The Beauty of the Moment by Tanaz Bhathena Blog Tour

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I’m so excited to be joining in on The Beauty of the Moment blog tour along with PenguinTeen Canada today!

I’ll be sharing my review of the book as well as a mini Q&A with the author, Tanaz Bhathena!

The publisher kindly sent me a physical copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Susan is the new girl — she’s sharp and driven, and strives to meet her parents’ expectations of excellence. Malcolm is the bad boy — he started raising hell at age fifteen, after his mom died of cancer, and has had a reputation ever since.

Susan’s parents are on the verge of divorce. Malcolm’s dad is a known adulterer.

Susan hasn’t told anyone, but she wants to be an artist. Malcolm doesn’t know what he wants — until he meets her.

Love is messy and families are messier, but in spite of their burdens, Susan and Malcolm fall for each other. The ways they drift apart and come back together are testaments to family, culture, and being true to who you are.

The Beauty of the Moment Review

This is such a cute contemporary romance! The writing is fantastic and the story is just super adorable!

The Beauty of the Moment follows Susan who recently moved to Canada. She’s struggling to fit in her new country and her school. But she soon finds that it’s the perfect place to be.

The characters in this book are just lovely. They’re relatable, realistic and so enjoyable. She’s a great main character because she’s so down-to-earth! I think Susan’s desire to follow her dreams versus following the dreams of her parents is something everyone can relate to.

Malcolm is also a great character. He’s extremely troubled, and understandably so. But his connection with Susan is incredibly sweet. The ‘bad boy’ and the ‘good girl’ vibes totally work with these two characters.

The story itself flows really nice! It’s a calming story with a great pace that always has you reaching for the next page. I really feel like it’s a book so many people can relate to, whether they’re in high school or not. I definitely attribute that feeling to Tanaz Bhathena’s writing!

The last thing I absolutely loved about this book is the setting. It’s based outside of Toronto, Ontario – which is local for me. So many of the places are familiar to me, or I’ve actually been to. It’s just such a fun element to an already enjoyable story!

Overall, I highly recommend The Beauty of the Moment. It’s the perfect contemporary romance book that leaves you smiling. I will definitely be checking out more of Tanaz Bhathena’s books in the future!

Rating: ★★★★☆

Favourite Quote
And, in the split second before she looks away, she gives me a smile that stays with me for the rest of the afternoon.

Q&A with Tanaz Bhathena

What inspired you to write this book?

My parents and I moved from India to Saudi Arabia when I was pretty young. When I turned sixteen, we immigrated to Canada and The Beauty of the Moment is inspired by my own journey of immigrating as a teenager from the Middle East to North America. Susan’s struggles to meet with her parents’ expectations also mirror my own. I knew I wanted to write books by the time I was thirteen, but my parents wanted me to follow a more traditional career path and become an accountant.

Without spoilers, what is your favourite part of this book? Is it a character, a specific quote, a scene?

Oh, there are many! My absolute favourite part of the book is when Malcolm and his maternal uncle, Mancher, have a conversation about love and romance. Here’s a non-spoilery quote from that scene:

“This is your heart It is not made of glass. Your heart is made of muscle, tough and resilient It’s strong enough to weather most things, including emotional storms.”

How was the writing procress of your second book compared to your debut, A Girl Like That?

My debut took 10 years to get published for various reason, so in comparison, the time to get my second novel out was much shorter! However, The Beauty of the Moment had its own set of challenges. After years of writing dark, realistic fiction, I had a hard time transitioning to a lighter story. I had to remind myself to let the plot unfold organically without adding unnecessary twists or drama — and that there is also beauty in simplicity.

About the Author

Tanaz Bhathena was born in Mumbai and raised in Riyadh, Jeddah and Toronto. She is the winner of the 2009 Marty for Emerging Literary Arts, a semi-finalist for the 2013 Jeffrey Archer Short Story Challenge and the Readers’ Choice pick for the 2015 U of T Magazine Short Story Contest. Her short stories have appeared in various journals. Her debut YA novel, A Girl Like That, will be published by Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers/Macmillan in the winter of 2018.

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