**spoiler alert** I really enjoyed this! All though the story is tackling some very mature subject matter (physical and psychological abuse in a relat**spoiler alert** I really enjoyed this! All though the story is tackling some very mature subject matter (physical and psychological abuse in a relationship) for a YA book, the writing was not overly depressing or overly emotional. It wasn't a slap in the face, or a wake up call for civilization that screams "WAKE UP PEOPLE. ABUSE IS ALL AROUND YOU AND YOU NEED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!!" like some other YA books can come across as. This just seemed more realistic than that to me. A caring, sweet teenage girl who comes from a loving home, with loving friends finds herself confused when she realizes that maybe her boyfriend isn't the person she thought he was. And maybe her best friend Luke isn't going to sit in the "friend zone" and silently witness her turmoil.
It takes Ronnie a while to accept that her boyfriend is abusing her physically. At the same time she realizes that the way he toyed with her emotions was not right either. This all played out in what I was convinced was a realistic manner. Ronnie was used to being loved. She was surrounded by good and loving people. So how could her boyfriend tell her how much he loved her if he was abusive?
Really great character development. Great Heroine, you will fall in love with her, she's adorable. Really great conflict, though you'll want to hate Shawn, he does have his redeeming qualities so you can relate to Ronnie's confusion. Great supporting characters, Luke is dreamy. My only hold out on the 5 star rating was I was hoping for a little more of a HEA than we actually got. ...more
What a wicked, mucky, cluster of craziness! The kitchen sink of drama was thrown at this book! I'm having a hard time putting a star rating to it becaWhat a wicked, mucky, cluster of craziness! The kitchen sink of drama was thrown at this book! I'm having a hard time putting a star rating to it because on one hand I thought the plot and the characters within Fallen Crest High were excellent. On the other hand however the execution, which most especially includes the editing really left a lot to be desired.
The main players... Sam, Mason, and Logan were wonderful. Sam had reached her limit of people stepping on her. To the point where she just didn't care about really anything anymore. I saw a few reviews which referred to Fallen Crest High as very Cruel Intentionesk. I completely agree. The supporting players, Sam's mom, Logan's ex and mostly including the "Elite" were horrible, bitchy, privileged wenches who deserved any and all of the torment (from the Kade's) that they received on Sam's behalf. The Kade brothers were two of the most intriguing male lead characters I've read about in a YA/NA book. They were rude, crude and really didn't give a damn what any one else thought of them. They did what they wanted, when they wanted to and always came out on top. I waited with bated breath for the scenes within the book that included them. I was always anxious to read what they were going to do next.
This was a wonderful example of a strong character driven story where the personality of the heroine was very well developed and she was incredibly likable. Even the supporting characters had great depth. Where I felt a bit disappointed was in the execution of the story. There were several instances that I had to re-read the paragraph and still ended up with a "Huh, what the heck was that"? Some of the writing was a bit choppy and skipped around. One of the biggest "huh's" was I still have no idea what the characters looked like. The boy's mom and Sam's dad were the only characters who were described in depth physically. We got basic hair color but no real solid description that you can picture in your mind's eye what anyone looked like. Another part that I felt a bit lacking was the build up to Sam's relationship with the Kade brothers. They didn't know her, didn't try to get to know her in any way really and then they were just there, this huge all consuming part of her life. I was missing the dots that connected her to them on any kind of emotional or psychological level.
Bottom line is I did enjoy Fallen Crest High and will read the next book. I feel there is potential here for a great series and possibly a great new talent in the New Adult genre. I do however hope that there is more attention paid to the editing process for both plot and punctuation. ...more
I absolutely LOVED Pushing the Limits so when I saw there was a sequel, I jumped at the chance to read it. When I found out that Beth was the featuredI absolutely LOVED Pushing the Limits so when I saw there was a sequel, I jumped at the chance to read it. When I found out that Beth was the featured character in Dare You To, I rolled my eyes, kind of disappointed (I didn't really care for her in the previous book). After I sucked it up and decided to give Beth a chance, I'm so happy that I did! Dare You To was truly excellent.
