K.A. Tucker (1)

“Life has a funny way of creating it's own tests. It throws curve balls that make you do and think and feel things that are in direct conflict with what you had planned and don't allow you to operate in terms of black and white.”


I think I loved this book even more than the first! I was so happy to get into Livie's mind.

Livie has handled everything she has been through without issue so it seems. Losing her parents and pretty much Kacey too. But man this girl is so good at keeping show more everything in check.

“Livie, I think you’re completely fucked up.”

I couldn't agree with Kacey more. Livie has always bottled it all up. She helps her sister, she makes good grades and she knows who she wants to be. But what if she doesn't? This is what I loved so much about this book. It was more about Livie being true to herself and finding out just who she is. I loved seeing her come into her own and having fun!

I loved Ashton. I pretty much loved a lot about this book. It wasn't a light fluffy read though. It made me tear up just as much as it made me laugh. I know one thing about this series so far though, it makes you think. At least it has made me think. Sometimes you have to wonder if you have been lying to yourself your whole life without even realizing it. You tell yourself you want something but then when it gets down to it.. you realize that maybe you don't. Fantastic read! show less

Loved the setting - so fascinating about how people live in rural Alaska! I could practically feel the cold and at times, feel that camaraderie between the people working at Wild and the people in the villages. I also enjoyed reading about Calla’s relationship with her mother and stepfather, and she reminded me a bit of myself and my friends when we were her age.

I liked Calla, even if she became unbearably whiny and insecure at times. But I remember being her age and I can relate to those show more feelings. I too, love my modern luxuries! And it was touching to read about her rekindling her relationship with her father, and I wished we could have seen more of them. I felt a hint of an emotional punch, but I didn’t feel as much as I would have liked.

I actually liked the ending a lot, it didn’t end the way I thought it would!

I didn’t like Jonah, though. But maybe it’s because I don’t find the bearded hulk type attractive? He seemed incredibly juvenile to me (actually, their whole courtship was very juvenile and at times I thought I was reading a YA book about high schoolers, not a 26 and 31 year old grown woman and man). Felt there was a bit of a controlling streak there, telling her she didn’t look good with makeup and literally hiding her things because apparently, she had been living life all wrong and he knew better than her. I hate that trope. And honestly? He was quite mean to her when they first met. Not my kind of guy. I didn’t feel much in terms of chemistry between the two, just that they got together because of proximity.

Story is told in first person from first Calla’s mom’s, and then Calla’s perspective in first person. show less

You know how, in the horror movies, you scream and you wave your arms frantically to the heroine, but no matter what you do, she still won't listen and do stupid stuff all the time?
You get so irritated… because come on, how can she not get a clue? How can she not hear the damn ominous music and run the hell away?
It's just that she can't know what we know, because we are the viewer/reader and of course we see what she can't see. So no matter what we do, she still is going to get hurt.

This show more book was kind of like that.

Early on, we know that Kacey survived a terrible car accident that had just another survivor; after some pages, she meets a mysterious guy with a huge tattoo that says "forgiviness": how can she not do the math!?
Eh, that's the thing: she just can't. There would be no point in the book otherwise.

So you know full well what's about to happen, but you can't stop it and you're going to watch it unfold. But in the end, you're kind of glad that you couldn't warn the heroine.


Side note: there were some typos scattered here and there, but it was quite late when I understood I was reading an indie book. I just came across this: "Easy for you to say. You’re ass isn’t hanging out." and thought that no respectable editor would miss it. But otherwise, this book is wonderfully structured and well written. Kudos to the author! show less

3.75 ★ What I enjoyed most about this was the light angst and the subsequent grovel. I loved Scarlet and Shane’s back and forth and their conflicted feelings about their past. They might have acted childish a few times (i know. self-indulgence. acquired taste. sorry, the conflict tasted like candy.) but to me, it was the good kind of childish.