Unscripted by Claire Handscombe ** Blog Tour Review**

Today we are looking at a book with a slight difference.

Claire Handscombe’s novel Unscripted is forthcoming from Unbound.

Unbound are an innovative, crowdfunding-based publisher who’ve produced best-sellers and award-winning books, like The Good Immigrant by Nikesh Shukla. Their model is based on Kickstarter-style pledges, and when a book reaches 100% of their funding, they kick in as a more-or-less traditional publisher. So when you pre-order a book, you’re actually helping to make it happen. You get thanked in the back for being part of the journey, and you can also get various rewards at different pledge levels. So if you like the sound of Unscripted, please consider supporting the book by pre-ordering it at Unbound.

Here's a little about the book: 

No-one is a bigger fan of actor Thomas Cassidy than Libby. No-one. That's why she's totally going to marry him.

She is going to write a novel, name the main character after Thom, and find a way to get it to him. Intrigued and flattered, he will read it, fall in love with her prose, write to her and ask to turn it into a movie. She will pretend to think about it for a week or so, then say, sure, but can I work on it with you? Their eyes will meet over the script, and fade to black. It is a fail-proof plan.

Except for the fact that he is a Hollywood star – not A list, perhaps not B list, but certainly C+ – and she is, well, not. Except for the fact that he lives in America. Except, too, for the teeny tiny age gap. Not even twenty years! Totally overcomable. All of the obstacles are totally overcomable. It's all about determination.

                                                                       My Thoughts

The most striking feature of Unscripted is that you follow the story through the perspectives of different characters. Although the story is centred on Libby, you see events through other characters eyes and it is interesting how your sympathies shift. I enjoyed the reflective style of writing and kept urging them on to see what was actually under their noses all the time!

   All of the main characters present a shell to the world and under the surface, they are actually different people.  No matter how much they may want to appear as being in control, we see them at times when they feel vulnerable and in need of support. Whether they can admit it is a different matter. Much of the story centres around whether they can admit their true feelings to themselves. As we discover, onlookers actually realise what is going on.

  I was carried along by the story and throughly enjoyed finding out what happened to all the characters. There is a difference between a fantasy life and reality as they discover eventually.

In short: reflective, revealing and at times, raw.

    

                                                                       About the Author 

Claire Handscombe is a British writer who moved to Washington, DC in 2012, ostensibly to study for an MFA, but actually, let's be honest, because of an obsession with The West Wing. (Like her main character Libby, she knows a thing or two about celebrity crushes and the life-changing power of a television series.) She was recently longlisted for the Bath Novel Award, and her journalism, poetry, and essays have appeared in a wide variety of publications, including Bustle, Book Riot, Writers' Forum, and the Washington Post. She is the host of the Brit Lit Podcast, a fortnightly show about news and views from British books and publishing.

You can follow Claire here: Twitter   |  Blog 

  

Claire's other book, Walk With Us: How The West Wing Changed Our Lives can be found here.

Book Link:Unbound

Thanks to Claire and Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for a copy of the book and a place on the tour. 

Check out the rest of the tour!