Hi everyone!
Letting Go of Gravity is just about one of the most heartfelt and moving books I've read since Still Me by Jojo Moyes. If you're a fan of John Green, Jojo Moyes, and David Levithan this is the book for you! Be sure to enter this blog tour giveaway where 3 winners will win a finished copy of Letting Go of Gravity (US only).
Click on the banner to visit all the amazing stops on the blog tour!
About the Book
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Formats: Hardcover, eBook
Pages: 432
Find it:
Twins Parker and Charlie are polar opposites.
Where Charlie is fearless, Parker is careful.
Charlie is confident while Parker aims to please.
Charlie is outgoing and outspoken; Parker is introverted and reserved.
And of course, there’s the one other major difference: Charlie got leukemia. Parker didn’t.
But now that Charlie is officially in remission, life couldn’t be going better for Parker. She’s landed a prestigious summer internship at the hospital and is headed to Harvard in the fall to study pediatric oncology—which is why the anxiety she’s felt since her Harvard acceptance is so unsettling. And it doesn’t help that her relationship with Charlie has been on the rocks since his diagnosis.
Enter Finn, a boy who’s been leaving strange graffiti messages all over town. Parker can’t stop thinking about those messages, or about Finn, who makes her feel free for the first time: free to doubt, free to make mistakes, and free to confront the truth that Parker has been hiding from for a long time.
That she keeps trying to save Charlie, when the person who really needs saving is herself.
A gorgeous, sad, funny, and wise book about letting go and finding your place in the world. Meg Leder has written a story about a brother and sister that will break your heart and have you whispering 'I got you' long after you've closed the book." –Kathleen Glasgow, New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Pieces
“For readers who love and appreciate a good coming-of-age story, a realistic romance, and a novel where every character gets to be a hero.” –Kirkus
“A poignant and carefully crafted story…. A compelling coming-of-age novel sure to appeal to those who love realistic fiction.” –School Library Journal
“Effectively shows how illness affects families and how a person can get stuck acting out a persona and end up knowing very little about herself.” –Publishers Weekly
Review
"What do the stars look like yesterday?"
Metaphorically speaking, letting go of gravity is one of the most difficult things one can do in life. Twins Parker and Charlie were used to having a deep connection. Yet, as they got older, Charlie was always the one completing a series of firsts in life. So Parker got used to having to run behind Charlie because she couldn't imagine a world without her brother.
However, after trying to catch up to Charlie for so many years, life starts to come between them. Charlie gets leukemia and harbors anger and frustration, they become teenagers, and Parker finds that her world slowly stops turning. Parker starts centering her gravity on an axil of safety, never venturing too far or taking risks in life. Parker believes that if she lets go of all she knows, everything will slip beyond her reach. But what if letting go means that she will be able to finally fly?
Because sometimes letting go is what sets us completely free.
Letting Go of Gravity is the first work I've read by Meg Leder and I must say that I greatly enjoyed how she crafted a very true to life story through Parker's first person narrative. Parker is a very understandable character. Readers can clearly see why Parker depends on Charlie because she sees an extension of herself in him. Charlie represents freedom while Parker's grounded safety is a result of her constructed persona.
If you've had someone close to you, whether it be siblings, friends, or family members, you completely relate to Parker and that helpless sensation of losing someone you can't imagine life without. Reality shifts without them and you feel your sense of identity change.
This is why Parker's journey is so liberating.
Throughout Letting Go of Gravity, Parker rediscovers her own sense of self by slipping out of the image she's created for the sake of those around her. Through the process of interacting with others and, in a way, giving herself permission to be happy and pursue what she wants, Parker really starts to shine through as a character.
"I hear the words again.
I got you.
They make me brave."
Letting Go of Gravity by Meg Leder is written with John Green's sense of poetic wording and Jojo Moyes vibrancy. The end result is a superb work that connects with readers on so many levels. Letting Go of Gravity will make you smile, curl up in your reading corner, reach for a tissue, and give you a beautifully stirring feeling in your chest.
About the Author
Meg Leder is the author of Letting Go of Gravity and The Museum of Heartbreak, and the coauthor of books including The Happy Book and The Book of Me. A former bookseller and teacher, she currently works as a book editor in New York City. She spends her free time reading, looking for street art, and people watching. She lives in Brooklyn with her cat Tim Riggins.
GIVEAWAY!!
Tour Schedule:
Week One:
7/23/2018- A Dream Within A Dream– Excerpt
7/24/2018- Here’s to Happy Endings– Review
7/25/2018- The Pages In-Between– Review
7/26/2018- 100 Pages A Day– Review
7/27/2018- Never Too Many To Read– Review
Week Two:
7/30/2018- Book Princess Reviews– Review
7/31/2018- Nicole’s Novel Reads– Interview
8/1/2018- The Reading Corner for All– Review
8/2/2018- Do You Dog-ear?– Review
8/3/2018- BookHounds YA– Interview
Thank you so much for reading today! I'd love to hear your comments below. Be sure to subscribe to save your place at The Reading Corner for All!
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