3.5 STARS

Okay before I start the review, am I the only one that noticed the similarities to Two Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt and The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen?  In Two Way Street a couple that breaks up is forced to go on a road trip together for school and in The Truth About Forever there’s a character name Wes that uses random bits and pieces he finds to create statues.  Just had to point that out first since I thought that was weird.

Anyway, to the review.  I honestly can’t say if I liked this book or not.  I liked the characters Ali and Nico fine and I liked the storyline behind their road trip.  It was different than any other book I’ve read and I enjoyed the plot and everything but then I started getting a little bored. Honestly the most exciting parts of the book were when they were meeting up with people off Craigslist for their trades but the other parts of the book kind of dragged for me to the point where I was skimming through them.  Also another thing I didn’t like was I found myself getting lost when Ali would flashback to points in her life with her father Jackson.  It would take me a second to realize she was talking in past tense even though I knew from the beginning that her father was dead.  The way certain parts were worded and the way they just jumped in had me confused and I had to go back a little to realize where I was in the story.

This story is about Ali who after her father dies is facing foreclosure on the only home she and her mom know.  When her mom goes to set up their new apartment, her dad’s car shows up in her driveway and she’s handed the keys to what she thinks is their solution to get out of the debt her dad has created.  Only problem is she doesn’t know how to drive her dad’s classic car so she’s forced to seek help in the form of her ex-boyfriend Nico who she had no plans of communicating with again after he lied to her.  Along the way to sell the car, Ali and Nico start trading items to hopefully come up with money to pay off the debt collectors and have some interesting things happen along the way.

Like I said I’m not really sure if I liked this book or not so I’m giving it 3.5 stars.  I think I would have enjoyed it more if it wasn’t so drawn out in certain areas and more clear about present and past tense wording.  Overall not a bad book and I plan on reading some of Jennifer Brody’s books to see if I’ll enjoy them.