Ugly by Kelly Vincent (An honest and heartfelt YA novel about a gender nonconforming teen) | Review, Excerpt, & $15 Giveaway
A book blog tour from Goddess Fish Promotions.
Thank you to the author, publisher, and Marianne & Judy at Goddess Fish for providing me with the information for this tour.
Book Details
Ugly: An honest and heartfelt YA novel about a gender nonconforming teen by Kelly Vincent Published by Independent on June 7, 2022
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, LGBTQIAplus, Young Adult Fiction
Format: eBook, Paperback
Pages: 398
Source: Goddess Fish Promotions, Received from the author or publisher for review.Sophomore Nic Summers tries to ignore the taunts of “ugly lesbian.”
Because she’s not sure they’re entirely wrong.
But she also has bigger concerns for now, including prepping for the school’s art contest.
And while she isn't certain of her sexuality, she does know her life is on the verge of falling apart when her best and only friend, Sam, drops the bomb that her family’s moving to Scotland.
Together, to soften the blow and distract themselves from the inevitable, they start Operation Social Interaction for Nic—or OSIN for short—to try to find her some new friends.
But it’s an uphill battle for the introverted teen artist.
As Sam’s last day nears, Nic's self-confidence wavers even more, and she starts questioning everything.
If lesbian doesn’t feel quite right, maybe she’s transgender?
It isn’t until she stumbles across the label “gender nonconforming” that things start to make a little more sense, and fall into place.
But finding the right label doesn’t really tell her what to do next, and before she knows it, Sam is gone.
Mustering all her resources, Nic realizes she needs to find her own path and live her own truth.
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Excerpt from Ugly
After eating a Lean Cuisine cheese ravioli, I tossed the plastic tray into the trash and dropped the fork in the dishwasher.
Back to my drawing, which I’d been prepping since I got home. I was set up in the dining room because I was working on a poster-sized piece of thick white paper. It was almost as big as the desk in my room, so there’d be no way to do it in there. I was lucky my mom encouraged my drawing.
I’d done a super-light sketch of the whole drawing to get the scale right. It would be so awesome. It would be my best piece for the contest. And I needed to do well in the contest this year and next year if I was to have any chance of getting into a good art school.
I looked at the paper, trying to decide where to start when my dad came in from the den. He was still in his nice work pants. His curly hair was getting long.
“Nic?”
“Yeah?” I was thinking I’d start with one of the snow-covered shrubs since it was roughly centered. I could work out from there so I didn’t end up squishing one of the dragons off the page if my scale was off.
He stood next to me. “When your mom gets home, we’re going to have a family meeting.”
“What?” I turned to look at him and saw a barely perceptible frown on his face, which was weird. Also, we had literally never had a family meeting before.
Excerpt provided by the author/publisher for use in this post.
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Purchase Links for Ugly
Click here for the Amazon –> OneLink for every country
AppleBooks/iTunes The Book Depository Blackwell’s
Waterstones GoogleBooks The Wordery
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My thoughts on Ugly
Nic is a mass of confusion. She doesn’t feel like a girl or a boy. So there is that whole questioning thing going on. When you add in her extreme lack of social skills and self-confidence, I can understand her angst. Her only friend is moving away, so all she will have left is her art to console herself.
The book is full of harsh thoughts and comments, many of them from the main character. I’m sure these are accurate for the times we live in, but they are hard to read, nonetheless.
While Ugly is rather heart-breaking to read, I think it is a powerful story, and many readers will benefit from the different points of view presented throughout the book.
There are parts where I wholly disliked Nic, and other times my heart ached for her pain. In the long run, I gained a small understanding of what Nic was going through and the power of words to hurt or heal.
This contemporary young-adult novel should find a wide audience with readers aged teens and up. The ultimate message from the book is worth the time it takes to read the story.
I received a copy of the book for the tour. This review is my honest, unbiased opinion.
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I love my Amazon Kindle Unlimited Subscription. So many books, so little time!
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About Kelly Vincent
Kelly Vincent wrangles data weekdays and spends the rest of her time playing with words. She grew up in Oklahoma but has moved around quite a bit, with Glasgow, Scotland being her favorite stop.
She now lives near Seattle with three cats who help her write her stories by strategically walking across the keyboard, with her first novel, Finding Frances, a fine example of this technique. She has a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Oklahoma City University’s Red Earth program.
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Purchase Ugly online from a local bookstore.
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Easy Amazon Info Link
Click here for the Amazon –> OneLink for every country
Ugly: An honest and heartfe...Shop on Amazon
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Giveaway!
Kelly Vincent will be awarding a $15 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Visit more stops on this Goddess Fish tour for extra chances to win!
Full Tour Schedule:
August 2: Andi’s Young Adult Books
August 9: The Avid Reader
August 9: Archaeolibrarian – I Dig Good Books!
August 16: All the Ups and Downs
August 16: Paws.Read.Repeat
August 16: Long and Short Reviews
August 23: Fabulous and Brunette
August 23: Gina Rae Mitchell
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This sounds like a book that is truly one of a kind.
Congratulations on your release of Ugly, Kelly, great excerpt and I enjoyed following the tour and learning about your book, which sounds like a heart tugging, captivating read that my granddaughter will want to read! Good luck with your book and I hope the tour was a success! Thanks for sharing it with me!
Thanks, Gina, for sharing your thoughts!
Have a splendid day!
Thanks for stopping by Eva. I’m always happy to see you here.
Thanks for hosting!