ARC, 241 pages
Release Date: June 2, 2015Published by: Bloomsbury USA Children’sStand-aloneSource: Bloomsbury (I received this ARC from the publisher. This in no way shaped my opinion on the book. All thoughts of this are my own.)For fans of: Contemporary, Thrillers, Romance, Realistic Fiction, YAEighteen-year-old Arcadia wants adventure. Living in a tiny Florida town with her dad and four-year-old brother, Cadie spends most of her time working, going to school, and taking care of her family. So when she meets two handsome cousins at a campfire party, she finally has a chance for fun. They invite her and friend to join them on a road trip, and it’s just the risk she’s been craving-the opportunity to escape. But what starts out as a fun, sexy journey quickly becomes dangerous when she discovers that one of them is not at all who he claims to be. One of them has deadly intentions.
A road trip fling turns terrifying in this contemporary story that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.
*MY THOUGHTS*
As soon as I saw that Trish Doller had another book coming out, I was super excited! She’s one of my auto-buy authors because her contemps are always amazing. But then I found out this was a thriller and I got even more excited. Thrillers are some of my favorite reads. Mix that with one of my favorite contemp writers and I knew I was in for a treat.
“Girls like you, […] Most of the time you’re an ordinary girl and the reasons you love me make sense. But sometimes you shine so bright it hurts and I worry that I’ll never, ever be able to keep you.'”
pg. 88
Arcadia has no life. She basically takes care of her little brother and father as if they were her children. (Yes you read that right…) All she wants is to get out and have her own life. To finally have some time to be a reckless teen and not have so many responsibilities that weren’t hers. So like any other teen, she rebels. Unfortunately, she doesn’t think about what her rebellion may mean later on down the road.
“We make our own futures. And mine… Is going to be outstanding.'”
pg. 122
The beginning seemed slow to me. I think it was only because I was anticipating the twisty and turny part of the thriller. I wanted to hurry and get to the part that would scare me. It’s not present until about half way through the story, so in the beginning I found myself just trying to make it through. But then when the thriller part finally came in, I found myself hooked. And scared. Of course with all the thrillers I’ve read I was able to pick out who the person was from the beginning, but it was still good. I think I just wanted more of a creep factor. But it creeped me out and made me keep a better look at what was going on around me. Even while I was just sitting in my bed at home.
“How do I know you’re not the devil? […] better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.'”
pg. 88
As for the characters, I can’t lie… I wasn’t too fond of Arcadia…. She seemed so selfish that entire time. All she thought about was herself and what she didn’t get to do. I understand she was a teen and most teens don’t think about anything but themselves, but still. I felt like she could’ve thought about someone other than herself a little bit. Also I wasn’t a fan of how crazy she was. I get you were rebelling, but sometimes you have to know what’s crazy and what’s not. Going off with people you don’t know is crazy no matter how old you are. But Danny was super cute and he had a Wonder Woman doll. Um yeah, he quickly became my new best friend. I loved him instantly.
“And you don’t lose value by having sex.'”
pg. 137
Although the book was short and not much of a thriller, I still enjoyed it. This solidified my love for Doller and the fact that I will read anything she writes no matter what the genre. I can’t wait to see what she has next.
Overall, I give this
Oh nice! I was curious about this one myself because I enjoy a good thriller every now and then despite my more Paranormal and Fantasy reading tendencies! I like to say its because with thrillers, you still get "monsters" they're just human and that's even more scarier! LOL! Great review! I will definitely have to check this one out at some point!