Review: another hit by CM Stunich!!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 15, 2013
"Um, you're kidding right? Is this some kind of game?""I wish it were. If it were just a game, it'd be fun, right? But its not. I mean, I used to think it was, but not anymore. People get hurt playing this game. They get killed. Sometimes. By accident.""You're serious?"This is one of the reasons why I love this author so much. It doesn't matter what she is writing about -hott as sin Fae, Zombies, Mermaids, crazy Rockers, badass Bikers, or psychotic High School students on summer break- she always nails it. For some crazy reason I thought this one was gonna be a cute little summer romance....what was I thinking?? CM Stunich does NOT do cute.'San Aplastar was not your typical small town. We did things our own way, but it wasn't a way I was comfortable with anymore. If I was honest with myself, it hadn't been just my near drowning today that made me think that way. This had been brewing for awhile.'Chloe starts off her summer break nearly drowning only to be pulled out of the ocean by a boy who instantly catches her attention.' I wanted to kiss his face off. And I didn't even know him.'Casper is like no boy she has ever met before and that is one of the things she finds so intriguing. Being the straight-forward and blunt person that she is, she makes her interest clear. And she is not alone in this.'Yeah, Casper was a little different, but that's what was drawing me to him. He didn't have a crew cut, and he wasn't tanned from lying out in the sun; he had tattoos and painted fingernails and mussy hair. Besides, he had just saved my life, so I was entitled to a little entanglement wasn't I?'Nearly drowning puts some thing in perspective for Chloe. She begins to realize she hasn't spent much time loving life, she just exists doing what's expected and not much more. She's determined to change all that this summer and she's hoping to do it while getting to know Casper a little better."I almost died today, Heidi. It may not have seemed like a big deal, but it was. I don't want to play games this summer. I want to live. Do you understand?"Another thing she plans on changing is getting out of this years assignment. The Assignment is a well known tradition in her small town dating back 50 years or more but kept secret from outsiders. Chloe has participated for the last three summers but wants no part of it this year and hopes to back out.'As far as I knew, there hadn't been a single person between the ages of thirteen and eighteen that had opted out of The Assignment since...forever. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I sure as heck knew what I was getting myself out of: false highs and false lows, a predictable train wreck of emotions, and based on last year's tragedy, an incalculable amount of risks.'As a newcomer in town, Casper doesn't really understand how serious the whole town takes The Assignment and has no idea just how dangerous it has become. But he soon learns firsthand. Everything starts to unfold taking turns you never expect, deception and mistrust become second nature, before it all starts to spiral out of control. You will meet some amazing characters and some truly disturbing ones, you will fall in love with a boy who is so much more than just tattoos and black nail polish and watch him fall for a girl far from his normal type. You will cry, cringe and swoon, but you will not be left hanging. CM Stunich has ruined me when it comes to book endings. I have grown so accustomed to her humongous cliffhangers that when there isn't one I don't know what to do with myself. The woman is seriously twisted & demented, but I love every second of it. If you haven't read any of her books yet -START NOW ;)' This summer, I had one goal: learn to love life.'