Defending Taylor [ARC Review] by Miranda Kenneally Genre: YA Romance Publication Date: July 5, 2016 Format: I received an e-ARC from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. You can purchase a copy through Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Defending-Taylor-Hundred-Miranda-Kenneally-ebook/dp/B01BX1PIPQ/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1468708779&sr=8-1#nav-subnav Summary: There are no mistakes in love. Captain of the soccer team, president of the Debate Club, contender for valedictorian: Taylor’s always pushed herself to be perfect. After all, that’s what is expected of a senator’s daughter. But one impulsive decision—one lie to cover for her boyfriend—and Taylor’s kicked out of private school. Everything she’s worked so hard for is gone, and now she’s starting over at Hundred Oaks High. Soccer has always been Taylor’s escape from the pressures of school and family, but it’s hard to fit in and play on a team that used to be her rival. The only person who seems to understand all that she’s going through is her older brother’s best friend, Ezra. Taylor’s had a crush on him for as long as she can remember. But it’s hard to trust after having been betrayed. Will Taylor repeat her past mistakes or can she score a fresh start? My Thoughts: The name was very fitting for the book. Taylor was defending someone, and that was also the position that she played on her new soccer team. It also fits into her passions, namely, soccer. I’ve read a couple of Miranda’s other books, and I have to say, I actually like this one better than the others. (I will have the review for that up in the future). I loved how Miranda captured Taylor’s unique personality and the struggle of having and keeping the top grades and the disappointment of having to transfer schools after such a public event. She literally had everything stripped away from her, her perfect grades, her almost guaranteed shoo-in to Yale and her captainship (is that a word?) of her soccer team. It also shows how mean high schoolers are. I really dislike those books that portray how perfect a high school is because let’s be real, no high school is a perfect one where everyone has manners and everyone gets along perfectly. I also liked how the book kept me on my toes. I never knew what was going to happen and which boy she was going to end up and what school she was going to choose. Even though the book was super well written and I enjoyed it overall, there are still some things that I have a problem with. For one, I didn’t fully understand why Taylor was so upset about Ezra, her childhood crush. Like obviously, she’s moved on, so why is she still doubling back and hanging onto those feelings? Another thing that bothered me was that Taylor’s father made her life so much harder than necessary. I understand why he didn’t bail Taylor out of her expulsion situation because she has to learn that it’s no joke to cover for other’s drugs but not giving her the same recs as he gave her siblings is just cruel. Also, when he was going to lose his Senate seat because of Taylor, he was acting unfairly. He still had other options with his career and basically expected Taylor to take the paths of her siblings which is a common problem in real life. Can you say first world problems? Literally, nothing like this would ever happen to the common folk who actually read these books. Also, how stupid do you have to be that you would take the blame for someone else's drugs? I mean, she took the blame for her boyfriend without even knowing his full intentions. He was a drug dealer but Taylor didn't even decide to find out why he had all the pills in his backpack. But of course, if she didn't take the blame for the pills, none of the book would've happened. So I guess I can’t complain too much about it. I feel like it is also a good promotion about how much drugs can mess up your life. (I feel like I’m going to get hate from this but who cares…) The cover is similar to the rest of the books in the Hundred Oaks series. One of the things I love about this series is that other characters of each book makes cameos on other books in the series. It’s always fun to find those cameos and see what those characters were like. I love the balance of the green from the grass and the contrast from the red in the uniform. Overall I give the book a 6/10 (which makes it a 3/5 stars on other reviewing platforms). I absolutely loved the writing, it was amazing but I had some problems with the plot. I highly recommend this to people who have read other books in The Hundred Oaks series and people who like to read YA Romance. I do have to warn you that there is some harsher language in the book. So let me know in the comments below if you’ve read this book or if you’ve read any other books by Miranda and what you thought of them. Also what books should I read next? Stick around for another post for SBPT tomorrow and in the meantime, I will have more reviews and posts up on here. I love you all and your support means so much to me so if you like my blog, it would mean so much if you would share it on social media with all your friends and tag me in them too! I’m on Twitter @BrookeEvans2001 and Instagram @thecozylittlebooknook. See y’all next time!
~Brooke
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About me!Brooke's a high schooler who loves to read all sorts of books. She's happy to be able to share all the books she's reading with all of y'all. Archives
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