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| Read on June 10, 2013 |
Published: May 1, 2012
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (Harper)
Format: Hardcover
Page Count: 386 pages
Source: Purchased
Sanctuary.
A one-word text message: That's all Michal "Mike" Garcia needs to gather a crowd. Mike is a seventeen-year-old bookie, and Sanctuary is where she takes bets for anyone at Carson City High with enough cash. Her only rule: Never participate, never place a bet for herself.
Then Josh Ellison moves to town. He pushes Mike to live her life, to feel a rush of something—play the game, he urges, stop being a spectator.
So Mike breaks her one rule. She places a bet, feels the rush.
And loses.
In an act of desperation, she and Josh—who has a sordid past of his own—concoct a plan: The pair will steal from Carson City's elite to pay back Mike's debt. Then they'll give the rest of their haul to those who need it most. How can burglary be wrong if they are making things right?
Wanted will thrust readers into the gritty underbelly of Carson City, where worth is determined by a score, power is derived from threat, and the greatest feat is surviving it all.
Hmmm... what went wrong with this book? I really, really wanted to like Wanted, but in the end, this was just not the book for me.
Whenever I marked this book as currently-reading on my Goodreads shelf, I look at the reviews and saw nothing but glowing reviews of 4 and 5 stars. I was super pumped to read Wanted, especially with all the good reviews surrounding it. I will give Wanted the prologue - that was pretty epic. Unfortunately, I found that to be the only thing epic about this book. Way too slow! This novel could have been so much more fast-paced than what it was - the concept is so unique, but it dealt more with Michal's (Mike's) personal issues instead of getting out of the sticky situation. I just wasn't a fan of that.
And I caught myself drifting off away from the book, wanting to set it down. Whenever we reach page 250 of a book and no plot points or key twists are pushing it forward, there's a problem there. Honestly, after prologue, I don't a single thing truly happened. Just bets, more bets, sticky situation, personal issues, bets. That's Wanted in a nutshell. And so many cool things could have happened! So many! In the matter of the first 100 pages! I was just so, so, so disappointed by this read.
Also, where was all the "bookie" scenes? I guess I was just expecting more of Mike getting into her tough situation by betting and having to get out of it. Wanted was very deceptive - the first 50 pages were good, but my love for this book began to go downhill after I realized that it was too slow for my likings. So sad by this.
Overall, Wanted was a disappointment. I wanted a fast-paced, thriller, on-the-edge-of-your-seat read, and unfortunately, I didn't get any of that.
M Y R A T I N G
Whenever I marked this book as currently-reading on my Goodreads shelf, I look at the reviews and saw nothing but glowing reviews of 4 and 5 stars. I was super pumped to read Wanted, especially with all the good reviews surrounding it. I will give Wanted the prologue - that was pretty epic. Unfortunately, I found that to be the only thing epic about this book. Way too slow! This novel could have been so much more fast-paced than what it was - the concept is so unique, but it dealt more with Michal's (Mike's) personal issues instead of getting out of the sticky situation. I just wasn't a fan of that.
And I caught myself drifting off away from the book, wanting to set it down. Whenever we reach page 250 of a book and no plot points or key twists are pushing it forward, there's a problem there. Honestly, after prologue, I don't a single thing truly happened. Just bets, more bets, sticky situation, personal issues, bets. That's Wanted in a nutshell. And so many cool things could have happened! So many! In the matter of the first 100 pages! I was just so, so, so disappointed by this read.
Also, where was all the "bookie" scenes? I guess I was just expecting more of Mike getting into her tough situation by betting and having to get out of it. Wanted was very deceptive - the first 50 pages were good, but my love for this book began to go downhill after I realized that it was too slow for my likings. So sad by this.
Overall, Wanted was a disappointment. I wanted a fast-paced, thriller, on-the-edge-of-your-seat read, and unfortunately, I didn't get any of that.
M Y R A T I N G
Bummer because that concept sounds KILLER!!
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