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christinemccue's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
bookdevouringmisfit's review against another edition
3.0
Edit 6/12/15:
A week after I read this book and I'm still not in the mood to write a review on this. Fortunately, my friend Tamara has written the most perfect review ever and she completely summed up what this book is and the things it made me feel.
Original mini review:
I can't decide between two or three stars so 2.5 it is.
While the first half of the book is lighthearted and made me laugh a couple of times, the second half is a freaking soap opera that was just way too dramatic for my taste.
A week after I read this book and I'm still not in the mood to write a review on this. Fortunately, my friend Tamara has written the most perfect review ever and she completely summed up what this book is and the things it made me feel.
Original mini review:
I can't decide between two or three stars so 2.5 it is.
While the first half of the book is lighthearted and made me laugh a couple of times, the second half is a freaking soap opera that was just way too dramatic for my taste.
moonchild720's review against another edition
3.0
I can’t believe that this is another book that took me almost a month to read. When I first started it, I wasn’t super into it to be honest. I could really connect with the characters or the story. As I got further into it, I got more into the story. I definitely wasn’t sucked in enough to just want to read it all the time though.
I really loved the Syrena Legacy by Anna Banks which is pretty much the only reason that I picked this book up. It sounded like it was right up my ally. And it was, for the most part. The thing that bothered me was the whole we must work to get out parents back thing. Now I don’t know that type of situation nor do I pretend to know but I think it’s wrong to put pressure of making and saving $60,000 on a 20 and 16 year old. Expect them to live in basically total poverty with next to nothing, just barely get by, work themselves to death, and send extra money back to Mexico? It really pissed me off when the mother would scold Carly for going to school and they would say things to her that one day she will make them proud. She was working so hard to try to make her family’s life easier and they were telling her school is a waste of time. That just didn’t sit well with me.
I also hated the sherif which was the whole point. His instant racism and hate for Carly and the rude comments he made right to her face was disgusting. If he was racist, fine he racist but you don’t need to be racist to someone’s face. He also didn’t even care that he was choking his son in front of some stranger. You could tell that he could do whatever he wanted and no one could do anything about it.
I was incredibly annoyed when Carly went to Julio about her information about El Libertador and he kicked her out. And exactly what she was afraid of happened. I’m sure that was what was going to happen the whole time. I’m not surprised about the turn of events that came from the whole thing though.
I thought Arden was super cute and adorable. He was very sweet though a little reckless and had no regard for the rules and consequences because nothing would ever happen to him. I really felt bad for him about pretty much everything. He has a piece of trash father, a mothers that isn’t truly there, and his sister is gone. It was really sweet of him to want to learn some Spanish.
Overall I did really enjoy this story once I actually got into it. I definitely didn’t enjoy it as much as the authors other books though.
I really loved the Syrena Legacy by Anna Banks which is pretty much the only reason that I picked this book up. It sounded like it was right up my ally. And it was, for the most part. The thing that bothered me was the whole we must work to get out parents back thing. Now I don’t know that type of situation nor do I pretend to know but I think it’s wrong to put pressure of making and saving $60,000 on a 20 and 16 year old. Expect them to live in basically total poverty with next to nothing, just barely get by, work themselves to death, and send extra money back to Mexico? It really pissed me off when the mother would scold Carly for going to school and they would say things to her that one day she will make them proud. She was working so hard to try to make her family’s life easier and they were telling her school is a waste of time. That just didn’t sit well with me.
I also hated the sherif which was the whole point. His instant racism and hate for Carly and the rude comments he made right to her face was disgusting. If he was racist, fine he racist but you don’t need to be racist to someone’s face. He also didn’t even care that he was choking his son in front of some stranger. You could tell that he could do whatever he wanted and no one could do anything about it.
I was incredibly annoyed when Carly went to Julio about her information about El Libertador and he kicked her out. And exactly what she was afraid of happened. I’m sure that was what was going to happen the whole time. I’m not surprised about the turn of events that came from the whole thing though.
I thought Arden was super cute and adorable. He was very sweet though a little reckless and had no regard for the rules and consequences because nothing would ever happen to him. I really felt bad for him about pretty much everything. He has a piece of trash father, a mothers that isn’t truly there, and his sister is gone. It was really sweet of him to want to learn some Spanish.
