Quick Facts
- Release Date: October 14, 2014
- Page Count: 291
- Publisher: C. Scott Publishing Corp
- Kindle Unlimited? No
This book was a sweet high-school romance with several plot twists that kept me interested. I just wish the tone wasn’t so heavy and serious, even when the characters were trying to be upbeat and lighthearted.
Synopsis
The fates of Nikki Fallon and Zach Martin cross in Long Beach, California.
Zach has loved Emily Bennett for longer than he can remember, ever since she let him ride her shiny, new, bright yellow Racer bike. Together they are the equivalent of Ken and Barbie.
Following the death of her mother, Nikki moves to Long Beach with a singular goal: to find the twin sister she never knew she had.
Just as Nikki settles in and begins feeling comfortable in her new life, she discovers who her sister is….
Review
Vi Keeland is one of those authors where I see their name on a book and I just pick it up, no questions asked. Left Behind is one of her older ones from 2014 that she co-authored with Dylan Scott, and it had a very Nicholas Sparks kind of vibe to it. I was surprised to find that the book’s protagonists were 17-year-olds in their Junior year of high school. Despite my initial reluctance after discovering this fact, I felt Keeland beautifully constructed her two protagonists and shaped them into relatable characters even for an older audience. Nikki and Zach’s romance was sweet in a way that inspired nostalgic high school memories. They were both forced to handle more loss than any teenager should have to, and, as a result, became each other’s rock.
Maybe I just never spent time with the right kind of guys in high school, but Zach seemed closer to a man in his mid-to-late twenties than a seventeen-year-old. I definitely liked him but wondered at times whether his character was believable as a teenager? Despite this, his maturity is one of the reasons why this book would appeal to both younger and older audiences.
Summary
I am giving Left Behind 4 out of 5 stars. It had several plot twists that kept me interested, and as a result, I flew through the book. There was only one aspect I felt could have been improved, and that was the tone; it was consistently heavy and serious, even when the characters were trying to be upbeat and lighthearted. If the book was a bit lighter, I think I would have given it a 5-star rating.
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