The Pros of Cons: Review + Blog Tour Contest

Today’s review is part of the official blog tour. Be sure to keep reading for your chance to win a copy of the book!

A tribute to fandom, friendship, and the fun that can happen when you let loose, The Pros of Cons by Alison Cherry, Lindsay Ribar and Michelle Schusterman is as hilarious as it is charming.

Drummer Phoebe Byrd prides herself on being one of the guys, and she’s ready to prove it by kicking all their butts in the snare solo competition at the Indoor Percussion Association Convention.

Writer Vanessa Montoya-O’Callaghan has been looking forward to the WTFcon for months. Not just because of the panels and fanfiction readings but because WTFcon is where she’ll finally meet Soleil, her internet girlfriend, for the first time.

Taxidermy assistant Callie Buchannan might be good at scooping brains out of deer skulls, but that doesn’t mean it’s her passion. Since her parents’ divorce, her taxidermist father only cares about his work, and assisting him at the World Taxidermy and Fish-Carving Championships is the only way Callie knows to connect with him.

When a crazy mix-up in the hotel lobby brings the three girls together, they form an unlikely friendship against a chaotic background of cosplay, competition, and carcasses!

I adored this sweet book about three teen girls, who form an unlikely bond when they meet at a conference hotel playing host to a multitude of coinciding events.

The story is told in alternating chapters from each girl’s perspective. Each girl is so well developed, that individually they could easily star in their own book — but with their stories combined here, the result is a truly delightful romp through these various conferences, offered through different lenses and providing a little something for everyone. Much as I loved Callie and Vanessa, I probably related to Phoebe the most – having been in choir and orchestra as a teen, and having been to these types of music conference/competitions (and having done the whole flirt/make-out with a fellow musician in the hotel room thing).

This trio of authors really captured their individual characters so well, but their stories flowed together beautifully — and the ultimate message of camaraderie and supporting one another was truly uplifting.

Fun, funny, and heartfelt, look for The Pros of Cons in stores now.

Find it: Amazon | B&N | iBooks| TBD | Goodreads

About Allison:

I grew up in Evanston, IL, then went to Harvard and got a degree in photography. (Yes, that is possible. Although they like to call the visual arts “Visual and Environmental Studies,” for some unknown reason.) Then I spent the next three years as a freelance lighting designer for various theaters throughout the Northeast. Eventually, I got tired of hanging out on ladders and wrestling with faulty electrical equipment for 80 hours a week while getting paid almost nothing, so I spent the next four years working as a photographer for the Metropolitan Opera. Now I live in Brooklyn with my two kitties, Vivian and Sophia, and write full-time. I’m represented by Holly Root at Root Literary.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

About Lindsay:

Lindsay Ribar lives in New York City, where she works in book publishing by day and writes YA novels by night. She attends far too many concerts, watches far too much nerdy TV, and consumes fanfiction like it’s made out of chocolate. She is fond of wine, cheese, and countries where they speak English but with really cool accents. Oh, and she has a Harry Potter tattoo.

Website | Twitter | Goodreads

About Michelle:

Michelle Schusterman is the alleged author of less than one hundred books for kids and teens, most of which are not published under a secret pseudonym, and all of which include various characters. She lives on a steamboat with her pet crawfish, unless she’s lying, in which case she lives among the spiders beneath the stage at the Metropolitan Opera, unless that’s another lie, in which case she lives in an apartment in Queens with her chocolate lab, who can talk.

Website | Instagram | Goodreads