The Lure by Lynne Ewing

Pages: 288

Genre: Contemporary

Series: Standalone

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Release Date: Feb 11, 2014

Fifteen-year-old Blaise Montgomery lives in the gritty outskirts of Washington, DC, where a stray bullet can steal a life on the way to school. Drugs and violence are the only ways to survive, so Blaise and her friends turn to gangs for safety, money, and love. When Blaise is invited to join Core 9, one of the most infamous crews, she jumps at the chance. Though her best guy friends, Rico and Satch, warn her about the danger, she agrees to be beaten for a minute straight as part of the gang's initiation ritual.
Now Blaise is finally part of a crew. A family.
But things get only more dangerous when she becomes a member of Core 9 and tensions with a rival gang heat up. Trek, the head of Core 9, asks Blaise to be his "lure," the sexy bait he'll use to track down enemy gang members and exact revenge. Rico and Satch tell her it's a death sentence, but Blaise can't resist the money and unparalleled power. As Trek puts Blaise in increasingly dangerous situations, she begins to see that there's more to lose than she ever realized-including Satch, the one person who has the power to get under her skin. With death lurking around every corner, should Blaise continue to follow the only path she's ever known, or cut and run?

I wasn't so sure about The Lure when I first heard of it, especially since the character already felt a bit naive and idiotic when the synopsis says that Rico and Satch warn her about the dangers (also it sort of reminds you of a love triangle right?) I was definitely wary and didn't really plan on reading it, but I got a copy and one thing lead to another...
And well, I'm so glad I took a chance!

Gritty is sort of an understatement for this book, where gang life is pretty much the only life--literally. In YA you'll see mentions of gangs where they're evil, someone caught up in gang life and desperate to get out, but I've never seen a book where a character strives to get in and thinks of it as a safety zone, and that's one of the things about The Lure. I'm probably one of the least qualified to know, but Blaise's situation struck me as heart achingly true and completely possible for anyone.

Blaise and her friends were naive and they were impulsive and they did make shitty decisions. But they were all understandable with their situations and they were portrayed in a desperate light where none of them really had a choice, and I pitied them.

Blaise, specifically though, didn't really seem to care about her friends in the latter part of the book. She did things behind her friends back and never really gave a crap about how her decisions would affect them unless it pushed the story forward.
I also wish that we'd seen more of her friends' situations and their own story lines throughout the story because, honestly, Blaise seemed to get herself into trouble most of the times while her friends had all been manipulated or pretty much forced into their situations.

The romance isn't really focused on throughout the story and I wouldn't necessarily SAY there was a love triangle, but there was definitely something. I'm not too sure I'm happy with the way it ended, but I'm glad it wasn't a love triangle at least!

The Lure is unlike so many books I've read before and while I was a bit out of my comfort zone, I still loved the gritty atmosphere, the desperate characters, and the wrenching story of no way out. I'd definitely recommend it if you're a lover of contemporary! (Gritty or otherwise.)

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Crash Into You by Katie McGarry

Goodreads Blurb

The girl with straight As, designer clothes and the perfect life-that's who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private-school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy parents and overbearing brothers...and she's just added two more to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker-a guy she has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can't get him out of her mind. 
Isaiah has secrets, too. About where he lives, and how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks-no matter how angelic she might look. 
But when their shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they'll go to save each other.

I was a little bit wary jumping into Crash Into You. Of course I loved Pushing the Limits--I just wasn't the biggest fan of Dare You To. But then I realized I just didn't like it, mainly because I hated Beth for both being bitchy to Echo and hurting Isaiah.

ISAIAH!

I have now decided to start my review with Isaiah. Because he is, quite honestly, my favorite of all the guys in this series. I honestly don't think anyone pulls off that tough-but-secretly-sweet persona as wonderfully as Isaiah because he's just so...absolutely...broken. I've been in love with him since PTL, and after we see him over and over, even more hurt and destroyed than before...it practically killed me. And then I sort of fell in love with him even more throughout this book. How was that even possible?

And Rachel. Rachel! I loved that girl! She made my heart hurt, guys. She tried to be the perfect daughter for her family, she tried to remodel herself after her dead sister for her mom who wants her to be Colleen's replacement, but she was practically smothering herself, trying to be someone who was her opposite. And it hurt that it seemed like everyone in her family just encouraged her to keep a smile on her mom's face, damn the consequences. I can't even imagine how that would feel.
But she was still sweet. And she was strong in a different sort of way. She was perfect for Isaiah and I just loved how they acted around each other.

Yes, the romance was insta lovey. But it worked! Their chemistry was a steady burn that was enchanting and the way they balanced each out was wonderful. Rachel pulled Isaiah from the brink and Isaiah helped Rachel be herself--it was beautiful and their relationship just seemed so heartfelt that I couldn't help but adore.

But the best thing about this book was that it wasn't purely a romance. There was a thrilling feel to it as they raced against a clock to pay back a certain not-so-friendly friend. I didn't really know how it'd play out, but I definitely wasn't expecting the end! (I think I almost died at the end). Also, Katie McGarry is either a genius with cars or she did some hardcore research. Or I'm just an idiot when if comes to cars.

And all our characters are back! Our wily old counselor, Noah, Echo, Beth, Ryan, Logan (and he plays a rather large role too.) all made an appearance and I couldn't help but love it. I may have warmed up to Beth too, which is sort of surprising.
New characters are introduced too though, and I think Abby is my abortive secondary character ever. Do we get a spin off on her too? She's sarcastic and surprisingly kind, despite her tough shell, which I guess isn't surprised since she grew up in an environment possibly worse than Isaiah. But you can't help but love her--pretty much like everything else in the book!

