#BlogTour Toxic by Lucy V. Hay

 It's my turn to take part in the BlogTour Toxic by Lucy V. Hay.

About the Author

Lucy V. Hay is a novelist, script editor and blogger who helps writers via her Bang2write consultancy. Lucy is the producer of two Brit Thrillers, Deviation (2012) and Assassin (2015), as well as the script editor and advisor on numerous other features and shorts. 

Lucy's the author of Writing and Selling Thriller Screenplays for Kamera Books' "Creative Essentials" range, as well as its follow ups on Drama Screenplays and Diverse Characters for fiction as well as screenwriting. Her debut crime novel, The Other Twin, is now out with Orenda Books and has been featured in The Sun and Sunday Express Newspapers, plus Heatworld and Closer Magazine. 

Follow @LucyVHayAuthor On Twitter, on Facebook, on Instagram, on Goodreads, Visit lucyvhayauthor.com 

About the book

It was supposed to be a summer of fun. What came next was anything but … Jasmine is 17, a fitness freak and neurotic. Her best friend Olivia is Jasmine’s polar opposite: overweight and unfit, Olivia is happy in her own skin, despite trouble at home. Best friends since nursery school, Jasmine and Olivia have each other’s backs until the glamorous Ellie arrives in town. Rich and popular, Ellie is everything Jasmine is not … but has always wanted to be. 

Jasmine is soon caught in the middle between her childhood friend and the new Queen Bee. Hurt by her oldest friend’s lack of loyalty, Olivia starts keeping her secrets of her own. As the rivalry between Ellie and Olivia heats up, Jasmine will make a single, devastating choice that changes everything. Book #2 in the 'Intersection Series', Toxic explores the lethal nature of fake friendship and is perfect for fans of Lauren Oliver’s 'Before I Fall' or Laurie Halse Anderson’s 'Wintergirls'.

Review

Jasmine is seventeen and her biggest problem is having to deal with two friends who can't stand the sight of each other. Being between them and having to choose either Olivia or Ellie makes life incredibly difficult for Jasmine, and it also means having to hurt people she is supposed to be ride or die with. 

What the alternate timelines and Groundhog Day scenario shine a light on is the often vacuous impulsivity and shallow reasoning behind the choices made by teenagers. One of those choices can mean the difference between life or death, pain or happiness. Such is the world of not yet adult humans.

This didn't hit the spot for me. If I hadn't read prior work by this author, which is far superior from a plot, storytelling and world-building perspective, it would perhaps be a different story. The premise of parallel timelines with the same characters experiencing the same day and similar circumstances with alternative endings, is actually an interesting one.

With a bit more finesse it could be so much better, and the same premise applied to a non YA crime scenario for instance, could potentially be a great read.

It's a Young Adult read with an element of speculative sci-fi, the second book in the Intersection series.

Buy Toxic at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Littwitz Press; Illustrated edition pub date 10 Jan. 2019. Buy at Amazon com.