Book Corner - The Keysmash Blog

As a South Asian Muslim woman myself, I was beyond excited to get my hands on Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin, a delightful love story featuring a bold, brilliant and ambitious young Muslim protagonist, two competing rival halal restaurants, and a diverse cast of colored characters. I have to admit, this is definitely going to be one of the best book of 2021. Hana Khan Carries On takes all the things you love in a romantic-comedy and gives it a refreshing new twist.

Thank you so much Colored Pages Tour for having me as a tour host for this amazing book, and to Atlantic Books for sending me a review copy. Read on below for my full review (or get the TL;DR version here) & participate in an exclusive giveaway to win ONE FINISHED COPY OF Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin.

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Book Corner, Bookish News & Releases, Other Bookish Stuff, Uncategorized

Blog Tour: In The Shadow Of The Cities by Laurel Solorzano [Excerpt + Giveaway]

June 6, 2021 tanazmasaba

A young adult dystopian novel with a unique premise: instead of pitching your main characters to rebel against an oppressive government, you have a main character who is guarding it. In The Shadow Of The Cities by Laurel Solorzano is a fresh take on a much beloved genre.

Thank you Rockstar Book Tours for having me as a tour host for this book. Read on below to get an exclusive sneak peek into In The Shadow Of The Cities and grab your chance to win a copy by entering the giveaway below.

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Book Corner, Home, Other Bookish Stuff

Blog Tour: Battle Of The Bullies By Fenix Blue [Excerpt + Giveaway]

June 6, 2021 tanazmasaba

A story about three sisters in high school who are trying to survive bullying and overcoming their personal trauma? It’s not easy to explore such sensitive and important issues, but Fenix Blue does it masterfully in her novel Battle Of The Bullies. I am only half-way through my copy of the book, and I am absolutely in love with the Robertson sisters who have been through so much pain and still refuse to give in.

Blog Tour: Battle Of The Bullies By Fenix Blue

Thank you Rockstar Book Tours for choosing me as a tour host for this book. I can’t wait to share my full review once I am done reading. In the meantime, check out an exclusive sneak peak for Battle Of The Bullies by Fenix Blue below, and enter an exclusive international giveaway.

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Blog Tour: Crystal’s House Of Queers By Brooke Skipstone [Exclusive International Giveaway]

May 27, 2021 tanazmasaba

A story about a group of queer girls who want to create a safe house for other LGBTQ+ teenagers and outcasts so they can protect themselves and take pride in their identity? Hell, yes! Crystal’s House Of Queers by Brooke Skipstone sounds like the perfect, wholesome LGBTQ romance for me.

Thank you Xpresso Book Tours for having me as a tour host for this book. I will share my review for this book as soon as I am done with it. In the meantime, check out the full synopsis below and enter an exclusive giveaway for the chance to win $25 Amazon gift card (open internationally)!

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Book Corner, Home, Other Bookish Stuff

Blog Tour: The Monster Keeps Me Safe By Kitty Thomas [$200 Grand Giveaway]

May 24, 2021 tanazmasaba

I am a HUGE fan of Kitty Thomas. I fell in love with her books ever since I picked up Comfort Food, which is honestly one of the most phenomenal books I have read on sexual slavery and Stockholm Syndrome. Normally, I stray far away from dark erotica or non-consensual romance, because I think it takes a lot of skill to handle such subjects without being insensitive to victims of abuse.

But, you see, this is where Kitty Thomas shines. Most of her books are dark and gritty and quite disturbing, and although they all belong in the romance genre, she never actually romanticizes the abuse because she never excuses the actions of the abusers in her stories.

And that’s why I cannot wait to get my hands on The Monster Keeps Me Safe. It was previously published under the name Tabula Rasa, but the content remains the same; only the cover art and title has been changed. Thank you Xpresso Book Tours for having me as a tour host for this book.

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Book Corner, Home, Reviews, Young Adult

Review: Unravel The Dusk by Elizabeth Lim (The Blood Of Stars #2)

May 22, 2021July 30, 2022 tanazmasaba

Important Note: This is a review for the second book in the The Blood Of Stars duology by Elizabeth Lim, and therefore may contain spoilers from the first book, Spin The Dawn. If you have not read Spin The Dawn yet, check out my review of it here.

Spin The Dawn by Elizabeth Lim blew me away; it was a phenomenal and captivating young adult fantasy novel that I absolutely adored and could not put down even for a minute. And after the epic cliffhanger ending of the first book, I had high expectations for the sequel, Unravel The Dusk.

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Book Tour + Blitz: Twin River High Series By Lynn Rush And Kelly Anne Blount

May 16, 2021 tanazmasaba

The Twin River High series has been on my to-be-read list for a while now. I was hooked by the premise of the first book and knew I had to get my hands on it as soon as possible (Covid-19 lockdown being the only reason why I haven’t been able to get it yet).

Book Tour + Blitz: Twin River High Series By Lynn Rush And Kelly Anne Blount

I mean the premise of the first book, Gutter Girl, was enough to get me hyped up. A football jock who secretly writes fantasy romance? An anti-social goth girl who takes the credit and saves him from potential humiliation? And then the two start to fall in love? YES PLEASE! It sounds like the perfect cheesy rom-com YA fluff that you’d want to read and relax to.

So of course when I heard that a blog tour was being hosted for this series, I knew I wanted to be a part of it. Thank you Xpresso Book Tours for having me as a tour host for this book.

