Review: Joyride by Anna Banks

I'm not sure where to begin with this book. I wish beyond anything that I could say that I loved it a whole lot. But I can't. I can't even say that I really liked it. Because I didn't. But I really wanted to. Because Anna Banks is all kinds of adorable and oh so kind and I really like her. But this book was not for me. Sigh.

I'm giving Joyride two stars. I truly wish I could have liked it more. But I really didn't. And thinking about it now, after just finishing it, I'm trying to figure out if I liked anything about it at all. And that makes me so damn sad. I really wanted to love this book. Hmph. But yeah. This was not for me at all. Ugh.

I'm not sure where to start. The writing. I did not like the way it was written. Sigh. It changes. And it isn't done very well. And it annoyed me at times. And then. I didn't connect with the characters at all. I should probably say that is my fault, but ugh. I do not feel like this was my fault at all. This book was done badly in my opinion. And I wouldn't have been able to like it no matter what. But I know that others will love it. But for me, it was not a good book. And it makes me so sad. Hmph. But yes. I shall try to talk about all the things I did not like about this book. Which might end up getting to be way too much. Sad face. Oh, well. I shall be honest about my feelings for this book. Just so you know. I very much love being honest about things.

This story is told from the point of view of Carly and Arden. She is the poor, shy girl. He is the rich, hot boy who has been with all the girls. Ugh. I didn't know how much I would hate this storyline. But I did. Obviously, I can't really stand contemporaries. Especially done this way. Sigh. It could have been done better. Anyway. Carly lives alone with her older brother. Parents have been shipped back to Mexico. I didn't feel a thing for them. I hated her brother. Sort of hated her parents too. Ugh. It was annoying.

I should say that I loved Carly. And I sort of did. Sometimes. But she annoyed me greatly too. I would never ever have been okay with working my ass off and then giving every money I earned to my brother, to be able to smuggle my parents back to America. Not my kind of thing at all. Didn't get why she did it. And then Arden offers her money. And she gets so angry and blah blah blah. Just shut up. I would never turn down money. And characters who do? I end up hating them. I do not get it. Ugh. It bothered me.

So yes. Carly was not my kind of girl. Other things she did bothered me too. Sigh. Then there was Arden. The very typical rich high school boy. His father is the sheriff. His mother is a bit mental. His sister committed suicide. I didn't care. Not one bit. There were some scenes that were supposed to make me care, but they were so cheesy. I didn't like it. Sigh. I wanted to, but so annoying. And Arden. I sort of liked him. A few times. But I didn't love him. He wasn't anything special at all. Which was so sad.

Then how the romance begins. Ugh. The robbery in the beginning. It was so fucked up. I didn't approve of it. It was so silly done and ugh. And then he suddenly starts noticing Carly, who he hasn't even seen in the years they have gone to school together. And they start hanging out with pranking, etc, which I found to be silly and not that exciting. Sniffs. You know, they start to fall for each other. And it wasn't interesting. I simply didn't care for the romance. It wasn't special or unique and just.. so done before.

Then there is that whole issue with Arden's father being the sheriff, and then being super racist, and ugh. I do not think that anyone can be that much of an asshole, which is why I didn't like how it was written at all. I wanted to. But it was so silly and cheesy and ugh. His father was stupid, sure, but I didn't believe it. I wasn't scared of him. And yeah. It wasn't done well enough for me. It could have been so much better, I think, maybe. But it wasn't. And I'm just still so very sad about that. Hmph. But, yeah.

Then there is the plot. Or, well, the non-plot. I did not think there was a story in this book. I didn't see it. I wouldn't have minded, if I had felt connected to the characters and the romance, but I didn't. It annoyed me too much. I did find some things sweet, which is why this is a two star rating, but I didn't truly like anything. And this bothers me. I wanted it to be better. I wanted the plot to be exciting. But little happens. I hated the drama near the end, the separation thingy. It was silly. Just made me angry.

Huge thank you to Ksenia at Macmillan Kids for this gorgeous print review copy of Joyride. <3 It means a lot to me. I'm sorry this book wasn't better for me. But yeah. Not my type. But even so, I am still getting my pre-order of the hardcover. Because it is gorgeous. And I do adore the author, and I want to support her. And I didn't hate this book. So I do want to own the hardcover too. So pretty. Anyway. I'm curious to know what others think of this book. So I do think you should all read it sometime :) Then let me know.

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