Blog Tour + Review + Giveaway: The Seven Torments of Amy and Craig (A Love Story) by Don Zolidis

Title: The Seven Torments of Amy and Craig (A Love Story)
Author: Don Zolidis
Release Date: October 2, 2018
Pages: 352
Format: ARC Paperback
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary

           

Janesville, Wisconsin (cold in the sense that there is no God)
1994
The worst thing that's ever happened to Craig is also the best: Amy. Amy and Craig never should've gotten together. Craig is an awkward, Dungeons & Dragons-playing geek, and Amy is the beautiful, fiercely intelligent student-body president of their high school. Yet somehow they did. Until Amy dumped him. Then got back together with him. Then dumped him again. Then got back together with him again. Over and over and over. Unfolding during their senior year, Amy and Craig's exhilarating, tumultuous relationship is a kaleidoscope of joy, pain, and laughter as an uncertain future-and adult responsibility-loom on the horizon. Craig fights for his dream of escaping Janesville and finding his place at a quirky college, while Amy's quest to uncover her true self sometimes involves being Craig's girlfriend?and sometimes doesn't. Seven heartbreaks. Seven joys.Told nonsequentially, acclaimed playwright Don Zolidis's debut novel is a brutally funny, bittersweet taste of the utterly unique and utterly universal experience of first love.

 

This book completely surprised me. I really didn't know what to expect, especially when on the first page, front and center, the author warns you that even though this is a love story, there is no HEA. But I absolutely loved it!!!

Don Zolidis is a new-to-me-author and I will definitely be reading more from him. There are so many strong aspects/concepts to this story including the small-town setting, the authentic friendships, the rax and powerful emotions that come from family relationships, and the struggles and beauty that comes from your first love in high school.

Craig is the main character and he immediately breaks the fourth wall (what we call in the theater world when he speaks directly to the reader). This sometimes bothers me but somehow, this story absolutely called for it because he is funny, awkward, and is ironically self-aware - including giving us a glimpse into being the less popular and nerdier twin brother of a sister who doesn't seem to possess his same issues. When in fact, that's what I think this story did really well.

In high school, somehow we're all under the impression that we're unique snowflakes and our problems are all our own when in the end, everyone is going through the same growing pains. I love that the story took place in the mid-90's and that there is a "landline" in the house because I vividly remember my parents having a strict no-using-the-phone-to-take-late-night-phone-call rule.

Then we have Amy - who breaks up with Craig multiple times i.e. just one of the torments in his life. I didn't really connect with Amy until the story got going and especially towards the end. Overall, I thought the character arcs were executed fantastically. I highly recommend this one.

As always, happy reading!

My name is Don Zolidis and I'm a playwright, novelist, and former middle and high school teacher. I write comedies and dramas, although at the moment I seem to be mostly known for my comedies. As of March 2017, I've published 97 plays which have been produced over 10,500 times in 61 countries. You might also have seen my work on the forensics circuit, where I am as popular as grilled cheese sandwiches.

Professionally, my work has appeared at the Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Phoenix Theatre, The Bloomington Playwrights Project, Dallas HUB Theatre, the Purple Rose Theatre, The Victory Theatre Center, Mirror Stage Ensemble, Expanded Arts NYC, Tinfish Theatre, Studio 360, and many other places. I'm also working on numerous commissions at the moment.

My first novel, The Seven Torments of Amy and Craig (A Love Story) will be published by Disney-Hyperion in the fall of 2018. A second book should be forthcoming in 2019.

Please feel free to browse this site, look at the samples of the plays, and find ways to buy them. (my babies need money for college!) There are a few that aren't published so you can contact me directly to get those. If you're looking to use scenes or monologues for classwork or auditions, those are free to download and use.

I also have a beautiful family and two wonderful sons, Michael and Eric, who rock.

If you are interested in professional rights to some of my work, please contact my agent, Elaine Devlin at edevlinlit@aol.com


And please follow me on twitter at @donzolidis.

WE'LL BE RUNNING A GIVEAWAY FOR ONE FINISHED HARDCOVER COPY OF THE BOOK (COMPLIMENTS OF THE PUBLISHER) THIS WEEK ON OUR IG SO LOOK FOR DETAILS.

**U.S. ONLY**

OUR HANDLE ON IG:

@OWLALWAYSBEREADING

GOOD LUCK!