Goodreads Book Description: Life is sweet for Katherine Langley. A freshman at the University of Virginia, she is free from the drama of her parents’ dysfunctional marriage and ready to focus on studying to become a nurse. Her brother, Ben, belongs to the hottest fraternity on campus, and her new roommate, Emma, is beautiful and charming, a party girl whose answer for a hangover is happy hour. She is also a psychopath.
When Katherine’s obsessive-compulsive overprotective brother succumbs to Emma’s charms and falls dangerously off-track, Katherine must save Ben from himself. Lives are threatened and someone disappears on New Year’s Day. The only evidence left: a single set of footprints in the snow.
From the university campus to a cozy cottage on Carter’s Creek, Virginia, Saving Ben is a haunting tale of love and loyalty, anger management, substance abuse, and betrayal.
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
My Review: Saving Ben by Ashley Farely is a new adult book, taking place during college years, a time in which I have a special place in my heart. The book stars Katherine, who seems to have it all-- a wealthy lifestyle and a brother who dotes on her. But her parents have their own issues and have been distant, and she is excited to get out of her brother's protective eye. She joins him at UVA as a freshman, and meets her gorgeous and seemingly perfect roommate, Emma, who slowly shows her true colors the longer she is around. To make matters worse, she has Ben under her spell, and things slowly fall apart. Then Emma goes missing.
The first half of this book was completely riveting. I loved the setup of the book, which while not the most new idea (it reminds me of Poison Ivy and a couple of other movies where the crazy girl wants to take over another girl's life), the setting, atmosphere, and strong characterization of Katherine, her brother, and their friends, made it unique in its own way. The second half was less strong, but had some great twists, and I think it ended plot wise the only way it could.
My main issue with this book is that the second half seemed a lot more telling instead of showing, which was more dramatically seen for me, since the first half did not have this issue. Because of this, a particular relationship that occurs did not have the same impact that it probably should have.
That said, I raced through this book from cover to cover, and it was a very strong first novel. I think that Farley will just get better and better.
Stay tuned tomorrow for an interview with the author and go ahead and enter the giveaway!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
I started reading this on a friend's kindle and I really enjoyed what I read so far. I'm kind of hesitant about reading the second now, but I would love to win a signed copy and get how the story progresses. Can't wait for the interview.
ReplyDeleteI am new to the 'new adult' genre and am very curious as to how it differs from your typical Young Adult story. This certainly sounds like an interesting read and one that i am very keen to discover! Thank you for a fantastic blog post and a great interview, which i found utterly facinating - as a reader and an aspiring author working on my own first novel.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a really good book to read. Thank you for the review and giveaway! :)
ReplyDeleteI have a question for the author, Ashley. What was your inspiration behind the book? Did an incident inspire it?
ReplyDeletemestith at gmail dot com
Yes! My older brother, Neal, died of an accidental drug overdose in 1999. When I found it hard to talk about him after his death, I started writing about him. I hope you'll read the entire author interview that Christina just posted. :-)
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DeleteWould love to read. Looks great.
ReplyDeleteI have a question as well. How will I be contacted if I were to win the raffle?
ReplyDeleteI can answer this one. I'll email you at the email that is connected to your Rafflecopter entries.
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