Genre: Young adult/ Teen romance
Synopsis:
Paige Lawson has just completed her junior year of high school and is looking forward to a quiet summer of reading and enjoying Florida's sunshine. That is until she meets the alluring Fredrick Pryce, a far from ordinary guy with a dark secret. Paige can't help feeling intrigued when she senses Fredrick may be hiding something, and warnings from her best friend Josh, only fuel her desire to know more.
When Paige inevitably learns the truth, her safety is compromised. Now, with the help of Fredrick and his unconventional gang of friends, Paige will have to learn how to not only defend the life she has, but fight for the life she wants.
Sarah's Review: 3/5 stars
"It's funny how the people you least expect can impact your life the most"
I am going to start by saying that Heather Garvin is a very talented author. I think her writing is fantastic, and I am excited to see what she comes up with in the future. That being said, this is a "middle of the road" book for me. There were aspects of the book that I really liked, and aspects I didn't.
I loved Paige. I think she is an extremely relatable character. She is an absolute bookworm which I think makes her very attractive to the reader. She mentions other books that she's reading, and that made it feel like finding an easter egg! She also has a really good relationship with her dad which I always like to see in books. Frederick Pryce is an amazing male lead. I immediately liked him a lot. He's concerned about other's wellbeing, and obviously balances a lot to keep his family together. I loved the setting of the book! Anything near the beach is a win for me, and that made me pretty excited to make this be my first summer read for this summer. The slow burn relationship drove me crazy in a good way!
Now the things I wasn't a fan of...
I would have liked to hear more about Josh and Frederick's falling out. I think more elaboration would have made it easier to understand how Josh feels. I think Josh ended up looking very toxic, which might have changed with a bit more backstory. There is also a lot of violence in this book, and sometimes I'm okay with that. However, in this instance I think it glorified gang activity.
Shannon's review: 5/5 stars
This book is Heather Garvin’s debut novel and it blew me away! Garvin’s writing is fantastic. She did a fantastic job of creating characters that you want to get to know better and crafting a story line that keeps you engaged.
Paige and her friends are ready for a laid back summer before senior year. That is until she meets Fredrick Pryce, a far from ordinary guy with a dark secret. Paige is intrigued with Fredrick when she feels he may be hiding something. When Paige inevitably learns the truth, her safety is compromised. With help of Fredrick and his unconventional gang of friends, Paige will have to learn how to not only defend the life she has, but fight for the life she wants.
I really enjoyed the characters in this book! Josh and Paige are the perfect male/female sibling-like best friends. Josh is more popular and athletic but is very protective of Paige and has a more unguarded side that she gets to see. Paige on the other hand is not very popular, is more introverted, and tends to go with the flow more. I very easily related with her in many ways. Fredrick is by far my favorite character! He is your typical dark, brooding, mysterious bad boy who has more to him than meets the eye. I am always such a sucker for a complicated bad boy and Fredrick fits this to a T. I also enjoyed many of the side characters, including: Kelly, Leah, and Jason.
I loved the tension between Paige and Fredrick through out the book. It was obvious that Fredrick’s secrets caused him to distance himself from Paige, but as his trust grew so did their relationship. I was happy with how their relationship left off at the end of the book. I was not however expecting the cliffhanger at the end. I left wanting another book to get much needed closure of unresolved issues in the story.
Comments