This was an interesting book. My first impression of it was
that is it pretty long.
It is pretty complicated, but it starts to make sense the
further into it that you get. It follows two different people living separate
lives after they meet for the first time at the beginning of the novel.
David is an ex-marine that takes on a tough job after
returning from Afghanistan. He must go under cover and reconnect with his
childhood buddies to join into their gang activities. He becomes an informant
for the authorities. Taking this job puts him and everyone around him in
danger.
Jenny is a college girl that comes from a very financially
stable household. She is a good person and volunteers every Saturday at St.
Vincent’s giving food out to those who are less fortunate. She loves her
volunteer job.
These two main characters come together at the beginning of
the novel when Jenny is attacked and raped by a gang of teenagers that hang
around the area where St. Vincent’s is located. David comes to her rescue and
fights off the boys before more damage can be done to Jenny. David falls for
her almost instantly, but he knows that his lifestyle is very risky, and he
doesn’t want to put Jenny in any more harm.
Once Jenny’s roommate finds out about the tragic incident,
she selfishly makes it all about her and moves out of the apartment they share,
forcing Jenny to move also and start a whole new life somewhere else.
Jenny finds a nice apartment closer to her college and
becomes instant friends with the other students that also live in the building.
Meanwhile, David is stuck doing “business runs” for the gang.
He has to maintain a balance of doing his job correctly while remembering the
details to report.
I was very conflicted while reading this one.
The idea and the story were right on. It was an interesting
theme and story that I really enjoyed. I found myself trying to guess what came
next, and when I couldn't guess I was left wondering. The way David and Jenny
have two separate lives, but they keep intertwining makes for a really good and
consistent story.
What I felt was off was the writing style. The writing was
so textbook and formal that it was hard to get through at times. Some passages
just ran really dry and were almost a bit boring.
Because of the formality of the wording, the conversations
between characters were also extremely unbelievable. They did not seem natural
which messed with the flow of the book.
There were some grammar mistakes such as random quotation
marks in places where there are no quotes.
There was also an area in the book where the spelling of
Jenny’s name wen from Jenny to Jennie, and then it switched back.
Along with this, there seemed to be too many filler chapter
for me. A lot of the chapters could be taken out, and the book would flow much
better.
Overall, I would give it 3/5 stars.
