Blog Tour | The Year of Living Awkwardly: Sophomore Year

Posted July 6, 2018 / Book Reviews, Cover Colors, Features / 1 Comment

I received this book for free (hey, thanks!) in exchange for an honest review. I promise that this does NOT affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. For real.

Blog Tour | The Year of Living Awkwardly: Sophomore YearThe Year of Living Awkwardly: Sophomore Year by Emma Chastain
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
Published by Simon and Schuster on July 10, 2018
Also by this author: Chloe Snow's Diary: Confessions of a High School Disaster, Notes from a Former Virgin: Junior Year
Format: eARC (384 pages) • Source: Fantastic Flying Book Club
GoodreadsAmazon Barnes & Noble
four-half-stars

High school student Chloe Snow chronicles another year in her life while she navigates the highs and lows of family, friendship, school, and love in her diary.

It’s Chloe Snow’s sophomore year of high school, and life has only grown more complicated.

Last year, Chloe was the star of the musical. This year, after an audition so disastrous she runs off the stage in tears, she’s cast as a lowly member of the ensemble. Will she be able to make it through the show knowing everyone’s either pitying her or reveling in her downfall?

Chloe’s best friend, Hannah, is no help: she’s been sucked into the orbit of Lex, the velvet-gloved, iron-fisted ruler of the sophomore class. Chloe’s dad is busy falling in love with Miss Murphy, and Chloe is no longer speaking to her mother, who is sending her increasingly desperate and unhinged emails from Mexico. As her parents’ divorce negotiations unravel, a custody battle looms.

If only Chloe could talk to Grady about it: his parents are divorced, and he’s easy to talk to. Or he was, until he declared his love for Chloe, and she turned him down because despite all her rational brain cells she can’t seem to get over Mac, and then Grady promptly started going out with Lex.

As the performance of the show approaches, Chloe must find a way to navigate all the messy elements of her life and make it through to the end of the year.

I was extremely excited to see the opportunity to join the blog tour for this one, since I SPED THROUGH and LOVED the first book so much. I really put myself in Chloe’s shoes as a freshman in high school. I even said in my review that I wished the author would write a book for each school year! Needless to say, I hopped on this quickly.

Chloe had some immaturity and normal-ish “high school related” flaws to work through in the first book. I rooted for her so much in both stories because I could really see her growing and changing. She constantly recognized how privileged she was and how she was often complaining about silly (in the grand scheme of things) issues, but they were still HER issues to work through. I absolutely LOVE her voice and her authenticity. I don’t think I’ve ever read a YA book that feels more real. The diary format helps but the overall voice in the story is so natural. I remember feeling so many of the same emotions throughout my early high school years. She goes through illogical and logical reactions to what’s happening around her, and has her mature and immature moments. Like the first book, I placed myself right in her shoes and remembered what I felt like during those years.

I LOVED the ending so incredibly much, but I need more. PLEASE let there be a junior year book next. Please. Keep em coming for the next two years of her high school career!


I love doing Cover Colors for blog tours because they offer a little something different! I usually feature the cover, “paint swatches” of colors from it, and an outfit or two based on the cover and/or character. Here’s what I put together for THE YEAR OF LIVING AWKWARDLY (which was so fun and colorful!):

I knew I wanted to put together at least one fun, summer, poolside outfit based on this cover. Even though the book takes place over the course of the school year, it just screamed summer to me. The pool definitely helped 😉  She works at the local pool in the snack shack (both at the beginning and end of the book), so it was appropriate. The colors were so fun to pull from! (Note: all of these items below were pulled from Amazon!)


About the Author & Links

Emma Chastain is a graduate of Barnard College and the creative writing MFA program at Boston University. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and children.

AUTHOR LINKS: Facebook | Twitter Goodreads Publisher | Instagram
MORE BOOK LINKS: iBooks | Kobo | Book Depository


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