Overall I did really enjoy this story once I actually got into it. I definitely didn’t enjoy it as much as the authors other books though.
ikraa's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
s_smiadak's review against another edition
5.0
This is not just a cute, young adult beach read you'd predict from the cover so don't go into it having that expectation. It covers heavy topics such as undocumented immigration/deportation and abusive parenting. Even though I am not latinx, as a daughter of an immigrant I could definitely relate to some of the pressures Carly was feeling and the disconnect with her peers/boyfriend who just didn't understand what it was like being in her shoes.
1madchild's review against another edition
3.0
eh, went downhill at the end there.
some starts for diversity.
some starts for diversity.
katiemichellereads's review against another edition
1.0
This review was originally posted on my blog, Kittens and Books.
I received a free review copy of this book through Netgalley.
Carly is just trying to fly under the radar until she and her brother earn enough money to bring back their parents, who were deported to Mexico years before. Arden is trying to do anything he can think of to make his father, the sheriff, angry. When these two come together, their goals obviously clash.
Arden, who used to pull pranks with his older sister, is seeking another accomplice. Amber has been dead for some time, and he didn’t realize how lonely he felt until Carly entered his life. He knows that she is holding herself back and that she wants to have fun, he just doesn’t realize why.
Carly tries to avoid Arden, but he makes it difficult. And as Arden refuses to give up, she realizes that she might not want him to.
Part of me wishes I didn’t finish this book. I went into it expecting less romance, and for more of the issues in the book to be touched on. Instead, I feel like the romance took over the plot - or maybe it felt that way because I did not like Arden.
From the start, Arden was too forceful. Him being right about what she wanted doesn’t excuse that he forced Carly into a lot of situations she told him she didn’t want to take part in. He stalks her home from school - while thinking that it would sure look like he was stalking her, even though he “wasn’t” - and even steals her bike to get her to talk to him, although she’s made it clear she doesn’t want to. He gets her a higher-paying job, which was nice of him - except then he wants her to quit working her other job on week days, and spend time with him instead. It seems that, no matter how many times Carly explains that she needs the money, he doesn’t believe her.
He’s not an unrealistic character, though. I understand that his privilege would get in the way of him understanding Carly’s money issues, and that he has his flaws which create his problems with being so pushy - he isn’t just that way with Carly, but also with his uncle at the beginning, and his pranks show that attitude often as well. But it was difficult for me to get past his flaws, and I really did not want him and Carly together.
One thing I did like was the balance in this book. It switched easily between cute and real. I did try to like Arden, and it worked sometimes. A scene that stuck out to me was when he mentioned ordering black coffee in front of Carly because sugar and cream did not seem “manly.” He did go out of his way to impress Carly a number of times and, although he went about it wrong (The girl doesn’t care how you like your coffee, Arden!), the emotions there were still sweet to read about. Right after this scene, though, he gets a phone call from his depressed mother, asking him to pick up the medication she’s very dependent on after her daughter’s death. Then he goes straight to work helping his alcoholic uncle with housework.
At the same time, I feel like all these issues were more interesting than Arden and Carly’s relationship. It would have been nice to read more about their family life, and to have all that more fleshed out than it was. And many of these things resolved too quickly, and often unrealistically, at the end. There was also a bit of a time-jump once we did get to the interesting stuff, which felt really disappointing - the plot was finally picking up, and then most of the action was skipped or glossed over.
Overall, I think this would be a better read for those who enjoy the romance. It really was the main plot of the book, and this will likely be a great read for those who like Arden, or who like the idea of him and Carly together. I just didn’t enjoy the romance much, and saw so much potential in the side-plots here, very little of which seemed to follow through.
I received a free review copy of this book through Netgalley.
Carly is just trying to fly under the radar until she and her brother earn enough money to bring back their parents, who were deported to Mexico years before. Arden is trying to do anything he can think of to make his father, the sheriff, angry. When these two come together, their goals obviously clash.
Arden, who used to pull pranks with his older sister, is seeking another accomplice. Amber has been dead for some time, and he didn’t realize how lonely he felt until Carly entered his life. He knows that she is holding herself back and that she wants to have fun, he just doesn’t realize why.
Carly tries to avoid Arden, but he makes it difficult. And as Arden refuses to give up, she realizes that she might not want him to.
Part of me wishes I didn’t finish this book. I went into it expecting less romance, and for more of the issues in the book to be touched on. Instead, I feel like the romance took over the plot - or maybe it felt that way because I did not like Arden.
From the start, Arden was too forceful. Him being right about what she wanted doesn’t excuse that he forced Carly into a lot of situations she told him she didn’t want to take part in. He stalks her home from school - while thinking that it would sure look like he was stalking her, even though he “wasn’t” - and even steals her bike to get her to talk to him, although she’s made it clear she doesn’t want to. He gets her a higher-paying job, which was nice of him - except then he wants her to quit working her other job on week days, and spend time with him instead. It seems that, no matter how many times Carly explains that she needs the money, he doesn’t believe her.
He’s not an unrealistic character, though. I understand that his privilege would get in the way of him understanding Carly’s money issues, and that he has his flaws which create his problems with being so pushy - he isn’t just that way with Carly, but also with his uncle at the beginning, and his pranks show that attitude often as well. But it was difficult for me to get past his flaws, and I really did not want him and Carly together.
One thing I did like was the balance in this book. It switched easily between cute and real. I did try to like Arden, and it worked sometimes. A scene that stuck out to me was when he mentioned ordering black coffee in front of Carly because sugar and cream did not seem “manly.” He did go out of his way to impress Carly a number of times and, although he went about it wrong (The girl doesn’t care how you like your coffee, Arden!), the emotions there were still sweet to read about. Right after this scene, though, he gets a phone call from his depressed mother, asking him to pick up the medication she’s very dependent on after her daughter’s death. Then he goes straight to work helping his alcoholic uncle with housework.
At the same time, I feel like all these issues were more interesting than Arden and Carly’s relationship. It would have been nice to read more about their family life, and to have all that more fleshed out than it was. And many of these things resolved too quickly, and often unrealistically, at the end. There was also a bit of a time-jump once we did get to the interesting stuff, which felt really disappointing - the plot was finally picking up, and then most of the action was skipped or glossed over.
Overall, I think this would be a better read for those who enjoy the romance. It really was the main plot of the book, and this will likely be a great read for those who like Arden, or who like the idea of him and Carly together. I just didn’t enjoy the romance much, and saw so much potential in the side-plots here, very little of which seemed to follow through.
lpcoolgirl's review
5.0
This was such a great read, I loved these two, and their complicated lives, and it was such a good story!
mcf's review against another edition
5.0
I enjoyed this book IMMENSELY. Yes, there were flaws (most particularly, Arden was too articulate and self-aware to be fully convincing), but the pacing was *perfection*, there were real conflicts in the narrative, there was a kickass, thoughtful, non-white female character, and ending and central relationship were both hugely gratifying. LOVED. IT.
leahka89's review against another edition
1.0
Joyride alternates POVs between Carly and Arden. Carly is a Mexican-American who lives with her brother in a trailer park and works the graveyard shift at a gas station so they can save enough money to sneak her parents across the border. Arden is the county sheriff's kid who's only goal in life is to break every rule his father sets for him. Arden was the star of the football team and the golden boy of the high school until his sister died and now he does everything he can to get rid of that image.
During her late night shift one night, Carly is having a conversation with one of her favorite customers, Mr. Shackelford, who drunkenly comes in every night around 1am to buy a new bottle of vodka and discuss the mysteries of life with her. This night in particular, Mr. Shackelford wants to discuss something that touches a nerve for Carly-- why do the poor have it worse than the rich. She dismisses his question and ends their conversation. Next thing you know, she looks up from the counter and sees Mr. Shackelford being held at gun point next to his truck. Going on instinct alone, Carly grabs the shot gun that lives under the counter and goes to confront the robber. She and the robber have a few intense moments of threatening each other to put the gun down or they will shoot. Ultimately the robber takes off (along with Carly's bike) and leaves. Carly and Mr. Shackelford are unharmed except for the fact that Mr. Shackelford nearly had a heart attack and literally pooped his pants in fear.
After speaking with the police and receiving a ride home from one of the deputies, Carly realizes how much danger she really put herself in. She could have been hurt, but she also put her family and their need to stay out of the limelight in danger.
