Review: Joyride by Anna Banks
SYNOPSIS:
A popular guy and a shy girl with a secret become unlikely accomplices for midnight pranking, and are soon in over their heads—with the law and with each other—in this sparkling standalone from NYT-bestselling author Anna Banks.
It’s been years since Carly Vega’s parents were deported. She lives with her brother, studies hard, and works at a convenience store to contribute to getting her parents back from Mexico.
Arden Moss used to be the star quarterback at school. He dated popular blondes and had fun with his older sister, Amber. But now Amber’s dead, and Arden blames his father, the town sheriff who wouldn’t acknowledge Amber’s mental illness. Arden refuses to fulfill whatever his conservative father expects.
All Carly wants is to stay under the radar and do what her family expects. All Arden wants is to NOT do what his family expects. When their paths cross, they each realize they’ve been living according to others. Carly and Arden’s journey toward their true hearts—and one another—is funny, romantic, and sometimes harsh.
REVIEW:
*Book Received in Exchange for Honest Opinion/Review*
The story itself, well I should say the concept for the story is good; however, this book was so bloody slow it took me 3 weeks to finish it! Now anyone who knows me know I can devour a book in a day…minimum. To say it took me 21 days to finish this story symbolizes how slow the story was for me. There were a bunch a cute scenes; however, I felt like they were fluff or filler scenes to take up space. Were there moments when I was smiling, yes; were there moments when I giggled, yes; but those were far and few in-between.
I found myself feeling anger and rage toward Julio and Carly’s parents for putting so much pressure on her at such a young age. I was also angered by the disregard for education that was placed via her family. Arden is a hot mess and while Amber’s mental illness is mentioned, there is no real discussion about it, which kind-of felt half-*ssed. If you are going to mention something so extreme and have it affect Arden throughout the entire novel, then please go into it in more detail so us readers fully grasp the severity of the situation.
Overall, the concept for the story was good but it was just too slow of a read for me to truly get into the story and be engaged.
BUY THE BOOK:
