Monday, March 5, 2012

Wanderlove Contest

My favorite book of 2011 comes out next week.


Are you a Global Vagabond?


No, but 18-year-old Bria Sandoval wants to be. In a quest for independence, her neglected art, and no-strings-attached hookups, she signs up for a guided tour of Central America—the wrong one. Middle-aged tourists with fanny packs are hardly the key to self-rediscovery. When Bria meets Rowan, devoted backpacker and dive instructor, and his outspokenly humanitarian sister Starling, she seizes the chance to ditch her group and join them off the beaten path.

Bria's a good girl trying to go bad. Rowan's a bad boy trying to stay good. As they travel across a panorama of Mayan villages, remote Belizean islands, and hostels plagued with jungle beasties, they discover what they've got in common: both seek to leave behind the old versions of themselves. And the secret to escaping the past, Rowan’s found, is to keep moving forward.


I read Kirsten Hubbard's Wanderlove as an ARC through NetGalley and fell in love. I can pretty much guarantee you will too, if not for the gorgeous South American setting, than for Bria, who is one of the most interesting, realistic YA characters I have seen in a long time.

To celebrate it's official release, I'm giving away several bookmarks and a copy of the book. Winners will be chosen from comments, so tell me about your favorite off-the-beaten- track places below to win!

After you've entered, check out Kirsten Hubbard's tumblr where she's showcasing other reader's favorite places (including mine!) as well as beautiful locale from Wanderlove!

12 comments:

  1. I don't think I have a favourite off-beaten place! I really haven't traveled too much ... But I did love Wanderlove and it really made me want to travel! :)

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  2. hi chelsey! just came to your blog via kirsten's tumblr, where i adored the photo of london you took.

    anyway, i AM SO EXCITED WANDERLOVE WILL BE OUT IN THE WILD SOON!(!!!!) it's like, my favoritest book in the world, yo. so obviously i would love to own my own copy (i read it through netgalley too) and where i live YA books are hard to come by, so thank you so much for this contest. my favorite off-the-beaten-path place? well, like kristilyn i haven;t yet had the chance to travel much, even though i'm DYING to, but i've always had this habit that whenever i get bored, i just plug my headphones in, go out and start exploring my neighborhood. it always amazes me how different the area turns into just three streets away. so i don't have any specific place, just random places i've turned up on. :)

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  3. I've heard about this book so had to see what you thought. It looks so good.

    Off the beaten path...Not much of a traveler. But, if the beach counts, then that. Early in the morning or late evening.

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  4. I don't really have a favorite place 'off the beaten path' but there are so many places I would love to see sometime in this life! :)

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    Replies
    1. You won the book! email me your address at chelseyblair (at) gmail (dot) com!

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  5. Unfortunately, I haven't had the opportunity to travel much, so no off-the-beaten-tracks for me... yet. :)

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  6. As a child I would visit Castles in Germany. These were sometimes really tough to access since they would usually be at the top of a cliff in the middle of a forest. But some of the most beautiful architecture I've seen. Some even had original furniture that was centuries old. I absolutely recommend visiting one of these beauties once in your life. Real history there!

    Vivien
    deadtossedwaves at gmail dot com

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  7. I'm originally from the UK, and I always tell people from the US planning to visit to get the touristy stuff over with, and then travel. Go to the villages, visit the country pubs, go to Wales and roam the countryside. There is so much to see--more than I ever appreciated when I lived there.

    I enjoyed LIKE MANDARIN, a beautifully written book, so I am looking forward to reading WANDERLOVE.

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  8. Loved this book! I haven't really been to many places. But I have always wanted to visit Ireland. :)

    pragyasharma_100@yahoo.co.in

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  9. In China, the Jiu Zhai Gou mountains! I've been there once and it's really beautiful, they have the clearest untouched natural lakes, like this: http://cache.foxsaver.com/thumbnails/2007/11/26/345767420l.jpg. If I had the money, I'd want to see all the East Asian places that are hidden from publicity, like Tibet. I've never tried Central America, which is why I want to experience it through this book!

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  10. My favourite place would be Umea, it's high up in the north of Sweden. It snowed a lot and somehow I felt like I was in a very special place of the world, so silent, so beautiful:)

    goldie-mail(AT)web(DOT)de

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