YA Reads Book Tours Presents: A Life Redefined...A Rowan Slone Novel

Title:  A Life Redefined
(Rowan Slone #1)
Author:  Tracey Hewitt Meyer
Format:  ERC
Length:  200 pages
Publisher:   Cerulean Publishing 
Rating:  5 Stars

Seven years ago, an innocent act by Rowan Slone turned her life into a nightmare. Since the age of ten she's lived with the burden of her baby brother's death. Now she is seventeen and all she wants to do is graduate high school, go to college, and escape the loveless family she has endured all these years—the same family that holds her responsible for his death. But no one holds her responsible more than herself.

When long-time crush Mike Anderson invites her to the Prom, suddenly her future looks brighter. Rowan's younger sister, Trina, however, is determined to ruin her new-found happiness, no matter the cost. And when Rowan discovers her mother’s long-held secret, she finds herself teetering on the edge of an abyss. Can Rowan find the strength to move toward the future or is she doomed to dwell in the past?  -Goodreads




My Thoughts

This is a very hard book to stomach.
The reason for this being that main character, Rowan Slone, is made to be the scapegoat for all of her family's many dysfunctions. A problem, it seems that has been going on for so long that it has become an institutionalized coping mechanism for people doing anything but.

Her father is a corrections officer at the local prison, and her mother, a depressed and food addicted housewife, who can't seem to find her way out of bed most days.
Add to this max, a spoiled younger sister, determined to have her way at all costs, and more than happy to not only blame Rowan for her mistakes, but bring trouble to Rowan's friends.

How Rowan manages to make it to her junior year of high school, with good grades, friends, and even a boyfriend in senior, soccer star, Mike Anderson, is a question for the ages.

Her only vice...
The little red lines that score her skin when the pain and blame of her caged life become to much to bear.

This is a wonderfully crafted and truly heartfelt story of one person's quest to not only survive her past, but to strive toward her future.
It has to be said that this is book one in a series.
Though it may be read as a standalone, the questions as to the direction of Rowan's future.

Reviewer's Note:
Though the main catalyst for the majority of Rowan's pain lies in the loss of her brother Aidan.
This can not be said to be her most pressing one.
It is however, the one that seems to haunt her.

About this author

I write YA fiction. When I need variety, I write paranormal and contemporary adult romance. Reading is not an obsession, it's a need - like air, food, love. Award-winning, A Life, Redefined and A Life, Forward-Books 1 and 2 in the Rowan Slone Series-are available now. You can find them on amazon. The final novel in this series, A Life, Freed, will release the end of 2014.

The world can overwhelm me, but, like many highly sensitive people (HSPs), I've managed to adapt and make my way through. It's not always easy. It's not always pretty. But it's my life.

I love to write almost as much as I love to read. Sometimes more. Life is a story. Hang on and enjoy the ride!

Cheers, Tracy


The Tour:
November 7th
Rockin’ Book Reviews – Review Book 1
November 8th
The Phantom Paragrapher - Review Book 3
Blissful Book Reviews - Promo Post
November 9th
Archaeolibrarian – I dig good books! – Review Book 1
Krys Fenner - Review Book 1
November 10th
Mythical Books - Guest Post
November 11th
Fiction Dreams - Interview
Infinity reads – Review Book 1
November 12th
WTF Are You Reading? – Review Book 1
November 13th
SleepsOnTables - Review Books 1
November 14th
The Nerd Herd Reads – Review Book 2
November 15th
Archaeolibrarian – I dig good books! - Review Book 2
November 16th
WTF Are You Reading? – Review Book 2
November 17th
Mystical Lit Lounge - Review Book 3
November 18th
The Nerd Herd Reads - Review Book 3
November 19th
NaYa Books and More - Guest Post
The Book Lovers’ Lounge – Review Book 1
November 20th
Vacious Hobo – Review Book 1
November 21st
Just One More Chapter – Review Book 1
November 22nd
Adventures in Reading – Review Book 3
November 23rd
WTF Are You Reading? – Review Book 3
November 24th
For The Love – Promo Post
November 25th
Just One More Chapter – Review Book 2
All My Book Finds – Promo Post
November 26th
Archaeolibrarian – I dig good books! - Review Book 3
The Book Lovers’ Lounge – Review Book 2
November 27th
Book Lovers Life - Promo Post
SleepsOnTables - Review Book 2
November 28th
Cassandra M’s Place – Promo Post
November 29th
YaReads – Interview
November 30th
Just One More Chapter – Review Book 3
Imaginative Dreams – Review All 3 Books
December 1st
platypire reviews – Review Book 2
Elizabeth Delana Rosa – Promo Post
December 2nd
platypire reviews – Review Book 3
December 3rd
M&EM Read YA - Promo Post
The Book Lovers’ Lounge - Review Book 3
December 4th
The Caffeinated Booknerd – Review all 3 books
Mystical Lit Lounge - Guest Post
I Feel the Need, the Need to Read – Review all 3 books