Beth's life is rough. Her mother is a alcoholic, her father nowhere around, and after a horrible incident with her mother's abusive boyfriend she's forced into living with her recently re-surfaced uncle and his hoity toity wife. So when the local golden boy asks for her phone number she is immediately on guard. Boys like him don't like girl's like her.
On the outside Ryan's life is perfect. He's got the perfect look, the perfect pitch in baseball, and the cherry on top of a perfect family life. Or does he? Through the process of getting to know each other Beth and Ryan learn that what's on the surface isn't always what's on the inside.
It was heart wrenching to read about Beth and Ryan's struggles and then their eventual acceptance of one another. Katie McGarry can truly create a wonderful tortured character. Her grasp on the struggles that teenagers face on a regular basis, coupled with difficult parents added into the mix... she had me wanting to be a better parent myself. I never want my child to experience a sliver of what these characters live through and overcome on an almost hourly basis. And it's so real! Written for us in such a captivating and detailed manner, you can't help but hurt for these kids. Beth loved her mother so much. All she wanted was to help bring her out of the hell she was stuck in. The hell her mother created for herself and refused to leave! Even at the expense of her daughter's physical safety and emotional well being. It was as if Beth was the mother and she the daughter. And Ryan... he was so terrified of disappointing his father. He wanted so much to hold onto his parents that he almost let go of his brother who had actually made the choice to finally break free and live his OWN life. The best part of this book was the point where we realize that we have two teenagers on separate sides of the "tracks" and all though they have very different struggles with their families, they realize they have to work past those troubles in the same way. And being together as a couple makes them that much stronger as individuals.
My only disappointments in Dare You To is I wanted more depth inside Beth's relationships with the other girls. Not so much her mother. We saw a bunch of interaction with her mom and how she struggled with it. But more on how she overcame her loathing/fear of other girls her age. She eventually realized that Echo wasn't so bad. It was more than obvious that Echo and Noah were wonderful together and that Echo cared about Beth. I was hoping for more on that relationship. Echo sure does have her own significant "mama drama". I thought that a good heart to heart between her and Beth would have taken the cake! Lacey too... I wanted a bit more on the relationship between Beth and Lacey. Both past and present Lacey seemed like she loved Beth but Beth never really came off very appreciative of it.
So what am I saying here...??? My only negative about this book is that I loved the characters so much that I wanted to read more about them? This book could have been another 100 pages and it still wouldn't have been enough for me. That should tell it all! ...more
I was fortunate enough to be able to obtain a copy of Pushing the Limits from Netgalley. In this situation I think that the best way to describe both I was fortunate enough to be able to obtain a copy of Pushing the Limits from Netgalley. In this situation I think that the best way to describe both my luck at coming across this story in the first place as well as the way I received it, I feel like I won the lottery. There are certain books that you read that you really enjoy, to the point you can say that you loved it. But then 6 months later, you can't even remember the names of the characters. This is not one of those books. There is a small handful of books in my collection that three years from now I can tell you the names of each of my favorite characters as well as what and why I loved it so much. Pushing the Limits is easily going on that little shelf in my heart.
Echo and Noah are both scarred and tortured individuals. Both have been hurt and betrayed by those people in life who should provide security and protection to us. These experiences could have set both teenagers on a path of mistrust and unbalance for the rest of their lives. This would be easy to believe given the horrific experiences they both had to go through at such an early age. Fortunately when they find each other they each discover a new meaning to life, a new reason to live and better themselves.
In the beginning Pushing the Limits reminded me a lot of the book Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles. Written in alternating first person narratives, good popular girl meets bad boy for tutoring sessions and they find themselves attracted to each other. That's pretty much where the similarities end though. I don't want to take away any of Ms. McGarry's credit for creating an original and heart warming story. It truly blew my mind.
