Summary:
Jules Parish has screwed up.
After three years of boosting cars, she got caught. She’s too good to get caught, but she lets her (ex)-boyfriend talk her into a questionable job. Now she and her little sister, Emma, will be kicked out of their foster home, left to survive on the unforgiving streets of Las Vegas alone.
Unless…
Eccentric, wealthy Roger Montgomery wants to open up his mansion to Jules and Emma. The only catch? Jules must steal seven of the rarest, most valuable muscle cars in the world…in seven weeks. Even worse, she’s forced to put her trust in three complete strangers to help her do it.
First, there’s Chelsea, the gorgeous redhead with a sharp tongue and skill for picking locks. Then there’s Mat, who hasn’t met a system he couldn’t hack. And finally, there’s the impossibly sexy car thief Nick, whose bad attitude and mysterious past drive Jules crazy.
With nothing in common and everything to lose, can Jules and her amateur crew pull off what could be the biggest car heist in history? Or will things spin out of control faster than Nevada dust devil?
Review:
I found Overdrive by Dawn Ius at the library when I went to sign up at my new local library. I’ve mentioned in our new feature (Library Book Haul) that each time I visit the library I will be picking one book based on the authors last name – choosing a letter that we don’t have any reviews for on our master review list. This book was that selection for my most recent library trip.
I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this book. It was a random find that I thought sounded a bit interesting. I ended up reading the entire book in four hours (whoops). This story is told in the first person point of view, which is my favorite. I like stories that are told like stories by the main character. Our main character Jules was interesting. I didn’t like her at first. She was overly paranoid to the point where it was annoying. She was constantly afraid that everyone else was out to get her and lying to her. She’s a young girl that’s taken to breaking the law so that she can support her sister and try to help them have a better life. It made her relatable, yes she’s doing the wrong thing, but for good reasons. She’s doing what she needs to for those that she loves, that’s something that most people can relate to. The only thing I didn’t like was that Jules was so easily offended and super defensive about everything. I get that she’s had a hard life and doesn’t trust easily, but you’d think that would give her thicker skin and she’d let stuff just roll off her back instead of taking offense to every little thing.
Once we’re introduced to the rest of the characters in our story we start to see their relationships developing. This was probably my favorite part of this book. The character development was phenomenal. Each character played a role in the main story – boosting seven cars in seven weeks for their foster father – but they also each had their own story that was being revealed as we learned about them and they learned about one another. The development of these characters was written very well. We’re given just enough information to understand that they’re just a group of kids that have made some bad choices and are trying to be better and get away from their past mistakes. As we learn the stories of the secondary characters, Chelsea, Mat, and Nick, we also get to see them learning more about themselves from one another. Throughout the pages of this story, they become a family, albeit a dysfunctional one. The group is a well-functioning machine, each member playing an important part toward their end goals. But regardless of their individual end goals that each member is working toward, they all come together to do what’s best for Emma, Jules’ little sister. Emma becomes the surrogate little sister to everyone and they all want to look out for what’s best for her. I liked this aspect of the story. These big bad rebellious teenagers all seem to have a soft spot for a little girl. It’s just a nice touch.
The opening and the climax of Overdrive seemed like they were rushed. I liked them well enough, but I just think they could have been written a bit better, maybe with more detail. The opening scene is when Jules is getting caught boosting a car. It was alright but left the impression that it was a filler scene – something that needed to happen for the story to go to where it needed to. That the author was just giving us the necessary information to keep things moving forward. The climax, however, appeared rushed. Ius told us what was happening rather than showing us (this is something I’m working on myself having recently learned about it in my college writing courses). I liked how she ended the story, I just didn’t love the way that it was written. The idea behind the conclusion was solid, but the writing was not. I feel the same way about the “six months later” epilogue at the end of the book. I definitely could have read more about where they all ended up. I’m not saying it was bad, just that it could have been better.
Ultimately, I liked Overdrive by Dawn Ius. I liked the storyline, it was interesting and unique. I adored the characters, they had excellent character development. This was a good, fun, quick read.
Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.
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