Review: DELLA SAYS: OMG! by Keris Stainton **** + GIVEAWAY!

Della’s over the moon when she kisses her long-standing crush at a party – but then she discovers her diary has disappeared...
When scans of embarrassing pages are sent to her mobile and appear on Facebook, Della’s distraught – how can she enjoy her first proper romance when someone, somewhere, knows all her deepest, darkest secrets?

I've been wanting to read this book ever since I first came across it months ago so I was very excited when Keris asked me to be a part of her blog tour - you can read my interview with her here. It took a while for my copy to arrive (that's what happens when you live in the Middle of Nowhere), but in the mean time a whole bunch of very positive reviews started popping up all over the internet and I knew I was in for a treat!

The idea behind the book explores everyone's worst nightmare (well, almost) - I kept an embarassing diary too when I was a teenager and I know I'd be absolutely mortified if someone stole it and started posting it everywhere, eeeek! Sadly, this happened to Della, but after the initial shock she coped with it quite well with the help of her best friend Maddy and her lovely boyfriend Dan (who was honestly adorable and just awesome!).

I thought the book captured really well what being teenager is really like - falling in love for the first time, sex, family problems, mean girls at school, friendships, parties etc. The novel had its serious moments (especially towards the end), but I thought it was a fun and a rather positive read.

The writing is simple and the plot isn't too complex either, but the characters are fabulous! I loved Della and Maddy's friendship and even though they're quite different in character (I found Maddy to be more of a wild child and Della more of a good girl), they're both great and teenagers will easily relate to them and their problems. DanTheMan is the type of boyfriend every girl dreams of (well, unless you're into bad boys :p) - incredibly understanding and supportive and gentle and cute and fun etc. Furthermore, Della's parents were fantastic (and hilarious) too and I loved how their family wasn't just another dysfunctional one - it was a nice change from most of the YA novels.

All in all, this was a quick, but a rather enjoyable read. I really reminded me of Audrey, Wait by Robin Benway since both books are about being a teenager and they feature first love, teenage problems, awesome BFFs and fab parents - plus they're both so much fun to read! Lastly, I love the cover too, it's quite simple but powerful and yet cute & fun - just like the book itself! :)

overall rating:
plot: 4/5 | writing: 3/5 | characters: 4/5 | cover: 4/5

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And now it's time for another GIVEAWAY - don't you just love those? :D Well, I ended up with an extra copy of DELLA SAYS: OMG! so I figured I might as well give one away and give one lucky reader a chance to enjoy this great debut!

Here are the rules:

• the giveaway is open internationally;
• it ends on May 31st;
• to enter, just fill out this form;
• you can increase your chances to win with extra entries - you'll find all the relevant info on the form itself.

Any more questions? Fire away! Good luck! :)