I'm so excited to announce that I'm apart of the blog tour for The Parts I Remember by the lovely A.K. Mills. At today's stop, I'm also holding an exclusive SIGNED copy giveaway, open internationally!
Title: The Parts I Remember
Author: A.K. Mills
Genre: Contemporary New Adult
Goodreads rating:
Goodreads | Amazon |
Act first. Think never. Remember nothing.
Welcome to Kelly Rockport’s existence at Haysville University, where responsibility is just an elective. After all, fake IDs, alter egos, and one-night stands are all part of the college experience, right? So what if she blacks out from time to time? Memory is overrated.
When freshman year lasts about as long as a one-night stand and is quickly followed by the Year of the Blackout, Kelly projects junior year to be nothing shy of amazing. But as shots, beer, cocaine and men mesh together in an intoxicating haze, Kelly’s reckless ways get her into serious trouble. The only problem is, she can't remember what happened.
As she hovers along the edge of consciousness, Kelly forces herself to think past her pain to piece together the shards of her life. This is her story, told in her words: The Parts I Remember.
Review by Chantelle
Wow wow wow! I am so glad that I read The Parts I Remember, it is genuinely one of the best new adult novels I've ever read and has basically restored my faith in the new adult genre. To be honest, I didn't really expect to like it as much as I did because usually in YA or NA novels, the girl that drinks, and parties and does drugs isn't the person you warm to, or even remotely like. However, what struck me was how realistic, and candid the narrative was. The storyline wasn't idealised, or sugar-coated and yet it wasn't depressing or exaggerated. It was just real.
Kelly Rockport is your average freshman, green from having just graduated from high school, and eager to party her way through college just like everybody else. Drinking, discovering sex, experimenting with drugs, it's all part of what you do in university. Right? Definitely not out of the ordinary. As a university student myself, I can truthfully say that I just described about 70% of my friends. I think Kelly's persona accurately portrays the attitudes and the life of a person in that reckless stage where the sense of superiority having left school and the comfort of still being a full-time student rush together in a liberating state of being.
"Do you drink too much?"
"I'm twenty years old."
However, slowly this becomes a habit for Kelly, and she struggles with being aware of what is excessive, or dangerous - of what may constitute as more than just letting loose and cross into self harm, and just as importantly, of how her actions affect not just her, but inherently also those around her. The Parts I Remember is written after an accident, whereby Kelly finds herself unable to remember how she came to be hospitalised. Flawlessly transitioning between memories of her college experience up to that point, and the sporadic moments of consciousness in the hospital, Kelly slowly pieces the night together, and reflects on her year of (drunken) 'blackouts'.
"I'm having fun."
But when you can never remember what you did the night before, are you really?
I could really sense that A.K Mills had a point to make about the stigma of college behaviour, I could feel it bleed through every chapter, and I admire the way she constructed her coming of age story in that it stayed true to that message. There are a lot of "new adult" novels out there that are just vapid romances about college girls losing their virginity that a lot of people read mostly for the sex, and Mills could have easily written this novel to cater to that audience. The story of Kelly may feature sex, but only as a sub-plot to the experience of college life as a whole. It focuses more so on that extra step of maturation and self-discovery that usually happens in early adulthood, which let's be honest absolutely terrifies me, in a way that is accessible, relatable and yet still enjoyable.
A.K Mills, you wrote an amazing book which you should be incredibly proud of!
P.S. Did I mention the ebook is on sale, right now, at Amazon, for only $0.99... one-click!!!
Overall: 8/10
Plot: 5/5
Writing: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Cover: 4/5
Giveaway Details:
- The giveaway is open to everyone!
- There will be one winner. This person will win a SIGNED copy of The Parts I Remember sent directly from the author.
- You must be 13 or older to enter, and have your parent's permission if you are younger than 18.
- Winners will be notified by email and will have 48 hours to respond before another winner is chosen.
- ALL ENTRIES WILL BE CHECKED.
Yay. I hope, I win this one.
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