The Beauty of the Moment by Tanaz Bhathena

I actually just bought a copy of A Girl Like That about two weeks ago because I’ve been wanting to read it for a while and haven’t had a chance to pick it up yet. While I haven’t read that one, I have read this book, and I thought it was such a sweet contemporary/romance. It was definitely what I needed – not exactly light and fluffy, but not too deep that it was one of those books that required all the thought in the world, either. It was such a wonderful read for the winter, sitting at home sipping hot chocolate under a blanket and getting lost in the world of Susan and Malcolm.

Susan is the new girl – uprooted from her home to a town in Canada, where she doesn’t feel she fits in at all. At school, she feels like she is the nerdy new girl, and at home, she misses her friends and the way her family used to be. Her father is still at their old come, constantly telling them that he will come to see them soon, but for now she should focus on her grades. However, Susan feels like something is definitely going on and there is a reason that her father has not quite made his way over to Canada yet.

Malcolm has been living in Canada for his entire life. He is known as one of the jokers in the class, a student who is always late, skips class, and doesn’t really take anything seriously. He has had trouble with his home life after losing his mother to cancer, and he and his father have come to blows already. His younger sister is the only person who really gets him and makes him feel appreciated. And then he meets Susan.

Susan and Malcolm do not have an instant connection. Rather, Susan tries to keep her mind off of Malcolm, and as the two of them start talking and forming a friendship that is not only unlikely but also uncertain, she realizes that she has a lot to learn about life. She confides in him about her biggest dreams of going to art school, the drama going on with her family, and how she feels out of place. Malcolm understands her, and confides in her about the grief he feels over losing his mother, the difficulty he has dealing with his father, and the trouble he is having at school.

“‘Nothing lasts forever,’ I say. ‘Not this snowflake. Not our homes, not our families. But id doesn’t mean you can’t live in the beauty of the moment.'”

Together, they learn about the world from a different perspective in this beautiful and moving contemporary from a talented author.

I really fell in love with the characters in this book. Both Susan and Malcolm are incredibly well written, from their personalities to their physical descriptions. I loved that there was so much character growth in this novel, as well. Both characters really changed a lot from the beginning to the end. If you know me, you know I love a good story with lots of character development, and this was definitely it for me!

The pacing was a little off at times – sometimes it seemed like single days would keep going on and on, and then weeks would pass and it would have sped up a lot. It wasn’t a deal breaker or  anything, I just found it kind of odd. That’s probably the only thing about this book that I have anything negative to say. The rest of it was just beautifully written and I loved it.

This was a really sweet book and I loved how everything kind of fell into place. I didn’t expect the ending, though – for some reason it just seemed different from what I was thinking was going to happen.

Still, if you want a nice warm contemporary to brighten up your dreary winter afternoon, The Beauty of the Moment is definitely a great choice!

Tanaz Bhathena was born in India and raised in Saudi Arabia and Canada. Her critically acclaimed novel A Girl Like That was nominated for the 2019 OLA White Pine Award and named a Best Book of 2018 by The Globe and Mail, CBC, Quill & Quire, Seventeen, PopSugar, and The Times of India among others. Her second novel The Beauty of the Moment releases on Feb 26 2019. Her short stories have appeared in various journals including Blackbird, Witness and Room.

A wanderer at heart, Tanaz can often be found travelling to different countries, learning bits and pieces of a foreign language, and taking way too many photographs. She loves slapstick comedies and any kind of music that makes her dance. She lives in the Toronto area with her family.

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Prize: Win a finished copy of THE BEAUTY OF THE MOMENT by Tanaz Bhathena (US Only)

Start Date: 19^th February 2019

Ending Date: 5^th March 2019

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