This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by Kerliza Foon for Readers' Favorite
Gwen Banta's The Fly Strip is an uproariously funny historical novel that will have you in stitches. Cue Shawn Mendes. Malcolm "Weed" Clapper is a seventeen-year-old boy who has suffered a tragedy so painful that when he moved in with his grandmother, he made up stories to explain his injury. Weed's move to Indiana offered him a chance to recover and reinvent himself away from those who knew him best. Now that he's there, he finds himself in a forbidden love relationship and has gotten involved in defying social conventions. Weed's defiance is getting him into trouble, but is that trouble worth his freedom? Can he adapt to his new home?
Gwen Banta is a genius. She managed to convey the seriousness of the times and at the same time managed to inject humor to bring her story to life. Weed's circumstances are not just about good or bad, but how life has a way of happening. Sometimes it's painful and other times it is humorous, and both can happen in equal measure. There were moments where I wanted to cry at the injustice of what was happening or in sympathy with the characters. At other times, I was trying to keep my laughter quiet (as I was reading in the middle of the night) while busting a gut at how funny the scenario was. Being able to bring the readers to those different emotions shows that Banta understands human emotions and life's ups and downs. The character development was moving as Weed overcomes his tragedy, and the other characters change as adolescents do when growing up. This book is not my usual typical book that I would pick up, but I highly recommend it to those with an interest in historical romance novels. While it is not a romance novel, it is highly educational, entertaining, and emotional.
