Monday 6 August 2012

Blog tour & review: The Jelly Bean Crisis by Jolene Stockman

Today I have the chance to take part in another great book tour hosted by AToMR Book Blog tours. Today's tour is for The Jelly Bean Crisis by Jolene Stockman


  
  Title: The Jelly Bean Crisis
  Author: Jolene Stockman
  My rating: 3 stars
  
 

A total meltdown. The whole school watching. Now Poppy’s an ex-straight-A with no Plan B.

When Poppy Johnson throws away a full scholarship to Columbia, she can only blame the jelly beans. The yucky green ones? Midnight cram sessions and Saturday’s spent studying. The delicious red? The family legacy: Columbia, and a future in finance. Except now it’s starting to look like Poppy’s jelly bean theory is wrong. School has been her life until, but maybe it’s time to start living now.

Poppy has thirty days to try a new life. No school, no studying. Just jumping into every possible world. Thirty days to find her passion, her path, and maybe even love. The Jelly Bean Crisis is officially on.

Poppy Johnson is going through a Jelly bean crisis. She used to live by a jelly bean theory where she would eat up all the jelly beans she didn’t like first or fob them off to her brother and save the best (the red ones) until last. I remember doing this with my skittles when I was younger, but Poppy went even further, she soon found herself applying this same rule to life; whenever she ate a meal (she would save her favourite food till last and eat the least favourite on the plate first) and also to school; all the hard work she was doing now would pay off in the long run (to the final red jelly bean). But when her nana unexpectedly announces that she’s finally going to college to do what she’s always wanted to do at the age of 75, Poppy begins to doubt her jelly bean theory. Has everything she’s been doing all her life the right thing at all? Who is she studying so hard for? Does she actually want to follow the family route and go to Columbia? Poppy decides to take a gap month to figure it all out.

I really liked Poppy, it wasn’t easy standing up to her family, (especially her dad who thought she was throwing everything away) just to stop to take time out and think what did she really want in life? her friends thought she was crazy, but Poppy was fed up of working hard all the time. Poppy’s gap month was an eventful one to say at the least, at times it could be hugely stressful, but it helped Poppy make a lot of important decisions in the end. What she’d originally thought was an awesome job ended up being a headache, and what she’d never considered before she found she ended up enjoying. I enjoyed meeting some of the comical characters along the way and just watching Poppy tackle different areas of work and realise a few of things about herself.

When I’d first decided to read the Jelly Bean Crisis I thought it would be a cute, funny read and a lot of aspects of it was. But it also provided a lot more that, parts of it were gritty, raw and the tasks poppy challenged herself to real eye openers. I love it when you go into a book expecting something but end up with so much more. The Jelly Bean Crisis was definitely one of those books.  

The tour for the Jelly Bean Crisis runs from August 6th-11th. Make sure you check out all the blogs taking part here.



16 comments:

Vegan YA Nerds said...

Love your review, Jas! I found this was so much more than I was expecting, too!

Jessica@Booked Up! said...

Thanks for the great review, Jasprit! When I saw the front cover for this I was very intrigued! Poppy sounds awesome. :) xxx

-Ria xo said...

I do that too! I eat my least favourite foods first, and save the best until last. :D but lately I've been rethinking... Say I die after eating my least favourite, and don't get to my favourite in time? LOL. :p

College at 75? Woo, you go Grandma! Poppy sounds fun too. Thanks for an awesome review, Jasprit! (:

Anonymous said...

I love the cover and title of this book. It sounds like a really interesting read. I was expecting it to be a cutesy type of book, but I'm glad to hear that it's a lot deeper than that. Poppy sounds like a very lovable character.
I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the book, Jasprit. :)
Lovely review as usual. :)

Rachel said...

Yay!!!! I'm glad this book is more then what is expected! I'm glad you enjoyed this book! it sounds like a fun read! Fantastic review Jasprit!
:0 I love meeting funny characters too!

Maja (The Nocturnal Library) said...

Fantastic review, Jasprit! I am totally convinced I want to read this asap. I think the premise is interesting, and Poppy sounds like an amazing character, very responsible and brave.
Plus, the cover is simply gorgeous. :)

Sam (Realm of Fiction) said...

Now this sounds interesting! I love Poppy's theory. It sounds like the sort of methodical approach I would have taken when I was younger. (Red jelly beans are the best one!) I'm glad you ended up enjoying this. Fantastic review!

Jenny said...

Love books that surprise me and throw my expectations out the window a bit! It's always fun to go in not expecting much more than a quick, fun read and then ending up with something so much more. Beautiful review Jasprit!

Keertana said...

I recently read Mandee's review for this one and I'm thrilled you enjoyed this one too, Jasprit! I'm especially interested in it as I feel as if I'm going through a similar stage in my life, so I'm very excited to get my hands on this one. I love thought-provoking novels and the fact that you really felt for Poppy is remarkable - I'm looking forward to reading this all the more now! Brilliant review! :D

~Keertana
Ivy Book Bindings

Eunice said...

Lovely review, Jasprit! I just love the cover of this one. With the title and cover I thought this was a fantasy/paranormal book. Haha! Poppy sounds like a likable character. I'd love to see how she figured out things through her thirty-day jelly bean crisis. I;m glad you enjoyed this! :)

Heidi@Rainy Day Ramblings said...

I know, I was expedting something light and fluflly and was very pleased to find something with more substance. This book presents a lot of great ideas especially for young people in Poppy's shoes. I just wished there was an epilogue. Great review, my friend!

Anonymous said...

I absolutely ADORE the title for this one. :) This book sounds lovely! Why haven't I heard of it before?? Nicely reviewed, Jas. :) I'll definitely check it out sometime...

Delaney said...

I used to do that as well! Reading books that I was ehhh first and the ones I really wanted to read last. But then i think I stopped doing it. X) Wonderful review, Jasprit! And I'm really loving the title. It has a definite ring. And I really loved your guest post at Catch the Lune! UK is a definite vacation site. And you had to add in libraries! XP :)

new follower :)
http://therandomranterer.blogspot.com/

Arlene said...

What a cute book cover and title! Sounds like a fun book. Awesome review Jasprit!

Beckie said...

Lovely review :) thank u. This book looks like a cute lighthearted read and the cover is again so cute! I hope that it does have some substance in the book to. Funny I used to do that with skittles when a teenager hehe. Dx

Wendy Darling said...

What a cute cover! I would have guessed it was a light-hearted romantic comedy though, so it's surprising to hear there are darker themes in it. Nicely reviewed!

Wendy @ The Midnight Garden

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