Wednesday 31 July 2013

Blog tour: Review + Aus/NZ Giveaway Zac & Mia by A.J. Betts


Hi everyone! I’m so pleased to be able to participate in the Zac & Mia by A.J. Betts blog tour through Text Publishing.

Zac & Mia was the winner of the 2012 Text Prize for Young Adult and Children’s writing.

Zac and MiaZac and Mia

Author: A.J. Betts
Pages: 272
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Text Publishing
Amazon
Release date: 24th July 2013

Synopsis.

The last person Zac expects in the room next door is a girl like Mia, angry and feisty with questionable taste in music. In the real world, he wouldn’t—couldn’t—be friends with her. In hospital different rules apply, and what begins as a knock on the wall leads to a note—then a friendship neither of them sees coming.

You need courage to be in hospital; different courage to be back in the real world. In one of these worlds Zac needs Mia. And in the other Mia needs Zac. Or maybe they both need each other, always.

Review: 4 out of 5 stars

I was quite hesitant about reading Zac & Mia, I recently found out a very close family member has cancer so I was a little wary about how the book would make me feel; although there is sadness, it also showed optimism and made me think about life and how we experience it.



Zac Meier and Mia Phillips are our main characters and meet during hospitalisation for cancer, both complete opposites in personality and the only thing really connecting them is their disease; Zac is more accepting of what he has and has researched it extensively so is aware of his odds but Mia is full of rage and is trying to hold on to what her life was.

At the beginning of the book (Part 1) we see how Zac copes with the isolation, the mundane repetitive routines and his feelings about his life and the chances he has of surviving, it was evenly paced and kept me interested; he was an easy character to like. The middle portion (Part 2) of the book showed Mia and Zac’s time together and how the illness united them and the bond they came to form, sickness is the overall subject matter but it certainly wasn't all gloom and the bulk of the story, the last portion (Part 3) of the book is more or less Mia and I feel this is where we see the most character growth for her but I still didn’t find her to have the most endearing personality. I admired both of these characters but more so Zac for his kindness, strength and understanding, he seemed to want to support and help Mia who was adamant she was broken and couldn't seem to lose the anger.

One thing I absolutely loved was Zac’s relationship with his mother who I thought was amazing! She was wonderful and so supportive, not only with him but also to Mia who didn’t have the same family life.



Zac & Mia touched very close to home, it is emotionally intense and confronting but the way in which the author wove in family, humour and a sweet friendship to romance which all began through a tap on the hospital walls gave the overall book a sense of balance. Ms. Betts writing is wonderfully engaging, she bought out the characters emotions, hopes and courage beautifully in a way which was realistic and we get both POV’s which I felt worked well in this story.

Overall, if you are after a book filled with hope and heart I recommend Zac & Mia, it doesn’t come without teary moments and sorrow but it does show that positivity and courage can get us through anything, as difficult as they may be.

Thank-you kindly to Text Publishing for the opportunity to read and review Zac & Mia.


About the author: A. J. Betts is an author, teacher, speaker and cyclist. Zac & Mia, the winner of the Text Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing, is her third novel for young adults. Her others are ShutterSpeed andWavelength. She lives in Perth, and writes when she’s not pedalling.


Giveaway: Text Publishing is kindly offering one (1) copy of Zac & Mia to an Australian or New Zealand resident
  • No responsibility will be taken for lost or stolen books
  • The winner will have 48 hours to respond
  • Not all rafflecopter options are mandatory
  • Australian or New Zealand residents only.
  • Ends 10th August 2013
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Text Prize Winner Blog Tour
Zac & Mia by A. J. Betts

Wednesday 24 (Pub date!)
Q&A with ALPHAReader
Thursday 25
Review at First Impressions
Friday 26
Guest Post on Kids’ Book Review
Saturday 27
Sunday 28
Monday 29
Review at YA Midnight Reads
Tuesday 30
Review at VeganYANerds
Wednesday 31
Thursday 01 August
Reviewat inkcrush

12 comments:

  1. Oh how nice to come across a Aus/NZ giveaway. Love that. Thanks.

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    Replies
    1. You're welcome Kathryn :) good luck!

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    2. Very good luck! Thanks Sharon, looking forward to it!

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  2. I recently saw another review for this, it sounds great! It's good we see reviews like this, then we know we need to order it from AUS or NZ. :) (Us book bloggers don't care where it's published, if it sounds good we'll do whatever it takes to get it in our hands!)

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    Replies
    1. It was really good Candace! I agree, i'll buy a book from anywhere as long as its good :)

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  3. I am glad the author offset the cancer with light, hope and strong relationships, this sounds quite good. My thoughts are with your friend.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Kimba! Cancer is so sucky, especially if its someone close to us, in my case my mum :(

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  4. I've been hearing good this about this book. Is it weird that I feel kind of proud that AJ Betts is from my state?

    Marlene Detierro (SEO Austin)

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    Replies
    1. It's alway wonderful when an author is from the same place as us :) it has received a lot of praise (very much deserved).

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  5. I'm glad you liked this too, Sharon! I thought it was well done and I agree, Zac's mum was amazing!

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    Replies
    1. She was such a strong support character, I really enjoyed this one.

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    ReplyDelete

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