ARC Review: Joyride by Anna Banks

Title: Joyride

Author: Anna Banks

Release date: June 2nd 2015
Pages: 288
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends 
My rating: 4/ 5 stars
Source: Won giveaway

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.

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Review:

 

It's not that I was disappointing. In fact, I really, really liked this book. It had the same amazing writing that I loved from Anna Bank's other books, amazing characters and a very different plot than what you would usually find in contemporaries. What took away from my full enjoyment of the books was the insta-love situation. If you go back to around 2-3 years ago, insta-love situations never really bothered me that much. I never really took it as a problem or issue, but now that I've red more books and had my tastes in what I like and dislike in books change, situations like this one become a bit of a letdown. 

The degree of insta-love wasn't too overwhelming, but it was there. I just wish there would have been just slightly more time before the two main character's relationship turned into what it did. Carly and Arden were quite something. I loved how they were basically opposites, but regardless of it they found their way to what resulted in a strong relationship. 

Carly, is now one of my favorite main characters ever. She was strong, independent and undoubtedly clever. Although admittedly shy. Still, she knew how to stand up for herself and those are qualities that I always love in MCs. When it comes to Arden, I will admit that I wasn't too fond of him at first. But as the story progressed so did my feelings toward him. He stood up for Carly and his feelings and intentions towards her were really authentic. 

What I truly loved about this book was the diversity. This increased my love for it by 1000x. I don't recall ever reading about a character like her and it was like a breath of fresh air. I liked how the author illustrated the reality of discrimination and how unfortunate it is that we still face it to this day. 

To me this is a very genuine story. One with amazing characters facing difficult and realistic situations. It showed how we never really know what people are fighting or going through and more importantly, how we should always respect that. If your'e in search of a diverse story that will have you intrigued, laughing and yes, swooning, then go give this one a try. 

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