Blog Tour: Sharks & Boys - Kristen Tracy - Character & Author Tens Lists

Kristen Tracy is here today with a couple of character tens lists courtesy of the Teen Book Scene blog tour for her new release, Sharks & Boys. Thank you for being here Kristen! You can follow along with the tour here, or by clicking through the banner. Enjoy!

Top ten reasons why boys and sharks do not mix.

1. Sharks have rows of razor-sharp teeth.

2. Sharks have indiscriminate appetites.

3. Sharks are a deadly mix of omnivorous AND curious.

4. Sharks always win the hit-and-run attack.

5. Sharks always win the bump-and-bite attack.

6. Sharks always win the sneak attack.

7. Shark repellant doesn’t work.

8. A shark’s investigative bite may result in death.

9. You can’t reason with a shark.

10. Boys taste delicious.

Top ten reasons why you should never get stranded on a deserted island.

I’m not just going to speak for myself here. I am going to speak for all of humanity.

People need access to their computers.

People need tap water.

People need taco stands. (with salsa options)

People need new music all the time.

People need to watch soccer on television.

People need to go to the movies.

People need cupcakes.

People need to own dogs.

People need to ride roller coasters.

People need to watch Stephen Colbert.

People need beds, and society, and other people to love.

Top ten reasons why it’s GREAT not having a twin.

10. If you’re having a bad hair day you don’t have to watch an identical head of hair having a great hair day.

9. People don’t constantly inspect your face for a distinguishing mole to make sure that you are you and not your twin.

8. When you fall in love you never had to worry, will this person accidentally cheat on me one day because they confuse my twin for me?

7. You never have to decide (along with your twin) what to wear to the annual Twins Days Festival in Twinsberg, Ohio.

6. If your twin turns out to be a psychopath and ends up on national television, you yourself will never be confused with being a psychopath who ended up on national television.

5. You will never confuse a mirror for your twin in public.

4. If your twin grows up to be a jerk, you don’t have to worry about defending the reputation of your evil, jerk-twin for the rest of your life.

3. You will never be mistaken for and then harassed by your twin’s enemies.

2. You never have to try to stay the same weight or a lower weight than your twin in order to escape being referred to as THE BIG TWIN.

1. And the number one reason why it’s GREAT not being a twin, If your twin ever takes naked pictures that end up on the Internet, you never have to go around worrying that the whole world thinks they have seen your naughty bits.

I love these lists, Kristen!! Especially this last list! Thank you so much for being here today! 

Kristen can be found on her website, and on twitter. 

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When 15-year-old Enid Calhoun follows her boyfriend Wick to Maryland for a party, fearful that he might be intending to cheat on her, she finds herself sneaking on board a houseboat where Wick and his friends plan to have a wild night. But before the boys discover their stowaway, a hurricane strikes, and the teenagers are carried miles from the shore and shipwrecked. What follows is a harrowing, yet heartwarming, story of survival, as the teens battle hypothermia, dehydration, man-eating sharks--and along the way, confront their own deepest secrets, including their catalytic roles in the disaster.

Synopsis taken from goodreads. 

Sharks & Boys - Kristen Tracy - Blog Tour Review

When 16-year-old Enid Calhoun follows her boyfriend Wick to Maryland for a party, fearful that he might be intending to cheat on her, she finds herself sneaking on board a houseboat where Wick and his friends plan to have a wild night. But before the boys discover their stowaway, a hurricane strikes, and the teenagers are carried miles from the shore and shipwrecked. What follows is a harrowing, yet heartwarming, story of survival, as the teens battle hypothermia, dehydration, man-eating sharks--and along the way, confront their own deepest secrets, including their catalytic roles in the disaster.

Synopsis taken from goodreads.

Title: Sharks & Boys

Author: Kristen Tracy

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Publisher: Hyperion

Publication Date: June 28, 2011

Format: E-ARC

Source: Received from netgalley as part of the Teen Book Scene blog tour. Many thanks goes to Netgalley and Teen Book Scene for sending me a copy of this book for review. I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review.

Tour: Teen Book Scene. You can follow along with the tour here, or by clicking through the banner located below the review. 

Look for it: Amazon

My rating: 3.5/5


Enid is having a tough time with her parent's relationship woes, so much so that she thinks her boyfriend is cheating on her. When he decides they should take a break she crumbles. She knows he's going to a party and she's wondering if he will be meeting up with a girl there. In the heat of the moment, she decides to trail him to the party, and sneaks on board the boat he and his friends are on. She falls asleep, and when she wakes up, she realizes they are in the middle of the storm, the boat is sinking, and she will have to try to survive in a life raft with all 7 boys. 
Enid is a character that you're either going to love or hate. She's emotionally needy, and is trying to win her boyfriend, Wick, back. He just wants some space, but she doesn't want to give him that space. She follows him to their friend's boat, and sneaks on board. When she gets there she starts to re-evaluate why she's sneaking around, but before she decides to get off of the boat she realizes that they are at sea.
The interesting fact about all of the boys and Enid is that they are all twins and part of a program that chronicles how close twins are. It's neat to see how one person can feel something or be hurt somewhere, and their twin knows what they are feeling or feels phantom pains in the spots that they are hurt. When they are stranded in the life raft they have nothing but time on their side so they re-evaluate life, and what brought them to that moment in time. 
With the added shock factor of the sharks and their deliberate attempts to flip the raft, things get a little scary. Many Jaws comments were alluded to, and it was also neat to see Sov and Munny spouting off facts about sharks, and shipwrecks in general. 
The main storyline revolves around their time in the life raft, so the plot isn't propelled forward at a fast past. Rather, it meanders while everyone reminisces over their past, their future goals, and what brought them to this point. I would have loved to have read more about what happened afterwards, how they recovered or dealt with their time at sea, and the losses that befell them.
All in all, this is a solid story, but it didn't give me that tearjerker quality that I was expecting; especially since certain scenes should have left the reader emotionally bereft. I would be interested in knowing how everything ended for the teens as they recovered from this harrowing time in their lives. Regardless, the shark lore, and tidbits spouted by Sov and Munny, and the teens narrow escapes, at times, from the sharks made this a compelling read.