ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell 144 pp. Penguin Group. £8.99. (Ages 13 and up) ISBN 9780141182704 Rating: ? Stars This book is set in a future when animals are much cleverer than now. And because of their cleverness, the pigs started a revolution against the humans. Pigs could speak fluently in English unlike the other animals, and that gave them the power to be leaders. But, the story that follows only happened a few years after that... Their first leader, Old Major, was kind and fair who knew animals should be equal. But when Napoleon became the leader it was very unpleasant. He made a rule that allowed the pigs to have better food and that forced all of the other animals to work crazily hard every day and night. That wasn’t enough, Napoleon wanted more power. He decided to kill his brother, Snowball, so that he would be the only leader. Snowball was admired because he came up with a clever idea to build windmill. Sn...
Release Date: December 14, 2012
Pages: 207
From Goodreads: "To want what you’re not supposed to have…
She is only nineteen.
She is his new stepfather’s daughter.
She is still naïve and innocent due to spending the last three years taking care of her sick mother.
But for twenty-four year old Rush Finlay, she is the only thing that has ever been off limits. His famous father’s guilt money, his mother’s desperation to win his love, and his charm are the three reasons he has never been told no.
Blaire Wynn left her small farmhouse in Alabama, after her mother passed away, to move in with her father and his new wife in their sprawling beach house along the Florida gulf coast. She isn’t prepared for the lifestyle change and she knows she’ll never fit into this world. Then there is her sexy stepbrother who her father leaves her with for the summer while he runs off to Paris with his wife.
Rush is as spoiled as he is gorgeous. He is also getting under her skin. She knows he is anything but good for her and that he’ll never be faithful to anyone. He is jaded and has secrets Blaire knows she may never uncover but even knowing all of that…
Blaire just may have fallen too far."
Despite having followed Abbi's amazing story online for years- from self-published author sensation to tacking traditional publishing, I must admit that this is the first book of hers that I have ever read (and despite having almost every book one of her books on my Kindle, unfortunately my ever-growing TBR review pile often doesn't often afford me the freedom to read books outside of it), as such I have nothing else of hers to compare this book to- it is very much one of those cases of "it is where it is" (whereas I have read a number of reviews where people have stated that this wasn't there favourite of her books as they find it too similar to the previous). On the whole I personally really enjoyed it and I believe it to be one of my most favourite new adults of 2012.
There's no denying it. Blaire is a bad-ass, from pulling a gun on Rush's best friend/ ex-stepbrother, Grant, to never for a second doubting her mother, to making a heart breaking decision at the end of the novel. She's self-sufficient, while she may certainly enjoy a male presence in her life she doesn't necessarily need one, and she doesn't want handouts in life, almost annoying so. And despite being broken/ being dealt a crappy hand in life she very rarely lets it get her down. She's almost everything that I want in a female character.
Rush, like Blaire, is broken, however, due to the loss of a childhood rather than the loss of loved ones. While Blaire's biggest trait is that she is self-sufficient Rush's is that he is honest. What you see is what you get with him and if you don't like it he will gladly show you to the door. Together, these two are explosive, slowly chipping away at one another's prickly exteriors, revealing the at-times soft or gentle beings that they are harbouring.
The secondary characters are almost exceptionally notable, especially Grant and Woods. Grant is the light where Rush is the dark- be brings much needed lightheartedness to the novel. Whereas Woods propels the storyline almost as much as Rush and Blaire themselves do, being one of the few people who doesn't look down on Blaire for being country rather than designer. The only real complaint I had with this novel was Cain, Blaire's best friend and ex. I'm just not quite sure how necessary he was to the story- only being mentioned in passing until the last couple of pages, where we finally meet him in all of his (not) glory.
While this was my first Abbi book it will certainly not be the last! Not only am I excited to check out all of her previously released books- those of her "The Vincent Boys" series and her "Sea Breeze" series- but the sequel to this, "Never Too Far"!
Rating: 5/5
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