Lovable heroine, lovable hero, great supporting characters that you can both love and hate accordingly... There really isn't a whole lot more I could have asked for in a reading experience. This is what it's all about:) ...more
When I first started reading the reviews on Point of Retreat I kept asking myself; what the heck are these people talking about with the all that "butWhen I first started reading the reviews on Point of Retreat I kept asking myself; what the heck are these people talking about with the all that "butterflyingly" crap? Ok, I get it now... But I'm not telling:)
Point of Retreat is a stellar follow up to Slammed. The best part about it is it's told from Will's point of view. You get a completely new view of Lake... and Will. As someone who in the first book was loving, Lake gives a completely different perception when we see her from the perspective of someone who loves her so much. Will would do anything for her, and it was so sweet to watch his efforts and be in his head while he tries so hard.
Will was awesome, Lake was awesome, Eddie, Gavin, Kel, Caulder, and everyone in between including all the great new additions were just as wonderfully created in Point of Retreat as they were in Slammed. I can't say enough good things about it. Everything that defined the gifted writing in Slammed was prevalent. Even maybe a few new surprises.
The only teeny, tiny negative thing that I have to say about Point of Retreat that I couldn't say about Slammed was; I felt that after his character traits were demonstrated in Slammed, Will behaved a bit out of character in his book. I had nothing but admiration for how mature 21 year old Will was in Slammed. I thought in Point of Retreat he was almost IMmature. Ok yes, in many circumstance he was desperate and acted it, but after how grown up he acted in Slammed, I just couldn't picture THAT guy not telling the girl he loved that his ex was in a class of his. And then on top of that the actions that Lake witnessed that brought on most of the controversy in their relationship? The Will I loved in Slammed would have dealt with it a lot differently. I bought it, it was just a very hard sell for me.
I went on a bit too much in the negative because it really wasn't THAT big of a deal for me. This was still a 5 star book. Hands down, no question!...more
This book was awful. Utterly horribly, sadistically, terrible! I can't believe I tortured myself with this and actually enjoyed it! What's wrong with This book was awful. Utterly horribly, sadistically, terrible! I can't believe I tortured myself with this and actually enjoyed it! What's wrong with me? Oh, I know, I love to read, and books like this are WHY I love to read. Pretty much every heart string I have was not tugged, but aggressively yanked, until I couldn't help the hicuppy sobs that were escaping me.
Lake is an 18 year old girl who along with her 9 year old brother are abruptly uprooted from her comfy home in TX when their father dies of a sudden heart attack. Without much of an explanation, other than she was offered a better paying job in MI, Lake's mom treks her and Kel, across the country. When they arrive at their new home in MI, Lake's life is once again uprooted when she meets Will, their new neighbor, and one after another, bombs of unwelcome surprises continue to go off around her, shattering her entire life as she knew and wanted it to be.
Ok, I tried... but that synopsis didn't even come close to touching on the emotional roller coaster that is Slammed. These characters are so well fleshed out, and so likable, you actually feel like your sitting along side Lake and Will as they're in the club listening to Slam poetry. The poetry is like a character onto itself... The author did an amazing job creating a character driven book filled with such a complicated plot. She "showed" me everything that was happening to these people, instead of "telling" me in some monotonous, boring detail that Lake was feeling sad about what was happening to her relationship with her mother, brother, new best friend, and Will. I felt Lake's pain. I had the puffy eyes to prove it!
As to why this book was so terrible??? I had tears in my eyes for the entire last 45% of the book. No joke, no exaggeration... I had a hard time reading because everything was swimming around in my pathetic tears.
I really wouldn't change anything about this book. Only my timing on reading it... I wish I would have held out until next weekend. My husband is going to be gone and I could have cried in peace. Instead I had to try and explain that I couldn't explain why I was bawling like a baby.
*** This was just as good in audio, and just as many tears the second time around. ...more
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