Featured Grab Your Pole Review #2

This week's feature review(s) come from Jac at For Love & Books! I honestly couldn't decide between her original review and her re-review so I'm including both! I don't even know how to sum up how awesome these reviews are or how much they make me giggle without sitting here staring at the computer screen like an incompetent idiot so yeah...I'll just paste these babies in. Also, be sure to check out the reviews here: Original & Re-Review and leave some love! Oh and for Bacon's sake her husband bought her JAKE RYAN'S CAR. Yeah, just keep reading right along...

Original Review:

My Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

A few days before reading Shark Bait, I was tweeting about another book and got into a conversation with Jenn Cooksey (which may have involved Peanut Butter Fudge Ice Cream!) and from there? She asked if I’d be interested in participating in her blog hop, so of course I said yes!! And immediately downloaded her book, Shark Bait.

From there? There was no turning back. None. I was in love. I have ZERO hesitation in saying that this is the best YA book I’ve read this year and has firmly grasped a spot on my top ten favorite books of all time!! And, if I could possibly? I would love to read it again for the first time. From page one, I was sucked in – I had absolutely nothing in common with Camie, the main character and fell on the other end of the spectrum in high school. (Re: I was so NOT innocent and trying to stay that way!) But I loved her, I found her endearing. And I felt so sorry for her starting school in the middle of the term in a new place, especially since her Mom’s cancer diagnosis flipped her life upside down.

And the rest of the cast? I could gush on and on for pages, but I’ll make it quick! (Because really, you NEED to read this book yourself.) Tristan? The boy-toy? Holy cow, every page he was on transported me back to high school and the bright blue lockers and the 2 years older than me hunk, Eric. (I’m sorry, I know Jenn said Taylor Kitsch, but in my mind? Tristan was totally Eric from my high school days.) And new best friend Kate? I loved how she pulled Camie out of her shell, loved ever scene with her! But my favorite supporting role? Definitely, hands down? Goes to Jillian, the little sister who has me wishing I could trade in my kid sister!!

Now, characters aside? This book is fabulous. Beginning to end. Jenn Cooksey captures the hell that is high school in a way that is so true, yet has you wishing you could go back and do it all again! And she leaves nothing out of the experience – so many YA books skirt around the party life of high schoolers, but not this one! (And from my experience? It was pretty accurate, not that I’m admitting to anything, I mean – my mom reads my blog!)

Jenn’s writing is fabulous, but what I possibly loved more? The many MANY references to John Hughes films and other 80′s phenomena that made me think maybe the 80s weren’t so bad after all! This book had me grinning like a fool and then laughing like a hyena the whole time, I can NOT wait until the next book comes out! (So far? Jenn has mentioned 4 books in the Grab Your Pole series! FOUR GLORIOUS BOOKS!)

I’ll quit gushing, and leave you with this. If you can remotely tolerate Contemporary YA? This book will turn you into a fan!! If you love Contemp YA? Then this book will keep you turning pages all night long! So go, pick it up! You NEED to read this book.

Re-Review:

In anticipation for The Other Fish in the Sea (Grab Your Pole, #2)‘s release, I decided to re-read Shark Bait. It was easily my favorite read of 2012 – see my gushing review!  (Seriously – according to Amazon I purchased 5 copies! Yes, 5. Because I thought EVERYONE needed to read it – so I kept gifting copies. And I’m sure I’ll do more in the near future. )

So, I’ve anxiously been awaiting TOFitS and my good friend DeAnna (Mommy’s Reading Break) agreed to a read-a-long with me of both Shark Bait and TOFitS!!  Now, before I go further in this review I need to confess something. I don’t re-read books. Ever. (Shark Bait is only the third book I’ve ever re-read. The other two being The Stand and Anna and the French Kiss. My other two favorite books.) But this is my third pass of Shark Bait and I’m still falling more and more in love with each of the characters.

I have to tell you, Jenn Cooksey is a genius. (Seriously, not only is she hugely fun to tweet with – but she is one hell of a writer!) I love books that I can get lost in the characters – it’s why we all read, isn’t it?? Well… Jenn paints these fabulous pictures with her words. The Grab Your Pole gang has firmly planted itself in my heart, and they are so incredibly real to me in ways that I’ve never known characters to be before. Shark Bait is a truly magical book in that way.

If you haven’t read the book, let me sum it up quickly for you. Shark Bait is a love story. A real, gritty, honest to God love story. There are moments that hurt. Jenn literally rips your heart out and stomps on it. (And if I’m being honest, because Camie encourages it to Tristan in some of my favorite scenes, then I have to tell you I see so much of myself and my husband in Camie and Tristan. Right down to there knock out, drag down fights.) But then? (At least if you’re a child of the 80′s like I am…) She makes you fall in love all over again. (Ok, let’s be honest. I want my life to be a John Hughes film. I don’t hide that. So Tristan, aside from looking like Taylor Kitsch, is my perfect man because of his John Hughes references. AND his ability to quote Buffy. Because – once again? I grew up in the 80′s and early 90′s. And let’s face it… Buffy and Angel kick Bella and Edward’s ass any day!

But beyond the love story? This is about friendship. And family. And finding yourself. And a million other insightful things, with a few F-Bombs, some weed (YAY Colorado!) and a pair of really cute kittens thrown in!

So if you haven’t read Shark Bait?? Do it. I don’t care if YA is your thing or not. Do it!!

