As part of the Like Candy Blog Tour run by Xpresso Book Tours I reviewed Like Candy, the first book in the new series by Debra Doxer. There is also a giveaway. Enter below for the chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card and an e-copy of Like Candy.
To check out the full tour schedule, follow the link here
Now to the review.
Title: Like Candy
Author: Debra Doxer
My rating: 3.5 hearts
Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Romance
Release date: July 28th, 2015
Summary: Revenge is sweet, just like candy.
Candy Seaborne knows she’s badass. She takes after her father, an assassin and possibly a spy, although he won’t admit to either. She idolizes him. Her dream is to follow in his footsteps. But first, she has to finish high school.
Biding her time, waiting for real life to begin, Candy craves drama and isn’t above manufacturing some. If you’re a classmate who wronged her or a boyfriend who cheated, watch your back. She’s no pushover, and revenge may be her favorite pastime.
Jonah Bryson is the senior class heartthrob who breaks all the stereotypes. He’s a jock, but he isn’t the typical player. He’s moody and antisocial. No girl has gotten anywhere with him since his last girlfriend broke his heart.
Candy sees Jonah as a challenge and the perfect distraction. But she may be in over her head because unlike everyone else, Jonah isn’t buying her tough act. He sees the lost, lonely girl inside. He sees too much. When he looks at her that way, she wants to let her guard down and be vulnerable. But that’s the last thing she should do because her father’s world is spilling over into hers, and life is about to get real much sooner than Candy expected. (summary from Goodreads)
Candy Seaborne knows she’s badass. She takes after her father, an assassin and possibly a spy, although he won’t admit to either. She idolizes him. Her dream is to follow in his footsteps. But first, she has to finish high school.
Biding her time, waiting for real life to begin, Candy craves drama and isn’t above manufacturing some. If you’re a classmate who wronged her or a boyfriend who cheated, watch your back. She’s no pushover, and revenge may be her favorite pastime.
Jonah Bryson is the senior class heartthrob who breaks all the stereotypes. He’s a jock, but he isn’t the typical player. He’s moody and antisocial. No girl has gotten anywhere with him since his last girlfriend broke his heart.
Candy sees Jonah as a challenge and the perfect distraction. But she may be in over her head because unlike everyone else, Jonah isn’t buying her tough act. He sees the lost, lonely girl inside. He sees too much. When he looks at her that way, she wants to let her guard down and be vulnerable. But that’s the last thing she should do because her father’s world is spilling over into hers, and life is about to get real much sooner than Candy expected. (summary from Goodreads)
My
thoughts: Like Candy is the first
book in the new series Candy by Debra
Doxer. I received a review copy from the author as part of the blog tour for Like Candy. I thought it sounded
interesting, and hoped it would be pretty thrilling, since it is a mystery
book.
I was a little disappointed. Sure, it wasn’t
that bad, but big parts of the book was a little boring. I thought it would be
more focus on the mystery, and less focus on high school drama. I was wrong.
Not that I mind high school drama, but it became a little too much.
Let’s talk about Candy. Candy is the main
character. The book starts when she leaves her aunt and uncle to go back to
live with her father again the minute she turns eighteen. She moved to her aunt
and uncle, unwillingly, when her mother died of cancer. Her father’s job is to
kill people, and she wants to do the same thing. She doesn’t mind the high
school drama, and is often in the middle of it.
All Candy really wants is her dad’s
approval, which isn’t that easy to get. In order to get it, she does some
pretty stupid things.
At first, I didn’t really understand Candy.
Sometimes she did things that just confused me. But after a little while, I
started understanding why she did the things she did, and how important it was
for her to make her father proud, and then I could relate to her. Maybe it
doesn’t justify her stupidity, but it explains it, and it is a good enough
explanation for me. Candy wasn’t a great character, but she was okay.
Except for Candy, the book was only so-so. Nothing
happened that really surprised me. The plot was too boring. At page 253 out of
295 pages, I was still waiting for something unexpected to happen. Then I
finally got what I’d been waiting for. Something surprising. A plot twist I
didn’t see coming. Not really, anyway. I mean, I expected something like that,
but not that bad. It’s hard to explain without giving any spoilers, but you’ll
get it when you read it.
I’ve got nothing to complain about on the
writing.
Then we have the ending. Was it surprising?
Yes. Yes, it was. I’m not sure what I feel about the ending, actually. On one
hand, it was really surprising and smart. After that cliffhanger, no one who
read Like Candy will be able to not
read Sweet Liar. On the other hand,
it felt almost a little too sudden. It stopped in the middle of something. I
think that’s the thought, and, as I said, it’s smart, but I hate cliffhangers.
It makes waiting for the next book even more unbearable, if that’s possible.
Lastly, I have to say something about the
cover and title. I love how the cover and title is somehow about the main
character, without it actually being a picture of her.
Overall, a pretty good book, but I hope Sweet Liar is better, with some more
excitement. It wasn’t great, but it was definitely worth reading.
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