REVIEW and GIVEAWAY
Paper Girl
by Cindy R. Wilson
Paper Girl by Cindy R. Wilson is currently on tour with YA Bound Book Tours. The tour stops here today for my review, an excerpt, and a giveaway. Please be sure to visit the other tour stops as well.
Description
I haven’t left my house in over a year. My doctor says it’s social anxiety, but I know the only things that are safe are made of paper. My room is paper. My world is paper. Everything outside is fire. All it would take is one spark for me to burst into flames. So I stay inside. Where nothing can touch me.
Then my mom hires a tutor. Jackson. This boy I had a crush on before the world became too terrifying to live in. Jackson’s life is the complete opposite of mine, and I can tell he’s got secrets of his own. But he makes me feel things. Makes me want to try again. Makes me want to be brave. I can almost taste the outside world. But so many things could go wrong, and all it takes is one spark for everything I love to disappear ...
Excerpt
ZOE
I heard the elevator ding from down the hallway. Therapist #6. Probably another clone of Dr. Edwards and all the other therapists I’d had over the years. I ducked into my study when Mom told her to come back, and planted myself beside my desk. When she came in, her quick smile suggested she was perfectly comfortable walking into a strange place. Well, strange didn’t even begin to cover me and my room. The proof? Her surprised expression when she realized she’d just entered the Milky Way.
Strewn about the room were paper planets, stars, moons, and hopefully soon a couple of constellations. I folded them, cut them out, and crafted them until they became art. They mostly lined the southern wall, but Jupiter was bound to leak onto the ceiling.
And therein lay 80 percent of my life. Paper art in these four walls.
Therapist #6 said, “Wow. This is…out of this world.”
My cheeks flamed, and I gurgled out a laugh. It sounded so silly, so I kept my gaze averted. She didn’t look like a therapist. In fact, she looked young enough to be Dr. Edwards’s daughter, with her dark skinny jeans, a hip blazer, and a navy scarf with designs that reminded me of the galaxy above us. Her shoes were yellow—the same shade I used to make the sun. Did that mean she was inexperienced?
“Zoe, I’m Dr. Gina Price. You can call me Gina. Dr. Edwards mentioned I was coming when he saw you last week, right?”
I nodded. He’d sprung it on me after our session, right after we’d talked about compulsions and changing behaviors. We’d talked about how my parents were enablers, allowing me to stay cooped up in my large apartment with my own paper playground so I’d have no reason to want to leave. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d talked with them as well. My parents probably didn’t know what to do with a word like that. Enabler. Martin and Yoko King weren’t sure what to do with my therapy, either. They thought I was just “shy” and maybe “a little obsessive.”
“This is really impressive,” Gina said, staring at the ceiling. “How long did it take?”
I flicked a glance at her, surprised she asked. Dr. Edwards never asked about my paper art. My stomach clenched so tight, I thought I might throw up. I knew exactly what she was doing. Making small talk to get me to open up, feel comfortable. I kind of wanted to create paper dolls out of both her and Dr. Edwards so I could make them get swallowed by a black hole.
“A long time,” I said, so quiet I was sure she hadn’t heard me.
She stared up at Pluto, one of my favorite pieces. The dwarf planet and I were more alike than I wanted to admit. Both not quite what everyone thought we should be. It could be cold and lonely out in space.
[Want more? Click below to read a longer excerpt.]
Praise for the Book
“Wilson made me care about the major and minor characters, root for their successes. I read Paper Girl in one sitting.” ~ Amy's Book Reviews
“Paper Girl was unique in the way other elements were explored so that the whole story wasn't just focused on teenage anxiety.” ~ Hayley (Backpacking Bookworm), Goodreads
“... this book is amazing, and I believe Cindy R. Wilson did an excellent job telling this story.” ~ Heather, Goodreads
“Highly recommended to anyone that like YA contemporary novels.” ~ Bookish Tiffany
“I LOVED this book. It's a really sweet story, and I loved how pro-therapy it is.” ~ Julie, NetGalley
My Review
By Lynda Dickson
Zoe is a sixteen-year-old shut-in, while Jackson is seventeen and homeless. She never leaves her house, while he doesn’t even have a house. They are total opposites, but they find each other through an online chess game, where they tell each other their most intimate secrets, not thinking that they could ever meet. Little do they realize that they already know each other. What will happen when Jackson discovers Zoe’s secret identity? Can a relationship be built on lies? And what will happen when the truth eventually comes out? Will Zoe forgive Jackson? Will she ever be able to conquer her fears and live a life in the real world? These questions, and more, will be answered in this cute romance with serious undertones.
The story is told from the points-of-view of Zoe and Jackson, interspersed with their online chess chats. They’re both extremely likeable characters in heartbreaking situations. But you just can’t help but feel optimistic that these two damaged souls with help each other heal. I loved the part Gina plays in Zoe’s recovery, especially when we find out why she does what she does.
Warnings: mental illness, alcoholism, drug abuse, child abuse.
Some of My Favorite Lines
“You can be yourself when you’re anonymous, but in real life you have to answer to who you really are. And sometimes, that’s the scariest thing of all.”
“Maybe Zoe’s childhood had vanished just like mine, and we were both unfortunate adults now.”
“The real world was like paper, and one screw up, one spark, and the whole thing would go up in flames.”
“Most everyone is too wrapped up in themselves to care about what you’re doing. And even if they do, it’s their problem, not yours.”
“How did a perfectly normal teenager go from reading on the bleachers in high school to hiding in her house and creating galaxies of paper?”
“Sometimes what you’re looking for finds you first.”
“If we were never anxious about anything, some things wouldn’t mean quite as much as they do when they happen.”
Playlist
About the Author
Cindy lives at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, and loves using Colorado towns and cities as inspiration for settings in her stories. She's the mother of three girls, who provide plenty of fodder for her YA novels. Cindy writes speculative fiction and YA fiction, filled with a healthy dose of romance. You'll often find her hiking or listening to any number of playlists while she comes up with her next story idea.
Giveaway
Enter the tour-wide giveaway for a chance to win a $20 Amazon gift card and Paper Girl themed journal (US only).
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