Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: August 2nd, 2012
Pages: 343
Song I Played While Reading: Pray to God by Calvin Harris
Rating: 4 stars
Alex and Lila are on the run, desperately trying to stay one step ahead of the Unit. Alex is determined to keep Lila safe at any cost, but Lila's only thought is of finding a way back to California so she can rescue her family from the military base where they're being held.
Lila plans not only to save her brother and mum, but also to completely destroy the Unit and everything it stands for. But that means Lila returning to California alone, and making friends with the enemy- putting herself at risk of losing everything; Alex, her family... and even her life.
My first reaction to this is LOL. Just one, long, LOL. Alderson kicked my ass with her comedy; either I would bark out a sharp laugh because it was so unexpected, or drop the book and try not to cry. And then she'd write a scene with Alex and I would swoon. Blonde buzz cut, arctic blue eyes, tan skin, ripped, fiercely protective and willing to do anything for the people he loved... *drops to the floor* GIMME GIMME GIMME.
Overall, this was a kick ass book. From the Mexican Mafia, to car chases, to breaking into buildings, to setting shit on fire, this story was all over the damn place, but in a good way. Lila was a really strong narrator, and I enjoyed her character development immensely. She knew what she wanted and she went for it, all or nothing. It was the same with Alex, and together they were just so beautiful I could've cried.
I thought Alderson wrapped everything up nicely, almost a little too perfectly, but there was so much going on throughout the story that I couldn't complain. If you can't make a hugely crazy, impactful ending, just throw in a shit ton of action scenes until the readers head spins. I was a little irked again at the holes in the plot. Or maybe I shouldn't even say plot since it's more to do with the way Lila and Jack spoke. Lila was with her father in London for 6ish years, but she always had an American accent. She complained about it once, so I assumed she still had one. I guess it would make sense that she would say "mum", because we all probably pick up small things like that if we're in a different country, right? But why did Jack say mum? And why did he say "bloody"? He was never in London, so he wouldn't say that. Nor would Alex for that matter, and I caught him saying mum every once in a while.
I kind of figured the author did that unintentionally, since she's from England, and the editor didn't notice it either. I know it's a small issue, but it bothered me nonetheless. I'm super picky like that. But besides that and the small amount of grammatical errors, this book was really, really fun.
ALSO, for anyone who's read this and didn't know, Alderson wrote a scene that's not in the book that takes place between Chapter 5 and 6, when Alex and Lila are on the beach in the hotel room. It's just a little steamy something, written as "x-rated" but it's really not. More graphic than a usual YA novel, but not enough to be NA. I, of course, recommend reading it cause SWOON. There's a link on her website (click here).
Quotes
""Here," Alex said, handing a gun to Key, "just in case."
Mrs. Johnson's eyes grew round. "Mary mother of Jesus, what you doing with guns? Joe Junior, what kind of trouble you getting yourself mixed up in? And why you dragging your poor old mama into it? Mrs. Williams' boy never goes getting himself into trouble. And if he did, he sho wouldn't bring his mama into it."
Alex slammed the door on them and we walked to the corner of the road, hoping Key didn't tun the gun on his mother before she'd done her sifting business."
"Jack was staring at the floor, but now he glared up at me through his lashes. That was a scowl. Definitely a scowl.
"Oh yeah," he said. That was anger. Definitely anger.
"When I'm done sorting out the Unit, Alex and I are going to have a little chat."
"Over my dead body."
"I'm thinking more over his dead body." He glowered at me some more then held up a hand to stop me in my tracks. I thought about making him slap himself. It wasn't like it would cause any damage. Tempting."
"I'm not stupid," I muttered lamely.
"Well, why else would you tell Alex to go anywhere? What will we do for eye candy now? Were you thinking of Nate at all? Were you thinking of me? I think you're incredibly selfish, Lila."
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