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rachd24's review against another edition
3.0
I'm swinging between a 3.5 and a 4 for this read. McGarry has always been a solid 4 for me, but this one is causing some conflicting feelings.
Firstly, the story took me a little while to get into, it felt a little slow, and there were a lot of characters introduced in a short space of time. I found it difficult to get absorbed in the story initially, but it wasn't much of a problem from the 30% mark.
Now, my major issue. I know it's fiction, I know it's about a bike club and all, but it's so damn sexist. Particularly in the first half of the book. As much as I had to bite my tongue, so to speak, when I was reading this to get to the end of the story, there were a couple of times I really wanted to put this book down because that kind of thing just gets me all riled up.
I persevered though, and I'm glad I did. From 60% I couldn't put this book down, I raced through the end of it at 1 in the morning, and I definitely felt swoons for the romance. McGarry is Queen of Swoons. It's for this reason I want to give it a 4. However, if I'm comparing it to my other 4 star McGarry reads, I feel like I need to knock it down for all that male, macho, no women allowed mumbo jumbo. Sure, it could be realistic to how these clubs work, but it makes my blood boil and I can't ignore that.
I have other books in the Pushing the Limits series to read, and I'll probably get to those before I read any more in the Thunder Road series. As much as these series' are beginning to feel formulaic (because let's be real, they kind of are), they're also very addictive. I just don't know if I can stomach more stories of males who put the club before 'their old ladies'. Hmm..
Check out my full review here:
http://confessionsofabookgeek.com/2015/06/25/review-nowhere-but-here/
Firstly, the story took me a little while to get into, it felt a little slow, and there were a lot of characters introduced in a short space of time. I found it difficult to get absorbed in the story initially, but it wasn't much of a problem from the 30% mark.
Now, my major issue. I know it's fiction, I know it's about a bike club and all, but it's so damn sexist. Particularly in the first half of the book. As much as I had to bite my tongue, so to speak, when I was reading this to get to the end of the story, there were a couple of times I really wanted to put this book down because that kind of thing just gets me all riled up.
I persevered though, and I'm glad I did. From 60% I couldn't put this book down, I raced through the end of it at 1 in the morning, and I definitely felt swoons for the romance. McGarry is Queen of Swoons. It's for this reason I want to give it a 4. However, if I'm comparing it to my other 4 star McGarry reads, I feel like I need to knock it down for all that male, macho, no women allowed mumbo jumbo. Sure, it could be realistic to how these clubs work, but it makes my blood boil and I can't ignore that.
I have other books in the Pushing the Limits series to read, and I'll probably get to those before I read any more in the Thunder Road series. As much as these series' are beginning to feel formulaic (because let's be real, they kind of are), they're also very addictive. I just don't know if I can stomach more stories of males who put the club before 'their old ladies'. Hmm..
Check out my full review here:
http://confessionsofabookgeek.com/2015/06/25/review-nowhere-but-here/
ashleysnerdyworld's review
5.0
i really loved this book i loved the characters and the written was beautiful
ec_newman's review
3.0
A brand new series from Katie McGarry is definitely worth looking at.
I'd like to preface this honestly. In that, I bought this book with the main reason that I would receive a copy of Chasing Impossible which is about Logan & Abby. If you look at my previous reviews of McGarry's books, you will understand that I begged (BEGGED) her to write about Logan. It comes out in July and I'm on pins and needles with anticipation.
The motorcycle club setting intrigued me. I watched some of Sons of Anarchy and I was pretty sure that McGarry wouldn't be quite as detailed as the show was/is, but nevertheless, this had elements of the intense loyalty required of a motorcycle club member. I know no different, but it seemed legit. Kudos to this world she created.
I enjoyed this more than my last McGarry book (Take Me On), but sadly, I wasn't sucked in and blown away as I was by Pushing the Limits and Dare You To (my two faves). It's one of those things that I can't really pinpoint as to why. Is it because I'm changing as a reader because her style and story seems much like the first ones I adored? Or is that why? It's nothing new? Or is it that her stories have changed and I can't connect with them like I used to?
I found the characters rather frustrating. Both Oz and Emily are extremely judgmental when first meeting. Which okay, I get why, but it annoyed me so much. The secrets that were kept definitely kept me reading, but once the reveal happened, I found it unfocused(?) and confusing. Maybe I read it too fast (I do that with her books generally).
