Review
Nowhere But Here was the first of McGarry's books that I read, and it quickly put her writing into my heart, and I just adore her stories. For some reason, I never managed to get around to reading the final Thunder Road book, but for Christmas I got a copy, and was so happy to be finally finishing the story, and finding out what life is like for them all in Snowflake, and to finally see Violet and Chevy's story. After Violet's father was killed while working for the Terror motorcycle gang, Violet has turned away from the MC group, and wants absolutely nothing to do with any of them, and that includes her friends, and ex-boyfriend, Chevy, whose entire life revolves around the club. Well, it would, he's a McKinley after all. Chevy has known that everything in his life would be geared towards joining the MC fully, and he's now questioning it all. When they are both kidnapped by the rival gang, the Riot, and get told things about their father's that make them question everything, they don't know who to trust, except for each other. The more the delve into the two MC groups, the more danger they're in, and will they be able to come out of it all alive?

I think this one might have been my favourite of the two. Because it's a companion series, it's not a direct sequel, but what has happened in the previous books plays a role here, and we learn a lot more about characters who we have come to know and love. We've met Violet and Chevy before, of course, but having their points of views and being in their heads in this book was a way of understand them just that little bit more, to tie together all the questions I might have had, esoterically from the last book. I really, really enjoyed Violet as a character. She was grieving the loss of her father, but also of what her life could've been, as being the daughter of a biker has always been a bit of a stigma, and she's starting to branch out and get away from the 'taint' that comes with the territory. However, she can't avoid them when her mam invites them around always, and all of the Terror want to help support her and her brother, but especially Eli, who thinks of himself as a second father to her. Violet is particularly angry with Eli, blaming him for her dad's death, but they have some moments, especially as the book progressed, where they were coming to terms with their realities, and their character growths were fantastic.

The same goes for Chevy, really, as he grows in the book into his own person, and not who everyone else thinks he should or shouldn't be. Just because he's a McKinley, does that mean he should be in the Terror, or should he look at being something, someone, different? His love for Violet, and for the MC seems contradictory at times, but as he works with Violet to take down the Riot, and protect the Terror, it may be that he's able to love both, and be loved by both. His and Violet's relationship across the whole series was messy, and real, and I adored it in this book. Really, it helped to cement the story, and overall, ties everything together. I'm so happy with how this series ended, and can't wait to read McGarry's latest release!

February 15-17, 2020

Rating
4 Stars