Cathy Reviews: A Little Something Different

My mother-in-law Cathy has really stepped up to help me with the blog these past few weeks, taking on a few more reviews than normal in order to give me some much-needed time to get caught up on some reading. A huge thank you to her for being my co-blogger lately!

A LITTLE SOMETHING DIFFERENT
Sandy Hall
Contemporary Young Adult
Swoon Reads/Macmillan
272 pages
Available Now
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
The creative writing teacher, the delivery guy, the local Starbucks baristas, his best friend, her roommate, and the squirrel in the park all have one thing in common—they believe that Gabe and Lea should get together. Lea and Gabe are in the same creative writing class. They get the same pop culture references, order the same Chinese food, and hang out in the same places. Unfortunately, Lea is reserved, Gabe has issues, and despite their initial mutual crush, it looks like they are never going to work things out.

But somehow even when nothing is going on, something is happening between them, and everyone can see it. Their creative writing teacher pushes them together. The baristas at Starbucks watch their relationship like a TV show. Their bus driver tells his wife about them. The waitress at the diner automatically seats them together. Even the squirrel who lives on the college green believes in their relationship.

Surely Gabe and Lea will figure out that they are meant to be together....

CATHY'S THOUGHTS
A Little Something Different is a charming contemporary YA romance novel. We meet our two main characters, Gabe and Lea, in a creative writing class. We can see the potential for a budding romance, but unfortunately our love birds are too shy to act on their feelings. What makes this novel unique is that the story is told from fourteen different viewpoints, none of which belong to our main characters. They are truly the center of the story and have no idea that everyone else is talking about them. I found this to be a very clever idea. 

We hear about how this great love between Gabe and Lea should develop and grow from all those who come into contact with the couple. Some perspectives are a little funnier and wittier than others, and of course some are easier to relate to, but all of them together truly make for a little something different. Even the squirrel that shares a park bench with them chimes in from time to time!
 
While this is a quick read, I did find that so many perspectives tended to slow the pace of the plotline. That being said however, this is a book that is fun to pick up on a rainy afternoon or take to the beach. So add it to the list for just the right moment.

Rating: 3.5/5

Find Sandy:

Website • Tumblr • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon

This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is Cathy's honest opinion.

A Little Something Different Event Recap + EPIC Giveaway!

A few weeks back I was asked to attend and cover an event for Sandy Hall, the first author to publish under Macmillan's new Swoon Reads imprint. I jumped at the opportunity to drive down to Cincinnati and meet Sandy prior to the signing, but once there I found more than I bargained for. In the best possible way.

Not only did I have the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Sandy (and Brittany from Macmillan!), but the amazing team at Joseph Beth Booksellers also organized a small book club event that included a couple other bloggers as well as Joseph Beth staff members. We were fed delicious sandwiches, chips and cookies, and were able to talk A Little Something Different in a really relaxed, casual way. It was a blast. A HUGE thank you goes out to everyone a Macmillan and Joseph Beth for creating a truly memorable event!

I was able to sneak in a few questions with Sandy prior to the book club meeting because I got there  a touch early, and she was just as nice as she could be. Please forgive the brevity of the below answers (many of which I paraphrased), she was in no way short with me, I just couldn't write fast enough to record everything we chatted about. I should really record the interview next time ;-)

Q+A WITH SANDY HALL

We get to see Lea and Gabe's romance from 14 different viewpoints. If someone observing your life wrote a book about you, what would the title of that book be and would you want to read it in order to see yourself through another person's eyes?

Boggled.

(We determined that she would in fact read the book as curiosity would get the better of her, though she did specify that desire would only hold true if the book was about her life post-high school. I don't know that anyone wants to see their high school selves through someone else's eyes, it was hard enough seeing through our own ;-)

If Lea and Gabe were aware of all the people (and animals!) paying close attention to the beginnings of their romance, whose viewpoint do you think they'd be most surprised by?

Lea - Victor
Gabe - Inga. He'd be surprised by how invested she was.

If you could choose any piece of fiction to be rewritten from a variety of different perspectives, which book would you choose and which character's eyes would you most want to see out of?

Anne of Green Gables, and I'd want the perspectives of either Gilbert or Matthew.

(I have yet to read Anne of Green Gables. How much do I fail?)

You wrote a first draft of A Little Something Different in 6 days. Please sum up those 6 days in three words.

Words spilled out.

If you were to cast yourself as the heroine of a romantic comedy (book, TV show, or film), who would you cast opposite you as your love interest?

Darren Criss from Glee!

There are some unusual viewpoints in this book thanks to the bench and the squirrel. If one of the inanimate objects or animals in your home or daily life could provide you with its observations, which object or animal do you think would give most interesting account?

My work computer - lots of office gossip.

(This launched a whole discussion on what the inanimate objects in our lives would say if they could, and I think computers would hands down have the most interesting (horrifying?) things to share. Just think of all the things in your browser history...I'm looking at you murder mystery writers ;-))

This story started out with 23 different viewpoints before being trimmed down to 14. Who were a couple of the discarded perspectives and was any one person (or object) harder to part with than others?

(I'm going to summarize this answer for Sandy as it was answered more in discussion/conversation format. She said a lot of the characters are still in the book, they just no longer have their own point of view. A librarian went away because Sandy saw too much of herself in her, and then she decided to add the perspective and insight of Gabe's brother after taking a few others out.)

A couple shots of Sandy:

(she brought an adorable squirrel stamp with her to stamp all the signed copies)

• • • • • • • • • • • 

GIVEAWAY

Thanks to the fabulous team at Macmillan, I have not only a signed copy of A Little Something Different to give away today, but also an epic prize pack of mystery 2015 Macmillan ARCs. For book lovers, I don't think it gets much better than having a mystery box of amazing books show up at your door, so that's why I'm keeping most of the titles secret. I will give you one of the titles though, just to get you super excited: The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski. Oh yes, it and six others are up for grabs ;-) To enter, fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Giveaway is open to US addresses only.

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