Blog Tour: Ciao by Bethany Lopez

Ciao (Stories about Melissa #3)
Author: Bethany Lopez
Published: August 2012
Look for this at Amazon / Goodreads/ BN

In this post I will introduce you to a refreshing story written by author Bethany Lopez. Ciao is the third book from Melissa's series which uses a journal style.  For this blog tour I had the opportunity to read the three books on the series: Ta Ta For Now!, XOXOXO and Ciao.  This three books are the journals of this girl Melissa.  Each journal documents her teenage and family life as she discovers love, heartbreak and friendship.

In Ciao we see Melissa getting to know herself and owning her decisions.  Still immature and even selfish, we see her as a teenage girl trying to connect with her friends.  She outgrows sad experiences from the past and keeps going.  She begins a new chapter where incertitude dominates her.  Is love a priority for her?  Is friendship what she values the most?  It is a new year and she needs to decide.  She is between the boy she has forever loved and the boy who is a great friend.   Maybe she cannot have both.

A new character is introduced to the equation, Cassie.  She is a great friend for Melissa and quickly becomes part of Melissa's group.  Cassie will be a character who will begin changes in Melissa.  Melissa will see life different.  I still think Melissa is a self-centered girl, and sadly it cannot be explained by her age.  Since the beginning of the series she is portrayed as that.  What redeems her is how we can detect a slow progressing maturity in her.  Painful events  make her grow.

Ciao is a story written in a simple way but shows interesting twists.  I read it during two afternoons and enjoyed my time.  It is well written but sometimes the epistolary style is exhausting.  Sometimes, Melissa writes too formal and in that instances it is difficult to connect the journal entry to one a teenager would write.

I appreciate the author using as a setting a place where she lived and experienced life.  I think many of us used to keep journals or diaries, in that way Melissa becomes a character we can feel empathy with.

Rating: 3 stars of 5, The journal style kept us from seeing Melissa on an active role, while interacting with her surroundings.

I recommend this series for Middle School and up

A little about the author: IAN / Author site / Twitter / Facebook / Pinterest

Bethany Lopez was born in Detroit, Michigan, and grew up in Michigan and San Antonio, Texas. She went to High School at Dearborn High, in Dearborn, Michigan, which is where she has set her Young Adult novel. She is married and has a blended family with five children. She is currently serving in the United States Air Force as a Recruiter in Los Angeles, California. She has always loved to read and write and has seen her dream realized by independently publishing her contemporary Young Adult series, Stories About Melissa. Ta Ta for Now! and xoxoxo are available now. Book three, Ciao, will be released in Aug 2012.

Review copy received from publisher via YA Bound/ Blog Tour for review purposes.  This book was reviewed according to its merits.