REVIEW and GIVEAWAY
Two Like Me and You
by Chad Alan Gibbs
Two Like Me and You by Chad Alan Gibbs is currently on tour with Xpresso 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
Edwin Green’s ex-girlfriend is famous. We’re talking cover-of-every-tabloid-in-the-grocery-store-line famous. She dumped Edwin one year ago on what he refers to as Black Saturday, and in hopes of winning her back, he’s spent the last twelve months trying to become famous himself. It hasn’t gone well.
But when a history class assignment pairs Edwin with Parker Haddaway, the mysterious new girl at school, she introduces him to Garland Lenox, a nursing-home-bound World War II veteran who will change Edwin’s life forever.
The three escape to France, in search of the old man’s long-lost love, and as word of their adventure spreads, they become media darlings. But when things fall apart, they also become the focus of French authorities. In a race against time, who will find love, and who will only find more heartache?
Book Video
Excerpt
You can’t make this shit up.
That’s what Garland Lenox would say about this story—my story—the story of how I tried to win back Sadie Evans, my super famous ex-girlfriend. Of course, Garland said that a lot. It was his go-to reply anytime anyone raised so much as a skeptical eyebrow at one of the more outrageous details of his own life story. Details like ...
“Scientists said they’d never heard of a Great White that far up the Mississippi River, but when they pulled its tooth from my leg they had to rewrite their little science books.”
Or ...
“Saddam Hussein never could remember all the rules to chess. He’d move pawns backward and he wouldn’t even touch his bishops because he said they were papists.”
Or ...
“The Super Bowl is faker than professional wrestling. I know the fella in Bakersfield who used to write scripts for the NFL. Why’d you think they take two weeks off before the big game? It’s so the players can rehearse.”
Garland would watch you while he told his tales, and if he saw even a shadow of disbelief he’d pounce: “Son, you can’t make this shit up.”
In the week I knew the old man he said those words to me approximately sixty-three times, though for the record I’m not his son. Garland called everyone son, even Parker sometimes, though I’m pretty sure he knew she was a girl. Also for the record, I never once accused Garland of making up anything, though I usually had my doubts, and sometimes my face would betray me.
[Want more? Click below to read a longer excerpt.]
Praise for the Book
“A smashing debut that's both intimate and epic.” ~ Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“... a whirlwind, cross-continental adventure that combines some classic story elements that make something beautifully original and engaging.” ~ IndieReader
“Part heist story, part love story, part road trip - Two Like Me and You is clever, insightful, and a whole bunch of fun.” ~ Reedsy Discovery (5-Stars)
“Teens will enjoy the fast-paced mix of adventure, heartbreaking romance, and satire ...” ~ IndieReader
“... one of those all-too-rare reading experiences that make you smile as you begin reading and then hold you blissfully entranced all the way through to the last page.” ~ Jack Magnus, Reader's Favorite (5-Stars)
My Review
By Lynda Dickson
Edwin Green teams up with new girl Parker Haddaway for a history
assignment in which they have to interview someone who lived through World War
II. That’s how he meets Garland Lenox and somehow agrees to help “a crazy girl
bust a ninety-year-old man out of his nursing home so we can take him to France
against his attorney’s wishes to find a woman he met during World War II, all
in the hope of becoming famous and winning back my ex-girlfriend.” Let’s see
how that goes!
Our narrator Edwin is immediately engaging, with his fantastically
sarcastic voice and love of lists. The way he weaves his story keeps you
hooked, as do the outlandish chapter headings that give us a tantalizing taste
of what is to come (ending in Chapter 66 with “In which—oh hell, just read it
and find out.”).
The book is full of laugh-out-loud moments, and the author’s humor is
even evident in his Acknowledgments section, which is the funniest I have come
across. Despite the levity, the book also contains some of the most
heart-wrenching descriptions of the war and one of the most bittersweet young
adult romances that I have read. This is a wonderfully romantic and wacky story
that will leave you yearning for more. As Garland Lenox is fond of saying,
“You can’t make this shit up.” Except that the author did. Or did he?
My favorite read of the year so far. Even more amazing now I know it’s
the author’s first novel.
Warnings: coarse
language, war, suicide, sexual references, violence.
Some of My Favorite Lines
“You can’t make this shit up.”
“You might get one chance like that in your life, son, and you damn well better be ready to take it or it’ll haunt you forever.”
“Smitten? Who says smitten? Are you my grandmother?”
“Theologians talk about free will, but I couldn’t have told her no if I’d wanted to.”
“Facebook isn’t a verb.”
“The thing is, when you meet the one, the one you’ve dreamed about and hoped and prayed actually existed somewhere out there in the world, when you meet her, you know it. You know it in an instant. You don’t even fall in love with her, because you were in love with her before time. Before either of you even existed. When you meet her you’ll know it because you feel whole, for the first time, and it’s the best damn feeling in the world.”
About the Author
Chad Alan Gibbs lives in Alabama with his wife, two sons, two dogs, and an embarrassingly large collection of Star Wars action figures. Two Like Me and You is his first novel.
Giveaway
Enter the tour-wide giveaway for a chance to win a one of three signed or ebook copies of Two Like Me and You by Chad Alan Gibbs.
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