*BLOG TOUR* "Sia" by Josh Grayson

SIA

Release Date: 11/20/13

When seventeen-year-old Sia wakes up on a park bench, she has no idea who or where she is. Yet after a week of being homeless, she’s reunited with her family. At school, she’s powerful and popular. At home, she’s wealthy beyond her dreams. But she quickly realizes her perfect life is a lie. Her family is falling apart and her friends are snobby, cruel and plastic. Worse yet, she discovers she was the cruelest one. Mortified by her past, she embarks on a journey of redemption and falls for Kyle, the “geek” she once tormented. Yet all the time she wonders if, when her memories return, she’ll become the bully she was before…and if she’ll lose Kyle.

_____________________________________________________

MY THOUGHTS

(3.5 / 4 star)

"Sia" is a fast paced coming of age story. When Sia wakes up with no memory of who she is, she is forced to make due on the streets being homeless. She meets the most amazing woman, Carol, who takes her under her wing, and shows her to ropes on how to survive on the streets. Quite honestly, Carol is my favorite part of the book. Her outlook on life, her story, her wisdom, is absolutely beautiful.

However, when Sia is eventually thrown back into her own life, she starts to realize how her former self actually was. She is not acting even close to the type of person she was before she lost her memory, and is actually disgusted with her former self.

"Have I been cruel and self-centered my whole life? Have I wasted all my years behaving like a spoiled brat?"

She wants so badly to be the person she woke up feeling like, and will do anything in her power to hang on to it. If that means ditching her old friends, and making new ones, then so be it. She comes off as a very strong senior in highschool, with her head very much on her shoulders. She slowly starts to do what she can to be the person she wants to be, and along for the ride is a guy named Kyle. Kyle had been on the receiving end of Sia's torment before she lost her memory, but gives Sia the second chance she needed to start to rebuild.

"Soon people will realize I've changed for the better. Or at least the people who matter will notice."

I did enjoy this book, but I feel like Sia took a lot of this in stride. She woke up, with zero memory, and remained absolutely calm about it. I would have been losing my mind, and I'm 29 years old. This girl, a 17 year old, still in highschool, acts like a complete adult, and immediately goes into survival mode. I commend her for that. Not only does she remain level headed, she actually welcomes and embraces with open arms her second chance.

A quick read, with a great message of "mean girl gone nice", and how second chances do sometimes come from the most terrible of situations.

_____________________________________________________

Reviews for SIA

“A compelling read full of intrigue, romance, and lots of surprises. I couldn’t wait to see what happened next!” - Jennifer Read Hawthorne, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“There have been very few books that made me think they made to someday become a movie (i.e. Warm Bodies, The Host). And I guess Sia can join the club, because this book, I say, is perfect for it. I felt like I was reading a script for a movie, the plot is fantastic and the characters are great, there's a little of humor as well as tragic situations.” -Bookish Randomness

“Well I finished this book amazingly fast. This whole book will leave you amused, intrigued, in awe, and most importantly in love with the whole story line until the very last word. I'll have to go with 5 stars for this book.” - Lovely Reads

“Beautifully written…this one will have you reflecting on your current and past actions. Although a fiction, Sia inspires.” –A Starry-eyed Heart Review

_____________________________________________________

Josh Grayson was born in Mexico, raised in Massachusetts, and now lives in Martinsville, Virginia. It was his move to the South that stirred his imagination and gave him the courage to start writing. During his free time, Josh enjoys reading, jogging, swimming, and watching YouTube videos. 

Josh currently works as a medical driver, shuttling people all over Virginia and North Carolina. He has also worked as a machinist, film sales rep, administrative assistant, and telemarketer (he apologizes if he called you). 

Sia is his debut YA novel.