White Chalk Book Review, Blog Tour, and Giveaway

I read White Chalk by Pavarti K. Tyler for honest review.

About the book:(copied from media kit)

Chelle isn’t a typical 13-year-old girl—she doesn’t laugh with friends, play sports, or hang out at the mall after school. Instead, she navigates a world well beyond her years. Life in Dawson, ND spins on as she grasps at people, pleading for someone to save her—to return her to the simple childhood of unicorns on her bedroom wall and stories on her father’s knee. When Troy Christiansen walks into her life, Chelle is desperate to believe his arrival will be her salvation. So much so, she forgets to save herself. After experiencing a tragedy at school, her world begins to crack, causing a deeper scar in her already fragile psyche. Follow Chelle’s twisted tale of modern adolescence, as she travels down the rabbit hole into a reality none of us wants to admit actually exists.

About the author: (from media kit)

Award winning author of multi-cultural and transgressive literature, Pavarti K Tyler is an artist, wife, mother and number cruncher. She graduated Smith College in 1999 with a degree in Theatre. After graduation, she moved to New York, where she worked as a Dramaturge, Assistant Director and Production Manager on productions both on and off Broadway. Later, Pavarti went to work in the finance industry several international law firms. She now lives with her husband, two daughters and one very large, very terrible dog. She keeps busy working with fabulous authors as the Director of Marketing at Novel Publicity and penning her next genre bending novel.


White Chalk (Evolved Publishing) marks Tyler’s third full length novel and promises readers familiar with her work the same mind bending experience. Her other projects include: Shadow on the Wall (Fighting Monkey Press) and Two Moons of Sera (Fighting Monkey Press). Shadow on the Wall has been received many awards: Winner of the General Fiction/Novel Category of the 2012 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, Winner in the Fiction: Multicultural category for The 2012 USA Best Book Awards, and Finalist in the Multicultural Fiction category for the 2012 International Book Awards. White Chalk has been hailed as “brave”, “raw”, and “destroyingly beautiful”. In line with novels such as White Oleander, Thirteen Reasons Why and Gemma, White Chalk invites you to witness one girl’s heartrending story of confusion and desperation.

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Buy Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Book Depository
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My review: 
This book required me to go through great depths to read it. Once again, Kindle for PC would not load up right away. Once it loaded, it froze. Luckily, I copied the book to the Kindle and the phone. I read the book over the phone. This process was new to me. I am use to paging down or using the arrows to swipe. I am not used to using my fingers. This android phone is getting better and better.

I liked the book from the beginning. The book is about Chelle. Chelle in in middle school, eight grade, 13 years old. . She hardly gets into trouble. She falls for Troy Christiansen (16 years old. ummm 16 and in middle school?) quickly, the first day she sees him. Troy does not care if he upsets authority, by the way.  He can drive and does not follow curfew.

She wanted to find a way to get to know Troy. What started as a conversation over a snack cake, lead to Chelle skipping class and getting into serious trouble, after she gets caught.

The book was a good read. I liked the flow and sentence structure. The book does contain cuss words (sh*t, f*ck). The book also contains an inappropriate, sexual scene, between Chelle and a teacher.

Giveaway:

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Hidden under her heart by Rachelle Ayala Book Review (Tomoson).

I read Hidden Under Her Heart, in exchange for review from Tomoson. The Book was written by Rachelle Ayala and Published by Rachelle Ayala, LLC. I received an electronic copy of the book.

About the book: (copied from Tomoson)
Maryanne Torres is a compassionate nurse who fails at relationships. After a string of losers, she swears off premarital sex, hoping to land a marrying type of man. Lucas Knight, a law-school dropout, moves to California to train for the Ironman Triathlon. He's smart, sweet, and everything Maryanne wants in a man, but their relationship suffers from his dedication to the sport. Seeking consolation in the arms of a handsome preacher's son, Maryanne attends a church party where she is raped. Maryanne is pregnant from the rape and plans to abort. But the identity of her rapist is hidden in her baby's DNA. Lucas asks Maryanne to seek alternatives and pledges to support her through the pregnancy. When Lucas becomes the prime suspect, Maryanne must clear his name and make a life changing decision. The rapist has other ideas. In order to destroy the evidence, he offers Maryanne an illegal offshore abortion. With Maryanne's life in danger, Lucas races to save her and her baby. However, Maryanne hides a secret that threatens to tear them apart forever. A 99,000-word women's fiction, HIDDEN UNDER HER HEART deals with the consequences of rape and abortion. [Content Advisory: This book has a pro-life slant. There are a few swear words. The rape is not shown, but there is one mild sex scene between Maryanne and her boyfriend.]

My review:
The book starts off with Maryanne, a latina,  a nurse in an allergy clinic, giving Lucas, African-American,  shots. Lucas is being a big baby and the relationship had not started yet. Maryanne is currently abstinent until marriage (which I loved, since I am celibate). Maryanne and another co-worker has a bet in progress. Whoever has sex first, buys the other a three day weekend at a spa (wish I had a friend like that lol. I will win). Lucas likes Maryanne, but Maryanne shows little to no interest at first, even though he is tempting. Lucas is an athlete, with an interesting mother and sister. Mama Lucas is a trip. The couple (Maryanne and Lucas eventually went on a date in the park, which led to a kiss, but no sex). They became boyfriend and girlfriend, and then broke up. This takes care of the first few chapters. There is tension from Lucas's family about him dating outside of his race.

Enter Ryan, pastor's son, who is also interested in Maryanne. Ryan invited Maryanne to a party at his parent's house, where Maryanne was drugged and raped. That scene was powerful. Maryanne was dazed and confused. One minute she was playing a game, tipsy, maybe drunk,  and the next, in a dumpster. Maryanne barely remembers the party. That's when the book went from light to heavy reading. I wanted to know who raped her, his location, and the nearest weapon in the room. Anyway, the people at the party is trying to blame Lucas for the drugging and rape. Maryanne's father wants her to have an abortion,

The book was a good read. I have read and reviewed Ayala's work before, so I knew the book would be good. The book was light reading in the beginning, but progressed to heavy reading. The book also flowed well. It had a lot of intense scenes, from Lucas trying to get MaryAnne to go home from the party, to the infamous video, to Maryanne's father showing up at her house.

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I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.