Review: Mixed feelings
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 22, 2013
Miki is nobody's role model. She's practically an alcoholic, she pops pills, and she swears a blue streak. All at the age of sixteen. Miki does this to dull the psychic empathetic pain of others. When she experiences the death of a young college student her life changes for the worse. She becomes the focus of the police and even worse, the killer. Miki decides to take matters in her own hands and investigate the murder herself.During the course of this investigation Miki runs across Chris, a handsome 19-year-old who is set to become the CEO of his family's corporation once he graduates from business school. He also happens to be so rich he drives around in a stretch limo.The problem I had with this book was that Chris and Miki instantly fall in love. I suppose that's not unusual for damaged kids. I mean I've had infatuations when I was that age. It just seemed too much too fast. It was just another thing that Miki was doing to hurt herself it seemed.I was hoping that Miki would stop her path of self-destruction. Every corner she took she'd end up doing something detrimental to herself. Whether it was the booze or the pills or going out late at night by herself. It all seemed harmful to herself.Despite that I really liked her. She still had a lot of spunk and fire in her. She was damaged, but she was rebellious. You could tell Miki was hurt and she was lashing out. After all she came from a family of career criminals. She lost her trust in those she thought she could count on. Despite that, she still cared for a select few. She was still loyal to those she loved and protective.I also liked Miki's independence. She had a rough childhood and she was an emancipated teenager. She lived with her grandfather but she still mostly took care of herself. Miki kept her own hours and lived by her own rules. Unfortunately this encouraged her self-destructive nature in my mind at the same time. I don't think anyone could have stopped her though.Although it's labeled as a young adult book, I don't think I'd recommend this to young readers. It might be fine for more mature young adults. Like I said, Miki drinks a lot, she smokes, and she swears a lot. Some parents might object to that. There's also some questionable violent scenes with overtures of sex in them. It's hard to explain without giving away spoilers.On the whole, I enjoyed this book. It was short so I was able to finish it in one day. Despite my objections to Miki's character it was well written. I would have preferred a cleaner end. It left me rather unsatisfied. If I could I would have given it 3.5 stars. Aside from all that, I did really like Miki and the first of her adventures.*A free copy of this book was provided by the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.