Blog Tour Review: Rite of Rejection by Sarah Negovetich

Rite of Rejection by Sarah Negovetich

Straight-laced, sixteen-year-old Rebecca can’t wait for her Acceptance. A fancy ball, eligible bachelors, and her debut as an official member of society. Instead, the Machine rejects Rebecca. Labeled as a future criminal, she’s shipped off to a life sentence in a lawless penal colony.

A life behind barbed wire fences with the world’s most dangerous people terrifies Rebecca. She reluctantly joins a band of misfit teens in a risky escape plan, complete with an accidental fiancé she’s almost certain she can learn to love.

But freedom comes with a price. To escape a doomed future and prove her innocence Rebecca must embrace the criminal within.

Available now at Amazon, B&N, Kobo & iTunes

Review:

The Good

The concept of this story is fantastic. In the beginning, I was wondering how it would really feel to go to a ball with dance cards and attempt to meet your future mate, or be assigned someone at a certain age if you couldn't find one. It reminds me a bit of Mulan. For the modern woman, that is mind-boggling enough, but then trying to imagine what life would be like if you were stripped away from your family and thrown into a prison for crimes you've yet committed, is definitely something that had me contemplating how I would feel in the same situation. 

Becca as a main character in this one makes sense to me. She's grown up in this world that molds women to be a wife and she's quite mild-mannered and follows the rules. She grows as a character the way that you would expect and is really the one that you come to know and can connect with the most as a reader. Do you get frustrated with her at times? Sure, but I get frustrated with myself for my own choices sometimes too.

The writing doesn't gloss over hard issues and circumstances and parts of it were hard to read, but that's why it felt more real. 

I loved that everything was not as it seemed. When an author can surprise me in any way, it's great.

The Bad

I was left wanting more information. I also really wanted a more in-depth look at the world and The Cardinal.

I love secondary characters in stories, and Rite of Rejection didn't have those well cultivated sidekicks that I enjoy so much.

Also, as a mother, I had the HARDEST time accepting that these parents just let the government steal their children away from them without wanting to rise up and do something about it. You don't mess with my child! However, this is a dystopian (I've had this problem with other reads before) and I have to remind myself that the way the characters work and the world they live in is supposed to be different than today's.

The Romance

There is romance. At one point it had me clenching my teeth because I thought I had a love-rectangle on my hands. It starts with very tiny things that I noticed in the writing hinting at different characters that build up, but things ended up being handled there nicely.

Conclusion

A very enjoyable story. I'm writing this immediately after finishing so I'm not sure how I feel about that ending. I also appreciate that Negovetich does surprise me. I would read a follow-up book. Recommended.

#RiteOfRejection Reader Survival Pack

Prize pack includes:

Chapter 17 tissues (because that's when you'll need them), a jumbo sized chocolate bar (a hot commodity inside the PIT), an orange scented candle (courtesy of Rebecca's fondest memory from home, a dandelion pen (as featured on the cover), hand-crafted Molly bag (these are used extensively by the main characters), and a $10 Amazon gift card.

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About the Author

Sarah Negovetich knows you don't know how to pronounce her name and she's okay with that.

Her first love is Young Adult novels, because at seventeen the world is your oyster. Only oysters are slimy and more than a little salty; it's accurate if not exactly motivational. We should come up with a better cliché.

Sarah divides her time between writing YA books that her husband won’t read and working with amazing authors as an agent at Corvisiero Literary Agency. Her life’s goal is to be only a mildly embarrassing mom when her kids hit their teens.

You can learn more about Sarah and her books at www.SarahNegovetich.com or follow her antics on Twitter @SarahNego.