Blog Tour & Giveaway: Mirage by Tracy Clark

Crushed on by Sara Meadows, on June 30, 2016, in Blog Tour, Future releases, Giveaways, Reviews / 2 Comments

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Mirage by Tracy Clark

BookCrushin is thrilled to be a part of the Mirage by Tracy Clark blog tour! Check out all the book information, our review, and be sure to enter the tour-wide giveaway!

Mirage by Tracy Clark

Category: Young Adult, Thriller
Publication: July 5, 2016; HMH Books for Young Readers
Pages: 272
Format: Hardcover, eBook
Find it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Goodreads

Seventeen-year-old Ryan Poitier Sharpe is a gutsy, outgoing girl who spends her summer days hurling herself out of planes at her parents’ skydiving center in the Mojave Desert. Fiercely independent and willing to take risks, she challenges those around her to live life fully. But after a brush with death, Ryan is severely altered—she’s not the same thrill-seeking girl she once was and seems to be teetering on the edge of psychosis. As her relationships crumble and her life unravels, Ryan must fight the girl she’s become—or lose herself forever—in this eerie and atmospheric thriller.

Review:

[book rating=5/5]

Your reflection is your own.

I have been following Tracy Clark on Facebook since I read Scintillate about a year ago, and as a stalker fan, I’ve witnessed the process she’s gone through to write Mirage. I’ve seen the skydiving pictures, I remember the questions about respectfully creating ethnically diverse characters. I know how much of herself she pours into her stories, and this is why I treasure her books. She is nothing if not the definition of authentic.

Mirage is a departure from her Light Key Trilogy. It’s considered a YA thriller, and the feel of the story is different immediately. Ryan, the main character, is brazen, perhaps overly so; she is a too-self-assured 17-year-old whose bravado is a cover for the ache she feels due to her father’s coldness. There were times when I didn’t like her, to be honest; I found her total disregard for her family and friends selfish. However, I then remembered that she is a teenager and, well, teenagers are known for their selfishness. (It’s been far too long since I’ve been a teen, so I tend to forget these minor details).

Everything changes when Ryan has a few odd . . . encounters? Yes, let’s just call them encounters. Ryan is suddenly scared, withdrawn, and possibly borderline psychotic. And this is where the mystery lies. Is Ryan actually psychotic? Is something supernatural at play? The beauty of this story is that every reader will draw their own conclusion. Tracy is tricky like that; I don’t believe she gives a definitive answer. Or does she?

The story is solid, which isn’t a word I would normally use, but it’s true! It’s bold, brash, and unapologetically honest—just like its main character. It’s frustrating, and it’s hauntingly sad. There are just so many layers, and they are all beautifully constructed. I can’t tell you how many screenshots I took of amazing quotes I wanted to use in the review.

5/5 Stars. Heartbreaking, beautiful, intelligent, meticulously crafted.

Quotes:

Joe starts to touch my hair and then stops himself like a good and proper best friend. My hair does not like being touched. “Honey, you could never be invisible. Not you. You’re trumpets and neon and hot sauce.”

“Go home, poppet. Check on your grandmother. I’ll speak to you later. In the meantime, why don’t you ponder the treasure that is this life, ’cause baby girl, you spend it like it’s cash burning a hole in your pocket.”

Like clockwork, when I laugh, Mom laughs. And my mother doesn’t just chuckle. Her laugh is full-bodied and carbonated. Her laugh is dark, sticky soda.

Clarity strikes like lightning. We never die. Never. I feel like the universe has whispered a secret. The secret. We are as eternal as the winds that flow like rivers.

*All quotes are from the uncorrected advance reading copy.

Author Bio: Tracy Clark

Tracy Clark is a young-adult writer because she believes teens deserve to know how much they matter and that regardless of what they’re going through, they aren’t alone. In other words, she writes books for her teen self.

She grew up a “Valley Girl” in Southern California but now lives in her home state of Nevada, in a small town at the base of the Sierra Foothills. Her two children teach her the art of distraction and are a continuous source of great dialogue.

Tracy was the recipient of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Work in Progress Grant. A two-time participant in the prestigious Nevada SCBWI Mentor Program. Tracy is a private pilot, an irredeemable dreamer, and a spicy-chocolate connoisseur.

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