The following day at school, Carly is approached in class by Arden who says he heard about the robbery from his dad. Just from hearing her side of the story, Arden develops respect for the way she handled the situation. Not many high school girls would be able to point a gun in his face and stand their grown. YEAH HIS FACE. HE'S THE ROBBER. His uncle is Mr. Shackelford and he justifies his little prank by saying that he was trying to scare Mr. Shackelford into not driving home drunk anymore. BECAUSE JUST TALKING TO HIM PROBABLY WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN A GOOD PLACE TO START. Arden decides that Carly would be the perfect sidekick for his life of pranks.
The next day at lunch, Arden approaches Carly and offers to give her a ride home from school since he knows her bike got stolen during the robbery. The only problem is that Carly didn't report her bike stolen so she immediately figures out that he was the guy. Cue awkward scene of her dumping his lunch of his lap. This only warms Arden's jollies even more and now he is CONVINCED! that he must have Carly as an accomplish. Only now he is facing another problem- now that golden boy Arden has paid quiet little Carly some attention all of the other bros in the school are sizing her up. Arden has to pretend that he is trying to sup her in order to call off the wolves.
Arden follows Carly home that day from school and when she turns off the main road onto a dirt beaten path, he decides to reveal himself. She is pissed when she sees him (shocker, stalker), but softens up when he shows that he has her bike and offers to give it back to her. SUCH A GENTLEMAN. They have a little spat about how he could have done such a thing and that's whenhe reveals everything about Mr. Shackelford being his uncle blah blah blah. The chapter ends with them agreeing that they should be friends.
ANNNNND that's where I called it. NOPE not for me. The book was painful to read at only 16% so I just can't do any further. There are so many cliches and stereotypes that my eyeballs almost fell out of my head rolling. This book is just one big bag of NOPE NOPE NOPE.
During her late night shift one night, Carly is having a conversation with one of her favorite customers, Mr. Shackelford, who drunkenly comes in every night around 1am to buy a new bottle of vodka and discuss the mysteries of life with her. This night in particular, Mr. Shackelford wants to discuss something that touches a nerve for Carly-- why do the poor have it worse than the rich. She dismisses his question and ends their conversation. Next thing you know, she looks up from the counter and sees Mr. Shackelford being held at gun point next to his truck. Going on instinct alone, Carly grabs the shot gun that lives under the counter and goes to confront the robber. She and the robber have a few intense moments of threatening each other to put the gun down or they will shoot. Ultimately the robber takes off (along with Carly's bike) and leaves. Carly and Mr. Shackelford are unharmed except for the fact that Mr. Shackelford nearly had a heart attack and literally pooped his pants in fear.
After speaking with the police and receiving a ride home from one of the deputies, Carly realizes how much danger she really put herself in. She could have been hurt, but she also put her family and their need to stay out of the limelight in danger.
The following day at school, Carly is approached in class by Arden who says he heard about the robbery from his dad. Just from hearing her side of the story, Arden develops respect for the way she handled the situation. Not many high school girls would be able to point a gun in his face and stand their grown. YEAH HIS FACE. HE'S THE ROBBER. His uncle is Mr. Shackelford and he justifies his little prank by saying that he was trying to scare Mr. Shackelford into not driving home drunk anymore. BECAUSE JUST TALKING TO HIM PROBABLY WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN A GOOD PLACE TO START. Arden decides that Carly would be the perfect sidekick for his life of pranks.
The next day at lunch, Arden approaches Carly and offers to give her a ride home from school since he knows her bike got stolen during the robbery. The only problem is that Carly didn't report her bike stolen so she immediately figures out that he was the guy. Cue awkward scene of her dumping his lunch of his lap. This only warms Arden's jollies even more and now he is CONVINCED! that he must have Carly as an accomplish. Only now he is facing another problem- now that golden boy Arden has paid quiet little Carly some attention all of the other bros in the school are sizing her up. Arden has to pretend that he is trying to sup her in order to call off the wolves.
Arden follows Carly home that day from school and when she turns off the main road onto a dirt beaten path, he decides to reveal himself. She is pissed when she sees him (shocker, stalker), but softens up when he shows that he has her bike and offers to give it back to her. SUCH A GENTLEMAN. They have a little spat about how he could have done such a thing and that's whenhe reveals everything about Mr. Shackelford being his uncle blah blah blah. The chapter ends with them agreeing that they should be friends.
ANNNNND that's where I called it. NOPE not for me. The book was painful to read at only 16% so I just can't do any further. There are so many cliches and stereotypes that my eyeballs almost fell out of my head rolling. This book is just one big bag of NOPE NOPE NOPE.