The Cutting Room Floor Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway

Welcome to my stop on the official blog tour for The Cutting Room Floor! Today I have my review of the book to share with you and don't forget to enter the tour wide giveaway! To follow along with the rest of the tour, click on the banner above!

The Cutting Room Floor

Author: Dawn Klehr

Genre: YA Contemporary Mystery/Thriller

Release Date: October 8, 2013

Publisher: Flux

Description:

Behind-the-scenes secrets could turn deadly for Desmond and Riley...

Life in the Heights has never been easy for seventeen-year-old Riley Frost, but when she's publicly dumped and outed at the same time, she becomes an immediate social outcast at her high school. So Riley swears off romance and throws herself into solving the shocking murder of her favorite teacher, Ms. Dunn.

Riley turns to her best friend, budding filmmaker Desmond Brandt, for help. What she doesn't know is that Dez has been secretly directing her life, blackmailing her friends, and hoping his manipulations will make her love him. When his schemes go too far, Dez's web of lies threatens to destroy both of their lives. 

The Cutting Room Floor is a gripping young adult mystery/thriller that tells the story of two main characters - Riley Frost and Desmond "Dez" Brandt - as they both embark on journeys that could ruin their lives. Riley's life has been turned upside down at school after being dumped and publicly outed, so she turns to the mystery behind the murder of her teacher, Ms. Dunn, to keep herself busy. Riley turns to Dez, her best friend, for help when things start to get serious. What Riley doesn't know is that Dez is secretly in love with her and has been "directing" her life in various ways - blackmailing people, manipulating situations, and other stunts - in the hopes of protecting Riley and having her fall in love with him. Now his lies and manipulations have gone too far, and now they threaten the lives of Dez and Riley both.

I found this to be a refreshing and original contemporary YA mystery/thriller. The plot had several layers to it, all involving mini-plots with the characters, and all intertwining together to form the big picture of the book. I loved reading all the smaller story lines in the book and then piecing things together until I knew what was really going on. The characters were well written and realistic, especially the main characters of Dez and Riley. Both have flaws and definite obstacles they need to overcome, but I was fascinated by their separate stories and histories along with their relationship and how things would evolve between them. The plot was exciting with lots of twists that you don't see coming - it kept me on my toes and eagerly turning the pages to see what would happen next. I always like to solve the mystery before the characters do, but I wasn't really able to do that with this novel. It took almost to the very end of the book for everything to fall into place - like a puzzle finally coming together. The story is told in varying points of view - with chapters going between Riley and Dez. I think this was a fantastic way to write the novel because the reader gets to see into the minds of both main characters and see how they think and feel about certain events and situations throughout the book. I liked having an inside peek into their minds and lives - I think it brings a new depth to the book that wouldn't have been there if told in a first or third person narrative. Since Dez is a film buff, there are parts of the book that are written in script - almost like the characters are acting out parts in a play or movie. That aspect of the writing definitely kept things interesting and original. Overall, this was an edgy and fast-paced thriller that fans of the genre will definitely want to pick up!

Dawn Klehr began her career in TV and though she’s been on both sides of the camera, she prefers to lurk behind the lens. Mostly, she loves to get lost in stories –in film, the theater, or on the page – and is a sucker for both the sinister and the sappy. She’s currently channeling her dark side as she works on her next book.Dawn lives in the Twin Cities with her funny husband, adorable son, and naughty dog. The Cutting Room Floor is her debut YA novel.

Author Links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DawnKlehr

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dawnklehrauthor

Website: http://dawnklehrbooks.com/

  

 

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