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Tara Eglington

Författare till How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You

4 verk 107 medlemmar 7 recensioner

Verk av Tara Eglington

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Kön
female
Nationalitet
Australia

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This was a wonderful surprise from the Aussie section at Kinokuniya right before Covid Isolation set in. Told in two voices from either side of the Tasman, it’s a celebration of friendship and a slow-burn romance between two old family friends, Isolde, an aspiring ballerina and Taylor, a world class snowboarder whose career ended with an accident to cost him a leg. She is in Sydney getting over a messy break up that’s impacted on her love of dancing and he’s in Queenstown, NZ, trying to find out how to live (and love) with a prosthesis. It’s August and in September the following year they’ll be meeting up in Queenstown for Taylor’s sister’s wedding. At his mum’s insistence, Taylor sends a comforting email – and a “Wallow in your sadness” playlist -to Isolde, and the story begins.
I’m not an especial fan of double first-person narrators, much less of pastiche-novels, but this one just works. In the acknowledgements, the author thanks her publisher for “recognising the heart of it and helping me to carve away the excess and find that sharper, stronger story”. I don’t usually quote from the acknowledgements, but this time it seemed pertinent because this novel is sharp and clever and leaves spaces all over the place for the reader to fill the gaps between emails and Instagram conversations and phone calls and playlists. I loved the active reading process which somehow added to the realism of watching a deep friendship being rekindled, month by month, after a major fight eighteen months previously.
“Apologising,” Isolde tells Taylor in her first reply “winds up being the way people relieve themselves of guilt – the sorry is all about them, not the person they’ve wronged… I can’t undo what I said that night and I don’t expect you to forgive me for it…” We suspect that it was something about the amputation but it isn’t referenced directly till very late in the novel which sustains tension by continually withholding details, keeping their shared pasts present through allusion more than detail, and threading their deepening friendship with subplots such as Taylor’s Dad’s cancer and Isolde’s parents’ impending separation.
I haven’t read many stories about amputees, and I’m hoping that after I’ve written this I’ll find some Own Voices reviews to tell me whether Taylor’s experiences are as authentic as they feel. Certainly I teared up as much over Isolde’s practical, non-judgemental interest in his prosthesis as his decision to try having fun on a snowboard again, and I appreciated the slow reveal of the accident and their respective reactions to the trauma of Ben’s loss and grief for a body-part. “All the muscles in my ankle and calf that used to read the terrain and react to it – you know, make a sudden turn, correct myself – they weren’t there any more.” From my able-bodied perspective, the details Taylor confides in the reader felt very real, and the public reactions to his prosthetic leg tallied with stories told by Australian comedian Adam Hills about his prosthesis.
The Long Distance Playlist is a hymn to the way deep friendships sustain us through all manner of trauma, even when the friends are separated by an ocean: Isolde and Taylor are “each other’s champions – unconditionally cheering each other on as we chose our dreams in different places… I’d rather have these snippets of time with him than every day with someone else.” Teens will certainly relate to the inclusion of social media and will probably recognise a lot more of the music than I did. I suspect the integration of the playlists into the storyline means readers will also go out of their way to find the songs that are new to them. It’s probably aimed more at girls than boys, because both characters do lots of philosophising about emotions, but this shouldn’t confine it to any one gender. It belongs in all school and public libraries, as well as on all teens bookshelves.
… (mer)
 
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IsabellaLucia | 1 annan recension | Oct 24, 2020 |
Even though I liked "The Long Distance Playlist", it didn't wow me. Told mainly using instant messenger, Skype, emails and phone texts, I felt that the story often lagged. Taylor and Isolde were likeable characters and I enjoyed their budding romance, but the story didn't flow and I found myself losing interest. I also liked the descriptions of New Zealand, the wonderful playlists Taylor came up with (I actually knew a number of the songs), the way Taylor and Isolde supported each other and the solid friendship between Isolde and Ava.

However, I felt the novel was too long for what it was trying to achieve and lacked something that stopped me from loving it. I have read better novels by other authors who have used this epistolary format to tell the story, so I know it can be done well. Overall, cute but unsatisfactory.
… (mer)
 
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HeatherLINC | 1 annan recension | Apr 24, 2020 |
4.5 stars.

How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You by Tara Eglington is a cute, giggle-inducing young adult romance with a (mostly) fantastic cast of female characters.

With a fairy tale view of romance, Aurora Skye expends a lot of energy avoiding parceling out goodnight kisses to her dates. With an arsenal of evasive maneuvers at her fingertips, she is waiting to bestow her first kiss on her "Prince" much to the amusement of her next door neighbor and personal nemesis Hayden Paris. Despite never having been in a relationship, Aurora dispenses plenty of romance advice to her close circle of friends. Aurora is the teensiest bit annoying since she is a little controlling, a lot nosy and a tad irrational where Hayden is concerned, but she is surprisingly likable. She is loyal, protective and willing to do just about anything to make her friends and family happy. Although she is popular and well-liked, Aurora is not a "mean girl" and she is willing to stand up for anyone she thinks is being treated unfairly. All in all, she is an all around enjoyable and sympathetic character despite her faults.

