Being young is all about the experiences: the first time you skip school, the first time you fall in love…the first time someone holds a gun to your head.
After being held hostage during a robbery at the local convenience store, seventeen year old Edie finds her attitude about life shattered. Unwilling to put up with the snobbery and bullying at her private school, she enrolls at the local public high school, crossing paths with John. The boy who risked his life to save hers.
While Edie’s beginning to run wild, however, John’s just starting to settle down. After years of partying and dealing drugs with his older brother, he’s going straight—getting to class on time, and thinking about the future.
An unlikely bond grows between the two as John keeps Edie out of trouble and helps her broaden her horizons. But when he helps her out with another first—losing her virginity—their friendship gets complicated.
Meanwhile, Edie and John are pulled back into the dangerous world they narrowly escaped. They were lucky to survive the first time, but this time they have more to lose—each other.
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My Review:
4-4.25 stars
****
This was a really good book! This book is YA in that the characters are seniors in high school, but it felt very NA in that the characters are mature acting, not whiny or overly angsty. They are dealing with some tough situations. But they are smart, strong characters that didn't make me feel like I was reading about immature, drama loving students. This is definitely one of the best YA books I have read and up there with my favorite Kylie Scott books.
This is John and Edie's story. Edie's life changes forever when she goes into a convenient store for some snacks and a robbery happens. She sees two people lose their life and she is saved by one of the other store customers, John. Edie is a slightly frumpy, unpopular girl in her senior year of high school at a private girls school. She lives with her single mother that works all the time. When the convenience story robbery happens, Edie is all over the news with lots of unwanted publicity. She can't handle the way the mean girls at school treat her even worse after the robbery. She decides to switch to a public school, which happens to be John's school. Edie and John have a connection, having both lived through this difficult situation in which their lives flashed before their eyes. The begin spending time together, becoming friends and eventually beginning a relationship.
I really liked both John and Edie, especially Edie. John comes off at first as mysterious and very Jordan Catalano-esque. He is a bad boy who is trying to straighten out his life. But as he starts to open up with Edie, it was easy to like him and see how much he cared for her. Edie really came into her own and learned who she was, becoming more confident along the way. It was funny, sweet, and emotional seeing them together and watching their relationship develop. This book does have explicit sexy times (and thank goodness! I might not have enjoyed it so much without it). I can easily imagine this book as a movie, something like The Edge of Seventeen.
The writing was great. The characters are well written, interesting and had depth. John and Edie had a connection that only grew stronger as the book went on. There are some series subjects dealt with in this book, like death, drug addiction, depression, losing your virginity, and the awkwardness of high school and falling in love. But it was not a depressing book. It left me as a reader with a hopeful feeling for John and Edie's future.
Overall, this book was a journey of Edie gaining confidence, finding who she is, facing her fears and falling in love! I very much enjoyed the journey and watching John and Edie's relationship develop. I look forward to more from Kylie Scott!
I really liked both John and Edie, especially Edie. John comes off at first as mysterious and very Jordan Catalano-esque. He is a bad boy who is trying to straighten out his life. But as he starts to open up with Edie, it was easy to like him and see how much he cared for her. Edie really came into her own and learned who she was, becoming more confident along the way. It was funny, sweet, and emotional seeing them together and watching their relationship develop. This book does have explicit sexy times (and thank goodness! I might not have enjoyed it so much without it). I can easily imagine this book as a movie, something like The Edge of Seventeen.
The writing was great. The characters are well written, interesting and had depth. John and Edie had a connection that only grew stronger as the book went on. There are some series subjects dealt with in this book, like death, drug addiction, depression, losing your virginity, and the awkwardness of high school and falling in love. But it was not a depressing book. It left me as a reader with a hopeful feeling for John and Edie's future.
Overall, this book was a journey of Edie gaining confidence, finding who she is, facing her fears and falling in love! I very much enjoyed the journey and watching John and Edie's relationship develop. I look forward to more from Kylie Scott!
EXCERPT:
“You were going to give it up to Duncan Dickerson?” he sneered. “Are you serious?”
I halted, staring at him. This was not good. “How do you know about that?”
“Anders overheard you and Hang talking.”
“Bastard.”
“Well?” he demanded, acting all authoritarian. Idiot.
“To be fair, I didn’t know his last name was Dickerson,” I said. “That’s unfortunate. Though, I wasn’t actually planning on marrying him, so . . .”
“Not funny.”
I shrugged.
“You barely know the guy.”
“Um, yeah. None of your concern. We’re not talking about this.” How mortifying! My face burned bright. People should just gather around and cook s’mores. “I appreciate that we’re friends. You mean a lot to me. But this is going to have to fall under definitely none of your damn business, so go away please.”
“We’re talking about it.” He advanced a step.
“No we are not.” And I retreated.
“You were going to let a complete stranger touch you.” Advance.
Retreat. “People do it all the time. You do it all the time.”
“But you don’t,” he said, taking the final
step, backing me up against the side of his car and getting all in my face. “Edie, this is your first time we’re talking about. Isn’t it?”
“Yes, and it’s going to be messy and painful and probably horribly embarrassing and I just want it over and done with.” I tried to meet his eyes but failed, settling for a spot on his right shoulder. “You’re not a girl; you wouldn’t understand. Also, last time I checked, you’re not the gatekeeper of my hymen, John Cole. So back the fuck off.”
He said nothing.
Deep, calming breaths. “Look, someday I’ll meet someone I really like and we’ll have a deep and meaningful relationship and go at it like bunnies. But I don’t want to be the dumb virgin in that scenario.”
He slowly shook his head.
“Also, I do not want to die a virgin.”
“What? What the hell are you talking about?”
“Hey, you and I both know death can occur at any time.”
“This is crazy.”
“I’m seeing a therapist!” I told his shoulder. “I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m a little bit messed up these days. It’s hard for me to trust people. That’s not going to change anytime soon.”
He screwed up his face at me. “Wha—”
“I’m just trying to be practical.”
“Well, you’re being ridiculous. None of this makes sense.”
“It does to me.”
Again, he said nothing.
In fact, he said nothing for so long that I finally looked him in the eye. The anger had left him, replaced by an emotion I didn’t recognize. Worst of all, he still smelled like summer. A little sweat and the open night air, everything I loved. Liked. I meant liked.
“What?” I said, finally.
He let loose a breath. “I’ll do it.”
Kylie is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author. She was voted Australian Romance Writer of the year, 2013 & 2014, by the Australian Romance Writer’s Association and her books have been translated into eleven different languages. She is a long time fan of romance, rock music, and B-grade horror films. Based in Queensland, Australia with her two children and husband, she reads, writes and never dithers around on the internet. You can learn more about Kylie from http://www.kylie-scott.com/
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