Happy Thursday and welcome to my stop on the All Eyes on Us blog tour!! I’m so excited because 1) this is such an AMAZING book and I’m so excited to be on the tour!!! and 2)today I have an interview with Kit Frick! So read on to find out which of her characters she most identifies with, what TV shows she thinks All Eyes on Us is most like, and what books Amanda and Rosalie are loving!!! Plus, enter to win a finished copy of All Eyes on Us!!!

All Eyes on Us by Kit Frick
Published on June 4, 2019 by Margaret K. McElderry Books
Genres: Contemporary, Thriller, YA, Queer
Pages: 384
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Pretty Little Liars meets People Like Us in this taut, tense thriller about two teens who find their paths intertwined when an anonymous texter threatens to spill their secrets and uproot their lives.

PRIVATE NUMBER: Wouldn’t you look better without a cheater on your arm? AMANDA: Who is this?

The daughter of small town social climbers, Amanda Kelly is deeply invested in her boyfriend, real estate heir Carter Shaw. He’s kind, ambitious, the town golden boy—but he’s far from perfect. Because behind Amanda’s back, Carter is also dating Rosalie.

PRIVATE NUMBER: I’m watching you, Sweetheart. ROSALIE: Who IS this?

Rosalie Bell is fighting to remain true to herself and her girlfriend—while concealing her identity from her Christian fundamentalist parents. After years spent in and out of conversion “therapy,” her own safety is her top priority. But maintaining a fake, straight relationship is killing her from the inside.

When an anonymous texter ropes Amanda and Rosalie into a bid to take Carter down, the girls become collateral damage—and unlikely allies in a fight to unmask their stalker before Private uproots their lives.

PRIVATE NUMBER: You shouldn’t have ignored me. Now look what you made me do…

Interview with Kit

Which of your characters do you identify the most with and why?

Thanks so much for having me, Kait! This question was deceptively difficult, because while there’s a bit of myself in all the characters in All Eyes on Us—I think that’s true for most of the characters I write, even the villains—there’s also so much in this cast of characters that is drawn from elsewhere. That being said, I probably identify most closely with Paulina, the girlfriend of MC Rosalie. I’ve been in a couple hard situations where people very close to me are making unhealthy choices, or staying in unhealthy relationships, and I’ve felt frustrated and powerless to help. I’m very familiar with that complicated mix of sympathy and anger and frustration that Pau feels when Rosalie won’t break things off with Carter, even though keeping up the pretense of a straight relationship is killing her from the inside.

How do you feel about LGBTQIA+ rep in your work and how important is it to you to write diverse characters and storylines?

Getting the LGBTQIA+ rep in All Eyes on Us right was front and center for me throughout the drafting and revision process. We’re in a time in YA when queer storylines have moved beyond coming out stories in contemporary realistic novels (which are of course very important in their own right) but now, teen readers can find queer characters in lead roles in sci-fi, thrillers, fantasy, and more. In recent YA thrillers specifically, I’ve loved Dana Mele’s People Like Us, Caleb Roherig’s Last Seen Leaving, Malinda Lo’s A Line in the Dark, and Derek Milman’s forthcoming Swipe Right for Murder, all of which center queer protagonists in thrilling mysteries. With All Eyes on Us, it’s encouraging and exciting to be a part of that space.

TV comp your book! (How would you pitch your book with tv shows?)

All Eyes on Us is six parts Pretty Little Liars, two parts Gossip Girl, one part Riverdale, and one part Nancy Drew (so excited for that!).

If Amanda and Rosalie were to hang out with characters from other YA books, who would they be and why?

Rosalie would love to grab coffee (or chai) with Rukhsana from Sabina Khan’s 2019 debut, The Love & Lies of Ruhksana Ali. When her conservative Muslim parents discover Ruhksana kissing her girlfriend Ariana, they rush her off to family in Bangladesh—to arrange her marriage to a man. Their religious backgrounds are quite different, but Rosalie and Rukhsana would have a lot to discuss.

Amanda would absolutely go to dinner with Hanna Marin from Sara Shepard’s Pretty Little Liars series. Both girls are “queen bees” who can be at turns mean and compassionate, and like Amanda, Hanna’s life isn’t easy or perfect. Hanna also deals with a difficult home situation and of course navigates stalking and escalating threats from “A.”

What would you do if you spent the day with Amanda and Rosalie? Where would you go to eat, hang out, relax, etc.?

First off, I’d love to grab hot dogs and fries with Amanda and Rosalie at the “O,” the classic Pittsburgh hot dog shop featured in All Eyes on Us. For dessert, we’d drive over to Morgantown, WV for apple dumplings at Apple Annie’s! Fun fact: the Golden Delicious apple originated in West Virginia (the girls’ home state).

What would Amanda and Rosalie’s favorite books be and why?

Amanda’s got her nose in Julie, ou la nouvelle Héloïse by Jean-Jacques Rousseau for French class, and Save the Date by Morgan Matson is her favorite YA contemporary because a girl needs some humor and romance!

Rosalie works at her local library branch in West Virginia, where she has access to all the queer YA contemporary stories her fundamentalist parents wouldn’t allow in the house. Right now, she’s devouring We Are Okay by Nina LaCour and Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan.

Thank you so much for answering my questions, Kit!

About the Author

Kit Frick is a novelist, poet, and MacDowell Colony fellow from Pittsburgh, PA. She studied creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College and received her MFA from Syracuse University. When she isn’t putting complicated characters in impossible situations, Kit edits poetry and literary fiction for a small press, edits for private clients, and mentors emerging writers through Pitch Wars. She is the author of the young adult novels See All the Stars and All Eyes on Us, out now from Simon & Schuster / Margaret K. McElderry Books, as well as the poetry collection A Small Rising Up in the Lungs from New American Press. A third YA thriller will follow in 2020.

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Giveaway

Enter here to win one finished copy of All Eyes on Us by Kit Frick!!! 

Fine Print:

US Only. Please note that if you win this giveaway on more than one blog, you will need to decline the second book or be disqualified. Good luck!