Get TANGLED Up!

The next best thing to reading a great book is talking about it. And while I promise no "spoilers" in this blog post, want to say that I fell madly in love with Carolyn Mackler’s latest young adult novel recently, TANGLED and am excited to share!


Here is the book blurb:

Paradise wasn't supposed to suck.

Not the state of being, but a resort in the Caribbean.

Jena, Dakota, Skye, and Owen are all there for different reasons, but at Paradise their lives become tangled together in ways none of them can predict. Paradise will change them all.

It will change Jena, whose first brush with romance takes her that much closer a life, and not just reading about those infinitely cooler and more exciting.

It will change Dakota, who needs the devastating truth about his past to make him realize that he doesn't have to be a jerk just because people think he's one.

It will change Skye, a heartbreakingly beautiful actress, who must come to terms with the fact that for once she has to stop playing a role or face the consequences.

And it will change Owen, who has never risked anything before and who will take the leap from his online life to a real one all because of a girl he met at Paradise...

From confused to confident and back again, one thing's certain: Four months after it all begins, none of them will ever be the same.

And here is just one of its glowing endorsements:

“Subtle then intense, hilarious yet heartbreaking. Tangled grabs you and doesn't let go,” Jay Asher, New York Times bestseller author of Thirteen Reasons Why.

From the onset (and from a writer’s point of view), I was curious to see how Carolyn was going to “tangle” these very different characters and storylines while continuing on the path of one central storyline. And (as a reader) I was hungry for another one of her so-real-I’m-practically-in-the-main-character’s skin tales.

And keeping to my promise above, I will say that she delivers both expertly, offering up just enough character detail and storyline to fascinate, but leaving of room for surprises and realizations that leave the reader thoroughly satisfied, and so sorry that the book has to end!

While I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting or chatting with Carolyn, I sent her a note telling her how much I loved this book and how I was going to review it here. And I ended it with a question--asking her what her initial inspiration was for the book--if she wasn’t too busy.

I was delighted to hear back from her:

“Tangled inspiration....let's see. I was walking around the Reservoir in NYC and thought of a story with two guys and two girls who meet on a vacation. I knew right away there would be love, lust, betrayal and redemption, but I didn't know any details. Spent the next 18 months figuring that out!”

The fact it took so long to work out this beautifully tangled plot seems reasonable to my author’s brain. But the book seems so smooth and on-track, I had half-thought maybe she'd just had the idea, sat down and penned it.

Anyway, now it’s your turn to experience the magic. Get your hands on a copy of Carolyn Mackler’s newest and get TANGLED up!