I was definitely intrigued by the synopsis of Things I’m Seeing Without You by Peter Bognanni. Even though I try to stay away from the angsty, I couldn’t resist picking this one up and was eager to sign up for the blog tour.
Before I share my top 5 reasons to read it, let’s check out the book.
Title: Things I’m Seeing Without You
Author: Peter Bognanni
Pages: 356
Pub Date: October 3, 2017
Publisher: Dial Books
Find it: PRH | Indiebound | B&N | Amazon | GoodreadsSeventeen-year-old Tess Fowler has just dropped out of high school. She can barely function after learning of Jonah’s death. Jonah, the boy she’d traded banter with over texts and heartfelt e-mails.
Jonah, the first boy she’d told she loved and the first boy to say it back.
Jonah, the boy whose suicide she never saw coming.
Tess continues to write to Jonah, as a way of processing her grief and confusion. But for now she finds solace in perhaps the unlikeliest of ways: by helping her father with his new alternative funeral business, where his biggest client is . . . a prized racehorse?
As Tess’s involvement in her father’s business grows, both find comfort in the clients they serve and in each other. But love, loss, and life are so much more complicated than Tess ever thought. Especially after she receives a message that turns her life upside down.
Sounds good, right?
Top 5 Reasons to Read Things I’m Seeing Without You
Tess — She’s sort of quirky, but was really east to root for.
The funerals — It feels weird to type that, but yeah. The things Tess set up were creative and poignant in their own ways. Especially Mamie’s.
The topic of grief and death — I don’t want to get into this one because some of the scenes that had the conversations were some of the best and as River Song would say…spoilers.
The ending — Normally I’m not one for an open-ended ending, but it really worked for this story.
So, as everything states, there are normally 5 reasons, but my other reason I enjoyed this story is quite spoilery and I don’t want to ruin it, so let’s pretend there’s a really good reason right here.
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Peter Bognanni is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. His debut novel, The House of Tomorrow, won the LA Times award for first fiction and the ALA Alex Award and has been adapted into a feature film. He teaches creative writing at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
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Huge thanks to Penguin for the invite! Keep scrolling for giveaway and definitely check out the rest of the blog tour for extra goodies!
**Good Luck!!**
Enter for a chance to be one (1) of three (3) winners to receive a hardcover copy of Things I’m Seeing Without You by Peter Bognanni. (ARV: $17.99 each).
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Enter between 12:00 AM Eastern Time on September 25, 2017 and 12:00 AM on October 16, 2017. Open to residents of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia who are 13 and older. Winners will be selected at random on or about October 18, 2017. Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries received. Void where prohibited or restricted by law.
Week One:
September 25 – Arctic Books – Author Q&A
September 26 – Fiktshun – Review
September 27 – Adventures of a Book Junkie – Reasons to Read TISWY
September 28 – Here’s to Happy Endings – Author Guest Post
September 29 – BookCrushin – Review
Week Two:
October 2 – The Young Folks – Author Q&A
October 3 – Dazzled by Books – Review
October 4 – In Wonderland – Beyond the Pages
October 5 – YA and Wine – Review & Mood Board
October 6 – Fiction Fare – Author Guest Post
Week Three:
October 9 – Rants & Raves of a Bibliophile – Review & Favorite Quotes
October 10 – Margie’s Must Reads – Author Guest Post
October 11 – Tales of the Ravenous Reader – Author Q&A
October 12 – Once Upon a Twilight – Guess the Story in GIFs
October 13 – Twinning for Books
Thanks for the reasons to read this book. I do enjoy great characters and haven’t read one with discussions about life and death at funerals before (and you’ve more than peaked my interest on those conversations you mentioned). I’m really looking forward to reading this book.
I do not think I would survive reading this book. Sigh. So not for me :D But it looks so so pretty. <3 As always, lovely blog tour post Stacee :D
Good reasons to read, for sure. I think a lot of people don’t want to tackle grief, death, and especially suicide, but these things are part of real life and a book about suicide doesn’t typically glamorize it (as some people think). This sounds like a book I would really enjoy. Thanks for hosting.