{ARC Review+G!veaway} The Kiss Off by Sarah Billington

Posted May 9, 2012 by Michelle @ Book Briefs in Blog Tours, Giveaways, Reviews / 22 Comments

ebook
Expected publication: May 15th 2012 by Billington Media
Age Group: YA
Source: Blog Tour
Challenge(s): Ebook challenge, Young adult reading challenge, 150+ reading challenge,  Just Contemporary challenge, Standalone Challenge, ABC challenge

Summary(from Goodreads):

Warning: Sexual References, occasional course language.
When sixteen year old Poppy Douglas writes a song about her ex-boyfriend Cam and ex-friend Nikki, she has no idea that her heartbreak is about to go global.
A local band picks up her song from Youtube and soon she’s along for the ride with her own fanbase as they blow up on the local club scene and hit the international charts. Though it turns out leaving Cam behind isn’t as easy as she had hoped.
Tangled in a web of unfinished homework, ill-considered sexting and a new lead-singer boyfriend, Poppy has a choice to make between the ex that inspired it all and the rock God whose poster lines the inside of half the lockers at school. But as she struggles to keep her emotional dirty laundry private, she learns that the truth can be hard to find when your life is in the headlines. 

The Kiss off is like the social media book of 2012. It incorporates so many different things of this new generation of the media. It has a little bit of everything going on- the paparazzi, the internet, the speed at which stars are born, scandal and how much people love drama. I especially liked that the main character became one of those YouTube sensations. Sarah Billington incorporated all the right slang expressions, but it never felt forced. I have read a few YA books that used all the “teen lingo”, but it just felt like they were writing it in every other paragraph, which can be too much after a while. The Kiss Off uses the lingo really well. In fact, I really liked the overall writing style of the book. Sarah Billington is definitely an author that I want to read more of.

Poppy, which is an awesome name by the way, seems like a typical teenage girl. And like most teenagers, Poppy has a tendency to act first, ask questions later. She was a little rash, and it wasn’t a trait that she grew out of by the end of the book either. But still, there is just something about her! I loved her. She is quirky and infectious and she just made me smile. I loved that she did YouTube videos.

The guys were harder for me because I liked both of them. I think I liked Ty more but that was only because I feel like we got to know him better than Cam. At least, I felt like there was more Ty interaction in the story. But they are both good guys. It was really refreshing to not see good guy pitted against a bad boy. But having two good guys makes it harder. I don’t want to give the impression that this book is a big love triangle. It really isn’t. There isn’t much of a triangle at all for almost all of the book.

The Kiss Off is a great book because it serves two purposes- it’s an awesome story and read, and also a kind of social commentary on the media age and what the internet and celebrity status can affect people. I loved that about the book. I could see so many parallels in our society. I also think that this might be a stand alone book, which is really nice! The story felt complete on it’s own and it was great. 

4/5 Gavels

Author Bio

Sarah Billington is an Australian writer and editor who likes to write stories with love, laughs, suspense and zombies. Sometimes all in the same story. Her favouritest thing to write about are those horrendously awkward moments that come with being a teenager. Or a human being. Sarah was extremely accident-prone and klutzy as a kid and teen, so her cup runneth over with experiences of horrendously awkward moments to draw from in her writing. Thankfully, she has grown out of her klutziness. Mostly. She is, however, still an embarrassment.

She loves a variety of random things, which include doggies (hers as well as yours), Swing Dancing, Ice Hockey, Roller Derby and she is a bit obsessive about paranormal investigation shows and channel E!. She writes light-hearted works under Sarah Billington, and darker, scarier and more torturous stories under her pen name, Edwina Ray.

She also runs an editing, cover design and ebook formatting company Billington Media.

Links


SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter: www.twitter.com/SarahBillington
Facebook Fan Page: www.Facebook.com/SarahBillingtonBooks
Blog: www.SarahBillington.blogspot.com
Website: www.SarahBillington.weebly.com
Goodreadshttp://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4079661.Sarah_Billington

BUY SARAH’S BOOKS:
Pre-order The Kiss Off and get it FIRST! http://www.sarahbillington.weebly.com
Amazon Author Pagehttp://www.amazon.com/Sarah-Billington/e/B004WQVGTC
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/sarah-billington
Smashwords Author Pagehttp://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/SarahBillington
ITunes: http://itunes.apple.com/au/artist/sarah-billington/id437469288?mt=11
Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/search/search.html?q=sarah+billington 
Diesel: http://search.diesel-ebooks.com/author/Billington,%20Sarah/results/1.html?&r=4f18dadf


There will also be a giveaway that will run the length of the tour, in which all commenters go into the draw to win 1 of 10 ebook copies of The Kiss Off and 3 winners will win the entire Sarah Billington back catalogue of ebooks (2 novel + 3 short stories).

To Enter: 
Leave a comment about the review or for Sarah with your NAME and EMAIL. Please leave a meaningful comment. Good Luck! 😉





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22 responses to “{ARC Review+G!veaway} The Kiss Off by Sarah Billington

  1. This has been on my TBR list since for EVER! I love contemporaries about music and such. Ever since I read Audrey, Wait! I’ve been searching for books like these. Poppy’s characters sounds like so much fun! Glad to know this book really isn’t much of a love triangle. Great review on this and thanks for the chance to win this book! 😀

    Fara @ Tumbling In Books

    farah-honey(at)hotmail(dot)com

  2. Isn’t amazing how much social media has changed the world. Just five years ago most people hadn’t heard of FB or Twitter, I think this would be a great read. I would love to see how social media is incorporated into the story.

  3. Sarah,
    Thanks so much for a book about those “awkward” moments (I had a habit, and still do, of walking into walls whenever I tried to turn a corner.) we all have when we’re growing. In my case, they’ve lasted and I still embarass my children by dropping food on my shirt at meals, especially at restaurants, accidentally sticking the straw from my drink up my nose, dropping the fish from my plate into my purse. You know, minor things like that! I love to hear that I’m not the only one afflicted with disorders like that!

  4. I really hope i win, cause this sounds great! I have read a book where they used a slang term i haven’t heard of and every time i would read it i had to stop and be like “Thats not what people say…” lol

    Glad to hear this one has real slang and in a good moderation =D

    Thanks for the review and giveaway!!

    Becky
    bookbitereviews@gmail.com
    bookbitereviews (at) gmail (dot) com
    @bookbitereviews

  5. Lori Thomas

    Great review!! Would love to read this book!
    Thx 4 the chance!!

    ctymice at gmail dot com

  6. Thank you for the review. This book has been added to my TBR list.
    Technology is a fantastic tool but it can hurt you too. I warn friends and family to watch out what they post on the WWW because there is no such thing as delete.
    PhoenixCarvelli
    PhoenixCarvelli at gmail dot com

  7. This is the first time I have heard of this book, and I am so glad I came across it! Love the review, I think books that speak to us about the digital age and social media outlets are so cool. I love reading the author’s particular take on those subjects. And it’s got music themes as well. That’s a win win combo:)

    Heather@The Flyleaf Review
    theflyleafreview at gmail dot com

  8. Great post! Your book sounds so good! Im intrigued by your characters and i cant resist a rock band book! Im putting my money that Poppy will stay with the leader-singer. 😀 But who knows! Cant wait to read more! Congrats!!
    shadowluvs2read(at)gmail(dot)com

  9. This sounds like a really great book. I like the current social media & music themes in this one. It’s definately different than most of the books thzt I’ve read lately so I’m definately going to be reading it soon. Good luck but I don’t think that you’re going to need it, it’s going to be a hit on it’s own.

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