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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
Soooooo........interesting ideas, though not well-realized. I mean, the writing is super pedestrian and the basis of it is unrealistically "easy." Too too easy for it to "work out," ya know. But I think my students might dig it.
EB
Something was just missing from this book. Sometimes the change of perspectives can be confusing and paragraphs can be long-winded. Dialogue was eh...
Okay read.
Something was just missing from this book. Sometimes the change of perspectives can be confusing and paragraphs can be long-winded. Dialogue was eh...
Okay read.
I do not understand the title of this book. It doesn’t go with the story. Immaturely written and repetitive. Parents are awful, everyone could see that! And no way is anyone sleeping in the attic in George. Major heat stroke.
You can foreshadow where this story is going and with that title, was hoping it would NOT be a HEA ending. Elle is the good girl, the daughter of the governor while Drix is the bad boy who served time in juvie. Their worlds collide when her father's program is the pathway for Drix to overcome his past and being a better person.
Throughout the story we get chapters from Drix and Elle, which took a moment to get used to this style. Most of it is typical of forbidden relationships, how Elle is suppose to be the perfect daughter, conforming to what image is needed for the media to get her father's vote and Drix's we see how being poor and absent parents really did a number on him.
I was hoping up until about 80% that the title would mean they went and lived separate lives but NOPE, it is wrapped up prettly neatly and happy at the end.
Throughout the story we get chapters from Drix and Elle, which took a moment to get used to this style. Most of it is typical of forbidden relationships, how Elle is suppose to be the perfect daughter, conforming to what image is needed for the media to get her father's vote and Drix's we see how being poor and absent parents really did a number on him.
I was hoping up until about 80% that the title would mean they went and lived separate lives but NOPE, it is wrapped up prettly neatly and happy at the end.
It was good, but it had nothing on Katie's other books. Like NBH was a step down from PTL, SYRM was a step down from NBH. Unfortunately, "boy with bad past full of sex, drugs, alcohol, and mild violence" meets "girl with uptight parents who don't care for her wishes, and is lacking in life experience" can only be done so many times. Noah and Echo were a little different in the way that Noah did "have it all" and Echo was mentally ill (still my favourite fictional couple) and I liked how Ryan and Beth were flipped. The same can be said of Chevy and Violet in the sense that they had a history since childhood. Drix and Elle were basically carbon copies of Rachel/Isaiah, Breanna/Razor, Lila/Lincoln, and Emily/Oz.
It'd be a refreshing change to see the protagonists be more equal in that respect - I get that opposites attract, but so do similarities. It'd be great to see a female protagonist who has also lost her virginity, been out drinking, and so on. Perhaps two foster kids meet each other. Perhaps they'll be each other's second, third, fourth, etc serious relationship but the one where they know they've met The One.
That's not to say I didn't like the book. Drix, Elle, Axle, Holiday, Marcus, and so on were all enjoyable characters. I enjoyed seeing them change and become closer. I especially liked Holiday. If I read this book without reading Katie's other works I would have LOVED it. Having read her other books, I can say I've read this book before - many, many times.
It'd be a refreshing change to see the protagonists be more equal in that respect - I get that opposites attract, but so do similarities. It'd be great to see a female protagonist who has also lost her virginity, been out drinking, and so on. Perhaps two foster kids meet each other. Perhaps they'll be each other's second, third, fourth, etc serious relationship but the one where they know they've met The One.
That's not to say I didn't like the book. Drix, Elle, Axle, Holiday, Marcus, and so on were all enjoyable characters. I enjoyed seeing them change and become closer. I especially liked Holiday. If I read this book without reading Katie's other works I would have LOVED it. Having read her other books, I can say I've read this book before - many, many times.
This was a good romance as is usual from Katie McGarry. She is one of the authors that is on my automatic reading list...anything that comes out from her will be read. I love recommending her books to my high school students. I really liked the characters in this story and think a lot of my high school students could relate to them very well.
