Genre: Contemporary Romance
Number of Pages: 231
For ages 14+
(I got a tad freaked out at the end, that also may be because I'm just a scaredy cat.) ;)
A chance meeting reacquaints her with Ben McCaffey, a long-forgotten classmate from her past. After the death of his girlfriend, Ben has become a social outcast. Despised by some and feared by most. Determined to become Ben's friend, Maya begins to break through his layers of emotional protection. But the closer she gets to Ben, the more dangerous her situation becomes." -Goodreads
So, when I started out with this book I was thinking it was going to be a super sweet romance that would leave me feeling all warm and fuzzy. I was most definitely wrong. Don't get me wrong, I ended the book feeling satisfied and happy, just not the feeling I thought I would end it with.
At the beginning of this book you think you're going to be getting this love story between these two people, but once you get into it you realize there are A WHOLE BUNCH of problems with these two people. Holy cow. And some of them are so stinkin' drastic.
I loved Maya. I loved how she was flawed but could still hold her head high. She had been through so much but didn't let it hold her down. Instead she focused on other people. She was a very selfless person. She lives with her sister, Remy, and I can't tell you how much I LOVED Remy! She was awesome! She was an amazing big sister and an even more amazing guardian. It made me really happy that Maya could have someone so caring in her life after all that she had been through.
Then there's Ben. Ben is absolutely swoon worthy. Not in the way that most YA guy characters are, but still definitely swoon worthy. Sometimes he would say the utmost adorable things to Maya and I couldn't help but get all giggly. I went full on squealing teenage girl when he complimented Maya. Ben also had gone through a bootie load of crud. Seriously. Do you know how tortured these characters are?! For cereal. Everyone had blamed Ben for murdering his girlfriend even AFTER his brother was proven guilty. He would be bullied by people who used to be his friends. He would be beaten up daily and no one would stop and help him. And when he came home after being thoroughly beaten, his parents would be angry with him for drawing attention to himself. You have no idea how outraged I was while reading this book. I can't imagine ever being treated like that. I also couldn't imagine how Ben could be feeling. It was probably really lonely. Especially considering that if anyone decided to be his friend their reputation would have gone down the drain. Which is what happened to Maya. She started getting threats. Some that would totally have had me running away crying.
This book is super emotional. I bawled. I did, and I regret nothing. My little brother was freaking out when he saw me crying. He's not used to just how emotional girls can get, yet. ;) He will learn.. The ending.. I could seriously NOT BELIEVE. I can't really go into details without giving a whole bunch away but let's just say if something like that happened to me I would need LOTS of counseling. And probably need to sleep with all the lights on, and get an alarm system, and sleep in my mom's room, oh, and hire a bodyguard. And then I'd still be scared out of my mind. ;) I'm pretty paranoid.. So as you can see, what happens is pretty darn scary. Maya actually handled it WAY better, though. I have no idea how, but she did!
The romance wasn't that huge of an aspect, but you definitely did get some sense of romance. The book mainly focused on the hardships the two main characters had and how they helped each other get through them. Something that I thought was a nice change was how Maya was more of the savior than Ben. I feel like she was the person who comforted more, whereas usually the guy who's the shoulder to cry on. I mean, he was definitely there for Maya when she needed somebody. But in this case Ben needed more of the comforting then Maya did. And at the end Ben is the hero. *sigh* Even though I love reading about strong, self-assured girl characters, I still definitely enjoy having those guys who sweep the girl off her feet and become the knight in shining armor. :)
Coming into it, I definitely did not expect to read what I read in Twisted. But I was not disappointed. I hadn't really read something like this in a while. It really did keep me at the edge of my seat. Loved. 5 out of 5 diva crowns! I recommend this beautiful story to people who love some romance but also a story that you can't help thinking about when you're finished. It gets you thinkin'!
(If you noticed, I almost always rate the books I review on here 5 diva crowns. The reason is is that I seem to easily review books that I absolutely love. It's a lot harder when there is a book I've read that I find is just okay. It's harder to put into words how I feel about the book. So, if you were wondering why I mostly rate 5 diva crowns, that's the reason!)
Hope your day is filled with sparkles!
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