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.

Véleményem a könyvről

Az „olvasni valamit Ginger Scott”-tól, már régóta a könyves bakancslistámon volt, és mikor megláttam a Goodreads Choice Awards legjobb ifjúsági kategóriájában ezt a könyvet, akkor már tudtam is, hogy mi lesz az a „valami”. Az már biztos, hogy nem ez lesz az utolsó könyvem az írónőtől, mert ez valóban az egyik legjobb Young Adult könyv volt, amit eddig olvastam (legalábbis a „gimis szerelem” kategóriában).

A történet főszereplője Kensington Worth, akinek utolsó gimis éve előtt kell Chicago-ból egy kis városkába, Woodstock-ba költöznie. A nagyvárossal nem csak a barátait és a magániskolát, de részben a zenei karrierjét is hátra kell hagynia, hiszen Kensi egy zongorista. Három éves korától zongorázik, és a legtehetségesebb zenetanároknál tanult Chicago-ban. Az új városka nagyon szokatlan neki, ráadásul a szomszéd srác, Owen Harper sem segít abban, hogy hamarabb megszeresse az új életét.

A városban az a hír járja, hogy a „Harper fiúk csak bajt hoznak mindenkire”. Owen egy nagyon tehetséges kosárlabdázó, de egyben bajkeverő is, és bár a fiú a szemben lévő ablakból eleinte ellenségesen viselkedik Kensi-vel, ahogy telik az idő, Owen megengedi, hogy egyre mélyebb rétegeket tudjon kibontogatni a lány. Ahogy szép lassan betekinthetünk, mi van a felszín alatt, egyre inkább fájt a szívem érte, és én magam is egyre inkább éreztem az iránta való kötődést.

A történet az elején picit a Penelope Douglas: Szívatás című könyvre emlékeztetett, csak egy sokkal jobb kiadásban. Aztán a könyv hamar átment egy olyan irányba, amely egyszerre volt szívfájdító és szívet melengető. A kötet igencsak nehéz témákat érint, úgy mint öngyilkosság, mentális betegségek, addikciók, és úgy gondolom, hogy ezekhez jó érzékkel nyúlt hozzá az írónő. A szereplők jól eltaláltak, a cselekmény izgalmas, élveztem minden sorát, Owen Harper pedig abszolút felkerült a Book Boyfriend listámra. 🙂

Ami a legjobban tetszett a könyvben, ahogyan a két végzős gimnazista egymás segítségével megtalálja az útját. Kensi nem akarja az apja nyomdokait követni és klasszikus zenész lenni, mert az ő szíve a Jazz-zongoráért dobog. Owen bár tehetséges és rendkívül okos, úgy gondolja, nem lehet jövője. Szinte sorsszerű, ahogy a szemben lévő ablak mögött egymásra találnak, és ahogyan segítik egymást az álmaik elérésében.

Összességében mindenkinek ajánlom ezt a könyvet és alig várom, hogy a következő Ginger Scott könyvet is a kezembe vehessem.

My Review In English

The “read something from Ginger Scott” was on my “Book Bucket List” for a long time. When I saw this book on Goodreads Choice Awards in the “Best Young Adult Category”, suddenly I knew what will be that “something”. 🙂 It is certain that this won’t be my last book from the author, and it was maybe one of the best YA book I’ve ever read (at least in “high school romance” category).

The main character of the book is Kensington Worth who has to move to a little town from Chicago, right before her senior year in high school. When she left the city, she also left behind her friends and partly her music carrier, because Kensi is a pianist. She played the piano since she was three years old and she had a chance to learn from the best music teachers in Chicago. The small town life is really new for her and the boy next door, Owen Harper is also not helping her to start to love her new life.

In the town everybody says that the best you can do is to stay away from the Harper boys, because they mean only trouble. Owen is a really talented basketball player, but he is also a troublemaker. Although the boy’s act behind the opposite house’s window is not exactly welcoming at the beginning, after matter of time Kensi can unfold his layers. While slowly I could peak under his surface my heart begun to ache more and more for him and I also felt closer to him.

The start of the story reminded me a little to Bully by Penelope Douglas, just in a much better edition. But after than it soon went down on a way what was heartwarming and heart-aching at the same time. The story dealt with some serious issues like suicide, mental illness and addictions, and I think that the author handled these subject matters with flair. The characters were pretty great, the plotline was really thrilling, I really loved the whole book and Owen Harper definitely landed on my Book Boyfriend list. 🙂

The thing that I loved the most in this book is how the two seniors could find their ways with the help from the other one. Kensi doesn’t want to follow his father’s footsteps in classical music, because her heart is beating for jazz piano. Although Own is a really talented and smart boy, and he thinks that he doesn’t have a chance to attend college. It is like fate that behind the opposite window they find each other and they help each other to achieve their dreams. I highly recommend this book for everyone and I can’t wait to read the next book by Ginger Scott! 🙂

My Favorite Quotes From the Book

“Truth is, Owen Harper shot me through the heart that day he pointed his finger at me and pulled the trigger. I fell for him then, and I’ve been falling every day since. All I wanted was for him to catch me.
And he did.”

“I love him.
I want him.
I need him.
I breathe him.

“Since the moment my eyes met Owen Harper’s, he has owned me, terrified me, consumed me, and I don’t even remember the girl I was before him any more.”

“You are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,” he says, and all at once, I fall for Owen Harper.”

“It’s because the Harper brothers have wild hearts.”

“And as much as I should be careful, I kind of want to be reckless.”

“Just then, I realize, he’s not really wild at all. He’s heartbroken. And maybe I don’t hate him as much as I thought I did.”

“Everything. Owen Harper is everything.”

“I love you, but I will suffocate you. Drown you. Loving me…it will kill you.”

“I’m starting a war with a guy who doesn’t lose – a guy who doesn’t play by the rules. A guy who scares me, and who knows where I sleep at night.”

“I think I knew the first time I looked into his eyes that there was nothing normal about Owen Harper. But what scares me is I had this flash of an idea— a fleeting thought— that there was something special about him, too.”

5- Reckless -Stars

About the Author

Ginger Scott is a writer and journalist from Peoria, Arizona. She is  the author of eight young and new adult romances, including recent best-sellers This Is Falling and Wild Reckless.

A sucker for a good romance, Ginger’s other passion is sports, and she often blends the two in her stories. (She’s also a sucker for a hot quarterback, catcher, pitcher, point guard…the list goes on.) Ginger has been writing and editing for newspapers, magazines and blogs for more than 15 years. She has told the stories of Olympians, politicians, actors, scientists, cowboys, criminals and towns. For more on her and her work, visit her website at http://www.littlemisswrite.com.

When she’s not writing, the odds are high that she’s somewhere near a baseball diamond, either watching her son field pop flies like Bryce Harper or cheering on her favorite baseball team, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Ginger lives in Arizona and is married to her college sweetheart whom she met at ASU (fork ’em, Devils).

Harper Boys Series