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A review by megangold
The Right Side of Reckless by Whitney D. Grandison
emotional
funny
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Okay, so I didn't hate this book, and there were definitely some pros, so I can see why some people liked it. But I don't think it was for me.
It was a fairly easy read and a nice way to pass the time. The romance is cute, the last chunk of the book was great, and the character's solid. This book really plays on the good girl/bad boy trope, if you're into that, so aspects of that were fun. Of the two main characters, I think Guillermo was the most developed and was the most fun to read.
Just overall, the whole thing fell flat to me. The plot just felt like events happening in succession, rather than the characters facing hardships and driving the story forward. Nothing seemed really connected and it took a while to get from point A to B to the rest of the book. Some things felt so out of place, too. I don't want to be too spoilery, but an example would be the part with the dogs later in the story. It was pretty weird to me.
Not a lot of plot works okay, though, when you have great characters. Like I said, I enjoyed Guillermo, but not enough to make up for the lack of plot. And Reagan didn't do it for me, either. She spends most of the book afraid to stand up for herself to her family or her current boyfriend Troy, and while her finally getting a backbone was fairly satisfying, it definitely took too long to get there. And while the light romance between Reagan and Guillermo was cute, it was hard to fully get on board. I appreciate that the author didn't have Reagan full-on cheat on Troy, but they did stay together for a huge percentage of the bookâand yikes.
Anyway, I don't want to just drag this book forever, so the last thing I'll say is that I didn't love the writing style, either. It felt like a draft, honestly, and not a completed, publishable manuscript. Some parts were messy and the language just super awkward and others told too much, instead of showed.
Overall, I didn't hate reading this book, but I definitely didn't love it, either.
**Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.**
It was a fairly easy read and a nice way to pass the time. The romance is cute, the last chunk of the book was great, and the character's solid. This book really plays on the good girl/bad boy trope, if you're into that, so aspects of that were fun. Of the two main characters, I think Guillermo was the most developed and was the most fun to read.
Just overall, the whole thing fell flat to me. The plot just felt like events happening in succession, rather than the characters facing hardships and driving the story forward. Nothing seemed really connected and it took a while to get from point A to B to the rest of the book. Some things felt so out of place, too. I don't want to be too spoilery, but an example would be the part with the dogs later in the story. It was pretty weird to me.
Not a lot of plot works okay, though, when you have great characters. Like I said, I enjoyed Guillermo, but not enough to make up for the lack of plot. And Reagan didn't do it for me, either. She spends most of the book afraid to stand up for herself to her family or her current boyfriend Troy, and while her finally getting a backbone was fairly satisfying, it definitely took too long to get there. And while the light romance between Reagan and Guillermo was cute, it was hard to fully get on board. I appreciate that the author didn't have Reagan full-on cheat on Troy, but they did stay together for a huge percentage of the bookâand yikes.
Anyway, I don't want to just drag this book forever, so the last thing I'll say is that I didn't love the writing style, either. It felt like a draft, honestly, and not a completed, publishable manuscript. Some parts were messy and the language just super awkward and others told too much, instead of showed.
Overall, I didn't hate reading this book, but I definitely didn't love it, either.
**Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.**