Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Welcome to Hickville High - Mary Karlik (Hickville High #1)

I've been reading a lot of cowboy/country/farm books, have you noticed? No matter the age group or genre, I always find myself a book or two (or five) to read throughout the year. I find the male characters humble, the female characters maturing through out the book, and great life lessons twisted into the pages. This isn't every book of course, but it's how I feel about them, so bring on the cowboys!

Rating: 4.5 stars
Released: March 2015
Many thanks to Netgalley and Mary Karlik for providing a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Amazon Goodreads
Kelsey's a senior who has it all, the popularity, the guy, and all the money she could want. Except her dad and her sister have messed that all up and their moving into her dad's old family home in Texas. In a town of 5,000, stuck with her three sisters and having to work for the first time, Kelsey's just counting down the days to May and leaving for college. She's got only one thing to look forward to, going back to Chicago for the big gala, so she's doing whatever it takes. Her teacher in Texas lifestyle happens to come in the form of hard-bodied cowboy Austin. When Texas starts looking better than Chicago, Kelsey is torn.

Kelsey is a snotty brat, but I really enjoyed watching her mature and change. I connected with her immediately, as I remember throwing the same threat at my mom when she brought up moving my senior year, I would run away, absolutely. Kelsey life is turned upside down and it's easy to get behind her; She's experiencing things she's never had to before, from bullying to working full time and having a lot less money than she's used to. Lucky for her, and us readers, Austin is an ideal book boyfriend. With just the snippets we were given of Austin's life, he's a character I would want to get to know. The family dynamic is interesting, one I could easily see happening, I've had plenty of fights with my parents and siblings. The sisters are all different and face Texas and the loss of Chicago in different ways. Mary Karlik did an excellent job shaping the family, sharing their trials and griefs, and allowing them to come together as Texas becomes home. For an innocent book, I loved the romance in this. It's what I like to read in a high school aged book and one I can easily share with family friends. The minor characters are interesting and it sounds like the future novels of the Hickville High series will be interesting reads.

Unfortunately, there is a love triangle type situation and while I understand its innocence, I felt like it was played down quite a bit. What should have been the big moment in this book was pretty anticlimactic for me. I felt like we were given two life changing moments right near the end that wrapped things up too quickly for me and just worked out far too easily.

I enjoyed Welcome to Hickville High and absolutely recommend it to YA readers. I think the story is realistic, enjoyable, and a short, but memorable read. The sneak peak for Ryan's book absolutely caught my attention and I'll be sticking around for this series.

Post a Comment

© Carlene Inspired. Made with love by The Dutch Lady Designs.