This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Reviewed by Jennifer Joyce
Cassidy’s
childhood was destroyed when her father passed away, leaving her mother unable
to cope. Her mother turned to alcohol and before long had remarried, bringing a
violent stepfather into Cassidy’s life. Both her mother and stepfather were
violent towards Cassidy, inflicting horrific injuries on the young girl and the
only person Cassidy felt she could turn to was her best friend and neighbour,
Tyler. Swearing Tyler to secrecy, Cassidy would hide away at his house whenever
she was attacked and Tyler would do his best to clean the wounds.
Now 18, Tyler is moving away to college but can’t bear to leave Cassidy behind with her family, so he takes her with him. Tyler and Cassidy will be moving in with Tyler’s cousin, Gage. From the moment Cassidy meets Gage, she is smitten and finds herself falling for her friend’s cousin and he feels the same way too. But Tyler is also in love with Cassidy and has warned Gage to stay away.
For me, the book didn’t get off to the best of starts. Cassidy and Gage meet and instantly have strong feelings for each other, before any real conversation has taken place. It seemed so unbelievable and forced as we didn’t even know Cassidy or Gage in their own rights yet, having only been introduced to Cassidy briefly with a little back story. There was no time for the feelings to develop at all and while we are told they are there, it was so sudden with no build up at all that I didn’t feel it. I wasn’t keen on most of the characters in the book, particularly Tyler, and failed to connect with them at all. Tyler started off as the sweet best friend who wants to protect Cassidy but unfortunately turns malicious, turning against the girl he’s supposed to love.
This is the second book by Molly McAdams that I’ve read and there seems to be a theme with the lead female characters. The young women don’t seem to have any aspirations beyond falling in love with the first boy they set eyes on, marrying them and squeezing out babies in quick succession. I have little interest in these girls, nor their love interests who all seem to go around punching everything that moves.
6/10
Molly McAdam’s Website