Review: Wild Reckless (Harper Boys #1) by Ginger Scott

Title: Wild Reckless
Author: Ginger Scott
My rating: ❤❤❤❤
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publication date: March 17th 2015
Publisher: Ginger Scott - Little Miss Write
Synopsis: Kensington Worth had a vision for her senior year. It involved her best friends, her posh private school in downtown Chicago and time alone with her piano until her audition was perfected, a guaranteed ticket into the best music programs in the world.

Instead, a nightmare took over.

It didn’t happen all at once, but her life unraveled quickly—a tiny thread that evil somehow kept pulling until everything precious was taken from her. She was suddenly living miles away from her old life, trapped in an existence she didn’t choose—one determined to destroy her from the inside, leaving only hate and anger behind. It didn’t help that her neighbor, the one whose eyes held danger, was enjoying every second of her fall.

Owen Harper was trouble, his heart wild and his past the kind that’s spoken about in whispers. And somehow, his path was always intertwined with Kensington’s, every interaction crushing her, ruining her hope for any future better than her now. Sometimes, though, what everyone warns is trouble, is exactly what the heart needs. Owen Harper was consumed with darkness, and it held onto his soul for years. When Kensington looked at him, she saw a boy who’d gotten good at taking others down when they threatened his carefully balanced life. But the more she looked, the more she saw other things too—good things…things to admire.

Things…to love. Things that made her want to be reckless.

And those things…they were the scariest of all. (synopsis from Goodreads)

My thoughts: I found this book at Goodreads Choice Awards, it was a nominee, and I thought it sounded good, so I decided to read it. I’m not entirely sure how much I expected of it, but I wasn’t disappointed.

   It’s about Kensington, or Kensi, as she prefers. She just moved to a small town and had to leave all her friends behind, and she really misses her old school. Her father pushes her to play the piano, classical music, but she prefers playing jazz.

   Kensi is fighting to find herself in the shadow of her parents going through a “rough patch”. Her father did something really bad, and she is angry at him because of it, which is why she stops playing the piano. She doesn’t want to do anything associated with her father.

   She meets Owen Harper, who just so happens to be her neighbor, and a “bad boy”. Kensi, who always does as she’s told and has tried all her life to make her parents happy, does her best to avoid him. At first, she’s pretty terrified of him, since she has very little experience with boys, but then – surprise, surprise – she warms up to him, and he helps her live a little. So far, pretty predictable and cliché. Usually, that makes me want to hit something out of frustration, but this time, it wasn’t so bad. Even though it was pretty predictable, I still enjoyed it.

   Later in the book, though, an unpredictable plot twist occurred. It wasn’t that surprising, but I didn’t predict it, either.

   The romance was great, I liked that it wasn’t love at first sight, because those books annoy me to no end, it’s just not believable, you know? I liked that, at first, Kensi was terrified of Owen, but still, she was curious, which made her seem a little less perfect.

   I liked the characters, especially Andrew. The only thing I didn’t like was the writing. It wasn’t bad, it was just different, and I didn’t really like it that much, but otherwise, it was a great read. I also liked that Owen wasn't really a jerk. Sure, he was teasing and mocking Kensi a lot in the beginning, but he wasn't really a complete jerk. And I found the way he took care of his family really sweet!

   Really good and interesting read, it definitely surprised me, in a good way, and I'd definitely recommend it.