A review by nicolemhewitt
The Unlikelies by Carrie Firestone

5.0

This review and many more can be found on my blog: Feed Your Fiction Addiction

The Unlikelies was not exactly the book I was expecting it to be, but in some ways it was better. I was expecting it to be mostly a story about how Sadie and her friends are trying to right wrongs in their community—and it was about that a bit, but really it was more about Sadie discovering that she can move on after she loses the things in her life that she defined herself with—mainly her relationship with her best friend. Sadie hadn’t expected to find anything new in her town the summer before her senior year. She hadn’t expected to move on—just to mope. She also has to move on from the fear that surrounds her after being attacked. She tells people she’s fine, but she really isn’t past it all. In some ways it makes her braver, though—she doesn’t want to shrink back from helping, no matter what.

The one issue that I had with the book was that Sadie and her friends put themselves in some very dangerous situations in order to help their friend with the drug addiction, and they don’t really ever see the consequences of that. I kind of wanted to scream at them to smarten up a little because helping doesn’t have to mean taking extreme risks—not when there are other options. Still, I loved that Sadie and her friends aren’t willing to just leave well enough alone. They fight back when most people would just sit back and complain. For that, I applaud them!

This book was a bit of a more serious read than I was expecting, but that was just fine with me. It was still fun in parts and really highlighted friendships, something that’s needed more in YA. Plus, the romance was sweet and easy to root for. Overall, I give this book 4/5 Stars.

***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***