Anna Banks

The characters seemed one-dimensional... or maybe that is a bit harsh, they were two-dimensional (one dimension being teenage love/lust/romance & the other being the sea-creatures). Unfortunately, the emotions come across as shallow and unconvincing, leading up to a predictable result. And I hated the ending, which was not a conclusion at all but a traditional TV series cliffhanger, "come back next season to find out what happens" ending.

Emma, just turned 18, goes on a trip with her best friend Chloe to Florida. While there, she meets Galen, very attractive 'boy' who has the same unusual eye color as Emma (violet), and his sister. Before anything can happen between them, Emma's friend Chloe is killed by a shark. You would expect that this would then be a major part of the novel- how Emma copes with this loss. But no, despite a few paragraphs about how upset she is, Emma is unaffected. Nor is she the least bit curious or suspicious when Galen suddenly shows up as a student at her high school. Emma's self-deprecating humor is too self-deprecating and not funny enough - Banks doesn't have the light touch of Meg Cabot or Helen Fielding.

The fantasy/paranormal part of the story showed some promise but was never fully developed. I felt as if all I was getting was the "coming attractions" for the rest of the series - hints and clues with a bit of background. Too bad... a little better and I might have gone on with the series.… (mais)

Joyride shows the perspective of the two main characters Arden Ross and Carly Vega. Which open my mind to a different outlook on life. While reading the book I would always think of my own life and compare it to the characters like Arden Ross and Carly Vega because their life was the complete opposite of each other.
Carly Vega lives with her brother in a trailer home, her parents were deported back to Mexico. She and her brother are trying to get them back to the country by working to get enough money to bring them back. Her brother had a lot of rules because he was working his hardest to get their parents back. She is a good student in school she gets all her work done on time, she is quiet and tries not to get too much attention on her because she is scared that people will find out about her life which is the last thing she wants. Carly life was going all the plans but one night without expecting anything the unthinkable happen a robbery of a usual client she had. Little did she know she was going to become friends with the person under the mask.
Arden Ross was a rich kid the captain of the football team until one day his little sister passed away one night. After the passing of his little sister things started to change in his life he no longer played football but he was still the most popular guy in school. His father was the sheriff of the town they lived in, he is also not to mention a prankster who goes around town and makes disasters so that his dad can go and clean the mess he made without telling his father it was him like he is clueless about what happened. One night he decided to go to his uncle's shop and make hell over there but at that moment a shotgun was pointed at him, after leaving the place he was amused by the person holding the shotgun which was Carly Vega.
The most interesting thing about the book was how different the characters were and how even with the difference they became friends. Even if one of them had it hard the other would relate but from their own perspective, I like the novel showed the POV of both characters it gave it more understanding because when something would happen to one character the scene would be retold but in the other character's perspective. The character also helped each other accomplish what they were going for Arden was trying to make his father mad while Carly was trying to get her parents back. This novel also showed the dedication people have to do for their families no matter what. Also, the back story of the characters because some people could relate to them. I would recommend this novel because I feel like it was a good attention getter and people could relate to the novel like how I did. Honestly, I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in a story where the character goes from strangers to friends too.… (mais)