This is the second story in the Skid series and was gifted to me by the author, Doug Solter, in return for my review. I mentioned this coming out a while back and Doug did a guest post here last year at about the same time as the release date so I’ve been pretty excited about this book for a while. I adored the first in the series.
The book picked up a little while after the previous Skid story, following our darling heroine Samantha and her boyfriend Manny. I must admit the very beginning threw me a little. Samantha was driving fast and recklessly on a normal road, something I felt was a little out of character given her past and what happened to her father. This happened again later in the book and made me feel a little frustrated.
I loved the chapters from Manny’s point of view and having Paige on the scene (Samantha’s younger sister). I also liked the general plot of the book and the extra elements added by Manny’s ex. The books was also written well in terms of pacing, and the balance of action and character dialogue and down scenes.
But despite my desire to love this book as much as I did the first I just couldn’t. While some of how Samantha reacted felt realistic and understandable given the pressure she was under, she came across a little too immature for a girl her age. She whined a shed load, which was heavy slogging to read and although some of the things she did wrong were understandable I don’t know a single girl above the age of about 13-14 that still gives someone the silent treatment when angry.
I also have mixed feelings about where the book ended, half-way through a season and the story’s plot. While I can understand the author’s desire not to publish a sequel that’s way longer than the first one, I personally would have prefered a longer book that had a little less of the immaturity and whining and had a complete plot.
The last few percent redeemed the book a little so I’ll definitely read the next one but unfortunately this isn’t as good as the first.
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