(And just to prove how deep my love for John Hughes goes? My husband bought me Jake Ryan’s car…)

Feature Contributor:

Allura, Unapologetic Twitter Whore

Twitter | Blog

Important Shit, Yo!

This Is Important Shit, Yo!

Seriously.

Like really fucking important.

Did we mention that this is important? Because it is.

Most of the following is taken directly from Jenn's Blogpost, some of it was grabbed from other places that Jenn posted in, and yet some of it is new info, just so you know, but in any event, if everyone could please take a few minutes to read this section and then do whatever it is you can do to help us be the best Street Team the history of Street Teams and the Blogosphere has ever seen, that would be awesome!! Let's show Jenn how much we love and adore her for giving us the Grab Your Pole series, because that's what being a member of the GYP Street team is all about!! 

From Jenn's Blog:

5/25/13 Crush Tourney Update:

WE DID IT!!!

Thanks to the hard work of the @GYPStreetTeam (pimping ain't easy you know), and the support of readers and fans alike, our GYP boy, Tristan, made it into the YA-Sisterhood's YA Crush Tourney!!

Thank you all SO much for your time and support, but it's not over! Now, Tristan along with 28 other drool-inducing guys (once the wildcard entrants are chosen) are in need of a "Book Blogger Advocate" to represent them and fight for them in the head-to-head rounds of the tournament which will begin on June 10th. So, if you're a book blogger and want to represent #TeamTristan or another guy in the tournament, keep your eyes peeled for the opportunity to do so! Advocate sign-ups will start this coming week after the 28th (I believe sign-ups are slated to run from May 28th thru June 1st) so make sure you apply QUICKLY—doing that will help you have a better chance at the yummilicious crush of your choice!! And, I know in the past there have been co-advocates, so if that's something you're interested in check with the YA Sisterhood now to see how you would go about doing that!! 

We're also in need of you folks who are uber-talented in the art of Photoshop!! Tristan's advocate will need pictures of hot guys who "look" like him and then they should be manipulated in some way to include quotes or just plain cool shit so that they stand out. We all know I'm deficient in that area so if that's something you're into and want to help out, I encourage you to do so! You can email your designs to me or the GYP Street Team, or you can simply post them to my Facebook Fanpagewall. Also, if you already have them highlighted or have the time and desire to go back through Shark Bait and The Other Fish in the Sea, #TeamTristan could probably use some awesome and swoon-worthy quotes and snippets for his advocate to use in the battle. Again, you can email those to me directly or to the Street Team, but please, in the interest of preventing spoilers, do not post quotes and snippets on a public forum like Facebook. Whatever quotes are chosen to be used in the tourney posts will be of course be seen by tournament participants and voters, however we don't need to spoil too much for readers so those quotes will be reviewed for length, "true" spoilers, and so on prior to using them.

I would also like to strongly urge you to join in the crazy-fun shenanigans that Twitter can be home to, and not only that, encourage all your friends and followers to do so as well! If you're not yet on Twitter & are concerend about not having followers, don't fret, you can follow all the Twitter peeps who follow The GYP Street Team and I'd be willing to bet a lot of them will follow you back, which also happens to be an excellent way to make new reader friends! Plus, Twitter is an excellent resource to find some of THE best book bloggers and reviewers in the blogosphere who might turn you on to a book you've never heard of or one that you've been putting off and want to kick your own ass for not reading sooner, AND they do some fantstic giveaways as well! Once you're on Twitter, make sure you follow@GYPStreetTeam in addition to me and use #YACrushTourney as well #TeamTristan in your crush tourney tweets!

Once again I'd like to thank you all for your endless support and enthusiasm. You guys make my heart happy sigh, and I know if we all do our part in regard to pimping and voting, Tristan can move forward in the tourney, so come on, guys, let's pimp our boy with #NoShame!!

From Jenn Cooksey Novels on Facebook:
Heads up, book bloggers!! The #YACrushTourney Advocate rules and sign-up form has just been posted! Applications will only be taken until June 1, 2013 (that's only FOUR days), so hurry and sign-up to advocate and fight for your fave crush!! http://ya-sisterhood.blogspot.com/2013/05/3rd-annual-ya-crush-tournament-advocate.html

Now, a little birdie told us that Jenn is planning on doing everything she's capable of doing to support Tristan's advocate and get people to vote #TeamTristan, and guess what that means? Yep! Incentives, bitches! We don't know what they'll be exactly, but we've been lead to believe they're fucking epic and if the below screen shot of something that Jenn tweeted the other night is any clue, she might be planning to release some teasers from Shark Out of Water!! SQUEEEEE!!! So, make sure you're pimping your absolute hardest and get everyone you know to join in the fun too!

If you have any questions or would like to offer to be Tristan's Advocate's bitch-slave, let us know and we'll do our best to find you answers in a timely manner and/or get you in contact with whoever ends up chosen as Tristan's knight in shining armor. Like Jenn and the YA Sisterhood said, it is pretty important to be on Twitter in regard to the tournament so we would again like to reiterate Jenn's urging that if you're not already on Twitter, that you join now. You can follow us at @GYPStreetTeam and we do our very best to always follow back. Also, make sure you show your support to the virtual world by grabbing a #TeamTristan badge/profile picture. A few GYP Street Members as well as Jenn have already swapped their social media avatars and stuck it on their blogs and anywhere else they can to show their devotion and to encourage others to support Tristan in the tournament as well as gaining the series in general good exposure.

That's it for now, team! Take care and pimp on!

Pimping with #NoShame,
-The Grab Your Pole Street Team Officials