The Chase (Briar U, #1) by Elle Kennedy

The Chase (Briar U, #1)

by Elle Kennedy

3.5 stars

I had a lot of fun with this book. Coming back to this set of characters was amazing. Finding well written NA books nowadays qualifies in my book as a miracle, and today I’m feeling very religious.

Let’s start with something simple: the humor. This was just soo entertaining. Every character brimmed with sarcasm, and the multiple voices in Summer’s head (she’s coming off as crazy but if you read the book you’ll realize this actually makes a lit of sense) are the icing on the cake.

The writing was topnotch. I love it when a chapter starts off with an introduction of a topic and is followed by an example within the context of the novel. Aaand the whole Summer POV was great; knowing people with this type of disorder I feel like it reflected very accurately the mind of someone with ADHD: a mind that works at a speed of a thousand miles a minute, getting constantly off-topic and coming back as if nothing happened, getting lost in the middle of a sentence; everything was very on point. Her exuberant, positive personality is very refreshing, and I loved the whole fast friends with Brenna thing. All of their interactions were hilarious, and I can’t wait to read the next book on the series, that’s gonna be about her.

The constant allusion to how to deal with sexual harassment was very well handled, and topped off with some humor that made it easier to deal with, but no so much as undermine the situation.

And then there’s the romance. Oh boy, the romance. In basically every review I write I talk about how much I love real characters, but what can I say? I usually love a book if it’s convincing enough to fool me. Right off the bat you get this feeling of frustrated sexual tension between them, but an undeniable feeling of comfort that really takes the awkwardness and lack of credibility in the relationship out of the equation. The constant bickering only adds to that. They are so well suited for each other, and no matter how different they may seem, there’s something intrinsic about their personalities that is the exact same.

I also very much understand Fitzy’s reluctance to express his feelings. I get him, because I am him. I’m that person that hates being put in the spotlight, but knows how to suffer through it in the name of something grand (in his case: love; in my case: the need to get a good grade, for example). I love the way he changes: I understand how exciting it feels to face something unexpected that is coming your way, challenging you to question everything you thought about your behaviour and change it.

All in all, this was a pretty good read. I generally don’t give more than 3 star ratings to NA novels, but what can I say? Any praise to Leonardo DiCaprio can make me change my mind in the blink of an eye.