Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Bumpy Landings by Donald Carey (Review)

Title: Bumpy Landings
Author: Donald Carey
Genre: YA (coming of age)
Release Date: January 13, 2010
Publisher: Cedar Fort
ISBN: 9781599554136
Pages: 249

Add it your: Goodreads | Shelfari

He's got a few contests going on so go check it out! In fact just commenting on this post you're eligible for the weekly contest! Book Trailor Tour and Blog Tour contest

Synopsis from Goodreads

When Jordan MacDonald goes behind his mother's back to get his pilot's license, he soon finds out that a life full of dishonesty attracts more turbulence than he's ever faced in the air. Set against the majestic backdrop of the Hawaiian islands, this heartwarming story of romance and self-discovery will take you to new heights with each turn of the page.

What I thought:

Jordan MacDonald has a lot on his plate as he is trying to figure out who he is and what life has in store for him. He's got to figure out how to set new boundaries in his relationship with his mom, react to growing up (wanting to find something he's good at and going to college), deal with old acquaintances as he's trying to reestablish himself, interact with new friends (and girls he's attracted to!) and get more involved (and find more success) in the dating world. How does one person handle all of this?

My favorite part about this book was that I felt each character was very well developed. From the main character to the smaller roles, I was impressed with Careys attention to depth and detail. I thought it gave the story a lot of weight that the side characters didn't just pop in once to add a little tension to the scene but rather all the characters were full of personality and played a good role all throughout the story.

I enjoyed that this book was written from a male point of view. As a female who has a female brain (*insert obvious statement here*) it's not often I get a glimpse inside a mans thoughts. It was interesting to see how Jordan internalized the situations he was faced with.

Who doesn't like to read about a far-away, beautiful place like Hawaii? And since I've actually had the chance to visit it was neat to be able to place a few scenes. A handful of scenes in Bumpy Landings take place in small planes, and I'll tell you, having had the opportunity to fly in one I think Carey helped the reader have an idea of what it would feel like.

Buy it here: 



Check out Carey's Book Trailer for Bumpy Landings:


*I was given a copy of Bumpy Landings to read. This is entirely my own review.

8 comments:

Kristie said...

Sounds interesting! Wish I lived closer, cause I would be at your house all the time to borrow books. That and none of the house work would get done! :)

Olivia Carter said...

Hummm... sounds interesting!

Corine Moore said...

Thanks for the review! :D

Don said...

Thanks so much for being a part of the blog tour. I'm glad you enjoyed the story!

Kayla said...

Sounds good! I liked the Legos!

Victoria said...

I tend to prefer male authors and music... don't know why. I think like a guy sometimes I think, even though I am definitely a girl. Sounds like an interesting read.

Okay: I have a hard question for you. If I could only read five books that have come out in the last 12 months, what would you tell me to read???

Cranberryfries said...

Don thanks for including me on the tour!

Oh Victoria I love that question. I'm going to go open up my goodreads and see what I've read so I can email you a good list. This is a little tricky obviously since my tastes my not be yours (like are you more of a romance, mystery, general, historical type of gal) but I'm going to give it a good shot!!

alisonwonderland said...

It's funny ... I didn't really think about the book being from a man's point of view until a friend commented on my blog post that she'd like to read the book with her 14yo son - which got me thinking about the male viewpoint. The majority of contemporary YA I read is written by women with female protagonists. Having finally realized that this book is different actually makes me appreciate it even more! :)