as well as a member of the International Thriller Writers and the American Christian Fiction Writers.  Visit www.erinhealy.com for more information.


Press release courtesy of Phenix and Phenix Literary Publicists.

Also check out Erin's website - she has a great contest going to win one of 40 copies of her new novel, Never Let You Go.

Review of Never Let You Go will be coming next week - I have just sat down and read about 100 more pages of it and it is a real page-turner.