TMI Blog Tour - Part 2: Review

Welcome to my stop on the second half of the official blog tour for TMI by Patty Blount! Today I have my review of the book to share with everyone!

TMI

Author: Patty Blount

Genre: YA Contemporary

Release Date: August 6, 2013

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Description:

Best friends don’t lie.
Best friends don’t ditch you for a guy.
Best friends don’t post your deepest, darkest secrets online.

Bailey’s falling head-over-high-heels for Ryder West, a mysterious gamer she met online. A guy she’s never met in person. Her best friend, Meg, doesn’t trust smooth-talking Ryder. He’s just a picture-less profile.

When Bailey starts blowing Meg off to spend more virtual quality time with her new crush, Meg decides it’s time to prove Ryder’s a phony.

But one stupid little secret posted online turns into a friendship-destroying feud to answer the question:

Who is Ryder West? 

TMI is a young adult contemporary novel that follows our two main characters and best friends - Bailey and Meg. Although they are polar opposites, Meg and Bailey have been inseparable since grade school. Now Bailey has a new crush on a guy she met online and Meg doesn't trust him. Meg - the always rational one with a plan - doesn't want to see her best friend get hurt or worse. Bailey is sick of seeing Meg waste her life - and the love of a great guy named Chase - all because of her past. Soon Ryder - the mysterious online guy - has Meg and Bailey fighting all the time, doing unthinkable things to one another, and bringing their entire friendship to the brink of destruction. Just who is Ryder West and will Meg and Bailey's friendship be able to withstand him?

This was a well written story that hits on a lot of topics that concern teens these days. It's told from the two varying viewpoints of Bailey and Meg, so the reader gets an inside look at what's happening with each character. The characters are realistic with obvious flaws, which made them easy to identify with. I found Meg's character to be really annoying at times - it seems like she just kept whining about everything and wanted a one person pity party. She got on my nerves quite a bit throughout the book, but in the end her character got a bit better. The plot was an interesting one that definitely touches on a lot of popular topics facing teenagers - bullying, self esteem issues, friendship, love, loss, grief, family problems, and finding out who you are. These issues were dealt with in a great way, so that they flowed into the story without being too obvious. The writing was well done and had a great pace that holds the readers attention. I liked the added mystery of what secret Meg was holding on to from her past along with trying to figure out who Ryder was. I think those plot lines added great layers to the story and made it more intriguing. Recommended for fans of contemporary YA fiction.