Author: Melissa DeCarlo
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Harper
Publish Date: September 8, 2015
Source: TLC Book Tours
What's the Story?:
From Goodreads.com: "Mattie Wallace has really screwed up this time. Broke and knocked up, she’s got all her worldly possessions crammed into six giant trash bags, and nowhere to go. Try as she might, Mattie can no longer deny that she really is turning into her mother, a broken alcoholic who never met a bad choice she didn’t make.
When Mattie gets news of a possible inheritance left by a grandmother she’s never met, she jumps at this one last chance to turn things around. Leaving the Florida Panhandle, she drives eight hundred miles to her mother’s birthplace—the tiny town of Gandy, Oklahoma. There, she soon learns that her mother remains a local mystery—a happy, talented teenager who inexplicably skipped town thirty-five years ago with nothing but the clothes on her back. But the girl they describe bears little resemblance to the damaged woman Mattie knew, and before long it becomes clear that something terrible happened to her mother, and it happened here. The harder Mattie digs for answers, the more obstacles she encounters. Giving up, however, isn’t an option. Uncovering what started her mother’s downward spiral might be the only way to stop her own."
My Two Cents:
In "The Art of Crash Landing," we meet Matilda a.k.a. Mattie. She is an absolute mess. She's 30 years old and has yet to do anything with her life. She doesn't know what she wants and she suddenly finds herself pregnant and alone. She inherits her grandmother's house and begins to realize that she needs to pick up her own pieces of her life.
This is Mattie in a nutshell: "Most people would probably have a hard time totally f--king up their life in under an hour. But then again, I'm not most people. I'm amazing. I'm like some kind of f--kup savant." And I love her for it. This character definitely does not have it all together. She is sharp and hilarious and this often seems to get her into trouble. I loved following her through this book. Mattie feels like she could be a friend with the way that we readers are let into her life.
This author is a debut author and this book made me excited for what else the author might come out with. The writing of the book is good. Again, Mattie feels really real. I liked that the author chose to tell the story from Mattie's perspective. She gives Mattie a very real and very original voice that kept me entertained. This is a sparkling debut!
Follow the Rest of the Tour:
Tuesday, September 8th: Books and Bindings
Thursday, September 10th: The Book Bag
Friday, September 11th: Cerebral Girl in a Redneck World
Tuesday, September 15th: Literary Lindsey
Wednesday, September 16th: Sara’s Organized Chaos
Thursday, September 17th: No More Grumpy Bookseller
Friday, September 18th: bookchickdi
Friday, September 18th: Fuelled by Fiction
Wednesday, September 23rd: From the TBR Pile
Thursday, September 24th: Kahakai Kitchen
Friday, September 25: 5 Minutes for Books
Monday, September 28th: BoundbyWords
Wednesday, September 30th: A Bookworm’s World
Thursday, October 1st: A Bookish Affair
Monday, October 5th: Kritters Ramblings
Tuesday, October 6th: Raven Haired Girl
Wednesday, October 7th: Novel Escapes
Thursday, October 8th: Bloggin’ ‘Bout Books
Friday, October 9th: My Book Retreat
Monday, October 12th: Snowdrop Dreams of Books
Tuesday, October 13th: Imaginary Reads
Tuesday, October 13th: Broken Teepee
Wednesday, October 14th: Thoughts On This ‘n That
Wednesday, October 14th: Svetlana’s Reads and Views
Thursday, October 15th: Joyfully Retired
I love when a debut author is an instant hit with you, the book sounds exciting :)
ReplyDeleteThank you SO MUCH for the great review! :D
ReplyDeleteSounds like fun! Cheers from Carole's Chatter
ReplyDeleteWhat rave reviews for a debut novel! Surely this is a sign of great things to come!
ReplyDeleteThanks for being a part of the tour!