ARC Review: Walk the Edge (Thunder Road #2) by Katie McGarry

10:00

Walk the Edge
Series: Thunder Road #2
Author: Katie McGarry
Published March 10th 2016 by MIRA Ink

Goodreads Synopsis
One moment of recklessness will change their worlds

Smart. Responsible. That's seventeen-year-old Breanna's role in her large family, and heaven forbid she put a toe out of line. Until one night of shockingly un-Breanna-like behavior puts her into a vicious cyber-bully's line of fire—and brings fellow senior Thomas "Razor" Turner into her life.

Razor lives for the Reign of Terror motorcycle club, and good girls like Breanna just don't belong. But when he learns she's being blackmailed over a compromising picture of the two of them—a picture that turns one unexpected and beautiful moment into ugliness—he knows it's time to step outside the rules.

And so they make a pact: he'll help her track down her blackmailer, and in return she'll help him seek answers to the mystery that's haunted him—one that not even his club brothers have been willing to discuss. But the more time they spend together, the more their feelings grow. And suddenly they're both walking the edge of discovering who they really are, what they want, and where they're going from here.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Also see my review of book 1, Nowhere But Here.

Nowhere But Here was the first book of McGarry's that I read, but I knew I was hooked. When book 2 came up on NetGalley to request, I jumped at the chance to read it.

In Walk the Edge, the main characters are Razor and Breanna, who are so unlike each other, it's unreal. Breanna is counting down the minutes until she can leave town, and is hoping her parents will let her take an academic scholarship to complete her senior year at a prestigious school, guaranteed to get her out of town, and give her some sense of self identity - she's not only the 4th of seven children, she is her own person. Razor, on the other hand, knows what he wants - to be a member of the Reign of Terror motorcycle club. He has absolutely no intention of leaving town.

When they meet after senior orientation, they form an unlikely alliance - Razor will be Breanna's bodyguard, something that becomes serious when she starts to be blackmailed. They both fall for each other, and would do anything to protect one another. They try to keep their relationship a secret for some time, as Breanna's family, especially, hates the motorcycle club, and won't listen that Razor is not a bad person.

I really enjoyed both PoV's in this book. They seemed really different from Emily and Oz, from book 1, and I liked how unique they were. Breanna was my favourite of the two, and I really felt her loneliness when reading her chapters; even with her having 6 siblings, she never really was close to any of them, and for this, Razor was a godsend. He saw her as her own person, and listened to her whenever she needed to talk. Even Breanna's own parents didn't do this, they always seemed to care more about one of her brothers or sisters, than her.

Razor was a bit rough around the edges, but that was to be expected, to be honest. When he was with Breanna, he was like a type of gentle giant, but could be quite scary when he was in 'Razor' mode. I think it was a bit of a persona he had to put on, to show his worth to the MC, and when he was with Breanna, he could be himself, he could be Thomas.

The romantic aspect of the book was wonderful. I swooned so much reading this, even during the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep on holiday. Like I said, they could be themselves around each other, and didn't have to pretend to be strong or anything. The love they had for each other just jumped off the pages. Even with how much I loved Emily and Oz's romance, I think these two may be even better.

The plot lines were intricate, but not so much that you would get confused. They worked in parallel with each other, and even when they came to a head at the end of the book, it was easy to keep track of everything. It was a bit predictable at times, but I find that a lot with YA contemporaries, but, to be perfectly honest, I don't care about predictability. I read these types of books for the 'fluff' aspect, and normally when I don't want something heavy to read - perfect for summer time reading.

If you've enjoyed McGarry's other books, or simply like cutesy, fluffy contemporaries, with a good plot line, this is a book for you.

Dates Read:
March 20-21, 2016

Rating
4 Stars