Tour Review & Giveaway: Just Like a Musical by Milena Veen

Seventeen-year-old Ruby Fields has always lived by the rules set up by her foolishly overprotective mother. As a result, she doesn't go to school, she's never been kissed, and almost everything she knows about life is what she has learned from old movies.

But now there's this Joshua guy. He's quirky, and he's tall, and he uses “romantic” and “old-fashioned” in the same sentence.

And there's Mrs. Wheeler, an eccentric retired Hollywood costume designer and Ruby's new best friend.

When Mrs. Wheeler ends up in the hospital only a couple of days after telling Ruby her long-kept secret, Ruby decides to break her mother's rules and embark on a journey that will change her life forever.

Review

*I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review*

Just Like A Musical is a pretty short read, somewhere under the 200 pages and in this case it is a good thing. Often I wish for books to be longer, because it is lacking in detail and such. With this story it is just right. If it would've been longer, the story would've started dragging.

Now we have a very varied group of characters. Ruby is a pretty regular teenager, except she has been home schooled, feels like she's been born in the wrong decade and doesn't have any real friends because her overprotective mother likes to keep her inside as much as possible. Besides being beyond overprotective, Ruby's Mom has raised her all by herself because she made a mistake and now the dad is out of the picture.

Then we have Mrs. Wheeler and old lady who moved in next door. She was a costume maker for old Hollywood movies, so she quickly becomes Ruby's new best friend. And there is Joshua. Probably the first boy Ruby has ever said more than five words to. After he calls her a moron, she pretty much falls for him. To clarify, Joshua has Tourette Syndrome and Milena Veen approaches it very well, showing us how it affects his daily life.

The plot was definitely a bit different. It has all the elements of a coming of age story, including a road trip, though it didn't fall into all the major clichés. There is of course some romance, but that flows very naturally. Just Like A Musical is not a page turner, the focus very much lies on the journey and Ruby's self-discovery rather than on the end point.

There was one thing I didn't like that much. Sometimes the narrative wasn't what it should be. A couple of times the author rather sums up what has happened, than showing us what is happening. This creates distance and made it harder to connect with some characters. I would have liked to see more dialogue to keep the flow better.

I would recommend Just Like A Musical to all who love sweet YA with a non cliché storyline.

Just Like A Musical: Amazon - Kindle - Excerpt

The Author

Milena Veen was born in Belgrade, Serbia. Her first piece of writing, a poem about a walking cherry, saw the light of the day when she was seven. She's been writing ever since.

Milena graduated from University of Belgrade with a degree in psychology. She lives in a little European town with her husband and a mute cat. When she's not writing, Milena spends her time reading, riding her bicycle, and listening to music. She prefers clouds to sunshine and coffee to tea.

Connect with Milena Veen:

Website - Facebook - Twitter - Goodreads - Pinterest

***GIVEAWAY***

$25 Amazon Gift Card (INT)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

RULES AND RESTRICTIONS: 

Contest is void where prohibited. Entrants must be 13 or else have parent or guardian’s permission to enter. Winners will be notified via email and will have 48 hours to respond or another winner’s name will be selected. Winning entries will be verified for authenticity.

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