Or maybe, I realized that I can't recommend this book to any of my students. I recommended PTL & DYT because I thought the issues they dealt with were worth some of the steaminess that may or may not be appropriate. I like that McGarry drags me in as a reader to the heated romances of teenagers because I feel its all-encompassing intensity. This had much the same, but more detail than earlier ones. And that's not what I expected.
The romance in this is heated. It's INSTANT attraction, which okay, but it's so, so based on the physical (which again, is typical of her books) that it left a bad taste in my mouth. I like that both characters grow and that relationship develops into something deeper, but I can't recommend it to my students. It pushes past what I feel comfortable endorsing.
I wish that McGarry would tackle two characters who don't immediately want each other. A girl that a guy doesn't look at and think 'great curves'. Maybe a guy who isn't perfectly formed in every way. Seeing two characters fall for each other with those obstacles would be fun.
I get that that is not the point of this genre or her books. I know. And she does this style so well.
But it's my review, right? I can hope.
I'd like to preface this honestly. In that, I bought this book with the main reason that I would receive a copy of Chasing Impossible which is about Logan & Abby. If you look at my previous reviews of McGarry's books, you will understand that I begged (BEGGED) her to write about Logan. It comes out in July and I'm on pins and needles with anticipation.
The motorcycle club setting intrigued me. I watched some of Sons of Anarchy and I was pretty sure that McGarry wouldn't be quite as detailed as the show was/is, but nevertheless, this had elements of the intense loyalty required of a motorcycle club member. I know no different, but it seemed legit. Kudos to this world she created.
I enjoyed this more than my last McGarry book (Take Me On), but sadly, I wasn't sucked in and blown away as I was by Pushing the Limits and Dare You To (my two faves). It's one of those things that I can't really pinpoint as to why. Is it because I'm changing as a reader because her style and story seems much like the first ones I adored? Or is that why? It's nothing new? Or is it that her stories have changed and I can't connect with them like I used to?
I found the characters rather frustrating. Both Oz and Emily are extremely judgmental when first meeting. Which okay, I get why, but it annoyed me so much. The secrets that were kept definitely kept me reading, but once the reveal happened, I found it unfocused(?) and confusing. Maybe I read it too fast (I do that with her books generally).
Or maybe, I realized that I can't recommend this book to any of my students. I recommended PTL & DYT because I thought the issues they dealt with were worth some of the steaminess that may or may not be appropriate. I like that McGarry drags me in as a reader to the heated romances of teenagers because I feel its all-encompassing intensity. This had much the same, but more detail than earlier ones. And that's not what I expected.
The romance in this is heated. It's INSTANT attraction, which okay, but it's so, so based on the physical (which again, is typical of her books) that it left a bad taste in my mouth. I like that both characters grow and that relationship develops into something deeper, but I can't recommend it to my students. It pushes past what I feel comfortable endorsing.
I wish that McGarry would tackle two characters who don't immediately want each other. A girl that a guy doesn't look at and think 'great curves'. Maybe a guy who isn't perfectly formed in every way. Seeing two characters fall for each other with those obstacles would be fun.
I get that that is not the point of this genre or her books. I know. And she does this style so well.
But it's my review, right? I can hope.
mehsi's review
5.0
Wow, super amazing and special. Katie McGarry did it once again, again she gave us a pair of wonderful, special characters. Characters that you will love, you want to hold and hug, characters you want to shake to give them some more sense and characters you care about way too much.
This book we have Oz and Emily. Oz a tough guy with a heart of gold, he lives with his family and his family is also a group of motor riders. Emily on the other hand is a shy girl, afraid of quite a few things, and she is super sheltered (for reasons we later find out as the book progresses). They meet and sparks fly. Of course with the usual banter and kiss and push away we know from Katie McGarry's other books. Add to that, their love isn't really something that they should do. Not with Emily's position and who she is and with Oz's position and dreams. But as we all know, love won't be stopped and it was gorgeous and realistic to see them struggle with their feelings, trying so hard to deny them, but in turn falling even harder for each other.
Emily, I truly loved her, though I just wanted to shake her from the stuff that her mom told her. I didn't like how her mom had her in her grip like this, how she was 17 years old, but truly and only believed all that her mom told her. And while I can understand that someone who has been told from very young that this and that is the truth, and even instilled fear whenever stuff came up, will not want to see anything else, but I still had hoped that she would show us some guts and tried to find out if everything was true.
