Blog Tour- Identity Crisis by Melissa Schorr Review & Giveaway

Identity Crisis
by Melissa Schorr
Publisher: Merit Press
Release Date: January 18th 2016

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Rate: 3/4

Synopsis:

When curvaceous Annalise Bradley’s scandalous freshman year hookup sparks the anger of her female classmates, three of them decide to get her back by "catfishing" her, creating a fake online profile of the perfect boy to toy with her affections.

Against her better nature, introverted Noelle Spiers, goes along with her friends’ plan, hoping to distract Annalise from dreamy Cooper Franklin, her lifelong crush who has fallen for Annalise instead.

As Annalise discovers she is being played and seeks revenge, Noelle increasingly regrets her role in the cruel hoax and tries to salvage their relationship.

Told in alternative perspectives, IDENTITY CRISIS covers romance, betrayal, and timeless friendship in the age of modern technology.

Identity Crisis is an adorable book that is so very high school.  Annalise, a Brass Knuckles fangirl (think: Directioner), finds out she didn't get tickets to the band's one and only concert in Boston.  Annalise isn't the most popular girl.  Ever since 7th grade she's been receiving unwanted attention due to her overly developed chest.  Everyone thinks she's lucky, but all the guys act like pigs around her, and all the girls think she's a slut.  Noelle is part of the popular clique.  Her BFF Eva has had it out for Annalise ever since the incident that happened with Eva's boyfriend.  When Noelle's crush starts showing interest in Annalise, Eva decides something must be done.  She decides to make up a fake online profile to catfish Annalise away from Cooper.  The thing is, Eva (the mastermind) leaves the dirty work up to Noelle who doesn't really want to do this at all.  Along the way, Noelle finds out that there's more to Annalise than she thought.  When things blow up, Noelle misses the bond she felt when talking to Annalise, while Annalise decides she's getting revenge.

Even though this book felt a tad young for me (a 30-something), I thought it was the perfect young people book.  I loved the way the 2 narrators felt like they were talking directly to me.  I felt an instant connection to both Annalise and Noelle.  They both have a cute, honest sense of humor and two distinct personalities.  Both sides of the story kept me reading.  Some of the IM-ing conversations were a little irritating.  I kind of don't like "teen talk".  Okay, I really don't like "teen talk", especially if it sounds like an adult trying to mimic the way teens talk.  There was some of that going on.  But not too much.  I also had a lot of cringing moments when Annalise talked of her crush on boy band member Viggo Witts.  It was like visiting a One Direction or Justin Bieber fan page and reading comments from girls who think they are "so misunderstood" and "if they could just meet me, I know we'd have an instant connection".  But I am reading YA here, so I will overlook that.

Throughout the book I felt terrible for Annalise.  It made me think of all the things that teenagers deal with because of all the internets stuff.  And YIKES!!  I'm so glad that stuff wasn't possible for most of my childhood.  The internet really wasn't a "thing" until I was in high school... and then it was all AOL chat rooms and IMs, until Facebook came in on it's demon train.  I'm sure people were "catfished" (although that particular term didn't exist), but the online bullying and the invasion of privacy stuff wasn't happening much at all.  I also feel so grateful that all my stupid mistakes from back then weren't documented for the world to see.  I love books that show issues like these.  Catfishing someone is serious stuff.  Making someone think that they're connecting with someone in order to humiliate them??  It's pretty sick and very sad. I thought this book did a good job at showing it, without glamorizing it.

OVERALL:  I loved the way I connected with the writing and characters' voices.  It deals with heavy issues, while also being completely adorable and fun.  It's definitely a high school book with a high school feel.  I would more recommend to high school age readers because of that.

Follow the Identity Crisis by Melissa Schorr Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Melissa Schorr is the YA author of GOY CRAZY (Hyperion 2006) and IDENTITY CRISIS (forthcoming, Merit Press 2016), and a contributor to the YA anthology DEAR BULLY.

She is currently a contributing writer/editor to the Boston Globe Sunday Magazine. Her freelance work has appeared in numerous publications, including GQ, People, Self, San Francisco magazine, and The Wall Street Journal. 

Melissa currently lives in Boston with her husband, her daughters, and her dog, Bailey.

US Only

a Rafflecopter giveaway