Book Review of Take Me There by Carolee Dean

Take Me There by Carolee Dean

Book Review: (SPOILER FREE until the last paragraph)

Title & Author- Take Me There by Carolee Dean

Genre- Young Adult, Teen Fiction, Romance, Mystery

Rating- 3/5

Synopsis- "Dylan has a bad-boy past and a criminal record. He knows that rich, beautiful Jess is way too good for him, but she has always been the one person who sees through his tough exterior and straight to his heart, and he has been hopelessly in love with her from the first time they met. He would change his life for a chance with her. But trouble follows Dylan wherever he goes, and a deadly mistake soon forces him to hit the road and leave his dreams behind. He's on the run and in search of answers; answers to questions he wishes he'd never asked."

Review- The dislike I have towards this book mostly has to do with my personal taste.  

I went into this book pretty blindly but I never excepted this to be a crime/murder mystery type of book.  I knew it was about a boy with a bad boy past but I didn't realize how severe his past was.  Typically in YA contemporary/romance novels, their past is intense but as extreme as Dylan's was.

I didn't think the writing was horrible, I just wasn't a fan.  The writing style combined with my "just-okay" attitude about the story made it difficult to endure.  I mean, overall, the story wasn't bad; I enjoyed the mystery, but the way it was written made it feel like it dragged on.  There were a lot of flashbacks which got a bit annoying and made the story go by slow.

While the cover has you to believe this book revolves around a girl, it made more to do with his life and the relationships he has with the people in it (including the girl).  The protagonist's romantic relationship was only one of the many factors in his life.

Lastly, not to spoil the ending, the conclusion wasn't the happiest of endings but it wasn't horrible.  A lot was unanswered but it wrapped up fine.  I'm just glad there isn't a sequel.

I know I didn't have too much to say for this review but that's because I didn't feel very emotionally attached to it.  If you read this book or have already read it, let me know!  I'd love to hear what you thought.