May 10, 2013

Wild Awake - Hillary T. Smith

Young Adult
Pages: 384
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Release Date: May 28, 2013
Goodreads / Amazon

Things you earnestly believe will happen while your parents are away:

1. You will remember to water the azaleas.
2. You will take detailed, accurate messages.
3. You will call your older brother, Denny, if even the slightest thing goes wrong.
4. You and your best friend/bandmate Lukas will win Battle of the Bands.
5. Amid the thrill of victory, Lukas will finally realize you are the girl of his dreams.

Things that actually happen:

1. A stranger calls who says he knew your sister.
2. He says he has her stuff.
3. What stuff? Her stuff.
4. You tell him your parents won’t be able to—
5. Sukey died five years ago; can’t he—
6. You pick up a pen.
7. You scribble down the address.
8. You get on your bike and go.
9. Things . . . get a little crazy after that.*
*also, you fall in love, but not with Lukas.

This one was nothing if not a wild ride. Fairly different from everything I've read before, this book is as fearless and reckless as its main character. Kiri was just a kid when her older sister died in an accident. Kiri's life is going well--she's in a band and her parents are on vacation for six weeks--until she gets a call related to Sukey's death. Then this exhilarating weird journey begins and yes there is a yummy boy who ends up being yummier with each page.

I wont deny it, my favorite part of the book was The Boy--Skunk. As much as I enjoyed Kiri and sadly, she reminded me a lot of my teen self, she scared me sometimes. The plot was so unpredictable, it was disconcerting. Not that it was a bad thing, it felt refreshing. It just seemed to change gears with every chapter, to the point where I had to re-read some parts. First you seemed to think it was about Sukey, then it seemed to revolve around Skunk, and then you realize, how could I be so stupid? This book is about Kiri, period.

Characters were vivid, the writing was strong and the overall plot was so weird and modern that it just felt like my cup of tea. Kiri is the kind of wild heroine you often read about from male perspectives or in sci-fi action books. So kudos to the author for bringing this strong whirlwind of a girl to realistic fiction. Strongly recommended for daring contemporary readers.

2 comments:

  1. Wow, wasn't interested in this one, but you sure made me consider it! I would love an unpredictable plot, as there are too much of them these days! :< Thanks for the review!

    Faye @ The Social Potato Reviews

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  2. <3 Skunk! This was such an awesome debut! I loved it so much, I'm happy you did too.

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