And even when stuff went wrong, even when people tried to show her that there might be more, she ran away, or she got angry, or she turned to her mom. She just didn't want to believe that there might be more to her mom's story, that there might be more to the place she is currently living in. And she was also quite judgemental at times (which is not strange, considering all the things she heard, but at times I just wanted to give her a shake to show her that a lot of the things she thought were just wrong and bad).
But, even with all that, I still loved Emily, because after some time she did start to care, she did start to try and see if there was anything more, even though it hurt her a lot. Even though it was painful, even though she was also inclined to run away from it all, she stayed. And that takes guts. It was really beautiful to see her realize things, to see that there is more, to see that her life can be expanded beyond her mom's ideas. It made Emily a more real character and in the end, after all that happened in the last pages, I can say she became a truly awesome and beautiful character and I was just so happy for her. It was a scary experience, it was at times so hard, but she now knows what happened between her mom and Eli, why her mom ran away, why her mom did all that, and why Eli did all that he did. More on that later, though of course, I won't spoil anything!
Oz, ah Oz, our resident tough guy, but we can all see he is a good guy underneath all that. Underneath everything he actually has dreams and things he wants to do. Of course I didn't always like him. He was, like Emily, quite judgemental. He was quite an asshole towards Emily, he wasn't always truthful towards her (though we can imagine why, he considers the brotherhood/his family as one to follow and obey), but as the story progresses we see a whole different side to the tough and rude guy he displays so often. We see that he just didn't know about Emily, that he didn't know all the stuff that surrounds her, but as he slowly starts to learn (just like Emily), you can see him adjust his ideas and how he thinks.
Most of all, I loved how he went from full asshole and bleh Emily, to OMG Emily, I want her and I love her. :D It was a great and realistic transformation. It wasn't from one day to the next. Though of course, the attraction is there, he quite often admires her or speaks of her hot body, but the like and the love? They grow slowly.
I loved him and how he was with kids, especially disabled ones, it was quite odd to see such a tough guy interact so lovely with kids. It was something that made me love Oz so much more than I already did.
I also love how dedicated he was to Olivia, it was wonderful, and Olivia is one lucky lady.
Olivia, ah I truly liked her, though it took some time to start liking her. At first I found her weird, too bossy and not at all like what I would expect from someone of her age. But as the book went on, I loved how she tried to help out Emily, how she just lit up when Emily was around, even with her sickness eating her, she tried her best, and she kicked ass quite often. She would dress up, bark commands, all in all, a lady with whom you don't want to screw, since she will kick your ass if you try. And if not her, then all the people who love her.
Because she was loved, loved by everyone and it truly broke me to see her being sick. That even though they tried so hard, even though they did so much, you could see her deteriorate, it just broke my heart and I have cried at certain moments. :( The way her sickness was told, the way it was written, it was just way too realistic at points (which is good, but yeah, it won't let you go as soon as you read about it, you will care, you will cry, you will shake your fist at the fact that such a wonderful woman is sick).
Eli, ah, Eli. I am still not entirely sure if I like him. I don't agree with what he did, I can imagine why, but I still wont say it is good. I wish he would have just been honest with Emily, would just have told the truth. Instead, he told half-truths, and while he did protect Emily, he didn't give her the true reason why she needs that protection. I feel that a lot of things could have been prevented had he not been such an idiot.
But he did try his best at being a good dad, and it was quite hilarious to see how he reacted when Emily told him certain things. He was soooo overprotective, a typical dad. Overreacting as soon as a boy comes near his precious princess.
Meg aka Emily's mom. I didn't particularly like her throughout the book, it was only at the end that I started seeing that she did things because she just didn't see another way to do things. But for most of the book I was frustrated with her, how she ran away at the mention of things, how she got in a total tizzy when someone mentioned anything about the past or when Olivia got mentioned.
I loved the story, I loved how it progressed and I love how the (all of them) characters grew and got better with each page, with each part of the story being told. It was amazing.
The secrets and the eventual truth? It was wonderful, but it also made me sad, sad that all that happened, that this all caused so much heartache, just because two people fell in love, got a child and several other things. If only people back then had been more understanding. Instead it got made into what it is now.
I won't say much more, as I want people to discover it for themselves.
But like I said, it would have been better if people had been honest. This was just too big of a secret to keep, to big of a secret to trust to people. It also hurt way too many people in the process.
I loved to read about the motorcycles. I love motorcycles, so I already wanted to read the book for that reason. It was really fun reading about Reign of Terror, about the family bonds, about the world that surrounds these characters. It was great to read about how they took care of each other, how not only was the Reign of Terror in Kentucky, but also spread out over the world, connecting and uniting a great group of characters.
