Blog Tour/Review: True Colors by Krysten Hager

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True Colors

Landry Albright enters a modeling competition with her two best friends, but runs into jealousy when she advances to the next level without them. Enter the gorgeous Devon, who also makes the first cut of the modeling contest. Devon seems like the perfect new best friend, but can their friendship survive the competition? Throw in a new boy, jealousy and loyalty issues, and insults from hair stylists. How’s a girl to deal?

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Landry's friends, Ericka and Tori, convince her to enter a modeling competition with them. They get jealous and turn their backs on her when she continues on and they don't. Landry then tries to find somewhere else to fit in. The modeling competition does, indeed, bring out everyone's true colors, and some of them aren't very pretty.

This is a great book for middle grade girls! Landry goes through some growing pains with the girls she thought were her friends. What I liked is that she did seem to get along with lots of other girls so her "friends" abandoning her didn't turn her into a total pariah. I also liked that she didn't rush to fit in with another group right away but really wanted to figure out which group was a good fit for her. 

I thought the book would focus more on the actual competition but that quickly took a back burner to the drama of Landry's every day life. Landry felt like she was just a plain, average girl and sometimes heard mean comments others made that seemed to validate that. I liked reading about her relationships with all the girls she came in contact with, whether negative or positive, and especially liked Peyton. I liked the ending and hope there's a sequel because it would be fun to read what's next for Landry!

My daughter is only 10 but she is going through some of these same types of situations already so I'm not looking forward to the drama as she continues to get older. I'm glad she'll talk to me now so we're able to work through her feelings. It also helps that she's an old soul so she somewhat understands what makes other girls treat her the way they do. This is a book I will have her read and would recommend it to middle graders and anyone else looking for a fun, clean read!

My Rating=4 Stars

*I received a copy from the tour host for review. My opinion is 100% my own.*

Excerpt 

The competition was for girls between the ages of thirteen and seventeen, but it felt like Ericka, Tori, and I were the youngest ones there. I only saw a couple of girls from school, and the lineup looked more like something you’d see on a music video set. All the girls were gorgeous, and they had these curvy womanly bodies. I looked like a skinny little kid next to them. The first girl walked out, and I heard the judges say she “owned the runway,” and, “walked like a gazelle.” I was starting to feel ill. I wasn’t sure which way it was going to come, but I knew I had to find a bathroom — fast. I started to get out of line when Ericka grabbed my wrist.

“It’s almost time,” she said. A tiny bit of spit flew out of her mouth and hit my cheek.

I wasn’t sure why she was so intent on me going through with it, but she had a death grip on my arm, so I didn’t have much of a choice. Her number was called and she walked out to the stage. One of the other girls said she walked like a kid with sand bucket stilts on her feet, but she came back with a smirk on her face like she knew she’d get chosen.

“They said they had never seen such long legs,” she said.

Tori was next.

“She walks like a gorilla at feeding time,” said the girl behind me. I went next, and I tried to focus on not tripping over my feet. My mom’s pumps had a rubber sole on the bottom, which probably wasn’t the brightest idea seeing as my shoes were making squeaking noises as I walked. I was so nervous I couldn’t stop smiling as I walked. I looked like the plastic clown who blows up balloons with its mouth at the Pizza Palace. When I got to the end of the runway, I tried to cross my feet to turn like the other girls had, but I over rotated and ended up doing a full spin which made my kilt fan out and gave the mall walkers a view of my blue underpants. I tried to act like it was intentional and did an extra turn. One of the judges put her hand up to stop me, and I held my breath as she started to speak.

Author Biography

Krysten Lindsay Hager is an author and book addict who has never met a bookstore she didn’t like. She’s worked as a journalist and also writes middle grade, YA, humor essays, and adult fiction. Her debut novel, TRUE COLORS, will be out June 17th from Astraea Press. She is originally from Michigan and has lived in South Dakota, Portugal, and currently resides in Southern Ohio where you can find her reading and writing when she’s not catching up on her favorite shows.

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Blog Tour Giveaway

$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Ends 8/15/14

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the publisher. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

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