I was lucky enough to meet Katie last year and was a huge fan of her newest book at that time and felt honored to have that time with her. Since then I've had the great pleasure of reading 5 more of her titles and each have characters and dialog that feel so real it's easy to think they were transcribed rather than fictional. Thank you, Katie, for breathing life into your characters so readers can see themselves and their feelings reflected in the books that you write.
"[Love is] like you didn't know a piece of you was missing until they smiled at you, and then you realized what it felt like to be whole." Say You'll Remember Me pg 293
"[Love is] like you didn't know a piece of you was missing until they smiled at you, and then you realized what it felt like to be whole." Say You'll Remember Me pg 293
Man, this was one of my most anticipated releases of 2018 and, well, I'm disappointed.
It felt like it was one tired trope after another. That's usually what Katie McGarry is for me, but it isn't tired; it's usually energized, fun, and done so well that it doesn't matter how "done" the tropes are because it's cute and fun and melodramatic...kind of like a soap opera, but legitimately good.
This had the melodrama, it had moments of cute fun and chemistry, but it was just missing...something, I don't know what it was, but it was missing. I wasn't nearly as invested as I've been with literally every other thing she's written and I don't know why. Maybe because the whole "bad boy meets good girl and they get together because the world doesn't get to tell them what to do" finally wore thin on me (even though I just saw and adored it in Jennifer L. Armentrout's The Problem With Forever and, like I said before, with every single other main series Katie McGarry book) I really don't know, but this just wasn't nearly as good of a time as I wanted it to be and I'm really disappointed about it. Hopefully she'll release another book soon and she'll hit her stride, we'll realize this was a fluke, and this will just be left by the wayside.
I admire her for not trying to make this another Pushing the Limits or Thunder Road book, but it was still a romance between two troubled teens in Kentucky set in modern day so it isn't very far from the path, but I still admire her for trying to break out of her shell, even if that try wasn't a very good one.
It felt like it was one tired trope after another. That's usually what Katie McGarry is for me, but it isn't tired; it's usually energized, fun, and done so well that it doesn't matter how "done" the tropes are because it's cute and fun and melodramatic...kind of like a soap opera, but legitimately good.
This had the melodrama, it had moments of cute fun and chemistry, but it was just missing...something, I don't know what it was, but it was missing. I wasn't nearly as invested as I've been with literally every other thing she's written and I don't know why. Maybe because the whole "bad boy meets good girl and they get together because the world doesn't get to tell them what to do" finally wore thin on me (even though I just saw and adored it in Jennifer L. Armentrout's The Problem With Forever and, like I said before, with every single other main series Katie McGarry book) I really don't know, but this just wasn't nearly as good of a time as I wanted it to be and I'm really disappointed about it. Hopefully she'll release another book soon and she'll hit her stride, we'll realize this was a fluke, and this will just be left by the wayside.
I admire her for not trying to make this another Pushing the Limits or Thunder Road book, but it was still a romance between two troubled teens in Kentucky set in modern day so it isn't very far from the path, but I still admire her for trying to break out of her shell, even if that try wasn't a very good one.
Another fantastic book from Katie McGarry! I don't think she's capable of writing anything less than wonderful. I don't read much YA, but this book, like her others, is raw and gritty. It's not the fluff that many YA novels rely on. She captures the visceral emotions all teens have and turns up the heat by putting her characters in serious crisis situations. I loved the heroes and hated the villains, and I cried at least twice. I hope she never decides to stop writing! #YA #KentuckyAuthor #BuyIt
Although it was a bit long winded at points, I really enjoyed this book. Hendrix and Elle were lovable and sincere. I enjoyed their character development and the progression of their friendship. I wanted to punch Elle’s parents, and there was one part that was a bit over the top silly, but I really liked it. This book was a pleasant surprise. It could’ve been packed with rough language and sex but it wasn’t. That made me so happy.