Oz and Emily's relationship was adorable and they are so cute together. The times they were together were filled with bantering, arguing, fun, and lots of sensuality and sparks be flying. Seriously, some part of the book were really really hot, and I was just delighted with reading them. Katie McGarry sure knows how to write hot and sensual scenes. It is one of the reasons (next to the realism, the great dual POV and several other stuff) that makes me love her books.
I truly can't wait until the next book will be done, I want to read all about Razor, he sounds like an amazing character, and I am really curious about him and what makes him tick.
All in all, I would truly and highly recommend this book to everyone. This amazing book must be read by everyone. It is filled with secrets, romance, motorcycles, excitement and so much more.
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
This book we have Oz and Emily. Oz a tough guy with a heart of gold, he lives with his family and his family is also a group of motor riders. Emily on the other hand is a shy girl, afraid of quite a few things, and she is super sheltered (for reasons we later find out as the book progresses). They meet and sparks fly. Of course with the usual banter and kiss and push away we know from Katie McGarry's other books. Add to that, their love isn't really something that they should do. Not with Emily's position and who she is and with Oz's position and dreams. But as we all know, love won't be stopped and it was gorgeous and realistic to see them struggle with their feelings, trying so hard to deny them, but in turn falling even harder for each other.
Emily, I truly loved her, though I just wanted to shake her from the stuff that her mom told her. I didn't like how her mom had her in her grip like this, how she was 17 years old, but truly and only believed all that her mom told her. And while I can understand that someone who has been told from very young that this and that is the truth, and even instilled fear whenever stuff came up, will not want to see anything else, but I still had hoped that she would show us some guts and tried to find out if everything was true.
And even when stuff went wrong, even when people tried to show her that there might be more, she ran away, or she got angry, or she turned to her mom. She just didn't want to believe that there might be more to her mom's story, that there might be more to the place she is currently living in. And she was also quite judgemental at times (which is not strange, considering all the things she heard, but at times I just wanted to give her a shake to show her that a lot of the things she thought were just wrong and bad).
But, even with all that, I still loved Emily, because after some time she did start to care, she did start to try and see if there was anything more, even though it hurt her a lot. Even though it was painful, even though she was also inclined to run away from it all, she stayed. And that takes guts. It was really beautiful to see her realize things, to see that there is more, to see that her life can be expanded beyond her mom's ideas. It made Emily a more real character and in the end, after all that happened in the last pages, I can say she became a truly awesome and beautiful character and I was just so happy for her. It was a scary experience, it was at times so hard, but she now knows what happened between her mom and Eli, why her mom ran away, why her mom did all that, and why Eli did all that he did. More on that later, though of course, I won't spoil anything!
Oz, ah Oz, our resident tough guy, but we can all see he is a good guy underneath all that. Underneath everything he actually has dreams and things he wants to do. Of course I didn't always like him. He was, like Emily, quite judgemental. He was quite an asshole towards Emily, he wasn't always truthful towards her (though we can imagine why, he considers the brotherhood/his family as one to follow and obey), but as the story progresses we see a whole different side to the tough and rude guy he displays so often. We see that he just didn't know about Emily, that he didn't know all the stuff that surrounds her, but as he slowly starts to learn (just like Emily), you can see him adjust his ideas and how he thinks.
Most of all, I loved how he went from full asshole and bleh Emily, to OMG Emily, I want her and I love her. :D It was a great and realistic transformation. It wasn't from one day to the next. Though of course, the attraction is there, he quite often admires her or speaks of her hot body, but the like and the love? They grow slowly.
I loved him and how he was with kids, especially disabled ones, it was quite odd to see such a tough guy interact so lovely with kids. It was something that made me love Oz so much more than I already did.
I also love how dedicated he was to Olivia, it was wonderful, and Olivia is one lucky lady.
Olivia, ah I truly liked her, though it took some time to start liking her. At first I found her weird, too bossy and not at all like what I would expect from someone of her age. But as the book went on, I loved how she tried to help out Emily, how she just lit up when Emily was around, even with her sickness eating her, she tried her best, and she kicked ass quite often. She would dress up, bark commands, all in all, a lady with whom you don't want to screw, since she will kick your ass if you try. And if not her, then all the people who love her.
Because she was loved, loved by everyone and it truly broke me to see her being sick. That even though they tried so hard, even though they did so much, you could see her deteriorate, it just broke my heart and I have cried at certain moments. :( The way her sickness was told, the way it was written, it was just way too realistic at points (which is good, but yeah, it won't let you go as soon as you read about it, you will care, you will cry, you will shake your fist at the fact that such a wonderful woman is sick).
