YA Bound Book Tours is organizing a Blog Tour for: The Row by J.R. Johansson from FSG/Macmillan. This tour will run from October 3rd to 14th. Check out the tour schedule.
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The RowGenre: YA Mystery
Release Date: October 11th 2016
FSG/Macmillan
Summary from Goodreads:
A death sentence. A family torn apart. One girl’s hunt for the truth.
Seventeen-year-old Riley Beckett is no stranger to prison. Her father is a convicted serial killer on death row who has always maintained that he was falsely accused. Riley has never missed a single visit with her father. She wholeheartedly believes that he is innocent.
Then, a month before the execution date, Riley’s world is rocked when, in an attempt to help her move on, her father secretly confesses to her that he actually did carry out the murders. He takes it back almost immediately, but she cannot forget what he’s told her. Determined to uncover the truth for her own sake, she discovers something that will forever change everything she’s believed about the family she loves.
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Review
Riley's father was convicted of murder when she was very young. The convection of her father has lead her to not have the best childhood as well as having experienced a large amount of bullying. Riley's mother struggles to keep a job, Riley can't really make friends because they all call her a murder, and other people in the neighborhood also leave them threatening notes regarding the murder.
The story is completely told through the eyes of Riley, which typically I am more of a fan of multiple point of views to get the complete picture, but the whole story being told through Riley's eyes was perfect I didn't feel like I missed anything or finished with any lingering questions. In the beginning of the book we get an overview of details of what is wrong in Riley's life. We also see how loyal that Riley is to her father, until Riley's father drops a bomb and tells her that he did commit the murders and then takes it back she wouldn't have ever said anything bad about him. Riley then begins to review the case and all the details she knows or needs to find out.
I loved Riley as a character we got to see all her flaws as well as learn about her past and how she became the person she was today. Riley doesn't feel like she is strong, but after starting to research the murders and look through the evidence as a reader I could only help but to see how strong Riley is and what she is capable of. Riley also learned a lot from her dad so she was able to know how he operated as well as apply those assumptions to other people.
The author did a great job with the story line. Throughout the whole book we get a look at the complete case against her father in bits and pieces. It feels like we are right alongside Riley and Jordan as they discover new details and start to see how the case was built. The major twist is that Jordan is the son of the detective that put Riley's father away for murder. Jordan becomes exactly what Riley needs in a friend, she has to trust someone while trying to solve the murder. Jordan becomes the shoulder that Riley needs to lean on.
There are a lot of twist and turns in the book that I did not see coming. Towards the end I felt like the book was being nicely completed but saw I had a little bit left to read and everything changed. The author did a great job keeping the book at a very steady pace and also dropping enough details at certain times to keep the story moving along and the reader wanting more. The ending is worth the entire read it is so twisty it is amazing!
I would suggest this as a weekend or vacation read. The book has a very steady story line built up with a lot of suspense so I got sucked in and wanted to keep reading. The book does have some natural stopping points where you can go back and think about what is going on, but it also will keep you guessing until the end.
The story is completely told through the eyes of Riley, which typically I am more of a fan of multiple point of views to get the complete picture, but the whole story being told through Riley's eyes was perfect I didn't feel like I missed anything or finished with any lingering questions. In the beginning of the book we get an overview of details of what is wrong in Riley's life. We also see how loyal that Riley is to her father, until Riley's father drops a bomb and tells her that he did commit the murders and then takes it back she wouldn't have ever said anything bad about him. Riley then begins to review the case and all the details she knows or needs to find out.
I loved Riley as a character we got to see all her flaws as well as learn about her past and how she became the person she was today. Riley doesn't feel like she is strong, but after starting to research the murders and look through the evidence as a reader I could only help but to see how strong Riley is and what she is capable of. Riley also learned a lot from her dad so she was able to know how he operated as well as apply those assumptions to other people.
The author did a great job with the story line. Throughout the whole book we get a look at the complete case against her father in bits and pieces. It feels like we are right alongside Riley and Jordan as they discover new details and start to see how the case was built. The major twist is that Jordan is the son of the detective that put Riley's father away for murder. Jordan becomes exactly what Riley needs in a friend, she has to trust someone while trying to solve the murder. Jordan becomes the shoulder that Riley needs to lean on.
There are a lot of twist and turns in the book that I did not see coming. Towards the end I felt like the book was being nicely completed but saw I had a little bit left to read and everything changed. The author did a great job keeping the book at a very steady pace and also dropping enough details at certain times to keep the story moving along and the reader wanting more. The ending is worth the entire read it is so twisty it is amazing!
I would suggest this as a weekend or vacation read. The book has a very steady story line built up with a lot of suspense so I got sucked in and wanted to keep reading. The book does have some natural stopping points where you can go back and think about what is going on, but it also will keep you guessing until the end.
I received a copy of this book from YA Bound Book Tours for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of this book.
My Rating 5/5
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About the Author
She is represented by the stellar Kathleen Rushall of Andrea Brown Literary Agency.
Author Links:
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Oh lots of twists and turns is something I love in a book like this. Great review!!
ReplyDeleteThanks! It definitely makes reading more interesting!
DeleteI have enjoyed all of Johansson's published books, but I think this one was my favorite. I adored the story, the mystery, and the subtle romance too. So sweet!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed this book! Great review. =)
Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!
It was a great book! Thank you for stopping by! I am going to need to check out some of Johansson's other books now!
Delete