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Home, Book Corner, Reviews, Young Adult

Review: Spin The Dawn By Elizabeth Lim (Blood Of Stars #1)

May 13, 2021July 30, 2022 tanazmasaba

Having read some of my friend’s raving reviews about Spin The Dawn by Elizabeth Lim, I knew before going in that I would love this book. What I didn’t expect was to fall head over heels for this story, and finish all 400 pages in one night.

But that’s the magic of Spin The Dawn for you. Enchantingly beautiful and indulgent, Spin The Dawn is essentially a Young Adult fairy tale that will sweep you off your feet.

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Book Corner, Bookish News & Releases, Home, Other Bookish Stuff, Thriller, Young Adult

Blog Tour: Whisper By Tracy Bilen

May 9, 2021 tanazmasaba

Whipser by Tracy Bilen Book Blitz Xpresso Tours

I am thrilled to be a blog tour host for Whisper by Tracy Bilen, which just got released yesterday on May 8th! I’ll be sharing my review of this book very soon; for now take an exclusive sneak peek into this new YA thriller novel.

Thank you Xpresso Book Tours for having me as a tour host for this book.

Stop him

After her friend Samantha is murdered, seventeen-year-old Olivia is the only one who still hears her voice.

Years ago, Jacob closed his eyes. In a park. Playing hide-and-seek. His little brother is still missing. And Jacob’s mom is the FBI agent who couldn’t find him.

Now Jacob has dreams he can’t explain. And draws faces of those about to die.
In a town terrorized by a serial killer, Jacob meets Olivia. Sparks ignite. Their flame burns bright.

Until the voice in Olivia’s head echoes the warning in Jacob’s dream…

You’re next.

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Book Corner, Home, Other Bookish Stuff, Young Adult

Blog Tour: Runaway Train By Lee Mathew Goldberg [Exclusive Giveaway + Sneak Peak]

April 27, 2021 tanazmasaba

I am thrilled to be sharing my first blog tour post for Runaway Train by Lee Mathew Goldberg. Thank you so much YA Bound Book Tours for choosing me to be a host for this blog tour.

Set in the 90’s, Runaway Train follows the journey of 16-year-old Nico as she tries to come to terms with the loss of her sibling and find meaning in her life.

If you are looking for a heartfelt, coming-of-age YA novel, then check out this exclusive giveaway + sneak peak of Runaway Train.

They told me I was an out-of-control train about to crash…

Everything changed when the police officer knocked on the door to tell me – a 16-year-old – that my older sister Kristen had died of a brain aneurysm. Cue the start of my parents neglecting me and my whole life spiraling out of control.

I decided now was the perfect time to skip town. It’s the early 90’s, Kurt Cobain runs the grunge music scene and I just experienced some serious trauma. What’s a girl supposed to do? I didn’t want to end up like Kristen, so I grabbed my bucket list, turned up my mixtape of the greatest 90’s hits and fled L.A.. The goal was to end up at Kurt Cobain’s house in Seattle, but I never could have guessed what would happen along the way.

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At turns heartbreaking, inspiring, and laugh out loud funny, Runaway Train is a wild journey of a bygone era and a portrait of a one-of-a-kind teenage girl trying to find herself again the only way she knows how.

Buy Runaway Train By Lee Mathew Goldberg

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored a post, and I am not an affiliate. I do not receive any financial gain from promoting this book. I am only doing my part to support the author as a host for this blog tour.

Enter The Giveaway To Win A Signed Copy Of Runaway Train By Lee Mathew Goldberg [US Only]

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Sneak Peak: Read Exclusive Excerpt From Runaway Train By Lee Mathew Goldberg

Check out this exclusive sneak peak of the first chapter from Lee Mathew Goldberg’s Runaway Train.

Dead & Bloated – Stone Temple Pilots

My sister Kristen died the same day as the actor River Phoenix, October 31^st, 1993, he from a drug overdose in the middle of the night outside the Viper Room, her on an early morning run through Laurel Canyon, two days before her seventeenth birthday—and a happy fucking Halloween to me. There I was, dressed up in costume as D’arcy, the bassist from Smashing Pumpkins: oversized baggy striped sweater, dyed blond hair, a dab of red lips and blue eye shadow, and a broken bass guitar slung around my shoulder that I didn’t know how to play anyway, watching the news where I saw River’s lean body, which I had imagined climbing on top of me multiple times, being hauled away on a stretcher, when the doorbell rang and a police officer asked if my parents were home.

“Er…no,” I said, running through my mind the millions of bad things I may have done. That strappy dress I’d shoplifted, the bag of dirt I sold to a freshman pretending it was weed.

“Are you a relative of Kristen Sullivan?”

Kristen? What could the police want with perfect Kristen?

“Yeah. Her sister.”

“I am sorry to tell you this, but your sister has died.”

About The Author

Lee Matthew Goldberg is the author of the novels THE ANCESTOR, THE MENTOR, THE DESIRE CARD and SLOW DOWN.

He has been published in multiple languages and nominated for the Prix du Polar. His first YA series RUNAWAY TRAIN is forthcoming in 2021 along with a sci-fi novel ORANGE CITY.

After graduating with an MFA from the New School, his writing has also appeared in The Millions, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, LitReactor, Monkeybicycle, Fiction Writers Review, Cagibi, Necessary Fiction, the anthology Dirty Boulevard, The Montreal Review, The Adirondack Review, The New Plains Review, Underwood Press & sevral others.

He is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of Fringe, dedicated to publishing fiction that’s outside-of-the-box. His pilots and screenplays have been finalists in Script Pipeline, Book Pipeline, Stage 32, We Screenplay, the New York Screenplay, Screencraft, and the Hollywood Screenplay contests. He is the co-curator of The Guerrilla Lit Reading Series and lives in New York City.