Eli, ah, Eli. I am still not entirely sure if I like him. I don't agree with what he did, I can imagine why, but I still wont say it is good. I wish he would have just been honest with Emily, would just have told the truth. Instead, he told half-truths, and while he did protect Emily, he didn't give her the true reason why she needs that protection. I feel that a lot of things could have been prevented had he not been such an idiot.
But he did try his best at being a good dad, and it was quite hilarious to see how he reacted when Emily told him certain things. He was soooo overprotective, a typical dad. Overreacting as soon as a boy comes near his precious princess.
Meg aka Emily's mom. I didn't particularly like her throughout the book, it was only at the end that I started seeing that she did things because she just didn't see another way to do things. But for most of the book I was frustrated with her, how she ran away at the mention of things, how she got in a total tizzy when someone mentioned anything about the past or when Olivia got mentioned.
I loved the story, I loved how it progressed and I love how the (all of them) characters grew and got better with each page, with each part of the story being told. It was amazing.
The secrets and the eventual truth? It was wonderful, but it also made me sad, sad that all that happened, that this all caused so much heartache, just because two people fell in love, got a child and several other things. If only people back then had been more understanding. Instead it got made into what it is now.
I won't say much more, as I want people to discover it for themselves.
But like I said, it would have been better if people had been honest. This was just too big of a secret to keep, to big of a secret to trust to people. It also hurt way too many people in the process.
I loved to read about the motorcycles. I love motorcycles, so I already wanted to read the book for that reason. It was really fun reading about Reign of Terror, about the family bonds, about the world that surrounds these characters. It was great to read about how they took care of each other, how not only was the Reign of Terror in Kentucky, but also spread out over the world, connecting and uniting a great group of characters.
Oz and Emily's relationship was adorable and they are so cute together. The times they were together were filled with bantering, arguing, fun, and lots of sensuality and sparks be flying. Seriously, some part of the book were really really hot, and I was just delighted with reading them. Katie McGarry sure knows how to write hot and sensual scenes. It is one of the reasons (next to the realism, the great dual POV and several other stuff) that makes me love her books.
I truly can't wait until the next book will be done, I want to read all about Razor, he sounds like an amazing character, and I am really curious about him and what makes him tick.
All in all, I would truly and highly recommend this book to everyone. This amazing book must be read by everyone. It is filled with secrets, romance, motorcycles, excitement and so much more.
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
magencorrie's review
4.0
Such a good read and I absolutely loved every second I was lost in Oz's and Emily's world. I couldn't get enough of them.
(full review to come)
(full review to come)
booksbydann's review
4.0
Una historia extraordinaria sobre la vida, el amor, los errores y las segundas oportunidades. Trágica y hermosa, este libro me regaló un viaje increíble.
merilizabeth's review
5.0
Plot twist was amazing, meaning that it was something I did not expect completely. Loved the characters, and man, do I love the biker theme :D All and all with this author usually there is no book I do not like. Such a bittersweet story I couldn't rip myself away from the pages.
iyaa's review
5.0
This book kept me up all night, had me screaming because of the chemistry, and had me biting my nails waiting for what happens next.
Characters: Amazing. There were so many people and yet I was introduced perfectly to them, and I liked, and loved, all of them.
Main Characters: Don’t even get me started. Oz and Emily? Perfect chemistry. I found Emily annoying most of the time though, but Oz makes up 99% of the time for it.
Plot: Amazing. First time I was introduced to this kind of setting and I loved every single part of it.
While the only thing I disliked about this book was Emily 39% of the time, everything else was a blast and not once did I feel bored reading this.
Characters: Amazing. There were so many people and yet I was introduced perfectly to them, and I liked, and loved, all of them.
Main Characters: Don’t even get me started. Oz and Emily? Perfect chemistry. I found Emily annoying most of the time though, but Oz makes up 99% of the time for it.
Plot: Amazing. First time I was introduced to this kind of setting and I loved every single part of it.
While the only thing I disliked about this book was Emily 39% of the time, everything else was a blast and not once did I feel bored reading this.
readwithkiekie's review
4.0
5 years later and I still feel the same regarding this book. From page one I was hooked, however, this book is 40-50 pages too long. I love Emily and seeing how she handled this motorcycle club life, her relationship with Oz and the fast paced story.