Review: Life, Love & Lemons by Magan Vernon
Labels:
5 Stars,
Book Review,
Magan Vernon,
Young Adult
·
Author: Magan Vernon
Published: August 20th 2013
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Source: eARC provided by author for honest review
Rating: 5/5
BLURB:
When life hands you lemons, sometimes you have to say screw the lemons and bail.
Seventeen-year-old Bentley Evans had it all. Then her Dad got laid off.
Now she has to move across town to a small apartment and leave her life of luxury for public school and a job at the local burger place. Just when her world seems like it's crumbling she finds solace in the unlikely punk boy next door, Kai Stone. But as their relationship blossoms, a jealous ex-girlfriend and a secret to tell that threatens to bring disaster back into Bentley’s life.
REVIEW:
The story:
This story was refreshingly different to other YA contemporaries. I liked that the hero wasn't the typical jock, bad boy or popular guy. A punk kid working at a burger joint doesn't sound like the regular romantic hero, but it was so nice to read about a different type of character.
Told from Bentley's POV, we follow her and her family as they struggle with her father loosing his job, moving into a small apartment, leaving her private school for the rougher public school and swapping lunches with friends at the local sushi bar for working at the local Burger joint. At first Bentley struggles with the changes, but she's certainly not the typical shallow character. She does what she needs to do to save money for her college fund even though her father struggles to deal with unemployment and her mother…well her mother is basically a total bitch, there is no other way to describe her.
Bentley's old life soon becomes a distant memory and some of her friends start to turn on her in her new moneyless state. One highlight in her life is her new neighbour and co-worker Kai. At first they clash heads, but soon find common ground and their relationship was beautiful to watch grow.
The characters:
Kai Stone, the guy liner wearing punk with a seductively delicious lip ring. Okay so Kai may not be kind the guy I normally crush over, but damn I want me a punk boy! His personality shines through the stereotypical punk kid persona and underneath it all he really is a "knight in shinning Chuck Taylors".
Bentley Evans, grew up in the wealthy suburbs and attending private school. At first I thought she was going to be a typical spoilt rich kid, who's cranky she can no longer have to latest must have fashion accessory. But not long into the story, I realised she was a lot deeper than that and didn't whine and complain about her situation. She got a job, sold her car and basically took care of herself when her mum was too busy to care and her dad was wasn't really coping with his unemployment.
The secondary characters were also really interesting. Bentley's dad was such an embarrassing guy, but it a good way - he's a typically daggy dad and I loved that about him. Her mum was horrible & had very little respect for her own daughter. On the other hand Kai's mum worked so hard to support him and his sisters, that although she was a bit cold towards Bee at first, I really respected her.
The romance:
I always love an opposites attract story and this definitely qualifies as that. Kai & Bentley couldn't be more different on the surface. But underneath the clothes and guy liner they have a lot in common. They both respect each other's differences and don't try to change one another, instead they evolve & grow together throughout the story. It starts out as a sweet little friendship and developed into a beautiful romance - with a couple of yummy make out sessions!
The Writing:
I am a huge fan of the mix of humour & heart that Magan weaves into her stories. She writes stories with depth and her characters are never one dimensional. I love when an author can make me laugh and in this book even the chapter names where clever!
FINAL WORD:
Magan's stories always have a good amount of sarcasm and humour, which I absolutely love! But underneath that there is also a really sweet story here, about love, friendship & family. This was a fun YA story with heart, and some quirky characters. I now blame Magan Vernon for my sudden desire for wanting to kiss a guy with a lip ring, oh the lip ring!!!
CONTENT:
Sexuality: mild-medium / kissing, heavy petting and discussions of sex (no sex scenes)
Violence: mild
Language: mild
Drugs & alcohol: mild-medium / some references to prescription drug use/dealing
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I am reading this right now. LOVE!
ReplyDeleteYay!!! Can't wait to read your review Meredith!!! <3
DeleteThis sounds like such a great book! Everything you said about it is something I like in a contemporary romance book, so I'll definitely have to check it out.
ReplyDeleteI really like the cover and the title, by the way. It caught my attention a month or two ago, but it wasn't until now that I became truly interested.
Nice review. :)
Thanks so much Kaitlin! This was one of the best YA contemporaries I've read in a long time - it had all the best elements of the genre! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did :)
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