The secondary cast of characters is fairly large but they are well-developed and relatable. Cassie Shields is Aurora's best friend and she always has Aurora's back. Their other close friend Jelena Cantrill is trifle shallow and a wee bit self-centered, but she offers a nice foil for Aurora's niceness. Lindsay is in the midst of a sudden break up with her long term boyfriend Tyler and with Aurora's advice, she is rediscovering her individuality while resisting Tyler's attempts to reconcile.

Landing the lead role of Beatrice in the school play Much Ado about Nothing takes Aurora out of her comfort zone and puts her in near daily contact with Hayden, who is playing Benedick. No one can understand her sudden dislike of the boy who was at one time her closest friend and she is incredibly prickly with him every time their paths cross. Hayden is a genuinely nice young man who always shrugs off Aurora's unpleasantness and offers her shoulder to cry on when she needs one. As the premiere of the play looms ever closer, so does the all important kiss between Beatrice and Benedick, and hilarious hijinks ensue as Aurora tries to avoid giving her first kiss to anyone other than her "Prince".

Although How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You is a light-hearted young adult novel, Tara Eglington does manage to impart a few serious messages to readers. While Aurora's desire to wait for her first kiss seems a little silly, the idea behind not wasting her first kiss on someone who does not like or respect her is actually quite refreshing. In a time when casual relationships are the norm, it is nice to see that she wants her first kiss to have significance. The other important lesson stems from the storyline involving Lindsay's breakup with Tyler and how their lives were so enmeshed while they were dating that they were essentially viewed as one person. The time apart provides Lindsay the opportunity to embrace her independence while discovering the things she enjoys doing on her own. And last but not least, Aurora does not let a misunderstanding destroy a friendship and she demonstrates the importance of forgiveness even when suffering from hurt feelings.

How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You by Tara Eglington is an engaging and entertaining young adult novel. With a cast of appealing characters, a humor-filled storyline and subtle yet important messages, this fast-paced story will charm readers of all ages.
… (mer)
 
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kbranfield | 1 annan recension | Feb 3, 2020 |
4.5 stars.

Kissing Games by Tara Eglington is a charming, laugh out loud young adult contemporary novel. Although this latest release is the second installment in the delightful Aurora Skye series, it can be read as a standalone. However, I highly recommend book one, How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You, which is also an outstanding read.

Picking up where book one leaves off, Aurora Skye is preparing for a very romantic evening with her prince, Hayden Paris. To say things do not go as planned is a major understatement since Hayden ends up in the emergency room. Their new relationship is further challenged by parental punishment for misdeeds, Aurora's involvement in a friend's campaign for class president, her matchmaking endeavors and a few misunderstandings. Throw in challenges that arise as Aurora deals with unexpected changes in her family and the fate of their fledgling romance is far from certain.

Aurora is quite surprised when her friend, Jelena Cantrill, announces she is running for class president. With her latest predicament involving Hayden, she is uneasy about Jelena's insistence in making Aurora's matchmaking project a major part of her campaign. Tasked with finding matches for three of their classmates, Aurora has her work cut out for her when three very difficult people are selected for the project.

On the home front, Aurora's dad (hilariously dubbed "the NAD"), seems to have fully recovered from his break-up with Ms. Deforest. His latest foray into new age enlightenment is rather unconventional but Aurora is happy he is moving past his current heartbreak. On the other hand, her relationship with her mother is still complicated and Aurora is concerned about how her mother's stunning announcement will affect the NAD.

In between Aurora's highly entertaining hijinks with her friends, there are a few serious story arcs. Aurora's friend Lindsay is still trying to make a go of her renewed relationship with Tyler, but they hit a few bumps along the way. Jelena's campaign leads to an unexpected bullying situation that she must figure out how to handle. Aurora's relationship with her mother remains stressful and Aurora is also dealing with unexpected changes at home with the NAD. Aurora's fears of abandonment affect her budding romance and her kneejerk response to an unexpected situation with her mom endangers her future with Hayden.

Kissing Games is an absolutely marvelous young adult contemporary novel that is quite funny and surprisingly thought-provoking. The cast of charactersare quite colorful and they continue to mature and grow throughout the two book series. This latest addition to Tara Eglington's enchanting and entertaining Aurora Skye series will resonate with readers of all ages.
… (mer)
 
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kbranfield | 2 andra recensioner | Feb 3, 2020 |

Statistik

Verk
4
Medlemmar
107
Popularitet
#180,615
Betyg
½ 3.3
Recensioner
7
ISBN
18
Språk
1

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