Crash Into You was an enthralling read that I managed to finish in a day! It didn't disappoint and it's definitely my favorite of all the books. So all I can say? Read it. 

Pages: 474

Genre: Contemporary

Series: Pushing the Limits #3

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Release Date: Nov 26, 2013

Rating: 4 stars

White Lines by Jennifer Banash

Goodreads Blurb

Seventeen-year-old Cat is living every teenager’s dream: she has her own apartment on the Lower East Side and at night she’s club kid royalty, guarding the velvet rope at some of the hottest clubs in the city. The night with its crazy, frenetic, high-inducing energy—the pulsing beat of the music, the radiant, joyful people and those seductive white lines that can ease all pain—is when Cat truly lives. But her daytime, when real life occurs, is more nightmare than dream. Having spent years suffering her mother’s emotional and physical abuse, and abandoned by her father, Cat is terrified and alone—unable to connect to anyone or anything. But when someone comes along who makes her want to truly live, she’ll need to summon the courage to confront her demons and take control of a life already spinning dangerously out of control. 

I never am good with gritty books, really. I honestly find it completely ridiculous how characters in these books run run away, do drugs, or just become antisocial because of their troubles. But then, I'm so young I barely know anything about real problems. I think this book made me rethink my stand on this. My thoughts on the ridiculousness, that is.

White Lines...it's one of those books that, while isn't literary-perfect, it still manages to pull on you somewhat. Cat's hasn't had the easiest life. Her mother abused her, her father doesn't seem to care, and she's practically alone in the world. All she knows now is partying, but how far is she willing to go for a little thrill that only holds empty promises?

I'll definitely give it to Banash, she knows how to capture the gritty world of downtown. Almost everything is messed up and throughout the book, things are just slowly, slowly, spiraling down for Cat. She's not a smart character and she copes with her problems in the worst ways possible. She's completely f*cked up, and she has her ups and downs. She's so shockingly real. She tries to cope, and tries to escape, and that's a bit familiar, isn't it? Giovanni, Alexa, everyone. They may not be model characters, but they were fleshed out well enough.

I almost never talk about the writing style, but I have to. It was just gorgeous. The prose told the story beautifully and it was easy to understand. It was stunning writing and I definitely love Jennifer Banash's style. There's just a certain feel to it that makes you fall in love.

The plot was slow at times, though, and I almost put it down maybe halfway in? It definitely got more interesting later on for me, and I was aching to know how this sad story would end. And...wow, did it end. It almost felt too...not fitting. How (SPOILER. SORT OF) everything just fell into a sort of happy ever after. (END)

The romance also seemed to come out of nowhere and didn't seem to really...advance the plot as much as I thought it should've. So there was that.

All in all, I'd recommend it for fans of historical fiction, especially Out of the Easy by Ruta Septys, or Wild Awake by Hilary T. Smith if you've had the luck of reading that early!

Pages: 304
Genre: Historical/Contemporary
Series: Stand alone
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Release Date: April 4, 2013
Rating: 3.5 -->4 stars

If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch

Goodreads Blurb

There are some things you can’t leave behind…A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey’s younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and two strangers arrive. Suddenly, the girls are taken from the woods and thrust into a bright and perplexing new world of high school, clothes and boys.
Now, Carey must face the truth of why her mother abducted her ten years ago, while haunted by a past that won’t let her go… a dark past that hides many a secret, including the reason Jenessa hasn’t spoken a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk watching her new life come crashing down.

This was a different kind of book for me, so maybe that's why I'm a bit hesitant to review this. It was...weird. The writing was beautiful, yes, and the story was captivating! But there was something slightly off about it. Sometimes we were info dumped with backstory, and sometimes we were told very little. And instead of loving the suspense, it sort of frustrated me because...well, it was obvious. But Carey was just oblivious to what was sitting in front of her, and she doesn't really realize it till the end. 

The romance also bothered me a bit because of the fact that she was technically 14 and the guy was 17. I'm not sure why that's a problem, since some of my favorite couples have larger age differences, but 14's always been that in-between number. It could be MG or YA, so it just felt weird. But what she'd been through was absolutely horrifying and made me want to cry or gasp in horror.

I adored some of these characters and I definitely could acknowledge Murdoch's capability of writing the perfect school antagonist! Oh she was one giant...bee. And the perfect mean girl to push Carey along! I couldn't really connect to Carey though because I have a issue with dropping g's in narration. I don't know. It added to the story, but it made me a bit uncomfortable. I loved Nessa, and Ryan seemed to be pretty sweet! I wish we saw some more of her school friends, though. They seemed like they could have some amazing characterization, but their brief scenes ended up making them a but flat in my opinion.

The pacing felt perfect for this novel and I adored the plot, though not many things really came as a surprise. There were many subplots, mainly including the relationships between each character, and I was a bit disappointed that most all of them ended with a Happy Ever After.

If You Find Me is a heartbreaking story that made you realize that the world isn't as perfect as we hope. It's a gritty, beautifully told story that can make you see the world in a different way. And, using a cliche, it'll make us thankful for what we have. And what we don't.

Pages: 256

Genre: Contemporary

Series: Stand alone

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Release Date: March 26, 2013

Rating: 3 stars