Reviews

girl… this book hurt so good… there were so many times that i really wanted to strangle Loli for REAL but everything worked out so well in the end… thank GOD Gail-Agnes knows what she’s freaking doing as a writer because the rollercoaster was CRAY but SO SO GOOD

lisasabella82's review against another edition

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5.0

Fun friends to more rom com.

izzybooks_2000's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

paperheartk's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

julzreads's review against another edition

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4.0

4 stars! I really enjoyed listening to this book, I didn’t really know what it was about going into it, but I ended up really liking it.

joanareads's review against another edition

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4.0

The girls who get it get it.

hdcamp's review against another edition

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4.0

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I think...I loved this

I've been sitting in my apartment since March, devastated by the aftermath of the Harry Potter series. I was chewed up and spit out, and have had no luck getting into any other books since.

This story pulled me out of my slump. It was super twisty in the best ways, and I loved how vibrant the characters were. I felt viscerally stressed, offended, and shocked by turns, which for me is a rarity among contemporary YA. Loli is the best and worst character - she's so completely arrogant, selfish, and spoiled, and I really wanted to hate her (and sometimes succeeded, honestly), but somehow Musikavanhu made me love spending time in Loli's brain. She was engagingly written, relentlessly flawed, and so blind to it. It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion, and when we finally reached the breaking point,

Spoiler

when Loli misses Ryan's performance and Ryan calls her on her bs,

it was somehow both shocking and the only logical consequence for her actions. And the other characters are no less engaging, even the secondary ones. Wolf was one of my favorites, I'd love to read more about him, and I also loved that Loli and Ryan's moms were seen so frequently.

The Mysterious Voice's identity evaded me completely. I can't praise the author enough for her skill here. Usually I can see this coming a million miles away, but

Spoiler

the fact that he was literally under our noses the whole time, the way I had to go back and re-read the previous times he showed up, was just

*chef's kiss* Honestly, the author (and Loli) mention cliches all the time, and I loved the way Musikavanhu played with them.

Spoiler

I guessed Ryan's feelings for Loli pretty early on, but wasn't sure until the end, and the red herring of his sexuality did kind of throw me a bit.

There are a bunch of examples of common tropes that she uses, like the prom, the romance with MV. My favorite is probably

Spoiler

the chase scene with the train, where Ryan literally jumps onto a moving train to save Loli. That is straight out of every action movie ever, and it made me chuckle.

So yes, I highly recommend this one for absolutely anyone. I've made a playlist on Spotify with all the chapter tracks (just search "Ride or Die"), so you can listen as you read. I have trouble listening to music while I read (especially if it has words), but musical accompaniment was too much fun to pass up, and it rounded out the main trio even more.

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