Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Under the Radar Recommendations


This post is a part of Contemporary Conversations, hosted by The Thousand Lives and Talking Bookworm.

Evident from the title, this post will be featuring those underrated books that everyone should read! In general, I feel like there are actually a lot of books that are hyped up around the blogosphere that haven't quite been a hit with the general public readership- books like Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas and Golden by Jessi Kirby. This post won't be talking about those books. This post will feature those books that haven't even really been seen too much around the blogosphere- true under the radar recommendations.



Speechless by Hannah Harrington

Everyone knows that Chelsea Knot can't keep a secret

Until now. Because the last secret she shared turned her into a social outcast—and nearly got someone killed.

Now Chelsea has taken a vow of silence—to learn to keep her mouth shut, and to stop hurting anyone else. And if she thinks keeping secrets is hard, not speaking up when she's ignored, ridiculed and even attacked is worse.

But there's strength in silence, and in the new friends who are, shockingly, coming her way—people she never noticed before; a boy she might even fall for. If only her new friends can forgive what she's done. If only she can forgive herself.
I seem to recall Speechless made a bit of a splash in the blogosphere when it first came out in 2012, but since then seems to have fallen completely off the radar. Which is sad, because it's such a fantastic book. And the love interest in this book is seriously the best.



Something Real by Heather Demetrios

There’s nothing real about reality TV.

Seventeen-year-old Bonnie™ Baker has grown up on TV—she and her twelve siblings are the stars of one-time hit reality show Baker’s Dozen. Since the show’s cancellation and the scandal surrounding it, Bonnie™ has tried to live a normal life, under the radar and out of the spotlight. But it’s about to fall apart…because Baker’s Dozen is going back on the air. Bonnie™’s mom and the show’s producers won’t let her quit and soon the life she has so carefully built for herself, with real friends (and maybe even a real boyfriend), is in danger of being destroyed by the show. Bonnie™ needs to do something drastic if her life is ever going to be her own—even if it means being more exposed than ever before.
Such an interesting premise! I've never really thought about what it would be like being a child reality TV star, and how that would complicate your private life. Actually, one of my friends went on a TV show in Australia named Beauty and the Geek (and got surprisingly far through the ranks haha), but when he came back, people forgot pretty quickly that he's been on the show. Not quite the same for Bonnie Baker in this book!




Open Road Summer by Emery Lord

After breaking up with her bad-news boyfriend, Reagan O’Neill is ready to leave her rebellious ways behind. . . and her best friend, country superstar Lilah Montgomery, is nursing a broken heart of her own. Fortunately, Lilah’s 24-city tour is about to kick off, offering a perfect opportunity for a girls-only summer of break-up ballads and healing hearts. But when Matt Finch joins the tour as its opening act, his boy-next-door charm proves difficult for Reagan to resist, despite her vow to live a drama-free existence. This summer, Reagan and Lilah will navigate the ups and downs of fame and friendship as they come to see that giving your heart to the right person is always a risk worth taking. A fresh new voice in contemporary romance, Emery Lord’s gorgeous writing hits all the right notes.
Matt Finch! Open Road Summer is great on many levels: fabulous love interest, awesome protagonist, fantastic best friend-ship. It's even greater considering how it's a debut! THE BANTER MY GOD. I'm such a sucker for banter haha



Life by Committee by Corey Ann Haydu Some secrets are too good to keep.

Tabitha might be the only girl in the history of the world who actually gets less popular when she gets hot. But her so-called friends say she’s changed, and they’ve dropped her flat.

Now Tab has no one to tell about the best and worst thing that has ever happened to her: Joe, who spills his most intimate secrets to her in their nightly online chats. Joe, whose touch is so electric, it makes Tab wonder if she could survive an actual kiss. Joe, who has Tabitha brimming with the restless energy of falling in love. Joe, who is someone else’s boyfriend.

Just when Tab is afraid she’ll burst from keeping the secret of Joe inside, she finds Life by Committee. The rules of LBC are simple: tell a secret, receive an assignment. Complete the assignment to keep your secret safe.

Tab likes it that the assignments push her to her limits, empowering her to live boldly and go further than she’d ever go on her own.

But in the name of truth and bravery, how far is too far to go?
So despite the douchey Joe, and shaky start, this book evolves into something so much more than a girl pining after a guy who already has a boyfriend. Overall, Life by Committee was half fluffy and half a book about pushing your boundaries (even when they probably shouldn't be pushed...)



Any Under the Radar books to add to the list?