BOOK REVIEW ⎜The Accidentals by Sarina Bowen

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We seem to share a common taste for awesome books and blunt reviews. Check out her blog at The Angry Reader  where the motto is “Painfully Honest Book Reviews“!

RATING

This book wasn’t a love story. It was growth story.

Book Infos

Never ask a question unless you’re sure you want the truth.

I’ve been listening to my father sing for my whole life. I carry him in my pocket on my mp3 player. It’s just that we’ve never met face to face.

My mother would never tell me how I came to be, or why my rock star father and I have never met. I thought it was her only secret. I was wrong.

When she dies, he finally appears. Suddenly I have a first class ticket into my father’s exclusive world. A world I don’t want any part of – not at this cost.
Only three things keep me going: my a cappella singing group, a swoony blue-eyed boy named Jake, and the burning questions in my soul. There’s a secret shame that comes from being an unwanted child. It drags me down, and puts distance between me and the boy I love.

My father is the only one alive who knows my history. I need the truth, even if it scares me.

Author : Sarina Bowen
Title : The Accidentals
Series : –

Number of pages : 322
Publisher : Tuxbury Publishing
Release Date :  July 10, 2018
Genre : Young Adult

The Angry Reader Review

Music has always been my drug of choice.

We all know Sarina Bowen is my drug of choice. And that I’m a total bitch about YA books. Common sense would dictate that maybe I hesitate when I hear Sarina Bowen has written her first YA. What if I hate it? What if it ruins (the completely one-sided) love affair we’ve got goin on? When you put your heart out there it can get stomped. 

But I’m glad I took this risk. I went in with questions. How much angst? How much steam? Was it going to be flat out stupid? How would Sarina’s characters —with their flaws and huge hearts— feel through a YA lens? Would there be a cocky hero?

Rachel’s mom has just died making Rachel a ward of the state. Her music star dad comes into the picture for the first time in her life. This part of the book is bleak. Wanders a little. I couldn’t tell the import of some of the characters (what role exactly is Rachel’s best friend destined to play). For the first 30% I wasn’t sure where we were going or if I’d like it. 

But there’s a change of scenery. Stronger, more-defined and meaningful characters fill out the picture. Rachel has a lot of questions and a lot of anger. 

This book wasn’t a love story. It was growth story. A girl starts out some place shitty – some place she got through no fault of her own. And she has big adventures. And her heart hurts. And she’s mad. And people never quite do what that girl needs them to do. But she’s a good person. A good character. We root for her. We enjoy her meaningful and difficult and beautiful moments – and we’re glad she shared them with us. 

Author Bio & Links

Sarina Bowen is the RITA® Award winning author of over two dozen contemporary and LGTB romance novels. She most recently hit the USA Today bestseller’s list in February, with Brooklynaire. Formerly a derivatives trader on Wall Street, Sarina holds a BA in economics from Yale University.

Sarina Bowen is a New Englander whose Vermont ancestors cut timber and farmed the north country since the 1760s. Sarina is grateful for the invention of indoor plumbing and wi-fi during the intervening 250 years. On a few wooded acres, she lives with her husband, two boys, and an ungodly amount of ski and hockey gear.

Sarina’s books are published in a dozen languages on four continents. In 2016, The Romance Writers of America honored HIM by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy with a RITA award for Best Contemporary Romance, Mid-Length.

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