sunsetxcocktail

I got a copy from Netgalley with auto approval.

I've heard of the author before, a big name in YA fiction, but not read any of her books before. I saw this title pop up on my auto approval list so figured what the hell, I'd give it a try. Unfortunately, I didn't like it much at all. 

I thought it was bad. Laughably bad. The whole thing reminded me in a weird way of a bad episode of '24', the earlier seasons - where the stupid teenage daughter and friend run around doing stupid things getting in trouble and screaming at the top of their lungs running right towards the obvious danger. To be fair though, the main character here, Grace, didn't run around screaming when faced with danger, but it did seem like she ran right towards it and did an awful lot of things that were stupid and reckless. 

Usually I like characters who are spunky and thrown into situations with ridiculous society rules and defy them. But I just could not stand Grace at all. She was so reckless it was annoying. Plus, most of the characters had no personalities, they all felt very flat and just...there. The only character I particularly liked was Noah, who had at least had some humour about him. 

Despite the fact that the story was so twisty and turny and the characters were beyond irritating, it was actually a fairly quick read. After reading the first ten percent or so one day, I read the rest yesterday in pretty much one sitting. The twist at the end was a good one - I will say that, didn't see that coming at all. I can see the appeal of the novel, the actual story telling itself wasn't bad at all, and compelling enough for a quick read. I just didn't like it. 

I may try something else by this author, but I have no interest in any more in this series.