Annaberry Reads: Blog Tour and Review of Twelve Steps by Veronica Bartles

Today we are celebrating the release of Veronica Bartles' new book, Twelve Steps!

Twelve Steps
by Veronica Bartles
Release Date: 03/25/14
Young Adult

Synopsis

Sixteen-year-old Andi is tired of being a second-class sibling to perfect sister Laina. There in Laina's shadow, Andi's only noticeable feature is her pretty awesome hair. And even that is eclipsed by Laina's perfect everything else.
When Andi’s crush asks her to fix him up with Laina, Andi decides enough is enough and devises a twelve-step program to wrangle the spotlight away from Laina. After all, great hair must count for something.
Step 1: Admit she’s powerless to change her perfect sister, and accept that her life really, really sucks. OK, maybe that's two steps in one.
Step 4: Make a list of her good qualities besides great hair. There have got to be at least three good qualities, right?
Step 7: Demand attention for more than just her shortcomings, and break out of her shell. Easier said that done, but worth the effort in the long-run.
When a stolen kiss from her crush ends in disaster, Andi finds that her prince isn’t as charming as she'd hoped, and realizes she may need a new program--perhaps with less steps!
As cracks in Laina’s flawless façade begin to show, the sisters work together to find a spotlight big enough for both to shine.

Amazon / Amazon UK

My Thoughts

Twelve Steps was such a fun book to read! The story is about a teenager named Andi, who is frustrated with her life because she feels like she doesn't measure up to her older sister, Laina. As far as Andi is concerned, Laina is perfect- she's beautiful, gets stellar grades, and has most of the guys at school chasing after her. But most importantly, Laina (unknowingly) has the heart of the boy Andi's been in love with for years. Andi decides it's time to change things, and comes up with steps to become more like Laina, and to get the attention of her crush, Jarod.

My heart really went out to Andi. Like many girls (and guys), she doesn't see the good qualities in herself, or the things that make her unique. Andi feels like her sister has set the bar so high, and feels that she needs to behave the same way in order to earn Jarod's love, as well as the approval of her parents. Of course, it didn't make her feel any better when others constantly compared her to Laina, or just referred to her as 'Laina's little sister'. But Andi discovers that not everyone is what they appear to be, and that we all have issues we're dealing with.

I really liked that in Twelve Steps, we get to see Andi's hidden talents and the things that make her shine. With the help of a good friend, she starts to believe in herself. Speaking of which, I really really liked Dave! He was so intuitive and sweet. I wasn't sure what to think about Laina. For someone who is supposed to be really smart, she could be really dense and unaware of what was going on around her. Jarod really frustrated me. I could not believe some of the stuff he said and did!

The only thing I have left to say is that I wish there was a little more at the end. I wasn't ready to say good-by to the characters. I'm curious to see where they all will be two, five, or ten years down the road.

Overall, I thought Twelve Steps was a great standalone, YA book!

About the Author

As the second of eight children and the mother of four, Veronica Bartles is no stranger to the ups and downs of sibling relationships. (She was sandwiched between the gorgeous-and-insanely-
popular older sister and the too-adorable-for-words younger sister.) She uses this insight to write stories about siblings who mostly love each other, even while they’re driving one another crazy. When she isn’t writing or getting lost in the pages of her newest favorite book, Veronica enjoys knitting fabulous bags and jewelry out of recycled plastic bags and old VHS tapes, sky diving (though she hasn’t actually tried that yet), and inventing the world’s most delectable cookie recipes. TWELVE STEPS is Veronica Bartles's first novel.

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