Blog Tour and Giveaway: Bitter Angel: Megan Hand

by Reviews by Tammy and Kim - Monday, May 27, 2013

Add to Goodreads Buy: Nook/Kindle

Author: Megan Hand
Release date: April 1, 2013
Genre: Contemporary/Thriller
Age Group: New Adult

Torn between two realities.
A choice that will mean life or death.
But she won’t know anything… until she wakes up.

College sophomore, Lila Spencer lived Friday night twice. She doesn’t know how or why, just that she did. As if she split in half and went in two different directions.

Out clubbing with her friends, Heather and Nilah, the girls rock it out and party hard. What begins as an innocent night will lead to a deadly fight for their lives, and Lila might be their only chance for survival.

In bed with her boyfriend, Jay, Lila is safe and warm as she drifts to sleep in the arms of the man she loves. Until she is sucked into a horrifying nightmare of her friends' deaths.

As the sunlight warms her face on Saturday morning, the two scenarios collide. But there can be only one outcome. Will she wake up in her warm bed with Jay by her side, devastated and grieving for her friends? Or was she there to save them?

The answer is just the beginning.

Excerpt :

As Nilah hooted and woohooed, it took less than a minute for her Infiniti G35 to reach illegal speeds. Her hollering was a painful side effect of her birthday high. If she weren’t driving, she’d have probably stuck her head out the window and let her ears flap in the wind. From the front passenger seat, Heather was blowing on her French manicure, even though her nails were way past dry.

I leaned forward from the back, an elbow on each of their seats. “Where is this place again?”

“We went there once,” Nilah reminded me. “It’s near that Fourth Street Park place we went to last time, but we’re going to dinner as soon as we get into town. I made reservations at the most expensive seafood place I could find.”

Grimacing, I sank back into the plush, heated leather. I’d never been a very big seafood fan, but it was Nilah’s birthday. Her day, her rules. We’d always had that tradition for our birthdays—we got to pick where we ate, what we did, and go wherever we wanted on our special day.

I sighed, already missing Jay. At that moment, I began to daydream that I was clawing my way out of the car, curling into a ball, and rolling to a stop on the concrete. Then, magically uninjured of course, I’d race back to him.

When I came to my senses, however, I was overcome with a very strange sensation. Like I didn’t have to imagine it.

Because I was still with him.

I am not sure where to even start this review. The synopsis was different and intriguing. But for some reason I put off reading it because it was not my typical romance type of book. But I picked it up today and was soon sucked in. Holy Moly! This book is unique, brilliant, terrifying, confusing, emotional, raw, and riveting. There is a romantic relationship with her boyfriend, Jay that is integral to the story, but it is not a romance book. It is more of a suspense thriller with a slight paranormal twist.

I'm not crazy, I swear. It happened. I don't know how, but it did. I lived the same night twice--and not like that Groundhog Day movie, but like that Sliding Doors movie. I did two completely separate things in one night, like two halves of me split off in different directions...Like a choose-your-own-adventure book, I somehow know that I only lived one of them. I'm not sure which one.

Lila wants to spend the evening with her boyfriend Jay, but her long time best friends Nilah and Heather are demanding she go out clubbing with them. At this point the story fractures into two separate realities: one as if she stayed home and the other as if she went out. Her and her friends end up in a terrifying situation that has you anxious and squirming. But then she wakes up...

What really happened? Was it a dream? A premonition? But what about....???

And from there the story takes even more twists and turns. There is suspense, danger, panic, fear, and really bad situations. It is a pulse pounding race to find answers and keep everyone safe. I am not going to give any spoilers because trying to figure out what is going to happen next is the best part of this book. I kept flipping pages and resisting the urge to sneak to the end to see the resolution.

Lila is strong and brave in some areas and insecure in others. Unfortunately, she can also be impulsive and single minded in her need to protect others. I loved her relationship with Jay. He was the perfect swoon worthy boyfriend who wants nothing but to secure her safety and happiness.

I never wanted this. I didn't ask for it. I'm no hero, no martyr. I'm just a girl who tried to do the right thing, who was supposed to do the right thing and couldn't. I'm a human tragedy that'll die only to become a bitter angel, whether that's soon or someday far from today. No bell will ring for me. I'll never get my wings. If I live through tonight, I'll be messed up for the rest of my living life, so I guess it's neither here nor there.

I literally felt like I was right there with them during this story and struggling to make sense of it all and figure out what to do about it. It had me on the edge of my seat, clutching my kindle, scratching my head, rethinking reality, and hoping for a good outcome. If you want to read something that is creative and unique and will make you think, then I recommend you pick this one up.

Thanks to Megan Hand for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Megan Hand Website/Facebook/Twitter/Goodreads
At twelve, Megan decided to write a novel. A month later, she quit. A reading junkie by nature, she started writing again in her twenties as a way to get the voices out, because who wouldn't want to create a Real Living Person out of thin air? Megan also plays the piano and sings. She teaches little kids and takes pictures of pretty butterflies. She eats way too much chocolate, is sort of a mad scientist with her blender, and spends an unhealthy amount of time LOLing on Facebook and Twitter. She lives in Ohio with her husband and very smiley son. Bitter Angel is her first published novel.

Event organized by: AToMR Tours

Follow the Tour