My rating: 4 of 5 stars
"Focus on where you want to go not on what you fear. "
----Anthony Robbins
Katie McGarry, an American author, pens her new novel, Nowhere But Here which is the first book in the Thunder Road series. This book traces the journey of two teenagers trying to find the gravity and meaning of their lives, thereupon falling in love and realizing the difficulties attached with this sweet feeling, well, you can clearly say, this a book about teens and their road to self discovery.
Synopsis:
Seventeen-year-old Emily likes her life the way it is: doting parents, good friends, good school in a safe neighborhood. Sure, she's curious about her biological father—the one who chose life in a motorcycle club, the Reign of Terror, over being a parent—but that doesn't mean she wants to be a part of his world. But when a reluctant visit turns to an extended summer vacation among relatives she never knew she had, one thing becomes clear: nothing is what it seems. Not the club, not her secret-keeping father and not Oz, a guy with suck-me-in blue eyes who can help her understand them both.
Oz wants one thing: to join the Reign of Terror. They're the good guys. They protect people. They're…family. And while Emily—the gorgeous and sheltered daughter of the club's most respected member—is in town, he's gonna prove it to her. So when her father asks him to keep her safe from a rival club with a score to settle, Oz knows it's his shot at his dream. What he doesn't count on is that Emily just might turn that dream upside down.
No one wants them to be together. But sometimes the right person is the one you least expect, and the road you fear the most is the one that leads you home.
Emily's life is perfect like a princess, good set of family members, cool friends and a safe town to live-by. The only flaw would be Emily's biological father, who abandoned her mother in order to join a motorcycle club, instead of being a father. But when one summer, Emily's dad gets in touch with her, things change and Emily's feelings and emotions towards her father changes, which allures her to know more about this man and about his club in Kentucky.
Oz is a part of a motorcycle club family. All through his life, he has come to realize that people from motorcycle clubs are like a close-knit family where each member protect one-another. When Emily reaches Kentucky, she gets meddled into a rival motorcycle club's drama and Oz is asked to safe-guard Emily if he wants to join the biggest motorcycle club.
The idea about a motorcycle club featured in the book is quite fresh, since I never read any book about motorcycle gang, moreover, it's not everyday that you will stumble upon a book where such themes are portrayed through the story. And thanks to the author for changing my POV about motorcycle gang who are actually pretty cool and nice and kind-hearted people, instead of being gangsta or thugs.
From the very first page, I was glued to the story and to be honest, I actually loved this story a lot. The emotions that that author layered cleverly into her plot is quite amazing, since the book made me cry and laugh with it's rhythm. And with the progress of the story the story turned into something deeply intense that certainly ached my heart.
The characters are all quite striking and awesome, and surprisingly they make an impressionistic portrait about themselves. I liked how the author conveyed themes related to loyalty and friendship through the characters. And yes there definitely is a myriad cast of characters who are funny and kinda inspiring in nature. But Emily's character is little too flat and bit unrelatable especially the way she undergoes all the issues and the drama related to it.
Oz, an attractive young lad with all those chocolate boy kinda looks whose dream is to get into that club, no matter what. But as a human being, he is a really nice and warm guy who protected Emily like his own child.
The chemistry between Emily and Oz is more like a love-hate-relationship, where their inevitable attraction keeps taking them closer to each other whereas Emily's idea about him totally kept them pulling away from each other.
The author have tried to focus into many subjects related to human nature through this heart-breaking yet hilarious story. The climax made me wanna throw the book away from me, since I so wanted it to end otherwise, but it just simply broke my heart with it's shocking ending. In short, it was truly an engrossing read for me, no matter how sad I became after reading this book, and I'm definitely looking forward in reading the next book from this series.
Verdict: Recommended for all contemporary fiction and YA readers.
Courtesy: Thanks to the author's publicist, for giving me an opportunity to read this novel.
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I like the idea of the two teenagers in this book trying to find meaning in their life. Having a sense of meaning is very important.
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